Goodbye January!!

Phew...we made it. January has been a rough month for us health wise. Let me just list what I can recall: a cold for baby boo, a sick-achy bug that last 24 hours that we all caught, the flu for Hannah, Jeff and I, surgery for Kate and a seizure for Rachel Lee. Goodbye sick January!

I'm so glad no one takes a picture of me when I am sick...it's not pretty!

Other Murry Quotables

Tonight we were reading a book and the shirt on the boy said, "Call me Georgie."

H: Call me Hannah!
K: Call me Kate!
S: Call me Queen!
Hannah and Kate giggle.
H: No your shirt would say, 'Call me Sarah.'
K: Daddy is Superman!
H: Yes! Superman!
J: That's silly. Long pause Cryptonite can't hurt me.

Apparently pride is not an issue in our house.

Boo Feeling Better

Well, it seems like Boo's fever is gone, and that she is finally feeling better. Praise the Lord! Here she is celebrating by giving everyone five:


And she's even eating now! I haven't posted about how well she can sign with us lately because we've all been so sick, but she knows how to communicate yes, no, all done, more and of course my personal favorite "up" as in pick me up (and never put me down).

Did you hear my two monkeys in the background playing? Life sure is active over here, but I'm just so relieved that it's a happy activity now!

Un-singable Songs

My girls often ask me to sing with them, and I love singing so I often suggest a song or two, but usually they want me to sing the song they are thinking of, which of course means that only they know the words to the song. Here is the wolf song that Hannah asked me to sing with her:


I love her creativity. Did I mention that she wants me to send in her video to Ellen so she can sing on her show? This girl has high hopes!!

Progress in the Right Direction

Baby girl seemed fine this morning, but by the afternoon her fever was back and rising. It never rose too far over 101, so I called the doctor's and asked for an Urgent Care appointment, not that I think 101 is too high, but because the doctor on Friday said that if the fever lasted 72 hours then we needed to bring her in again. Unfortunately by the time I called Urgent Care, it was closed, so I could either wait until Monday to take her to a pediatrician or I could take her to the ER...for me this was not a tough choice. Her fever is headed down and she seems to be recovering, so with progress in the right direction I am okay waiting one more day. Jeff wants to know what is causing the fever, but he agreed the ER is not where we wanted to spend our Sunday evening. So we wait and hope and pray that tomorrow her fever is gone and I can cancel her appointment (it's not until 2pm). I think we are all on high alert still since the seizure, but I am hopeful that this is just a virus and shall pass soon.

Blessing in the Midst of Life

It was a normal day. Hannah went to preschool, we walked to pick her up, everyone ate a good lunch and I put everyone down for a nap. Hannah and Kate played around during their rest time, so I moved them into the living room where they could each lie on a couch and I could keep my eye on them and make sure they were resting well. Both girls finally fell asleep...a very rare thing these days...when Rachel Lee woke early from her nap (she usually sleeps until 4ish). I didn't want her waking her sisters so I picked her up and noticed right away that she was warm and thought it might be because she is teething (those one year molars are brutal!). I tried to give her a bottle, thinking some fluids may lower her fever, but her mouth didn't close around the bottle. That's when I noticed how limp she was in my arms and that she was not responding. So, I changed her diaper, a sure fire way to make my baby girl cry, and nothing...no movement. I took her temp and it was 104.1...I took it again and again with the same result: 104.1. I took her clothes off, put cool clothes on her body and head and began talking to her, trying to get her to open her eyes, move her arms or legs or do anything other than just remain limp in my arms. I wanted to lower the fever thinking that a high fever could indicate Roseola or Fifths Disease, but after an hour of wandering around, calling her name, changing positions of how I was holding her and her still not responding I began to get worried. I put her down on the floor and began shaking her legs to get her to react. Instead her eyes rolled back and I knew that something was not right so I called 9-1-1. I thought she was dehydrated (I am trying to wean her and am only giving her bottles and sippy cups) and I was worried that she was so dehydrated that she was slipping into a comma or something. The paramedics and fire fighters arrive and they begin taking vitals, checking oxygen levels and told me that it sounded like she had a seizure, and they recommended taking Rachel Lee to Children's Hospital in the ambulance. Hannah by now was awake and I roused Kate and took them to a neighbor's next door...Ms. Ivy. I hopped in the ambulance and began answering a multitude of questions...some I could answer and some I couldn't...the whole time just praying that the Lord would be gracious and take care of Rachel Lee. Fortunately Rachel Lee was crying in eh ambulance, although not moving her body, not opening her eyes and not screaming crying...enough to make sure she was doing okay, but not what my normal Rachel Lee does. We were seen right away at Children's and the doctor, Dr. Friday, ran some tests on her blood and urine. After about 9 hours of tests and waiting we were told it was probably a Febrile Seizure due to the high fever (she was 103.8 when we got to the hospital) rising in such a short span of time. We were told to keep her fever low and to return to the hospital if she still has the fever Sunday afternoon (72 hours after the fever began).

Febrile Seizures are somewhat common for kids, according to Google, but I have yet have a friend go through this, so this is all new to me and I feel a little unnerved when I recall the fear I felt watching Rachel Lee on that Thursday afternoon. The doctors think it's unlikely that with this virus she will again have a seizure since it's the sudden change in the temperature rather than the high fever itself. It may however happen again with a different virus and in that case I am supposed to call 9-1-1 again to ensure that Rachel Lee gets enough oxygen throughout the seizure otherwise there may be permanent damage.

Life...it's crazy. You think you know what is happening and then God reminds me to stay on my knees in prayer for the health and development of my girls. Being on knees reminds me to pray for my neighbors and friends, and my extended family. It's a blessing really to have craziness in your life to remind me that God is in control, and when He is in control good things can and will happen...not always easy things, but good things.

Also, Friday was supposed to be baby Rachel Lee's birthday party with friends (the third scheduled party that had to be cancelled for the third time because of Murry sicknesses...that gives you a picture of our January so far!). When everyone who was invited received he un-invite and the explanation about the seizure people offered all kinds of help and prayers. Again, in the midst of life's craziness I can see how blessed and encouraged I am. People offering to bring dinner, take the girls to the park, bring over groceries, pick up things if I needed them (and I needed infant Tylenol and am so grateful that I did no have to luge three girls down to Target to get it!!)...whatever I needed I had about 10 people offering to help. WOW...community is good. God is good for giving us that kind of community.

So, now we wait and pray that tomorrow baby girl's fever is gone and that the virus is passing. I also need to pray that God takes away that sting I feel when I remember the panicked feelings and the images I have of Rachel Lee having the seizure. Fear and pain...God the healer can heal my baby and God the healer can ease my mind.

I praise God that I can see so many good things these past few days, and I am hopeful that the next blog entry will show my baby girl up and around, happy and health once again.

Praise GOD!

Uncle Roger is TROUBLE!

While walking with Hannah today to take a tour of what we are praying will be her elementary school next year she said to me,

H: Mom, don't step on the crack
S: Oh, is this a game?
H: Yes, Uncle Roger taught me it. He said, 'Don't step on the crack or you'll foot will crack in half.'
S: WHAT!?!
H: No, not really, but it's a game and it's fun. He said something and I can't remember so I just made it up. But it's a true game.
Long pause where we walked together stepping over cracks.
H: That Uncle Roger is TROUBLE!

Yes, Hannah he is. He's also loved and talked about often in our house even though we only get the chance to see him about twice a year.

Murry Family Christmas

In hopes of getting some more pictures to post I have delayed posting about the Murry family Christmas, but I am eager to get things done on my to-do list so I can continue completing projects!!

Unfortunately somewhere in the chaos of the Murry Christmas I lost the camera, only to find it in the back of the mini-van tucked away in Kate's car seat. So, there are few pictures of the Murry family, but we had a great time hanging out, playing a parks, hiking to see the land slide into the ocean, seeing Roger Sr. swim in the traditional Polar Bear's New Year's Day swim, opening presents, sharing meals and my favorite part...hearing from Audrey and Han, that there will be another cousin!! YAY!! That means there will be two more Murry cousins by next Christmas. God is good!!

Some Quotables

When I see my girls doing the potty dance and yet not going to the bathroom I often tell them to listen to their bodies. I also use that phrase when they have goose bumps outside...it's a way I am trying to not tell them what to do, but to think about what they should do to keep a healthy body...makes sense, right?

So, after seeing Kate dance around like she was going to pee her pants at any moment I said,

S: Kate, what is your body telling you?
K: My body does not talk. Only I talk.
Touche...
S: Well, your body is trying to tell you something.
K: No, only I talk. My body doesn't talk.
S: Your body is telling you to go potty.
K: My. body. does. not. talk!
And now we're on time out for disrespectful speaking.

We live in a community that has a lot of Filipino people. Hannah's preschool is very diverse, and two kids out of her 10 student class do not speak English.

H: Mom, what language will Rachel Lee speak?
S: English, like us?
H: Well, I think she will speak Filipino and then I will help her learn English like I do with the kids at school.
S: No, she will speak English like us.
H: We'll have to see whose right... (said in a sing songy way)
S: Well I know that I am right.
H: We'll have to see.

And now I get why moms often say "Because I said so."

January 6...My Baby is One!!

Just a few pics of her actual birthday...I LOVE this girl!!

Nichols Family Christmas

he Nichols side of the family celebrate Christmas together at my house this year. We kept is simple by ordering food from Buca di Beppo, and Italian resturant that serves family size portions, making sugar cookies together for dessert, opening a few presents from a gift exchange and then palying a few games. It was a great way to gather round together and enjoy each other without a lot of stress of cooking and cleaning. I hope we do the same thing next year!! As I tell the girls, keep it easy, peasy, lemon squeezy...















































































































The Oetken family (Rachel, Kirk, Joe and Kara) were not able to make it this year, but they sent a tasty fruit bouquet.








































Kate named her sugar cookie Pinkalicious...it's pink, it's delcious, and of course we love the books by Victoria Kann.

Christmas Day Chaos!!

Christmas morning this year was fun and fast...fun because we were all together, my girls understood Jesus' birthday and the whole Santa thing; they were excited about presents, and knew that I was cooking some yummy food...plus, Mom and Dad stayed the night to enjoy Christmas morning with us!! Fast because we had to get it all done before church at 10:30...but we were able to open baby Jesus' box (we do that present first since He is the best present EVER) then we did Santa stuff, followed by more presents, followed by a little clean up, a nice breakfast, getting dressed and ready, and then undecorating the tree...what, you don't undecorate your tree Christmas morning?










But before we said good-bye to the tree completely I tried to get one last photo of
my girls in front of the tree...tried is the key word there:

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

One Year Birthday

We had a lovely birthday party at home, as a family, for baby Boo. I felt so blessed seeing my girls celebrate with her, and although we had plans for a party with some friends (which has since been rescheduled twice due to sicknesses!!) I realized that Rachel Lee has a gift that my other two girls didn't have: a built in party with sisters!!

The birthday girl was so excited when I set the cake on the table so I set her next to the cake and she was super happy!



After sitting next to the cake and sampling it, baby girl wanted more, more, more!!