The Big Haircut

The time has come to really give Katelynn a haircut. I had been saying that this summer her hair would just be too hot and heavy for her to have and that we were going to cut it short. My patience ran out on me earlier though and I cannot chase my 3 1/2 year old around the house to brush her hair, attempt to put it up and it's a nightmare at bath time when it's time to wash it, it continued to get snarls and her poor little sensitive head couldn't take it anymore. Saturday I made the decision and off we went on Sunday before grocery shopping and chopped it off. It is sooooo cute, I just love it. I really wasn't sure how it would look on her since I had never seen it any other way then long, but I love it and I think she does too. She made one comment that she thinks that she can run faster now with it short, too funny. She has been bouncy around for the last 2 days since she got it cut. I can't imagine the weight that it took off of her. We had them put a rubber band in it and just cut it straight across so that we could show Dan when we got home, he thinks that we need to keep it and I think we only need to pull out a locket of it to keep. I will post a couple of the pictures (of course I had forgotten my camera when we left to go to the salon) that we took, but I need to get her to stand still so I can take some better one's, they even put some cute layers in the back.

Back Before

Before

After (doesn't she look older)
Back after

Easter Family Pictures

I have been making sure each year since Katelynn was born that we are taking a family picture, nothing fancy, but it is fun to look each year and see how much changes in a year's time.

2009

2008

2007
2006

I think it's funny when you look at Dan throughout these pictures and he really hasn't changed, but I look completely different every year and of course Katelynn grows and grows.

Easter Pictures 2009

Coloring Easter Eggs

My Beautiful little girl.

Hoppy Easter!

Swing Set is almost Done

Swingset Time

It was time to put a swing set in the backyard for something to do after work and on the weekends. We have an awesome park a half a block away, but this way if Katelynn wants to run outside and play and we are busy or just want to relax it's right there and we can keep an eye on her. We went shopping to look at buying one and the prices for a wooden swing set are outrageous, so we copied the one from Lowe's and Dan made this, he's a pretty awesome guy to have around when you want something done!

Dan is not too happy to be cutting into his nice grass.

Our Little RSV Patient

Katelynn and Junior still did not seem to be feeling so great on Monday, but both just had a cough, so off to daycare they went and I went to work for a couple of hours (I have no paid leave left, so I had to get in some hours to cover our medical insurance) and called and made them both doctor's appointments for later that morning. I picked both kids up and turned around and drove back to Loveland and dished out another co-pay for each kiddo. Katelynn had the lasting affects still of that damn cold and had such a horrible dry cough that she just wasn't getting any sleep, which in turn meant, none of us were either. The doctor gave her some cough medicine for us to take home for her, but even as tricky as we tried to be in disguising it in a chocolate milkshake, some 7-up, anything she was smarter than us and the two times she did take some she threw up about 5 minutes later, so she was on her own to get over it. The doctor checked out Junior and he was even coughing in the room when she was in there and she said that he only had an ear infection and that the cold hadn't gone into his chest yet, so no RSV. That night I don't know that he was much better and I slept in the bedroom with him that night listening to him cough and choke and wheeze, the poor little guy, but the next morning even though I didn't think that I should send him to daycare off both kids went. I called and checked on him around 10am and the daycare said he was doing really good, well about an hour later she called and said that she thought he was really having a hard time breathing and his little chest was really going in and out, so I called to see when a doctor could call me back and they couldn't tell me when so I made an appointment for him and called Dan and said he needed to meet me in Loveland for this appointment (I was already expecting the worse I guess at this point). I picked up my little guy and when we got to the appointment (of course with another co-pay) they hooked him up to this little machine to see how much oxygen he was getting and then they determined that he was not getting enough and the cold had gone into his chest and they immediately sent us over to the ER across the street. Off we went and he they did some more tests at the ER and suctioned out his nose with a machine and immediately hooked him up to oxygen. They then gave him a nebulizer treatment and people were coming and going in and out of our room. Next they did a series of chest x-rays and then the doctor came to check him out. He determined that he also wanted an IV on him since he hadn't been eating much the night before and that day. The nurses were really great at the ER and they told us that with a little baby an IV can be really hard to get in, especially if they were dehydrated so if we wanted to we could wait outside. I decided at that point that it was a good time for me to use the restroom while they did this. When I came back the IV was in and they got it on the first shot. Next some other nurses came in to do a blood draw on him for some more testing, he took it like a champ. By this time he was probably already starting to feel quite a bit better and was deciding to get hungry, well, the wonderful parents that we are, we didn't have anything with us. Dan had accidentally forgotten the diaper bag on the table and I had just grabbed him from daycare and went to Loveland. We did get him some pedialite from the hospital and that sufficed him for the time being. Dan eventually had to go and pick up Katelynn from daycare and was able to swing by the house and pick up bottles and formula and some clothes for me in case we ended up spending the night. While Dan was gone the doctor came and told me the chest x-rays looked good and although he did have RSV we could take him home on oxygen if we wanted too. I told him that I wanted to talk to my husband about it when he got back. I think I pretty much had already decided that I wanted some eyes and ears on him for the night and wanted him admitted. Dan returned with our stuff and the nurses were so good with Katelynn. They brought her a stuffed bear, some crackers and string cheese and some juice. Dan and I talked and the doctor came back in and we talked with him and determined that we would be admitted, this ended up being the best option he thought as well since we lived 30 minutes from the hospital. We had one little episode that really scared me while we were in the ER. Dan had gone out to the car to get my suitcase and left Katelynn with me in the room. She decided at that time exactly that she had to go to the bathroom. Well, I was sitting in a rocking chair with Junior and he was hooked up to everything hear and there and there was no crib to put him in where I could take her. She opened the door and took off on me and ran down the hall. I freaked out and yelled at the front desk guy telling him that my daughter took off and I couldn't leave my son laying on the bed in the room. One of the administrative people did catch her and he reassured me that she wasn't going anywhere and they took her to the restroom and back to our room just as Dan was coming back in. This was probably one of the scariest incidents with Katelynn that I've had, I was stuck between chasing her and staying with him. Katelynn was getting pretty antsy in the room at this point and I told Dan to go ahead and take her home and we would be fine. I ordered some supper and around 7pm that night we finally made it to our room. Our nurse that night was wonderful and so nice, she went through everything with me and they came in all night and checked on him. In the morning Junior was doing much better and they were able to turn his oxygen down throughout the night to almost nothing. The pediatrician came in and checked on him the next morning and we tried to take him off the oxygen, but he still needed just that little bit. We hung out for a little bit, had some breakfast and waited to get discharged. They brought up an oxygen tank for me to take him home with and then later that day brought over a machine to hook up in the house for him. He was doing much better at home and me and him slept in the living room for 2 nights. He is quite the little trouper. He never grabbed at the thing in his nose or made a fuss about any of it. Friday morning we went back to the doctor to see if could come off the oxygen (another co-pay) and he passed with flying colors. We had to do a lot of suctioning out of his nose, but he was doing a lot better and not coughing and choking as much. Over this last weekend he made great strides of improvement and by Sunday night he was doing really well. Today is Monday again and even his nose has cleared up and he is our happy little camper once again. This was quite the experience for our family, especially me and Dan since Katelynn was never sick once her first year with us. I am glad it's over.

What a Week

Monday morning I was returning to work part-time, of course in mind I meant to talk to Dan and sit down and come up with a game plan for the mornings and getting both kids ready, it didn't happen and Sunday night after I put both kids to bed I mentally prepared for a morning from hell. Sunday night for sleeping got a little hectic around here, Dan fell asleep on the couch in the basement and Katelynn would not stay in her bed so I let her sleep with me (this never happens at my house) and she continued to kick me in the back or toss and turn all night and I got no sleep. I got up around 4:30am and fed Junior and went back to sleep for about 45 minutes and got up to shower and then we got the crew ready for transport. I was a little emotional that morning, but all was going pretty well, except Katelynn was starting to get a little cough.

Junior's first day of daycare.
Katelynn ready to take her brother to Amy's.

Katelynn, Amy, and Junior.

The first day at daycare went pretty well, Junior slept quite a bit and didn't stick to the 3 to 4 hour feeding schedule that I had him on, but sometimes I think that my expectations may be a little high for someone watching 5 kids, I know that I couldn't do it. After I picked up the kids, Katelynn continued to cough and that night we played musical beds at our house. I was so exhausted from not getting any sleep the night before. I started my night sleeping in the bed in Junior's room, Katelynn eventually was sleeping in my spot with Dan until every time she woke up and found me missing started to scream until I resumed my spot in our bed. She continued to cough and make so much noise that I would eventually make my way back up to Junior's room which wasn't much better, he makes a lot of noise in his sleep as well, I think he woke up every hour and then would start sucking his thumb to fall back to sleep and the mommy radar in me of course woke up each time he made any noise. Tuesday morning Katelynn looked like she had been hit by a bus and was running a fever so she stayed home with me and Junior, I wasn't working Tuesday anyway so no biggie. Wednesday was much of the same, with no sleep Tuesday night and Katelynn no better I went to work for a couple of hours in the afternoon and Dan stayed home with the kids. I also had my follow-up appointment with the doctor on Wednesday afternoon and my test results came back good, the nodule had filled up some more so for "fun" the doctor decided to stick me a couple more times and drain it again and this time when I left it hurt like hell for about a day. The doctor told me to have an ultrasound once a year to see what is going on and then anytime the nodule is becoming apparant I can go in and he will drain it for me, he said "it's only comsetic", well, at least good news on that end. Thursday Katelynn was still running a temp. and just didn't seem to be shaking this cold at all, so off to the doctor we went at 7:15 am and the doctor said there was nothing she could do, let the cold run it's course. How much have I spent in the last 2 months on medical bills, whew, with giving birth, my thyroid, and sickness, it's really drained my bank account. By this time Dan is now starting to not feel so terrific and Friday morning I had to go to work. Katelynn was doing a little better so off to daycare they both went and then I could start to feel the pressure behind my nose and face and I know that this is going to start hitting me as well. The most I was scared about was Junior and of course he started a little cough and now he is a little plugged up as well, I have been scouring the Internet reading about RSV and colds in infants and what to watch for, it's scary and again we are not getting much sleep. I am grateful that I was pumping before and saving the frozen breast milk for Juniors first couple weeks of daycare just to give him a little extra something for his immune system and now that plan was thrown out the window and we are pumping him full of it each day, there are 2 bags left and then he will need to fight this on his own. It's Easter weekend and I need to get out and get my Easter bunny stuff and a couple more things to make Easter dinner, we invited my cousin Adrian and his girlfriend to join us for the day and gave them a fair warning that we are all sick and come at your own risk.

2 Months Old - Junior Update!

How fast these 2 months have gone are unbelievable, Junior has been such a little joy and wonderful addition to our family. He is now 2 months old and 1 week. He has fallen into somewhat of a feeding schedule (probably because I forced it on him) and now we just need to see if he will be able to keep with it at daycare. He has been going to bed around 9:30 - 10pm and since we moved him into his own room and crib has been getting up around 4:30am to eat, hopefully soon we will be able to push him past this before it becomes a habit and get him to 6am! He really is a happy baby as long as he has a full tummy, he even does really well with tummy time and his head control for his age is amazing. I told Dan that I suspect he will be crawling sooner rather than later and Dan is betting on him walking and not crawling at all because he is such a squirmy little guy and wants to be on the move. Once again the exercise ball has been our life saver at night and if he is fussy we bounce on the ball and he enjoys it and just looks around the room. He has already started to talk and converse with us and it is the cutest thing. I am really trying to take the time to enjoy this baby stage with him and feel that I really am. In the last week or so he has really starting taking to his daddy and will just smile and coo at him for a half an hour if Daddy has the patience to sit there long enough.

Here are the stats from his 2 month appt.

Height: 23 Inches - 75%

Weight: 12 lbs. 11oz. - 90%

Head was also in the 75%

He is one big boy!

The many faces of Junior!

I'm Ready for My Close Up

Yesterday I did Katelynn's hair in 2 small side braids and then we changed her earrings, when I was finished she told me, "I'm ready for my close-up". Too Funny.

Dr. Appts. and More Dr. Appts.

After I had Katelynn I had a bunch of thyroid problems, so after having Dan. Jr. I figured that those same problems would eventually show themselves again and they have. I went to do my six week check up and passed with flying colors and was told that I could go ahead and resume all normal activities, but she did notice the nodule that is on my thyroid and asked that I go to my regular doctor and have it checked out. I went to my doctor and had some blood drawn and the results came back with hyperthyroidism which I expected because about a week after my appointment I started to get really shaky (or what they call "tremors") and felt a little jittery if I hadn't eaten every two hours. I also went in and had another ultrasound done on my thyroid so they could compare the nodule size to the one I had done back in 2005. Well, of course those results did not come back good either. The nodule had grown in size and there seemed to be another one hiding in the back of my thyroid now as well. So, off to the doctor I went again after getting back from our trip to Minnesota, this time to the specialist. I really did not want to go to this appointment and was trying to block it out of my mind until that day because they said they had to do a biopsy on the nodule. The biopsy is actually not what scared me, it was the fact that they were going to stick a needle in my throat - that did not sound to appealing to me, but I had no choice because I would have had one very upset mother had I not went to the the appointment. Junior and I headed to the doctor's office that morning and of course as we are sitting in the waiting room I am watching the clock tick by and crap, time for my little man to eat. I made a bottle and started to feed him and then they called my name and we went into our room and I finished feeding him while I chatted with the nurse and it worked out okay because he was done when the doctor came in. I talked to the doctor for a little while about the symptoms I had with Katelynn and now with Junior and being naive before and during the appointment didn't think that when they scheduled the half hour appointment that they would actually do the biopsy right there, well they did. As we were talking the doctor says that there is some fluid that he can drain out of the nodule and then the rest is hard and he should be able to take the biopsy from that and he tells me by draining the fluid out it should shrink it so it won't be as noticeable -joy for me I guess. Junior decides to start fussing a little (I'm thinking he wanted some more to eat, but that wasn't going to happen) so the doctor tells me that I can go ahead and hold him in my arms while he is sticking these needles in my throat - really I am thinking? So, I picked up my little guy, probably more for me to have someone to hold onto then him and went ahead and let the doctor do his thing. He started with spraying something on my neck that basically froze it and then stuck the needle right into my neck and into the nodule and then pulled out the fluid that was in the front, I could feel the needle going in and retracting the fluid, but it wasn't painful, just very strange feeling and knowing that it was my neck. After that the doctor was impressed with the stuff that came out and told me how cool it was and wanted to show it to me. I just looked briefly and said "yep, really cool" and turned away, I'm pretty sure he laughed at me at that point. Then it was again with the spray and another needle that he stuck in there twice and retracted something that he sprayed onto microscope lenses and that was it, we were done. The doctor did tell me that most of these biopsy's are benign and that he had no concerns after feeling mine and seeing the ultrasound. He said they would call me with the results and we left. I was clearly under the impression that I would not being seeing the doctor again and that I would get a call with the results and they would tell me over the phone that everything was good and that would be that, of course this is not the way things are happening. The doctors office called me this week and stated that my biopsy results are in and that I needed to make an appointment with the doctor to go over the results. I am now wondering, why didn't you just tell me over the phone that everything was good? One of my friends has suggested that they just want their $20 co-pay, I am sure that is it. So, next Wednesday afternoon I will go in and hear what my fate will be.

Flooding Driveway

The Grandkids

We had forgotten earlier at my grandparents house to take a picture of all the grand kids for my mom and dad so here were our attempts at the bowling alley to get them all situated together.

Dan Jr., Katelynn, Riley, and Landon