BETTER!!!!

Oh gotta love antibiotics!!  When I picked up her prescription on Monday, the instructions said to give it twice daily for 10 days.  I asked if she could have two doses that day (since it was noon).  The pharmacist said that the doses needed to be separated by 10 hours.

Which was fine with me - woke little Miss up to make sure we had two doses in yesterday and this morning she got her third.  This is what she looked like waking up from her 3.5 hour nap.

We were giggling about how much water she was drinking while asleep :)

105.4

no - not my new favorite radio station....

but rather the degree of fever Olivia had today.  it wasn't even a fluke...retested 105.1, 105.4, 105.2....and yes, before this, it was in the 104's....ON FEVER REDUCING MEDS!

Needless to say we were back at the drs.  She has had a fever all weekend, not exactly herself, not eating, and up A LOT at night complaining that her mouth hurts.  She's also had a cough, runny nose...what I thought was normal cold stuff (Mason has had those symptoms for almost two weeks now, thought she just got a worse case of it).

Strep, flu, and urine all were negative.  Did a CBC and the white blood cells were high, which indicates an infection (according to dr).  Olivia's throat appears to be healing just fine, but the dr can't see the area where her adenoids were taken out, and is assuming that there is some infection there. 

Received an Rx for antibiotics and I followed up with, "When should she be better?"  

Reply:  24 hours.

Oh please let her just get better.  

Temperature

He's fine, but his sister still has a fever :(  

Again, the best laid plans.

remember the last "best laid plans" ?

Had the cute dress.

The perfect black shoes.

Hair appointment to get a nice do'.

A highly qualified sitter.

Excellent carpooling plans.

Reservations at a fancy restaurant.

A fun posse to hang out with.

And a lovely wedding to attend tonight.  

(gotta love attending weddings with my hubby - it's like we renew our vows when a couple says their own)

Needless to say, we were really looking forward to our night out.

EXCEPT....Olivia woke up with a fever.  A medicated fever of 100.9 and she was really complaining about her throat being sore. I called the dr and they recommended us coming in since her surgery was just two weeks ago.  Took her in...declared, "fine".  She has a runny nose and a cough, but dr thinks it's just a virus.  Take benadryl and continue with advil if necessary.  

Got home and knew she wasn't doing well.  Took her temp again.  103.6!  This is the highest fever I've ever seen on our kids...so it bothered me.  Gave her more meds and repeat situation throughout the day/night.  Medicated her fever is 101 - and towards the end of the six hours before the next dose of advil...it goes up to 103 again.

We're tired of staying home bound and watching movies.  

I'm sure Olivia is tired of not feeling well.

Foto Friday

Our friends (Taylor and Aubrey) came over to play with us last night.  

A Chocolate Cupcake

My Kiddos

on a side note:

olivia didn't wake up last night begging for meds...and went to school :) 

Shoes

"Here Mason, you wear these shoes."

A Tea Party

with princess and barbies

Then & Now

5 months - January 2011**********17 months - January 2012

Cheers

Tonight it was time for the girls to celebrate Chris' birthday!  

Fancy drinks, delicious food, and lovely ladies.  

A perfect evening!

Foto Friday

We ventured out today!!!!!

How Are Things??

She has good moments, recovery moments, and LOTS of tv time.

And everything depends on if Olivia takes her medicine...

The mornings are R*O*U*G*H!!!  She hasn't had medicine and her throat is dry and thus painful.

Heard from people that day 10 is the magic day.  I'm personally waiting for the night that she sleeps soundly without waking up crying begging for medicine, then I'll know we are almost done.  Until then we will keep drinking lots of smoothies and watching tv :)

Some Recent Quotes/Conversations 

Mommy or Daddy:  Olivia you need to drink this juice, it will make you feel better.

Olivia:  (takes the SMALLEST sip) I feel better now.  Thank you.

Mommy or Daddy:  You should drink more Olivia.

Olivia:  No thank you, I feel better.  I'm good.

Olivia: It scratches my throat :(

Olivia:  Phew - we are watching a lot of tv.  Can I watch Panda next?  (panda is Kung Fu Panda - she is loooving this movie right now)

Olivia:  Mommy, it's okay.  My throat is getting better.  (love how she has already learned to reassure and comfort me)

Lookin' Sharp!

{swoon}

still adjusting to the short hair!

Little Blue Truck

Mason got this (Little Blue Truck) book for his birthday and it's a HUGE hit.

It is so nice that he crawls into your lap and wants you to read a story over-and-over-and-over again...even when it happens MANY times a day.  

Thank You Grana

Thank you Grana for coming and taking care of us all.  You cooked, cleaned, did laundry, got up with Mason, played with Mason, cuddled, comforted, offered to cook/make/bake/create/stir anything for Olivia to eat/drink, helped host our guests, etc etc etc.

We really REALLY appreciate your help.  

On the Mend.

Today was the day things got a little better.  The Johnson girls came over and Olivia's spirits picked up again (looooove those girls for many reasons - and this is definitely one of them!).  

They played make-up, forts, and ate cupcakes.

AND....druuuuuuuuuum roll....we were playing blocks.  Olivia was really concentrating getting her princesses to stand on the towers.  

And there was silence.  Complete silence.

Darth vader was gone.  We couldn't hear her breathe AT ALL.  

This was that moment.  

I want to always remember this.

That night we were getting ready for bed (Olivia has been sleeping with us) and I looked at her.

Look at her lips.  

THEY ARE CLOSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Those lips have NEVER been closed before.  

ESPECIALLY when she's sleeping!!!!

Here's to open airways and space in your mouth/nose for air to move through!!!! 

Recovery

Okay - think we over did it the night before?!?  Or maybe the reality of everything was settling in.  Today was NOT A GOOD DAY.

Not at all. 

Throughout the whole day Olivia did not eat anything (ice cream, milkshakes, smoothies, yogurt, jello, etc).  She did not drink anything.  

She looked awful/pitiful/sad.    

She had not gone to the bathroom AT ALL and had no tears when she was crying.  I knew she was getting dehydrated...if not already there.  Getting her to take her meds was horrible....and ended with us completely restraining her and Olivia spitting it back out.  :(  

That evening Tim messaged the Johnson family saying we needed them to come over again tomorrow, hoping the girls would bring some happiness back to Olivia.

At 11pm I woke up Tim and Olivia declaring we were having a popsicle party.  And for some reason, maybe the novelty of the situation, she ate one!

Hoping tomorrow is better (notice how Jerry is helping us??)

Discharged

From the moment we were woken Friday morning, I knew it was going to be a rough day.  Olivia was still pretty grumpy and wanted NOTHING to eat or drink. 

In order to get discharged she had to eat and drink.  But all Olivia wanted to do was sleep.

She slept a lot and refused to eat or drink anything.  After calling Tim and telling him that they wouldn't let us go, he reminded me that we were not prisoners.  The nurses suggested I take her to McDonalds (on the first floor) to see if something there peaked her interest.  Of course she wanted french fries - but we settled on a plain hamburger.  She took two small bites, I took one large one, she took another small one and I showed the nurse our progress.

10 minutes later we were on our way home.

The rest of the afternoon she slept and still refused to eat or drink.  I was getting worried that I made the wrong decision to head home.

The Johnson family brought us over dinner that night and as soon as their girls came over and sat next to Olivia - she was a new girl.  She started eating and drinking a little.  She was playing and laughing....it was definitely a relief to see her friends bring so much life to her!!!   Maybe it also helped that Grana came over to spend the weekend with us too :)

Grateful for family and friends that bring such fun, laughter, and happiness to our family.

(of course I didn't take any pictures of her having fun or smiling - I think I was in complete shock)

T&A

Surgery Day 

We woke up at 5am, to allow our girl her only meal of the day. 

And 930 ended her water/apple juice intake.

But guess what?!?!  She never once complained!!!!  She never once begged, cried, pleaded for something to eat or drink.  She was a complete rockstar! 

Mason was spending the day with Mrs Jude (THANK YOU sooooooo much), so we dropped him off and headed downtown to Texas Children's.  She took a little nap in the car - sweet girl.

Once we were there, Daddy left work and met us.  

There was definitely a long waiting period, as the OR got backed up and things were delayed by 90 minutes!  Yes, that's 90 more minutes Olivia had to go without food/drink and didn't complain!!  She also had new princesses to play with and distract her ;)

The drs/nurses were definitely very nice and explained everything and answered all our questions.  They involved Olivia in as many of the procedures as possible -- asking her where to take her temperature, pulse, blood pressure, etc.  She really liked helping the nurses.

Finally at 3:40, they took Olivia back.  She was in the arms of a dr holding her yellow silky.  The four drs/nurses were playing with Olivia and the last we saw she was happy.

The procedure went well...and seemed fast.  By 4:30, the dr came out and said everything went well and that Olivia, in addition to large tonsils, "she had very generous adenoids".  

Next was recovery.  NOT FUN.  We were in recovery from 4:40 till 8:00pm.  We were warned that coming out some children are really agitated...and Olivia was :(  She was moaning and upset and in pain :(  After two pushes of morphine, she calmed down.  However, the morphine caused her oxygen levels to drop some...so alarms were going off a lot.  The nurse explained that it was normal and that Olivia was doing well.  Tim had to leave halfway through our recovery time so that he could go back and get Mason.  The dr confirmed that we would be spending the night to keep an eye on her oxygen levels, so Olivia and I were waiting for a room.

The rest of the night was a blur, we finally got a room just after 8, Olivia attempted to have a popsicle and some apple juice...but got sick :( Olivia was pretty grumpy (and understandably so).  I tried to lay in bed with her, she told me to get out and sit on the chair.  :-/  Eventually she fell asleep and I climbed into bed to rest some.

 Of course we didn't get great sleep that night.  Between checking vitals and scheduled doses of pain meds - there was someone in the room every two hours.  

Take 2

Okay - here we go again.  Tomorrow is the scheduled NEW surgery date (remember how the last one was canceled to nasty tummy bug??).

I've been waiting for the nurses to call with our time slot.

2:30pm

And maybe I shouldn't type right now because I'm a little VERY frustrated.  How does a pediatric hospital, with a pediatric surgeon and pediatric anesthesiologist, SCHEDULE a pediatric surgery for 2:30?

My first words to the nurse were, "Oh, so what about eating and food for Olivia?"  The nurse stated, "she can't eat after midnight".  At which I replied, "Are you kidding me?"  And then she put me on hold...probably a good idea.

When she comes back she said that she can eat anything that doesn't contain dairy...but has to be finished eating by 5:30am.

Now - I do realize that this ISN'T the end of the world.  I also realize that if I'm really frustrated I could just rescheduled (which I did ask about since I find a 2:30 pediatric surgery time to be just plain CRUEL).  However, the next available appointment is the end of February.

Seriously!??!

Yes, she can have clear liquids until 930 (water, apple juice and sprite)....and yes, we will make it to 2:30.  But it's very annoying.  I'm frustrated with the system.  And poor Olivia :( The reason for this late appointment???  The dr has a conference.

Okay - I get that, I completely agree with continuing education.  But maybe pediatric drs should not schedule conferences on one of the two days they do surgeries.  And if they have a conference that day, MAYBE they shouldn't do surgeries that day.  I don't get why a pediatric hospital would even begin to START surgeries at 1pm (we are her third surgery at 2:30).  I asked why she just didn't cancel surgeries for today - the nurse said we were prioritized and put on the list to complete even if it was going to be later.

Arg.  So maybe I'm really frustrated because of Mommy guilt.  :(  I'm feeling so guilty for even making her go through this surgery.  And feeling guilty for the pain that's going to come with recovery.  And feeling guilty for her missing school.  And NOW feeling guilty because she can't eat after 5:30am.  

I'm feeling so guilty that I've been trying to make this day fun and include all Olivia's favorite things to do.  Like playing with play-dough.

And eating her favorite dinner...mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, yogurt, applesauce

Tomorrow I'll have much bigger worries - like my recovering daughter...but for today, I'm sad, and anxious, and feeling guilty, and very frustrated. 

My Boy

Mason had his second haircut.  And I can almost say he lost all his baby with this trim.  He looks sooooo much older now. 

Before

During - look!! no tears!!!

After - my handsome boy!

Sleepy

Hi Jerry

because he hasn't been on here in awhile

{love that he crosses his legs}

....

7am - caught Mason doing this (something Olivia has NEVER done).

 Mason and I talked and discussed all the reasons why that was not a good idea.

6pm - caught Mason and Olivia doing this (something Olivia has never done before).

And I thought I was going to have to worry about Olivia teaching Mason bad habits.

Foto Friday

Our family of four.

We are complete.

Mason Talking

He doesn't have a ton of words, and the words he has...he uses them pretty sparingly.  However, he has a lot to say :)

Midnight

For Christmas Olivia received a stuffed horse from Papa John (my dad).

Side Note:  love the name Papa John! 

And I have to say, as much as the princess bike was talked about before Christmas, it's been this horse that wins top prize!

It goes EVERYWHERE.  It's in bed with us, it's used as a pillow, it watches tv, it waits patiently on the couch while we eat meals, it joins in family pictures, it's been NAMED!

Midnight is the horse's name (named after the pony she rode on Christmas Eve)

It's awesome to watch how she rides Midnight around the house - holding the reigns with one hand and the pony's bum with the other.

But probably my FAVORITE thing about Midnight?!?  I can bribe (and maybe sometimes threaten, *gasp*) using Midnight.

"I'll let you bring Midnight in the car"

"Midnight looooves carrots, you should eat a carrot too"

"If you don't stop crying, Midnight will have to wait on the couch while you take your nap"

"You need to wash your hands so Midnight doesn't get all sticky and dirty"

I had NO IDEA how purposeful this stuffed horse would in my life.

Thank you Midnight and Papa John :)

Sugar Bowl

When I first found out the hokies were going to the sugar bowl (in new orleans), my first response was, "I HAVE TO GO".

Discussed with tim, bought tickets, happy girl.

THEN - I realized I had to do something with my kids.  Seriously?  How did I forget about that?!?!

THEN - I realized it's a lengthy 6 hour drive versus the 4 hours I thought it would take

THEN - I realized we would have to pay for a hotel room

I almost backed out of my tickets....

Until good friend, Jen, insisted that she bring her children and come stay at our house to watch our kids.  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

And Tim found a hotel room for $81 LITERALLY across the street from the superdome.

So - this morning we left on our six hour road trip.  AND it was AWESOME.  We've driven to Tim's parents place in San Antonio many times now and it's only a little more than 3 hours there - this trip felt WAY faster than that.  Only difference?!?!  No kids!!!   We talked for six hours, uninterrupted.  Brilliant!

And when we arrived - this is what we saw outside of our gorgeous, $81, hotel room.

We freshened up, took more pictures and then went to dinner.

Where we met more Hokie fans and chatted with them.

After dinner was a walk through Champions Square and then to our AMAZING seats.  My college roommate, Kristen, put us in touch with a really nice guy who helped us get our tickets.  Tim made 500 new best friends during this trip - and I probably took that many pictures.  

I probably should have taken more pictures of Tim and I.

Looooove the mass of orange and maroon!

Unfortunately, due to some bad calls (or at least that's what I'm telling myself) - the hokies didn't win.  However, it was an amazing trip and something I'm soooooo grateful we didn't back out of.

Airplanes!

Resolutions (take 2)

2012~Happy New Year!!

Okay, last year I told you some of our resolutions - and have to admit, did great on some of the things and others not-so-much.  BUT, in an effort to really follow through, I'm listing them again!

*baptize children 

*visit Brick Nana (Olivia and Mason's GREAT-great-Grandma)

*go camping more

*prepare a will

And that's it.  Of course there are a million other things that we want to do and hope to do - but these are the things that we really want to follow through on.  4 things.  We can do this!