When it Rains it Pours!

This week has been rough for the McKinney family. Unfortunately my mom has had another bout of sickness and ended up back in the hospital at 3am on Monday. This has been a hard year for her with her sickness and the doctors are still confused as to what she actually has. Hopefully we will get some answers soon...she will be going through extensive testing this Friday and she got released from the hospital yesterday at 6. While in the hospital with my mom on Monday morning we got a call from my Aunt Gail (mom's sister), she had received a call from my grandmother that my grandfather (Poppy) was un-responsive (couldn't talk, couldn't move etc.). My Aunt high-tailed it over to Poppy's house and they called 911 immediately. Absolute CRAZINESS since my mom was also at St. Mary's Hospital and now my grandfather was also being admitted to the same hospital. After tests, it was determined that Poppy has pneumonia and congestive heart failure. I'm devastated about Poppy, I've been trying to spend as much time as I can with him these last couple of days. I would bounce from my mom's room on the 6th floor down to ICU to visit him. The doctors have told us the end is probably near so please be thinking about our family. I will update more when I hear more.

On another note Pierce had his appointment on Monday at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for his head scan. Obviously Monday was a super intense day for me so my husband and Nanny (Matt's mom) took Pierce to the hospital for his appointment. Luckily the head scan went well and at this time the doctors feel what ever we are doing at home is working and his head is slowly improving, so at this time we will not be getting a helmet...YAY! However, we will have a follow-up with the doctor in one month to just make sure the head is progressing in the correct direction.

Thanks for all your thoughts! XOXO!

TRI 2 Beat Cancer Triathlon

It's OFFICIAL...I am a TRIATHLETE! This past Sunday I competed in my first triathlon...and I didn't die, lol :). Although, there are definitely times I felt like I was going to. I have so much more respect for Triathletes after competing in this event because man it is hard. But, I must say, I'm kinda hooked. It's hard for me to explain the feeling of running across the finish line but it was exhilarating and amazing to know I completed something like this 4 months after having Pierce. Last year I volunteered for this event and it's a wonderful event that raises money for local area cancer patients. My good friend Kimberly puts this event on...to say she is amazing is an understatement. She pretty much raised $75K on her own. Wow, I can't even believe that one woman can raise that kind of money in this economy by HERSELF! I'm so proud of her and so happy to call her a friend. Now back to the triathlon. I did train some...definitely not enough. I made the most effort of training in the swim portion. Going into that part I felt the most confident even though everyone told me that was the hardest part. I could easily get through 400M in the pool but open water with 150 women surrounding you is COMPLETELY different. I literally thought I was going to drown. I got kicked in the face at least 3 times and pushed under twice...all in the first 100M. I ended up drinking about a gallon of water and it took everything in me to keep going. The hardest part was getting around the women in front of me who were blocking my way to the "open" water. Once, I broke free from some of the people I got into a rhythm. It was about that time that I heard my name being shouted. I looked up and there was my super cute hubby in the canoe. He decided to volunteer this year and he was canoeing around a lifeguard. Hearing and seeing him was all I needed at that point to turn it up a notch and finish that portion. Next came the bicycling portion. Right out of the gate there was a huge hill...ugh...I was still trying to get my heart rate back down from the swimming. About 2 miles into the ride I got comfortable on the bike. The bike portion is NO joke however. There were hardly any flat parts of the ride. I felt like the majority of the ride I was going uphill...however I know there must have been a down hill at some point right? It was cracking me up because I have a hybrid bike and most triathletes have road bikes. I had 55 year old women FLYING past me on the downhill. The only time I could pass people was on the uphill portions. Next year if I do this again, I guess I'm going to have to invest in a road bike (sorry honey). The running portion was just plain out crappy. I hadn't practiced getting off the bike and running so I had no idea what to expect. Well, I will tell you this, that part is BRUTAL. I felt as if my legs were complete jello. I could barely walk, so to run was extremely hard. I think I may have re-injured my left knee during the run or during the transition. I ended up limping/walking most of the run. But I got through it...nothing was stopping me at that point, I was too close to the end. And then, I saw that finish line and I just started sprinting (and limping) my way to the end. I'm so excited to actually begin training for doing another one of these...like I said earlier...I'm hooked!

News about Pierce

Love love love our little Pierce man! He is such a joy and such a blessing. I'm not quite sure if he is just an easier baby or if I'm just a better mom but it definitely seems easier this time around.

Recently our little guy got diagnosed with Torticollis and we had to start therapy at St. Mary's Wellness Center for therapy on strengthening is neck muscles. He has come so far!! See the pictures above? He just started being able to hold his head up. In addition to the therapy we've been constantly watching his head because he had a pretty bad flat spot due to the torticollis. Unfortunately we got word last week that we have to get him fitted for a helmet at Children's Hospital of Atlanta. It has just broken my heart. I don't know what to expect and I know that this is just a blip on the radar but no mommy wants to see their baby have to go through something like this. To ease the pain of the helmet, which I'm sure is not only going to be hard on mommy and daddy but probably Collin too, we were thinking of getting some fun stickers to decorate his helmet with. What do you think? Sadly, he could be in that thing anywhere from 1 to 4 months (maybe longer) and has to wear it for 22 hours a day. Please be thinking of our family during this time. Much love!