Chitter-chatter

Cambrie never ceases to amaze me. She's in a stage now where it seems as though she says a new word every day. I listen all day to make sure I'm actually hearing the word and not some wishful mommy thinking-but I still think I'm somewhat biased. Here's a list of Cambrie's vocabulary:

momma

dada

hi

bye-bye

pll (please)

up

no

duck

book

br (bear)

bird

baby

blln (balloon)

ball

puppa (puppy)

hot

cha (chair)

vroom-vroom

tuck (truck)

dak you (thank you)

mow (mouth)

I can't quite believe it. It's so much fun to hear her speak! (Okay, except when she just says "no" over and over again). Tonight we were looking for one of her puzzle pieces, a blue rhinoceros, and I started calling out, "rhino!" and looking around the floor. Cambrie started walking after me saying, "rhino!" and looking under every couch and under every toy I did. It was so cute! Of course I tried to get it on video but the moment had passed. Too bad. It was darling :)

Paradox

I think it is impossible to completely understand your child. Cambrie is pretty adventurous when it comes to some things: sliding down slides by herself, being tossed back and forth between Jeremy and I, and unfortunately running into the road. However, some things scare her: being pushed on a swing, getting rained on, and when dogs come to her instead of the other way around. But Jeremy has found a new game that she absolutely loves:
Yes, that is her in the blanket. After he is finished spinning, the poor girl can't even walk straight because she is so dizzy. Yet, she'll go grab the blanket and ask for more. Can you really argue with that smile?

Tip of the Week

This is AJ's tip of the week: don't let ticks bite you, they will give you Lyme Disease.

Yup, that's right. The day after we came home from Cambrie's hospital stay in St. Louis, I checked into the emergency room myself. I was bitten the day before we left for St. Louis, but it became infected while we were gone. They took a blood sample at the ER, and lo and behold---Lyme Disease! Oh don't worry, if left untreated it can cause serious and incurable brain, heart and joint problems. What fun eh? If you google Lyme Disease you will find all sorts of scary statistics and conditions you don't want to have. I am continuing to take antibiotics which should take care of it, at least that's the plan. So that's my chapter in the Rogers' hospital journal (which was nonexistent until three weeks ago). Just as a reminder, you can only get it from ticks, not from me, so please still be my friends :)

Thanks YMCA

Going to work a couple hours a week helps keep me sane and gives Cambrie a chance to play with other kids. It is a huge added bonus that I love the Child Care workers at the YMCA. They love Cambrie and are so wonderful to her. Apparently a couple of weeks ago they made handprints and Cambrie's has been waiting for her to get out of the hospital. I love it! I have always wanted to get her handprint but just never did. So this was perfect. Thanks Miss Linda, Miss Donna, and Miss Kelly!

If it's not one thing, it's another...

Poor girl! Just when she was starting to feel better from the hospital, she received a new battle wound today. Jeremy pulled our boogie boards out of the closet today for a group of beach-goers to borrow. They left one behind and Cambrie thought it would be a great toy to play with outside. She was so excited that as she was lugging it out towards the grass, she didn't even notice our porch steps. She fell down the two cement stairs and landed on her face. Her forehead is bruised and the area near her eye is scratched up. I just feel so bad. She was just starting to feel better too.

We're home!

Well, we're home from our 10-day layover in St. Louis and it's good to be home. Cambrie is almost back to her old self. She's is still a little tired, but strangely more smiley than usual. I'm just glad she's okay. According to the doctors we shouldn't have to do this again. Here's what happened: Cambrie got an infection (we don't know what, it could have been anything normally minor) but it got into her blood. This caused her body to go into shock and triggered the seizure. It was horrible being in the PICU seeing Cambrie was attached to IVs and ventilators. Every day that we were able to stop giving a medicine or remove a line was a good day. I decided to share some of the pictures we took as Cambrie was recovering. The "before" pictures are no fun.

The PICU has a lot of toys that they let the kids play with while they're there. Jeremy found some bubbles that were basically made out of plastic. They made a royal mess-definitely an outside toy.

Here is Cambrie after she was transferred to the floor. She was doing so much better then. It took her a long time to learn how to sit up again because she was so drugged.

There is a great playroom that the kids can play in during the day. I was so glad it was there. For the kids who spend all day in hospital beds, it is such an important part to their recovery. It's basically physical therapy hidden under the toys and games. I thought her hospital gown was way cute.

And finally, the day we were waiting for-discharge. Thank you so much Cardinal Glennon staff. I was so impressed with your kindness, generosity, and genuine concern for my daughter. I will always have a place in my heart for you and all others who work so hard to help and heal.

Cambrie Update

Hello everyone. I know that many of you have heard about the situation Cambrie is in right now. I finally found access to a computer so I wanted to clarify any questions you may have and reassure those of you who may be worrying. On our flight out to Utah on Wednesday we had a layover in St. Louis. While we were in the airport Cambrie started having a seizure. The paramedics rushed her to the hospital immediately where she has been receiving treatment. As of now they don't know what caused the seizure, but they are pretty sure it was a one-time thing. She is recovering well and we will probably be out of the PICU tomorrow or Wednesday. Our best guess is that we will be staying in St. Louis until Friday so that Cambrie can fully recover. Jeremy's parents have flown out and my mom is on her way. Having family here to help has been wonderful. I just want to thank everyone for their prayers. As scary as this experience has been, it has been a wonderful blessing in our lives. I know that your prayers have helped tremendously while we've been here-for Cambrie, Jeremy, and myself. Thank you so much for your love.

Shoe Obsession

Lately Cambrie has been obsessed with shoes. She knows that if we put on our shoes then it's time to go outside. She loves going outside, and I will often find her following me around the house with several of my shoes in her hands. "Mom, it's time to go!" There are flip-flops all over this joint. Some days Cambrie decides to wear my shoes. I think she made it one or two steps in these before she fell down. "Cambrie, what big feet you have!"

Domesticated

I don't know if it's the Bishop's food storage challenge, the Relief Society's canning enrichment activities, our gardungle in our front yard, or just the mom coming out in me, but Jeremy and I actually did some canning tonight. (My first time ever!) We took the beets and some cucumbers from our garden and pickled them. It was quite the learning experience and we made a wonderful mess, but look what we have to show for it! I can't believe that we got six jars of pickles out of the few cucumbers we picked tonight. This is so exciting! I can't wait to see how they taste.

M.I.A.

If you don't hear from me in awhile, this is why...

He, he, he!