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You are probably wondering ... "What is with the snowflakes?"  "Why is this blog called Snowflakes in January?"

Well... I guess I should explain myself!  In our home, anytime it snows outside, and we can watch it, it means "Blessings"  Falling snowflakes, especially the big, fat, fluffy ones, mean that we are in for some sort of Blessing, big or small :)

My children LOVE the snow.  Well, our whole, little family does.  We love to play in it, make snowmen, go sledding, etc... so I guess its a good thing that we live in Canada!

Hudson was born on a very snowy, very frosty day in January... and ever since that day, I am always reminded that when it snows, it means Blessings... So that is why I named the blog Snowflakes in January. It means that through it all... through all the tears, through all the pain, through all the fear, Blessings come.

I was so excited to learn that for the next day, Hudson's Birthday, the nurses had put a closed sign on the huge family room down the hall so that we could invite friends and family over, we could decorate the room all we wanted, we could have cake and pizza!!  We immediately facebooked all our friends to let them know that there would still be a bit of a party.. just at the hospital!  I couldn't wait to decorate it all up for my little guy!
That Friday night, the 28th was one of the worst nights that Hudson had had the whole time we were in the hospital.  He was having so many nightmares that he refused to sleep in his own bed.  He just wanted to be held while he slept.  so from about 11pm until 3am I sat in the straight backed chair with Hudson's little body curled and wrapped tightly around my own.  He was so full of sweat, and felt so clammy.  Every hour he would start to thrash around and grip onto my shirt as tight as he could in fear, dreaming of the first day, in the emergency where they had to literally sit on him to get his IV line in.  Such a long night for all of us.  Around 3am, it was my husbands turn to hold Hudson while he slept, so that I could sleep in the semi-comfy chair for a few hours.  Long night.  But still just as precious.  Hudson never cuddles anymore, so it was nice to be able to hold him .. even if it was all night.  Even if I woke up with scratches around my neck.  
Friday finally came.  It was Hudson's Birthday morning... and we were hoping and praying for an amazing day for him.  Hudson still had a pretty bad cough, but other than that and our lack of sleep the day looked bright!  We started the morning with our new regular routine of pokes, needles and blood..  the nurses brought in a birthday present for Hudson which he eagerly tore into!  A very LOUD guitar with mic!  I think they regretted giving him that after a few hours because you could hear him playing with it from across the ward :)

The head nurse came into our room and informed us that they were going to move us to a bigger room across the hall where Hudson would be put into isolation because of his cough.  We were a little bit frustrated with the idea.  We had to cancel Hudson's party were were planning for that night... but one plus was that Hudson was going to have a bath that morning before we switched rooms.  In the bath he screamed like I was murdering him, while I tried so gently to remove the happy face stickers which monitored his heart.  He was free of those.  I am sure the bath felt great.  To get rid of the sweaty feeling and to feel fresh again.
Back in our small room we began to pack up all that we had accumulated over the last 3 days and headed across the hall to our much quieter, much larger room with our own bathroom and  2 BEDS PLUS Hudson's crib bed!!!!!  We finally were able to stretch out.. to move around.. to not be all over each other... we had space!!!  Hudson could play on the floor since he was not allowed to be in the playroom because of his isolation.  It was a great day!!!  We made a Happy Birthday banner out of colored paper that Hudson's friends had brought us... we watched cartoons... we played cars.. we did puzzles... we even named his IV robot who followed Hudson around once again.  Scrawny Ronnie was Hudson's new friend... :) 

Scrawny Ronnie before the face and hair :)

 Every few hours the nurses still checked Hudson's vitals.. but he was getting braver... lifting his shirt when they checked his heart and lungs... he picked an ear for them to look into.. he gave his finger to them so they could check his pulse! I was so proud that the crying fits were mostly over.  We still had a hard time regulating Hudson's insulin since it was taking him almost an hour to eat all the carbs he needed and than it would throw off his 2 hour after eating his meal sugar test.  
While Hudson napped Rene left to run home to make sub plans for his class on Monday since we were still going to be in the hospital.  When he came back, he came with streamers, party hats, candles, a way better banner and CUPCAKES!!! The cupcakes I had made the day before the diagnosis.. the cupcakes I baked that were supposed to turn into Tow Mater from the movie Cars.. but I was excited that he would at least get SOME birthday cake.. even if it was without icing!
After his nap.. and after we gave him his birthday present.. a Handy Manny tool bench to go with the Handy Manny tools we gave him back in the ER to brighten his day a bit, we got ready for supper.. a huge deal since you never knew what the kitchen was making.. or if he would eat it.. we braced ourselves with more carbs just in case but left room in his carb intake for his birthday cupcake!!! After supper about 4 nurses gathered, party hats on.. noise makers in their mouths, ready to surprise Hudson!!! While singing Happy Birthday as loud as they could, I was overcome with joy, just by looking at my sons face.. in that moment he was so happy.. He didn't care that his grandparents, Aunties, Uncles, Cousins and friends weren't there.. he was just happy that it was his birthday.. The look of pure delight was in his eyes as he dug into his chocolate cupcake.  He looked like he was enjoying every last crumb, and savouring every bite!  Must have been some cupcake!!

In the quiet of the room, when it was just the three of us left, Hudson and I lay on the bigger bed and drew some pictures... we got a bit carried away and decided that Scrawny Ronnie, the robot... who was actually the IV stand... needed a face... so we drew a face.. stuck it on the IV.. Scrawny Ronnie also needed a party hat.. after all... we were partying in this room.. as well as "hair" made out of left over streamers... it was a great time.. laughing.. giggling.. and just listening as Hudson told us about his day!
As we settled Hudson in for the night, we opened the blinds in his room and were not shocked at all to see huge, white, fluffy, perfect snowflakes falling... so many, all at one time.. It was beautiful.. it was magical.. it was yet another reminder of Blessings in our lives!  Hudson lay there in his bed and just watched the snowflakes fall until he fell fast asleep!  A perfect end to a pretty much perfect day!