My first post....(yikes)

It's January 3, 2005, Hard to belive another year has passed. I wonder where the years have gone. Bradley will be ten this year, That's really hard to belive. I thought I would start this blog, no matter how dull my life, to keep up with friends far away and so I can look back on things that will/have happened . Our Christmas was good, We started getting a minor snow storm on Thursday the 23rd. I drove to Zeeland to take my friend Pam, her Christmas present and the cookies I'd been working on for the last 4 days ( Had to get them done in time to give the teachers thier cookies). Her son had tubes put in his ears that day, so I thought I would drive up there, so #1 she didn't have to leave him and #2 to see how he was doing, which was really well. I took him and his sister beanie babies. The weather to drive in was horrible, I wondered what I was thinking. I got about a mile from the Zeeland exit and could not see the road , I was SO happy to finally see the exit sign. But then, I knew I still had to come home in it. The weather pretty much kept up though the middle of the night of Christmas Eve. Friday morning, Christmas Eve had a little excitement. Ryan woke up Crouping . I sat with him in the bathroom with the hot water on full blast so he could breath the steam, well, I ran it until the hot water ran out and he wasn't doing any better. So we got bundled up and went to sit out on the patio. If all else fails, try the cold air. And it WAS cold air!! I have to admit, no matter how cold I was, it was a gorgous night! The snow coming down, was beautiful, just as you imgine Christmas should be with new fallen snow... Anyway, I sat there with Ryan struggling to breath in my arms for over 1/2 an hour. The cold seemed to help him a little, so we went in. He seemed to be breathing a little better and was able to go back to sleep... At least temporarily, When he woke up around 5am, he was worse then the first time. He couldn't cry, couldn't talk, it was the worst I had seen him in about a year. He had striders breathing in and out, and couldn't really catch his breath when he started to cough. So I called the nurse on call ( With the health insurance we "had" you had to have it approved before going to the ER ) By the time I got a nurse after being on hold for 20 minute, Ryan was doing a little better, he could at least get some oxygen in his body!!! The nurse asked questions and I answered and she said that when he first started all this I should of called an ambulance... But I don't usually over react which isn't always a good thing I guess. But she approved the trip to the ER and off Ryan and I were to Holland at 6:00am. We got there and got right in, The triage nurse seemed a little irratated because I interuppted the book she was reading. We then got to our little exam room and within a minute the nurse was in. Ryan was doing better thanks to the cold air on the way there, but we know it will come back with a vengance!! He was all smiles as he usually is no matter how sick he is. So then the Dr. came in and listened, then he said he was going to put him on oral steriods, I sort of cringed and asked if he could just get the shot instead, The oral steriods upset his tummy, and who wants that for Christmas!! So he ordered the shot and the nurse came in... Oh the funny part, We had the same Dr. and nurse in the ER as we did when Ryan broke his arm about 5 months ago... As soon as she came in with the shot, he freaked, THEN she remembered him and started asking him questions, like, did you break your arm at the park?? And Is your dad a fireman?? I held him down while she gave him the shot (not as bad as the four nurses it took to get an IV in him for his broken arm). Then that was it, we were all done and free to go. Ryan was crying and asked me to pick him up, so I did, then I sat him on the chair to get his coat back on him and he slid off the chair onto the floor, I said, Ryan get off the floor, it's icky, Then he's face down on the floor, I kept trying to get him off the floor, but he kept laying on it, face down, talk about nasty ( have I mentioned I'm a germaphobe?) Then he finally sat up and proceeded to try to throw up, which thankfully was unsuccessful, and he again, started to cry and so I picked him up and then realized, with the pale face and the cold sweat, he had just passed out..... Then I felt like a bad mommy telling him to get off the floor... But we cuddled all the way to the car and then he fell asleep on the way home after asking me 20 times if the shot was to make his bad cough better... Then it was okay. We were back home by just after 7 am , the ride to and from the hospital ( Or Hos i bul as Ryan pronounces it) took longer than the actual time in the ER. When I got home I started on my food preparations for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. I got the house all clean and actually for the first time in years, had time to just relax in the afternoon. Doug had gotton a fire call for an accident right around noon, he was still gone till after 3pm. Right around the time he got home Ryan had climbed up on my and laid down. it took him a matter of minutes to fall asleep. Then Doug proceeded to tell me why he'd been gone for so long. There was an accident on M-89 by 55th Street ( east of town) and a 6 year old girl had been killed. She and her mother were in a pick up truck and got hit head on by a Bread truck during a snow squall with no visibility, unfortunatly, the girl didn't have her seat belt on.... So they had to go through a debriefing and counciling thing... He still hasn't mentioned it much, but it really bothered him.. Anyway, On Christmas Eve we went to my Uncle Jerry's ( My dad's brother) The boys of course get too much stuff, but they love it, And I'm greatful for the love the recieve from the Arnett side. Been a tough many years, Losing my Dad to cancer, then my Mom to cancer, than just over a year ago, losing my Uncle Jim to cancer ( Dad's brother) This year my Uncle Jerry's wife of 5 years is fighting Breast cancer, luckly she only needs to recieve radiation for it, so they caught it quickly!! We got home from there around 9:30/10:00 and the kids put out cookies for Santa and Ryan decided he needed Chocolate milk, so we set that out too. And off the kids went to bed, out like lights!! Ryan was quiet all night, no coughing ( gotta love that shot!!) Laura ( my older sister) got to our house at 8:30am on Christmas morning, I was already showered and had breakfast cooking, Brad was up and very excited, but Doug and Ryan were still sleeping. Doug got up shortly after and Ryan didn't get up until around 9 ish. He now had the icky nose part of croup and had a bit of a fever.... We ate breakfast and then it was present time. The kids were SO exicted. They got everything they asked Santa for ( which was 4 things each) and then they got too much from us ( as usual, I over do it) and cool stuff from Aunt Laura.. Around noon we left for Brighton, where Doug's neice Andrea and her husband Ryan live. We got there around 2:30, same as Doug's older brother Ed and his family. We ate and then hung out for a few hours. Ryan looked terrible, and really didn't feel so good, he was worn out!! We left around 6/6:30 got home just before 9pm. The kids played for a little bit to unwind from the trip and off to bed we all went, what a busy day!! Next Christmas the Bales all come here. I guess I've rambled enough, but wanted to catch up on the Holidays. I really miss my parents this time of year!!