Bye Bye Baby

Okay, so technically she's 3 1/2 years old, but today I got misty-eyed when I had to say goodbye to my "baby" girl at the airport. She was headed to Utah on an airplane ride with Papa, her first trip without Mom and Dad, and she'll be gone over a week! Oh, how my baby is growing up. Both of us have been in a state of half-excited/half-sad about this little adventure. This morning illustrated that perfectly. Upon waking up, she usually calls down the stairs, "Mommy! I'm awaaaake. Come and geeeet me!" but with the excitement of her trip on her mind, this morning I simply heard a joyful, "I'M READY!" {I fully expected her to open her door and see her fully dressed, packed bag in hand!} But about 30 seconds after I got up there she said, "But Mommy, I'll MISS you!" Awww...I know, sweet girl. I'll miss you too! I'm sure the rest of her week will be like this too...about 80% having an absolute blast and 20% missing Mom and Dad at the same time.

{Her bags are packed with the essentials...Tina Ballerina & Curious George, books,
snacks, sippy cup, 2 presents for the plane ride,
and Keith's iPod Touch that he loaded up with about 15 Disney movies!}

In good news, James looks like he's on the mend, at least a little. He's been fever-free all day today and if he makes it through the night it'll be 24 hours without a fever. So it seems the antibiotics are kicking in. If he keeps this up, we'll stay through the weekend and then get to head home on Monday. He's certainly feeling better {as you'll see in the pics}, but today what he mostly wanted to do was be *out* of the room, seeing the sights and charming the people...he would actually cry when I tried to go back in our room! :-) I don't blame him. This time we're back in the same room we had post-surgery, so we've now logged close to 3 weeks in that room. {You know you're getting to be a regular when all the nurses know the names of everyone in your immediate family, plus your list of medicines, routines, etc!}

{The hospital has a supply of toys that they let parents borrow, which is so nice...makes James feel a little more at home, with the addition of his favorite Exersaucer!}

{Our usual hospital stash: toys, books, and carb-laden snacks.}

On another note, I think I blogged awhile ago about my sciatica/back pain. I've been in constant pain for the last 7-8 weeks, from my lower back all the way down to my foot. I started physical therapy and last week I got an MRI of my spine and lower back. {This was my first MRI and can I just say that I really had to talk myself through it to keep calm! You lay down flat and are slid waaaaaay back into a plastic tube with about 8 inches of space all around you, so you feel like you're in a coffin--I had to *force* myself to keep my eyes shut!--for 30 minutes while the machine takes images, which sound like a hybrid of a bad 80's electric keyboard band and a jackhammer in your ear. If you ever need to get one, I say splurge for the OPEN MRI!} The results weren't great...I have a bulging disc in my lumbar spine region and a nerve root that is either being pinched or pushed out of place, thus causing my pain. So next week I get to see a specialist and have an injection in my back/spine and then I have to see a neurosurgeon to talk about treatment options. Apparently physical therapy helps with pain management, but does not cure a bulging disc in the location where mine is at. Please pray that I don't have to go through surgery for this!! :-(