It's our first winter season out of isolation. And it's kicking us in the teeth. Between the three of us, we've been sick since Halloween and it's been rough on the littlest Hucks. We were vigilant the first 2 isolation seasons with the hand sanitizer, Clorox wipedowns and protecting the bubble. It was super hard, but it worked. I can count on one hand the number of times Tucker got sick in his first two years of life-and that is flat amazing. I thought the magical year 3 would be great! ... View the Post
Pumpkin Pancakes Can Fix It
Fall is ringing the doorbell at our house. Bought a mum last weekend (as it gave a sad, knowing look to his friends when I put it in the cart). It's barely hanging on, perched on my front porch, also known as the place where plants go to die. But I love fall, so I'll buy another one today and probably at least one more before Halloween. The last two years fall brought with it the dreaded isolation, but not this fall. We're free. To enjoy fall festivals, go trick or treating, find pumpkins on a ... View the Post
Christmas. With a Kid.
Christmas was perfect. Here are the highlights: I had the clever idea to use doilies as name tags for our gifts. Tucker had the clever idea to remove them all when we weren't looking. I had no idea which tags went with which gifts. It was a Very Mystery Christmas. Amazingly the 4 nieces and nephews were all healthy for Christmas which meant we got to spend a little time with them even in isolation. Hand sanitizer works, yo. I ordered Tucker a slide that is so short, his feet actually ... View the Post
I’m goin’ in.
I blame Pinterest. Or Pioneer Woman. Southern Living magazine maybe. Either way, it was something else (not my normal good judgement) that at the last minute, caused me to abandon my plan as I stood in the frozen section of the grocery store last night. The intent for this year's Isolation Thanksgiving II was to perfect last year's turkey. After all, last year's plan worked (by worked, I mean that my turkey did not shrivel up a la Clark Griswold in National Lampoons Christmas Vacation). You ... View the Post
Better Than Fireworks
I love fireworks. No, for real. I LOVE fireworks. Last year, 4th of July was THE date. The date that was uttered after almost 4 months of being in the NICU. It had been casually mentioned the week before, at doctor's rounds, while Darrin and I sat at Tucker's bedside, like we did most mornings listening to round reports for Tucker. Wednesdays were "big rounds". Big rounds, as the name suggests, included a big group-so many in fact, that they couldn't all fit around the baby's bedside. The ... View the Post
Here We Go A Caroling
Christmas Eve. Me. Two Boys. A few Pinterest recipes, White Christmas and technology. No family. No cousins. Or Neighbors. No Grandparents. Or friends. Just a small, perfect, party of 3. It was not what I pictured. Way back when. Way back when we first started trying for a family. Blissfully naive to the notion of 'unexplained' infertility. To loss. To a place called the NICU. Nope. Not what I imagined at all. Our house that first Christmas with a new baby would be crowded. We would show off our ... View the Post