Utica Baptist Halloween Festival!

Doctor Zachary and I went to the Halloween Festival tonight and had a great time!

Zach's Fall Festival at School!

Denver Downs Farm!

Today, we enjoyed a few hours at Denver Downs Farm with our good friends Mariko, Haley and Hunter! The kids had a wonderful time!

School Pictures

Today was Zachary's first day of school and he had school pictures today!

Enchanted Tracks @ Pavillion

Today, we went to Enchanted Tracks at the Pavillion in Greeville with our friends Jolene, Elliott, Owen, Marty and Ray. Zachary was a doctor and Will was a giraffe. They had a lot of fun. Zachary's favorite part was riding George the Train!

Pumpkin Patch

Today, Zachary's class had a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. Zachary is not back in school yet so we met his class. Zachary was not himself but enjoyed seeing his friends. He is finally drinking lots of fluids but is not fully interested in eating. I am glad he got to spend some time with his friends.

Trip to ER!

Monday, I broke down and took Zachary to the ER by the suggestion of his surgeon. He was still not drinking enough fluids, urinating very little, had blisters on his lips, was refusing to take medications and was very tired and pale. He was given a fluid bolus and sent home. I think the trip to the ER really scared him into eating and drinking. He drank a whole bottled water when we got home! And he loved his new glasses from his friends Haley & Hunter! I hope this trip helps him to feel better!

Post Op Day #5

Today we have had a great day indoors watching movies and playing with crafts. Zachary has drank more today but will not even think about food - he had a few bites of Jello and that was it.



This afternoon, Mimi & Popi came to visit with cousins McKenzie & Mason. Zachary loved having someone to play with and I think it made him feel a lot better! The kids played with play dough, enjoyed snacks and then Zachary taught everyone how to be a doctor!

Post-Op Day #3

Today was a pretty good day. Each day is a little bit better. Zachary has good hours and bad hours. When he is not in pain, he is wanting to run and play. He actually spent some time outside with Dad today in the garage - he needed some fresh air. He is drinking more fluids but probably barely enough. He has eaten a little bit of mac & cheese but is scared to eat anything.

This is how Zachary gets away from little brother...


Our only problem is...my child stinks! I mean smelly stinks! The doctor warned us that his breath would be horrible and he would probably not allow us to brush his teeth (he will not even let us look into his mouth). He said it may smell for a few weeks. Not only is breath but his body stinks...he does not want a bath in fear of his ears getting wet and hurting. Of course with everything else that is going on, I am not going to force him into the bathtub yet!!

Here is a picture of the doctor that Aunt Jennifer sent! He loves him!

Post-Op Day #2

Today has been rocky...one hour he is great, the next hour he is feverish and limp. He drank very little fluid all morning and had only urinated once. After his nap, he was sweating and very tired so I decided to take him to the doctor. We left the house and Zachary decided he would rather have a milkshake...and he drank almost the entire thing. Tonight, he had three drinks lined up at his place at the table. Hopefully, we have learned how important it is to drink, drink, drink!

Snapshots of Will!

Drink, Drink, Drink...

We have had so much trouble getting Zachary to drink fluids with all the pain and nausea he is experiencing. A nurse from St Francis called today to check on him and advised us to call the surgeon if he does not start forcing fluids. She said it sounded like he needed to be admited for IV fluids. We did everything...ice, jello, milkshakes, popsicles, Wendy's frosty, and nothing seemed to work. I even told him we would have to go back to the hospital if he did not start drinking. He did not seem to care! Finally, things turned around... He started playing with his fluids and syringes! He would suck up different color liquids into syringes and suck them out! YEAH! Who cares how he drinks it! Let's pray for a night of sleep and drinking!!!

Post Op Day 1

Zachary was up most of the night in pain, a fever and complaining of nausea. He slept with me all night with a window open and a cool mist humidifier to help moisten his throat and decrease the pain. He is drinking some fluids today but has not taken any food. We just have to keep the fluids going so that he does not get dehydrated! He will only sip on fluids because he says it hurts his throat too much!

Day of Surgery!

I was worried all weekend that Zachary's surgery would be postponed because he had been complaining of his ear all weekend. Saturday night at work, I talked with Dr Cooter and he said he would go to surgery unless he developed a fever!

We arrived at St Francis Women's at 6am for Zachary's surgery. He was very excited and had on his special pajamas! We were put in a room where Zachary was given a DVD player to watch movies. We met each person participating in his surgery. He put on a hospital gown and snuggled up in his new Cars Blanket...


Around 7:45am, he was taken to surgery. Dr. Cooter met with us in a conference room afterwards and said Zachary did very well. He said Zachary had a definite ear infection and the fluid was very dark and murky. He cultured the fluid so that we could make sure Zachary was on the appropriate antibiotics. Then, we were taken to Post-op to see Zachary...boy, was he mad. He was a raging bull...fighting the nurses, screaming and pulling out his IV's. He did not even acknowledge us for a while. He was given Morphine several times and finally calmed down. We spent an hour in post-op and then were transferred to a quiet private room. The nurse & doctor said if I was comfortable taking him home that we could leave at 10:30am. We were discharged at 10:31am!! Zachary wanted to go home more than anything!

Once getting home, we had an afternoon of sleep and nausea! It made for a very long day!

Day of Surgery!

You Are My Sunshine!

The night before Zachary's Big Surgery! We stayed up late and had icecream!

Zachary's Surgery!

Believe it or not, Zachary is excited about his surgery Monday. I do not think he fully understands but I answer all his questions honestly. He told his teachers that he is going to the hospital to finally get his ears fixed...and the doctor is going to take out his teeth! No, Zachary...tonsils & adenoids! We bought him a new fleece Cars blanket today to take to the hospital. He says it will hurt a little but that will be okay. I am glad we are having this done because he woke up this morning saying his ears hurt last night and he slept on two pillows...hopefully, we will not have any of this after the surgery!

I had a thirty minute phone assessment with the nurse yesterday. She said the surgery will take less than a hour, he will then go to post-op for one hour and then he will go to a private room where he can have visitors & watch movies for four hours to monitor for bleeding. David and I will be with him the whole time except in the sterile OR. I think I am more nervous and scared than Zachary is...

We will keep you posted!

No More Baylor...

Well, I will not be fortunate to only work weekends anymore. Human Resources came in on Sunday morning at 6am to inform us that Baylor will no longer be a position due to the economy! Yikes! What is best is that we have to let them know by this Thursday if we would like another position. So much for allowing time to find another job. My director said I would not have a problem staying every weekend since no one really wants to work those nights. So, I have three choices...Part time, Full time and as needed. If I am part time (Sat and Sun nights), I am first on call when our census is low (I risk not even getting full pay checks during low census). If I am full time, I am required to work three shifts a week. Three shifts a week would not be a problem if my husband did not work so much and was not on call all the time. As needed employees make lots more $$ but have no benefits (I do not want to lose my 401K or life insurance) and are on call a lot like part time employees. Decisions, decisions, decisions....all to be made by Thursday! YIKES!

Kids Workshop at Home Depot

Today, we went with our friends Jason, Mariko, Haley & Hunter to Home Depot for the monthly Kids Workshop - today's craft was a FireHouse Bank! We were surprised to see the entire parking lot blocked off with so much more for the kids. The kids sat in the Fire Truck, turned on the Policeman cars' sirens, learned about choking, took pictures with the Chick-fil-a Cow, were loaded into an ambulance on a stretcher, watched an electricity demo, rode on a dune buggy and received lots of free stickers and stuff. You know how much Zachary loves Firemen and Police men - he even insisted on wearing his Police Uniform today - not even knowing the Policemen would be at Home Depot. Each child was also fitted and given a FREE bicycle helmet. After all the fun, lunch was FREE and provided by both Fatz & Little Ceasears! We had a wonderful time and plan on going every month for these Kids Workshops!!