Easter pictures will have to wait...

our computer has crashed :( I'm using Matt's work computer right now and I'm not sure how long it will be before ours is fixed. I'll be traveling to Athens on Thursday for a long weekend and then it will be April! Annely Blake turns one in April and I can't believe it!
Speaking of AB...continue praying. Her symptoms are still not resolved and we spent three hours on Monday with a pediatric cardiologist. He's sending everything up to Egleston to get them to look at it but we don't have many answers. We do know there is nothing major going on with her heart that is causing the cyanosis (blueness in her legs and arms.) They did find a small hole in one of her vessels, called a PDA, that is an incidental finding and he's not sure what he will do about it. Pray that we will get some answers from Egleston and that these symptoms will go away and not cause her any trouble. So far she seems to be in good spirits and is eating well so that is a relief. Thanks for the prayers and calls to us. We feel very loved!

New Tricks

Clapping: (on command when Will says "yeah!")

this one kept me laughing all day.... I call it the "crab" crawl

spring's here!

We're loving this weather around here~

Home Sweet Home

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all of our friends and family who took care of us the last four days. We could not have survived without your help and prayers! We are back at home today with AB and she is on the mend. The final diagnosis is still unclear. Her tests and lab-work never did show anything significant as the doctor's initially suspected. No major infections, just a plain old stomach bug. We spent most of yesterday focusing on her heart which was then suspected to have caused the blueness in her extremities but nothing major showed up there either. Her EKG did show an abnormality that the cardiologist picked up on, so we will be returning to see him in a few weeks when she is better to see if it resolved. An echo (ultrasound) was done yesterday on her heart which was normal and all her lab work was good too. The cardiologist thinks she had some weird "vascular response" to being sick and dehydrated. Pretty uncommon, but he has seen it before. I'm supposed to keep an eye on her color and it should go back to normal when she fully recovers, if not then he will have to do another set of tests on her heart and circulatory system. (She is still intermittently turning blue on her legs and arms..) Pray that things will continue to improve for her.

Here are a few pics from in the hospital...... nothing more pitiful is there?

Update

Hey friends-

An update on AB from Kat (who's at home taking a much needed shower and getting out from behind the four walls of the hospital room.) AB was taken to the hospital yesterday after her legs and hands turned blue and ice cold. She'd also been vomiting for two days and very lethargic and not eating well. It was obvious she was having circulatory perfusion issues but they weren't sure what was causing it. They are looking for some kind of infection either in her blood, urine, or stool. Her chest x-ray, EKG, and urine all came back good. Her blood count showed some signs of increased CO2 and WBC (white blood cells- think infection) which we pretty much expected. Looks like we may be in the Hospital til Saturday. They are still running many tests and are waiting on the blood cultures to come back. Those won't be back until late tomorrow and will show whether she has a blood infection. They are also testing her for a milk allergy since we've noticed she's been vomiting after drinking milk (we just switched her from formula) and Will had a lactose intolerance problem too. She's receiving a continuous round of IV fluids and antibiotics which are helping a great deal. Matt will take the night shift tonight so I can try and get some sleep :)
Sorry for all the medical detail....sometimes I can't help myself. I am trying to be a good patient and not a nurse :)
Thanks for the prayers- will maybe post another update tonight after I get home.
Kat

Hospital Bound

Well, today's been a wild one. I know this is Kat's blog, but I couldn't resist the need to ask for prayers from our friends and family reading the blog. Today, Katherine called me at work to tell me that she just left the doctor's office and was taking Annely Blake to the hospital. It was one of those calls that makes your heart just sink. I ran out the door, down the street, into the parking garage, and jumed into my car. It felt like it took me months to get to the hospital. Once there, I found a nervous wife, a hyper son, Will, and a pitiful looking little Annely Blake. She is quite ill - the doctors are running lots of tests now, and don't know what's wrong. She'll be there all night, and pending a good report in the morning, she may get to come home tomorrow. We'd appreciate your prayers for A.B. (healing) and Kat (strength, patience, and rest) during this time. For the family, Matt

college friends

My good friend and college roommate Johnna, and her husband Kyle and son Davis, came to visit Saturday night. Davis is three weeks older than Annely Blake and is a man on the move!! We had the best time catching up with them and watching the kids play. Our other roommate, Samantha and her husband, Dean, came for dinner too.

Davis....... first dinner date?..........

the roomies from Penny Drive......

mmmmm, ice cream!

AB got her first taste of ice cream today. Despite the look on her face she really liked it! it's really cold :)

she wasn't too happy when I took it away, though.....

our little drama queen.......

More Hockey

Matt took Will to another hockey game last night and according to them they had a blast. Will's version was that it was "dangerous," and the "blimp went away and had to go night night."

On the way there..... Concerned about the blimp......

Fun with daddy.......

Posing with the mascot.....

On the way home and waaaay past bed-time.....

Tagged

5 random things about me (Kat):

1. I've hiked part of the Appalachian Trail.
2. I'm a direct descendant of a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
3. I was convinced as a child that I was adopted and tried to prove it.
4. I was in the Miss Oconee County Forestry Pageant in High School (and have video to prove :)
5. I saw an autopsy at the GBI crime lab in Atlanta when I was in High School and loved it!

5 places I'd like to visit:

1. New York
2. France/England
3. Australia
4. Hawaii
5. Alaska
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5 random things about me (Matt):

1. I almost killed myself with my dad's .38 cal. pistol
2. I made cookies for the '96 Olympics and they were sold in Centennial Square in ATL (before the bomb went off)
3. I played the role of "Puck" in Shakespeare's 'Midsummer Night's Dream' in middle school.
4. I sang in the boys choir at Independent Pres in savannah
5. My brother ran over my foot one time in his car

5 places I'd like to visit:

1. New York City
2. Scotland
3. Barbados
4. Japan
5. Alaska