Halfway to the holidays and hoping this year is better...

I love the holiday season. It is by far my favorite time of the year. Really, the second half of the year is my favorite because one thing quickly leads to the next with it all culminating with Christmas. This year was HARD. Our kids were sick all winter with them both being really sick at Christmas and all the way in to the new year. Since then AG has had his tonsils out and Avi-Kate has had ear tubes put in her ears. I'm hoping that this year is better and that they can enjoy the holidays this year because this year was not fun for them or us. Poor Avi-Kate didn't even care to open her presents on Christmas morning and the year before she was only 6 months old and had no clue what was going on. We didn't even manage to get a good Christmas pj picture this year...I snapped one because I felt compelled to but you can tell AKs is hating life in it. So, I'm hoping and praying as we head in to the second half of the year that this year will be better and that they will be well and enjoy the wonder that is the holidays in the coming months. 

The last happy picture that we have before the wheels fell off and the both got sick.

 Avi-Kate is miserable in these next two photos...poor thing was so sick and we didn't realize at this point how impacted her hearing/speech was due to how bad her ears were.

 AG came down with croup and ear infections...on our way home from the pediatrician.

 And these are a few of my favorite things...brown paper packages tied up with ribbons.

 New ornaments to commemorate the year...Alice for Avi-Kate and Peter Pan for AG.

 Vintage Pinocchio because it's Andy's favorite Disney movie and an ornament that AG made at school.

 Everything is better with hundreds of Christmas lights glowing in a quiet house late at night. 

 2013, I pray that you are better than 2012 and everyone is healthy. Here's hoping...

And then life happens...

...we make plans. And then life happens. I've been reminded that a lot these last two weeks. I had some very ambitious plans to get the blog up to speed and pictures to post and it hasn't happened. And that is ok. It has to be.

Life has been crazy, busy, and full of sick children. Both of our kids have been sick these last two weeks. The other night I was texting with my dear friends Evan and Erin and I said something along the lines of 'guess what the latest is?!?!?' and Evan responded with, 'I'm afraid to ask!' Ha. It's just been that kind of week. Avi-Kate had a fever for days and we discovered that she had an ear infection. Then she got the stomach virus on top of that. AG has had a bad cold for a week that has now developed in to croup. On top of that he also has an ear infection. I've left the house twice since Wednesday of last week. Both times were to go take my sick children to the pediatrician. So, we make plans and have goals but life sometimes trumps our plans. And that's ok. It has to be...that's all there is to it.

My hope is that later in the week we can get things up to speed and start the new year off right with some posts on plans for the year, reflections from this year, organization, etc. I'm making no promises because inevitably when I do that life happens and I disappear for weeks on end. :)

Happy New Year. Hope you are all well and looking forward to what this next year has in store. Onward and upward. Here we go.

Mommy Gut...

...as a mom you have instincts when it comes to your kids and you are very attuned to their needs. Two years ago this month AG started having these random vomiting episodes. For three weeks it was on and off before we were told it must be a parasite. He was given a high powered anti-fungal and we went about our business. Months passed and he was fine. Then in May of last year he had another attack with two episodes within a couple days of each other. I was a week and a half away from delivering Avi-Kate. Again, we treated it like it was a parasite and he went back on the anti-fungal. Late that summer we had a third attack and that led us back to the GI doctor in Atlanta. At that point AG was diagnosed with Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome (CVS) and he began taking nightly meds to help control his attacks. This spring we saw the GI doctor and while there I asked if we needed to be concerned about Avi-Kate having CVS. He said that sometimes you have siblings have it and other times not. We'll just have to wait and see.

Well, in my mommy gut I think Avi-Kate has CVS or the precursor to it. She's had three vomiting episodes since last Friday. Every single one of them parallels AG and when he had his 3 week attack. Every single thing about it is identical...I'll spare you the details. Just trust me. :) At the end of the month I'll take her to ATL to see Dr. Saripkin and we'll see what he thinks/pick his brain about this whole ordeal. Today I called the pediatrician and they gave me a prescription for nausea...identical to AG's just in a smaller dose. So, we'll see.

In the midst of all of this AG left a crayon in the dryer and we now have purple crayon on lots of things. Lovely. Did I mention that this happened one of the days when I needed to wash/clean throw-up bedding?! Needless to say this week has not gone the way I planned it, at all. BUT that's ok. At the end of the day and when looking at the bigger picture I'm grateful for what we have. I'm grateful that despite vomiting issues our kids are healthy and thriving. I'm grateful that God isn't done with me and that he's still teaching me big and small lessons daily. My hope and prayer is that she'll stop throwing up between now and the visit with the doctor. And if not, that's ok too. We've become quite the experts at managing vomiting episodes.

I'm off to relax and do some Disney work on this rainy night. (Hallelujah! We needed a good rainy night after all these triple digit temps.)

A week of doctors visits...

I feel like most of my week has been consumed by going to different doctors' offices. I've also been grateful for insurance this week. (Not that I'm not every week but even more so this week.)

On Monday, I loaded AG up and we headed to Atlanta to see Dr. Saripkin at CHOA. It was a check-up of sorts and to touch base on his CVS. Everything looks good and he's pleased with how AG is growing/gaining weight. At this point he's still taking medicine at night to help control his vomiting episodes and the plan is to stick with that for the foreseeable future. I'm curious to see how transitioning to school goes in August and if this plays in to that. He goes back in the fall for his next check-up and we'll address that if need be then.

On Tuesday, I went to the doctor. I've been sick with a lingering infection for about six weeks now. After two trips to my primary doc this third trip I switched to my other doctor to hopefully get to the bottom of everything. I'm now on my third course of antibiotics and hoping/praying that I can kick this for good. Some days I feel great and others I feel horrible. (This would also be a reason for my spotty updating this last month.) I go back the week we return from Disney to check on things.

Today, I took Avi-Kate to the pediatrician. Poor thing has been cutting teeth and has come down with some nasty congestion. Which in turn has given her another ear infection in her right ear. In the process of dealing with all the extra snot she managed to rub it in her eyes and give herself a lovely little infection there too. So, we are on eye drops as well. Hopefully, she'll be on the mend and feeling good by the time we leave next week...which is one week from today! Hooray.


So, I started this post and never finished it...here's what has happened since then...

After we returned from Disney Avi-Kate's congestion returned. We came home on Monday the 7th and on Wednesday night she was up half the night, screaming. So, I called when the doctor's office opened and scheduled a sick appointment for her. Well, I also had a check-up that morning so Andy had to take the kids to the doctor solo. (Gold star for Daddy!) Sure enough Avi-Kate's ear was still infected and her congestion was in full force. They prescribed a new medicine and told us to come back in a few days if she wasn't on the mend. We went to the farm for the weekend to see Andy's family and Avi-Kate was a trooper despite not feeling well. Even though she's on a new medicine her nose has continued to run like crazy. Well, as the weekend progress she was still pulling on her ear and still getting up multiple times a night. Yesterday, we went back to the doctor to have them look at it and they decided to keep her on the antibiotics plus add a spray to hopefully help her little nose. I'm ready for her to feel better because she isn't her normal self and quite out of sorts. And after having her nose wiped a 1,000+ times she tries to get away as soon as she sees you coming after her with a tissue/cloth.

In other news, I found out this past week my midwife is moving and I'm quite bummed. She delivered both kids and I've really loved seeing her. (sigh) At the moment that's not an issue since I'm not pregnant or planning to get pregnant in the near future but eventually we'd like to have a third baby.

Also, AG's hemangioma seems to be growing again. (Read about his hemangioma here ...he also did treatments in May and November of 2009.) In two weeks we'll go back to see his plastic surgeon in Atlanta to see if they have to laser it again or if they can remove it completely. If insurance we'll pay for it to be removed and it's an option I would love that. I would love to be done with it all together. We'll see. My goal if he has to have surgery again is to do it this summer so that he can bounce back before he starts school the first of August.

Lots going on that I need to post...hopefully, I'll get to do it this week. Other than all of this life is clicking along and looking forward to what this second half of the year will hold.

And we are falling a part...

...sort of. Give us a few days and we'll be on the mend.

Andy:
I suspect he has a sinus infection but he's yet to deem it bad enough to go to the doctor...we'll see.

Katie:
I ended up catching pink eye in a round about way on Saturday...I woke up this morning and was frustrated because I had to not only spend the afternoon at the pediatrician but now take myself to the doctor with two small kids. While at the doctor, for the pink eye, they also diagnosed me with a sinus infection. The pharmacy was out of the eye drops so I get to pick them up tomorrow. So, I'm keeping my hands from rubbing my eyes by typing this post.

AG:
Complained of feeling sick and needing to vomit last night. I dosed him with Zofran and he passed out. I called Dr. Saripkin and talked with his nurse. She said she'd talk with him and get back with me what he wants to do. I'm still waiting to hear where we go from here.

Avi-Kate:
Well, she's had diarrhea (which has also led to a horrible diaper rash!) and excessive spit-up for the last two days. I suspected she might have a little GI bug. So, today I mentioned it while at the pediatrician. While doing her examination she asked if she had been drooling excessively the last few days too. Yep, but she's four months old...she's not teething! Wrong. My four month old doesn't have a GI bug because she's cutting teeth. Seriously?! And not just the normal baby's first teeth like the bottom front two or top two, rather, she's cutting her lower incisors?! I guess the ironic thing is over the weekend I noticed the two little white tooth buds when she was smiling but I convinced my self that it was silly to think she was cutting incisors this early. Oh, little girl! You are a mess and clearly have your own way of doing things already. :) And while we are at it you were 15lbs 14.2oz, 25inches long, and 42cm head circumference. You are also spinning around/scooting around on your tummy and you are close to rolling over. I can't believe how quickly you are growing up!

So, give us a few days and we'll be better...

Thankful...

...for my husband and my child's health.

AG has been out of sorts the last two days and earlier today I commented to Andy that something didn't seem right. Well, tonight AG and I ran to pick up dinner while Andy cut the grass. (In preparation for our next round of inclement weather tomorrow.) We got home from picking up dinner and AG started acting weird when I pulled him out of the car. We made it inside the door before he threw up everywhere. Thankfully, I was able to yell for Andy and he came running to help me. We got AG in the tub and then Andy graciously went and cleaned everything up for me. Normally, I'd clean everything up but I couldn't do it tonight...my super sensitive nose couldn't take it and I was instantly nauseated.

So, tonight I'm grateful for a husband who doesn't mind cleaning up throw up and helping pick up my slack while I'm pregnant. I don't know what I'd do without him. Lastly, as I bathed AG tonight I thanked the Lord that he is not sick often. I'm very grateful for all that the Lord has done and continues to do.

Hoping AG feels better in the morning and that we all get a good nights sleep since we didn't last night. My original plan for tonight was to get the blog and FB caught up on pictures. Clearly, that didn't happen. :) Maybe tomorrow...we'll see...the weather is suppose to be bad again. I'm hoping we don't lose power for the third time in less than a month due to the weather.

Sick little man...

I had really gotten on a roll with my blogging and then AG got sick, I had jury duty, Andy switched jobs, AG got sick again, we had a few days off, AG got sick this past weekend while we were out of town, Andy left yesterday morning for week long training in Cali, and I was awoken this morning to the sound of my child sick again while it monsooned outside. The last two weeks have been a blur.

My child is tired of throwing up and we are tired of cleaning it up. As I went in to get him this morning I was saddened by how pitiful and smart he's become thru all of this. I walked in this morning and he was on  his hands in knees in a corner of his crib covered in throw up but away from his blankie and pillow...so he wouldn't throw up on them. :( As my mother would say, "bess his heart." Bess his heart is right.

Yesterday we went to the doctor since he was sick over the weekend. She felt like it was a lingering virus and to keep him on a very strict/bland diet. So that's what we did yesterday. Clearly, that didn't help because he was sick again this morning. So back to the doctor we went this morning. Since the weekend I had begun to wonder if we were dealing with a food allergy or celiac disease. (One of my sisters was diagnosed with celiac several years ago.) After talking with the doctor I requested that we do blood work and begin to rule out both allergies and celiac. Bess his heart again because they couldn't get the blood from his arm in the office...I had to go next door to the hospital to get it done. AG only has one arm that they can pull blood from due to his hemangioma on his left arm. He whimpered when they put the needle in both times but didn't cry. As his G-Daddy said, "he's a stud." Yes, yes he is. All of this blood work will take a week to get back to us. Till then I've decided we are going to go gluten free with AG and see if we can tell a difference. I'm praying for a full nights sleep.

Now I'm not one to go buy my child random toys/gifts but after all he's dealt with the last two weeks plus giving lots of blood without crying I opted to take a trip to Toys R Us. AG is now the proud owner of his first Thomas the Tank Engine set. He spent the evening pushing trains around and around the track. Pictures to come. In the last few weeks he's really gotten in to trains. My parents gave him a train whistle as a get well present last week...he carries it around and makes it whistle much to Samson's frustration. Ha.

Anyways, that's the long and short of it. I'm flying solo this week and wiped from a long day. I'm sorry for typos and  if my train of thoughts are incoherent. I'm too tired to care. More updates to come as we get them. Pray for rest for all of us. Pray that we find out what is causing AG to be sick. Pray that Andy makes it home safely Thursday. In all of this God is still in control and providing. And for that I'm grateful.

AG takes a sick day...

This is what you look like after puking your guts up all night long in almost every room in the house. (I'm not even joking.) I'll spare y'all the very descriptive details. AG woke us up in the middle of the night/early Tuesday morning not feeling well. The next two hours were not fun. However, we all managed to survive and I made it to Jury Duty on time and some what awake. AG finally crashed a little before seven on the couch with Andy. We took it easy the rest of the day. AG was a trooper and managed to take a four hour nap that afternoon to help him recover. I snapped this photo after he woke up while I put dinner on the table. On top of all of this he's also cutting his lower incisors. Thank heavens days like this happen few and far between. I'm still trying to dig myself out from underneath the mountain of laundry that has taken over my laundry room.