Good Things Come: Celebrate!

What a Very Merry Christmas indeed to be all together with my entire family! Traveling is hard and exhausting; however, it was well worth the effort! I loved seeing the pure joy in my parents' eyes having all of us under the same roof! Our car was literally packed to the gills and Brian wasn't even in my car! I don't know where he would have fit...he and Harlee would have to have shared a seat! We are fortunate that Lisa's parents live in Dallas, too. She was able to travel with us and spend time helping us and catching up with her family. I took night nurse duty and planned to snuggle with Drake on the couch in between treatments, but Harlee beat me to that spot. I settled for catching a little sleep in a chair, and I loved watching Harlee sleep next to Drake all night long...both nights!

The difference between Christmas with a one year old (last year) and a two year old (this year) is profound! The excitement has transferred from boxes, bags, and wrapping paper to the actual presents. The front runners as far as favorite toys seem to be her Doc McStuffin's medical kit and Vtech game pad. Drake received an Ocean Drum from a friend, and he loves it! He also likes his activity table, which he used while he was sitting with his therapist yesterday. Santa did good!

Daddy left on Christmas Day for a hunting trip in Arkansas. We are eagerly awaiting his return tomorrow evening to celebrate New Year's with us. Kennedy has selected the book "Because Your Daddy Loves You" for a bedtime story the last 4 nights in a row. She also pretends to talk on her play phone with daddy and insists that bubba talk on the phone, too. I think it is safe to say that daddy is definitely loved and missed around here!

Papa (Brian's dad) came to visit today and delivered more presents for the kiddos! He also brought some older costumes made by Brian's mom (Yea-Yea) for our nieces (Alyssa & Hannah) when they were little. We had fun playing dress-up this afternoon! Of course, our happy little ham makes everything fun!

Drake is doing ok, but this messy wet weather has been hard on his lungs. I spoke with our pulmonologist over the weekend and we have increased the frequency of his breathing treatments to every 3hrs, which seems to be helping. Our IPV machine began not working properly on Christmas Day and we made do by using his nebulizer to administer his medications. Our machine has since been replaced, but we are still having malfunction issues; therefore, we are using his IPV machine for 30min each treatment and then using his nebulizer to finish administering his medications for another 30min. Our DME company has ordered new component parts for our IPV machine, and they believe this will correct the issues we are having. We are still looking for a night nurse 3 nights each week, but right now we are just thankful to have our regular night nurse back! She is with us 4 nights each week, but last week she was sick with bronchitis and was unable to work. I was beyond thankful to have her back on Friday night! My body still woke up at Drake's treatment times, but having her here provided my best nights sleep in a while! Having nurses I can trust makes all the difference in the world!

My entire family! The Childress side :)