We have been under the weather!

Ugh. Cold season has been tough on us so far! In case you haven't heard, Carson gave us a little scare a couple of weeks ago which resulted in a trip to the emergency room and a 36 hour hospital stay. He is fine now thank goodness! He woke up in the middle of the night choking and could hardly breathe. Nothing we were doing was helping him and within about 5 minutes we were speeding to the emergency room with both kids in the car. By this point, Carson was foaming at the mouth and only getting a cry noise out every 5-6 seconds. It was the longest 15 minutes of my life!! By the time I got him out of the car at the emergency room he started to improve, and of course was acting like nothing was wrong by the time the nurse was examining him! We were relieved to know that he was not sick (no fever, clear chest xray, etc), but still puzzled as to what exactly happened! They transferred us from the emergency room to the bigger hospital in Raleigh that has a pediatric unit, and kept us there for observation for the next day and a half. Carson was completely fine the whole time! The doctors told us that this is a common problem for young babies, and most of the time they do not know the cause...that he probably just choked on spitup and couldn't clear it out of his nose. They did tell us that he might have more severe reflux than most babies (all babies have reflux, which is why they spit up, but some have it worse than others) and suggested that we have him sleep on an incline, and to keep him elevated while he is eating and for at least 30 minutes after. This has definitely made a difference with his reflux symptoms, and hopefully it will keep him from having another choking episode! Like I said, we are so incredibly happy and relieved that he is not sick, but this was one scary night we will not soon forget!

I snapped a couple of pictures with my phone of the little guy during the whole ordeal.

Here is Carson being unloaded at the big WakeMed in Raleigh after our transfer from the emergency room:



Here he is resting peacefully, but hooked up to all the monitors in the room:




After that madness, Andy got a cold, followed by Camryn, and then me. I know I didn't sleep (literally, not at all) for 48 hours, and Andy got very little sleep, so I am sure we were just overtired, stressed, and worn down. Apparently the cold going around in these parts is lasting about 2 weeks, so I am still working on getting over the congestion and cough. The fact that I have not had a full night of sleep in 6 weeks probably isn't helping my cause either! HA! Thankfully, Carson has avoided the cold...thank you to my wonderful body for providing him with nature's perfect food, full of antibodies to keep him healthy this winter!

Between hospital trips and colds, we have managed to squeeze in some fun activities. First, Carson got to attend his first Kentucky basketball game! Our wonderful friend Eddie tracked down some tickets for us (after a year of pestering from Andy, haha) and we were able to go to the UK/UNC game that was here in Chapel Hill this year. YAY! We left Camryn with Andy's parents figuring that she would likely be more interested in climbing on the seats, picking things up off the floor, etc than the actual game. Carson seemed to like watching the Cats play, and except for a small breastfeeding mishap (exposing myself without knowing...I guess that's what I get for breastfeeding in the middle of the Dean Dome...haha) it was a fantastic day. The breastfeeding mishap probably bothered those around me more than me though...the way I look at it, if my kid needs to eat, the rest of the world can just deal! :-) Here are our pictures from the game:






Camryn has been dying to get outside, but it has been so cold that we haven't been making our regular trips to the park. We gave in to the weather and went to our local Christmas parade last weekend, and I have taken her outside to play in the leaves. Inside, I have been trying to find new exciting things to do...this past week we have been doing a lot of painting and cooking.

Freezing at the parade:



Fun in the leaves:





Painting:






Making Pizza:




A couple just for fun:




We still don't have our Christmas shopping done, and we haven't put up the tree yet. We gave in and bought a fake tree this year. I am really looking forward to getting the tree up this weekend at the latest, and getting into the holiday spirit! Andy is on vacation for the next two weeks, we are heading to Virginia for a few days to celebrate Christmas with the Sheltons and the Parkers, then we will be at home for Christmas day. I am very much looking forward to us all being healthy and enjoying a few days together. Life is moving so quickly these days, I would love even just one day to slow down and enjoy the view!!

Before I go, I have to brag about my nephew Caleb who earned his green belt in Karate this week! I am more proud of him than he could ever know! It is no secret to anyone that knows me that my many years of practicing in the Martial Arts have shaped the person that I am today, and I am beyond excited to see someone in my life exploring them and succeeding. It SO makes me wish that we lived closer to Amy and her family so that I could practice with him...how awesome would THAT be?! Anyway, WAY TO GO CALEB!