The Inauguration

Yes, we drink the purple Kool-Aid. I have no shame in saying that we are ACU die hards. Such die hards that we took two small children on the early morning drive to Abilene on the absolute hottest day of the year to sit through a two-hour presidential inauguration. They should surely name a building in our honor for that, right?

Wade & I both had wonderful ACU experiences. I was fortunate to know early on what I wanted to major in, and for the most part, didn't steer too far from it. So I spent the majority of my 4 1/2 (who really graduates in 4 anymore???) years in the JMC Building. I received a fantastic education while at the same time getting practical real-world experience. I credit much of what I deem as a successful career in non-profit PR to all that I gained from ACU. And on top of a wonderful education, I made lifelong memories and friendships that I hope to never take for granted.

All that to say, we were excited to go back for the inauguration of ACU's new president and bring along both of the boys. We probably should've thought through a little more the fact that it would be a two-hour ceremony with two small children, but hey, we live on the edge. And I had fruit snacks.

We did survive the day and had no regrets about going. It was pretty surreal to be sitting in Moody Coliseum with my husband and children. I looked around at all of the very eager, young-looking students and couldn't help but feel excitement for them and all that was in store. Cheesy, I know. There's not much of my time at ACU that I would change or do over (except for maybe a few early dating choices...did I say that?), but as I'm sure many people 10+ years post-college say, I wish I could've soaked it in more. I don't necessarily want to go back to that stage of life, but I do miss the learning environment. Oh boy, am I sounding old now or what?

I loved ACU then, and how could you not love ACU now? The school received national accolades and attention with the mobile learning initiative launched last year. And now my beloved newspaper, The Optimist, was the first university student newspaper created for the iPad. Pretty cool.

And even with all of the innovative things happening and the incoming classes growing in numbers every year, the school still has a unique feeling of community. Like I said, we're die hards around here.

It was a fun (although excruciatingly hot) day for all of us. While sweating profusely and corralling two small children, the pictures are pretty weak and limited. You do what you can do.

Five minutes before it was all about to begin, Will had a blow-out diaper, which needed a wardrobe change. So here you will see what we call his signature pouty face. Guess he was a little embarrassed to be in the buff at a presidential inauguration.

And here's the best we could get at a family picture. Minus one family member.

And I'm not sure why, but the Parade of Flags made me all teary this time. Yes, I'm turning into my mother.
Tate loved the flags and the Big Purple band.
This is a horrible picture, but proof of that actual inauguration. Maybe Dr. Schubert will still be President when the boys go to ACU (2025 & 2028...no pressure!), and they can say they were there.
No surprise, but Tate loved the GATA Fountain. I had just finished telling him he couldn't get in the water or take his shoes off, right when a student walked up and took her shoes off to rinse off her feet. I was both annoyed and grossed out. The drama then got worse as Tate barreled off and proceeded to practically knock over the handicapped man walking by us. The man was so kind about it. This kiddo keeps me humble.
Paying homage to the Wildcats. One funny story is that Tate kept asking when the cats were coming out. Explaining the concept of a school mascot is a tricky one.
This was approximately 3.5 minutes after we got in the car.
We never made it over to Cullen Auditorium for a picture of Will at his (middle) namesake's location. And I completely forgot to go get a loaf of zucchini bread from Hickory Street Cafe (the absolute best hands down!). Even though we left completely exhausted, it was worth it. Worth being there at the start of a new and exciting chapter for ACU. And worth being with my three favorite people at one of my most favorite places.

Will ~ 3 & 4 Months

It has been an eventful couple of months for this little guy. In fact, he's had an eventful life so far! So I'm catching up with his 3 and 4 month posts.

Obviously the biggest part of the 3rd month was his hospital stay and recovery from the staph infection. We are still amazed and extremely grateful that looking at him now, you would have no idea it ever happened. And you would also have no idea that he had to have an outpatient surgery two weeks later. He is doing great and has made a full recovery from both. We've got one tough cookie on our hands!

In regular baby news, here are some fun developments over the last two months:

• He LOVES to smile and squeal at just about anyone that will smile back. Family, friends, strangers, he loves them all!
• His coos have turned into gurgles, aahhs, and all kinds of new noises.
• Will moved from the bassinet in our room to the crib in his room and handled the transition great.
• We weaned him from the swaddle. He was pretty happy with that, so he could get his hands in his mouth at night. Not his thumb, but his hands are almost always in his mouth.
• He's gone 8-hour stretches at night a few times, but has't quite had the full night yet and typically wakes up once for a bottle.
• He lost his hair stripe. The last few hairs finally fell out. Now it's a small dark blond/light brown fuzz ball all over with a very defined hairline.
• He is finally tolerating tummy time better and holding up his head while on his tummy. Five days in the hospital and recovery from surgery caused him to take a few steps back with that, but I think he's on his way to getting caught up. And he's starting to roll to his side pretty often, which has caused several unintentional roll overs.
• He has really started to notice Tate so much more. And if anyone can get a smile out of Will, it is Tate. I'm sure this will just continue even more over time. You can tell he already adores his older brother.
• And he continues to be a pretty long baby and is outgrowing clothes fast.

He is proving to be one happy, easy-going baby. We already knew we loved this boy, but going through the last few months with him have formed a bond I can't even explain. So thankful for his health and life. We all love our Baby Will!

The Letter N

We're big fans of Sesame Street around here. The other day Tate was watching an episode, and I suddenly heard him laughing hysterically. He could barely breathe he was laughing so hard. We have since watched this just about every day. Seriously funny.

Swim Lessons

This was the 2nd year in a row to take swim lessons from Mr. Kaleb & Mr. Jim. Tate did a great job last year, but over the winter regressed some in his desire to swim at the indoor pool. Not ability, just desire. I figured that out after the first day this year when he was immediately right back to where we left off last year. Stinker...he's been holding out on us.

Oh well, he got right back into the swing of things. Floating, kickboard laps, diving under and picking up rings, jumping into the water, and swimming about 10 feet.

They use a tough love approach to the lessons, which works well with Tate. They're there not to play but to learn water safety and some early swim skills. That approach and all of the tattoos can be a little intimidating, but they are so good at what they do, and the kids warm up to them quick.

Here's a video on his last day, the show-off day. Even Daddy, Grandpa, Mimi, and Will came to cheer him on.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

He did great. He had fun. We were proud.

Summer Spectacular 2010

Back in June, our church had its annual Summer Spectacular (a version of Vacation Bible School). Each year they take a story from the Bible and incorporate it into all of the kid's classes, adult classes, and the musical each of the three nights. This year was Elijah.

Tate had a great time in his class learning about how God provided for the needs of Elijah when he sent the ravens with bread and meat. To illustrate, the snack that night was a cracker and chicken nugget. Later when we were talking about it, I asked him how God provided. He said "with bread and Chick Fil A!"

I helped in the 1st grade story room each night and was pretty impressed with how smart these kiddos are. We had three different groups of about 20-30 kids each. My friends Kristen & Alyssa did a great job teaching the story, and I did crowd/kid control.

Then after class it was time for the musical. It was once again an impressive production. They tell the Bible story while using songs we all know. Tate loved the musical and was so excited each night to see what was going to happen to Elijah. When I was talking to him about how God sent the fire and the rain, he said, "And God also sent Boom Boom Pow and The Hustle!"

Even with the price you have to pay when your 3 y.o. doesn't go to bed until 10:00 p.m. each night, it was all worth it. The entire week is so impressive and well done. We all had a great time and learned a lot. Next year...Noah!

4th of July

This year's 4th of July was a weekend-long celebration. Tate had been looking forward to it for about a year. Seriously. Any time we drove by the spot on 1709 where we watched fireworks in 2009, he would ask when we could see fireworks again. He even remembered that Mimi brought him graham crackers.

So when it was time for the 4th this year, he was pretty excited. This was our first year to participate in the neighborhood 4th of July parade. We live in a really small neighborhood (10 streets max), but it was seriously the cutest thing to see. The local fire department sent a "biiiiiiiiiiiig fire truck" (Tate's description) to lead the parade and the local police department sent a "real police car" to serve as the caboose. In between were all of the neighborhood kids (and parents and dogs) on their bikes, trikes, skateboards, etc., parading through the streets.

Tate was beyond excited to ride his Big Wheel (patriotically decked out... thank you very much) along with all of the big kids. He caused some nerves on my part as he was determined to ride directly behind the fire truck. Thankfully, we all made it safely to the grand finale, which was a tour of the firetruck and a classic burger and hot dog cookout in the middle of the back cul-de-sac. Good times!

And later that night, we got in some swimming and a yummy steak dinner at Mimi & Grandpa's house. Here is Will sporting his "Born in 2010" attire.

And on the 4th, we headed out to the lakehouse that Wade's parents rented for the summer. It was a super-fun day at the lake. Wade got a run on the wake board, I got in some good skiing (even after an almost 2-year break), and Tate had the time of his life on the tube. Will was happily held and cuddled by an assortment of family and friends inside. It was such a fun, busy day that I barely have any pictures.

The evening was capped off by a delicious filet dinner and three different firework shows to watch from the backyard deck while playing with the cousins and glow sticks. Amazingly, Tate stayed up until 11:30 that night (a new record). I don't think he could've asked for a better weekend, and he's already asking when it will be the 4th of July again!

Uncle Gayle

On June 26, we lost a pretty special part of the Strzinek family. Wade's Uncle Gayle was someone who loved his family deeply, had a strong work ethic, and had a steadfast faith that was evident to all that knew him.

It was was fascinating at his memorial service to hear the stories from all of the parts of his long life. I knew that he had a successful professional career, but I had no idea that he served as COO for the company that developed the first ATM machine. Wow! But more than his professional achievements, I think we will all remember Uncle Gayle for his faith, his love for his family, and for his tight hugs. No one else hugs like he did. And I will always be thankful for how quickly and lovingly he welcomed me into the family.

The Makings of a Brotherly Photo Shoot

You start with one Big Brother.

And add one Little Brother.

And try to lay them next to each other.

Or try to sit them by each other.

And then try to to lay them next to each other again.

And beg and plead for them to both look and smile.

And finally, you get this. Be still my heart.

What I Learned

Dare I say it? But it seems as though life is slowly returning back to normal. And by normal I mean sleep-deprived parents of an infant, time outs for the 3 year old, realizing those 15 remaining lbs. of baby weight won't come off by themselves, trying to find time to balance freelance projects and other duties, etc., etc. You know those kind of normal frustrations. But I will gladly take those over the frustrations of just a couple weeks ago.

I am hopelessly behind on blog posts. But before I get to those, I want to write something while it's fresh.

A couple weeks ago, Wade & I went through probably the scariest few days of our lives so far. Not knowing what is wrong with your child and then watching your child...a baby!...be in so much pain is life-changing. Big picture here, I know there are children with deadly, chronic illnesses hurting everyday. Our four days in the hospital is nothing compared to their everyday life. But for us, this was pretty horrible.

Something I have to admit but am not proud of is that I've always been one of those people that never knew the "right" way to respond to someone hurting. So often, my response was nothing for fear that it would be awkward or not helpful. If anyone out there can relate, I hope this will help.

One of the biggest ways this experience was life-changing was because of the people around us. I wish there was a better word than grateful, but that's all I've got. Weeks later, we are still so grateful for all of the people that reached out to us in one way or another. It taught me a lot.

It taught me how meaningful it is to that person hurting when you just show up at the hospital with a Diet Coke or Cherry Limeade. It taught me that no matter how much of a time-waster it can be, Facebook is an amazingly powerful tool for getting information out and having people support you. It taught me the power of stopping by a hospital room for barely five minutes just to let a scared parent know they were being prayed for. It taught me how helpful it is for someone to bring a meal to you at the hospital. It taught me that the gift of a small stuffed animal can really brighten up a hospital room. It taught me how helpful it is when someone drops off a bag full of a snacks and drinks. It taught me how truly beneficial it is once you're home to have delicious meals arrive for several nights. It taught me that when you've got more than one kid, you have to say yes and let others help. It taught me that every text, FB message, phone call, or e-mail is read and is truly appreciated.

There's a lot about those four days I'd like to forget. But I hope I will never forget how wonderful it was to feel so loved, thought of, and prayed for. I look forward to the opportunity to do the same for someone else in the future and hope you will too!

The Story

**BIG Disclaimer** This is going to be an incredibly long post and include some pictures that aren’t easy to look at. But I’ve been remembering a quote from a recent sermon, ”The enemy of faith is forgetfulness.” So I won’t apologize too much as this is to record and to remember the goodness of God.

On Monday, Wade had the day off work, and we all spent the day catching up from a fun and busy 4^th of July weekend. For most of the day, Will seemed completely himself…a happy, easy-going, smiley baby. I remember when I gave him a bath that night that I noticed his neck area had just a little bit of chafing. But the poor guy has reflux, so I just assumed that was the cause. After I put him to bed, he woke up less than two hours later, which was unlike him. He fell asleep again and woke up after two more hours again crying. That continued throughout the night. I was frustrated thinking this was the result of a busy weekend. He must be over stimulated, used to being held, and didn’t want to sleep (boy was I wrong!).

By Tuesday morning, he just didn’t seem right. He never had a temperature and didn’t show any visible signs of something being wrong. The only odd thing was that when I picked him up while he was crying, he would tense up his body and scream.

So I decided to call the pediatrician. When I got there, I explained that I felt kind of silly for bringing him in just because he was fussy. She was nice about it and understanding. After looking in his ears, she said that it looked like the start of an ear infection. I was sad that he had an ear infection at 12 weeks old but was also relieved to know there was something going on and I wasn’t crazy. While at the pediatrician’s office, I noticed what looked to be two small scratches on his face but assumed it was from him scratching himself when he was so fussy the night before. Didn’t think twice about it. That afternoon he started taken an antibiotic and Tylenol.

Throughout that afternoon, the Tylenol barely seemed to dull the fussiness, He still wasn’t himself. And then after he woke up from a long nap, I notice a few more scratches and some peeling on his ear. So strange. I immediately called the pediatrician’s office, but they were closing in five minutes. We were pretty sure it wasn’t from the medicine since it had started before, so she said it sounded like the hand, foot, mouth virus and to watch him through the night and call in the morning if it’s worse. He was fussy through the night again and during a diaper change, we became quite alarmed at the peeling/blistering in his diaper area and within a few hours there were more on his face.

Wednesday morning:

So first thing Wednesday morning, I called to get another appointment. Wade left for work and saw the new blisters that appeared around his mouth but neither of us were too worried yet. We both assumed it was the hand/foot/mouth virus and they’d probably just send him home for the virus to work its way out. But then I started looking up the symptoms online and noticed that it just didn’t seem to fit the description of anything that came up. So strange.

I showed up at the 10:00 a.m. appointment getting very concerned. There were more blisters and he was becoming more and more fussy any time you moved him. The pediatrician spent a good amount of time looking at him and brought in another doctor to examine him as well. They left the room, closed the door, and talked for about five minutes. I was getting nervous. She came back in with a pediatric medical journal, sat down next to me, and put her hand on my shoulder. She said, “I don’t want to scare you, but what I think Will has is a form of a staph infection called Staph Scalded Skin Syndrome (SSSS).” She opened the journal with some sample pictures, and I knew immediately that she was right. She said he needed antibiotics right away and that I should leave straight from there to take him to the downtown children’s hospital. I pretty much lost it from that point on. I had to call Wade and tell him, then get in the car and drive downtown. That was a long drive. I was a crying mess, and I unfortunately let my mind go to some scary places. The scariest and silliest thought was that he had to be OK because I still haven’t sent out birth announcements yet!

Wednesday afternoon:

Once at the hospital, they knew I was coming and ushered me to a back room in the ER. Wade arrived, and the ER doctor came to examine him and quickly agreed that he thought it was SSSS. He asked who gave that diagnosis first and said he was really impressed that she nailed it so early on because he only sees these cases come through maybe once every three years. Then all of the tests began. There were several horrible moments in this four-day ordeal, but those may have been some of the worst.

They set up an IV, drew blood, took a skin specimen, and did a catheter for a urine sample. We stood outside the door and just cringed and cried as we heard our baby screaming. Then 30 minutes later, another group of nurses came in to do a spinal tap. At this point, I was a wreck. Wade & I both had to walk down the hallway and practically hide in a corner. I couldn’t even handle being that close to the room and hearing him. It was such a horrible feeling of wanting to be there for your child, but I couldn’t handle hearing him in so much pain. But even that far from the room, we could still hear him crying. It was truly awful. At one point, my eyes were so swollen and contacts so foggy from crying, the nurses had to give me some saline solution, so I could see the paperwork I had to sign.

Poor baby was obviously in horrible pain. Pain from the tests and pain from whatever was going on in his body. They started him on what would be his first of five doses of morphine. Morphine for a baby…I still can’t believe it. Finally by late afternoon they admitted us into the hospital. To go to our room, they had me hold Will and draped several hospital gowns over both of us and walked me to his room using the back elevators. I seriously felt like I was in the movie Outbreak.

We arrived at the room and just seeing one of those tiny cribs in a hospital room will take your breath away. It felt like forever, but that evening we finally spoke with the Infectious Disease doctor who gave us the explanation of staph. Once at the hospital nobody ever spoke to us in the context of things being dire, but the conversations were all just very neutral the first 24 hours. Lots of wait and see and day by day. It’s hard to know what you’re supposed to think about that. By this point, I was reading a ton of information about SSSS online. Everything said it could be life-threatening unless treated early on. Thank goodness for that pediatrician sending us when she did!

We don’t know for sure how he got it. But we think it was possibly from Tate. He had a blister on his foot (totally thought it was from new shoes!) that took a long time to heal. But we’ll never know for sure. And Tate never showed any of these other symptoms.

I know my explanation isn’t very great, but they way I understood it is that we are all walking around with staph on us (gross!). But the older we get the more immunity our bodies have, which allows them to fight off infections better. In fact, SSSS is most common in very young babies. The doctor said even just a few weeks or months can make a difference in building immunity. The staph got into Will’s system and started releasing toxins, which the doctor explained that it was like his body was being poisoned causing the blisters to appear.

Wednesday evening:

And this thing was spreading fast. It seemed like every hour, I would look down and see a new blister appearing on his skin. They were concentrated on his face, neck, and diaper area and then randomly scattered over the chest, arms, and legs. He also started developing warm redness, which slowly spread over his entire body.

Later that night we got word that his spinal tap looked clear, which was a HUGE piece of good news. They also started him on two intense, broad spectrum antibiotics to fight whatever it could until we knew the specific bacteria. From then on, we just had to let the medicine do what it was supposed to do. New blisters continued to appear and he was still in so much pain. It was absolutely heart-breaking watching his heart rate and blood pressure get so high at times.

Thursday morning:

Thursday afternoon:

But with each day, we really did see improvement. Also by that point, the mood and tone of the doctors and nurses seemed much more relaxed and positive, which was nice to hear. By Friday we were getting smiles from him and noticing that the pain seemed to be lessening. Also by Friday they identified the specific bacteria and adjusted his antibiotics accordingly. They also took him off IV fluids, which helped his swelling come down.

And then much to our surprise, the ID doctor said on Saturday afternoon that we could go home! We were shocked and somewhat nervous. He assured us that the antibiotics were doing their job and that there wasn’t anything they should do there that couldn’t be done at home to help him. He ended up being absolutely correct, because Will is having a great recovery! His blisters are almost gone and healing great. Now he is peeling from the top of his head down to every single toe, but that was to be expected. Other than that, you probably wouldn’t even know what had happened less than a week ago. Amazing.

Saturday afternoon – “I’m outta here!”:

The entire thing is surreal. On the first day, I was just a mess fearing the worst. And then once we knew he should be fine, I turned mechanical just doing whatever we needed to take care of him and to get him better. I think it was Friday night when things got quiet and then once we got home that the emotions came flooding. They were emotions of going through something this scary, of seeing your baby in terrible pain, and of gratitude for the amazing amount of support we had from family and friends.

This will definitely be an experience I won’t forget…the good and the horrible. But the good parts were incredible. The hundreds and hundreds (no exaggeration there!) of people all over praying for our baby. The countless texts, emails, and calls. The friends that came to the hospital. The meals that have been arriving since we’ve been home. All of those that have helped with Tate. We just can’t thank you enough. It gives me an entirely new perspective for how meaningful all of those gestures really are.

Mostly, we are incredibly grateful that the Lord answered our pleas in this way. Being in a children’s’ hospital, you can see there are so many situations where the answer to prayers is not the answer they wanted. It’s hard to understand, but I just tell myself that we can’t figure it out. For now, I will be forever grateful to be looking at this adorable, healthy, smiley face.

Tuesday morning: