Hi All!
How was your Christmas? I hope it was sah-weet! We had a great time. My Grandma got (re)married on Christmas Eve Saturday. It was really fun to meet her new husbands' family AAANNNDDD... added bonus... My Dad, little sister, and little bro were able to come out for the wedding and spend Christmas day with us!
Christmas morning Santa left stockings for everyone. Taylor was still a little confused about Christmas. She liked ripping the wrapping paper off. Hopefully next year she will "get it." She was probably most excited when she opened her Big Wheels Bike. She has been wanting a bike for a long time; every time we go to a store, she tries to ride them. Sadly, her little midget legs still aren't long enough for this bike, but will be soon. Sorry Tater keep trying kid! That's ok though, she pushes herself around just fine :)
Monday after Christmas we went to the Salt Lake airport to pick up my mom! She had to work Christmas this year or she would have come as well, but we were just excited to have her. We walked around Temple square and saw the lights and then were about to go eat dinner when we realized Taylor was not ok. When we got to dinner and I took off her hat and gloves, her little hands were swollen and hot and she had spots all over her and cried and cried. Her little legs, ankles, feet, stomach, everything was covered in spots and swollen so tight she couldn't move her joints. We got her on some benadryl, ibuprofin, tylenol, and got her to a pediatrician the next morning. He said she might have Henoch-Schönlein Purpura Vasculitises. The May Clinic has a good overview if you're interested.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/henoch-schonlein-purpura/DS00838. Here is a sad picture of her at the doctor's office.
Basically, that is a bad thing and the reaction and pain gets worse when outside in the cold. We had a long, wakeful, miserable night. My poor girl couldn't sleep and was so uncomfortable. By the next morning the spots had moved to her face, but the continued meds seemed to be helping. She could move her joints.
We talked to Adam's mom and sister who were planning on watching Taylor while we went sledding for a few days to decide what to do. They had lots of fun things planned with Taylor and her cousins, and offered to still take her even though she wasn't feeling her best. They took her to the zoo (bundled up), to the movie, they got ice cream, and just had a blast. I'm so glad we were able to leave her in good hands. Being with her cousins took her mind off the pain and her "itchy" and so we were grateful.
We snowmobiled into Adam's family cabin with my family for a night, took some snowmobile rides, went sledding down some STEEP hills, and just had a blast. We came out the next day, checked on Taylor and played some games. Grandma and Nene were taking good care of her and still wanted to keep her, so the next day Adam and I went shopping with Jed and Adrianne and Kole.
The whole family then went bowling, went to dinner, and just enjoyed being together. We picked up Taylor Friday morning to take her back to a follow up doctor's appt.... her face was so puffy I almost didn't recognize her, but her spots had started to clear up. Woo Hoo! And the good news is she has been doing great ever since!
We stopped in Brigham City on our way home to see Adam's Grandma Vee. She loves Taylor. She loves all of her grandkids. I'm so glad we stopped. She passed away last week and her funeral was Friday. We will miss her.
I am so grateful for our family and friends and I'm excited for the new year. Bring on 2012!
