The Dino Mask

So, in a very strange turn of events Clayton and I are chilling here at the house this Thanksgiving day. Here's the back story.

Clayton has had a cough for about a week and a half now. No fever, no runny nose, not feeling bad, eating well, um.......relieving himself well. Needless to say, other than the cough we thought everything was pretty normal. That was until he woke up from his morning nap on Tuesday with a major allergic reaction. To what? Well that we still don't know. It could be any of about a million different thing. Anyway, I took him to the doctor because the hives(that's what it looked like in my semi-professional opinion) were really bad and had consumed his entire body. Of course by the time that we got to the doctor they were gone. Isn't that they way everything usually works out. Here's where the story goes a little off to the unexpected.

Since we were at the doctor's office anyway, I asked his PA(who is awesome, we really like her) to check out his cough. I was sure, and so was she that it was nothing more than a cough. She listened to his lungs and still felt the same. Here come the kicker.

AS A STANDARD PRECAUTION..............................................................................................................

She swabbed his nose to check for RSV. Sure enough, it came back positive. This surprised both Clayton's PA and his Mommy. So now we have a sick, quarantined baby, that's not really all that sick. The treatment for RSV is exile from society, and Albuterol breathing treatments. Clayton has to wear the "dino" mask 4-6 times every day. After we struggled through the first few treatments he has done really well with the mask.

I am incredibly thankful that he's not "sick" while he convalescing. So we are here hanging out. Have a great Thanksgiving.

(This one's just because it's really cute to watch him try to figure out the christmas tree)

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all

So it's Thanksgiving today. Enjoy your day with family. Enjoy eating until you feel like you're gonna explode. Enjoy the parades. Enjoy football. Enjoy planning your shopping strategy for Friday. Remember to be thanful for all that you ahve been blessed with. Have a great day.

I Know, I Know

I promise I will stop messing with the background on this blog. I was trying to find something really cool that just screamed "NIKKI"!

(chirping)

Oh well, I guess this one will have to do. I couldn't find anything better than this. If it's too hard to read please let me know.

Love Ya

Thankfulness

Thanksgiving will be here in less than a week, so Thankfulness, and what I'm Thankful for has been on mind a little more. That's probable a very good thing, because I'm not near as Thankful as I should be. What follows is a short list of things / people I'm Thankful for. Here goes:

• Salvation
• God's love, mercy, and grace
• The Bible being freely available
• Church being legal (and in our case a whole lot of fun)
• Chad
• Clayton
• Chad's health returning to a much more normal place(there are still rough minutes, but that just grows my patience)
• Our house (it's small, but so it the payment on the place)
• Clayton's red hair (it's a mommy thing)
• Mom, she's my friend now that I'm all growed up, and I love that
• Dad, he's always constant, and has the right answer for EVERYTHING!
• Jesse, a baby brother that's the funniest person in the whole world
• Amy, Jesse's wife, and we all know she deserves a medal for that
• Grandparents, all of mine are still alive, and that's a blessing. I don't see them as much as I need too, but I think about, and pray for them everyday(Love Ya G.)
  
• Chad's parents, they helped make him into the man he is today
• Chad's sister, she's just a cutie, and a whole lot of fun, it's fun to see the world through 17 year old eyes, now that I can enjoy it
• A family without drama
  
• Answered prayers, there are so many just for this year alone
• Calvary Baptist, they are great to us, love us, provide well for our family, and seem to actually enjoy having us there(it may all be an act, I would get tired of us too :P)
• USA, it's not everything that I would make, but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else, we have the freedom to love and worship our God as we see fit, not as the government tells us. That may change one day, but for now I think we should be thankful for that, and live our lives like we are thankful.
• Dt. Mountain Dew
• Starbucks
• Medtronic Insulin Pump 922(that's a Chad and Nikki thing)
• Internet, and blogs (I'm addicted)
• Whose Wedding Is It Anyway
• Pampers (not any other brand, I promise you I have tried many) and Walmart generic infant formula ( I know it makes no sense to be brand specific on one, and not the other but I like what I like)
• Christmas
• 12/26 (the day after)
  
• Boots
• Clayton's teeth, crawling, cruising, pulling up, eating, drinking, smiling, laughing, shaking his head no, jabbering, dada, mama, hey, mischief, dimples(I am thankful for everything that boy does, he is an answer to a very specific prayer, and we love him)
• A great job that's fun, and also pays well
• Life in general

I have a great life, that I wouldn't change at all. God has blessed me with more than I ever deserve, because I don't deserve anything but Hell. But, He chose to save me by His grace and love. Then He gave me "Handfuls on Purpose" of Chad, Clayton, family that is close to sane, many material things that I don't need, and soooooooooooo much more. There is no way for me to truly express my thankfulness to my Lord, and to those that I love. This is my feeble attempt.

Cruise In

I know I'm a proud Mommy, but I think my baby is the best ever. Last night he cruised the full length of our sofa. ALL BY HIM SELF. He was after Pepper, and of course when he got there she left. Oh well. Life must be hard for a baby. They work so hard to get somewhere, and then just when they reach the goal one of two things happen. Either, whatever they were after leaves or moves, or a much larger and hopefully more responsible ogre(adult) picks them up and puts them right back where they started. It must be a rough life

Family Pics

We had Christmas/Family pictures taken over the weekend. We had a blast and the pics turned out great. Clayton really is a ham. He loves to be the center of attention(I wonder where he got that.............). I'm not putting them all up because they are going to be Christmas presents for some of you.

Sleep like a Baby??????????????

Do you think you could sleep like this?


Does this look comfortable to you? I went to check on Clayton, and cover him up, before I went to bed last night, and this is how I found him. Remember, he's sound asleep.

Old Friends

I ran into a lady(or girl, I think we're still young enough) that I was friends with in elementary school today. She and I were able to talk for a few minutes about nothing really. It was just great to see her again. I had heard through others about her and had her on my mind lately. So, it was really cool that she just popped up at my office today. I once heard someone call that a "God-wink".

He's on the Move!!

CLAYTON IS CRAWLING.

He is going absolutely everywhere now. He's no longer bound to where you sit him down. No seems to be the "word of the day" every day at our house. For some reason Clayton likes to get the very thing that he shouldn't have. For example, the dogs toys, our shoes, the XBox, you name it it's his. And, it always goes directly to his mouth. He doesn't care, but eeww.

It's That Time of Year!

I love Christmas. I love planning for Christmas, decorating the house, listening to Christmas music on the radio. I like almost everything about Christmas. It's almost here. I did a little "scouting" at lunch today. Scouting is when you go to the store and plan what you might like to get someone else for Christmas. We know what we are getting Clayton, but the rest of our families is still up in the air. I have a few more ideas now, and I have started my list. If you want something specific you had better speak now, or hold your peace come 12/25/08.