Will's Ears

So, I took Will to the pediatrician and he said his ears look great. He has no fluid and no pink or red in his ears. Yeah!! If Will can make it thru the next 5 days or so we should hopefully be home free for the ear infection season!

A crazy update...

Wow, how crazy life has been! We are going thru a lot of changes in our lives and are looking forward to the adventures that lay ahead. Brian left this morning for a conference in Chicago. He will be back Thursday night. Friday morning he leaves for another conference, this time he is only going to Jeff City and will be back early Saturday evening.

We had Will's ears checked last night. His left ear is clear, yeah! Unfortunately his right ear is still pink. The doctor did not prescribe any antibiotics, he wanted us to check in with Will's pediatrician first. Though Dr. H said that he wouldn't be surprised if his right ear had an infection again in 2-3 days, ugh!! So, this morning I called Dr. Burgert's (our pediatrician) office to let them know. I had to go through the whole story of the ear infections and burst ear drums, I knew I put it all on the calendar for a reason! The nurse told me she was going to pull Will's chart, talk to Dr. Burgert and give me a call back. I am anticipating a trip to KC for us this week. If we do it will be a quick and crazy trip as I am the taxi driver for everything this week for the girls and it is not a light week. Oh well, it is part of motherhood and I love to watch my girls be involved in things, so they are social, disciplined, learn, and most importantly have fun!

I will keep you posted as to what I find out with his ears, but the understanding I have from Dr. Burgert, Dr. H and a few nurses is that Will is a candidate for tubes. Hopefully I will know more within the next couple of days because I am getting worn out with all these ear infections!

Here are the stats for Will's ears:

Feb. 8 - Ear infection #1, right ear only
Feb. 12 - Finish first antibiotic (5 day treatment)
Feb. 14 - Both ear drums burst
Feb. 15 - start antibiotic ear drops
Feb. 22 - end antibiotics
Feb. 23 - 4 month check-up, ears given a clean bill
Feb. 27 - ear infection in both ears, start Augmentin
March 8 - finish the augmentin, now has a rash, start benadryl
March 11 - Rash is gone, talk to Dr. Burgert's nurse, Will is probably allergic to Augmentin (further talks lead to allergic to penicillin)
March 12 - ear infection in both ears, start Bactrim
March 22 - done with Bactrim and had his ears checked; left ear looks great, right ear is still pink
March 23 - Talked with nurse at Dr. Burgert's office, waiting to hear from Dr. Burgert

As you can see Will has been on some type of antibiotic for around 32 days of the last 43! I am not liking this at all. Hopefully we will get something figured out so my little guy can get better. He was sleeping thru the night until the ear infections started, now he is up 1-2 times a night. I know I should not complain about this since I have friends who are up more than that during the night, but it is hard to regress from sleeping thru the night!

Please say a prayer for Will to get those little ears all healed up. Also, a prayer for Benjamin and Isaac that they both get well and stay healthy!

Love,
Becca

Friday, March 5th - "Fun Day"

Julianne was off from school on Friday, March 5th for a teacher inservice.  I decided I wanted to make it a fun day for the girls.  I did this for a few reasons.  First, I wanted the day to pass by without fighting.  Second, I wanted to have fun with the girls doing some special things that we don't get to do very often.

We started off fun day with a great breakfast.  We had pancakes.  I made the girls each a special pancake - the first letter of their first name.  They both loved it ( I have included a video of Julianne's reaction at the bottom).  I also gave them strawberries as they both really like them. 

After breakfast we went to the YMCA and played in the playpark with some friends.  I didn't take any pictures there...not real sure why.

After the playpark we headed to the Country Club for lunch.  I picked the club for 2 reasons.  I new it would not be real busy and Brian had a Rotary meeting so he would be able to surprise the girls and say hi.  We had a great lunch.

The girls did a little coloring while they waited for their lunch to come.  Will slept thru the playpark and lunch.

After eating lunch I game the girls some quarters and they played a golf video game that the Club currently has.

After lunch we headed to Dairy Queen for dessert.  On the way to DQ we told each other jokes.  It was fun to just laugh with the girls!!

Will hanging out at home during our fun day.

After our dessert from DQ the girls decided it was time to dance!  Here are a few pictures of them dancing.

This is the video of Julianne reacting to the pancakes...I love all the joy they bring to me!!!

March 4th

Here is a picture of Will having some floor time.  He is so close to rolling over, but seems to care less about being able to do it.  If he wants to get somewhere he lays on his back and pushes himself with his legs.  He can even turn himself in a circle to get to where he wants.  I have found him 10 feet off of his blanket!  Needless to say, he is quite the little mover this way.

Smiles that melt my heart!

Katelyn and Julianne have been into "cooking" lately.  I usually can't get a picture of them with there dishes, but I happened to have the camera right beside me on this day.

Will smiles alot, but he also has a great set of lungs!!

February 27th - Elton John and Billy Joel concert

Last fall Brian and I purchased tickets to the concert Face to Face: Billy Joel and Elton John.  It was originally supposed to be in December, but was rescheduled for February 27th.  My parents made the trip to Chillicothe to babysit the kiddos.  I am so thankful they could make it so we could go to the concert.  We headed down to KC in the afternoon and enjoyed a quiet and uninterrupted (unheard of at home with 3 kids around) dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  Here are some of the pictures from the concert.  You can't see alot of detail in the pictures, but I loved the different colors.  The concert was awesome.  I thought Billy Joel was awesome and Elton John was great.  Together they were phenomenal!!

Pre-concert

The pianos came out of the stage floor

Billy Joel performing.  He played the piano and then a few songs on his guitar.

Elton John is at the piano with his back to us.  Billy Joel is on the other piano.  Billy Joel's piano spun around.

A picture of Billy Joel on one of the large screens they had.

I DEFY YOU EAR INFECTIONS!!

(I am following in a friends footsteps and am using her wording.)

Here we go again...Will has an infection in both ears!!!!!  He is now on Bactrim because of his reaction on Augmentin.  Ugh!!

Let's hope this works.  I will call the pediatrician on Monday to discuss any options we may have.  I don't like the fact that Will has been on antibiotics for around 25 of the last 34 days or something like that.

Nofun, no fun. 

February 26-28

Grammy and Julianne having a conversation, they look so serious!

Katelyn and Papa.  I think Katelyn was swiping Papa's donut!

Storytime with Julianne and Katelyn.  Brian, Grammy, and Papa decided to rest!

Will having some tummy time.  He decided it would be better to just lay on his tummy and suck his thumb.

Mommy and her girls

Daddy and his girls

Katelyn being silly.  As Katelyn would say, "Silly Kakelyn".

Oh the joy my family brings to my life!  They keep me on my toes, bring a smile to my face when I am down, and make me laugh when I need uplifting.  Life with them is so much fun, I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Katelyn and Will - February 25th

So, Katelyn is taking fewer naps these days, but still really needs them.  If she won't lay down for a nap she has to have quiet time in her room.  I would lay down with her, but her nap time is usually when Will wants to eat.  Some days she goes to sleep on her own quickly and other days she fights it.  On this particular day she would not nap in her room.  So, after battling with her for about an hour I let her come out in the family room with me.  I was doing some stuff around the house and came back into the family room to find her laying on the floor asleep.  It was precious!

The bouncy seat we had wore out after both the girls and some friends of ours little guy used it.  We loved that bouncy seat, but they do not make it any more.  I found this one and fell in love with it.  It is for infants and toddlers.  It rocks and vibrates.  Needless to say Will loves it too.  In fact, he can rock it himself.  The two pictures below are when he is rocking it.  I am trying to get the vido loaded also.  I now have to strap him in because he slides himself right out of it.

February 22 - Snow Day, No School

Well, February 22nd was another snow day!  While I love the snow, I am not liking all the snow days.  The best thing we can do is make the most of them and have fun while we are at it.

This snow day happened to be the first day of swim lessons for both the girls.  This was Katelyn's first time at swim lessons.  She really liked them and is quite the fish.  I am going to have my hands full this summer at the pool.  I am just hoping it is a warmer summer than last so we can enjoy the pool more!

Katelyn playing the Leapster while Julianne had swim lessons.

Beading and enjoying the warmth of the house (yes that is a summer dress).

Will loving every minute in his bumbo!

He dressed appropriately for the day, "Mr. Ice Man".

Julianne and her roses she got for doing a great job at her dance recital!

Another day and another...well, who knows!

So, on Monday afternoon after Julianne and Katelyn's swim lessons I noticed a bit of a rash on Will's tummy.  I didn't think much of it, as it was quite warm and humid in the pool area and when I took him out of his carseat he was sweating.  I chalked the rash up to that.  Monday night when I got him ready for bed it seemed to be gone.

On to Tuesday afternoon...

I was nursing Will and after all his wiggles his shirt exposed his tummy.  What do I see?  The rash!  Argh.  So I inspect him some more and it is on his belly, his sides, and his chest.  Alright, now what is causing this rash.  After I got done nursing him, I inspect him all over.  Nothing on his legs, butt, or arms.  Now I look at his neck and face and there it is.  It is on his neck, up the sides of his neck, behind his ears, and around his hairline.  I am not freaking out, but am very frustrated.  What to do?  I call Brian to get his opinion...no luck, he is in a meeting downstairs.  I call my Mom, no answer.  Alright, I will call the Peditrician. I call and leave a message, now I must wait for the call back.  Wait, I am going to call the pharmacy and talk to Scott or Mary (what wonderful friends and pharmacists!) and ask them about the side effects and reactions to augmentin.  Will just finished it for his most recent ear infection.  A rash could be a sign of an allergic reaction.  Scott says that benadryl can probably help.  While I am on the phone with him, the pediatrician's office calls.  I pick up that call.  I talk to the nurse, apologize for calling and she tells me it is okay that I am calling.  I explain to her that I have two other kids, ages almost 6 and 3 years old.  Between the 2 of them we have had 4 sick visits!  I do feel very lucky about this.  However with Will I have had that many in the past month and feel that I keep over-reacting.  She assures me I am not.  I tell her what is going on.  I give her the history for the past month:

February 8: Will's first ear infection, right ear
February 14: both ear drums burst
February 27: ear infection, right ear

I let her know that he just finished the augmentin.  She then tells me it could be an allergic reaction to the augmentin or it could be a virus.  GO AWAY SICKNESS!  She then says to give him benadryl.  The benadryl will clear up the rash if it is one, but not the other.  I can't remember which way it goes.  The nurse said if the benadryl doesn't clear it up in 3 or 4 days to call back.  I tell her thanks and hang-up.

Now I call Scott back and tell him what the nurse said.  He says he will pull a bottle of benadryl off the shelf, put in a plug, get a medicine measurer and have it waiting for me.  I sure do appreciate the great service I get from Scott, Mary, and the rest of the staff at Hometown Pharmacy!

So, 45 minutes late I have things worked out for Will.  It is now 4:30, crap Julianne isn't ready for dance, hasn't eaten and we have to leave in 15 minutes.  Oh yeah, I need to nurse Will before I leave.  I know we can do this, it will just take a lot of encouraging Julianne to keep her moving.

We did it!  We made it out of the house at 4:50...plenty of time to get her to dance.  I drop her off at dance, walk fast to the pharmacy (luckily it is only a half block away), and then I need to head to a board meeting.  I get to my meeting a few minutes late, but at least I made it!  Brian calls about 6:25 to let me know that I need to head home right after picking Julianne up because Will is awake.  I tell Brian to give Will a bath, that will buy some time.

Alright, my meeting is over.  I go to the car and drive back to the dance studio to get Julianne.  I get Julianne and head back to the car.  I try to start the car, but it won't start...you have got to be kidding me.  I try again...nothing.  I open the hood...had this problem last summer and it was a simple fix.  Nope, that is not the anwer.  CRAP!  I call Brian...he says he will call our "neighborhood mechanic" to come and help.  Great, I will wait.  Mike shows up to rescue the damsel in distress.  Mika is with too for the rescue, she thinks it is awesome.  Mike jumps my car and it is running.  YEAH!!  I thank Mike multiple times and Julianne and I are on our way home. 

We get home and all is fine with the world.  I put things away, check Julianne's dance bag and crap, one tap shoe is missing...you have got to be kidding me.  Oh well, another day I will go check the lost and found at the dance studio.  For tonight, I am done and ready for bed.

What a day it was....let's hope that Wedensday is uneventful!!

February 21 - Playing in the Snow

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Looking up Grandview and looking down Grandview

Brian preparing to go outside to shovel and use the snowblower.  Isn't he handsome?!?!

Walking in the path he shoveled so the bottom layer wouldn't become ice.

The girls all bundled up to play in the snow.

The grill buried under snow, good thing we had no plans to grill dinner this night!

Katelyn walking up the front steps.

Katelyn loves, "Making footprints".

Julianne digging in the snow.

Katelyn shoveling...she was content shoveling, she did not want to step out onto the snow-covered yard.

Julianne trying to sled.  It didn't work too well.  I tried to help her, but the snow was quite deep and we couldn't get a good path going before it got dark out.

Julianne hauling the sled back up the hill. 

My little snow angel!