sick, sick, sick

My family had been battling a lot of crud lately and I'm just plain tired of it!! Bed time can NOT come fast enough tonight.

Bryant battled ear infections for two weeks... three antibiotics and two different kinds of ear drops later he seems to be okay.

Sophie is, I believe, trying to cut her eye teeth in. She ran a very high fever on Monday and decided to up-chuck at the kitchen table on Tuesday morning.

So when Tres came into our room last night complaining of an ear ache, I wasn't surprised. He was up and down (as were Hank and I) all night crying and complaining of pain. We alternated meds and tried to keep him comfortable, but he was pretty darn miserable.

I took him to the doctor today and about an hour before the appointment, he began hurting so bad he was sobbing, so I took my happy little butt up to the doctor early and made them take us back quicker... which they did cause they are great there! :)

He is much more comfortable now and is on an antibiotic. This is his first ear infection in over a year, so hopefully we can just nip it in the bud. He told me today that he caught Bryant's allergies. And then when Bry came home from school, Tres pointed his finger at him and said, "You gave me your ear infection!" It made me laugh.

Tests

When I took Ava Sophia in for her one year check up in the summer, her pediatrician determined that she was off the chart (and not in a good way) for her age. He wanted to test her to make sure there was so reason for her not gaining weight. So he took a urine sample, drew some blood and did a sweat test on her. I still don't know what all they were looking for, but I did ask what the sweat test was for. The doctor told me that he wanted to make sure that she didn't have cerebral palsy. I was calm when I told him I was sure that she did not. And I was confident. I mean, have you people met my in-laws?? Petite seems like a giant word when I think about them! :) So, I knew it would come back that she didn't have cerebral palsy. My God is bigger than that!!

Want - To - Sleep...

So here I sit at 6:40 afraid that if I close my eyes, I won't get Tres to school on time, and will fall asleep and miss grabbing the phone at 8 am and instantly calling the doctor to make Bryant an appointment.

The weekend was good. We started it off on Friday pretty good. Hank got off at 2:30 which is unheard of. He switched shifts with one of the other guys. So we did some family oriented stuff like decorating the front of the house a little... it's still now done and it needs a lot of tweaking. Some lights twinkle and some don't, and I like consistency, but I'm not so annoyed that I have to fix it!

Then Friday night, we went and introduced our friends Chad and Mandy to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Del Toro. They loved it, too! I don't think we've ever taken someone there and they didn't like it. Then we came back to my messy house and played games and cards until nearly midnight when we finally noticed all the kids passing out around us! ha! I forgot to take pictures cause we were laughing so hard at Chad trying to be a part of Mad Gad. I REALLY wish I had my camera out for that.

Saturday morning we had a good, slow morning. Then Hankie had to get ready to go to the shift he switched for and we went over to my parent's house. They suggested we go to Jim 'n Nicks, and I was so all about it!I forgot Sophie's bib, so the napkin had to do! She looked like a little bandit! I gotta say, since she got through cutting those molars (which put her count up to 12 teeth now), she's been so happy and fun!The boys got to go spend some special time with grandaddy after we ate. I wish I could have got my camera out in the parking lot cause I have this mental image of Grandaddy holding Tres's hand and Tres holding Bryant's hand... I just couldn't manage to jungle Sophie to the other hip and get the camera out before they got into the car. I went and tried to help Mom do some Christmas shopping, but Sophie girl was DUN with the car seat and stores, so after Belk and JC Pennies, we called it a night!

I should mention that Bryant's left ear had started draining and he was up and down a little on Friday night. We treated it with Tylenol and pain numbing drops. He slept through on Saturday night, and since we knew what was wrong, and we HATE afterhours, we decided to try and make it to today.

Anyway, Sunday we headed to church where the boys apparently found something to do during praise and worship.

Hmmm... I guess we need to talk again about what praise and worship is for! :)

After church, we grabbed a quick lunch and had a quick volleyball meeting. Then we decided to take the kids to see Bolt. Tonnie and Brett met us with Luke and Sierra. It was a funny movie!! And the kids thought they were big stuff cause we let them sit at the top of the theatre without us.

Then we came home and everyone seemed normal... well, normal for us anyway.

But this is what we have this morning... a little boy who has such a bad earache that he can't sleep lying down because of the pressure!

Now I just have to juggle a Toys for Tots Promotions shoot, Tres's Thanksgiving Banquet (which I promised to be at since I haven't made it to any others), and a doctor's appointment. All of these are about 30 miles apart. Deep breath... I'm going in...

Allergy Sneezon

My family as been hit HARD this allergy season. My boys are coughing and gagging on drainage. They are telling me they have headaches and just having off days lately. I've been struggling too. But when the baby got a runny nose and woke up with puffy eyes, I knew it was time to break out our humidifiers and try to get some moist air circulating in our house! We haven't invested in one of those deluxe air o swiss humidifiers, but we do have a handy dady Hello Kitty one and another one for the boys' room. When we turn those suckers on full blast and treat the cough and headaches with over the counter meds to keep the symptoms in check. If it gets really severe, we'll have to head to the doctor and possibly invest in one of those big daddy humidifiers!

The Speed of Life

Well, if this week is any indication of things to come for the year, I may not be blogging as much as normal! Sigh... It's been a bit hectic, but good.

Monday, Tres started back to school, while I struggled to get stuff done around the house with two extra shadows, one of whom wanted me to 'play with him' all the time now that brother is unavailable. I'm doing my best to balance that with not letting our home get completely nasty! On Monday evening Tres started soccer practice. He is extremely excited about his team, the Cobras! There are even three kids on his team from his school, so that helps a lot.Even Bryant enjoyed himself at practice! And when he started getting a little bored, I gave him a photo assignment. I'll have to post some of his assignments soon. They are always interesting.

Tuesday, I had to take Sophie girl to Children's for a sweat chloride test.

Let me explain. When I took her in for her one-year check-up, she was in the twentieth percentile, when her nine month check-up had her in the twenty-fifth percentile. So they wanted to make sure that nothing was amiss medically. And guess what??? Nothing was... she's just an itty bitty bundle of attitude! :)

Two more things were going on Monday and Tuesday. The first was my Dad and Hank began working on remodeling our front bathroom. We now have a new countertop, double vanities with new faucets, and a new paint color.
We plan to tile it soon, frame out the mirror, and add crown molding. Add that to the already updated light fixtures, painted cabinets and new hardware, and I'm pleased to say that our bath is gonna be awesome! The seond was that I began feeling badly.

Wednesday, Bryant and I headed over to his school to Orientation.
I was a little worried that since he had never been in a school situation outside of Tres's experience that he would be a little attached, but he wasn't.
He was excited and eager... breaking my fragile Mom's heart just a little more. I know... it's a bit melodramatic, but it's sort of true. I went to a parent meeting while he met his teacher and classmate. He has been talking about it ever since, and has been telling me about 'planting' a flower in color water. His teacher says it will turn his flower red. Cool, huh?
Then, I had to invest in some new clothes for myself... since I begin teaching my class next week, I want to make a good impression. The plans for my class are coming right along. I am so excited about it and keep coming up with fun stuff that I would like to do, too. The problem will be fitting it all in! Ha!
Also, on Wednesday, my brother turned 29, and we celebrated with a noisy chaotic family dinner that was great! I love those kind! The cupcakes were yummy, and the kids got to ice and decorate their own. But my brother decided to start an icing war and 4 of us (yes, including me) ended up with a face full of strawberry icing! Sorry, I did not get pictures of that. I was too busy defending myself, since my husband was being Matt's accomplice!

On Thursday, Tres had soccer again and then it was straight to Praise Team practice for me.

Friday was catch up day in our house... laundry, laundry, and more laundry. Then when Tres was home, I made a trip to CVS. The CVS's in our area are a test market and are trying out running the adds from Friday to Thursday. I don't like it. It messes up my routine, and it means that if I want a chance at getting the good deals, I gotta go with my kids. Ugh!! It was a frustrating trip. But... this is about $125 worth of stuff for right around $5.50. Then we went to Target... and that's where my frazzled nerves gave up on me. I could not handle corralling two boys overly excited about the weekend any longer. We came home.

Now, we are trying to finish the bathroom and still get in some good family time. I know that Hank plans to take the boys to see The Clone Wars at some point... and I know that I need to exchange some pants for Tres at Belk, but other than that... no set plans.

To the Doctor We Go

Yesterday I took Sophie and Bry to see our pediatrician again. Sophie has a rattle when she breaths. I mean, when I'm just holding her I can feel her breathing. That plus a very wet cough, and it was getting a little scary. Bryant never complains much, but I saw him pulling at his ear on Sunday, and he has been looking like he just didn't feel a hundred percent (you know how they get that droopy look around their eyes?).
Well, the doc listened to Soph first and wanted to do a breathing treatment on her to see if that would help her breathing. While we waited on a nurse to bring in the nebulizer, Sophie entertained herself with the paper on the table.

Then the pediatrician took a peek into Bryant's ears and sure enough... bam... another double infection. His last one was a month ago, so the doc recommended seeing an ENT again. Bry has had two sets of tubes, so I'm not sure if that's what we headed for again or not... but man I'm ready for my little boy to NOT have to deal with pain in his ears.

Funny story... when the doctor looked in Bryant's ears, he said, "There's fluid in there. There are definitely bubbles." When he said that, Bryant cut his big, brown eyes over to me really quick and gave me this guilty little smile. When the doctor left to go get Sophie Girl her breathing treatment, here was the conversation:

Tres: Mom, I know why Bryant has bubbles in his ears.
Mom: Why, Tres? [I was already trying not to smile]
Tres: Cause when we were at Grandma's, he ate some of the bubble stuff.
Mom: [Turning to Bryant] Did you do that?
Bry: Yes. But it didn't taste good!
Mom: Well thank God they're non-toxic.
Tres: What does that mean?

The fun never ends, I suppose!
The nurse brought in the nebulizer and we did a 15 minute treatment on Little Miss A-boo. At first, she wasn't excited at all about having something over her nose and mouth. But once she realized she could breath and that Momma was with her (awww!) she relaxed and went with it. It also helped that I got Tres to grab my camera and take some pictures. You guys know I love you when I let my 5 1/2 year old handle my camera. Here she is close to end of the treatment. I think she was watching Bryant break dance here. I really need to get some video of that for you guys. It's a treat... take it from me.

The doctor checked out Tres's ears too while we were there, but he was fine.However, as the day went by, Tres's eyes got redder and redder, and this morning he woke up with a cough. Allergies seem to be kicking my families perverbial bottom right now!

The rest of our day went by pretty quickly. I took the kids to get some food, and Hank was able to meet us since he works close to their pediatrician's office. Then we headed to get haircuts and stopped by to see Grandma at the shop. Grandma let them head home with her to jump on the trampoline, while I got Sophie home for a real nap (complete with humidifier!). Then volleyball and home. Once I got home, I had to get Tres's lunch packed for his class field trip to the zoo. Hank was able to switch shifts with someone and go with him, since they don't allow siblings. That worked out for the best, because this morning Bry woke up with a hot little body! And his promptly threw up on my bed. I bathed him and he is watching Bob the Builder and drinking Sprite.

Sick Sophie Girl

I had to take Sophie in to the doctor again today. This was her 3 trip in as many weeks. The first was her well check up, then last week, she developed a dry cough. By this week, she has a severe cough and green snot! Yuck! Then besides that she has a low fever and is clingy and moody at times and has a tough time sleeping at night. They gave her a shot of meds today to try and get her to feeling better. The next step, if the meds don't work their magic, will be a nebulizer. But that would be some out of pocket expense for us. Not that our kids aren't worth it!

We've been running humidifiers for our kids since the cold and flu season started. But I wonder if we should get an air purifiying system to try and eliminate some of the nasty germs and bugs floating around. Maybe if we got one of the air cleaners available, we could spend less time sitting at the doctor's office and more time having fun!

Sophie is sleeping right now... a side effect of being traumatized by the shot I'm sure.

Our Angel

Sophie has been a part of our lives now for 6 months and 4 days! I can't believe it's been half a year already! Unbelievable. She is such a joy, and a wonderful way to complete our family.

She had a six month check-up today... as well as a round of shots. She weighs 13 1/2 pounds and she is 24 inches long. While she is on the small side for most babies her age, the ped said she is perfectly proportionate and that he is happy with her growth. She is a petite little thing... which we all know does NOT come from my side of the family! So thank you Boemers!

Her hair has really started filling in again. It is a dark brown color. I still put bands and bows on her, though and I will until she can handle it in her own hair. Her eyes are a gorgeous gray-green. They may eventually turn brown, but for now we like that all of our children have different color eyes!

Her birthmarks are still there and prominent. I thought they might fade, but they haven't.

She sleeps like a champ! She will go at least 10 hours at night and sometimes up to 12. She naps twice a day for anywhere from 1 1/2 hours to 3.

She still nurses 3 or 4 times a day. She also eats one container of baby food sometime during the day, and eats cereal mixed with fruit at night before bed. Once we started cereal consistantly, her reflux pretty much vanished.

She is SUPER sweet! She laughs and smiles easily. She loves to be around her brothers and commotion. She loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with Bryant (and Tres too sometimes). Bryant will sit and play with her for an hour or so at a time, and I love how sweet he is with her. Tres will sing and dance for her too... her own personal entertainer. And bedtime just isn't bedtime without a kiss from Sophie.

People call her a number of different things. The list is as follows:
A-boo (Tres & Bryant)
Sophie (this is the one I lean on most)
Ava
Sophie Girl (Bryant... although he pronounces it more like 'Soapie Gul')
Soapie (yes, it stuck)
Fi Fi (Mrs. B)
Angel Girl (me)
Pretty (Hank)

She and her Daddy had a slow start as far as bonding goes. With this being our third child, and with her being a breast fed baby, she has been all about Mom for a while. But since I've started volleyball, and she's with Dad and brothers two nights a week, they formed a bond over.... Ritz crackers! He said he tried it as a last resort cause she was screaming and now she knows the box and gets excited when she sees it! That night she seemed to register that Dad was cool, and since then it's been a lot easier for him. He's even managed to get her to sleep at night without me!

She can sit up unassisted for longer periods of time now. And she prefers to be sitting rather than laying down. Gone are the days of the swing and the bouncer seat. She rolls over both ways. I lay her on her back at night and she ends up on her tummy by morning. If you hold her hands while she is laying down, she pulls herself to a sitting position. And she seems to be trying to get her knees up under her these days when she gets frustrated with a toy or object out of her reach, and she can get herself turned around in a circle on the floor!

She still loves her car walker and now loves to kick back in her high chair.
We've tried the Johnny Jump-Up too and she seemed okay with it.

She wants what you have no matter what it is, and will doggedly reach for it until you are tired of it! And if you surround her with toys on the floor she will play for a while before she wants to get up. But her favorite 'toys' at the moment are her newly discovered feet!

She is beginning to teeth and drools a lot! Thank God for bibs!
She loves to give love too. I think she sees enough hugs and kisses around here.

Her most obvious accomplishment to date is the FULL development of her lungs. I call this video "Yakety-Yak! Don't Talk Back!"And if you've ever talked to me on my cell phone, I can bet you've heard her too! This is constant unless she is nursing or sleeping!

I know this post is long, but I so don't want to forget my last baby! I'm sure there's tons more, but I need to go and get her now!

BIG News!

My dishwasher is functional now thanks to my WONDERFUL Daddy! Thank you so much, Dad! You truely are a blessing to our family!

Ava has a minor ear infection and has to go on antibiotics... Yuck! I knew something was up because her sleep pattern was disrupted and she's been wanting to nurse a lot more frequently but not eating a lot each time.

AAANNNDDD, Sophie's trying to roll over from front to back right now!! TBA if she will actually do it. She does from tummy to back and has been for a while now.

Two Things Happened

So two big things happened this weekend. First, Hank went in on Friday and had a vasectemy!! He was very nervous but said afterwards that it wasn't nearly as bad as he had anticipated. I'm sure it had something to do with the painkiller they gave him! When the nurse called me back and was going over some things, Hank kept talking, and talking, and talking!! I finally had to say, "Okay, Hank. Let the lady talk!" He thought everything was a little funnier than it really was and would just start laughing. And that would make me start laughing too. The whole procedure took less than an hour from the time he signed in to the time we left. When we left the hospital parking deck, he called his parents. He told him that now that he was no longer a stud, he could "go valaganting around." Then he paused and got a puzzled look on his face, and said, "That's not right, is it? Galavant... I mean galavant!" Then he started laughing hysterically! I took him to get something to eat, and then we went to pick up Tres from school. While we were waiting on Tres, Hank was listening to Jox, a local sports radio talkshow. One of the hosts was talking about how he was counting down to having a vasectemy and was scared to death. Hank starts grabbing for my cell phone, and DIALS IN!!! While he's dialing, all these other callers are talking about how they had the procedure done 10 years ago... 13 years ago... or a doctor calls in. When Hank finally got through, he told the lady that he had had a vasectemy less than a hour ago, and they PUT HIM RIGHT ON THE AIR! Hank tells the guy that it wasn't that bad. He said, "I'm in my wife... I mean, I'm in the van with my wife right now and I'm fine." The sports guy says, "Now there's a huge slip up!" After they chatted with Hank for a while, they asked to talk to me. They asked me if I was pleased with the results... and I told them honestly, that I wasn't able to tell right then, as I had not seen or experienced the results! At any rate, it was funny! Brett, my brother-in-law (Tonnie's husband) called us laughing hysterically and said he almost ran off the road when he heard Hank on there. Hank is recovering well, though. He spent a good bit of time yesterday with a bag of Bird's Eyes frozen peas on the 'area.' But he's just a little sore today. Brett said there's a way to hear it on their website... but I couldn't find it. If and when I do, I'll make every effort to get it on here! :) You better believe it!

The second thing is this: WE GOT OUR HOUSE!!! Thank you, Jesus! They accepted our offer, and we will be closing by the end of November. God is good people. We got it for way less than they were hoping to get. And with a few improvements and an addition of a bathroom, we will be adding some serious equity to our new home!!! THe best part to me is that it is located literally 3 minutes from the elementary school that I wanted my kids to attend! Did I already say GOD IS GOOD!!

Upper GI Fun

Yesterday, Hank and I loaded up our crew and headed downtown for Sophie's appointment to have an upper GI to see if she has reflux. To me, this test was just a necessary step. I KNOW she has reflux. If you saw the amount of clothing, blankets, burp clothes, and socks this chick goes through... you would know it too. Both of my boys had reflux, and we did not have to go and have an upper GI in order to get medication for them. But apparently, this is now a mandatory step with our pediatrician.
I wasn't allowed to feed her after 7:45 and her appointment was at 9:45, which was fine since she's been doing her daytime feedings every 3 hours. So we got there and got registered, and then she and I went back. The upper GI for a baby is pretty darn cool, I must say. They fed her Barium in a bottle, and then did a sort of continuous x-ray to watch what happened when it hit her stomach. Here the nurses are preparing to feed her the Barium. They wrapped her arms and legs with sheets to keep them still and out of the way. Ava was not particularly fond of this!Here's her little tummy before she ate. If I hadn't been so fascinated, and if I hadn't of been distracted by wishing I could make her stop crying, I would have made a video... but I didn't so you have to just deal with pictures! :)Here they are starting to feed her the Barium. You can see the bottle in her little mouth.And then the Barium heads to her stomach. That black trail is the Barium.It hit her stomach... and then a few minutes later, headed right back up. She was officially diagnosed with stage 4 (out of 5) acid reflux, which was no surprise to this Mom, who wears her daughter's special blend scent 'Eu de Parfum Spit Up' every day! So she is starting medicine tomorrow and she should out grow it (like the boys did) by about 5-6 months.

Doctors, Babies, & Football

I had to take Bryant in to see the pediatrician on Tuesday. He had a double ear infection, due to drainage from allergies. While we were there, I asked them to weigh little miss Sophie. She weighed 6 lbs. 14 oz! This chick is definitely filling out and is even wearing {everyone hold your breath!} newborn sized clothing at times! :)
We've been a little busy since I last posted. For one thing, college football season started! For the first game, Hank's parents came up with my nephew Ryan. The boys were so excited to see them. We got to see them briefly when our little girl was born, but it wasn't enough for us! :)We especially enjoyed our Sunday morning with them. We all headed over to I-HOP for a late breakfast. Bryant enjoyed doing the word search with Grammy. Then it was time for them to hit the road back home. Notice Hank's new visor. They said there was a sea of Houndstooth at the stadium this year. Even the souvenir cups have Houndstooth on them! Thank the Lord that Alabama won, and we could enjoy a realtively upbeat atmosphere with our pancakes! :)

Sophie News

Sophie had her first tub bath over the weekend. I absolutely LOVE how she smells after her bath and could just sit and sniff her all day and night! As you can tell... she did not enjoy this new experience one little bit! :) She is definitely fiesty, my little girl!

I took her in today for her 2 week check-up (even though she will be 3 weeks old tomorrow!). She weighed 6 lbs 2 oz. That is one full pound and one ounce over her birth weight! She has also grown an inch already. The doctor said she looks really good. The only thing I was concerned about was she has been spitting up a good bit over the past several days. He said she might be over-eating and spitting out the excess. It's not projectile and she doesn't scream when she does it, so that is hopefully a good sign that it isn't reflux.