FFF Happy Halloween

This week for Favorite Friday Foto we are suppose to post our favorite photo of the week. This is Tabitha's first Halloween at home. We were a little slow getting things started because she'd been so sick last week, but we were finally able to get some pictures. Deciding on a costume was very difficult, they had so many cute ones. Actually Tabitha has 3 costumes! You'll see pictures of the costume that we bought for her to wear to daycare. We were afraid that the little tulip fairy costume would come home in pieces, so we got something a little more substantial for her to wear to daycare. I made a slide show for you all to view. Hope you enjoy! To see more cute kids, check out Sarah's blog.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Reunion at the zoo

Tabitha is feeling much better--praise God! We ventured out to lunch and then the zoo on Saturday. We got to spend some time with some special friends: Anna Rose and her mommy and daddy, Mabry and her mommy, and another friend of Mabry and Anna's mommys and daddy. We spent about week and half hanging out with Anna and her parents when we went to pick up Tabitha. They had been there a couple of weeks before we came down to wait out pink. We ended up being there 3 weeks. Part of me misses being there, it was so beautiful and it is Tabitha's birth country, but I am so grateful that we are home all together in this wonderful country. It was great spending time with friends again.

FFF "Pumpkins"

This week's Favorite Friday Foto theme is: "Pumpkins". We are suppose to show our little pumpkins in action. Since this is Tabitha's first Halloween home, we do not have pictures yet of her in a Halloween costume. We also have not carved our Jack O' Lanterns yet. Tabitha has actually been too sick this week to be very active. She did go to the pediatrician today, we did not get good news though. She has bronchiolitis as well. She now has nebulizer breathing treatments that she has to take. She's been such a trooper about it though. She has been very good to take her treatments with little or no fight---yea! I am posting a picture of her getting one of her treatments and then a couple of pictures of her being more active. If you'd like to see more "pumpkins" in action, check out Sarah's blog.


"Gidde up horsie"

"Faster dad, faster" ---this picture was taken while we were at the hotel pool in Chicago.

Oh no, here we go again....!

You notice that since Tabitha had her ear tubes done in May, I haven't really written about her being sick--probably because she hasn't been. Oh she's had a few runny noses and a bout of the 24 stomach bug, but nothing really big to say. Well that phase of life all ended Sunday. She had this cough that she's had off and on for a few weeks and I thought nothing of it. I put her down for her nap Sunday, all fine and well. She woke up with a fever--mind you Tabitha never does anything half way, no, she had a fever of 104.1! So Tim and I were off to the urgent care with her. Fortunately we didn't have to wait long, the Dr. saw her, said that it was "viral" a URI (upper respiratory infection), give her Tylenol and/or Motrin for fever reduction and let it run it's course. Well, I know my baby and she doesn't just run a 104 temperature for a little "viral URI". So I did give her Tylenol alternating with Motrin through out the night and got up Monday morning and promptly called the pediatrician's office. I took her and found out that she has pneumonia!! I mean I knew she was sick, but I was not expecting to hear that she had pneumonia. I was expecting an ear infection, strep throat, but not pneumonia. She had to have one of those painful Rocephin shots in her little leg and now is on Biaxin--which by the way, tastes like c---! and has a terrible after taste---but I do manage to get her to take it without too much hassle. She's going back to the pediatrician in the morning for a follow up visit. She seems to feel a little better--a little more playful today, but you can tell that she just really doesn't feel too good. She was such a brave little trooper during the blood test to check her blood count, they pricked her finger, she didn't cry but was quite curious as to what the nurse was doing with that little tube sucking up the little blood drops. I stayed home Monday and Tuesday, Daddy has the rest of the week. It was SO hard to go to work and leave her this morning. I mean I know that Tim is quite capable of taking care of her, but I wanted to be with her. I did resist the temptation to call home every 30 minutes though and only called twice....but I did come home for lunch though! Pray for us that we get some encouraging news at the Dr. tomorrow. I hate seeing my little baby sick!

Chicagoland here we come! Part 2: Saturday & Sunday

In the previous post I told about visiting Tim's family on Thursday and Friday. I didn't mention that part of that time was spent rather somberly visiting Tim's mother and youngest sister's graves--Tim's mom past away in 2006 and his sister in 2004.
Saturday we travelled back to the Chicago suburbs. I lived in Chicago for 19 years. I went to nursing school and worked as a nurse during my time there. I still have my late husband's family (who still consider me as part of the family) living there. We visited Saturday with his sister Jeanne, his mother Angie, Jeanne's husband Archie, and Jeanne's son Jay and his wife April. A special guest appearance was made by my newest little great nephew, Andrew---he slept during the entire visit! I enjoyed seeing them all very much! We were going to go to the Lincoln Park zoo after our lunch with Jeanne and the family, (we actually drove over into the city), but by the time we got through all of the downtown traffic and up to the zoo, the zoo was only going to be open for 15 more minutes!! Since it cost $20 to park!!!!---we decided to fore go the zoo. AW WWW!
Sunday we drove over to the North side suburbs to visit my longtime friend Carrie. We met her up at her sister's house. Her sister has a couple of kids and as an added bonus, Carrie's parents were there visiting from New York. It was great to see them all. Tabitha had a great time playing with the kids and "adopted" their big yellow lab as her own. (Picture of them together is in the "friends" post)
We also met some cousins of mine on Saturday, but unfortunately I was not able to get any pictures of it---I exhausted the battery on the camera and we forgot to bring the spare!
Monday we headed back to South Carolina. The trip was short but very enjoyable and we're glad that everyone finally got to meet Tabitha!

Jeanne & Tabitha "playing"

April & me

"Come on Goldie, let's go play"

Me, Carrie (back to us), and Arlene

Carrie & me

Tabitha & Goldie "hangin' out"--look how dirty Tabitha got playing!! She had a ball!

Chicagoland here we come! Part 1: Thursday & Friday

Tim, Tabitha and I went to Chicagoland over the Columbus Day weekend. Tim and I hadn't been to Chicago in over 8 years! The last time I saw many of the people that we visited was at our wedding which was 7 years ago this past August! Tim grew up in Northwest Indiana, the Portage, Hobart area. His sisters and his Dad still live in the area. We flew into O'Hare Thursday and met up with family that afternoon and evening. Friday was spent at his sister, Trina's house at a family cookout. It was a really good time. Trina's backyard was perfect for the evening. She recently had it landscaped and it is beautiful. The weather really cooperated too, the days were warm, upper 70's low 80's and the evenings were nice and cool. Tabitha had never met her aunts, grandfather or any of her cousins. Despite that, she seemed to know that she was suppose to "hang out" with the kids vs. the adults. So much of the evening was spent running around the yard while the other kids were playing a game of some sort. We ended the evening sitting around the fire pit catching up with what's been going on in our lives.

waiting at Charlotte airport, Mr. Mouse made the trip with us!

dinner Thursday night

Friday evening cookout

Cousin Eric & Grandpa Bob

Yes, a wardrobe change---she poured juice all over the other one!

Hanging out around the fire pit

FFF "Friends"

***Edited to include disclaimer---the picture of the last dog and Tabitha isn't her dog. It is our friend, Arlene's dog, but Tabitha's new "friend".****This week the theme for FFF is "Friends". Tabitha doesn't have too many "friends" as she is an only child and Tim and I don't really have a lot of friends. We've only been in South Carolina 3 1/2 years--plenty of time to make friends I'm sure you are thinking. Well, we have made friends, just not friends with people who have children Tabitha's age. Remember, we are older parents and well most of our friends have grandchildren---heck WE have grandchildren! Tabitha does have some friends though and I managed to get some pictures. Check out Sarah's blog to see more beautiful children and their friends.
Tabitha did make some new friends this past weekend on our trip to Chicagoland to see family and friends. She's also got a great little friend, a neighbor child who loves to come over and play with Tabitha. Then of course she has her "fur" friends.
Sorry some of the pictures are distant and you can't see the friend's faces. That was done partially on purpose. I don't like to post other people's children's faces on the blog unless their parents already publish their pictures online and since I don't know if their parents do or not, I decided to play it safe.

Big Girl Rocker

Sorry I didn't get to post any Favorite Friday Fotos of "Octoberfest", the theme that Sarah had chosen for this week; we were out of town and I didn't have access to a computer. We went to visit family and friends in Chicagoland. I'll post pictures of the trip later. Tonight I wanted to share a few photos of Tabitha that we took before we left. She loves to rock in the recliner in the family room and just discovered the great old rocker that is in her bedroom. The rocking chair I know was my grandmother's and how old it was prior to my obtaining it, I have no idea. I do know that it is OLD. Tabitha loves it though. She reminds me a little of "Edith-Ann" --for all of you older readers, from "Laugh-In". For you younger readers, it was a character that Lilly Tomlin played on a '60's variety comedy show. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

FFF "Summer Memories"

This week Sarah has picked the theme "Summer Memories" for our Favorite Foto Friday. We're suppose to pick pictures from this past summer. This summer was pretty hot for me, but we did manage to enjoy it. Tabitha loves being outside and doing outdoor activities. If you'd like to see more pictures of kids and their summers, check out Sarah's blog.









I guess you could summarize our summer with one word: FUN!!!