Happily Home

Tucker was officially released Monday afternoon from the hospital. Poor guy was so dehydrated that they stuck him 10 times to get an iv in before I told them to stop and called Derrick to come and give him a blessing. (For those of you who are not LDS, we believe that men who have received the priesthood have the authority to act in the Lord's name). We got the iv in the next try, thank goodness. He loved that iv. Tucker LOVES cords-- anything with a cord on it is his favorite toy. He crawls behind my couches to get my lamp cords, he crawls to my desk and sticks his little arm behind there to pull at the cords. He loves it when Carson leaves out a Wii controller with the Nunchuk. That cord has baby teeth marks on it. So in Tucker's world, it could not have been cooler than to have a tube attached to his leg. It followed him everywhere he went! He just had to bend down and grab it to have a play toy and it had all sorts of cool ports on it for medicine that he got to play with as well-- pretty awesome! We pumped him full of fluids and have him on soy milk for a little while. They think he stripped away some of the lining of his intestines with as much diarrhea as he had, so milk products have a tendency to really irritate the bowels.

Other than that, he is returning to his happy normal self. He's jumping in his jumperoo right now, just happy as can be! He's crawling everywhere! He fell down 3 stairs yesterday. I have to figure out how to get a gate across the top of my stairs. I'm not sure how to do that with the layout, but I need to get creative! He's back to standing up to everything and trying to walk around and he is even getting pretty good at bending in the middle to fall, as opposed to staying as stiff as a board. Tucker is doing squats now as well. He'll be standing up to something and down he goes into a squat and than stands back up. He does 10-15 reps every time. We took a great picture the other night of the goofy face he was pulling. I'll post it when Derrick can get my computer to recognize my printer, so that I can use the card reader in it. Tucker is finally starting to be able to sit! He is such a backward child-- he can crawl and pull himself up to things and walk around furniture and even sit on his knees, but he is just finally learning that there are advantages to sitting flat on his rear! It is so fun to watch him figuring things out. He prefers his daddy right now, mom is just second best. Derrick absolutely loves it! I am so incredibly grateful the Lord blessed me with such a sweet angel, especially during this trying time in our lives!

Carson of course now has the same virus the other two have had. It is such a nasty virus!! I finally brought home some gloves from the hospital because I was washing my hands 20-30 times a day, just changing Hallie and Tucker. My hands are just raw! Carson is confined to his room to try and keep the other two from getting it back. We shall see if it works. Hallie puts hand sanitizer on about 50 times a day so she doesn't get germs because she doesn't want to go to the hospital. I am hopeful that because Carson is older and healthy to begin with that he will weather this virus better.

Hallie is finally starting to feel better. This is the best I have seen her in probably 4 or 5 months. Her appetite is returning, her bowels are functioning, she is off pain meds, her personality is starting to show through again-- not just the ornery Hallie that we have known for awhile now! It is so gratifying to see that through the misery of the last few months is emerging a happier, healthier Hallie. She's even gained almost a pound back! Yeah for Hallie!

I appreciate everyone's love and concern. We are doing the very best that we can with what we have been given. And we are holding up through it all. We are growing closer and closer to the Lord each and every day. For those that are encouraging and supportive, thank you so much. You will never know how many of our prayers you are answering and how even just telling us that we are strong, makes us feel strong enough to deal with what may be ahead for us. There are so many things going on in our lives that we are facing, many of them too personal to share, but we are taking each one head on and doing the best we can, which is all that we can do. For those that have expressed concerns, please know that I know my children, especially my daughter better than anyone. I know what they are or aren't capable of. In the entire realm of our lives, we have chosen to not stress about what we consider small things. It is the only way that we know how to survive. We know the concern comes out of love and appreciate it, but we will be fine. The Lord will not leave us alone through all of this. If I could share just a fraction of the experiences that we have had that have lifted us up through this, you would know how we find the strength to keep going. We are truly blessed!