Even More Pictures

Madison's funky hat she got at the circus. This was her expression while Casey was singing happy birthday to her at the soup supper in Havensville.
Red Robin singing Happy Birthday to Madison.

Diggin into the ice cream sundae that they brought her at Red Robin.

Little X sitting up by himself like a big boy.

Dylan's basketball team.

More Pictures

My sickies. Syd not happy in the croup tent.

Like puting her in a big bubble.

Xavier one night when he was not feeling well, fell asleep in his walker.

Look at those puppy dog eyes. She was really not feeling well. But the next day she looked even worse. Dark, dark circles formed under her eys.

As you can see, Xavier was just as happy as ever at the hospital.

The pictures I have been promising

The kids riding the elephant. Syd up front, with Dylan and Maddy behind her.

And Again.

Just some of the performers, on balls juggling.

Silly clown.

Trapeze Artists.

Happy Birthday to You, You Live at the Zoo

You know the rest, you look like a monkey and you act like one too!! Today is Madison's birthday. She is TEN, yes TEN years old. I can hardly believe it. I can remember back 10 years ago so well. There was a train derailment in Onaga, and coal was spilled all over. We also had a healthy snow on Feb 21st, 1999, or early morning on the 22nd. Michael and I had a bottle of wine out in the snow from our suite at the hospital. Of course, it was more for him.

We took Maddy to the Red Robin last night for her birthday, and then off to the circus. She, Dylan, and Syd seemed to have a really good time. They got to ride the elephants at the circus. I do have some pictures to post and hope to make time to do that tomorrow.

Michael and I worked on getting the shelving up in all of our closets today. This has been a long time coming. We have been our house now for almost 5 years, and it will be great to actually have lots of storage in our closets.

So we took a break and headed to Havensville to the community building for dinner tonight. They had a fundraiser, soup dinner, to raise funds to make a handicapped bathroom in their building. While there, Casey Jordan, Tanner's (Michael's employee) sister and the band played and sang happy birthday to Maddy. She was just a little embarrassed. For anyone who has not been to Havensville to the Cow Creek Opry, and hear Casey and all the other local talent sing, I would highly recommend it. They are great. And for about $20, you can eat, and see the concert, and that is the whole family. Great, cheap family entertainment. Their next show is March 28th. And the Legend show that they put on, where they dress and act like the entertainers is May 2nd. We cannot wait to see these shows again.

So I promise to try and make time tomorrow to put up the photos that I have been promising. Oh, and I almost forgot, Xavier is 7 months old today also. My how time flies. We will talk more about him tomorrow also.

So to Maddy:
Happy Birthday baby. We love you so much. You have grown into quite the young lady. We are so proud of you and the qualities you have. You have so much compassion for others, and determination and endurance in you. You can do anything you put your mind to and you have proven that. You are such a big help to me at home, and sometimes I am sorry that I don't let you help me more. I am going to try and let you do more to help me out and let you take on some of the responsibility that you want to have. I guess it is just hard for me to let you grow up. But I guess there is no stopping it. Daddy and I are so proud to say we are your parents. Keep setting the examples you do now and strive to reach the goals you set in life. We love you!

Momma and Daddy.

UUGGGGHHHHHHH

Well, I am sure you are all waiting on me to post some pictures that I promised. I am hoping to get it done soon. I also want to get a video of Xavier starting to crawl, actually on all fours posted. So hopefully I will find time soon.

I am not sure where to start. So when I left off, we had just gotten home from the hospital and Syd appeared to be on the uphill side of things. Well, she is still not feeling 100% better. She is very clingy and wants to be held. She has a really good cold going on now. However, she is much improved from Friday.

Now on to Xavier. He started with a cough and cold on Saturday. Sunday he was a little fussy, but not bad. However, Sunday night he did not sleep well at all. He was up most of the night. I noticed he was still rubbing his ears. So Monday we headed off to the Dr again. Yep, both ears were infected. And there is a good possibility that he has RSV. The Dr said we were going to give him a shot. And even if he had RSV at this time, we wouldn't treat him any different, so we didn't test for it. For those of you that have seen the test for RSV done before, you will understand. For those of you whom haven't. They take this little tiny hose (about the size of a pencil lead) and stick it way up into their nose. It is hooked to a syringe with sterile saline in it. They inject the saline into the nose and withdraw it back in to the syringe. It is no fun at all. So that is why I opted to not run the test. If he were to get worse, I was to bring him in. Well, he is not sleeping the best still, and up until today was not eating much at all. Only 16 oz yesterday. About half of what he normally eats. Less than that on Monday. He has been extremely fussy. Doesn't really know what he wants. So lets pray that he is on the uphill today. He has already taken 12 oz of milk. And ate his lunch. Right now he is resting.

So yesterday I went to KC to a trade show with my sis. We had a good time. It was great to get away and get a small break. Love you Sis! So I had this tickle in my throat all day and kept coughing because of the tickle. Now this morning, my chest hurts bad. I have a bit of a headache. And a terrible cough. So now that makes 3 of us.

Maddy told me this morning that she had a bit of a sore throat. And I heard her coughing a bit through the night. She is not complaining yet, but somehow I have a feeling it won't be long. And that makes 4.

And now Dylan. He has been getting a bit of a cough the last few days. But this morning, he woke up with hives. With Dylan that is a sure sign that a fever and illness is on the way. It is just a way that his body deals with it and it is a warning sign for us. So that makes 5.

NOW, Michael chose not to get a flu shot this year. And I will be really ticked if he is the only one who doesn't get this crud. I really hope for his sake he doesn't get it. It seems to be able to get the best of you.

So, we are all going to take it easy and try to get to feeling better. My hospital bill is definitely going to be on the rise this month. With Syd's meds, and being in the hospital for 2 days, and all of us being on antibiotics, and all the dr visits, it will take a toll on the ole checkbook. So I am going to try to get the energy and time to get the pictures and video uploaded soon.

Have I mentioned I am ready for Spring? Only a few times. I hope all of you are staying healthy and staying away from all this crud.

Oh So Glad to Be Home

Oh, what a Friday the 13th!?? I didn't even realize it was Friday the 13th until they mentioned it on the radio. I headed out to Wamego to get my hair done early yesterday morning. I had taken Xavier over to my moms for the morning. I was looking forward to a little me time. Something I hadn't had in quite a while. So I was just pulling into the parking lot at the salon, and my cell rang. It was Syd's teacher and she was quite anxious. Syd could not quit coughing. She had tried a drink and given her her inhaler and it just wasn't cutting it. So I called my mom to have her run over and get her. I continued with my appointment, and ran a quick errand into Manhattan. And then on my way home. Got to my mom's, picked up Syd and headed back to the Dr. They tried a Xopenex treatment with no relief and so off we went to be admitted into the hospital once again. She coughed most of the afternoon and into the night until about 12:30 this morning. Then that pretty much stopped it all. She has been good ever since. We came home around 9:30 this morning. We are going to stay on our meds, and hope that we are out of the woods. This has probably been the worst flair up that she has ever had. It is a little scary. She looked terrible last night. She had dark circles under her eyes, she just looked worn out from coughing so much. But today, well, she acted like Syd. She is back to eating a little bit, and hopefully will get some energy back and keep headed in the right direction.

Also Happy Valentines Day to all. And to my hubby, thanks for the flowers. And thanks for cleaning up the house. I love you and all that you do for me.

I have some pictures of Syd from Thursday in the croup tent and I will try to get them posted later today or tomorrow. I am just too tired right now, and have this humongous headache.

Asthma and Ear Aches

Well, today is Thursday. I am happy that it is close to the weekend. The weather today is supposed to be in the fifty's. We had 2 inches of quickly melting snow yesterday. It melted as fast as it came.
I took Xavier to the Dr office yesterday. He has had this lingering upper respiratory thing going on. I thought he might have an ear infection, but just wasn't sure. He was such a goo happy baby. So yes, he did have an ear infection in left ear. With all of the other kids, you always knew when they have an ear infection. They would not sleep at night and would cry and cry. He didn't do that. I would just catch him occasionally rubbing his ear. So he is on an anti biotic for his ear.

And wouldn't you know it. I made him the appointment, and Syd woke up yesterday morning with her asthma flared up. She coughed all day long. They did listen to her in the clinic and said she wasn't wheezy. So home we went. I was up with Syd until about 11:30. I had exhausted every resource. So today I called the office and talked to our awesome nurse practitioner. She agreed to bringing Syd down for an outpatient stay in the croup tent. This always seems to help her in a short period of time. She also has to get a shot of Rocephin. So when I get home I will put up some pictures of her in her tent. Hopefully this will be a short 8 hours or so and we will be home in time for dinner tonight.

In the mean time, I am hoping this is the end of the illnesses for us, but for some reason I am not counting on it.

Odds and Ends

A very belated Happy Birthday goes out to my dad. He would have turned 54 on Feb 2nd. I wanted to post but was holding out for reasons I am still not mentioning.

Also Happy Birthday today to my brother in law, Brent.

Xavier wants to say a few things.jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj b gb yt b bnbbnb nb y 6 b

Who knows what that means, but it made him happy to help out. He is getting so big and growing so fast. He has had so much progress since I last posted. He is sitting unsupported now. He is crawling? Well more like scooting. He gets up on his hands and knees, but mainly he army crawls or pulls himself with his arms. He has said "mama" a couple times. He thinks he needs the laptop, my keyboard, the phone, the remote, his spoons, whatever else he can get his hands on. He is very much so mama's boy. He is always wanting my attention. He likes to blow zerbers. He thinks he has to try what is on my plate even if he has already eaten his food. On and on and on. He is just growing up.

He is getting over a terrible cold right now. I actually have an appointment for him to go to the Dr tomorrow. He has been running a low grade fever the last couple afternoons. He really doesn't act sick other than maybe sleeping a little more. But who wouldn't with the cold he has? I think he is just such a happy baby, that he wouldn't let on even if he didn't feel well. So we will see what happens tomorrow.

Syd has had a bad cold as well, and of course, that means her asthma was flared up. She is finally on the uphill side of things. She had the stomach flu last Sunday, but it was short lived. Otherwise, she is just Syd.

Dylan played his last basketball game on Saturday. The lost, but they were playing against 4th graders. Dylan seems to have a bit of a cold now also, but it isn't too bad.

Madison is looking forward to her big "10" birthday that is coming up. She is so excited to be turning 2 digits!!? LOL She had the stomach flu a while back and then Thursday she had a bought of diarrhea. Otherwise, she is just enjoying school.

As for Michael and I. Well we have been battling colds also. Michael had one a while back and seems to be having a hard time getting completely over the mucus. Mine has just come on and I wake in the morning with lots of mucus and sore throat, and headache. But by middle of the morning I am feeling lots better. Just having a hard time getting rid of it. I also had the joy of getting the diarrhea. But it is better now also. Hopefully, (I hate to even say this) we are all over it.

We took the kids to the bull riding in Manhattan the last Saturday in January. They really seemed to enjoy it. We have been trying to work around the house and finish up some things that we have never done yet. We are going to have some painting done and get the shelves put in all the closets. This will be really nice.

I have also starting making some quilts. I am designing each of the kids one for their beds. I am really excited about this.

We are planning a vacation this summer. Michael and I have been working on this some lately.
Mapping out the best way to take there and back to see some scenery only the way. We are headed out to Virginia and Washington DC in June. We are very much looking forward to this.

And on another note. We are Aunt and Uncle again. Nathan and Amy had a baby boy, Brody, today around noon (I think). They induced and did a planned c section. It was to occur around noon, and we got the info by 2:00, so sometime between noon and 2. Anyway he was definitely a BIG boy. He weighed 11 lbs, and was 23 inches long. That is all the info I have now, and that mom and babe are doing well. We hope to get healthy so that we can get down to meet him soon.

Oh and I am not sure if I mentioned this before or not, but we are really proud of both Madison and Dylan for making it into the all school spelling bees. There were 4 kids from each class that made it into the school spelling be. Way to go!!