What a week!

This has been such a long week for it to be so short.

Monday - Though it was a holiday, I still had to work. I guess that's the downfall of being in the medical field. After work Monday was filled with doctor appointments and birthday parties. Taylor saw the ENT and he said she needed tubes. What a shock! She's scheduled tubes for Feb 11. She'll stay on antibiotics until then to keep her ears clear. After Taylor's appointment, we had Adams with the orthopedic. His legs checked out fine. Doctor basically said he was a lucky sun of a gun. It would take months for his legs to completely heal but he has no structural damage. That night we celebrated Melissa's birthday with pizza and delicious cupcakes. We had a good time and the kids enjoyed playing with each other.

Tuesday - What a snow storm! We got a whopping of a dusting that they cancelled school for. I had to stay home with Taylor since daycare closed for all the snow but we had a good time together. I was pretty exhausted by the time Adam got home that evening. We really didn't get much snow at our house, not compared to what I've heard some others had. What a dissapointment.

Wednesday - Back at work and it turns out that we have 3 clinical people out - for the rest of the week (didn't know that then). Since I'm on desk duty that makes the office even short staff for most clinical duties. I ended up handling 3 out of 5 of the nurse calls, which I've never done before. The office was insane. We were all struggling to stay afloat but made it through the week.

Thursday - After another crazy day at work, I had an OB appointment. Everything checked out fine. No changes and as the doctor said we're just staying the course. Call if anything changes. One good thing she helped me realize is the pain and pressure I'm having real low isn't contractions or contraction residual, it's ligament pain. She had me laid back and pressed softly where the ligaments were and it about made me jump off the bed. That's exactly some of the discomfort I've been having and she says the pains get worse with each pregnancy. So I'm more comfortable knowing that I'm not contracting as much as I thought I was. I do have to monitor for contractions each night but have been getting good reports. It seems I do pretty well unless I push myself physically to much and even then they calm down once I settle down. I go back in four weeks, which will make me 26 weeks and almost the time that I went into labor with Taylor.

Friday - We had a fake break in at the house. Drama never ends at the Morrison household. Kay and DOn came by to pick something up from the house while we work at work. When they arrived, our front door was wide open. As far as we can tell nothing was taken and the place was still a mess. For peace of mind, we are assuming Adam forgot to shut the door that morning. That afternoon, my home health nurse, Kim, came by to give me my 17p shot. My parents were there and enjoyed watching Taylor play with Kim. She's so good with her. Taylor loves playing with her equipment and shocked all of us by knowing how to use the stethescope and monitor. I swear in the pictures on Snapfish (and I'll post some here later) Taylor did everything on her own. I thought Taylor wouldn't be a medical person because of all she's gone through at the doctors office, but after seeing her Thursay, she may be a natural born nurse/doctor.

Saturday - Adam and I packed up and hit the road. We bought a dresser (from His House - the best kept secret in town) for the babies room. We quickly and nervously walked through the US#1 flea market - which is a place for people up to NO GOOD - shoppers and vendors. We scouted out some furniture stores for twin beds for Taylor. We are hoping to put her in a big girl bed real soon... we just have to find the right bed. We've got some in mind but haven't purchased anything yet. And most excitingly, we picked out the decor for Baby M's room. I can't wait to get it done. You can check it out at Babies R Us - it's called Mulberry by KidsLine. So pretty but the picture doesn't do it justice. We have so much to do the room right now, it overwhelming. And Taylor room actually needs to be rearranged as well. But for Baby M, it's currently used as a junk room. So we have to find places for everything in it. The carpet will most likely have to be replaced (due to too many cat accidents) and then we can start painting and decorating. We have a treadmill that we are going to try and sell. It's brand new - bought it last May and literally been used probably 10 times. We bought it for about $500 but would tell it for $350-$400, most likely. Not in stone, but if you're interested or know someone who is, please let us know.

Well that sums up our week. Hope everyone had a good one. Blogging off for now... check back later for pictures.

Full Moon 2009

Have you heard? Tonight (Saturday) will be the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. So that has to be the explanation for all the chaos around us. In fact, December's full moon was the biggest and brightest of 2008 so for the past month we've been orbited by the powers of the moon.

I'm a full believer in the full moon phenomenon. After working in the medical field for many years, I've seen first hand the craziness that comes about from full moons and hurricanes (barometric pressures). It's not just people that go crazy (though some tend to do) but the crazinest things happen. In my current job, we can clock the moons by how our day goes. The strangest and most stressful events happen close to the full moons.

So that has to be the explanation for the past week. And I've found out it's not just been us three that is feeling the effects. Adam's brother tore a ligament in his ankle this week and spent an afternoon in the hospital. My dad has thrown his back out and is hobbling and a girl at work (who probably has it worst) her mom was in a car accident on Sunday and is in intensive care at Richland. I haven't heard any updates lately on her but the last I heard it was still iffy if she would survive.

The 'good news' about all this is that aftertonight the full moon will slowly diminish and it can only get better for all of us. RIGHT??

Cinnamon Rolls....

Yummm, I'm sitting here enjoying a nice warm plate of cinnamon rolls. I'm on my third... oooh I shouldn't say that and still counting. They are so good. The highlight of my week! I'll probably have a belly ache afterwhile but for now they are hitting the spot. Baby M likes them too though her favorite is Banana Nut Crunch Cereal. That makes her go haywire. :-)

We are slowly recovering from our intense week. Adam saw the doctor yesterday (family doctor not ortho) to make sure he was healing properly... for now. He came home with new meds and wraps for his legs. He looks like a burned victim but they are working well. He's working on getting a knee brace for support.

I went back to work yesterday. It was kind of rough but most everyone is being supportive. I'm having some problems with what I am almost certain is sciatic nerve problems in both legs. Quite painful. If anyone knows any good remedies, let me know.

Taylor officialy has the 'crud.' Hopefully it won't turn into anything more. She is feeling pretty rotten and we can't keep up with her nose. She did however sleep much better last night, which was a relief.

She is so cute and I've realized that she has inherited the CiCi neat gene. Even at 15 months, she amazes me with her cleaning skills. Last week, she found a napkin on the floor and she started scrubbing the kitchen floor with it. She spent the longest time in her own little world 'mopping' the floor.

This week Adam and I were in the living room talking and she was just playing by herself. She walks to the kitchen and comes back with a kitchen towel... dragging it the way she does her blankie. It was the same color so we paused wondering if she thought it was her blankie. But she walked over to her stool in the living room and started wiping it. I looked down and amazingly there was water all over her stool and she was cleaning it up on her own.

If she finds trash on the floor, she will walk it to the trash can without anyone telling her to. Then she'll start playing in the trash but that's another story. It's amazing. Half of this stuff, I don't know where she even got it from. It's amazing what they pick up on. Oh, it's the little things .. but it's so sweet to see our little Taylor becoming a responsible citizen so early on. heh heh


Just a clarification on Baby M - we don't have any names picked out yet. We really haven't talked much about names. Heck, we havne't started on anything... am I really expecting? We were going to start clearing out the 'nursery' this weekend but opted not since all three of us are crippled/sore/sick. Hopefully it'll get done before the baby arrives. One day we'll come up with a name as well. As far as I see it we still have 5 months to prepare... right? That's coming from someone who doesn't have a procrastination bone in her body. Kind of scary!

Bloggin off for now....

Big Big News

Highlights from today....

1.Adam has joined the blogging world. See following post. I thought it was very well done and was quite a surprise for me to read when I logged on just now.

2. Taylor has become a Tylenol/Motrin junkie and hates her pediatrician - but can you blame her as much as we see him. We had another visit to the doctor today to have her checked out. She cries as soon as he hears his voice. It's actually pretty sad. She's been running fever off and on all week and has this terrible cough. Luckily, all tests were normal and doctor believes she just has the 'crud.' Hopefully we can keep it that way (and it not get worse or go to ears). But she loves her Tylenol and if she see's the bottle will drop her passe and hang her mouth open - even when she's not needing it.

3. As most know, I've been out of work all week but will return tomorrow with new work orders. Per doctors orders, I must stay off my feet as much as possible, which intails different work orders, or I'll be put on bedrest. I am still heading towards bedrest but hopefully staying off feet at work and some at home will prolong it. Luckily, my work is willing to work with me to keep me sedentary. I go back tomorrow and we'll see how this works.

4.As as most are dying to know or already do.... we found out the sex of Baby M today. Well..... IT"S A GIRL! Who would have thought. I was sure it was a boy and most people I've talked to voted boy. But this morning as I was laying in bed my half stranger neighbor sent me a text message saying she thought it was a girl. Apparently, she had a dream last night about Adam and me and we had two little girls in it. Also, Lisa called me right before my appt to say she thought the same. These were the only two people who said they thought it was a girl and they waited until today to tell us. Adam thought all along it was a girl. He was a bit disappointed as he's so excited to carry on his Morrison gene and name but I think he is and will continue to come around. I'm excited but think I would have been excited either way. We got some good pics of the baby.... and she looks very different from Taylor - as far as I can tell right now. However, I think she will look more like Adam. She weighed 14 oz, which ironically is what Taylor weighed at her first ultrasound, which was at 21 weeks as well.



It's been an extremely exhausting day and week. Glad tomorrow is Friday. Blogging off for now.

Hello from Adam

I just wanted to drop a quick line and say thanks to everybody concerned about our family. Amy got her 17P shot today and is feeling much better with the contractions. And Taylor seems only to have a cough.

My legs are worlds better. They just look worlds worse. The bruising has turned a nice shade of black and purple and has spread up and down and around my legs. On my left leg, it has even made its way to my heel. Also, there is still a fair amount of swelling. I am not quite sure how I didn't break anything. When Paul and Amy and myself went out to look at the limb, there was only 3 to 4 inches of space where my leg was pinned. Obviously my leg is not that thin.

On a different note, Amy has been telling me for years that I need to be more careful, and that I am not invincible. For the most part, I think I have been more careful(especially since Taylor). But, as 'The attack of the Pecan Tree' shows, you can never be too careful. I think the two weirdest conversations I had after the accident were from Amy, and surprisingly, my little bro Daniel. First, Amy sits me down and wants to talk about life insurance. Do you have enough Adam? When you die I want to make sure that the kids and I will be OK? I found this to be a weird conversation for 2 hours after arriving home from the hospital. But, I assured her that if I bit the bullet, that she and the kids would be in great standing.


Then shortly after this, I get a call from Daniel. He does the family obligated 'are you alright?', and then proceeds to tell me that I must be running out of lives. He tells me that I have gotten into too many accidents and that I should be more careful. So I respond by telling him that it was just an accident and that no matter how careful you are, you can never be sure when it comes to trees, AND that I will be back out to Pauls to personally kill that limb. At this point he just doesn't care and starts naming the car accidents, fallings(from great heights), near bow and arrow misses, ricochets, 4-wheeler accidents(more than he could even count) and countless other things that ALMOST messed my world up.

Well, I have to say that I do intend to be more careful, and that Daniel was the one that really got me thinking. It wasn't because of the near misses that I have had. I think if you talk to almost any guy, you will find that they all have them. Some have more, some have less, but I believe that every guy has them. What really got me thinking was the fact that it came from Daniel. This is a kid who, when he thought that I was going to Turkey for the war in Iraq, had only one thing to say to me as I left. It was 'If you get killed can I have your stereo?' That was the last thing he said to me before we both thought I was heading to Turkey, and then into Iraq. Now, he was like 8 and all he could think about was a stereo, and didn't understand the gravity of the situation, but once he called about the tree accident, I just couldn't get the two conversations out of my head.

Well that's all. I just wanted to let everybody(Carol and Paul and Amy) know that I intend to be more careful. I think Amy is right about the insurance, and I believe I am going to make a great step in that direction. So first thing in the morning, I am upping HER insurance!

And what is it she says? BLOGGING OFF for now.

Rollercoaster Ride continues....

Well unfortuantely, the drama in the Morrison household has continued for the past few days. Today was much calmer but thank goodness. Just to recap - if that's something I can do.

Saturday- Adam's unlucky run-in with the pecan tree. Spent four hours in the ER. Saturday night I started having contractions so bad that my parents had to come get Taylor. Poor T was back and forth between houses all day but I knew that Adam and I weren't capable of watching her. Contractions calmed down for the night after I was able to settle down.

Sunday - We enjoyed our rest but my contractions and 'irritability' continued. After a long debate and talk with my home nurse, Kim, we thought it would be best to get checked out at the hospital. So Adam and I headed up there. As we pull in the parking lot, my OB doctor returned my call and told me to not go to the ER, but to go home and put my feet up, drink lots and see how the night goes. He also said to not plan on going back to work until Wednesday. By this point, I was pretty frustrated because I felt like I needed peace of mind that things were okay. We went to get Taylor from my parents and then headed home.

Monday - Taylor went to daycare and I had the house to myself. I was still feeling iffy. Contractions had calmed down - nothing like they were on Saturday- but was still having a good many if I was up and about. I decided to call the office to see if they thought I need to be seen. Well after that call, the doctor decided I should go to the Maternal Assessment Unit at the hosptital. So Adam who had 'hobbled' to work today despite his gimped up legs, had to leave work early and meet me at the hospital. I ended up spending about 3 hours there. Of course, during those three hours, I had minimal contractions but again showed a good bit of irritablity. They gave me a shot of Brethine, which really jacks you up, and sent me home with the pill version to take when my contractions become more than 5 an hour. What comfort. Everything else checked out fine - no dilation, etc. What a relief.

Well we weren't home but an hour and a half from the hospital when Lisa (daycare) called about Taylor. Taylor was screaming her head off - high pitch shrills, unconsolable - for the last hour. I could hear her and the adrenaline rush kicked back in. Here we go... Adam had already left to go get her but I swear that half hour was the worst. Taylor was going baserk. I've never heard her scream the way she was screaming and I felt 'helpless' that I couldn't get to her. I just had to wait for Adam to bring her back. We were contemplating taking her straight to urgent care - she was screaming that bad- but Adam thought he could get her home first. She calmed down some with Adam and was able to get her home, where she obviously didn't feel good and sobbed and whimpered some but nothing like she was doing at Lisa's. We gave her some Motrin (per her doctors orders) and went to take her temp. At this point, we couldn't get the thermometer in, she starts screaming again and I panic. I thought, oh she's eaten something she can't pass. If you know Taylor, she's a human vacuum. Adam even saw what I saw. We immediately got her in the car and headed to urgent care. However, on the way there, she seemed to calm down. We then started to reasses the situation - Adam and I clearly weren't very stable and seem to be jumping to rash decisions at this point. We realized what ever pain she was in the motrin helped... and maybe we could make through the night. That sure would cost us hundreds versus a doctor office copay. I realized that if she ate anything it wouldn't be obstructed where we thought it was and perhaps she was constipated, even though she just went yesterday. Third, we were headed to the satellite urgent care - were they equipped for a toddler? and the cost of walking in the door. I didn't want to put Taylor through the exams and such they would do if we went there if she seemed content at this point. So we decided to go home and see how she does.

GOOD DECISION. Taylor ended up being constipated (was that the cause of her screaming fit????- maybe) but that resolved itself. She did run a fever from the time she got home from daycare to about 2 am but then she woke up in a sweat and hasn't had a fever since. (Maybe she had a quick virus along with it????? It was the craziest thing I've ever seen. I kept her home with me (despite me supposedly taking it easy) just to watch her and incase she needed to go to the doctor. But she has felt great and no fever.

I currently am doing better. Still not contraction free, but went most of the day without them. They returned last this afternoon, which is common, I think. I go to the OB doctor Thursday for an appointment and the BIG ultrasound. Work said just come back Friday with a note from my doctor approving me being there. So hopefully, I'll be able to get some rest tomorrow. This rollercoaster ride has been absolutely exhausting.

Adam is doing much better. He's off cruches and yesterday realized he could bend his knee more - until then he hadn't tried. The bruising is really settling in and Taylor constantly asks him 'what's that?' See the pics below of his boo boo as of today - 3 days after. Saturday, there wasn't much to see as it was all internal - swelling and red. Now it's more picture ready. We are still very grateful of this outcome. I believe Adam has played the incident in his head a thousand times since it happened as he talked about it nonstop for the first two days.

Hope everyone else is having a much calmer start to the new year. I hope this isn't a fortaste of what's to come for my family.

Rocky 2009 Start

Well it was only the third day into the new year and I had the scare of my life. Saturday, Adam had planned to go out to my parents in Gilbert to help cut down one last tree. By now, Adam is an expert tree cutter... literally he's cut probably 5-6 in our yard and helped with almost as many in Gilbert - and that's just been in the last 3 years. The victim today was a hundred year old HUGE pecan tree - so big you can't get your arms around it. Limbs that are as big as a normal tree trunk (if not bigger) splayed everyone. They were actually only trimming this tree - it's limbs- not taking it down completely.

So Saturday morning we rose as a family and headed out to Gilbert. I talked my mom into going to IHOP with Taylor and me. I couldn't wait... pancakes are my favorite. My mom has a hurt knee right now and is a hoppalong on crunches. :-) So I was playing chaeffeur (sp). Our first bad omen should have been the rain that started falling as my mom and me pulled out of the driveway. Let's see : tree cutting, chainsaw, ladder and rain.

Anyways, so mom and me are sitting at IHOP, we just got our food and Adam calls. He tells me that he's hurt his leg and is on the way to the hospital. At this point I'm thinking he's in the car with my dad. So I try to rush my food at IHOP and then decide to call him back to find out what happened. He says he got pinned by the tree and he's in the back of an ambulance. I'm freaking at this point.

I end up leaving my 'gimp' mother (sorry mama) at the restaraunt with my 15month old, who was oblivious as long as the food kept coming. Melissa, my sister, was coming to IHOP to pick them up. I headed to the hospital. Meanwhile, the stress of all this is causing me to have contractions... which is NOT a good thing, but atleast I was going to be at the hospital - best place to be.

My dad was waiting for me when I got there and we weren't too far behind the ambulance. Adam's dad was shortly behind us. Ambulance was definitely the way to go because the ER was absolutely packed - insane.

The story turns out to be that Adam was about 10 feet up in the pecan tree reaching out to cut the limb. This particular limb was already broken and partly laying on the ground. They were having doubts about this limb anyways but wanted to get it over with. When he cut it loose, instead of the limb falling straight down or out, it actually swung back toward Adam and pinned him against the trunk of the tree hitting/pinning him across both knees and lower legs. I'll post pics if I can but you have to imagine that this is a HUGE tree, the kind you only see in Gilbert or Batesburg Leesville or the mountains. Each limb is the size of a tree itself. Adam was able to somehow free himself from the tree. If you see the space he squeezed out of you'll know that it had to be adrenaline that abled him to lift that tree. He was able to make it to the ladder and sit tight until paramedics arrived. He thought he crushed both legs completely and knew he couldn't walk. I'm sure it felt that way too.

Adam turned out to be okay. The tree pinned across his left shin and pummelted his right knee. Fourteen xrays showed no broken bones (miracle) and the doctor said all his ligaments looked good. He got sent home with pain pills and a puny but grateful diagnosis of bruising and muscle damange to both legs.

He's home now and we are counting our blessings. This could have ended much more tragically with several different endings. We are so blessed his angels were looking out for him... again.

Happy New Year!

Wow, it's hard to believe it is 2009. I know everyone says that but it feels like just last year was 2000 and all were nervous about Y2K. Here we are almost 10 years later... geez... we get old fast.

Adam and I surprisingly had a good new years eve. We decided to stay put in our own home despite the party that family had. We thought that we just needed a break from socialization and germs since Taylor has been sick since November. She is well, feeling good and we'd like to keep her that way.

So our plans were for just the three of us to have an elaborated meal. The menu was as follows:
Appetizer: BBQ cocktail weenies
Mexican Cheddar Cheese fondue with carrots, broccoli, bread cubes and apple slices
Main meal: Marinated steaks with baked potatoes
Dessert: Chocolate fondue fountain with banana, strawberry, and cheesecake pieces


As we were cooking, our nieghbor across the street came over and needed help with his car. So Adam assisted with that and then asked if they wanted to come over later and have fondue and play games or something. These are the neighbors from New York so obviously, they stayed here for the New Year and didn't have any plans. So Adam, Taylor and I enjoyed our steak and potatoe. THen after Taylor went to bed Jessica and Luis came over. We enjoyed the cheese and and chocolate fondue - it was sooo good. We ended up playing games until midnight - Dominoes and Uno. We had a good time.

It was funny because as were playing the door bell rings and we're wondering who the heck it could be. It turns out to be our neighbor next door whose been missing in action for over a month. He stopped by one night before Thanksgiving to tell us he's got to go out to Denver for a week and could we watch his house and get his mail. But he's been gone 6 weeks. We didn't know the guy at all but I was starting to get worried. I knew there was a huge snow storm in Denver and there was a plane crash/mishap in Denver. I thought how long do we wait before we report him missing. heh heh.... but he showed up and yea he had some stories to tell from the snow. So for a while we had a house full of neighbors. Who would have thought!

For our lucky new years lunch, Taylor and I are going to Aunt Kays to enjoy black eye peas and rice and collards. I can't wait. I look forward to this meal each year and it's one that I can't seem to cook right myself. Adam has decided to stay home - probably get in some Xbox time - but he's not a big fan of this meal anyways.

I hope everyone has a great New Year's Day and stays bundled up... it's cold out there... finally!

Blogging off....