03/19/2010

Several weeks ago, Kara went to a birthday party, and in the goodie bag was a flower pot. It had coloring pages inside that kara could color. So I let her pick one to color, and then she got to buy some flower seeds to plant. She finally has sprouts, and she couldn't be more proud of them. She waters them every day, and can't wait til there are flowers.

Kiersten started throwing up on tuesday. She would take one sip of her drink, or one bite of food, and she would puke. I was worried that she might be having a hard time adjusting to 2% milk instead of whole, since the first couple of times were right after she'd had milk. But after I switched to pedialyte only, she still kept throwing up, so I guess she just got a stomach bug. She threw up all day wednesday as well, and also had TONS of runny, poopy diapers. The highest fever she ran was 99.1, so I didn't take her to the doctor. Thrusday she woke up more cheerful, and could eat fine, and didn't throw up at all. I was so glad to have her back to her normal, happy self. but around 4:30, Kara suddenly started throwing up. between then and about 8:00 when Ben got home, she threw up 5 times, and was dry heaving after there was nothing left in her stomach. She hasn't been running a fever, though. I feel so bad for her. Kiersten started saying her tummy hurt again, but only after Kara was sick, and she was acting fine, so I think she just missed the attention of being the sick one. Poor Kara has been sick ever since. She threw up after eating just one grape. I had Ben make her a little bed on the floor next to ours in case she had any problems during the night. (and also because I'd changed her sheets twice already, and didn't want her throwing up on her bed again.) I only had to get up with her once during the night, but when I woke up, Ben had given her a cup of milk before he left. So I found her sleeping there, holding the cup, with a plastic bowl full of milk-vomit. He must have given her the bowl because he knew the milk would make her sick, but I can't figure out why he even gave her the milk! as soon as she woke up, she wanted more milk, but I made her drink pedialyte instead, and she held that down fine. When I called her teacher to say she wouldn't be in school today, she got very upset, and started claiming to be better. It was kinda sad, but she ended up napping so much today, that I don't think she really noticed missing school. Hopefully, this will just be a 2 day thing for her as well, and she will start feeling better this weekend. All she has wanted to eat today is bread and butter.

I put her hair up like that because she kept getting vomit in her hair, yuck! She has been really good today. She hasn't fought with Kiersten once. She just wants to watch cartoons and nap. but I did insist on giving her a bath, which she wasn't too happy about. Although Kiersten is feeling better, she is a little disappointed that Kara doesn't want to play with her. So she has been hanging out by Kara a lot today.

stinky pink eye

Poor Kara has pink eye. She just woke up this morning with one eye looking really red and swollen. She really wanted to go to school because she was the class helper today. She has been so excited. So I cleaned out all the crusties in her eye, but within minutes it was full of goop and pus again. So I called the nurse line at her pediatrician's office, who said it sounded like pink eye and to bring her in. So I did, and she was very upset about not going to school. She kept hoping that the Dr. would say she was okay to go, but instead she said it is definitely pink eye. We got prescription eye drops for it, and she will only be contagious for 24 hours. Those eye drops sure were a pain to get in her eye though. I'm hoping it'll go better tonight and this weekend with Ben there to hold her down for me.

she was so sad until I told her she will get to go back to school again next week. Then she started to cheer up.

new niece???

I got a text from my sister Jackie last night saying that she was in labor and on her way to the hospital. So exciting. I just called my mom, but she hasn't heard any news yet. Hopefully I will hear sometime today that little Kaymee has been born!
Kiersten update: monday, in the car Kiersten said "mommy! I go potty" I was a little surprised, but just said, "okay, I'll hurry to get home". I totally expected that she would just wet her diaper. We were home about 10 minutes later and I went in to use the bathroom. She followed me in and said it again, while trying to pull her pants off. I helped her get them off, as well as her diaper, and put her on the potty chair. Imagine my surprise when she actually did pee in the potty! She was so happy and proud of herself. I gave her a sticker, which she showed Kara as soon as she was home from school. We haven't gotten her to do it again, but I think it's a good sign that she is getting ready to be potty trained.
We have all been sick for the last week and a half. Kiersten has started coughing just this week. Last night, she crawled into bed with us. Ben was holding her, and she started puking everywhere. Ben started screaming that he was covered in puke, so it was left to me to run and get paper towels. I started cleaning some of the puke off him, and Kiersten just kept vomiting the whole time. As soon as most of it was off Ben's chest, he ran into the shower. Kiersten was sitting in a big puddle of vomit and crying while I tried to get her cleaned off. I rushed her into the shower with Ben and started soaking up as much of the pool as I could. The smell got the better of me, and I ran to the bathroom to throw up. I didn't make it to the toilet bowl in time and it got all over the floor, and walls. As I was trying to clean it up, and still puking, Ben realized I was throwing up, so he started puking in the shower. Just not a very fun night at all. Sweet Kara slept through the whole ordeal, lucky girl!

so sick and so silly

We have been sick around here for the last few weeks, so we haven't been out doing too much. Kiersten and I have both been sick twice now, and I think Ben is starting to get his second round of it. The only one who has stayed healthy is Kara. I think that's strange because Kiersten got a flu shot, but Kara didn't get one because her pediatricians office ran out before I could get her in. She did puke in the bathtub yesterday, but that was not because of being sick. she was just grossed out by Kiersten licking some snot that was running out of her nose. She didn't get much of it before I was right there with a kleenex, but it was enough for Kara to blow chunks. Then after I had them out of the puke water and cleaned up, she brought it up again, and the thought made her puke a little more, at least in the toilet that time. She was fine the rest of the day, and still has no runny nose or cough of her own thankfully. I guess she just has a low tolerance for yucky stuff.
Here's a yucky-nose picture of my poor little Kiersten. at least little kids can still have fun and be happy when they're sick.

Kara making funny faces this morning before school.

this is one of her favorite things to do. She really thinks she is so hilarious.

also, I think she just likes getting her picture taken and will come up with any reason to be photographed.

and here she is looking "lovely" (the word she used as she made this pose)

9/22/09

we had a really good weekend. On saturday we took the girls mini golfing at a course near our house. It was really fun for Kara, but Kiersten didn't like it as much. Kara won the game and even got a hole in one. Afterward, we went and bought a new bed for Kiersten. It will be here thursday. I think she will like that a lot better than the toddler bed. Then we went to lunch at our favorite mexican restaurant, La Palma. It was tasty. Ben ran into game stop before we left to get a new DS game that he wanted, but I haven't had a chance to get for him yet. The girls took naps when we got home, and since Ben was busy playing his game, I decided to read. There is a book I started before Kiersten was born called, A Feast in Exile. The beginning was a little boring, so I hadn't ever gotten past the second chapter. I ended up reading it the rest of the night and a good part of the next day until I finally finished it. It was a pretty good book, but I didn't love the ending. Anyway, if you're a fan of late 1300's historical fiction, you'll proably like it. The rest of the day was pretty laid back. We watched lots of football, and just stayed home with the girls. Ben even made lunch for them while I was reading. Monday was a typical day. I have switched Kara from going to school on tuesday, wednesday, friday, to going monday, wednesday, friday. I think it will be better, and this way she wont be missing out on all the monday field trips. Kiersten has figured out that when we take Kara to school, that means she will be gone all day. So she gets a little upset when we are leaving. hopefully she'll get used to it though. At the gym, there were 2 other little kids who usually have an older sibling with them, who is in school now instead. So the babysitter there was making sure to help them all adjust. She's really good with Kiersten. I got all of the laundry finished yesterday, while Kara was at school, and later while Ben was watching football. so today I just have to worry about grocery shopping. Ben had an appt. today to follow up on his throat issue. the doctor had thought this might be happening as a result of an allergy, so he was referred to another doctor for allergy testing. They tested him for 120 allergies! I guess they don't usually do that many, but since it's an internal reaction, it was hard for them to be able to narrow down the culprits. After all of the pokes in his arm, their computer went down, so he is going to have to go back for another appt. Some of the things they were able to determine he is most allergic to before he left are, spinach, (surprising, because we eat it a lot) sagebrush, (he said he had a huge welt on his arm from it) dogs a little, cats even more, and horses even more. So that explains a lot of his problems when we visit Idaho. He already knew he was allergic to something there, but now he has a better idea what to avoid. The dr. gave him an inhaler to use if he is going to be around those animals. They said he has asthma, but it is brought on by his allergies, so he doesn't need to treat the asthma, just the allergies. We will know more when he goes back in if there are other things he should avoid. Also, they may start giving him allergy shots, although who knows when he would have time to go in for them. He has been missing so much work this month, it's just gonna be hard to catch up. He will be staying late tonight, and probably lots of other nights in the future. He goes in the first week of october to get his throat enlarged, and they also might do a biopsy at that time. So that is what we are all up to lately. I have been terrible about taking pictures this week, so I don't have any new ones to share of the girls.

8/27/09

Our plan this past weekend was to just hang out and be lazy, but it didn't turn out that way. On saturday we decided to change our back patio. So I helped Ben lift all the slabs of rock and stacked them up on the porch. Then he started digging because we wanted the patio surface to sit lower so it would be even with the cement from the porch. I cut some sheets of plastic to fit under the new patio area. then I went in to get lunch for the girls while Ben stayed outside working. So while I was feeding the girls lunch and recovering from all my heavy lifting, (I didn't remember those stones being so heavy when we originally put them down) Ben got the whole thing finished and moved. I was glad I didn't have to help anymore because of the lifting, and also the bugs. It seemed like there were 30 spiders under every slab, so I was pretty freaked out. We also uncovered earwigs and centipedes, which I have never seen in our backyard before. I guess you just have to know where to look for them. After we all got showered, Ben asked Kara if she wanted to go to the toy store to get a new bike. We have been noticing lately how small her current bike is. Kiersten is about ready to be able to ride it, so we wanted to get Kara a bigger one. So we all headed to toys r us to pick one out. Here she is trying it out in the kitchen! On the way home from the toy store, Ben wanted to stop for KFC, then we headed home. just as we sat down to eat, Ben got a call from our friends, the Bipperts. They were in town and said they would stop by. I was glad to see them, but a little horrified at the state of our house. We had been working in the yard, with the girls shut inside to play with whatever, and make plenty of messes, then we left for toys r us, and I hadn't picked up a single thing. So we did a quick straighten, and made Kara clean up the playroom so she could play in there with Evan. So they got to come to a messed up house, but they didn't seem to mind. It was fun to see them, and it turned out okay afterall. After they left, Ben put together Kara's bike for her, but I thought it was getting too dark for her to try it outside. That's why she had to ride it around the kitchen. I'm just glad we have enough room for that type of sillyness.
Sunday we decided to go to the zoo. It was a pretty nice day, and not too hot. I am really wanting to get up to the woodland park zoo again. Kiersten's never been there, and they have african animals, which pdza doesn't. But being closer, and not having to pay, always ends up taking us to pdza instead. Oh well, we always have fun. Just a couple pictures from there.

Ever since changing the back patio, Ben started feeling really itchy and stiff. It was alarming, because a few years back he had a similar episode that just kept getting worse until he couldn't bend certain joints at all, and had to have fluid removed from his knee. None of the doctors he saw could figure out the cause, but some theories were a bad form of strep, or arthritis. He was worried that it might be the same thing again, but the soreness and stiffness started getting better, so we thought it was just from working in the yard. But the itching kept getting worse. He called me from work on monday to say he wanted to cut his arm open with a knife to scratch the bone, so that was a bit disturbing, and I thought maybe he should go to the doctor. But he remembered how they couldn't do anything for him the last time, or tell us what the cause was, so he didn't want to. He started getting little red spots, but it didn't look too bad. Tuesday after work, he was covered in a rash, and we decided he better go to the dr. in the morning. When he woke up yesterday, the rash was even worse. the splotches were about 3 inches wide, and all over his back and arms. The doctor said it looked like it could be an allergy, and gave him a prescription. He said if it doesn't go away in a few days, it might be something worse, so to go back. So far, the pills have not helped or made any difference, but we'll give it a few days to see what happens. He told me he wanted to take an oatmeal and chocolate milk bath, gross!

These pictures are from tuesday before we went grocery shopping, the girls were hanging out on the stairs while I was making lists. Kiersten had her first pigtails that day. It was really hard to get them to be pigtails because all of the long hair is right on top, and it was hard to get the side hairs into the elastic. So she will probably be sticking with pony tails for a while. Kara asked me why I did Kiersten's hair like an alien. It's hard to see in this picture, because they blend in with the stairs.

here's a closer picture of my little devilish girl with her piggy tails. Yesterday after the gym, the girls and I came home and made sandwiches to take to the park. Kara was really excited to take her new bike. I had to stop at the post office, and then we got to the park. I always push the lock button as soon as I have Kiersten's door open, so I can drop the keys in my purse and have one less thing to hold in my hands. For some reason, I was having a hard time getting Kiersten out, so I set my purse down on the floor. I didn't remember to pick it back up when I slammed the door shut! I realized as I heard the door lock, what I had done. I was so angry with myself, but I was glad that I had thrown my phone in the diaper bag. Ben had mentioned that he might leave work early, because he was still feeling miserable, and he'd already missed most of the morning anyway, while he was at the doctor. So I called him to see if he had left. He hadn't, but he said he would just make a few phone calls, and then come over. I wasn't too worried, because we had just gotten there, and I knew the kids would want to play for a while. Also, I had the sandwiches with me in the diaper bag, so that was good. Kiersten slept for the first 40 minutes while Kara played. Then she woke up and they ate their lunch. I talked to Jackie for quite a while, and that helped the time pass quickly. After we had been there for an hour and a half, I called Ben to see where he was. He said he was still at work! I got so mad because I thought a few phone calls would mean half an hour at most. I knew it would take him a minimum of an hour to get home and then come back up to the park. So he said he would come straight to the park and I could take his car to go home and get the spare key for my car. I said he had to leave work immediately. I was worried that the girls were getting tired, and I knew Kiersten was thirsty, because she was trying to steal every kid's drink. Luckily, they both did okay until he got there. We had said I would take Kiersten with me, since he does have a carseat for her in his car, but she seemed to be having fun playing, so I said just to keep both girls at the park, and I would hurry home for the key. I guess Kiersten got upset that I was leaving, so Ben sent her to catch up to me. I heard him yell that she was coming, and as I turned around, I saw her running happily toward me. I headed back to get her, but not in time to stop her from tripping on the sidewalk, and faceplanting into the pavement. She had a bloody nose and a scratched up face. poor baby! She looks horrible!

but at least she can still be happy, even all banged up, the poor thing! We had dinner, and then watched Pineapple Express. It was an okay movie, not really my thing, but Ben liked it. Today I get to stay home and catch up on housework, since I was at the park all day yesterday, and didn't get anything done around here.

poor baby!

Bad news everyone. Ben is on his way to the hospital again for his throat. He called to tell me that he got food stuck in his throat at lunch. So we are waiting for him to call us to come pick him up. It always seems to happen on his first bite of meat. (which he said was cut really small) but then he ends up missing his meal, and not being able to swallow anything for several hours. He's been at the hospital for at least an hour now. I was really hoping they would be able to just give him muscle relaxers to get it down, but I think he'd have called by now if that were the case. so he is probably going to have to have it removed surgically. I guess we should have learned our lesson on christmas and gotten his throat enlarged again. I'm sure he'll definitely be needing the procedure now. Hopefully we he can be okay to wait until we come back from Idaho. He was telling me how he really needed to work late every day this week, so I don't think he can miss any more work. especially after missing half a day today. :(

I should be folding laundry...

I'm so close to being done folding the laundry today. All I have left is towels and sheets, easy enough. So I should be doing that, but instead I am posting pictures of the girls here so Ben can see them at work. hehehe. Oh well. Kara got this puzzle for her birthday. It's her first one that she actually has to fit the pieces together instead of just sticking the cow (or whatever) in the spot that is shaped like a cow. (or whatever) She figured it out pretty quickly though.

She got this cute dress for her birthday too. Ben said it was a dress, but I was insisting that it was just a longer shirt. He was right, it was a dress, but I put her in leggings with it so I could be halfway right. It's pretty cute either way.

This is what Kara looks like while sleeping. She had her three year check up today, and she has been "sick" the rest of the day. This was kind of convenient at nap time, because she got right up in her bed and pathetically asked to be wrapped up in her blanket to take a nap. Kiersten was less cooperative, but had fun playing with all of Kara's unguarded toys. Ben should be happy, since the last two days, she has taken her nap really late in the afternoon, and has not been wanting to go to bed at night. My fault, I know, but sometimes the day just gets away from ya.

This is what Kiersten looks like when she is laughing about getting into Kara's stuff.

Here they are reunited and getting along again. Kara was a little upset to wake up and find Kiersten eating goldfish crackers without her. but once she had some of her own and a trip to the potty, all was forgiven. Another fun development: Kiersten started imitating Kara's fake little cough she's been suffering from all afternoon.

Yay!

The pediatrician just called me and said that there was not sugar in Kara's sample. So for now they are not going to do the blood test for diabetes. Most likely she does not have it, but they will follow up at her 3 year checkup to decide if they will do further testing at that point, but it's looking good that they wont need to. There was some blood and protein in her urine, but they said the culture came back fine, so she luckily doesn't have a uti. so since she is feeling better, we are going to assume it was just the flu, unless she starts having problems again. All of this does, however, make me hesitant to take her in to the doctor's office when she's sick, since it seems like they are always scaring me with things that could be wrong with her. I know they're erring on the side of caution due to her past issues, but it is STRESSFUL.

Have you ever hoped your kid had the flu?

On Sunday night, Kara started throwing up right before bed. I got it all cleaned up in the bathroom and her bedroom, and Ben took her in to sleep by him on the guest bed. I gave her some pedialyte, and she immediately threw that up too. She kept crying and begging for a drink, but she was throwing up even a little sip of water. I got the sheets changed on the guest bed, and we finally got both girls to sleep. as soon as I fell asleep, Ben came and woke me up saying that she was throwing up again. This continued about every hour until 2 am. Ben did not wake up that time, I just heard her in the bathroom crying. So I went in there, and she had been throwing up more. So I finally brought her in to sleep by me. She kept it up until about 4:30 and finally fell asleep. After Ben left for work in the morning, I was up with Kiersten, and Kara got a few hours sleep. I called the pediatrician's office, and they said they could get her in by 1:30. then they called me back and pushed it back to 2:00 because of lots of walk-ins. then they called AGAIN to change me to 4:00. Kara was still not holding anything down, so I didn't want to wait that long. I called back to see how long I would wait if I just took her to the urgent care clinic. (same office, same doctors, just different rooms reserved for urgent care) she told me they only had one patient in the urgent care right then, so to come now. I got both girls ready and went straight there, only to be told we had to wait an hour. So we waited and waited and everyone was getting called back but us. I kept asking how much longer, and they kept saying they didn't know and to go sit back down. They kept calling for Karla Miller and there was no one there responding. I asked if they meant Karalee Miller, and the nurse angrily told me no. Finally, I had been waiting over 2 hours, and I demanded the receptionist tell me how many people were still ahead of us. she went to check and said that we had no chart because the girl who checked us in typed in Karla Miller instead! They had all been present when I had asked if they didn't mean Karalee, and I am ashamed to admit I threw a tiny fit at that point. I even implied that the girl who checked us in was stupid. So now I feel badly about that, but I was really frustrated. Kiersten was hungry and bored, and Kara was sick. By the time we finally got called back, she was melting down and would not cooperate with the nurses or the doctor. But I let them deal with it because it seemed like their own fault! she didn't have any flu symptoms other than vomiting, and no temp. she tested negative for strep, so the doctor was a bit perplexed. she was dehydrated and constipated, but he told me not to increase her miralax because if it does turn out she has the flu, she will get painful diahrea. He thinks she might have a bladder infection, which is uncommon for her age, but he said her symptoms are pointing to that. He is the same Dr. that dealt with her rectal prolapse last year, and had her tested for CF, so he knows her history pretty well. given that she's been on the miralax and a high fiber diet for a year, and still has problems, he wants to test her for childhood diabetes. there were other reasons, but he did say it is not too likely, but a possibility we need to rule out. She was crying and begging to go home by that point, and we couldn't get her to pee in the cup. So the Dr. finally sent us home with a kit to collect her pee and bring it back the next day. So all last night and today I tried to get her to do it. This was not easy, because she hasn't wanted to use the potty for the past few days. she cries and says she can't or doesn't want to. I eventually got her to do it aroud noon today. So we rushed it over to the pediatrician's office (they wanted it as fresh as possible). I thought I would just be dropping it off, but they had me wait there for 45 minutes just to have the nurse come out and tell me that they will be sending it to the lab and call me when they get the results. a few days for the bladder infection results, and about a week on the prelim. diabetes test. so now we just get to wait. I am really hoping that it is just the flu and this was all a waste of time, but I am glad that he is really trying to figure out what's causing her problems, even if I don't like thinking about all the possibilities. she is feeling better today, and no more puking. the only issue, is she is still hesitant to go potty in the toilet. I really think (and hope) that it's just her defiant personality and not a serious medical condition.