Normal

We had our check-up at the Doctor and Lexi is back to normal officially. We are off oxygen, breathing treatments, and antibiotics. The Doctor was impressed with how fast Lexi turned around and it dawned on me that the day after she received a Priesthood blessing she started doing better. I am so thankful for the Priesthood in our lives. It was hard to ask someone to come help Cole give her a blessing because we didn't want to expose anyone or their family to RSV. We found someone willing to come and took precautions and I am grateful to him for coming.

The day after we got out of the hospital we went to Utah. Cole had training and stayed in Northern Utah while me and Lexi stayed at my Moms. I was so grateful to be able to stay with my Mom because I didn't want to be alone in case things got worse with Lexi. My Mom and Dad were so kind and we loved being there. It was good for all of our spirits. Lexi was in heaven and thinks Grandma and Grandpa are the greatest. She even got to play with her cousins and I haven't seen her have so much fun in a long time. I wish she could play with them more often. It was really fun to see them all get along and enjoy being around each other. It's hard to believe Lexi is old enough to dress up with them and play with them.

Throughout our hospital stay I was trying to think of the positives and came up with a few:

1. This happened before the baby got here. RSV in a 2 year old is hard but RSV in a newborn would have been very scary.

2. Lexi isn't potty trained. A few weeks ago I tried for one day and it was awful so I decided to wait. I am now feeling grateful because our hospital stay would have been a lot harder if she were potty trained. Kind of ironic.

3. We have insurance. Last year one of my friends had a daughter that got pneumonia. The doctor wanted to hospitalize her but the family didn't have insurance so they didn't. It really pointed out to me how grateful I am we have insurance.

4. The babies birth and Lexi's hospital visit are in the same year. When I had Lexi we maxed our out of pocket insurance quota so I am assuming I will with this one too, thus Lexi's RSV hospital stay shouldn't cost hardly anything.

5. The hospital stay was over a weekend. Cole was off of work and able to help me.

6. Lexi is old enough to watch shows. I don't know how we would have kept her occupied without Caillou and Dora. It would have been much harder if this had happened when she was one.

These are just a few of the random "positives" I came up with. Honestly negative thoughts consumed me most of the time so it was good for me to try to think of these.

Going Home

Lexi's doing much better and is going home today! She will have oxygen while she sleeps and will still do breathing treatments at home. She is really ready to go home and has all her energy back...and more! She has been pretending to go fishing by putting her oxygen cord over the side of the bed and has also used the throw up bowl as a car. She has been the ideal patient and has been really good about all the nurses and doctors checking her. We are so grateful to everyone for their concern for our family and are so glad to be going home!

RSV

Where to start. At the beginning of the week Lexi had a cold. She wasn't sleeping and by Thursday I took her to the doctor. Her oxygen levels were low so they put her on at home breathing treatments and had us come back on Friday. By Friday she was worse which landed us in the hospital with an official diagnosis of RSV. We are still in the hospital and I must say it has been one of the most emotionally draining experiences I've ever been through. I am glad it is the weekend so Cole can help out. He is such an amazing man. I love my family so much. This experience has made me really miss Utah and the support we have there. I am so glad to have a wonderful extended family and miss them even more. We love Lexi so much and hope this trial can quickly come to a close. She's been very brave and is such a good girl.

Temples

Cole's recently been working on the Mesa temple and the Nauvoo temple. They don't photograph nearly as pretty as they are in person but you get the idea.

Valentine's

Lexi loved "Balentime's". She would get so excited each time she saw hearts and would call them balentime's. She had a party with her friends and thought it was so fun. She asked to do it again the next day. She loved getting presents and would tote around the bag they came in and share the treats with Mom and Dad. She would say, "For Mama, from Lexi," and then hand me a treat. I'd have to give it back though so we could do it again. Cole made me a neat carving and has spoiled me and Lexi like crazy with love and fun!

Having Fun

Lexi is at such a fun age. She has a vivid imagination and loves to play pretend. She loves her friends and talks about them all the time. She pretends to play with them even when they're not here. She is very particular about things and notices when things are out of order. If Cole puts his visor down in the car she will immediately request that Mommy puts hers down too. She is very polite and always says thank you. She loves music and dancing. She will ask me to sing so she can do the actions to her songs. She gets to go to song time and story time each week. She likes to pretend to be like the teachers and will read us stories and lead singing and hand out props. She is more aware of others feelings and will often ask us if we're okay and if we sniffle she will ask us if we're crying. She always tells us to be careful. We love our Lexi and are so glad she's part of our family.

More Carvings

Cole has been experimenting with different finishes for his temple carvings. Lexi has been helping him paint them and loves doing it.