Giving thanks

With Thanksgiving approaching, I thought it an opportune time to express some thoughts regarding Jocelyn's recent incident.

For those who we haven't yet told, a week ago last Sunday Jocelyn had a febrile seizure (which occurs because a child's fever is rising too quickly for their body to expel the heat fast enough) and stopped breathing for a bit (for how long I have no idea; the entire incident was a blur). Luckily, it happened when Julie's Mom and sister Jenn, both of whom are nurses, were visiting, and they were able to restart her breathing and recognized that her clothes needed to come off so that she could cool down. I do not think I will ever forget seeing Jocelyn lying on the kitchen table, unresponsive and twitching, while they administered CPR, or the look of panic in her eyes when she later tried to speak to us in the ambulance but couldn't get her mouth to form any words.

Jocelyn appears to be fine now. She still has a small lingering fever, but for the most part she seems happy and energetic, and the pediatrician thinks she is just fighting off a minor virus.

It would be the understatement of the year to say that neither Julie nor I have really come to grips yet with what could have happened. I do not think I can fathom the depths of my sadness had something more serious occurred. She deserves the opportunity to show the world the full extent of her inner and outer beauty over a long and full life. As does her brother.

So, I know what I am thankful for this year, and hope that everyone who reads this goes and hugs their little one(s) and lets them know what they are thankful for too.

Happy Halloween!

Trick-or-treating was a highly anticipated event in our household this year, as Jocelyn could not wait to wear her Tinkerbell costume, complete with wings and tiara. As soon as we got her dressed she proceeded to twirl around the living room, waving her wand and (as usual) being a complete ham for the camera.


The little man seemed to like his costume too (he went as a dinosaur), but since he hates having anything on his head it was a race to see whether we could snap a picture before he took the headpiece off. We beat him by a nose.


We went trick-or-treating this year with our neighbors the Walshes. Jocelyn and their daughter Sidney are partners in crime and walked hand in hand most of the the night, which was pretty darn cute to watch.


The only exception to that was when Jocelyn insisted on walking Coco, the Walshes' bulldog that was dressed up as a devil dog. My theory is that she likes walking the dog so much because having Coco on a leash gives her a measure of control that she does not have at home, where she is usually barking commands at her little brother, and he is ignoring her.


Although Jocelyn and Ian only lasted just long enough to make it down the street and back, they got plenty of tasty treats....


...and saw plenty of cool decorations, including the fantastic jack-o-lanterns you see here.

Happy Halloween everyone!