My First Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Wow!! Toys, toys, toys, and more toys. 3 days in a row of new toys, and I have one party left to go on my daddy's side. I am having so much fun with all my toys. Thank you parents, family, and Santa.

On Christmas Eve, my mom made a ham dinner and then we opened gifts. I started to get the hang of it. I would pull the bows off the presents and I tried to pull on the wrapping a few times. Gizmo was a big help.

We were supposed to go to church, but we didn't because my parents still want to try to protect me from germs. My dad did read to me out of my new Baby's First Bible the meaning of Christmas.

I am feeling a lot better. My lungs still make crunching sounds and my right ear hurts, but my spirits are good. From my parents and Gizmo I got books, videos, pj's, and a learning table. The table is much better than our coffee table. I can chew on it and not get into trouble. It lights up too!

The next morning to my surprise Santa came. When I came down stairs I was shocked to see even more toys for me layed out.

I got more toys, videos, books, and stuffed animals. My favorite from Santa is my Hippo. I can ride on it or use it as a walker.

The hippo eats peek-a-boo blocks and stores them in his tummy as you push or ride on it. I have taken 4 steps all by myself with it.

The next day, I finally got out of the house. I was so excited. I got to wear a new outfit and hair bow!

We had a Christmas party at my Aunt and Uncle's house on my mom's side of the family. I got even more toys! I also enjoyed being with all my family.

I came home and played and played!!!

I have one more party to go. Yea, I can't wait. I am going to get spoiled!! Too late!

Thanks again everybody and Merry Christmas!!

Recovering

I am recovering. I still have a horrible cough and congestion, but I am in great spirits. Since I have been home, I have had high fever come and go. I haven't had fever in 30 hours. Hopefully, it stays away. I have to do breathing treatments 3 times a day and take a lot of medicine. It is not fun, but better than being at the hospital!

My daddy has been taking good care of me...and my mom. My mom is sick too. She has horrible congestion. She went to work on Monday and Tuesday even though she should have stayed home, but she said we have hospital bills to pay. On Tuesday she went to the doctor. The doctor seems to think that I didn't give this to her. The doctor thinks that it was her allergies that got the best of her since she didn't have enough sleep with me in the hospital...But I think I did because now her lungs sound horrible! The doc gave her a shot and some antibiotics for her sinus infection. The next day my mom looked like a burn victim. She broke out in a horrible rash. She had welps everywhere. She is doing some weird dances trying not to itch them. The medicine they gave her for the rash makes her very sleepy. My daddy has been with me most of the time while she sleeps. I love having this quality time with my daddy, but I would love more for all of us to feel normal, be healthy again, and to be able to enjoy Christmas!

Hospital

I was sick all week. See previous entry. By Friday, my breathing was getting worse and I still had a fever. Mom took me to the doctor and they said that I have pneumonia just like my cousin did the previous weekend. In the doctor's office mom had to hold a mask to my face with this awful steam coming into my lungs. I did not like it. Little did I know that would be nothing compared to the pain I would endure this weekend....

After the treatment in the doctor's office, I turned a little blue in the car ride home. Mom thought she was seeing things, because it only lasted a few seconds. Then as soon as I got home, it happened again. Mom panicked and rushed me to the closest hospital, Woodlands Memorial. I had to wait there for a couple hours, before they even saw me. I had to have another X-ray and they put in this horrible IV for an antibiotic and some fluid. They didn't keep the IV in long enough. Since I wasn't eating anything I started to get very dehydrated.

After 9 hours at the Woodlands ER, I was transported by ambulance to the Texas Children's Hospital downtown. Once there, I luckily didn't have to wait in another waiting room. They took me straight to a ER room and quickly tried to fix my dehydration. I was so tired, I just wanted to sleep on my mommy's chest. They had me hooked up to a machine to keep an eye on my breathing and heart rate. Since my breathing was too slow, they hooked me up to some oxygen. My big cheeks were covered with tape to hold the wires in my nose. I had so many things hooked up to me, it was ridiculous. I had oxygen wires to my nose, IV wires, heart rate wires, and this cool thing on my toe that made me look like ET. It glowed red.

I had such a hard time sleeping. I couldn't flip over like I wanted to. The only way I would sleep is if I was being held by my love ones.

By 4 am, I was admitted to my room. Every 30 minutes someone was coming in to check on me. I got so tired and scared of them poking on me. They need to get with the times, I thought the ear therometer was bad...the butt one was horrible. My poor parents hadn't slept much all week. They maybe slept 4 hours in 96 hours. If any of this blog doesn't make sense, tiredness is our excuse. Both my parents are trying to fight off the same virus. They aren't feeling good either. I hope they don't have to go through what I went through.

The worst part was the suction. It really sucked!! My pneumonia was caused from a RSV virus that went bad. Since it was a virus, there isn't much to do for it. The antibiotics were mainly for my ears...oh, I forgot to tell you I had two ear infections.... Twice they had to put these long skinny tubes down my nose to the back of the throat to the top part of the lungs and SUCK the gunk out!!! It hurt so bad and I was so scared. My parents felt so bad holding me down. But it did help me breathe.

Slowly but surely I got better. I started to eat and was more alert.

I was admitted on Friday and was sent home on Sunday afternoon. I am still struggling, but it feels so good to be FREE of wires.

I am all over the place. I am still very sick, but it will just take time to get over. I would rather be at home than at a hospital.

One thing that was cool was I gots lots of toys from my parents, family members, and strangers. Thank you to everyone that came to visit me! One day when I was asleep, mom and dad said that a bunch of clowns came in to spread some cheer from Houston Police Department and give me a teddy bear. That was neat, but I hope that I don't have to go back there. I was very scared, in a lot of pain, and just wanted to be out of there.

Sick AGAIN!

I am sick all over again. Out of no where I started to get a bad cough on Sunday night. When mommy picked me up at school on Monday, I had a fever. It has gone up to 104.0. I am breathing really fast and have a lot of congestion with a bad cough.

We were scared that I could have pneumonia like my cousin did, who went into the hospital this past weekend with double pneumonia. He is out now recovering at home.

Mommy took me to the doctor twice today and to a place to get an X-ray. Good news, I don't have pneumonia. I have a mild infection in the lungs. They gave it a big word I can't remember...not bronchitis or pneumonia though. It is a virus so they can't give me any antibiotics to help it. All I can do is rest and get plenty of TLC. I got that from my mommy today and I will get it from my daddy tomorrow.

Great Day at the Mall!

WOW! I had a great day! I got all prettied up to see Santa. We had to wait an hour to see him. It was tiring waiting in line, so I look tired in the picture. At least I wasn't scared and I didn't cry. He sang Jingle Bells to me and asked what I wanted for Christmas. I loved playing with his beard. It was so exciting!

After Santa, we walked the mall. I enjoyed being with my mom and dad.

I also enjoyed going to the pet store to watch the puppies play. They look like little, fluffy Gizmo's.

Later, my mom and I rode the carousel. I was excited to get on.

Once it started moving, I wasn't so sure. We shouldn't have done it right after lunch. I held my cookies and so did mom; however, an hour later mom still didn't feel so good. Dad says she is getting old. I still think that she had more fun than I did.

Afterwards, daddy got a haircut while mommy and I shopped. She bought me a cute hair bow to match my dress. Too bad, I didn't have it for the Santa pictures. Right after putting in my new hair bow, I crashed on my mommy's chest. Mommy walked the rest of the mall with me asleep on her chest. I had a great day!

Bye-Bye!

Bye-Bye bad stomach virus! I think I am finally over that horrible virus that haunted me for a week (see previous entries). Today was my first day back to school in a week. I am not 100%, but well on my way. So bye-bye virus (I hope!)

When my mom dropped me off at school today, I waved bye-bye to my mommy for the first time. Usually when she leaves and says bye-bye my teacher helps me wave bye-bye. Not today, I waved all on my own. Then when mom picked me up from school, I waved bye-bye to my friends and teachers.

Bye-Bye!

Inbetween...

I am on the 5th day of a bad stomach virus that won't go away (See previous entry). Mommy made me a comfortable pallet on the floor. I enjoyed it for a little while, but really I just want to be held all day.

Inbetween throwing up and pooping everywhere, we managed to put up our Christmas decorations inside and outside. Daddy helped me put my first Christmas ornament on the tree
and I helped Daddy with the star.

While I took a long nap mommy worked on the outside lights. My parents wrapped me up tightly and took me outside to see it. It was really pretty!

Here is my Christmas stocking that my mom made for me.

I hope I get better soon, so that I can enjoy Christmas a lot more!

Why the Blog Title, Sunshine?

In May, my Granddaddy took care of me for a month while my mommy went back to work. He started calling me Mary Sunshine. Every time I would smile really big. Back in May smilling a lot was a huge thing. Even to this day, when he calls me Mary Sunshine I put on a great big smile. My parents call me Mary Sunshine too. I think that it is my middle name. I love my Granddaddy. When the family gets together, I reach straight for my granddaddy. If he walks off, I crawl after him and pull on his legs till he picks me up. He is there for me when I am sick.

This week as soon as I got over my horrible cold that went to my lungs I got sick again with a tummy virus. On Thursday at school, I threw up all day and it continued at home through the night. Friday, my granddaddy stayed with me. His warm care made me feel better. I still have a fever, but I am not throwing up anymore. The doctor said it was just a tummy virus.

I was suppose to see Santa this weekend. I can't till I feel better. I would hate to throw up on him. He might scratch me off his list.

I dedicate this blog to my wonderful Granddaddy for going out of his way and taking good care of me!