A Season to be Thankful!

This time of the year makes it easy to remember what all we have to be thankful for. I have a list in my head that grows by the minute--more than I deserve, that I am certain! We went to BFT for the afternoon to have lunch and stuff ourselves beyond the point of return! We had a small crowd of the 3 of us, my mom and dad, and my 2 grandmothers. We do not have a large family so when just a few people are missing is seems like so many more. Paige and Charlie were in St. Louis with his family and now everyone has to go a million different ways to be with spouses families, boyfriend/girlfriend's family, etc...the opportunity for everyone to be in one place at the same time for a holiday is nearly impossible! We were grateful to spend time with those we could and hope to see everyone else real soon!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I would like to share one thing I am thankful for. It has been a rough month for little Anderson and I am just thankful that my little buster is 100% healthy and back to his cheerful, happy self with smiles, laughs, and squeals of delight!

This was my fall display...soon to be replaced w/ all things Christmas!!

Loved all the treasure in Big Daddy and BG's backyard!

I love, love his Where the Wild Things Are t-shirt and I make him wear it all the time!

It was a Graveyard Smash....

It is almost too late to post this I think, but some things are better late than never! Halloween night we had some fun of our own dressing up! Our friends Emily and Evan hosted a party that started out as just a Lowcountry Boil but then after Emily had a conversation with our friend, Babs, it turned into a costume party. I balked about it b/c I hate dressing up and did not want to participate in the least!! Emily hounded me to make sure we got costumes and did not pull the "we couldn't get a babysitter, sorry!"....not that I would ever do that...well, maybe!! After it was all said and done, I have to admit that it was fun!

What says Halloween better than eating utensils??

A few of the gals..note: Marge, Babs as Rainbow Bright, Emily as Richard Simmons!

**Jennifer**

My makeshift signature b/c I accidently deleted mine and have no clue how to get it back!

Giraffe with an Identity Crisis!

Our church had its annual Trunk or Treat Carnival the Wednesday before Halloween and Anderson had a hayday. There was so much to see, the little guy did not know where to go first! His giraffe costume was made for nearly sub-zero weather, it seemed, and I was afraid he was going to be hot---especially with the fast speed he was moving! Cute costumes for little boys his age were hard to come by in this town. I wish I would have been able to find a lion costume instead b/c right before Halloween he caught on to respond with "ROAR" when asked "what does a lion say?"

The roaring giraffe!

Carnival Games!


Learning Cornhole!

He found out when you touch the shoes, the ghost dances!

Brad playing Bible trivia with Dr. Keller!

He got 3/3 correct!

The new fire chief after a brief visit to the firetruck--there was and emergency so they had to shoo us away!

His buddy Jack (Batman!) as fire chief w/ momma Ansley

On the Mend!

This is now one of Anderson's favorite toys? The paramedics gave it to him on the way to the hospital and he loves it. I would just as soon make it disappear b/c it reminds me of the whole incident, but that would be cruel. Maybe he will forget about it at some point, or maybe I can get him a better toy that he will fall for?! Brad would say I am just being dramatic, perhaps he is right. Nonetheless, Anderson is much better and nearly back to his old self. When he started getting into the cabinets again and everything else I prefer him not to I knew we had turned a corner. He still has a slight cough, some runny diapers b/c of the high dose of antibiotics that he will finish tomorrow!!, and a little bit of a runny nose. I have kept him home and away from others for the most part just b/c I want to make sure he is completely better before we re-enter the world---I might be overdoing it a bit, but better safe than sorry the way I see it. We did venture out to Target on Monday and he was in a trance like I have never taken him out before. It was cute, he just sat in the buggy and looked around for the better part of the hour we were there. They had so much Christmas stuff out and that sure lifted my spirits! I am so excited that the holidays are fast approaching!

We sincerely appreciate all the calls, emails, text messages, texts asking if it is ok to call, and visitors that came! Most of all, we are so thankful that we had so many fine folks praying for sweet Anderson! It worked!

Was this a Dream?

I have so many great things to post about, but it will all just have to wait. It might be Thanksgiving before I get Halloween posted, but eventually it will get done. I am sad to report that little Anderson is a sick, sick little boy. To make a long story a little bit shorter, Anderson has had a clear runny nose since about Wednesday--did not seem to bother him at all. Friday he started in with a wet cough so I made an appointment with the pediatrician in the office that day and took him b/c I did not want to go into the weekend with any issues and was told he had a cold--which he did. Friday he was ok, Saturday he was ok, Sunday afternoon he was not ok. He started running a fever that went up very high in a short amount of time. There was some vomiting involved as well as a febrile seizure that earned us a ride in the ambulance to the ER at 11:30 on Sunday night. The seizure about scared the life out of me, and I am still trying to recover. It is a common issue with kiddos with fevers, but no matter how common they are it still is a SCARY experience and one I do not care to go through again. Our trip to the ER revealed that he has pneumonia and it is getting the best of him right now. When we arrived he had a 104.6 fever so he was given lots of fever reducers, flu test (negative), chest x-ray (confirmed pneumonia), and a hefty dose of injection antibiotics. He was better this morning, but the fever started to rise this afternoon and he was nearly inconsolable. We went to the pediatrician and he was given another shot of antibiotic. We have to go back tomorrow to assess his progress. I am just praying that he does not have to be admitted to the hospital--let it be known that it is just one of a zillion things I am on my knees about right now.

I am having a hard time sleeping. Every time I close my eyes, the entire scene is replayed in my head like a horror movie. We have a video monitor and I have been glued to it when he is in his crib and quite frankly I am terrified to put him anywhere that is not within my arms reach. I tried my best to sleep when we got home very early this morning, but I was waking up every 15 minutes in a panic reaching for the monitor. My dad came today which was a great relief. I napped when Anderson did this morning b/c I knew daddy was watching him. Thank goodness he is also coming tomorrow and the rest of the week if I needed him I am sure! I know this will all go away, but it will certainly take time.

There are many of you reading this that I wanted to call personally and let you know what is going on, but I just have not had the chance and the time to devote to calling. I only had time to call to cancel engagements and let people know who would be expecting me places this week that we would not be there. Sorry for that and sorry that you have to read about it as a blog post.

Pray for my little Anderson.....I need him to make a speedy recovery!

I will be back soon :)