My monkey

Here are some photos of "my monkey" in her new monkey suit. I call Lyla my monkey, as she is a little monkey. I had to buy this outfit, as it had a little monkey on the shirt and the pants. The outfit looked so cute on her I thought I would share with you some photos.

By the way, her test results came back negative, no bacterial growth. Which is great !! Her doctor states that it was either a viral infection that she picked up from someone or a reaction to the vaccinations. We won't know which it is until her next round of vaccinations to see how she reacts to the vaccinations. Lets just say I am not looking forward to this at all. Anyways, here are some photos...
Here is a photo of Lyla looking outside at the beautiful fall day that I wrote about in the previous post.

This is Lyla in her activity center. Lets just say that this parrot is a very funny character.

The definition of a fall day

Today was one of those perfect fall days. If you looked up a fall afternoon stroll you would see a photo of Lyla and I today. It was picturesque, excepect I did not have my camera. The sun was shining the color that can only be defined as that beautiful clear sky blue. The only thing in the sky was the jet streams left behind some planes travelling in the far abyss. The sun was shining glorious warmth. There was a content breeze blowing. It was the type of day that if you were wearing a sweater you would not be too warm, and if you were wearing a t-shirt you where not too cold. It was just a perfect day. I had a baby cuddled up with her favorite blanket sleeping like an angel in her stroller. We are strolling at a time which allows us to have the top open of the stroller as the sun is in just the right spot that it doesn't shine on Lyla's face. I have a Michigan honey crisp apple in my hand and my sunglasses on, and I walked so slowly to enjoy this perfect day. This walk sent me through a vast array of memories of previous fall afternoons in my life. I thought of days long gone where I ran under the same sky at my public school and enjoyed the return of school in the fall weather. The laughter on the playground. The swing of the swing sets, the spinning of the tires, and the swoosh of the slide. I thought of jackets on the lawn, left to warm in the sun as children ran and enjoyed the sunshine upon their skin. I fast forward to days in Kingston, where coming out of a stale lecture hall into the fall beauty would rejuvenate ones soul. A walk down to the water front would lead to an afternoon sitting by the shore side enjoying the fall day with a textbook in hand. Unfortunately the textbook would not get much attention as would the company you were with and the knowledge that this weather would soon be gone. So today as I walked so slowly on our daily stroll I enjoyed these memories and enjoyed looking down at our daughter and realized how this too will be a memory. I was just so glad that I am here in this moment to enjoy these moments of life, and the quintessential fall day.

Ryan's Blog

Hey all,
I just spreading the news about Ryan's blog. Please check it out and give it a read. If you have any sports fans, please send it on to them, as it is a sports realated blog. Ryan is wanting his blog to be a interactive blog with polls and reader feedback, and so far nothing, so if you have a comment please leave it and give his blog a boost.

His link is: http://www.tailgatestories.blogspot.com/

My sick baby

Lyla was very sick yesterday. She woke up at 6:30 am and had a fever of 99.6. This is not unusual for her after her vaccinations so I didn't get too concerned. She took a dose of Tylenol and headed back to sleep. She did throw up a bit when she had woken up, but not a large amount.



When she woke up at 10:00, she didn't have a fever anymore, at least by axillary reading. She didn't want to go back to sleep so I brought her downstairs with me. She was on her play matt, not really playing, just lying there. I was thinking that she must still be tired when she threw up quite a large amount. I took her upstairs and got her cleaned up and we looked at some books in the rocking chair. She was starting to feel warm again, so at 11:00 I rechecked her temperature and it was back up to 99.8 axillary. I gave her another dose of Tylenol and she was starting to get fussy so I put her down for a nap.



At 12:15, when she woke up her temperature was reading 99.9 axillary. I decided to check her rectally because I wasn't sure of the validity of her temperature. Her reading was 102.o. With that I decided to call the doctor. As her fever was not treading downwards, rather it was continuing to climb. The RN I spoke to tried to reassure me that this was all part of the immunizations. However, she told me that Lyla should not be throwing up, as Lyla is throwing up on me as I am talking on the phone. The RN told me that I should make a routine appointment to get Lyla checked for reflux. I was like, "are you kidding me?" So, I said to her, "You are not concerned that with the Tylenol her fever is climbing rather than being controlled?" So with that she told me to call back in an hour if her temperature had not gone down. Lyla fell back asleep and at 1:30 I rechecked her and her temperature was 102.2. So, a call back to the clinic and they want to see her in 45 minutes. Ryan flew home and we took our little angel to the doctor's office. She was feeling so lousy that we had a cool cloth on her head and she didn't even try to pull it off.

There the doctor physically assessed Lyla and saw nothing wrong with her. So he said that he wanted to run some tests to see what could be causing these problems. Because she had a high fever, they were thinking that it probably was not a reaction to the vaccines that she had received 24 hours prior to this time. So they took some blood from her poor little finger, and oh the tears. The results came back with a high white count. The normal is 5 to 15 and her level was at 25. So then the doctor wanted to get a urine sample. So they had to catheterize her to get a clean urine sample, and it came back with white cells in it as well. That was terrible to watch them hold her down. Lets just say it wasn't just Lyla crying by this point. So then, he decided he wanted to get some more blood for blood cultures. So we headed off to the hospital for these tests. Now that was terrible too, as they had to put a large needle in her arm to get the blood. Poor Lyla had a terrible day. She was feeling very lousy and then all this trauma on top of it.

Today she is doing better, a little more herself. However, her temperature it pretty labile and it is up again right now. So she is still taking Tylenol, as well as antibiotics and her vitamins. I feel like I am giving her something with a syringe every time she is awake. She slept a lot today. She slept in until 1 pm. And had a couple of naps today. Last night she did not have a restful sleep. Every couple of hours she was restling around and pouting in her sleep. She is a little bit clingy, but not too bad for what she has gone through. And believe me, I don't mind her being clingy. It isn't until your baby is unhealthy that you realize how precise health is. When we were talking with the doctor, the thought of having to go to the hospital came up and I am so thankful that she is able to be at home and get better in the comfort of her own home. But more than anything Lyla is a brave little girl. She is a little trooper and I am sorry that she had to go through all this, and I hope that she is on the mend. We talked to the doctor today, and he said that as of right now her cultures are coming back negative. So we will hope and pray that they continue to come back negative, and then we can stop her antibiotics. Anyways, that is what is new in the house of Hewlett. Hope you are all well, and keep my little Lyla in your thoughts.
By the way, I would be interested to hear if any of you had similiar reactions post vaccinations???

Numbers

Lyla had her 4 month check up today.
She is 25 inches in length, her head is 16 inches in circumference, and her weight is 13 pounds 11 ounces. She has really grown quite a bit since last time. She is in the 75 percentile for height, and 5oth for the weight and head.
She was a very good girl and happy to interact with the Doctor and nurses, until that awful nurse gave her the vaccinations. She was a little trooper and cried her heart out, but was quickly consoled by her momma. The doctor was very happy with her progress. She is such a good girl...

The 11th

The 11th is an important date in my life. It is also an important date in many other people's lives. My reason for the 11th is a date of joy, while other people it is a date of sadness.

7 years ago, the tragedy of 9/11 occurred in which the lives of a nation changed. This terrorist attack hurt more than a nation, rather it hurt the entire world, as I was living in Canada at the time of the attack and my spirit was crushed and my soul shivered in terror. So, the 11th is an important date for many, as we remember the lives lost to a horrific event.

Just like a coin, there are two prespectives. The 11th has brought much joy to our family and therefore, I think of the 11th as a blessed day.

The 11th of September 2007, was the day that Ryan and I visited Dr. Duff and our pregnancy with Lyla was confirmed. It was a similar day to today, a beautiful fall day with the sun shining warmly. Our souls were warmed with the news from Dr. Duff that indeed we were expecting. I thought of this day as I drove off to yet another doctor's appointment, 1 year later, this time for our daughter.

March 11th, 1998, my sister became a mother, I became and aunt, and my parent's became grandparents. This is they day of my niece Emily's birthday. On the flip side of this particular date, this is the day that my mother's mom passed away. Not this calender year, but on March 11th. I always think that my grandma's spirit was passed along in Emily as Emily was born on the anniversary of her passing. I also think that it is no coincidence that my sister's second child Matthew was born on my grandma's birth date. My sister Pam had a strong loving connection with my grandma, which I think is evident in these life events.

Now, for the most important 11th -May 11th, 2008; Lyla's Birthday. The day that I became a mother and the day that Ryan became a father. The day that we were blessed with a daughter. The birth of Lyla has made our lives so much more complete. We have enjoyed Lyla so much that we are often wondering what took us so long to decide to start a family. Her smile melts our hearts. So you can see that to our family, the 11th encompasses so much love and joy. There will never be another month that passes where I don't reflect upon my blessings the the date "the 11th" has brought to me. If I where to play the lotto, you would have to be sure that I would have the 11th in there.

On a side note but relative to my topic of the 11th. Today, when I was at Lyla's doctor appointment, the receptionist told me that she made a new baby appointment this morning for a baby girl born today on the 11th, named LYLA born at the same hospital as our Lyla. Sounds like another family who was blessed with a little girl on the 11th.

Summer time photos

Well, summer time is nearing the end, we had a whirlwind labor day weekend. Ryan had to travel to Los Angeles on Tuesday for business. He was on a short trip and returned on Thursday morning. During his time away I worked a shift at work and my parent's came to look after Lyla. My sister and her two girls; Emily and Jillian also came along. Here is a picture of the three girls together. Both Emily and Jillian were very eager to see and play with Lyla. They are going to be great cousins. Ryan arrived home at 6:30 am on Thursday morning after flying all night. He slept for a couple of hours and by 12:30 we were on the road again. We went to Paris to see Ryan's grandma Hewlett who had not yet seen Lyla and then headed to my parent's house for the night. The next morning Ryan and I got ready to go to Buffalo for a wedding. We had a busy day that day, travelling to Buffalo, attending the wedding, and then driving back home again. We got back to my parent's around 1:30am after driving through some of the worst fog I have ever encountered.

This weekend was "Kickoff Weekend" for College Football. And any of you that know Ryan know how passionate he is about college football. Here is a picture of my two Michigan fans as they watched the game together.A year ago this weekend, Ryan and I took a bunch of pictures outside on the hammock. As Lyla was napping we pulled our the hammock for the first time of the season and laid out and enjoyed the shade. When Lyla woke up we took a bunch of pictures, and here are some of them. Last year photos were just of Ryan and I, and little did we know that at time that I was pregnant. And here we are a year later with our beautiful baby. How things change in a year.