Meeting Great Grandma and Grandpa Hutzley

After Christmas we took a day to drive up to Ogden to visit my grandma and grandpa Hutzley. Ryan had never met his great-grandparents before. It was a good visit. It was sad to see my Grandma in declining health, and my grandpa suffering from Alzheimer's, but I am so glad we went. This ended up being the last time that I saw my grandma before she passed away in May 2011. Such a sweet lady- I love you Grandma!

Christmas Day Fun

Christmas morning began bright and early. The oldest two were up first. Katelyn woke up later, and Ryan was our sleepyhead. He got to open his presents after everyone else. The favorite presents of the day (by child)...

Erin got an 18" doll with brown hair with outfits, a Fin-Fin tank, and some new clothes.

Ethan got a chocolate orange in his stocking (and some coal), a spy watch, and an awesome Harry Potter Lego set (The Burrow).

Katelyn got a mini van for her dollhouse, some accessory sets, the Hi Ho Cherry-O! game and some books.

Ryan got some bottles, diapers, a toy pan set, a rumbly lion, and a racecar spinner. Dad was very surprised by a flip waffle maker, and mom loved her lotion, pedicure, and Hale Center Theater gift card.


We had dinner that night with Heather, Jordan, and Abram. Heather made a delicious red velvet cake. Amazing!

My pregnant sister Heather. Close to delivery of baby boy Jeremiah.

This Christmas season seemed to happen without me. With Katelyn's illness and taking care of newborn Ryan nothing else seemed to get done. I am just relieved that it is over and we survived. Christmas is usually Katelyn's favorite season and this year she just doesn't really care about anything. I hope that she gets better soon and we get our KK back. I am really missing her smile and spunk now.

2010 Card

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

On the Eve of Christmas

We had so much fun going to Grandma and Grandpa Petersen's house! There were lots of fun presents and cousins to play with. The kids wanted to stay longer, but we had to get home to get things ready for Santa to visit.

Grandma's sewing skills were amazing again- pajama pants for all the grandkids, neck pillows, shawls for the girls, and Ryan got a cute turtle!

When we got back from Grandma's house Erin found a treat from her primary teachers on the doorstep. She just had to have one PB cup before bed. She cracked her loose tooth on it and out it came! Looks like we'll be having Santa and the Tooth Fairy visit on the same night!!

Finally ready for bed- and we even remembered Santa's favorites- homemade sugar cookies and egg nog!

Tired

Katelyn is still so sleepy these days. She was so tired she tucked herself in on the kitchen floor with the rug that is usually in front of the sink. I found her like this, but I didn't dare move her. If she gets woken up it's definitely not a good thing. Poor girl, I hope we can get her better soon.

In the GLOW of the tree...

With the furniture rearranged this year (and some in storage) we were finally able to have the tree in the bay window. Having the tree glow as the only light on at night is one of my favorite things about Christmas.

It's Snow Fun!

We finally got another good snowfall and had lots of fun playing in it at the park.

**Ryan got his first snow experience at the end of November. He wasn't a big fan, so this time we headed out while he was down for a nap.

Nutcracker Ballet

Erin and I had the opportunity to go see the Nutcracker Ballet together. Ever since she took dance last year she had been wanting to go see it. It was so fun to be able to spend some time with her. She is getting so grown up and often times doesn't get the attention she deserves with her two younger siblings taking a lot of my focus right now. It was a great mommy/daughter date night. I love my Erie girl!

Primary Children's

This is what started it all. November 15, 2010- I caught Katelyn napping on the floor. A very unusual occurrence, so I thought I should take a picture. Little did I know what a journey this would take us on...

After two weeks of Katelyn taking a nap (or 5) every day, I took her into the pediatrician (Friday). This just wasn't her normal behavior. She never takes naps, and if she happened to, she wouldn't go to bed at night. But she was sleeping lots and still begging to go to bed at night. The doctor checked her for some normal things that would cause tiredness like anemia and a bladder infection. Both tests came back negative so the next day (Saturday) he send us to the lab for some blood work. Her results came back all negative- even for mono.

Monday she developed some new symptoms. I noticed when I got her out of the bathtub that she seemed a little wobbly. Unsteady on her feet. By the end of the day it had worsened. The next morning I was really alarmed when she was still doing it and her speech was not always clear. We immediately went to the doctor (Tuesday). He was quite concerned and sent us immediately for an MRI. I later found out he was looking for a brain tumor. SCARY! But the scan came back negative. So now we knew what was not going on, but not what it was. He sent us home while he did some searching and calling. Wednesday I talked with the doctor on the phone. He was still searching and wanted K to be seen at Primary Children's Hospital. So we made a plan to head up the next morning to the ER there.

December 4, Thursday morning we left. I picked up Jeff on the way at his office. Mid drive the doctor called me. (Jeff was driving.) Change of plans- go to admitting. OK. We had packed a few things in case we were admitted, but we weren't really prepared. Ryan (2 months old) was with us too.

We were admitted. The parade of doctors began. Pediatricians and Neurologists, all wanting to hear the same story again and again. It was decided that they would perform a lumbar puncture on my sweet Miss K. :( So she couldn't have anything to eat or drink since they would be putting her under. She dealt with the IV insertion amazingly well considering she had already had that done once for the MRI and had been poked for blood draws 3 times already. They did the procedure in her room as Jeff and I were in there too- pacing in the little corner that wasn't occupied by all the doctors and nurses. The results came back perfect.

Ryan can't bear to watch the LP. Neither can mom or dad.

Later that night Katelyn got all hooked up for an EEG to monitor her brain waves while she slept. The doctors were looking for seizures. She got an awesome hat and about a gazillion wires stuck to her head for the night. The next day the results look normal.

K sleeping soundly in her bed. Rice Krispie treat still in hand.

Friday morning comes. The doctors are deciding whether to run more tests or not that require anesthesia. Katelyn is begging for food. They finally let her eat at 11am when they decide the plan for the day. A few more blood tests and more waiting. In the afternoon they convene and decide on a diagnosis.

Post-viral Cerebellitis-
They put it together like this- she had a virus (no symptoms other than tiredness). The virus settled in her brain. Her body is fighting the virus, but also her brain. Swelling occurs in the cerebellum impairing her motor skills (ataxia) and her speech. There is nothing they can do but let her body recover on its own. K should be better in 3 weeks. They will keep her another night for observation and we go home on Saturday.

Ethan and Erin come up for a visit. They think the playroom is the best and want to come back soon. Me- not so much. Two nights of no sleep with a 4-year-old and newborn are not so great.
K gets to ride in the wagon on the way out. She was so happy to leave!