Vintage Inspired Bear Paw Quilt

Check out my new "Recipe" over at the Moda Bake Shop!

Inspired by my all time favorite quilt made by my great-grandmother.

What inspires you?

"Ganks"!

Last Friday, Matthew received a VERY SPECIAL DELIVERY!

Packed full of presents and treats!

Look at all this STUFF!

Paige even got to share in the fun and gifts...

Thank you...

Thank you...

Thank you all!!!  You made one little boy very, very happy!

Matthew would like to send his Hugs and Kisses to everyone in the Marketing Dept at Moda.

"Ganks"! ... Love, Matthew

Matthew's home!!!

A 3 year old little boy, 6 days in a Children's Hospital, and 6 medications later equals 1 exhausted mother.

Wednesday night (one week ago), Matthew woke up with a limp on his right leg.  Later that day it progressively got worse to where he could not even stand on it and was in severe pain.  So, off to the Urgent Care, ran blood tests, and then off to the ER.  He had a Septic Hip... basically it is arthritis in the hip that had developed a bacterial infection so there was fluid.  They believe that it could have come from his ear infection that he had a couple weeks ago. 

Thursday morning, they did surgery on his hip to drain and flush all the fluid out of his hip. 

Friday afternoon, he started to develop breathing issues.  Is this his first episode of asthma?  His sister is a severe asthmatic and my husband and I both have asthma.   They began treating him as an asthma patient and also with his orthopedic care from his surgery. 

Saturday, they ran a blood test and his CRP test came back lower than what it was when he was admitted... this is a good thing. This number along with the ESR blood test lets the doctors now if there is an infection or inflamation in the body. 

Monday, they ran another blood test to make sure the CRP and ESR was okay.  CRP came back elevated... more than when he was admitted... not good!  We had to stay another day and hope that the number goes down the next day.  They were thinking that it went up because of the inflamation in his body from his "asthma".

Tuesday, they ran the blood tests again.  Finally, after several days in the hospital, he was discharged from the hospital.  His CRP number went down enough for him to go home. 

Now, Matthew will have to go through a month of antibiotics and another blood test at the end of next week to make sure the infection in his hip gets better.

Some of you were following Matthew's progress on Facebook and I want to send a HUGE THANK YOU for all your thoughts and prayers.  He is doing much better!

Authentic Baby Mine Quilt

An authentic quilt for my brother, James, for his Christmas gift.

Fabric... Authentic by Sweetwater for Moda {LOVE this collection!}

Pattern... Baby Mine {boy version} by Camille of Thimble Blossoms.

Awesome pattern by the way. This is the first quilt I made from Thimble Blossoms and the instructions are very well written. 

He loves it... that makes my heart happy! 

A New Year...

What a year!!!  And it is only 8 days into it!  Would have never guessed in a thousand years that a new year would begin this way.  It all started the day after Christmas when little miss Paige and Daddy started to get a little cold. 

Then 2 days later, I got sick with laryngitis and then next... you guessed it... Matthew.  Matthew and Paige started running fevers, sniffing, coughing, etc.  Common cold stuff, right?  Come to find out Matthew had developed an ear infection.  So... in goes the amoxicillin and all is well. New Years day was spent giving the kids and us meds, breathing treatments, meds, juice, meds... you get the point.  Fun stuff. 

5 Days into the year Matthew is potty trained!  HOORAY!!!  I can't even start to explain how excited I was about this.  One tough kid to potty train! 

Later that night gave the kids their meds. Not even an hour later, Matthew started to get little red bumps all over his belly... SCARY.  This is suppose to be my healthy child!   What the CRAP! A million things start going through my head.  Is this chicken pox? What did he eat? What are these bumps all over his belly?  Then it dawned on me... the Amoxicillin.  But he has been taking it all week... why now?  So, in goes the benedryl to see if I could get the rash to stop.  Call the after hours nurse line. Hives gradually get worse.  He is itchy and uncomfortable... my poor little boy.  And I did not know what else to do.

Follow up with the doc the next morning and sure enough... allergic to amoxicillin.  Is it possible for the rash to get worse even if I am giving him benedryl?  It is possible.  How much worse? How long is it going to take for the rash to go away? 4-5 days. 

Two days pass and he is still breaking out with really bad hives now spread to his arms, legs, feet, hands and head.  Last night was very scary... lumps all over his scalp. face all swollen from the hives. fever.  Called doc and in goes a steroid to help the swelling and control the itching.

Today, steroid started to kick in and he is playing and doing so much better.  I just hope and pray it continues to get better.