Christmas was full of joy, family, presents, and proper reflection. We laughed. We played. We reminisced.

Christmas was also, however, full of anxiety, doctors, unwanted gifts, and proper medication. It wasn't this way long, and it wasn't because we experience a variety of conflicting emotions due to family drama. Nope. Like last year around this time, Eden is currently battling a "cold." She initially came down with the sniffles around December 4th. Her cough started a week later and has stayed around for a while. On the Sunday night after Christmas {when we were supposed to be headed over to play cards with friends} Eden had a coughing attack.

As the name implies, it was not fun. She started coughing and could not stop. We called the triage nurse. She told us to turn on a hot shower and give Eden something warm to drink. She also recommended Benadryl - which,of course, we had left in Baton Rouge. So, I headed to Kroger {which sounds fine, but it is a 20 minute trip from Ashley's parents' house}{{Editor's Note: Graham said it was a good thing there weren't any cops out while he drove}}.

When I got back from Kroger, Eden was in a foggy bathroom with Ashley and her CC and Granddaddy. I slept in the room with Eden that night, and Ashley tried to get some sleep in an isololated location {though I'm told it was mildly unsuccessful}. Eden coughed every 20-30 minutes - some times it seemed as if she was awake and other times it was clear she was not. Regardless, every time she would mutter several names after her coughing fit - "Mommy. Daddy. Nona. Elmo." Yep, Elmo has made her VIP list.

We went to a doc-in-the-box on Monday morning. We were there for 3 hours and were basically told that it was a virus. Thanks. They did give us a little comfort by telling us her oxygen saturation was 98%.

And, I felt pretty good because when they pricked her finger she did not even cry ... I talked to her before, and told her what was going to happen. She looked at me, then at her finger while the nurse pushed blood out. She looked back at me with a confused look. I told her that they needed to do this to find out what was going on. She shrugged and showed me the index finger on her other hand. When it was over, I put a bandage on her finger. She pointed to my finger. So, I put a bandage on. She laughed and wanted to compare bandages.

Although she was relatively even tempered most of the time, there was also a bit of this given her short fuse ...

and this {"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy ... ... "}

but thankfully also this ...

On Monday night we decided to come back to Baton Rouge to see Eden's doctor. We left Tuesday around 1 p.m., and Eden slept until Denham Springs with only a few coughing spurts.

Ashley took her to the doctor today. {As a side note, I have officially thrown out my lower back - side effect of trying to stay in shape. So, I lay on the couch with a heating pad instead of accompanying Ashley and Eden to the doctor. Who said "when it rains it pours?"}

Her pediatrician did a few chest x-rays and found a mucus pocket on her right lung. Ashley got to experience holding Eden's arms above her head while Eden sat in a clear plastic tube for the chest x-ray - joy.

The diagnosis? It could be RSV {the official test apparently has a high false negative rate} or an a-typicial case of walking pneumonia. They did a breathing treatment, and that seemed to help. The doctor also put Eden on antibiotics and wants to see her next week.

Perhaps the most unique thing about the whole doctor's vist was that the nurse asked Eden to step up on the scale as she walked in. Ashley reports that the nurse of course did not seem phased by this change to our routine - it was the first time that Eden did not get placed in the baby scale. Eden just stepped up and got weighed. Amazing! I guess we shouldn't be so surprised since she hops up on our bathroom scale all the time and stands there like she can read the numbers. The balance was 25 pounds!

Tonight she was her normal self, albeit with a few more "Mommy-Mommy's" and whiney moments than usual. At bedtime she wanted to be tickled and to jump on the bed. She did her breathing treatment and went down without protest.

We'll keep updates posted as they come. We'll also post Christmas stuff soon.