Updates For Those Who Don't Read Facebook

We had two doctors appointments I mentioned yesterday so I thought I would update everyone on their outcomes.

The first appt. was Allyson's today. We went to see if she could get off the breathing treatment. Turns out she gets to increase her time on it, from once to twice a day. She has now been somewhat officially diagnosed with asthma. She's actually been diagnosed with a pulmonary disease which is asthma. It just doesn't allow the title "asthma" to be put in her records for the rest of her life. The doctor says we'll do it every year during allergy season so we now get to have one permanantly.

The other appointment was the sonogram today. I ended up really liking my doctor which was nice. And we are having ONE baby! He/she was very active and wiggled around a lot. It was fun to watch. It was also fun because the girls got to enjoy watching their new brother or sister. Although Rylee freaked out when the doctor turned out the lights. But other than that it was a fun appointment.

Random Little Things That Together Make One Blog

I have my first sonogram appointment tomorrow and I'm most excited about it because I can prove to all of you sick people who keep telling me it's twins, that we're just having ONE little bundle of joy! I'm also excited/nervous to meet my new doctor since, sadly, my doctor moved away right after Rylee was born. It was so sad =(. But this doctor was on call and delivered Em so there's a little history.

Rylee's starting to really talk now. Her favorite toy and a word she says really well is "baby". She's very possessive about that baby though. If Ally dares pick it up she yells in a shrill voice "BBBAAAABBBYYYY!!" and that means give it back or else. Her other big thing to say is "ummmm?" I'll ask her in the morning, "What do you think you should wear today?" And she runs over to her closet and says, "Ummmmm?" and points to some random item in her closet. I don't remember um being around until they were older. But I guess if you have older siblings things come around quicker.

I was a bad parent this week and saved Emily's entire homework packet for Wednesday night, and it's due Thursday. I wish I could say it's the first time it's happened. I generally try to spread it out but it doesn't always happen.

I think Emily has the end of the school year blues. She's informed me every morning since spring break that she is sick. She also had to flip her first yellow card at school today. They start on green, then go to yellow if needed, then orange, then red. She's never even come close to flipping her card to yellow. The aid told me that she yelled out the name of the book when her teacher picked it up. A minor offense but I guess color changing worthy. She lost 5 minutes of her lunch recess also. I guess if you flip your card you lose some recess. I'm sure she won't do it again!

Mike hasn't been able to talk much since Sunday after church. He led worship and then boom, no voice. I'm guessing at this point he may have Laryngitis. Obviously I'm not a doctor but it's been 4 days. Hopefully whatever he does have will pass soon.

And as for Ally, nothing really new. Tomorrow could end the breathing treatments. We'll find out at the doctor. She still is coughing a lot and is way more tired than before so who knows what he'll say. We could definitly use some prayers for health in this family!

Changing Beds

For some time now Emily has been trying to talk Ally into switching beds. Emily is on the top and Ally is on the bottom. I was a little surprised that Em would want to switch to the bottom but didn't think much about it. Well Ally is a major creature of habit and refused to leaver her beloved bottom bunk. But one night as I was putting her to bed she asked to sleep on sissy's bed. I said sure and tucked her in up there. A little later Emily saw where her sister was at and was so excited. She crawled into bed and then promptly positioned herself in a cubby type shelf near the wall. I told her she couldn't sleep in the shelf and to get into the bed.

Later that night as Mike and I came upstairs to go to bed, I checked on them. Sure enough, she wasn't in the cubby hole. But she wasn't in bed either. I couldn't find her right away. As I go into her room a little more, this is where I found her, sound asleep...


She obeyed, but still found a fun place to sleep, on her desk that's built into the bed. The funny part, the next night after our softball game, we checked on our sleeping kids to find that Emily had taken her top bunk back. I guess if you can't sleep on the shelves then what's the fun of the bottom bunk?

The Verse

For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Emily was in her first year of AWANA this year and she finished her first book a month or so ago. And I thought she had to go back and review the whole thing since she couldnt' get her next book until 1st grade. The first verse she would have had to say again was John 3:16. She knew it just by the reference. It got me to thinking about that verse. You can ask almost any Christian to recite John 3:16 and almost everyone can. It's a verse etched into our hearts and minds. I've known it for as long as I can remember.

I think that is a verse that God allows us to really hang onto. I've memorized lots of verses in my years at church and I'll sadly admit there are few I remember. But that verse is one that is always there. I think it's an important one. It says it all. God loved us, the world, that he sent his son to die so that we can have eternal life. If you can't remember anything esle when witnessing to someone, you can always remember that verse and share God's great gift. I just think that is a verse that we remember because God gives it as a gift. Yeah, we hear it a lot in church but we hear a lot of things in church. Why does that one really really implant in our hearts and minds over other verses? Maybe I'm way off course but I really just think that is a verse that, in essence, says it a lot.

May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples.

GOT THAT COVERED!

Sickness

I was really hoping 2009 was going to be the year of health. 2008 seemed to hold so many colds for us. I had big plans for this year to be just the opposite. Unfortunately my life doesn't always go according to plans.

The past two weeks have been filled with sick kids. Emily has been the strong force throughout all of this, and she goes to school with 17 other kids...go figure!

Rylee came down with the stomach flu late Tuesday night early Wednesday morning and is still sick. She just lies pale on the couch or floor on her blanket. She doesn't say a word or show any emotion. Just lies there looking utterly miserable. I had to leave her with Mike this morning for what I thought was going to be a quick checkup with the doctor to see if Allyson's breathing treatments are working. I hated leaving Rylee. It was just on the cusp of me worrying about her getting dehydrated. It had been about 30 hours since she held any liquids down.

Ally has been our other sick kid. She started at the hospital with a little pneumonia in her right lung that was really giving her a run for her money. Got released Wednesday, got the ok from the doctor Friday that she was on the mend only to start a downward spiral Saturday. She was wheezing and wheezing and by Tuesday struggling again. We got a new anti-biotic (which took 7 different pharmacy trips before I found one that had it), cortizon twice daily (sp?)with albuteral breathing treatments. She started sounding so much better. But I've found breathing treatments can be deceiving. She is doing better however the doctor was still hearing a lot of fluid in her lungs. So up we went for a chest xray. It showed quite a bit of fluid in her right lung, you couldn't even see her heart. And the doctor thinks it's moved into her left lung, which it wasn't there in the beginning. He also said it isn't just bacterial anymore, which the antibiotics take care of, but also viral. So he said we have to wait until it runs his course and we get to continue breathing treatments for 3-4 more weeks with more checkups. Did I mention that they take about 25 mins. each? Every 2 mins. she asks, "is it done?"

I must say that even though this is all a little exhausting, especially while trying to plan out a special easter kids church, that I honestly can really feel God's presence. And it's so strong right now. He's granted me so much patience, so much needed energy at the critical moments, and just a ton of peace. Yes, it's a lot of work. Yes, it's stressful. Yes, I want it all to go away. But with all the juggeling I've had to do with hospital stays, doctors appts., many many pharmacy runs, household chores, kids church planning and more, I still am amazed at how much God is holding me up. I honestly don't know how people function without Him! And I also thank God for an awesome husband who is helping out a ton when the kids don't want to be put down so I can deal with the needs of the house!

Here's to staying positive and joyful,(thanks Mike and Leslie!).

Not fun, But Funny

It's that time of year again. Time for the annual allergy picture post. This is how Allyson woke up this morning, and no she isn't blinking. Her eye had swollen/adhered together. I felt bad for her but it was kind of funny because it didn't seem to bother her. She just wanted to eat breakfast! I told Mike to grab a wash cloth and he told just to put her in the bath, it would get better. So we put her in there and Mike ran off to tend to the other kiddos and I was getting ready. 10-15 mins later he came in horrified I hadn't helped Allyson with her eye, forgetting he told me to leave it alone that the bath would help. I also was trying to see if the bath would help because she hates her eyes washed. But Mike eventually had to get in there and get her very red eye open. But the whole time she was in the bath, she still didn't mention that her eye was shut. I think maybe she feared the eye drops from the night before!

She's definitly breathing heavier again today, wheezy a little. And she says she's sick. So hopefully we aren't having a relapse. I think she may have a touch of asthma though. I guess time will tell, which stinks when you are watching your child breathing so hard.

Back to Normal

We're back from Ally's hospital stay this week. There is no getting any good sleep in a hospital room. I was so glad to be home. The last day and night our air conditioning wasn't working and our room was annoyingly hot. I like to sleep with the room freezing and lots of blankets, but that night was totally opposite due to the temperature of the room. Poor Ally was even sweating a lot.

For those who didn't hear what happened, Monday Ally didn't seem to be feeling well. I chalked it up to a little asthma due to really bad allergies. As the day wore on I got more and more concerned as she was so incredibly tired and out of it and seemed to be really struggling. So around 4 I threw some clothes on her and went to the walk in. By the time we got there she was asleep and not waking up well, but still we waited 45 minutes. I was so glad Mike came and got the girls. Rylee was a wild woman, rearranging furniture in the waiting room, escaping outside, throwing all the magazines on the floor, ect. By the time we got called back her oxygen was really low so they made her a priority, then called the ambulance. I was feeling really low for making her suffer breathing all day.

We made it to the hospital after a long ride. Ally didn't much care for the ambulance, I couldn't sit in the back with her. And she did great in the ER except for when we first got there and were swarmed by doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, and x-ray techs. But after a while it all calmed down and we settled in. We were in the ER for 5.5 hours, diagnosed with pneumonia, then transferred to Peds. for 2 nights. She was on oxygen, a heavy steroid, antibiotics, IV, and breathing treatments every 3-4 hours. And let me tell you, the second half of the second day, those breathing treatments absolutely wired her. When she would actually stop moving for a second, her whole body would shake. It was a lot of work keeping her from running and pulling her IV out.

She was discharged Wednesday morning at 9, it was sooooo good to be home. Ally was wired from the last breathing treatment they gave her before we left so she bounced around to her hearts content and then crashed hard for a 3 hour nap. She is totally back to her old self other than I notice she's a little more tired as she took another nap today. And for those who know Ally, that is totally unheard of. Hopefully this will conclude our hospital stays for a while! I am still trying to shake the exhaustion from being there.