Week of July 1 - 4

Blogging just isn't happening lately.  It makes me sad.  I try everyday to find time and it just isn't there.  I'm trying to get a few things written down.  Something is better than nothing. Here's a quick recap of the first week of July....

July 1st --

With Max and his medicine you never know what you are going to get.  This morning I asked Lily to get Max out of his crib while I took the dog out.  She came screaming outside, "There's poop and its everywhere!!!"  We always are excited for poops because it means his medicine is working, but this time his medicine worked a little too well.  And Lily was right...it was EVERYWHERE!

We also have been tasked with watching for unusual bumps/leasions/rashes on Max.  How is one supposed to tell if this is one of those or if it is a bug bite.  Oh well, I'll document it anyway.

 

I wanted to take a picture of me and Max.  Max just wanted to see if he could get a hold of my phone.  Little stinker!

 

July 3rd -

Russ came up with a scam for us to get rich quick.  Charge people to come see Jesus who appeared on our water dispenser.  Hmmm...time to clean that think I think. (For those of you who don't know Russ and his sense of humor he would NEVER actually do something like that.  He is just witty and likes to joke around.)

July 4th -

The bishopric was in charge of a pancake breakfast.  I offered to come early and help but Russ assured me that he would be fine going by himself so I didn't have to stress about the kids.  Russ and Bro Coon were in charge of the "specialty" pancakes...chocolate chip or apples. They all were yummy and it was a lot fun to get together with the ward on the 4th.  Lily was excited because she got to help make some pancakes.  She has now declared anytime that we have pancakes she should be the one to make them.

Charlotte will randomly ask for me to take a picture of her.  Who can resist taking a picture of this sweet girl?

 

Breanne still is up to mischief.  She steals my phone on a daily basis to take her own photos.  She captured this one of her feet today.  This girl loves shoes.  She is particularly attached to her slippers right now.  We had to sneakily throw away a pair that was too small for in order to get her to wear these.  She wasn't happy about for a few days but now we rarely see her without these Minnie ones on her feet.

 

It wouldn't be the 4th of July without some carmel popcorn to munch on.  This is a pot of ooey gooey goodness!  

 

I also made some rice crispy treats and some pecan bars.  Russ made some stuffed jalepenos.  All these yummy treats went with is to our neighbors house, The Wilcox's.  They had invited us and the Coon's over for a BBQ.  I really enjoyed being able to sit back and enjoy good food and company.  We don't get out and socialize enough, so this was really nice.

Before heading off to the fireworks I snapped the standard group picture of the kids. 

To keep the girls occupied while we waited for the fireworks to start we gave lit up some glow sticks.  They enjoyed making them into bracelets, necklaces, and earrings.  Max could care less.  He was tired and just wanted to sleep.  Breanne freaked out at the loud booming of the fireworks when they started and covered her ears and eyes.  I got her to look at the pretty fireworks while I covered her ears.  Eventually she realized the fireworks weren't going to get her and I could put my hands down.  Poor girl is terrified of loud noises!  The fireworks were nice and we enjoyed them.  The local police finally figured out how to control traffic this year.  Instead of waiting in traffic for an hour we  only waited five minutes!  Thank goodness!

Operation Fluffy Marshmallow, Sick Char, & Max Milestone

The girls had today off.  I was so excited to sleep in and then 7:00 am rolled around.  I woke up to a fully dressed Lily poking me in the arm saying, "Mommy its time to get up."  Yes, somebody forgot they didn't have school today.  I shushed her and whispered for her to go back to bed.  She headed out to the living room and in complete Lily fashion woke up the rest of the house.

After breakfast I allowed the girls to watch some TV while I tried to catch a few more zzz's.  Turns out Max was not going to let me sleep.  He wanted to eat.  After feeding him, I decided I might as well get up and get going for the day.  I got the girls and Max dressed and we headed to the van to run errands.  At this point in time I had heard from Charlotte about 75 times that her tummy hurt.  I paid no attention to that considering she complains her tummy hurts almost daily.  She eats like a bird and I'm sure most of the time it is hunger pains.  Its a work in progress.

We first stopped at the Rec Center to reactivate our membership.  We let it lapse when I was on limited activity.  Max finally hit the magic age of six months, so we figured now would be a good time for me to start going back to the gym.  See there is this annoying little gene in my body that doesn't do what its supposed to.  It allows my blood to clot easily.  Since I'm overweight that just adds to the clotting problem.  So I've got to kick it into high gear to get healthy.  I enjoy exercising at the rec center and can't wait to start building my endurance back up.  Its going to be a long road but I'm excited about it.  I like to call this journey "operation fluffy marshmallow" because that is what I am right now...a fluffy marshmallow.

While I reactivated our membership the girls kept themselves occupied by playing follow the leader and choo-choo train.  I loved seeing my girls enjoying each others company.  The moments where they all get along are awesome (Everything is awesome! -- Name that movie!)

After that we ran over to Walmart to pick up just a few essentials. I had debated about doing a full shopping trip with everyone but decided against it.  All through the store Charlotte complained about her tummy and insisted on riding on the shopping cart.  While checking out, I looked down and Char was curled up in a ball on the floor whimpering.  Poor baby!  We were supposed to go to another store, but I called it quits there.

We got home, had lunch, and sent the littles to bed for their naps.  The only problem...Char didn't nap.  She kept telling me she couldn't sleep.  Finally I told her to bring her pillow and blanket out and rest on the couch while we watched a movie.  She made it to the couch and promptly threw up her lunch.  I cleaned that mess up, gave Char a barf bucket and went to lay down.  I was just falling asleep when Lily ran in hysterically that Char was sick again.  Char had completely missed the bucket.  We ran a quick bath and I cleaned her up.

Meanwhile, Max woke up.  No rest for the weary....I decided to play with him because he has been exceptional grumpy lately.  Normally he rarely cries, but he recently started solids and they are making his tummy issues worse than they already are.  Anyway, I sat him up in front of me and put a dinosaur toy within reach for him.  After a minute or two I realized he was sitting up all by himself!  He wasn't leaning on me or the toy.  I slowly moved away and caught these cute pictures of him...

The rest of the night was uneventful. Russ came home, we had dinner, and sent the kiddos to bed.  Now I'm off to bed exhausted with the sad realization that I don't get to sleep in tomorrow.

Charlotte's First Dentist Visit

A couple weeks ago I decided Charlotte should go in for her first dentist appointment.  I've been worried that her teeth might be suffering because of all the medicine she has to take.  We've got a great pediatric dentist that the other girls have gone to.  Little did I know then, I wouldn't be able to take her.

Russ came through like a champion dad and took her there while a friend watched Breanne. I was sad to miss this first of Charlotte's so I quizzed Russ for all the details.  Charlotte apparently did very well.  She was compliant and opened right up for the dentist.  She got her teeth brushed and some fluoride put on.  The best news was that her teeth looked perfectly fine.  Russ talked to the dentist about her medicine who suggested we make sure to have Charlotte drink some water after taking it.  That she keep her teeth from being affected by it.

Charlotte was very excited to show me later that she got a "Jake" toothbrush, (Jake and the Neverland Pirates) and some other goodies from the dentist.  She also got this neat little certificate:

I'm super happy that this turned out to be a positive experience for her. 

Faces with Charlotte

Charlotte wanted to take more pictures today. To add a bit of variety to this I had her copy my 

face. Yes I do make all these weird faces routinely with the girls. I'm weird I know! 

Charlotte Funny

Charlotte just said, "oh my peas" while playing with her dolls. I guess we watch too much Super Why!

Snuggles with the little girls

I've been really tired lately.  I sit in the rocking chair a lot. The little girls have noticed this and have taken full advantage of that.  They bring their blankies with them in the morning and come snuggle on my lap.  I love these extra snuggles I've been getting!

Still obsessed...

All my girls, but particularly Charlotte are still obsessed with taking pictures using my phone.  I don't mind much.  I only mind when they start fighting over who's turn it is.  Or try and take pictures while I'm using the darn thing.  Oh well!  If they weren't so enthralled with this I would never get as many pictures of with them as I do. This picture was one of the keepers Charlotte took today.

Right now....

Nothing spectacular about this picture.  However, it tells a story about Charlotte right now.  It is not uncommon to fin Charlotte off in some little corner surrounded by crayons.  She loves her crayons!  Also, those blue Cinderella slippers she got for Christmas?!  Yeah, those things never leave her feet.  She screams bloody murder every time I have to take them off for things like baths, or even just to get her dressed.  Silly girl!

Ho-Ho-Ho!

We recently taught Charlotte how to laugh like Santa.  I may be a little biased, but it is the cutest thing ever!

Doctor visit for Charlotte

Charlotte hasn't gotten better since we started giving her treatments to her on Tuesday.  Considering the holidays are coming up I wanted to get her in to see the doctors ASAP.  Of course we couldn't get into the pediatrician but we did get in to see a PA. We've seen Heather quite a few times and I actually really like her because she has two kids with asthma as well.  She really understands what I'm going through.

I explained to her how Charlotte had been wheezing since Tuesday.  She listened to Char's lungs and said she had moderate wheezing and sever tightness of the chest.  The good news was that it was all in the upper portion of her lungs and not down in the lower section.  Yay, no pneumonia for us!  However, she has some type of an infection going on which is why Charlotte is still wheezing. 

Heather discussed Dr. Peters treatment plan for Charlotte with us.  She felt that in addition to his plan Charlotte needed to try going on Singulair.   She said that it helps a lot of children with cold induced asthma to not have as many flair ups.  So all in all we will be doing 10 days of neb treatments, 10 days of albuterol inhaler at night, an antibiotic, morning and night Flovent inhaler, and Singulair.  I feel awful that Charlotte has to take so much medicine but if it helps her get better, then I guess it is for the best.

She also recommended that I call and tell Dr. Peters what was going on.  he wasn't in but his PA said to continue the treatments and come in after the new year.  Gah!  And just when i thought things were getting better we are back to the same old routine.

Change of plans...

This evening started out with me, the girls, and Sprinkles driving to the Gonzales's house.  We met Russell and Raphael there.  Raphael and his family graciously agreed to watch Sprinkles while we headed to California for Christmas.  We spent a little while talking with Gonzales's.  While there I got a bit concerned.  Charlotte was running around chasing their dogs and cats.  Her breathing sounded terrible.  I brushed my concerns away.

Awhile later we headed to the McDonald's for dinner.  While waiting for our food to be prepared the girls participated in a craft that McDonald's was hosting.  They each made a mitten ornament for our Christmas tree.  Lily and Allie really enjoyed doing this.

Charlotte on the other hand was getting riled up from the activity and was beginning to breathe even harder.  It was getting hard to push away my concerns.  We thought though that if she settled down and ate she would be okay.  Not so much.  She began to eat and her full blown asthma attack settled in.  She couldn't breathe and ended up throwing up all over me and the table.  *sigh*  We hurried the girls along with their dinner while we struggled to calm Charlotte down.  While there I turned to Russ and said, "You know what this means don't you?"  He nodded and said "yeah"  We weren't going to California for Christmas :(

After eating we went back to the Gonzales's and picked up Sprinkles and then headed home.  The whole time Charlotte was breathing heavily.  I could hear her from the front seat.  An hour later we finally got home and was able to give her a breathing treatment.  Russ called and let his family know the bad news.  I'm so grateful that they were understanding.  It was a huge disappointment that we wouldn't be seeing family but some things just can't be helped.

And before I forget...here is a picture of each of the girls ornaments...

Allie

 

Lily

 

Charlotte

 

Lets color!

Charlotte really has not shown much interest in coloring before.  However, recently she's been asking to have my pens or pencils when I am using them.  Today i sat her down with a pad of paper and crayons instead of yielding up my pencil.  

Turns out Charlotte really enjoys coloring.  In fact she can already hold her crayon correctly.  I was quite amazed with this considering she is so young.

She colored on several pages for about 30 mins.  This is the longest she has ever engaged in an activity before.  Normally she gets frustrated and throws a tantrum.  I guess there just wasn't anything frustrating about coloring.  She was so proud in the end to show me her drawings.  I in turn was proud of her too!

Playing Mommy

The other day Charlotte saw the big girls playing with the stroller.  She showed interest in it, so I got it out for her today.  She was so excited to put a stuffed animal in and push it around.  The only draw back is that she wants to do it herself.  The straps are a little tricky so the usual screaming ensues.  I finally worked out a system with her though and she will first try to do it herself then she will come to me for "hep".  I love watching Char grow and begin to role play.  I know it will help her language skills, so I've been encouraging it as much as possible.

Ear Tube Surgery

Early this morning I got up and woke Charlotte up.  I left her in her pajamas, but I grabbed her snugglie for her.  I plopped her in her carseat and we headed for the day surgery entrance at the hospital.  This time I made sure to remember my camera.    We got there right at 7:00 and walked in.  A nice nurse greeted us and took us back to Charlotte's waiting area.

Charlotte was so pleased to get up on the bed and crawl around on it.  You could tell she thought she was something special.  We got her dressed in a child size hospital gown.  Why they didn't give me one of these when she was in the hospital in August I.DO.NOT.KNOW!  I signed a bunch of papers while nurses kept popping in and exclaiming how cute Charlotte was.  About 7:25 Dr. Herrera stopped by and again asked if I had any questions about the ear tube surgery.  Nope.  

Right at 7:30 the anesthesiologist and a nurse came to wheel Charlotte to surgery.  Charlotte was still quite happy about the bed so she wasn't a problem.  I walked with them as far as the operating room doors, then I was shown where the waiting area was.  Ten minutes later Dr. Herrara came out and gave me some medicine with some instructions to put it in Char's ears.  She also told me that they had to suction out a large amount of fluid out of her right ear.  She the consistency was that of rubber cement.  Definitely not a good thing.  She said Charlotte was waking up and they would call for me in a few minutes.  Sure enough five minutes later I was called down to a recovery room.

A very small nurse lugged Charlotte into me. I thought the poor lady was going to topple over. Charlotte was buried in her shoulder crying but awake.  She didn't recognize me at first because she was still groggy but after looking at me for awhile realized who I was and wanted me to hold her.  I held her for a few minutes before we turned on Mickey Mouse.  Instantly the crying stopped.  We watched Mickey for about five minutes.  The whole time I had to keep pulling Charlotte's hand down from touching her ears.  She didn't like that but we didn't want her to get infection in them.  While watching mickey the nurse had Charlotte drink some milk.  As soon as she did that we were free to go home.  Here she is watching Mickey, in the first pic you can see her poking at her ear.  Poor thing knew something was different.

I took this picture right before they snapped her bracelets off her and released us.

By 8:15 we were home.   Originally Russ had planned on joining us at the hospital with Bree, but he hadn't even left the house by the time I got home.  I was surprised by how short the surgery was but very grateful that all went well.  I really hope this helps Charlotte out and she can start feeling better.

Hearing Test

Last week after visiting with the ENT she told us that Charlotte would need a hearing test done before she had surgery for the tubes.  They scheduled me to come back today and take care of that.  I tried to find a babysitter for Allie so I would have one less kid to take with me, but I couldn't find one.

We showed up at the office right on time, and I was pleasantly surprised to be called back right away.  Then the fun began.  I had to leave Bree and Allie in the room with the technician while I accompanied Charlotte into a soundproof room.  She was not happy about having to sit on my lap.  However, she did respond when the tech said her name.  She passed at 20 decibels which apparently is within the normal range.  Yay!  One less thing to worry about!  We saw the Dr for a few minutes, just long enough for her to ask if we had questions and for me to reply no.  The nurse handed me some earplugs and a stack of papers with instructions to take them to the hospital next door.  I was so happy for a short appointment that I didn't even wonder why I was dropping the papers off instead of them.

I found out when I handed the papers over to the receptionist at the hospital.  I had an appointment an hour later to talk with the Pre-Op nurse.  I was soooo mad that the Dr's office hadn't told me anything about this.  My diaper bag was low on entertainment so we headed out for a walk around the hospital in the stroller.  The walk lasted 15 minutes and then it was back to the waiting room to sit and listen to Charlotte scream.  Awhile later I got called back to fill out paper work and pay for the surgery...another nice little surprise.  Charlotte was still screaming and I was about in tears by them.  As I walked out I saw two ladies from the ward sitting in the waiting room.  Something about seeing them calmed me and Charlotte down.

Carolyn pulled out a few toys she had hidden in her purse and Charlotte played with them for a few minutes.  It seems lately that there have been a lot of times where I'm just about to fall apart and I run into someone I know from the ward and they save.  Heavenly Father is certainly blessing me.  I talked with Pat and Carolyn for a few more minutes and then we were called back to the pre-op nurse.

The pre-op nurse was very kind and even had some magnets that she let Allie and Charlotte play with allowing me to be able to {mostly} focus on what she was saying...Bree was crying by this time.  She rushed through it and we finally headed home.

It was rough start to our day, but things went better from there on out.  I've been getting tons of smiles from Bree lately.  Those smiles really help me keep going.  This stupid medicine is trying to creep sadness back into me and I don't like it.  Bree's smile help me keep it at bay...for now.

Little Thief!

Charlotte did not want to leave playgroup today.  I don't blame her.  She doesn't get to go out often and when we do it is never long enough for her.  So she was a bit cranky when I dragged her into the car.  We pulled away and headed home.  Charlotte was still screaming.  I didn't pay attention to her.  Eventually she calmed down and I saw in my rear view mirror that she had fallen asleep.  What I didn't see was that she had become a little thief!  I discovered her like this when I pulled into the garage {see picture below}.  Apparently Char knew she was tired and wanted a blanket so she reached over and pulled until she got Bree's blanket off of her!  Comfortable and warm she promptly fell asleep.  Silly little thief!

ENT Visit

It has been 10 days since Charlotte was on her antibiotics.  We went in and saw Dr. H today.  She is the Ear Nose Throat doctor that was recommended to us.  We had quite a rocky start to say the least.  Charlotte walked in happily to to the waiting area but she then started freaking out.  I guess she recognized it as a doctor's office and didn't want to have anything to do with that.  I held her the the whole time I filled out the paper work, but she screamed that ear piercing scream of hers anyway.  The nurses and elderly people were staring at me with mixed looks of horror, distaste, and pity.  Bree was upset too, so I was trying to rock her with one foot.  Thankfully Allie sat down and read some books.

Char continued to scream on and on for the 30 minute wait.  Why can't doctors actually get you into a room on time?!  We finally got called back and squeezed ourselves into the tiniest room ever.  The girls and I barely fit.  We waited another 20 minutes with me constantly having to tell Allie and Char don't touch that, don't touch this, etc.  It was a lovely wait.  Bree needed to eat but I couldn't feed her because I couldn't control her and Char in that room.  By the time Dr. H came Bree was now screaming and Char was occasionally screaming.  

At this point the appointment went fairly quick.  Dr. H asked why were there to see her.  I found this a bit funny because the pediatrician's office should have sent over the records and recommendation for tubes.  Maybe she didn't read it, or they didn't do it, who knows?  So I briefly explained everything Char had been through in the last year and the fact that she had so many ear infections.  Dr. H took a quick look in Charlotte's ear and noted that she had fluid behind her right ear.  So her ear infection hadn't gone away 100%.  She suggested at this point to get tubes put in her ears and explained the procedure.  I listened the best I could amid the screaming.  

Dr. H then had me go out to talk with the nurse and set up a time for surgery.  We scheduled it for December 7th.  Less than two weeks away.  I was happy that it would be on a Friday since Russ would be off.  The receptionist gave Charlotte two stickers which pleased her.  She even remembered to say thank you.  They commented she was a very sweet girl.  Hmmm...they must have forgot that we were the screaming crew only 30 minutes ago.  Allie was pleased to get a sticker too.  I'm always grateful that the doctors offices here will give siblings a sticker too, so there isn't contention.

We left the office.  I felt relief to be done but a bit anxious knowing my little girl would be going into surgery.  Hopefully though this will help Charlotte begin to feel better and not get so sick when colds come around.

Lil' Ponies

Charlotte loves to get what little hair she has done just like her big sisters.  Normally I can only make one pony, but today we made two!  A first for her!  She looked absolutely adorable in them!  Well, that is for the five minutes she kept them before heading to church.

Ear Infections

Charlotte has been coughing, coughing, and coughing again.  She's wheezy too.   I decided it was time to go in and get the same old same old news.  Turns out everything wasn't just the same old.  We saw Dr. H which is a huge relief.  He came in and listened to Charlotte's breathing and lungs.  He declared she needed her normal routine of medicine just amped up a little bit.  Breathing treatments for the next five days...wonderful.  Then he took a peek in her nose and ears.  She had a double ear infection with fluid behind her right ear.  I was shocked because she hadn't had a fever nor been pulling at her ears.  Then Dr. H surprised me with a bit more news.  He declared it was time to see an ENT and get tubes put in for Charlotte.  {Apparently, seven ear infections in one year is a bit too many. I just hadn't realized how fast they were piling up}   I really wasn't expecting things to go this route for Char.  Dr. H gave me the information I needed telling me to be sure and see the ENT within 10 days.  He seems to think this will help her health wise.  I'm hoping it does because this whole seeing your doctor a few times a month is getting old.  It looks like before the end of the year Char will be having surgery.  Not sure how I feel about the surgery, but hopeful this will steer us down a healthy path for her.

A few things about Charlotte...

Despite the fact that everyone thinks Charlotte is a HUGE barely one year old, she is growing up right before my eyes.  Lately she has been obsessed with this star stacker.  We got it out of storage and Russ put batteries in it.  Her little eyes gleamed with pleasure the first time it played its song for her.  Now she sits for what seems like hours stacking, unstacking, and re-stacking.  She even is getting the hang of stacking them in order...just not in the picture!

She also loves to have her picture taken.  However, she can her my camera a mile away and will look up and give a cheesy grin as soon as she hears it.  It amazes me that she can hear it considering my other girls can't...or maybe they've gotten used to it always being in their face.  Anyway, after my one picture of her stacking her stars she turned around and hammed it up for me.

She got distracted here but I love how this shows off her chubby cheeks!

No she isn't picking her nose in this picture...ewwww!  She is actually learning her body parts and can point to them.  She really loves pointing to her nose. If you are lucky she will point to your nose and smash it in the progress!

Now just ignore how terrible I look in this picture...remember I had a baby recently.  Instead focus on how cute she is!  I've been trying to take more pictures with the girls recently so that they know that yes mommy did exist in their lives.  I'm not always successful in getting the best looking pictures, but this one melted my heart.  Why you ask?  Because Charlotte does this pose a lot with me each day.  She will walk over and lay her head against mine, for no reason at all.  The fact that I caught that on "film" is priceless to me.  Now I can always remember it!