Hospital Stay

Ok, where do I start???
Well, Wednesday Mackenzie was admitted to the hospital for an abscess that was forming on her back. She had fever and had been on antibx at home, so they thought she needed to be admitted for IV antibx and possible surgery to drain it. Through the week, she progressively got worse. Fevers continued and the abscess grew bigger and bigger despite the antibx. Then, a few days after being there, they discovered that the culture that was done of the abscess was resistant to the antibx she was on....so they switched them and I also was able to drain a lot of the pus out one night after a hot bath!!! The next day (Friday), she was doing better. Fevers were going down and she was finally starting to eat and drink again!!! Yay, road to recovery, or so we thought. Saturday evening, she was in the "treatment room" with another nurse and myself to get a new IV placed....she decided to have a seizure!!! Very scary thing to watch as a mother. The neurologist has told me that she could possibly have seizures due to the PVL (periventricular leukomalacia) in her brain....but I thought "she has come this far" and thought we were in the clear. So I am waiting on what the neurologist says about the seizure...hopefully we will just have to watch her and keep track before we start her on meds.
Anyway, as of now, she is doing great. Dr Sue drained the abscess today at the bedside (Mackenzie was sedated) and so hopefully she will not need the surgery. The plan right now is to have labs drawn in the morning and if those look good and neurology clears us.....WE ARE OUT OF HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our House

A few from Feb

Pics are finally here

Ok, so we left you with Christmas pictures...here are some from Jan.
We were at a Bday party which was held at bounce house warehouse. Mackenzie loved it, she got to climb all over everything and didn't matter if she fell! She also got to drive a race car with Daddy which of course played music!!
I haven't figured out why the blogger puts the pictures in this order, but I am working on it so it looks a little more in order.

Pictures to come...

I promise that tomorrow, after I take Mackenzie to school, I will work on uploading pictures from my camera and post them. A lot has been going on around here lately....We bought our first house on Dec 9, 2008!!! We have done a lot of work to it, but also have a lot of work left! I will add some pics of the house tomorrow too. Mackenzie is growing up so fast, I can't believe independent she has become. She is walking all over the place, and says new words everyday. She goes to preschool full time now and has been one of the best things for her. She has made a lot of friends and is learning so much!! Mike is doing well at his job, improving his skills everyday too. I am currently taking a class offered by my hospital to improve my skills in nursing. It will basically allow me to work either on the pediatric floor (which is where I will be most of the time) and also in the pediatric ICU!! They are paying me to go and it is something I have always wanted to learn. So long story short, things are good here...sorry we haven't put much up lately, but we have had internet problems and been working a lot on the house. Now that things are getting back to normal, I hope to have some posts up on a more regular basis...

Update

Well, I don't have any pictures right now because I have not had internet at my house. But as most of you know, we recently moved into our new home!! It is absolutely wonderful!! The house is a MESS...Mike knocked down one of our bedroom walls and then in Mackenzie's room there was some mold we had to take care of!! So, it's kind of hectic right now, still living out of boxes and sleeping on our mattress on the living room floor, but it is OURS!!!!!
We all have been sick, Mike is by far the worst. He was begging for a trip to the hospital the other morning...but I made him hold out to go to the dr office when they opened. He has a nasty upper respiratory infection, but is now on antibx and doing a little better. Mackenzie is starting a new daycare on Monday, we are not happy with the one she is at now. It is a little more expensive, but necessary for her to change!!!
We are going to my mom's for Christmas this year and are very excited to see how Mackenzie will react. Last year she was only 4 weeks old for Christmas and was fresh out of the NICU, so she really didn't get to do much!!! We are very excited to share the holidays with family this year since we missed last year!!!!

A few more that wouldn't fit

We took Mackenzie to Babies R Us on Sunday and had her 1 yr and Christmas pictures done. I think they turned out really good...here they are :-)

Andrew's Bday party

Last weekend we went to Tradewinds Park for Andrew's 1st Bday party. We got to pet animals at the petting zoo, ride a pony, and play on the playground. Mackenzie wasn't too crazy about the helmet she had to wear when it was time to ride the pony, but she finally got used to it. I thought she might be scared to ride, but she loved it. Mommy walked with the pony and Daddy held onto Mackenzie. She had a great afternoon playing with all the other kids...I love her face in that helmet too :-)

Mackenzie Turns 1!!!!

So, my baby turned 1 on Nov 17th!! I cannot believe my little miracle is doing so well. It brings tears to my eyes to think about the things we were going through a year ago. God has definitely given Mike a I a very special gift and I thank him for her everyday!!!!


Of course I couldn't get much of a smile out of her, oh well!!

On the move...

Mackenzie has been on the move a lot lately. Here are a few pics I got today while she was cruising around the living room with her car!!!

We went to Zoe's 2nd birthday party last weekend at the Garden's Mall. We had pizza in the food court, then off to Build-A-Bear for the party!!! Here are some pics of Mackenzie loving her pizza, cookie with frosting, and of course her bear!

Hurry Mommy, we need to get to the front to pay for our bear's clothes!

Yummy cookie!!!



This one daddy....this one!!!!!

Happy Halloween!!

We dressed Mackenzie up as a lady bug for halloween this year. Friday night, Mike DJ'd at the hospital for the Diabetic Halloween Party. Mike of course made the party...had all the kids dancing and playing games. It is a such a good way to keep their minds of "not being able to eat candy"!!!!
Saturday, Mike DJ'd another pary, so Mackenzie and I went to my girlfriends house and hung out there. We trick or treated, ate lots of great food and hung out in the street with all the neighbors!!!
Here are a few of the pics I got of her before we left! This first pic is at the party Friday night...she had on Michelle's crazy glassess!!! It was hilarious!!!

Pumpkins!!!

We went to Lakeland over the weekend for a friend's wedding and to see family! Saturday, we went to Brandenton to the Pumpkin Festival...here are a few of the pics I got while we were there. It just so happened to be Mackenzie's 11 month bday ;-) on Saturday, so I am using the pumpkin pic for her 11 month shot!!!



Mylee and Mackenzie!!

Light the Night

Here is a random picture I got one afternoon while we were out looking at houses.

We walked for the Light the Night benefit tonight. It is a mile walk and the money raised by the walkers goes toward research for the Children's Cancer Foundation. The walk starts downtown at the Meyer Ampitheater...so of course on stage they had a DJ...therefore, that is where Mike was before and after the walk started!!! Here is a pic I got before we left.

New foods

Well, lately Mackenzie has not been to excited about babyfood. I have always made her babyfood at home, the store bought stuff is gross!!! She wants what Mommy and Daddy have, she is very independent!! So, last night I cooked some ground turkey, sweet potatoes, squash, and zuccini. I cut the potatoes into cubes and cooked the squash/zuccini alot to make them really mushy. She loved it!!!! She made quite a mess, but none the less she ate every last bite!!
Here are some pics I got while she was eating :-)

No House Yet

Well, we had the house inspected today and found out that the wood around all the windows is rotted. It's probably from water damage, but it is scary to see how much is rotten. The whole house has a wood frame, so it may even be from termites. So, needless to say we are cancelling the contract because we obviously don't have the money to fix everything....and quite frankly don't think we should have to fix so much on something we just bought. So we are back to square 1 and looking again for something else.
On a happier note, Macknezie saw her GI specialist yesterday and she no longer has to see him. She has been off of her reflux meds for 6 weeks and has done really well. She is off a premmie chart and growing wonderfully. Yay...one less doctor to drag her to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NEW HOME

Well, we finally did it!!! We have bought our first home...we have not closed yet, but we should soon!! Our monthly morgage payment will be less than what we pay for rent, kind of crazy huh?!? I don't have any pics yet, but hopefully later this week I will. Now we just have to find someone to sublease our apartment!!! Obviously we cannot pay for a house and an apt, so please keep us in your prayers!!

Disney Princesses on Ice

Mike's company had some extra tickets to see Disney Princesses on Ice last weekend. I thought Mackenzie would be too young, but she actually loved it. She laughed and clapped the whole time!!! She loved all the lights and people. When Mickey Mouse came out, I thought she was going to jump over the balcony to get down to them :-)
Here are a few pics we took while we were there.