Good News!

Gavin's doctor called Tuesday evening to let me know one of the tests results was positive for CMV, a viral infection. She was still waiting on some other tests, though, including the CBC. I was really anxious to get those results back. I had all but completely diagnosed him with something horrible because I'm completely crazy in the head. Well, she called this morning and gave me the most wonderful news...the CBC and chemistry-normal, liver panel- normal, valley fever and hepatitis- negative. She said she was still waiting on mycoplasma and maybe something else, but we're pretty confident it was the CMV infection that has had him all run-down for the last few months.

The rash is clearing up, and Gavin is getting a little pep back in his step. With whatever illness it is, and I think he's had all the childhood illnesses, it seems like the rash is the last, evil hurdle to overcome before being back to healthy. It feels like a cloud has lifted and that everything is perfect in the world. My dad is still a firm believer that Gavin's rash was shingles brought on by his system being so run-down, probably from the CMV. (Which is not at ALL normal in a 3-year-old- hence the freakout on my part.) He saw it once in a kid...reactivated from the chicken pox vaccine, and I've never seen him so interested and confident about any of the text pics I've sent him of various rashes and ailments on the bodies of the people in my family. I did a little more research than I probably should have, and I totally agree with my dad, but I'm tremendously relieved that the system break-down was not due to childhood leukemia or something else awful that would have us down at PCH for a visit with their hem-onc department today. As long as it's clearing up, I guess there's no reason to revisit the cause of the rash, and I'm ready to put this in the past.

Shaving with Daddy before he leaves for work.

So much fun with Coach at swim.

And this sweet guy...there's nothing quite like his smiles. You may think he's happy because he just ate Oreos, but it's actually a mixture of dirt and yogurt. Yum!

Oh, and Valentine's Day happened! I guess I was a little distracted, but Dylan still had these beauties delivered and gave me an individual photo printer. I'll be throwing it back to 1997 and digging out my scrapbooking supplies soon. Being married to the best human ever is pretty awesome. Thank God for Dylan. Also, Gavin had a party at school, and he was over the moon when I picked him up yesterday with his bag full of Valentines from his friends. (Oh yeah- his rash was in the clearing up phase and he was feeling good, so he was cleared to go to school.)

Seeing these two play together is so much fun.

Hahahaha

It didn't end well, but it was fun while it lasted.

I suppose every now and then a little wake-up call like this is necessary. It stops you in your tracks and leaves you feeling nauseated and makes your mind all crazy. But in the end, it gives you a refreshed appreciation for the mundane, ordinary, routine...and AWESOME life that you've been given. Today we had some time to slow down and do normal things with a brand new perspective on things.

Remember when I said that Wednesdays always suck? I realized that is not always true. Today has been really, really good. Even though Dylan left on a trip, he was up early with us and played with the boys for a long time so I could get a head start on the day. Graham took an early nap and was awake in time to eat and regroup before swim lessons. I fit in a trip to the gym, and Graham stayed awake the whole way home and is now treating us to a nice, long afternoon nap. Usually those 10am swim lessons screw up everything when it comes to fitting in at least one good nap for Graham. We have trouble getting to the gym before or after. There's no time for anything else, unless we want to spend another 1.5 hours in the car round trip. (And we don't.) So I'm usually trapped at home with two very cranky kids all afternoon while scrambling to get prepped and caught up on things, since Wednesday is sandwiched between the two work days. Usually, it does suck, and at the end of the day I'll call Dylan wherever he is and say, "Everybody cried all day long and then we went to bed." But today, everything fell right into place, nobody is cranky, and on a scale from 1 to 10, we are very near a 10. I have high hopes for more days on the 5-10 end of the spectrum from this point forward.

Each person in a family brings a very special dynamic that is part of what makes a family what it is. Gavin, I am sure, will be the one that always keeps us on our toes. He's a remarkable little guy. Hilarious, curious and passionate, and I'm so glad he's ours.

#blessed does not even begin to describe it.