January

We started off 2023 with our all-time favorite pizza and shopping at the mall.

Klara’s basketball games started in January.

We had a dusting of snow towards the middle of the month.

Klara had strep, felt better for a week or so, and then tested positive for strep again. There’s nothing that some TLC from mama (and some donuts) can’t fix.

Kylan was referred to a rheumatologist in January in hopes that we would have a better understanding about his lengthy illness that began in 2019. I will be sharing more details in a separate post as soon as we get results from his xrays, his most recent MRI, and extensive lab work.

We left that appointment feeling overwhelmed. He had his xray done immediately after his appointment, but we had to wait for him to have his MRI scheduled. Depending on those results, we will know if he has a disease that will follow him the rest of his life (but that is manageable with medication) or if we will be referred back to his infectious disease doctor to try and determine what’s been going on all these years. We had so many questions, we were eager for test results, and mentally worn out. It was a lot to process, so we skipped school the rest of the day and went out for lunch. We had the best time! Kylan ordered wings and we shared a sampler platter while we talked and laughed for almost two hours.

February

On February 13th Klara tested positive for strep. It was the weirdest thing. She woke up that morning, came downstairs and said her neck hurt. When I sat up in bed to look at her from across the room, the left side of her neck looked like she had swallowed a golf ball. I jumped up, felt her head to see if she had a fever, and immediately called our school based health clinic. They told us to have her there in 10 minutes. The NP was concerned about the swelling and the size of Klara’s tonsils so she sent us to the Children’s Hospital for imaging. They did an ultrasound on her neck and gave her an antibiotic shot so she didn’t have to take oral antibiotics again. They discharged us later that day.

Valentine’s Day was just as special as every other year. I set up the table and made the kids heart pancakes for breakfast. Jordan brought home a dozen roses and my favorite chocolates, and the sweet kids in my class always make sure I feel loved!

The 25th was such a special day! We spent the entire day celebrating Kylan’s birthday with a trip to Knoxville and to see the Vols play that night. We took him shopping, out for the BEST Mexican food, and we celebrated our Vols winning against South Carolina. It was, hands down, one of the best days ever!

On the 27th Klara’s team played in the championship basketball game. They ended up losing, but went undefeated in the regular season. She had the BEST coach and played with all of her friends so really, we were the real winners this season.