Baller

This video is a little behind.  Caden was actually 9 or 10 months old here (he hit 11 months yesterday).  This boy loves playing ball. 

It's apparent you're a parent when...

...you're collecting diarrhea samples out of a saran wrap diaper.

Caden may have E coli.  Anyone know how you collect watery/mucusy/bloody baby poop?  I was told to get saran wrap and line the inside of his diaper with it so none of it would be absorbed.

Then I had to pour/scrape the content into this grey container (while trying not to get it EVERYWHERE).  I then filled the containers and kept them in the refrigerator (Ick!!) until I was ready to take it up to the lab.  It's a messy and disgusting process with a baby that is crawling all over the house.  At least if I ever have to do it again I should be a little more efficient.  We should know the results of the culture in about 3 days. 

Why, oh WHY did I not let Cody stay at home with Caden today?

That thing is still alive?

This morning was a traumatic one.  It started off as a normal morning of getting ready for work.  I put Caden in his car seat (at the last possible minute to leave my house), then I opened the front door and hopped in the drivers seat.  As I grabbed the handle to pull my door closed I see a spider right next to my hand.  Of course it wasn't just any spider, it was the mother of them all...a tarantula!

Those of you who know me, understand that I have a pretty intense fear of spiders (just not quite like my phobia of vomit).  It's not that i'm afraid of getting bit, or that some of them are poisonous.  Its simple the fact that they have 8 legs and it CREEPS.ME.OUT.  The bigger the spider, the more I hate them.  I may have grown up as a country girl but I will get dramatic in a hurry when I see a spider.  I don't even like looking at pictures of them.  Tarantulas are the worst!  I know they are harmless but they are huge, hairy, and they can jump. 

Anyway, I let out a scream, jump out of the car and run around outside like a crazy person feeling like they were crawling all over me.  I look back in my car and the tarantula was still there, slowly moving its hairy legs.  Oh my gross!  Now what?!?!

Only thing I knew to do was call Cody who was already at work.  This is how our conversation went....

Cody: Hello?
Lacy: I CAN'T GO TO WORK TODAY!
Cody: What? Why?
Lacy: There is a tarantula in my car.  IN MY CAR!  I almost touched it! I can't go to work because I don't know how to get it out! 
Cody: (starts laughing)...That thing is still alive????
Lacy: What did you just say?  YOU KNEW IT WAS IN THERE?.......

I'm leaving off the rest of that conversation because I'm not sure it's appropriate.  I don't get mad very often, but that sent me way past mad.  Caden and I could have had a serious accident if I were driving down the highway and spotting that thing with me.

Luckily the spider was on the inside part of my door.  I wasn't about to get close enough to it to knock it out or smash it.  So how did I get to work?  I got a water hose and flushed him out from about 15 feet away.  I didn't even care that I was getting the inside of my car all wet (Cody will be cleaning it this weekend now).

I didn't even find out how or why there was a tarantula in my car for about 5 hours.  I was too mad.  As it turns out, Cody was driving my car yesterday to work.  He saw a tarantula on the road and decided to pick it up and take it to work to scare another guy who hates them.  Yes, Cody is that guy... Once he got to work he couldn't find the spider.  So he left his windows down all day while at work thinking it would either die in the car or get out.  He never saw it again so he ASSumed one of those happened. 

I could have killed him if he weren't the father of my child.

Memorial Day 2010

We finally got to try out the new pool at Cody's mom and dad's house!  Caden wasn't feeling too well so he wasn't so sure about it.  Plus he gets a little weirded out in crowds--doesn't cry, just gets really quiet.  I love it when all the family gets together and wish we were able to do it more often! 

Kache & Caden

Cade & Uncle Callan

Paislee






Callan




Mimi and Caden--guess all the swimming wore him out.





Cody and his "flip twist"




Cory



Dust Devil vs. Deck

Cody calling my dad...
Dad: Hello?
Cody: Hey Steve, have you seen my deck?
Dad: Excuse me?!?!?
Way to start a conversation with my dad.

Anyway, looks like we are building a new deck on our next free weekend.

Physical Therapy School Graduation!

FINALLY!!  Is that crazy or what?!? What a wild ride it has been. 5 years of college to get my bachelors degree, plus semesters of taking pre-requisite classes required for PT programs (classes I hated, such as chemistry), 5 years of working as a physical therapy tech for minimal pay to get experience hours built up, 3 years of applications sent to PT schools followed by rejection letters, interviews gone bad due to my uncontrollable need to be completely honest, more application process followed by an acceptance letter, 2 years of physical therapy classes including cadaver dissections (such an amazing experience that I wished I was blogging during that time so I could go back and read about it later) and labs practicing physical therapy on classmates (getting to know each other too well in the process--aka naked Tuesday lab) and 1 year of clinical rotations. Not to mention a health scare, getting engaged, planning a wedding in 2 months, tying the knot, experiencing pregnancy while living 160 miles away from my husband and, and have a baby all in one year.

I am still currently finishing up my last 8 week clinical (since I missed my first one after Caden was born) so technically I haven't completed my PT school requirements and won't get my diploma until August.  This also means that at convocation (our doctoral hooding ceremony) and commencement ceremonies they announced everyone else as "Dr. ___  ___  ___."  while I sat out of alphabetical order from my classmates at the very back of the line so I could be announced as "Lacy Beth Coltharp" since I had one more (elective) clinical to go.   It was noted in the program that I was graduating in August pending completion of requirements.  I know it's silly but that was a real bummer for me.  It is a clinical doctorate degree and I would never really want anyone to refer to me as "Dr.", but it did sting a little to be sectioned out from my class.  Graduation ceremonies are boring, I wasn't there for the thrill of walking the stage.  I was there for the thrill of uniting with my classmates as we finish up our degrees and hearing that announced--so it kinda felt like a bit of a slap in the face or like I had failed at something.  The sting didn't last long though, I was too excited to worry about it.

Bryan and Sarah at graduation!



Caden's fan club

 

Cody, Caden, Me, Mel (+ future nephew), and Dusty

Love my family!

Us with Randy and Cindy (Cody's mom & dad)

only because Caden's hair is awesome in this pic

My family

Caden's "cheese" face.  LOVE this baby!

Caden and his Poppy



Yay!!!

Celebration dinner with friends




Caroline celebrating with us!

Dad, Bryan, and Cody

Zach and Amber

Caden and his "Aunt" Diana.  He's so blessed to have her in his life!!

Caden and Oriana.  She calls him the "PT baby" since my class was so involved with him and my pregnancy.

After our convocation ceremony.

Getting "hooded".  (is that even a real word?)

Me, Diana, and Kimberlee--words cannot describe how much I will miss being with these girls everyday.

Me and my boys :)

I can distinctly remember telling people that "I won't graduate until May of 2011" with my tone saying "so so far away". May 21, 2011 has come and gone! What an incredible journey these last 3 years have been!

Busy busy busy

We have been very busy lately!  I finished up my 4th clinical at the skilled nursing facility on Wednesday, May 4th. 

May 5th we drove to Ft. Worth for Bryan's (close friend of ours) graduation from the Ranch Management Program at TCU. 

The next day we had our families traditional "combine supper".  This is just a big cookout that my dad and uncle (who are in the farming business together) put on each year right around wheat harvest to cook for family and everyone they do business with.

Dad, cutting the meat

My dad, uncle Terry, and Caden

 

Sunday afternoon we headed to Lubbock because our friends, Bryan and Sarah, were scheduled to have their baby girl, Caroline. 



Bryan & Sarah with Caroline



Cody and Caden looking at Caroline in the nursery



We made it home Monday night, and Tuesday morning Caden woke up with a 103 fever.  He was sick off and on for a couple of days.  We were supposed to be heading to Lubbock first thing Saturday morning to await the arrival of our niece, Paislee Jo Elizabeth Coltharp. 

As it turns out, on Saturday Caden took a turn for the worst and was having a LOT of trouble breathing and had a fever of 105 (high fevers are nothing new to us. around Christmas he was sick a lot, even had a febrile seizure, and at one point had a fever of 106.1).  Poor baby was struggling to breathe and sounded like a panting dog so off to Clinic Care we went. 

While we were at the clinic for 4 hours, Caden got worse and worse.  His fever wouldn't come down with medicine, he screamed for about 2 hours straight, finally got so weak he could only lay on my chest and moan.  Before we left the clinic, they gave him a shot of antibiotic that the doctor said "is gonna hurt like hell".  After the shot, Caden became very lethargic which worried the doctor even more that Caden's body had just given out after struggling so much to breathe.  They then decided to admit him to the hospital. 

By the time we finally made it it to a hospital room and the nurses were checking him out, Caden was very hyper.  He was playing with EVERYTHING and flirting with the nurses.  At least until he got his IV.  He screamed through that.  Everyone asked me if that was hard to watch--it really wasn't, I was just so glad to know that he was going to get better.  Nothing was as bad as watching him earlier that day when he was so miserably sick and I couldn't help.  His crying over the IV quit as soon as I was able to pick him up again. 



Poor baby after he got the IV.  Notice his tiny hospital gown? 

   



  


We had a great experience with everyone at the hospital.  The only bad thing was Cody and I both trying to sleep on this small couch.   We had to wake each other up just to coordinate times to turn over.

 

Caden had trouble going to sleep both nights, but once he did he slept all night, even through the breathing treatments every 2-3 hours.

We were really starting to go stir crazy by Sunday afternoon.  There was only one other kiddo on the pediatric floor so the nurses got us a wagon and let us pull Caden down the hall.  He loved it-too bad we don't have a wagon for him at home.   Caden stole all the nurses hearts.  He really became such a ham around them.  They would call up their friends who were working other floors and tell them to come see him.  Of course the first thing they would all say is "oh my gosh, his hair!" You can't tell so much in these pictures, but his hair is out.of.control.  Guess he got that from his mama.






 

Caden's doctor seems to think that he initially had a virus which led to a bacterial infection which then set off some restrictive breathing (basically asthma, they just can't officially diagnose that until 2 years) and possibly a slight case of pneumonia.


We ended up being discharged to go home Monday morning.  We made it home from the hospital, I jumped in the shower and packed to go to Lubbock for week (I was supposed to be there at 8am for class that day).  I ate a quick lunch with Cody, said my goodbyes, and hurried along the 3 hour drive to Lubbock (with caffeine in hand since I hadn't slept much the last few days).  Once I got to Lubbock, I dropped off my bags at a friends house, and headed to Tech's library to take a mock licensure exam that I missed that morning (the same type test that I had to take 2 weeks early last summer because I was about to have a baby.  Thank goodness my professors are understanding!  They just kind of smile and comment on the amount of stress in my life.) Three hours later I finished that 250 question test  and went straight to meet up with all my PT school friends for much needed beer/margaritas!  Finally made it to bed at around 2:00am.

The rest of the week was full of 8 hour days of class, catching up with friends, visiting newborn babies (Caroline and Paislee) and of course GRADUATION-which I will post later.

Finally got to meet Paislee