Blog Resuscitation

This poor neglected blog : ( The Talley family is alive and well! We had a busy start to 2011 and somehow I forgot to keep up with this blog. I'm back now and ready to fill everyone in. Starting back in January, our new year got off to a rough start. Morgan had to be hospitalized overnight for what ended up being a weird strain of a virus and pneumonia. It all started one morning with her saying she had a sore throat, she had a slight temp so I took her to the doctor thinking maybe it was strep (it had been going around school. After an exam and culture the doctor determined it was probably just sinus and sent us home. Once we got home everything went crazy... Morgan passed out and had to be rushed to the ER. At the children's hospital her fever started spiking and all attempts to bring it down were failing, it finally hit 104.9 before it broke. Morgan had tremendous neck and back pain and at one point the doctor on call ordered a spinal tap (luckily the head Pediatrician ruled out spinal meningitis and the spinal tap never happened). Morgan was really sick for about 10 days, the first three days she slept pretty much around the clock. It was one of those times as a parent that your heart sinks and you literally become sick with worry. I wore myself out worried about Morgan. I ended up with the flu a couple of weeks later. David and Carson managed to stay healthy all winter : ) January was also a difficult month because we lost my great aunt Kay very suddenly to a stroke. I am so thankful that we got to see her at Christmas but it was so shocking to lose her so unexpectedly. Her death really took a toll on all of us. Morgan always had a bond with Kay and shortly after Kay passed, Morgan handed me a picture she had colored and said "mommy, I colored this for Kay. Can you make sure to get it to her in heaven". I will never forget that moment as long as I live.
We got lots and lots of snow in January and in February! At one point we had 23inches on the ground! February was a tough month. Our little chihuahua (the stray I took in last May), Gus, had started to become very possessive of me. Weird, I know. Gus, started growling at the kids when they were on my lap, would growl at David when he came to bed at night, didn't want anyone to sit by me. I took him to the vet and a trainer trying to correct the problem but it kept getting worse. Finally, one night he attacked David as he was reaching for the remote and bit his hand and arm. Afraid for the kids, I knew I needed to find him a new home. This was hard because I was so attached and never believed in "giving" a dog away but in this case it was for the best. I found Gus an awesome family with no small kids, just a thirteen yr old girl who is in love with him and spoils him rotten... he is equally in love with her : ) A couple of weeks after Gus went with his new family, we started visiting the shelters. It wasn't long before we fell in love with a 10 month old border collie/ lab mix and adopted him. Morgan named him Lucas and we call him Luke for short and he is a great dog : ) The kids adore him and he loves the kids. Lainey even took to him right away. In March, things started falling apart literally. First, the refrigerator stopped working one day causing ice from the ice maker to melt and leak all over the hardwood, the our home computer crashed, and finally two days before my 31st birthday our washing machine stopped working mid-cycle. Sigh. So we got the refrigerator fixed, the computer fixed (took forever), and for my birthday David got me a beautiful new washer and dryer set : ) Sadly we also had another loss in March, my great uncle Howard passed away after a long battle with cancer. April has brought more sad news our way, Nonnie, has been diagnosed with leukemia. So far the prognosis looks promising as it is in the early stages and the fact that she is only 68yrs old makes her outlook better. For those of you that don't know, Nonnie is my grandmother, Morgan and Carsons great-grandmother whom we are all very close to. My final bit of bad news for this post came about two weeks ago when Lainey, our 9yr old Jack Russell/Rat Terrier mix dog, started acting funny and having trouble breathing. I took her to the vet only to discover she was in cardiac arrest (her heart rate was over 300bpm), the vet gave her two shots and immediately her heart rate dropped to a normal level but further testing revealed that the heart especially the left side was severely swollen and her body was retaining fluid (you know me, no medical terms). Anyways, she is now on medication which has helped her tremendously! She is not 100% her old self but she definitely acts like she feels good. The Kids are both doing well. Morgan is our drama queen : ) She now is really into anything with lots of bling, she loves playing video games, she loves going on bike rides, she has a my little pony obsession, she also has a Taylor Swift obsession and can name almost all of her songs, and she is definitely my daughter because she is already begging to wear make-up (of course she is not allowed but the mere fact she is interested make David nervous). Carson is getting so big! At his 18month check-up he measured at 35.5ins and weighed 32lbs! He wears a 3T and needs no hemming or taking in. I'm thinking future pro-football player ; ) He is also a very happy boy and rarely gets upset. He loves playing outside, playing with cars, throwing/kicking balls, coloring, and dancing. I have so many pics to post but after all this typing they will have to wait... David and I have a DVR full of recordings and two sleeping kids : )