Update

My brother was released from the hospital Sunday night.  When I talked to him he said he was still pretty weak and tired so I had to remind him that it takes a while to recover from a serious illness.  He also said he feels sore like he has been working out but he of course hasn't.  It sounds like his muscles still need to recover as well.  He will be on antibiotics for a couple more weeks and they want to draw blood again at the end of this week.  So far it seems like he is going be fine and he probably just needs to take it easy for a while.  Thanks so much for the prayers and kind words, I am very grateful.  I have realized that it is easy to take people around you for granted and we never really know or even expect something bad to happen to someone you care about.  It really makes me think about my kids and how lucky I am that they have never been seriously ill.  With all the illnesses out there, good health really is a blessing!

My brother is in intensive care

My brother David

I got a message on my answering machine today that was from my mom. She said my brother was in the hospital, and in intensive care due to a bad infection that was causing his muscles to deteriorate which can lead to damage of the kidneys. When I talked to her she explained that he had called her from his on campus housing telling her he felt really sick. He had a fever and his legs and back were killing him. She went to go pick him up and she said he could barely walk he was in so much pain and looked terrible. That is when she thought there was something really wrong. When they got back to my parents house she took his temperature and it was 104... That was when she took him in to the emergency room and they began running blood tests. At first the doctor thought it could be meningitis but that was not the case. They also did a flu test but that was negative. Finally they discovered it was a bacterial infection that probably started in his sinus cavity. They discovered that his muscles had begun to deteriorate by doing some kind of blood work which showed an enzyme elevated way beyond the range of normal. That was the reason he wound up in intensive care, because this could effect the kidneys and if the infection went untreated it could eventually result in kidney failure. He was in so much pain they had to give him shots of morphine. Fortunately he is doing much better now and he hasn't even been on the medication for a full 24 hours. His fever has gone down and he doesn't feel close to as bad as when he was brought in. I called the ICU and talked to him myself. He sounded tired and had a bad cough but said he was ready to get out of there because the nurses were bad and it was boring there! Unfortunately they won't be letting him go until another day or two and even then they may just move him to a regular hospital room before discharging him. I think they still need to make sure be is going to recover fully before letting him go. I told him I have never heard of a sinus infection leading to something so serious! He is a healthy 22 year old that works out and everything so I can't believe this happened to him. I am just glad he is getting better and not on his death bed. He is my only sibling so I need him to stay around for a while longer :) I will post an update when I find out anything new.

Monster Jam!!!

Dylan in front of Grave Digger

Doesn't he look great on that four wheeler?

Britton, Dylan, and Devin

Dylan and Nick with one of the drivers

That is one huge wheel!

Grave Digger preparing to do some damage

Dylan and his friend Boo

Dylan and Nick

When I heard Monster Jam was coming to Memphis I knew that Dylan would love this! Plus what kind of southerners would we be if we missed this kind of event? I really wanted to go but I stayed home with Jaxson instead. I figured this event wouldn't be enjoyable with a one year old baby! Plus these things get so loud that you need ear plugs. Nick and Dylan came prepared with some thanks to a friend's warning. Well, as predicted Dylan had a blast. His favorite monster truck was Grave Digger. He couldn't stop talking about this when he came home that night. A couple of the other oral surgery residents took their kids, so it was even more fun for Dylan to see his friends there. Nick got there an hour early so he could go down in the pit. That's when you can get pictures with the trucks and meet the drivers. Nick said that was really cool. If Monster Jam comes back to Memphis I am so going! I don't know if that is kind of weird that I would want to go, but I have never been to anything like that so it would be an experience. Fun times here in Memphis!

Surprise Party For Me!

My friend Whitney made a delicious cake!

From left to right: Starla, Flor, Emily, Whitney, Natalie, Me, Rebecca, Angel

My friend Emily was nice enough to throw me a birthday party at her house last Sunday.  It was really fun to get together with friends and enjoy some good food plus a really good birthday cake!  It was supposed to be a surprise but I knew something was up when Emily called asking me "um so, where's your favorite place to shop?"  The girls put together some cash and a gift card for me which was awesome!  I am still deciding on what to use it on and have made a vow not to spend it on my kids.  I haven't had an a birthday cake in 4 years so I was really happy to have one this year!  In dental school we always seemed to be traveling on the 2nd, or just going out to eat with friends so that is why I have not had a cake for so long!  And this is kind of sad but I haven't had an actually party thrown for me since I turned 18.  Nick isn't one to plan anything beyond going to a restaurant, so maybe I should start demanding a cake and party from here on out!  Anyways, I just wanted to add a thank you to everyone who came over to celebrate my birthday with me :)  I'm lucky to know such great people here in Memphis!

I am 26 years old

I was born January 2, 1983 in Silver Spring Maryland

I was surprised to have flowers delivered to my door!

Nick and I at dinner

Besides the pretty flowers, Nick also surprised me by making dinner reservations to a fancy restaurant called "Folks Follys" which is a really good steak house. The food was really good, we loved it. After dinner we went to the movies to see "Valkyrie" which was pretty good. As if all of this wasn't enough Nick got me a box of chocolates and two DVDs! I don't know what I did to deserve all of this but I really enjoyed my birthday this year. For a while I felt apprehensive to the fact I was turning 26. I wasn't sure why for a while until a friend reminded me it was because I was now closer to thirty than I was to twenty. Yeah that was definitely what was bugging me, but I am ok now. I still have my youth for four more years. Ok I am joking, thirty is still young right? At least that's what I keep telling myself! Anyways thanks Nick for making my birthday so special. Oh and thanks to the Larsens too for watching our kids even though Friday was our weekend to babysit!

Christmas Day

Dylan and Jax Christmas morning

Jaxson's new toy

Nick got guitar hero

Another exciting gift

The "man groomer" my favorite gift (yes there is a story behind this one)

Christmas morning was really great. The kids both woke up around the same time and the first thing Dylan did was run right past our bedroom and out to the living room to see if Santa came. He then came back for us to tell us the good news. Nick gave me the "man groomer" from bed bath and beyond as one of my gifts. No it is not for my use but his. My friend Dana from Omaha had told me about this product last spring and I had been telling Nick all year he needed to go get it. I almost went and got it myself a few times, but kept forgetting. So imagine my surprise when I opened it Christmas morning. Now Nick will be properly groomed and that makes me happy even if it is for his use. I am sure he will thank me for giving him the advice of purchasing it. I also got some really nice gifts that were for my use by the way :) Anyways after we opened presents we went over to the Larsens for Christmas dinner. We brought over home made stuffing (I had never made anything but stove top) so this was something new for me. It turned out pretty well. We played games after we ate and had a really fun time. Over all we had a very good first Christmas here in Memphis. Thanks again to the Larsens for having us over.

Christmas Eve

Excited for Christmas!

Christmas stories

Gingerbread houses

The nativity scene acted out by the kids

Nick and Jaxson

My friend Angel was gracious enough to host a Christmas Eve party at her house. It was a fun night and the kids loved it. Dylan really liked decorating his gingerbread house and Jaxson had fun going after Angel's Christmas tree or playing with fridge magnets the whole time. He was a happy boy the whole time so we couldn't complain. I made my home made oreos and they were eaten up pretty quickly. It was nice to spend Christmas eve with friends. Thanks for having us again Angel!