Only in Nashvegas...

So as I drove to the mall today, I was stopped at a red light and a motorcycle went zooming past with several bags and a guitar case strapped to the back. The sight of it just made me chuckle and I thought to myself, "Only in Nashville..."

There are many sites/happenings in this town that make it so unique...Here are a couple of my other personal "Only in Nashville" moments from the past few days:

• Only in Nashville...will you eat at Mexicali Grille and see Kenny Chesney sitting with a buddy at the bar enjoying a meal with no one bothering him. (That was Sunday.)
  
• Only in Nashville...will you be in a place called the capital of country music, yet it's easy to spot a tourist because they're the ones in cowboy hats and boots...few of locals are down with that. It's just not how we roll... :)
• Only in Nashville...will you pull up to the mall, run in to grab one thing, and find yourself in the middle of the next Hannah Montana movie (that was today). Don't look for me on the big screen, though. I just walked through the store where they were shooting a couple of scenes...if anything, I'd be a blur in the background. Still cool to see what all goes into a movie, though!

Fun times...I love this town.

The Rain

As I write, we are having one of those 20% chance thunderstorms (that's now spanned a few hours). I'm in a reflective mood, so it got me thinking...Even when there seems to be little chance of rain or storm in life, we know that at some point it will rain.

Life is full of "pop up" storms. Road blocks appear in places we never expected. Hills turn into mountains whose summit seems unreachable. The valleys at times seem so deep we are engulfed by them. Life’s challenges are inevitable.

But for those who follow Christ, ours is a hope that calms the storm, moves the road block, gives us strength to press on and up the mountain, and lifts us out of the pit. Our hope is built on JESUS. It is a hope that cannot be replicated in any thing or anyone other than Christ.

No matter what your day has been like, or where you are personally, I pray you too can find comfort in knowing that God is faithful and in control...He is the one who holds the storm in place...He is the one with the power to calm it. While it's hard to understand, He sometimes brings the storm to require your dependence upon Him...He is the one who can see through the storm to the rebuilding and regrowth that will take place...He is the one who can see the benefit of the storm.

"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8

First Ambulance Ride

...and hopefully the last!

When I picked Carter up on Thursday from daycare, his teacher told me she thought he was having an allergic reaction to the sunscreen because his eyes were really bloodshot. His eyes were bloodshot and skin a little red, but I thought it odd since we've used the same sunscreen since he was 6 months old.

By the time we got home, Carter had welps on his neck and what, at first, looked like large mosquito bites surrounded by hives forming on his chest and back. I went ahead and called Doc because it was so strange looking. They advised Benadryl and a bath. By the time we finished the bath, he was covered literally head to toe with welps so large that it looked as though his belly button was going to push out the opposite way. For obvious reasons, I started to get very nervous. I'd never seen anything like this and knew he must've eaten something with peanuts or was having a reaction to a food we didn't know he was allergic to.

After calling the daycare to find out what he'd been given (which as it turns out included M&Ms which have the peanut warning on them), Carter got a strange look on his face and began throwing up. As soon as Scott got home, Carter was starting to look better. But within about a 5 minute period he went back to large welps.

We took him to Vandy's walk in clinic. While there, he threw up again, became very pale and gray, and was limp in my arms. Scott went in the hall to express our need for help, and the minute the doctor saw him she turned around and told someone to call 911. Thank goodness for Scott's calm nature and reassurance. After what was already an emotional day, the quick pace response and thought of Carter needing emergency care was a bit overwhelming.

While waiting for the ambulance, they gave Carter oxygen, checked his heart rate and oxygen levels in his blood, and asked us a million questions. Carter was such a trooper! It was just so hard to see him unresponsive at times and lethargic. Throughout the ambulance ride, they continued to monitor heart rate, administered oxygen, tested blood sugar, and helped me try to keep him awake.

He was taken to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, and at that point it felt like "hurry up and wait." Thankfully, the benadryl really kicked in and he became much more himself. Carter's Aunt Ally came to wait with us which also helped perk him up a bit. :)

After seeing the doctor, Carter was given another large dose of Benadryl, steroids, and pepcid. He'll continue the steroids for 4 days along with Benadryl to be sure he doesn't relapse. In the meantime, we've been in communication with the daycare and I intend to meet with the director to talk about how we can be SURE this doesn't happen again...to Carter or any other child. Carter will also be going to an allergist next week for further testing regarding food allergies.

We are so grateful that Carter is okay! It was quite a long and somewhat traumatic experience. We are so fortunate it wasn't any worse, but we also feel compelled to help in educating others...specifically, anyone who takes care of Carter. We just don't want him to ever experience this again. :)

Night-Night!

Each night as I take Carter down to put him to bed, he gives Scott a big hug, kiss, "knucks," and then Scott usually says "Goodnight, Buddy!"

Carter now replies to that with his own nicknames for Daddy....here are his latest:
"Night-Night Bubby!"
"Goodnight Sweet Cheeks!" (this is echoing his daddy)
"Goodnight Another Cheek!" (this is one he came up with on his own)
"Goodnight Puffy!"
And my personal favorite....
"Goodnight Muffins!" :)

That said, it's time for bed! More to come...

Still here...

Hello everyone!
My apologies to our family out of state for the sporatic (sp?) blogs lately (and over the next few weeks). I'll pick back up once school's out...

For now, here's a funny moment from putting Carter to bed tonight:
Bless his sweet heart, he continues to struggle with severe congestion and cough which has resulted in a lack of sleep (for Carter and me!). That said, I'm trying to exercise a little extra patience with him. Bedtimes have been awful the last few nights. But tonight, I resided to just laying on his bed and letting him sit up to fuss it out if he needed to. He didn't cry much, but he did keep whining "take me to the chair" repeatedly. This means, he wanted to snuggle in our living room. Knowing that that could only result in his wanting to play/read, I laid there still and asked him once again to lay down.
His response? "1, 2, 3..." (What is he doing?, I'm thinking) "...4, 5..." (could he be counting the stars in his room?) "You go to timeout." (Guess he's heard that one before!)
How could I not chuckle? I asked him why I should go to timeout and it was, as I had expected, because I didn't take him to the chair. Bad mommy...ha, ha!

Happy Birthday, Nana!

Carter's Nana (Scott's mom) is celebrating a special birthday this Saturday...here's his version of "Happy Birthday" just for you, Nana! We love you!!!