It Takes A Village

While I was in Georgia for almost a week, many people pitched in to take care of Lyla. That's one thing about my staying home with her...we don't have a "plan b" when it comes to daytime childcare. Lyla stayed with Aunt KK (Kristie) & Unc John Wednesday to Friday then she was home Friday night with DaDa. Saturday day, she was with Granny and Papa and later that night, both Seth and Lyla stayed with Shane and Suzanne where Suzanne got to give her a bath and learned that the bath-giver also takes a bath thanks to Lyla's love of splashing. Then Sunday night, Lyla went to stay with Dana and Tom and their two little girls. Their oldest daughter, AR, was very excited about a bubble bath. We all thought Lyla would also love a bubble bath since she loves bubbles so much. Yeah....NO. Apparently, Lyla liked the "idea" of a bubble bath but panicked when she was put in the bubbles. Monday night, she was asking for Momma and by Tuesday afternoon, Lyla was more than ready to be back home. Seth picked her up Tuesday afternoon with a plan to pick me up at the airport at 5:30. However, I was flying standby and got bumped from my 4:15 flight to the 7:11 flight. I admit that there were many tears when I learned this news. After an exhausting week away, I just couldn't stand the thought of 3 more hours in the Atlanta airport. By the time Seth and Lyla picked me up at 8:30, all three of us were extremely tired but happy to be together again. Other than a little laundry, I didn't do much yesterday. It was nice. I am still a little tired but am back in the swing of things today.

Mom was moved out of ICU into PCU yesterday. It would have happened sooner but there were no beds available. Unfortunately, we still do not have the test results from the biopsy. Mom's level of alertness seems to vary which is probably normal after any brain surgery. The surgeon warned us that she would have flu-like energy for about a month. Speech & physical therapy are both going well. Thanks for your continued prayers for my family. We truly are feeling them and don't know what we would do without them.

A Lot Going On

You may be wondering where I have been...well, I haven't been online, for one thing. A week ago, my mom had a seizure and had to be rushed to the hospital, where she has been ever since. My sister, Alison, and I each flew into Atlanta Thursday morning. Mom had a brain biopsy last Friday morning during which they discovered that her brain was very swollen. Preliminary tests showed that she most likely has vasculitis which is an inflammation of the blood vessels in the brain. We hope to have even more information today or tomorrow but based on our own internet research, we understand that vasculitis is treatable with 6-12 months of steroids. Mom has been in ICU since the procedure and will be there at least another night. She does know who everyone is and is very alert. However, she is also very agitated because she doesn't understand why she is in the hospital and why she can't get up, etc. We are optimistic but it will be a long road. Alison and I are both flying back home tomorrow afternoon. Thanks for your prayers for our family. I have a great post about Lyla but am waiting to get home and get a picture to put with it.

Valentine's Day Party

Lyla and I went to a Valentine's Day Party with our church this morning. She had lots of fun making Valentines, decorating & eating a cupcake, going fishing for prizes and listening to a story. We hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day today!

Sunny Days, Sweepin' the Clouds Away

I have mentioned Lyla's love of Sesame Street before and thought you might enjoy watching her dance to the intro. She identifies a few of her favorites; Elmo, Ernie and Cookie (Monster). One of her NEW favorites is Abby Cadabby but she made an appearance in the intro before I started taping.

For those of you who haven't seen or heard the current intro, enjoy!

Playdate

Lyla had a playdate yesterday with AR. AR is a year older than Lyla and was so good at sharing and helping Lyla with the shape and animal puzzles. They had so much fun playing together and did a great job wearing each other out, too. As hard as I tried to keep her awake, Lyla was sound asleep long before we made it home. Of course, playdates (as you may know) aren't just for the kids--Dana and I had a really nice visit, too.

On a completely different note, just minutes after we arrived home, our power went out due to severe winds. I didn't even get to shut the garage door. Dana called us periodically with weather updates letting us know of tornado warnings, etc. We were prepared to wake up Lyla from her nap and take cover in the bathroom but thank goodness, it didn't come to that. Luckily, electricity was restored after just a few hours and the storm and winds didn't seem to do any damage to our home.

Here they are climbing over a stuffed lamb in the corner of AR's sister, VE's room.

Early Valentine's Day

Monday night, Seth and I, along with three other couples, went to an annual Valentine's Day event at a local church called "A Celebration of Love and Laughter" with comedian, Tim Hawkins. We had seen Tim on tv and then a friend loaned us a dvd but he has a new dvd out now so most of last night's stuff was new. Below are some of my personal favorites. However, he has a brand new song that I can't find anywhere on the internet that is set to the song "Yesterday" and is all about Chick-fil-A. "Oh, I'm in love with Chick-fil-A." If Tim Hawkins comes close to where you live, please try to see him. You will laugh until you cry.







There's plenty more to see if you search youtube.com.

Nice Weather...Finally!

After the back-to-back snow/ice storms we had, we are finally able to enjoy the outdoors a little bit! When their was snow on the ground, I just couldn't bring myself to put Lyla in tights. So, warmer weather meant she could finally wear this cute dress! Sunday afternoon, we opened the windows and just let the breeze blow through. It was so nice to have some fresh air through the house. Lyla and Seth listened to the birds in the backyard and even enjoyed the swing on the back porch. And, while it's not related to the nice weather--I had to post these pictures of Lyla using a fork like a big girl! Lyla's Granny gave her a little fork to use to eat her pancakes at breakfast and mac n cheese at lunch. So, we gave her a fork for her pizza last night and she was a natural. We are so proud of her.

(someone's car alarm was going off and she did not like the noise)

Mahna Mahna

Lyla's Aunt Alison shared this video with us over Thanksgiving. It is one that makes her smile and she thought Lyla would like it. She couldn't have been more right. Lyla loves it! Whenever I am on the computer, she says "Maa Maa." Well, the rest is self-explanatory.

The ORIGINAL "Mahna Mahna"

Lyla's cover of "Mahna Mahna" (with a little help from me)

Zippers

I'm slackin' again...I know. I have a couple of posts in the works, though, I promise. Anyway, the weather in Kentucky is so crazy. This weekend was beautiful and I didn't even need a coat but now there is a blizzard outside my window. I am so over winter and ready for spring. Here's how I found Lyla one morning. She is just so stinkin' cute--she can't help it!

Two Peas in a Pod

Seth's sister, Kristie, still didn't have electricity and with only a fireplace to keep them warm at Granny and Papa's house, Lyla and I brought my nieces, Maisie and Jamie to our house Thursday. Maisie was only here long enough to take a shower because she ended up having to work that night but Jamie stayed the night with us. She and Lyla have so much fun together. Jamie loves helping with Lyla and even washed her hair during their bath. (It was originally just Jamie's bath but Lyla was dying to get in with her.) Lyla really looks up to her cousin and thinks anything Jamie does is hilarious. We took the girls to Chick-fil-a for what turned out to be Kids' Night and Lyla played in the play area for the first time. She got "stuck" though and didn't want to move through the tunnel OR go back down the stairs so I had to climb up in there and get her to go one way or the other. She finally went through the tunnel but then wouldn't leave the "plane" section. So I climbed back up in there again and put her down the slide. It was pretty funny. Friday the two girls made Valentines. Jamie is really good at showing Lyla what to do and encouraging her--she loves her little cousin.