In This Moment

Maas Molars - Check!

2012-02-13T09:53:00.001-06:00

Hayden's 2 year molars are all in. Not sure when that 4th one broke through, but they are all there. None for the other 2 yet.

Poor boy. RSV. Croup. Pink eye. Croup-again. Ear infection. AND 2 year molars!

I think Logan & Olivia are pretty much better. A random cough here or there, but Dr. Harrison said the "recovery" period for RSV is 4-6 MONTHS & they might have sporadic coughing or wheezing events related to RSV for THAT LONG! They just need to start eating like normal. However the kiddos this morning for breakfast ate an entire BOX of instant oatmeal packets. So maybe we are going to be over this sickness induced eating hiatus once. And hopefully skinny Mr. Logan gains himself some weight back quickly!! {If only he ate things besides toast, oatmeal & fruit}

Hayden is pretty good too. He still has a coughing fit here or there. And his nose still runs on & off. He is a little cranky on & off, & it makes me hope his ear is healing up nice?! But he seems to be on the fast track to healthy too.

I'm probably the worst off yet. Cough wise anyways. It has finally let up enough that I can sleep & not cough all night anymore. My sinuses are so plugged I haven't been able to taste anything in days. But I'm getting there too.

Plan is to rest yet this week & head back to work next Monday. Best news is based on my work schedule & with help on just one day, the kids won't have to go back to daycare until March 1! Hopefully spring is on the bubble & all these sickness germs can be gone by then!

Something fun!

2012-02-10T14:50:00.000-06:00

In the spirit of blogging something other than "woe is me's" of sickness & the Livi potty training diaries.... a few random videos for your viewing pleasure.

"Shoot hoop!" & Livi's newest animal sound ;)

Logan's newest pasttime.

Pre-sickness Dance Party USA!

If you listen closely, you'll see Livi knows almost all the words to this song. But its pretty clear she doesn't understand them!!! {This was right before Hayden coughing fit melt down. Livi & Logan were able to do it though without having a coughing fit!}

PT rockstar!

2012-02-10T10:52:00.000-06:00

Today Livi came & told me she needed to wash her hands.

She had taken off her own pants & panties. Peed on the potty. Wiped {to the extent that she can wipe, there was TP in the little potty though}. And put her clothes back on. All on her own!

And woke up dry for the 3rd morning this week.

Livi A++: Mommy fail

2012-02-09T14:33:00.000-06:00

Took the kiddos to the Dr. to follow-up today.

Dr. Harrison said Livi & Logan sounded great! I knew they were doing better, so it was so good to hear that! Their ears look good too. We are not quite sure what caused Livi to spike a fever last weekend. Ear infection, pneumonia, or we are also questioning the possibility of a UTI from her newly acquired potty skills. Not all that uncommon it seems for little girls to hold it too long as they learn. And she WAS infact holding it long, long periods of time those 2 days right around that fever spike. I was worried she was dehydrated, but instead I think she was just holding it too long. Could be pure coincidence, but whatever the case, antibiotics seem to have fixed whatever issue she had & we'll just keep an eye on it as she goes forward.

She has managed to maintain her weight & clocked in at 27 lbs today.

Logan who I knew was withering away before my eyes infact has lost close to 1.5 lbs & was down to 25lbs 7oz. I was reassured that its common for sick RSV kids to loose 2 lbs & to just keep encouraging them to eat as tolerated & continue to push fluids. He will catch back up quickly once he is feeling 100%.

Hayden weighed 30 lbs 3.5oz, which is a steady weight for him.

He said Hayden sounded pretty congested in his lungs. Suggested we keep up some breathing treatments with him to help him move those secretions out. He looked in his ears & asked "How did he sleep last night?" When I replied "actually, well..." I was met with a "Well he shouldn't have!" He has a whopping ear infection. Poor little man. I had no idea. He hasn't been overly cranky. Had a fever that day after the croup experience. But otherwise fever free. So he too earned a 10 day course of antibiotics. We are to watch his ears closely because apparently ear infections from RSV can linger due to the thickness of the mucous build up & sometimes kids who have never had ear issues, become candidated for tubes in their ears after this. Great. Maybe we can just get his tonsils out yet this year too, we've already met our deductable & then some!

They behaved so awesome at their appointment. Not a single tear. Sat nice & didn't even have to be held to look in their ears or listen to them. Something I would have never imagined possible just a few short months ago at their 2 year appt. Pretty amazing!!

On the way out the door we made a pit stop for Livi to use the potty. This was our first venture out of the house with her in panties & she did absolutely fantastic! So proud! I, on the other hand, failed! The potty I sat her on was very wide & with her pants still around her ankles I couldn't get her legs spred wide enough around the potty & when she peed, it shot forward & got her pants all wet. Should have taken her pants completely off. So we had to change her pants, but it was completely & totally MY fault! She peed, like a pro, on command at the Dr. office & passed her first brief trip out of the house in panties with flying colors!! She has even woke up dry from a nap 50% of the time this week & peed right when she gets up. And today she even woke up dry in the morning & peed in the potty when she got up. She is something else!!

Can this be the last of it?

2012-02-08T23:50:00.004-06:00

I really thought we were on the up & up. Logan & Olivia seem much better. Still snotty noses. And still a random coughing fit here or there. But as Jeff put it "its hard to think of them as sick right now when you compare to where they started." So they have come a very long way. Still iffy on eating. We eat a lot of snacks, yogurt, applesauce...and not a lot of meals. But with time all will fall back in place. If I didn't mention it, Livi ended up on antibiotics too over the weekend for a fever she spiked. Since we were mid-blizzard, they just called us in an antibiotic {assuming ear infection} & we were to follow up Tuesday when we brought Logan in. {An appointment that got moved to Thursday for reasons you are about to discover!}

However, this "journey" just keeps on giving.

Monday night Hayden got croupy again. Started around 11pm. We did a steamy shower. We stood outside in the cold air half a dozen times. We did a handful of saline neb treatments. He wouldn't sleep. He coughed literally non-stop for an hour before he finally fell asleep. The problem, he had an inspiratory stridor with every breath. Sounded like he was gasping for breath in his sleep. I called the late night nurse like, who heard him over the phone before I said anything beyond "little boy with croup...." & she said "honey you need to take him in right now!" And so at 3am we made that all too familiar journey to the ER yet again. {note to parents- if you think to yourself at 11pm 'I bet we end up in the ER before the night is over'.... just go to the ER at midnight instead of waiting until 3am!}

However, little did I know that this visit to the ER was about to be the most horrible experience of my entire life. Hayden was somewhat better by the time we arrived, {note to all croupy parents- in my experience with ER croup visits, that car ride over always makes them sound better... but go anyway!} but he got a breathing treatment & some steroids. And we got to hang out for an hour to make sure he improved before we headed home. The ER was not busy at all & we got immediate service. Hayden was extremely well behaved & learned like his brother & sister have how awesome breathing medicine is. How do I know this? When I asked him if he was ready to go home, he replied, "No more doctor. More all better." Makes me feel horrible we tried to home remidy it for so long. And tonight for the first time in his life, he sat still for an entire nebulizer treatment without so much as a tear.

Sounds like a pretty "good" trip to the ER, right? So what was so horrible?

Believe it or not, I came down with the stomach flu while we were in the ER. I could not have made this horror story up if I had tried. The timing could not have been more horrific. It will haunt my memory for a while. {*Warning!! Stop reading now if you don't want to hear about my GI issues*}

About 10 minutes after arriving in the ER, waiting for a breathing treatment, my stomache felt off. About 30 seconds later... I unplugged Hayden's monitor, picked him up, ran into the hall, asked which way to the bathroom.... and the 2 of us ran for the toilet. Diarrhea. Poor Hayden standing on the cold ER bathroom floor, with one sock off, pulse ox wrapped around his toe & dragging behind him, watching his poor sick mama. Poor Hayden! Back to the ER room we went.

I tossed & turned in the chair, as my stomach tossed & turned, while Hayden got his breathing treatment. The longest 10-15 minutes ever. I didn't think I would make it through. I was in a cold sweat. Taking deep breaths. "You can do it! You have to be the mom!" When it was done. I plopped Hayden down on the rocking chair, ran out the door, "yelled" at the nurses "Somebody has to watch him, I'm going to be sick..." as I again ran for the bathroom door. More diarrhea. I could hear poor Hayden screaming for me down the hall. I felt so helpless. I could hardly handle myself, let alone take care of him the way he deserved.

I got back to the ER room, picked Hayden up & got him calmed down. I was in a cold sweat. I had the shakes. He was scared & coughing so hard since he was so upset. And with every cough, my head pounded & my stomach shook. I had no more than got him calmed down, just in time to plop him down on the ER bed, grab the trashcan in the room & toss my cookies. Poor sick Hayden sat & watched in horror.

Grandma GG was on her way to come bail me out, as this time folks, she & I both knew I was in over my head. They got us out of the ER pretty quickly.... and I managed to make it the drive home. I thought maybe this was all just fatigue, sleeplessness & stress at 3am. But as the hours went on, it was pretty clear I had a bug of some sort.

Grandma GG took the kids home for the day Tuesday, so I could deal with my flu in peace. It was pretty fast moving at least. And Grandma Maas came up Wednesday so I could rest. Even I didn't realize how tired I was, but I literally slept 75% of the day. Thank you God for giving us fantastic Grandmas!!

I am feeling pretty much better flu-wise. Just post-flu slow moving. And praying with all my might, the kiddos don't catch this!! Where the heck did I even get this??!! I honestly in 2 weeks have been to Target once. For a few groceries & Livi's doll highchair. Beyond that I haven't left this sick house! I still have a crappy cough, keeps me up at night. I've had it since mid-Livi hospital stay. I'm sure I have RSV too, only I didn't think it was supposed to cause adults more than a mild-cold? I feel like I have COPD!

Hayden is still coughing quite a bit. Gets in some serious coughing fits where he can't stand. Coughs 'til he gags & cries. Needs his blanket & his mama & has to catch his breath for a while after. But its no longer croupy & no more stridor. So I'm not sure what this all means for him related to the RSV? Especially since he kinda started this all with his croup 2 weeks ago. The ER doctor confirmed that any virus can cause croup, so its likely he too has RSV & the RSV virus is responsible for this. But he didn't culture him & it doesn't really matter because we just treat the symptoms anyways. I just wish I knew if he has had RSV this whole time & just now got re-sick? As in RSV can last a solid 3 weeks {plus recovery time after} & he's still just carrying it & just got croup from it again? Or if this is the first of his real RSV? Or if somehow he is getting it again? Millions of questions for Dr. Harrison tomorrow. He has had a bit of a fever today too & if we weren't already going to the pediatrician tomorrow I'd of called. But well go tomorrow, get them all checked out & hopefully not pick up anything additional while we are there!

This is all just becoming so unreal its all I can do but laugh. I couldn't of made up a sickness tall tale this tall had I tried. Its just too much. I just laugh & wonder whats next?

Hopefully a healthy remainder of 2012. I think we've earned it!!

Snow take 2!

2012-02-06T21:21:00.000-06:00

The kids are feeling well enough that they are getting antsy to get out of the house. But with coughs & snot I think they are still contageous & I don't want to spread RSV around. AND I think they are fragile enough yet that a little cold or GI bug might buy us a bed back at Childrens. So since we really have nowhere to go, we tried this snow thing again this afternoon. And I must say, this is my type of winter. Snow on the ground to play in, but reasonable temperatures!

Went over MUCH better this go-round. Infact I'd call it success. Still minimal ability for them to manuever through the tall snow. Still 98% of the time Hayden remained gloveless. A sled tip over here.... and a dog eating our snowman's head there... but overall a nice little break from our stuffy quarters. And we stayed out long enough to be worth all the work it is to get 3 toddlers dressed in appropriate snow gear by yourself!

We brought out little shovels & trucks

Logan was ornery about throwing snow balls!!

We built a mini-snowman!! Complete with raisins for eyes & a carrot nose!

Livi thought it was pretty cool. Found some sticks & tried to build her own.

This is as close as Logan would get to it.

This little girl got pretty darn brave about it!! She had a great time! {And came in, took her own pants & panties off, went pee in the potty all by herself & came out after putting her own panties & pants back on & exclaimed her pride "Ya-ya pee a potty!!" So she missed the wipe & wash hands stips, oh well. Yay for independence!!}

She said she was "Wimming. Like a wa-wer." {Swimming, like in the water}

Hayden

Olivia

Logan

WINTER WONDERLAND

2012-02-05T23:17:00.000-06:00

This winter has been incredibly odd. It snowed after Thanksgiving & we did not get out to play in it since Livi was just home from the hospital. And since then I don't think it has snowed here all winter! We have had oddly warm temperatures. And though I'm not complaining, especially considering Jeff's commute this year, we actually bought snowpants & got snowboots & a sled for our birthday & I've been dying to actually use them.

Well... this weekend SNOW happend. I think around here they are saying 9 inches of it happened. And though not all of that accumulated considering how warm it has been, there is still a pretty deep blanket of it out there.

The kiddos are getting healthier & healthier. And though they are still coughy & snotty, thus still contagious & I will not be taking them places until I have the ok {& until I know their lungs are 100% better because I don't want the next little cold setting us way, way back!}... we are getting some cabin fever big time. And so since the temperature today was actually pretty "warm," we got all dressed in our "snow clothes" & headed out for our first snow play of the season.

I was stoked. The kids were excited. But it was kind of a flop. They weren't super impressed. The snow is very soft & deep enough that when they tried to walk, they sunk in & got worried because they were "stuck!!" I think they were confused as to how we were outside & all of their toys were burried in snow. And the biggest trouble was keeping gloves on. And trying to get fingers actually into the finger spaces of the gloves. Anyone know of a great toddler glove?? They did have a few giggling moments of throwing "snowman balls!" Somehow all snow is now "snowman" to them. And Livi sat & made the leg portion of a snow angel with me. Laughed when we threw snow balls & watched Tessa attempt to fetch them. And laughed when she came up with snow all over her face. They started to enjoy sled rides by the end. And each took a few runs sledding down our front hill. This evening they wanted to go out & play in the snow again, so maybe we'll try it again tomorrow. Practice makes perfect, right?

So despite the fact that it took us longer to get dressed than we probably actually spent outside. And despite the fact that there were a few tears from getting "stuck a snowman" {stuck in the snow} And the fact that we had to carry them all over the yard. I had a good time & the few minutes I did get of peaceful fresh air were good for my soul & absolutely worth it!

Hayden HATED having gloves on.

Daddy giving us a ride around the yard

Tessa running with us too

Daddy showing us how to sled down the hill.

Love her in all this pink!!!

This is where Hayden prefered to be. I was surprised because he loved the snow last year!

Wee!! Livi & Logan's 1st time sledding!

We finally got Hayden to go down too, on our laps.

Despite the looks on their faces here, I think we had a fun morning!

On, Off, On, Off....Up, Down, Up, Down....

2012-02-03T14:54:00.000-06:00

There was a recent discussion on a mommy chat group I occasionally visit about potty training. Part of it was whether a child needs to be able to take their own clothes on & off in order to potty train. Some said, yes. Others said no, stating they did not mind helping their child to the bathroom.

I agreed with answer #2, but worried that Livi not possessing the skills to use the bathroom without help might be a setback for her. If my hands were tied up with her brothers, would that mean accidents? Yesterday there was one occasion where I just pulled her clothes off in the kitchen & sent her to the bathroom alone as I was mid-Hayden Thomas melt-down that he did not infact need that ump-teenth pack of fruit snacks. Luckily she came to tell me she had to pee, or my full hands would have caused her to have an accident.

A couple of people in this debate said, just potty train. And that the skill of taking clothes off & putting them on would very quickly follow.

Well folks, they were right. Today Livi has taken her pants off & on probably 300 times. Up, Down, On, Off. She is trying hard to master the art of self-dressing. Her main glitch, getting both feet in one leg hole. And sometimes she can't quite get those pants up over her tushy & a cheek or 2 is left hanging out. {Too cute I must say!} When I try to help her take them off to go potty, she pulls them back up & shouts "NO! Ya-ya do it." If she even feels me touch her to try to help & speed up the process, we have to start over. So I have spent 90% of my day in the bathroom supervising {mostly supervising the boys who follow her in} & watching "Ya-ya do it" over & over & over & over...

Because of this, she has been using the little potty some too. But really prefers the big one. We don't have a potty ring, so I hold her hands so she doesn't fall in. Which works just fine. But I'm wondering when she really gets this mastered to do herself if we'd benefit from a potty ring? So she can do it all herself? Or if she gets used to that if it will make it harder when we brave taking her out of the house in panties? Thoughts?

AND its got me thinking about the boys. {Who I will be potty training when they are 100% ready so it hopefully goes at least 1/2 this easy!} The little potty has a "pee-pee guard" so they can sit & not pee out all over the place. Big potties do not have that. Pointers? Tips? What did you do with your boys PT on a big potty so they didn't "shoot" it out all over the floor?

PS... I accidentally put her down for her nap with panties on! Oops! What do you think the odds are I will be lucky & this will be one of those times she wakes up dry?

Home day 1.

2012-02-02T01:12:00.000-06:00

We managed to stay home for a whole day! {Sad that has to seem like a big accomplishment!} The kiddos are doing pretty well. Not eating much at all. But drinking, peeing, breathing & sleeping. and thats all I ask at this point.

I did have to hold Logan like a baby once today & threaten him & force him to drink, as we had not made much progress by noon. But he had 4 wet diapers today & got down almost 3 sippy cups of fluid by day's end. So he's hanging in there. I waited to give Logan his first antibiotic dose until this morning. Just worrying about him being allergic, I couldn't rationally give him a dose & stick him in bed. So far, so good. 9 more days to go.

Livi had a nightmare around midnight, apparently about them taking her temperature at the hospital. Was crying "ear beep, beep" over & over in her sleep. So I got her up & we cuddled on the couch for a few minutes before she told me "I want breathing medicine." She is just so grown up. So she had some Albuterol overnight. Hayden, our "healthy" child got some half way through his nap when he was coughing so hard & couldn't stop coughing to sleep. He isn't really healthy either. He coughs & coughs & coughs too. His lungs have just always been stronger & he is doing better than his siblings with this crud. And Logan got a treatment after nap when he was inconsolably irritable. He was content after the treatment, so I'm learning that irritability in him means his chest feels too tight.

Livi can put the mask on herself!

And likes to pretend to give Hayden nebulizer treatments too. Here she is turning it on for him.

I had been sick the weekend before the kids got sick. Tired, runny nose, body aches. So I've been thinking maybe I actually had RSV then & that I gave them the RSV. However, today my lungs feel like someone is standing on my chest. I have a hard time coughing enough to clear my lungs. So I'm not sure what I had last weekend, but I think my lungs officially have RSV too. Just knowing how my chest feels right now, I can't imagine how horrible they feel!

They played so well today, almost no fighting. I think they missed eachother so much! {That & they just really don't have the energy to fight!} They spent a good hour playing with Livi's doctor kit. Taking turns lifting up eachothers shirts & listening to eachother with the stethoscope.

What kills me about the above picture, is looking at Livi's ribs. Pulling in to breathe hard enough that we can see all those ribs. I can't believe I literally caught her respiratory distress so well in a picture.

"Beep, beep"ing eachothers ears {taking their temperature} Livi even pretended to look in Logan's ear,

then took Logan's head with her hands, turned it to the other side & said "Look other side"

& then wanted to "see Go-gun mouth" "Go-gun Ahhhh" {She wanted him to say "Ahhh" & open so she could look in his mouth like the doctors did to her.} She managed to get Hayden to comply.

I think I have a future medical professional on my hands!!

Then they found a little tool & wanted to use it to "suck boogers, nose." They used suction tools to suck Livi & Logans' boogers out at the hospital. But I had to put a stop to that play as I saw a pending trip to the ER for having something lodged in someone's nose!

At points during the day when they were playing so cheerfully & nicely I start to think, we're pulling through this so fast. But with that said, any amount of actual physical activity sends them into coughing fits to the extent that they gag, puke or fall to the floor to catch their breath. Between those events, I feel like we are doing pretty well though. Then it happens & reminds me we still have a long way to go! They may be starting to feel better, but their lungs have a lot of work to do yet.

I need to do a little toy research this week during one of their long, sick 3 hour naps. I need to find where to buy a highchair for a baby doll. Because I would say Livi is completely daytime potty trained. And thats what she wanted for learning to "pee a potty" & we promised her. Today she wore one pair of panties all day & used the potty 4 or 5 times. Not even a dribble accident. Amazing! Just a diaper for her nap. {Which she did pee in, but she napped for a good 3 hours.} I just ask her about every hour if she needs to go to remind her. And she either tells me yes or no. We don't do the go sit on the potty every so often thing. And she sometimes tells me too. Though she doesn't necessarily say she has to pee in the potty. Sometimes its things like "butt owie" or "cake clothes off" {her panties today had cupcakes on them & she called them her cake clothes all day}. So you have to be ready to take her whenever something she says might indicate she has to pee. She prefers the big potty to the little ones, but will go in either. I am anxiously awaiting her next poop hoping she is able to go on the potty like she did at that hospital. She did pee in her diaper Monday for Jeff, but he said he thinks its his fault, because he just didn't realize what she was telling him all day. But Tuesday with Grandma GG & today with me she was right back on track. This whole PT thing is just so surreal. I can't believe she PT herself in the hospital, while on oxygen, suffering from RSV. Its just insane really! Who does that?!!

Wanting the boys to come listen to her with the stethoscope IN PANTIES!!!

HOME!!

2012-01-31T22:39:00.001-06:00

Yes, we are home! As the early afternoon hours went by & Logan slept-slept-slept. I was not hopeful of us getting out tonight. Hard to keep up on drinking when you sleep the day away.

But in the later afternoon, he perked up. Drank some. And ate a TON of fruit (which has liquid in it, so win-win!) I think he will live on fruit for the next few days.

I told the doctors & nurses I know he was feeling better today, because today he NEEDED me. Yesterday he let anyone do anything to him without a peep. Today he sat nice & cooperated too, but he had to do so on my lap. He felt good enough to actually be scared & need his mama today. From his chest x-ray this afternoon they could not rule out pneumonia. So based on an inconclusive x-ray & his lingering fever, they decided to treat him like he has pneumonia, caused by the sticky secretions from RSV building up in his lungs. When Dr. Harrison called in the evening to discuss the x-ray with me & said they were going to start him on antibiotics, I expected the next words out of his mouth to be "so I think we'll keep him overnight." BUT instead he said he looks so much better. He is cheerful. Resting well. He is having lots of wet diapers. He has not needed oxygen. So he was comfortable sending us home. We finally got discharged shortly after 7pm. Only to discover there was a bad accident on the interstate on our way home, so it took us an hour to get home. But we are here, safe & sound.

They are all getting Tylenol or Motrin around the clock. Their poor little bodies have to ache from all the coughing they do. And Logan I will probably dose with both as he needs it for his fever. Livi gets oral steroids 2x a day for another day or 2. Logan gets antibiotics 1x a day for the next 10 days. And they all get pink eye drops 2x a day. Hayden's pink eye treatment is technically done, but I'm just going to keep giving him drops until I'm done with Logan's doses & we can clean the toys well. Otherwise we will end up doing the pink eye thing all over again in 5 days. Plus Livi's inhaled steroids 2x a day. And Albuterol treatments as needed. We're a mess!!

This is basically like having a full assignment at work! 3 patients. All those meds. Plus I'm going to keep paper handy & "chart" all their wet diapers {or Livi's pee in the potty!} & how much they are drinking so I can keep track of how everyone is doing & who needs special attention forcing fluids or whatever.

They are putting Logan on the antibiotic Omnicef. The resident MD & pharmacist both warned us that about 5% of kiddos who are allergic to Amoxicillin react to Omnicef. Dr. Harrison said they use this frequently as an alternative & cross-reactions are rare. But knowing my mom is allergic to every antibiotic under the sun, I'm just hoping we don't wind up in the clinic or ER for an allergic reaction yet. I'll be watching him like a hawk! Cross your fingers {& toes!}

They are all extremely snotty & coughy. So I don't think there will be much good sleep in this house for anyone for a while. But for the first time in a week all 3 kiddos are tucked in under the same roof. And I'm perfectly happy with us not-sleeping for a while, as long as we are doing it under one roof.

RSV can take as many as 3 weeks to completely run its course. So we will be on quarantine for a while. And hopefully we continue trending up & they stay strong enough to finish healing at home. My work advised that I go ahead & apply for family medical leave as I'm anticipating needing a few weeks off until this has all run its course, especially since I have missed a whole week already.

While it was a long, long week at Children's. And having kids there back-to-back sucked. In the end we have to be glad it happened this way. I do not know what we would have done had 2 or God forbid all 3 of them been inpatient at the same time?! I know they are so happy to be back together, they crawled so nicely into bed tonight. I have only seen Hayden for 9 or so hours this entire past week! I feel so bad for him too. Even though he hasn't been as sick, this whole process has to be hard on him too.

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts & prayers. Thanks to those of you who brought by food to the hospital or to our home. Your support & generosity never fail to amaze me. We are amazingly blessed with loving friends, family & our Church. When we get settled in if we need something I promise I will reach out to those of you who have called & offered to help.

Despite the coughs, snot & crabbiness I'm anticipating for tomorrow, I'm just so excited to spend an entire day with all 3 of them!

Day 7 of RSV

2012-01-31T13:57:00.000-06:00

This morning they turned Logan's IV off. So far he has eaten a bowl of cereal. A cup of pears. And drank 4 oz of milk. Not sure if thats going to cut it? He is on nap #2 for the day. And seems cheerful in his awake spurts.

I am awaiting result from an x-ray we took this afternoon. Dr. Harrison felt like his left lung sounded worse than the right & I am concerned about this darn fever. So we decided to get an x-ray to rule out pneumonia caused by all those RSV secretions pooling up.

At this point I'm not sure what the end of the day will bring. I may be in for night #7? Dear God, can this please be over yet. Its so incredibly frustrating just trying to get your child to drink & all they do is throw or push cups back in your face.

Night #6

2012-01-31T03:58:00.000-06:00

Its 3am & we are in full swing of night #6 on the 4th floor. As fantastic as everyone has been, I hope I never see this place again. Logan is fast asleep, after a coughing fit that woke us both up. I just took a shower, because he is alseep, I was awake & I needed one! Now I'm wide awake & can't sleep.

Sounds like Hayden & Olivia had a good day at home. Snot. Coughs. Crabby. Long, long nap for Livi. But eating, drinking, breathing & peeing. And at this point, thats all I ask. Even if they do have pizza for breakfast ;)

Logan is doing better. His color is better. He is peeing. He is resting well, very well! He slept around 12 hours overnight. He woke up for an hour, just enough time to eat some breakfast, then went back to sleep around 12:30. He was awake for a little over 2 hours around 3. And then back to sleep again. So in a 24 hour period, this poor boy was awake only 3 hours. I think getting some fluids on board he finally felt well enough to rest. I feel so bad we let him get that miserable. I'm sure his little head hurt, along with everything else. He's just not one to ever complain, so I should of known if he was miserable, this was for real. It just took me a while to admit it.

He was awake for 4 or so hours in the evening. And had a little spunk. He watched CARS twice. And learned that his big ole' IV board to protect his IV makes a good club to hit his mama. Only in times like these is ornery a good thing. Lets me know he's feeling better.

He takes his meds nicely for the nurses. And even lays still for them to put drops in his eyes. Lays still!! He is different than Livi in the hospital in so many ways. Her communication & language skills are so much more advanced. I can explain almost anything to her & she has a word for everything. Logan, not so much. I can bribe Liv into doing almost anything. Logan, not so much. Livi is a fantastic patient, so cooperative, with no tears, but she NEEDS me. She needs to hold "mommy hand" for every blood pressure they take. And needs frequent "nose kiss"es while on O2. Logan could care less if I'm standing off in a corner while they assess him. He doesn't make a peep. Cooperates & sits still, quietly taking it all in. Today he slept through everything they did to him. But he is so much more independent than her & it makes me feel bad. I know what she wants for comfort in these situations. And I want to give him the same thing, only I don't know what he wants & although he seems to want/need nothing, I want to give him everything that I can. Its amazing how quickly though they seem to realize that the things the doctors & nurses are doing to them DO make them feel better. How quickly they learn not to fight things like breathing treatments & eye drops.

While Logan is improving & looks a lot better than he did 24 hours ago, but since he slept, literally, the whole day away, not a lot of drinking went on. Meaning, we are here for night #6 {night #2 for Logan.} He is having TONS of wet diapers on his IV fluids though, so I know we've got him good & hydrated. I was able to get him to drink around 8 oz this evening. More than he drank all day on Sunday. And more than I got him to drink all day. {I have been bribing him to drink with new trains. So I guess we'll be investing in some new toys when we get home.} They turned his IV fluids down some, just to see if he would get more thirsty. And the plan is to let him rest tonight & turn them off in the morning & go from there. We should be able to go home tomorrow, or since its 3am, technically today. Dr. Harrison just wanted him to get 1 more night of fluid & rest, because he worried if he didn't, we would be back here in a day or 2.

I frequently as the nurses for motrin & tylenol for him, because I know his throat hurts. He winces when he swallows & drools constantly. Though he won't tell me if he has any "owies." He still periodically spikes a fever. He was fine all day, but again this evening was 101.5. {Hayden gets croupy, Livi gets wheezy, Logan gets high fevers. Funny how they each respond to illness in their own way.} He is breathing well, well for a 2 year old preemie with RSV. Lets me suck the boogers out of his nose {seriously wish I had wall suction at home!} And has been off of the oxygen since he got that initial bolus of IV fluids.

He is not getting steroids like Livi is. I thought he would & I asked about them. The reason being, steroids help with airway inflammation. RSV does not cause inflammation. But rather plagues its victims lungs with a very, sticky mucous. Hence their horrible cough til they gag it up coughs. {And the reason we WANT them to cough, to keep those secretions moving rather than settling into their chest.} So they do not routinely give steroids to kiddos with RSV. Livi is getting them though due to her history, AKA her asthmatic tendencies. Because asthma does cause airway inflammation & if you add that inflammation to this sticky mucous, it can get bad. So the steroids are helping to keeping her asthmatic tendencies at bay. She is only getting them, because at the ripe old age of 2, she already has a "history."

A friend of mine who has twins just the same age as my kids just had posted on her Facebook about the 2 year "anniversary" of her kiddos battling RSV. They had it that first winter just shortly after coming home from the NICU. One was terribly ill & spent a long time on a ventillator fighting for his life. He is very lucky to be alive. And so I sit here, hating every moment of this hospital stay, & keep counting my lucky stars that this is all the worse it is. We are lucky they are as healthy as they are. We are lucky we have avoided it this long. We are lucky to live in a place where this medical treatment is available to us. We are lucky to have amazing friends & family helping us out with prayers, hugs & food.

Its amazing how a crummy situation can make you feel blessed beyond words.

Since I don't have a fancy schmancy phone to take & upload pictures. Here are just a few pictures I took with my phone & texted to Aunt Molly, that she can upload to the internet for me.

Lovie, puppy & Livi watching the cars drive down Dodge during her 4th & last night at Children's.

Logan's first awake moment since being admitted. A big bowl of cereal, then back to sleep.

His 20 minutes of energy this afternoon were spent driving cars in the window, & watching cars outside.

So onward with the last few hours of night #6. Hopefully you are our last!!

Day 6

2012-01-30T10:31:00.000-06:00

So really its been a whole week since this fiasco started with Hayden's pink eye! But day 6 of this RSV business. And we're somehow still alive!

Hayden is status quo at home. Snotty & has a bad cough, but hanging in like a trooper!

Olivia is doing well at home. Slept well last night. Woke up with a wet diaper. And quickly downed a glass of milk. Hopefully she keeps on the upward trend. Speaking of wet diaper, an exhausting week of bouncing back & forth in the hospital is obviously not the ideal time to potty train your 2 year old. But she's running with it & so we have to too. If it had gone badly yesterday afternoon I may have scrapped it & started again next week. But yesterday at home she peed in the potty 4 times!! Told us when she had to go. Had one accident. And two, what we'll call "dribbles," where she wet herself a little on the way to the potty. Doesn't really count as an accident though, especially on day 1 at home, and while sick! She owns probably 12-14 pair of panties, but I'm thinking if this is for real, we might need to invest in a few more. She has Princess & Hello Kitty. And a few plain pair that are thicker. I've seen some Dora panties at Walmart, so maybe when we get her a "baby highchair" which is what she wants for "potty train" {yes she says potty train}, we'll pick up more "pappies" {panties} too. I still can't believe she potty trained herself while fighting RSV in the hospital. What a story to tell down the road if this really sticks! Can't wait to hear how potty updates go at home today.

Logan had a good night. Had 2 wet diapers. I got him to drink about 6oz of fluid before bed. And he's been sleeping now for almost 12 hours. Poor tired boy. He is breathing ok considering he has RSV. Ok enough to go home anyways & way better than Wednesday night. But still obviously has the IV fluid running. If we can get him drinking & peeing well before dinner, we could go home tonight. No promises though. Dr. Harrison came in this morning & asked if I had missed him? Couldn't stay away! And Dr. A {his partner who saw Livi over the weekend & had sent her home yesterday} came in to say sorry because he heard we were back. So I wait for the little man to wake & see what he wants to do. He's gotten some Tylenol. And his temp jumped up to 102.3 once in the night. Otherwise his temp has been ok. His ears look fine {they thought maybe that was why he wasn't drinking, ear infection.} I know his poor throat hurts him. I think we're going to try giving him some Codeine when he's up. See if that pain relief helps him drink.

I think we're going to be sick for a while. I think this may upset our little world for longer than even I'm prepared for. I just want to get home {& stay home!} so we can all be sick together!

I can't wait until I can get back to blogging cute pictures & fun stories.

But for now, thank you eternally for all your thoughts & prayers!

Night #5, Child #2

2012-01-29T23:16:00.000-06:00

Livi had a good night last night & we got dismissed from the hospital late morning! Hooray for her! Hayden was SOOO happy to have her home. I so wish I'd of gotten it on camera. Followed her around like a puppy with the biggest grin on his face. "Ya-ya home!!" He hugged her. Literally followed her around with a bounce in his step, grinning ear to ear for 20 minutes. I'm glad they love eachother so. One of the most heart warming things I have seen in a while.

However, after spending about 7 hours at home {the last 4 of which Jeff & I lived in serious denial} I broke down & brought Logan into the ER for dehydration. Yesterday he had only 2 wet diapers {they want him to have at least 3}. He woke up wet this morning. But at 7pm, had not peed anymore today. His eyes were completely blood shot. He was irritable, irritable, irratable. All he did was sleep or cry. And Logan NEVER cries, ever. He looked like hell. Swallows soo hard. They say RSV makes your throat hurt something terrible & it really must! Poor, poor boy. We tried & tried & tried all day to get him to drink. Anything. From any cup. We were literally trying to get him to drink juice from a syringe to get fluids in. That sounds SOO horrible when I say it out loud. That we really were reduced to trying to force feed him like an orphined bunny or kitty, but thats the extent to which we tried everything to avoid this. My kids LOVE "medicine" they fight over Tylenol doses. And we had a hard time even getting him to take those doses, his poor throat! He is still getting rotating doses of Motrin & Tylenol every 3 hours to keep his fever down. His temp in the hospital has been around 99.5 even with all that Motrin & Tylenol on board. Take some mild respiratory distress, a nasty fever, a horrid cough on top of a sore throat.... and I'm not surprised we ended up here. Sucks! But he needed to come in.
In the ER, he got a breathing treatment because he was a little wheezy & breathing a little fast. Definately not breathing so bad as Wednesday night though!! However his oxygen sats were just 90. I've learned the ER is not happy with 90! So he got a few hours of O2 & a ticket to the 4th floor. But is now sleeping soundly off oxygen with sats of 99%. He got an IV. Two fluid boluses. And is now getting IV maintenance fluids. And actually was the most cheerful after that fluid as I have seen him all day. He got Motrin for his sore throat. He is also now getting eye drops for pink eye {Still kind of pisses me off that Monday when we called about Hayden's pink eye & asked for drops for all 3 of them they said no! Duh! Now they all 3 have it!} And so we'll let him sleep & see how he does tomorrow with drinks & pee!!

Despite his lack of wellness, he had a heck of a lot of fight in him. Livi's been through the ringer enough, she is easy-breasy at the hospital. Compliant with everything. It was all I could do just to keep the O2 prongs on Logan's face. And the IV start took ever ounce of energy the 3 of us had! Strong, scrappy little thing he is! But they got it in on one poke! Actually what I thought was really cool {my RN friends may appreciate this}, they hit a vein with an IV catheter, hooked a syringe up to it to draw his labs. Then flushed through that same vein & turned that into his IV. So one poke got labs AND an IV. Love that!!

So here I am on night #5, with child #2, on this damn 4th floor. Just 5 doors down from where I spent that last 4 freekin' days. Catching a little crap from the respiratory therapists & nurses for apparently missing them & having to come back! We even had 2 of the same ER nurses. And upstairs they even set us up with a big bed instead of a crib without me having to ask this time. Sad they know my preferences!

On that note, seriously, if your toddler is in the hospital ask for a bed! Don't let them stick you with a crib! Their policy here is kids under 3 get cribs, so I had to sign a waiver. But what sick 2 year old will lay down alone & sleep in a crib? Especially when they aren't in cribs at home? PLUS... way better mama sleeping that the chair or couch. {Though Logan isn't as into sharing as Livi was!} Livi's stay after Thanksgiving the 2 of us slept & lived in the horrible recliner for 3 days because she refused to let me put her in that crib. Sharing a bed was tricky too, but leaps & bounds better.

So pray for us I guess. Hopefully this is a shorter stay. Its been a long week & I'm just ready to have all of us home & start healing together.

Fair to say I hate RSV!!

Day 4 of RSV

2012-01-28T21:07:00.000-06:00

Still inpatient with Livi. She was on oxygen all night again, so we're here for another night. Her IV is out & she is keeping up satisfactorily with her intake & output. She has a good productive cough, sometimes coughs so hard she gags stuff up. But thats good! She is moving her secretions & hasn't had a breathing treatment in quite a while. She is on a 2 hour sleep wake cycle. She is awake for 2 hours, cheerful & ornery, then she sleeps for 2 hours. RSV is apparently exhausting. So far today she was only on oxygen briefly with a nap. So I'm crossing my fingers for tonight {& hoping we have a nurse who isn't too O2 happy!}

I did get to run home today for a few hours to see the boys & grab some clean clothes. Hayden was happy to see me. Logan at first didn't want me, I think he is hurt he is sick & I'm not there. But eventually he warmed up & we got in some good cuddles.

Hayden, besides snot & coughing is "healthy."

Logan looks pretty worse for the wear. We tried skipping one dose of anti-fever meds this afternoon because he was fever free all morning, but it didn't take long for it to rebound. So back to the meds every 3 hour routine. His poor body! His eyes are blood shot. He coughs a lot! He is breathing a little fast but doesn't appear to be working too hard, similar to Livi anyways. Doesn't sound like he is routinely sleeping as well as Livi though, he coughs more. I feel so bad for him. He is sick & without his mama. {He has his daddy & grandma Maas, but I still feel bad.} Livi got tons of IV fluids, she is getting oral & inhaled steroids to battle this. And he's toughing it out on his own. He seems to be drinking well. And eating a little here or there. But we're starting to ride the fence with deyhdration on him too. Just 2 wet diapers thus far today. With a fever that has been as high as 104.5 & rarely lower than 101, plus rapid breathing & all the work coughing, he is burning through fluids fast.

No turning back

2012-01-27T22:21:00.001-06:00

Livi is potty trained.

Yep. Not like kinda sorta. Like for real potty trained. In 2 days. At the hospital. And I did nothing! She did it herself 100%. And I'm trying to picture in my head how we are going to keep this going at home, but we have to!! She's got a dozen pair of panties at home. And a little potty. I think we need a potty ring for the toilet since thats where she goes here. And to figure out a routine of when to make her try to go. Obviously morning, before & after nap, before supper, before bed. But seriously, this feels like a joke!

We have been here 48 hours. She has peed in a diaper 3 times, twice was while asleep. So during daytime, she has had one "accident" & that was even after she HAD peed in the potty & just apparently not fully emptied her bladder. And that was yesterday. She peed in the potty all day today with not one accident. She tells me when she has to pee today, as opposed to yesterday me "making" her sit after hours of dry diapers. Wakes up from a 2.5 hour nap dry, rolls over & says "I yunna go pee a potty!" {I want to go pee in the potty.}

AND... today she even POOPED on the potty!! Did it like it was no big thing! Like she'd been doing it for years. She kept telling me she had to go "pee a potty." So we'd sit & nothing. She would toot & giggle "poop!" But nothing. Over & over. Like 5 times in less than 1.5 hours we sat. I was starting to get frustrated. I was talking to Aunt Molly on the phone & Livi was throwing a FIT she had to go "pee a potty." So again, we went & sure as "shit" .... she pooped! First when she saw it in there she said "uh oh pee!" And I said "Thats not pee Livi that's poop! Livi pooped in the potty! YAY!! You're a big girl!" Lucky Molly got to "witness" Livi's first poop on the potty over the phone! Then Livi got to flush & just all matter of fact said "bye-bye poop!!"

Kinda weird to say, but pretty sure Olivia is potty trained. Or at least hospital trained! Hope we can do this at home!!! {whenever we get there...}

RSV!!!

2012-01-27T18:11:00.000-06:00

Apparently it is not uncommon for RSV rapid screens done in the ER to be wrong.

The pediatrician's office called today, because Logan's culture is positive for RSV! Glad they actually send out those rapid screens for further culture. Livi's is still unconclusive, but even if it doesn't culture out as positive, odds are she has it too. And if Hayden doesn't already have it, I'm sure he will. I'm hoping he does & that his Monday croup episode was his response & we don't see anything worse from him.

RSV can be a very dangerous respiratory virus for kids, especially preemies with delayed lung development. I was told today that preemie lungs are still doing catch up growth until age 7. So while my kids seems SO good to me & so un-preemie like. I have to remember, inside they still are. We are lucky winter #1 we got Synagis to prevent RSV. And lucky season #2 we avoided it. And even though this sucks, in reality, we are lucky thus far, because it could be worse. RSV can equate to ventillators! So while it sucks, sucks, sucks. I'm trying to keep in perspective that this is managable. Lucky Grandma Maas was able to come stay & help daddy out. And lucky so far this is the worst of it. Just pray for quick recoveries & that we keep moving in the forward direction!!

Livi's sleeping sats this afternoon were just 86, so on O2 to sleep, off when awake. And so obviously, still here. Her temp has been pretty low grade, but I have had them dose her up with some Tylenol anyways, because I can tell her throat hurts her. She is managing to drink fair with some serious bribery & threats from her mama. So for now the IV is turned off, but still in. Bribery was failing this morning & she was fighting with me over everything. She calls her IV her "owie sticker" {I guess because its owie & covered in tape?} so I broke my cool this afternoon & told her if she didn't drink she had to have more owie stickers! She ate a cup of apple sauce & drank a carton of milk. So it was worth the threat. Now if I can only convice her to take her "rainbow shirt" off so I can bathe her stinky, sweaty self. But for some reason her $3 Walmart shirt with a rainbow on it makes her happy, so I'm dealing with her stink. She is still asking to pee in the potty & her only pee in diaper event today was overnight. Wakes up from naps dry & asks to go "pee in potty." Insane!

Logan is still fighting a fever at home. It sounds like it jumps up to around 103 between doses of Motrin. He gets alternating doses of Motrin or Tylenol every 3 hours. A cold bath once today & running around in a diaper to keep him cool. He isn't really eating, but he is drinking & peeing. The ped office said as long as he has 3 GOOD wet diapers a day & meds & baths keep his fever down, just keep doing comfort cares. The fever can stick around for 10 days!! So keep watching for dehydration. And obviously bring him if he is lethargic, dehydrated or if his respiratory distress returns. He did have one Albuterol treatment this morning, but responded really well. And is cheerful & breathing ok. But tired.

Hayden seems to be fine. {Fingers crossed!}

So I guess we are sick for the long haul. Not sure when we'll see the light of day again? Or when I'll be able to go back to work? Even if I wanted to go, or could go, pretty sure they don't want my germ infested self there! I knew it would be a rough winter, being the kids' first in daycare. But I never anticipated 2 hospital stays before the end of January! Maybe I'll interview nannies while I'm home with RSV infested kids? I WANT them to build some immunities & I LOVE the interaction of daycare for them. But seesh!!

I REALLY wish we owned an IPAD or 2. Or at least nice laptops with cameras so Jeff & I could Skype back & forth with the kids or something. We are SO beyond out of the technology loop! And so I could have something for Livi to do. Play some IPAD kiddy aps or something. But affording new IPADS now, ha!

So, yep, RSV. No wonder they looked like hell.

Day 2

2012-01-27T09:56:00.000-06:00

Still a possibility we could go home today.... maybe?

Livi was on a little O2 last night, but Dr. Harrison said he's ok with her dropping to 89-90 when she's deep asleep as long as she is not requiring O2 when awake. And as long as her retractions & respiratory rate keep improving. She keeps up the coughing, getting all that phlem out. And she eats & drinks.

So... our task for the day is eating & drinking. I think she had a "fair" day yesterday. Thus far though, not so good of a morning. I can not get her to eat or drink anything. Bribing her is not working! I even offered her my can of pop & that was even pushed away. I think her throat hurts her though. Watching her swallow. So even though her fever was mild this morning, I had them give her some tylenol. Now she is back to sleep, but we'll try again when she wakes up.

Sounds like Hayden is well at home.
And Logan is so-so. Breathing a little hard again, but responding to Albuterol. Low grade temp still. Still drinking enough to have good wet diapers. So hopefully he doesn't back track today.

So in the words of Olivia, we'll have to "wait to see!"

Hospital, again. And potty training??

2012-01-26T23:13:00.001-06:00

Seriously! This week sucks! Here's my recap....

Sunday- Logan had a low grade fever, they all had new snot & coughs
Monday- Hayden had pink eye
Monday night- he had croup
Tuesday- he got steroids in the clinic {He is better, phew}
Tuesday night- Livi tossed & turned & whined all night {should have known what was coming}
Wednesday day- her & Logan got sicker & sicker during the day at GG daycare

When I got home from work Wednesday I took one look at them & the 5 of us went to the ER. {I grabbed my pre-packed bag from last time with hygeine products, underwear, socks, clothes, etc. So glad I had that all put together!}

Logan's oxygen sats were 87 & his temp was 104.5!! Livi's sats were 88 & temp 101. Poor Hayden had to entertain himself in the ER for 5 hours! We were there from 8:30pm-1:30am! 2 xrays. 2 (negative) RSV screens. 2 neb treatments for logan, some tylenol, nakedness & cold washcloths. And his sats were 95-96, temp 99. So he got to go home with motrin & tylenol every 4 hour & albuterol as needed orders. Livi's sats awake were just 90 (& I know she drifts lower sleeping), so again she got admitted. I think had I pushed the issue, that ER doc would have let us take her home. But I knew what would happen. And sure enough, once in her 4th floor room her sleeping sats were upper 80s. {They want her above 92%) We JUST did this after Thanksgiving. So she's still on her inhaled steroids. Like last time, we added in oral steroids. Geting albuterol around the clock. She got it A LOT last night. Less today. Tylenol Q4 to keep her fever down. And today she's needed oxygen just when she's alseep, she's ok when awake. Praying for a good night!! I so want to go home tomorrow. I haven't slept since Sunday!! I don't think any of us have.

Hayden was such a trooper in the ER. He really was. Ornery some yes. Tried to run throught the whole ER a few times yes. But to have an exhausted 2 year old there for 5 hours, up until 1:30am, should have been so much worse. SOO proud of him. The ER folks were awesome with him. Found him some toys. Took him for a walk to go find a DVD for our room. I was very happy with our care this time, very! We walked in the ER doors (may of helped I was wearing my green hospital scrubs). I said, we have 2 kids in respiratory distress. Livi was breathing so hard at that moment she actually puked in the ER entry way as I was talking... so back we went, just like that. Logan got upset in the room & crying while breathing hard equalled him puking once too. Oh it was an experience! There were a slew of people who took care of us & we never waited long for a treatment, a culture or to go back for x-ray. By the end of our ER stay, Logan was pretty perky too. Jeff was more than ready to ship him & Hayden out the door by the end. We were all on our last nerve. There were a few tears when the 3 boys headed out the doors & the 2 girls headed through the back door to the elevators to the floor. But we're surviving so far...

The difference this time, besides the fever, is Liv wasn't drinking. She only had 1 wet diaper all day on Wednesday. So she has an IV. I was a little nervous, knowing she was a dehydrated. But they got a gusher on 1 stick. And she was so beat, they put it in while she was sleeping & she didn't wake up & cry until they were taping it down. One wet diaper through the night. And we're on track today & turned the fluids down a little today. Not sure if its just that she feels worse with this virus, or if being 2 months older makes her that much more defiant, but she is much, much harder to get to drink this time! But she at least did eat some & is drinking fair today.

Like last time Livi was in the hospital, she is peeing in the potty. I swore last time we'd leave potty trained. But this time its even more insane! I was planning on a trial run PT her next week anyways, but we might just run with this. She has used the potty 5 times (ASKED 3 of those times) & only peed in her diaper 2x since we have been here (& one of those was while she was asleep) So kind of like just having 1 "accident" in 26 hours! Granted she was dehydrated the first half & has an IV, she is ASKING to go pee in the potty! I think since she sits on my lap the whole time we're here, she doesn't pee in her diaper, she holds it. Versus at home, she hides in her room & pees/poops in her diaper. Plus she isn't doing much, so she's not distracted by playing.

I am off Feb 1-3, 4 & 5 is the weekend so Jeff is home (I work), then I'm off 7-9! So that was my planned date to do a PT trial run, a perfect little set up for a stretch of days to attempt this Livi PT thing. But I think when we go home, we'll just throw her in some panties, put a potty in every room & see what happens. We promised her a highchair for her dolls if she learns to pee & poop in the potty (and she talks about this bribe often.) She is most definately ready though. She is obviously capable. {The boys aren't & I see no need to push them along. Plus I've been thinking it might be easier to conquer one at a time anyways!} So we'll see....

Sick!

2012-01-24T19:51:00.000-06:00

I knew it was coming. Too good to be true for us to be healthy for long. Just like that, our 3 week health "spurt" has come to an end.

*Sunday, snot showed its ugly face. Logan had a low grade fever.
*Monday, Hayden woke up with crusted, red, swollen eyes. A call into the pediatrician for some drops for suspected pink eye & daddy calling in sick.
*Monday night, well technically Tuesday morning at 2am... cough, cough, BARK!! Croup! Bark, bark on the way out. Stridor on the way in. Oh Hayden Thomas sounded awful. We were up every 1-1.5 hours to do a little saline neb treatment, which stopped the barking & back to bed he went. Would have been an easier night had he agreed to sleep in bed with us, or on the couch with me or something. But no, he wanted to go "back to bed" each time. So Logan & Livi got no sleep either. He was pretty cute though. I told him he sounded like a puppy barking. So everytime he woke up coughing & I went in to get him, he smiled at me & said "like a puppy!" The difficult part was that he insisted on sitting on daddy's lap for a breathing treatment, so we were both bascially up from 2am on. Then everytime Livi got re-woken up, she insisted on "mommy more tuck in." So it was a process the whole night.
*Tuesday morning sounded much better after a little awake time & a hot bath. But we opted for a trip into the pediatrician for a shot of steroids to help bring that airway swelling down, so hopefully tonight will not be a repeat. {And we avoid a trip to the ER like we did with his croup last winter}

Weird how Hayden is prone to the croup, inflammation type respiratory stuff. Last March we had in in the ER with it! This time around he actually sounded worse. But didn't apper to be in as much distress & settled in & slept between breathing treatments. Then there is Livi is so prone to wheezing {so far with her on her 'roids shes fine with this snot sickness!!} And Logan, who was the sickest NICU babe & on O2 the longest, has the least trouble when this respiratory crap strikes!

We saw one of the partners in the Ped's office, Dr. McCann. Which apparently sounds like McQueen {as in Lightening McQueen} to kids. Because the whole way there Livi was excited to see "Dr. McQueen" & infact cried on the way home because "Dr. McQueen sissen A-Ya-Ya!" {Dr. McCann listen to Olivia} She WANTED to have the doctor listen to her!! They were rockstars at the appointment! Beyond words impressed!! Liv & Logan sat in the stroller & didn't make a peep. Hayden sat nice on a scale {31 lbs 4.5 oz by the way}. First time we haven't had to hold him there kicking & screaming. He let them look in his ears, take his temp, listen to him all without a peep. The only brief tears were from looking in his throat. SOOO impressed! I had bribed them with stickers going in & infact we picked up 3 stickers on our way out the door for impressive behavior! He even laid down nice on the table & held my hand like a big boy for his shot!! Obviously a few tears with the shot, but very short lived. Shot you ask? They opted to give him a dose of steroids & I opted for him to get a shot vs. the oral medicine, because last year when he had croup, he puked those 'roids right back out. And since he didn't keep 'um in, ended up with a shot anyways {& a puke covered mama!} And mean as it seems, knowing him as well as I obviously do & his gagging, plus coughing, I foresaw a repeat of this puking event. So I opted for the sure deal, sorry buddy. You'll thank me when you can sleep tonight.

Oh viral respiratory crap, you are the worst.

What we've been doing

2012-01-23T14:50:00.100-06:00

Here is a random collection of pictures of what we have been up to! In absolutely no particular order because technology isn't cooperating with me today!

Making my own laundry soap!

Actually I think its great! No issues with clothes not getting clean.

Dabbled in making my own dish soap too... that one, definately not a hit.

Organization! Not sure that I like red, just had the scrap paper for my trial run. I want to cut out pictures of whats in each bin. So the kids can help us more putting things away where it goes, like they do at school.

Hehe! Just found some blocks laying around. Coincidence that all these letters are the same color??

Yay! Place to put the kids' artwork!

Empty ice cream bucket, scrapbook paper, mod podge & spray adhesive {& some other random supplies for other things I was doing.}

Equals a place to stores hair pretties... prett-ily!

I turned this into something pretty too.

Headband storage! Lots of room inside too!

Found 3 "weep"s in the $1 bin at Target. Hayden especially really likes to sweep.

Took some of these old things....

Bought a few of these...

Cut. Ironed in half. Threw in a few stitches.

And created some Logan sized!!

Organized my bathroom cabinet! If this was my "forever home" I would have painted in there too. I aspire to have my home look like her's some day.

Before

After

Got rid of the rolling carts {which found new homes in the kids' closet}. A few Walmart & Target bins. {Target's $1 has a ton of storage stuff in January by the way!} Some sticky labels & I'm much happier.

And those old diaper boxes on the bottom shelf in the bathroom done picture, got even more done. With a little fabric & hot glue, they turned from this....

To this. My first run.... not too bad!

Played around with my Cricut a little. Oh so much $$ could be spent investing in cartridges!

My first Cricut creation. Cardboard, scrapbook paper & Mod Podge.

The embrodery hoops from my Christmas card holder & some scrap fabric brightened up my laundry room!

Meanwhile the kids goofed around...

And I made a few more boxes!!! I LOVE these!! I have something else I'm working on with that polka-dot fabric.... Will get it done eventually...

Some Chicken Salad roll-ups thanks to Pinterest! These were amazing! Been cooking some good Pinterest inspired recipies!

My kids {who don't usually like much sweets, especially chocolate}.... randomly enjoying some chocolate pudding cups!!

Logan

Hayden stopped mid-bite to say "Cheese!" He is such a ham. He has SOO much personality these days.

Yes we are still in PJs with bed head at lunch. Be jealous!

Don't let his cuteness fool you. He is our terrible-est 2 year old right now. He is soooo ornery. Pushes our buttons just to push them. Defies everything, just for a response. Patience, patience, patience Katie.... he is just trying you!!!

The end result of handing 3 2 year olds each their own pudding cup.... was a bath! Yes they are all blond haired & blue eyed. But when their hair is wet you can tell that their hair really is 3 different shades of blond. Hayden is the lightest. Livi is the darkest.
{Hayden, Olivia & Logan}

Logan's newest thing is playing "hide & seek" with things. Putting his car under the water asking me "Viving doe?" {Where did Lightening go?} When I say "Where did he go?" He quickly pulls him out & exclaims "VIVING IS!!" {Here Lightening is!} He does this with all sorts of objects behind curtains, under pillows, etc. Hopefully he doesn't start hiding phones, keys, etc. in places & not remembering where they are!!

I TRIED to catch a picture of this... but this is all I got :( Livi wanted me to put bubbles on her chin. When I did... she exclaimed "Ya-ya like Sassa!" {Olivia looks like Santa!} Her mind works so fast it's exhausting!

Livi is SOO into her babies right now. She spends all day undressing them. Bathing them. Feeding them. Changing their diapers. Tucking them into her bed. Telling us "Shhh baby sleeping!" All day!!

And she is pretty particular about the details. This is the tupperware tub that was the kids' NICU bath tubs. Awwww....

She had to have "soap" {white container}, a "wash kof" {washcloth}, a bowl/cup to "rinse off" her baby.

Logan thought the baby needed a car to play with in the tub too!

I was just impressed he shared. He usually looks like this!!! Hoarder!

More baby bath...

And feeding her baby "supper." {she calls every meal supper} Gives her kisses & says "YAY" when she eats all her "chicken & banana."

And she changes her baby's "bye-per" {diaper} all day long. All.day.long. She has been getting out this pair of blue socks that she puts on her hands when she changes diapers. We thought it was so odd. Then it dawned on us that they wear gloves at daycare when they change the kids' diapers! Oh my gosh. She is so brilliant. Thats some awesome imaginary & copy-cat play girlfriend!!

Despite his orneryness.... he is still pretty amazing!! Bedtime prayers!

In a nutshell, thats what we've been up to....

The beauty of little minds.

2012-01-22T21:27:00.001-06:00

Working on uploading some pictures so I can show you what we have been up to.

But for now just a story, or 2, then off to bed for a good night sleep before work. After a few healthy weeks, there are some snot & coughs showing their ugly faces around here again. So I think I better get my sleep while I can!

We have been working with the kids on saying their prayers before bed. Dancing to a CD with little kids Church songs. Talking on a toddler level about loving God & Jesus. Especially since we have been very absent at our Church lately. Its just hard with 3 2 year olds. They do not staff a nursery well. We have tried taking the kids there with no success. We end up staffing it ourselves. It was a huge nightmare with 3 tots, so we just took a "leave of absence" until we were brave enough to try to sit through a service with the 3 of them. But Saturday Livi told us she wanted to go to Church & sing Baby Jesus songs. So..... we went. Took all 3 tots into the service with us. Sat way in the back. Hayden got taken out 3 times for a time out of sorts. He was naughty! Had it just been Liv & Log, it would have been easy. They all got a few dirty looks from their mama though, because Hayden's ornery-ness rubs off. We left some Cheerios behind. I probably sprouted a few grey hairs, BUT... we survived. Can I get an "AMEN!"

I have mentioned the kiddos discovering the art of procrastination, especially before bed. Well tonight I just couldn't get mad at Hayden for procrastinating. Why? We had just gotten done saying their prayers. Their little hands folded. Repeating things like "Thank you for za-za" {pizza} "Love you God." "Love you baby Jesus." "Amen." And there Hayden sits on the side of his bed. Hands folded. Saying "More pray!" "No night-night." "More pray peas!" {please}

Little minds are just beautiful.

Again we turn two??

2012-01-22T21:03:00.000-06:00

January 18, 2012..... was our 2 year Due Date Birthday!

Their birthday party seems like it was SOOO long ago. While due dates are really nothing more than a date, and mean very little to most people after a baby is born. To me, its a reminder of how premature they really were. How far they have really come. And how truely blessed we really are.

Having preemies is interesting. I think about development, milestones, "catching up" almost daily. While I do not have any current concerns about my tots being behind & I think they are as caught up as anyone could ask of them, the thought still lingers. I think lots of parents obsess over their toddlers speech development as they interpret their child's "version" of various words. And as my kids have an "excuse" or 2 to have speech delays or problems {and as I've been told that by various experts a time or 2} I can't help but analize it. But the past few months have been fantastic for speech at our house, here is where we are:

Logan has finally fallen into the stage where he repeats everything out of our mouths. Half of the time he doesn't have a clue what exactly he is saying. I often hear him behind me "scolding" Hayden or Livi if they did something wrong. "Ya-ya. No hit. Nice." {He forgets the "be" that comes before the nice, but he is always telling them to be "nice!"} But the sounds just come spewing back out & I love to hear it! We were at a play date this week with 7 other little kids & I got him to say each of their names. I was impressed. {PS. there were 4 of us nursing school classmates at this playdate. The 4 of us have had 10 kids, 9 boys, 1 girl in just 4 years!} Plus when he repeats sentences or phrases, its great practice in stringing a variety sounds together even if he doesn't grasp the full concept! He is still definately the quietest. But don't let that fool you. Its not that he knows less, or even that his vocabulary is smaller, its just his personality. He is just a man of few words. He doesn't say anything unless something really needs to be said.

Hayden is a horse of a different color. VERY different man than Logan. He talks a whole lot.... but doesn't really say anything! I think him & Logan are on a pretty equal page in terms of vocabulary, spoken & understood, but if you only spent a short time with them, you wouldn't think that. Hayden thinks he knows it all. Talks, talks, talks. But about half of what he says is just "filler." Nonsense sounds. And he likes to "show off" answering a question that I ask them, but I don't think he realizes that I know all he did was just repeat exactly what just came out of Olivia's mouth. He is starting to use his words to try to declare his independence, which is a bit trying because he doesn't always know exactly what he is asking for. Like crying & saying he wants the "yellow ball!!" Only to find out the ball he wants & has been throwing a tantrum over for 20 mins... is really blue. He knows his color words quite well... just not necessarily which word goes with which color? We're working on that!

Miss Livi, she is in a WHOLE other ballpark. She talks more or less in full sentences. She knows a lot of shapes. A ton of colors. And hardly says something without using an adjective to describe it. Two months has made a huge difference in their vocabs & I think if you were considering her 24 months now rather than 26, she'd be right up there with the front of the pack. Her pronunciation is often off. Some "words" are still less true words & more sounds that represent an object. But she puts them together to make a complete thought. Like the other morning when Jeff left for work she said: "ITS A MOMMY DAY! Daddy drive a car, go a-workin'" And she even tells stories of past events. Like: "Eat a-supper Mama GG's house. LeeLee eat a-supper too. Sessents {Presents.} Sassa. {Santa.}" <--She likes to recount Christmas. Still talks about baking a cake for Baby Jesus. This week was telling me the story of their birthday party when they, "Eat a Melmo cake. Mama singing. Alex singing too." She throws in an extra "a" a lot of places & subs it in for words she is missing. But she has the hang of it! And her memory is outstanding!! She loves to sing the ABC's {though she only gets as far as A.B.C!} And claps & says "YAY!!" when she is done.

Our house is loud, loud, loud. And while that may equate to a few extra Ibuprofen for this mama's headaches... its perfect.

"Breathing medicine doctor"

2012-01-21T00:04:00.000-06:00

Livi saw the respiratory doctor this week. Follow-up from, well, from everything.

I took all 3 kids & went, & it actually went off without a hitch. Snack cups full of fruit loops can buy me just the right amount of time of silence usually! They were actually excited to see the "breathing medicine doctor." They quite like the inhaler, we have to pretend to give the boys puffs too everytime Livi gets hers. Not to mention, her name is Dr. Thomas! {We LOVE Thomas the train!} So they talked about her all morning, the whole way there & all the way home ;) {And my friend & past co-worker Anne now works there so it was great to see her briefly too!}

Livi is a rock star at this doctor thing. Sits quietly while they listen to her. Steps up nice on the scale. Stands against the wall to see how tall she is. She was awesome! {By the way, in clothes, no shoes, she was 27.5 pounds & I think 34.25 inches.} The boys sat nicely in the stroller, no screaming!! And Hayden actually wanted to jump out of the stroller to stand on the scale & see how big he was too! {Maybe we'll grow out of this stranger anxiety yet??}

Basically, she sounds good. We'll keep on keepin' on with the steroids through the winter months. Revisit the issue in spring & talk about weaning down her 'roid dose for the summer.

Cricut

2012-01-16T12:23:00.000-06:00

So I got a Cricut for Christmas. I've played around with it a little. And I'm searching through their website & online tutorials for various things.

Any Cricut users out there have any words of wisdom? Great online resources? How tos?

A new art...

2012-01-14T14:46:00.007-06:00

The kids are working on mastering a new art. The art of manipulation/procrastination.

Since 2 year molars starting, Hayden has been a bedtime/naptime struggle to get down. Whether or not its caused by the molars, or sleeping habbits related to molars, or just a coincidence in timing, we've had a rough go of it getting him to conceide & crawl into bed. We try to make sure he has everything he, um, "needs" before going to bed. Blanket. Lovie. Pillow. Car. Mommy kiss. Daddy kiss. Daddy tuck in. But then it turns into "baby night night." So we grab a baby doll, get it tucked in with him. Then its "more tractor night night"... off to grab a tractor. "Elmo night-night"....off to... you get the picture. And lately a lot, we end up with a tantrum & occasionally a boy falling asleep on the floor by their bedroom door. But we're sticking to our guns & things are starting to get a little bit better. Still some "too early for this mama" mornings though.

And Livi at bedtime & at daycare drop off: "More kiss." "Mommy more kiss." "More kiss" "More kiss."

Ok so it's SOOO incredibly sweet. How can you not give in? But Liv, thats 8 kisses now, I love you too but mommy has to go to work at some point today. {This however will be different with Jeff's new schedule this semseter. He will be the drop off AND the pick up parent!}

Speaking of daycare. The kids had not been there in 2 weeks with Jeff being off over the holidays. So before heading back, we were talking with the kids about going back to school. And after all this time, Livi still continues to talk about Jack. His name is mentioned the minute we say school! However it sounds like this little diva of ours is already getting herself into some boy drama. When I drop the kids off in the morning, there is always just one other little boy in the toddler room. His name is Mason. As Logan & Hayden came around the corner he asked "Where's Olivia?" Apparently Mr. Mason has been asking the teachers every day if Olivia is coming today. So... Mason likes Livi. Livi likes Jack. Isn't this stuff supposed to not happen for another 10 years at least??!!

After the holidays I discovered the kids' baskets {cubbies}at daycare had been moved. But I guess that means they got bumped up an "age bracket" within the toddler room. They are no longer the youngest toddler group! How the littlest things seem like these big ole' milestones is shocking isn't it? They have been bringing home more artwork since the transition!

Just keep swimming...

2012-01-09T22:04:00.001-06:00

Spent some time at the Y this weekend.... swimming!!

Took them a little while to get in & they weren't so fond of the deep end. But they played really well for about an hour & had a blast.

Hayden was the bravest fish. He is Mr. Go Getter lately. Here he is splashing his daddy using a shovel.

I had gotten them some water shoes at the end of the summer clearance prices. Which I think helped a lot at the Y. The zero entry, smooth, painted concrete is kind of slick there. Shoes were very helpful.

We had to coax him out when Logan & Livi were ready to go.

Tired girl ready to go....

....so tired she fell asleep waiting for lunch to cook! That swimming stuff is hard work!

On a side note... the boys' buzzes are growing on me. Might look better if anyone would cooperate for a picture!

This boy has eaten & eaten & eaten this week. I swear he'll weigh 35lbs by Friday at this rate!!

Molar #3

2012-01-08T21:10:00.001-06:00

Well Hayden is drooling like a 12 month old. And his poor butt is sore, sore, sore. All to be explained by 2 year molar #3 popping through his bottom right gums. I can't believe he has popped 3 of them through so quick. Only that top left one yet to go!

"I want...."

2012-01-04T22:35:00.000-06:00

I've been doing some bathroom organizing. Which lead to a little kids' closet organizing. And a little toy room organizing. Bumping "storage equipment" from room to room.

I was working in the toy room & Hayden was talking about something. Pouring Fruit Loops from one cup to another {He's obsessed with pouring right now!} & talking. He kept talking & talking... and finally I realized he was talking to me. So I stopped & asked what he wanted. I was sitting by the toy kitchen & all the toy cups, bowls, plates, etc. And he looked at me & said his first REAL sentence. Like beyond putting a few words together to make a "sentence," a REAL sentence.

"I want more cup please!"

I guess he needed to pour between 3 cups & as I was sitting right by them, he figured I could certainly hand him one. Plus I can't say I have ever heard him say "I want" before, thats awesome! AND without being prompted, he inclued a please! Way to go Hayden!!

Go!

2012-01-04T00:07:00.000-06:00

So this year, this 2012, I have a few goals.

1. Cut our grocery budget WAY WAY down. Any pros out there want to toss me some tips? I don't think any stores in Omaha double coupons :(

2. Organize the HECK out of this house!

And I think project #1 will be our bathroom. I've been pinning the heck out of things on Pinterest for inspiration. Anyone have awesome bathroom organization & storage tips?? Once we finally get our Christmas decor down, maybe I'll get started. We'll see how long this takes me!

Doctor, Doctor

2012-01-03T01:17:00.001-06:00

After our 2 year well check, Dr. Harrison wanted us to take Liv & Logan to see a specialist in relation to the umbillical hernias they had as babies because he felt the defects were still open. He figured they wouldn't recommend fixing them & I assumed that would be the case too. But we still figured we'd get our piece of mind, so we went to see Dr. Raynor last week.

He says:
*Livi's defect is completely closed. She just has a pretty big outie of skin left.

*Logan still has a defect there, infact you can see it bulge a little when he crys. However it is less than 1cm in size & he doesn't feel a loop of bowel could even fit out any more. He says defects that are smaller than 1cm at this point, 90% of them close on their own by age 5. So he wouldn't recommend doing anything until then.

Score & score!

Thinking about them growing & changing & looking at the pictures at the end of the boys' new buzz cuts blog made me think about how much they have grown in the past year. So I wanted to look back. Whats funny is they all gained basically 6.5 pounds & each grew 4.5-4.75 inches from 1 to 2. But just look at their percentiles increasing as they continue to "catch up" from preemie-hood.

Hayden:
1 year: Weight: 22lbs 14 oz (51%), Height: 29.5 in (39%), Head: 19.3 in (98%)
2 years: Weight: 29 lbs 6 oz (67%) , Height: 34.25 in (48%), Head: 20.25 in (98%)
Olivia:
1 year: Weight: 19 lbs 6 oz (21%), Height: 29 in (46%), Head: 17.8 in (57%)
2 years: Weight: 25 lbs 15.5 oz (41%), Height: 33.75 in (50%), Head: 19 in (64%)

Logan
1 year: Weight: 19 lbs 8 oz (7%), Height: 29 in (24%), Head: 18.2 in (41%)
2 years: Weight: 25 lbs 12.5 oz (22%), Height: 33.5 in (28%), Head: 19.5 in (67%)

We also got a letter back from the TIPS developmental follow-up program. Basically said that from the information we submitted, they are on track developmentally. And we'll hear from them again in a year.

BUZZZZ!!!!

2012-01-03T00:45:00.005-06:00

So its been about 7 weeks since the boys' last hair cut & it was coming time that we needed to go again. Jeff & I were having the conversation today about cutting back on spending this year (do all couples discuss that every January??) And we said we'll have to get a good clippers so we can buzz the boys' hair this summer. Jeff has one, but its old & not very nice. (Like you have to keep it plugged in or the battery will die old.)

BUT... we got a wild idea to give it a whirl today with his old one. Why not? We've got no where to go & its just little boys' hair...it will grow back fast! Get them all ready for, er, winter?

So we each grabbed a drink & went to work....

Gave them suckers like they do at Family Fun Cutz. Hayden actually sat awesome! Logan I don't have pictures of, because he sat on my lap.

Livi wanted hers cut too. To try to help them not be scared, we told them the clippers was like a blow dryer, because it makes a similar noise & they are all about Livi's toy blow dryer since Christmas. So she said all evening "Cut a Ya-ya hair, like a blow-dryer!"

Her little mullet is out of control too. If it wasn't so curly I would have to cut it. And if that cowlick wasn't so major, I'd give her some real bangs. On the sides its finally to the bottom of her ears when its straight. But look how long it really is in back!!!! Oh my gosh!

But then it does this... Carole Brady style...

And ends up like this!

I hope it stays that way as she gets older!!

Back to the boys. So its a LOT shorter than I had envisioned. A lot. And because its so short now & so blond it looks so thin! We have to figure out how to make it longer on top & in the front if we are actually going to keep doing this. But it wasn't a total failure, we saved $40 & they are pretty cute despite!

Hayden

At dinner with our new traintrack table centerpiece.

Logan

He had a fever over the weekend, nothing major. And today his face, chest, belly & back are completly covered in a rash. But he acts 100% fine. I don't know if you can see it in the picture, but in person he looks pretty rough. Who knows with kids? Who knows?

A few little rocky spots there on the back left. But in Jeff's defense, he did not sit very still. You don't see them in person like you do in this picture. But if thats the worst of it for our 1st go, not all that bad, right?

We are also practicing drinking from big boy/big girl cups. Santa brought us these in our stockings.

They do well with the actual DRINKING part. Its the putting them down nice. Not putting food in them. Or copying your sibling when an oops happens thing that keeps us primarily with sippies still.

2 buzzed boys, a mullet girl & a brown haired mommy reading on the couch before bed. See they all 3 still kinda-sorta fit on my "lap" to read to them!

They have grown just a little bit since last fall!!

{But now the boys' hair looks about the same! Ha!}

The Zoo

2011-12-31T22:01:00.004-06:00

December in Nebraska usually means snow. Zero degree temperatures. And being stuck inside. This winter, besides one mild snow storm, thus far has been remarkable. 40 & 50 degree temperatures!! We decided to take a trip to the Zoo & enjoy the amazing weather with our grandmas, aunts & cousins!

We were QUITE a crew. 6 adults, 4 2 year olds & 2 infants! Check out our caravan! All the way from Jeff by the back arrow, to Livi by the front arrow!

Analeigh's first trip to the zoo

Ava's first trip to the zoo

Check out Livi's poor nose. Did you read my blog about the story she was telling me? THAT is what she was talking about. She stumbbled getting off her new trike while we were outside enjoying the beautiful weather & took a nose dive onto the concrete!

The zoo was busy, but we got pretty close up with a few animals.

Hayden was SOO excited about the orangutans & gorillas! They came right up to the window & interacted with the me & the kids quite a bit!

LOVE her in pig tails!!!! So grown up looking!!!

Hayden was SOO ornery! And Livi tried to follow. Sneaking out of strollers. Running off. He has totally come out of his shell in the past month! Not sure if its just growing up or if daycare is doing him that much good? Its fun to watch him grow & explore... not so fun to chase a FAST 2 year old around the buzy zoo!

"RAWR!!!" Tigers!

Logan & the tiger having a staring contest. He has the best "RAWR!!"

The 2 wee-ones did great at the zoo too!! Here is LeeLee checking out the tigers too!

Logan & Liv got tired & each snuck in a little cat nap. We were there all afternoon & walked our butts off!!

We had a great time. It was a very different experience than this summer. The kids are so much more interested. Know lots of the animals & want to learn more! The only down side, the aquarium is closed for renovations until spring :( At least we got to spend some time checking out these fish!

Its nearly impossible to get the 3 of them to sit still long enough for a picture. And even though I didn't get their faces, I think this is my favorite pic of the day.

I love her stories

2011-12-31T11:19:00.001-06:00

Livi remembers everything, EVERYTHING! And loves to tell you about what she did yesterday. Or last week. She always tells me what she did during her "daddy day" when "mommy go a-workin." When I got home from work last night, she was telling me the story of what happened on Wednesday afternoon. See if you can figure out what happened?

And I quote...

"Ya-ya pay owe-side. Pay bikes. Nose owie. Wipe-a nose, wash nose. Mommy kiss. Wash owie nose. Pay owe-side. BOOM!"

2011 in review

2011-12-30T21:58:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite things about blogging is how easy it is to look back at what life was like a year ago, or the year before that. People blog for different reasons. I blog to journal the happenings of my houshold, mostly for myself, because these moments pass by in the blink of an eye & I want a way to remember them all. The good, the bad & the ugly. Because its our story.

As the end of 2011 approaches I can't help but look back at last January. Its simply amazing how far the kids have come & how fast they have grown up! We had a jam packed year full of so many fun things, I almost forgot about some of them!! And while 2011 started out pretty rocky, as it comes to a close it turned out to be a pretty amazing year despite. Lets take a little stroll down memory lane. Highlights from our 2011....

*December 2010 ended with our 1st trip to the ER, when Livi had pneumonia. Then we headed into 2011....

*January was a big month! We started to talk, and talk, ditched the bottles, pulled the plug on Liv's paci, finally had 3 walkers, & recieved in return our first kisses! And I slammed my finger in the van door, still can't believe that happened. (That finger still gets sore & tight sometimes, I still do a little at home PT with it on occasion.)

*February we survived pink eye... and more pink eye & our first bout of the flu!! Started learning our body parts & did our first coloring.

*March the boys got their first haircuts. We re-finished our basement. We found out Logan is allergic to Amoxicillin, oh my gosh that was awful! We took ER trips #2 & #3 .

*April brought us a much needed break just to learn & grow!!

*May brought us 2 little runaways, our first "family vacation" & some SHIT in the ball pit!

*June was busy! Full of swimming, the zoo, family reunion, the circus, Jeff & my 5 year Anniversary & my 10 year HS reunion.

*July brought more zoo, more pool, parades & summer fun. Booster seats. The start of our word a day take off. And one of my favorite pics of all time (the very last one!)

*August was a big month too. We enjoyed our 1st air show. Went to the fair. Rode the zoo choo-choo. I started a new job. Jeff started a new job. And Livi had eye surgery, it was pretty rough!

*September we celebrated Addie turning 2. Welcomed a new niece, Ava. Enjoyed the fall weather. And had our first ever day of daycare!

*October we moved to big kid beds! Spent some time at the pumpkin patch. Watched some football. Spent more time at the pumpkin patch & MORE time at the pumpkin patch. I turned 29. We saw CARS in real life! We trunk-or-treated. Welcomed our 2nd niece of the year, Analeigh. We love her! And we survived our 2nd flu of the year. Barely!! October was BUSY!

*November the kids turned 2. We had an awesome Sesame Street party!! Took some family pictures. Jeff turned 31. We learned to sleep in sleeping bags!

*December brought our first hospital stay. So glad to be home. Our 1st "I LOVE YOU!" And the realization that my kids are not babies anymore! Its amazing how they have grown over the past 12 months!!

I welcome 2012 with open arms. The good & the bad. Because I'm realizing, the tough times only make us stronger. And make us cherish the good ones even longer.

So bring it on 2012, just know you've definately got some tough acts to follow!!

"ABC"

2011-12-29T20:49:00.000-06:00

Today out of the blue Livi was singing something different than our normal "bitsy-bitsy pie" {itsy bitsy spider} or "march march, boom!" {ants go marching 2 by 2... boom, boom, boom} At first we weren't sure what it was. Finally we figured out she was singing her version of the ABCs!!!

It went a little something like this:

"ABC" "ABC" "ABC" "ABC" "ABC" "ABC" "ABC" "ABC"

All the way home from the Zoo. And all evening in her breaks from blow-drying her hair ;)

Yes I said the ZOO!! The weather here is BEAUTIFUL! Unheard of for late-December in Nebraska! We spent the entire afternoon at the zoo with Grandma Maas, Tisha, Addie, Ava, Grandma GG, Molly & Analeigh. We were quite a crew!! Had a blast. Have sore feet. So worth it. We have so much post holiday cleaning we need to do, not to mention all the day-to-day things that didn't get done during the past week of Christmases. But you can NOT pass up on weather like this! We'll clean when its snowy, nasty & ZERO degrees (its inevitable right?).

Our Christmas Finale!

2011-12-29T00:03:00.001-06:00

Since we spent the Christmas weekend out of town & I worked the following Monday. We finally had Christmas at home on Tuesday. Santa apparently found our house a few days late ;) I went round & round about what things to be from mommy & daddy vs. what to be from Santa. And I think next year when the kids are old enough to understand more, we're going to have to set our traditions in stone.

After I got home from work & the kids went to bed. We got their presents from Jeff & I down from the top of the entertainment center & under the tree. And we got their stockings down & stuffed...{err I mean we got them out for Santa's easy access} And we, um, "helped?" Santa by getting their big gift all set up & ready.

The kids were pretty calm in the morning & actually sat & ate breakfast before we dug into the presents. Probably the LAST year that will happen! They finally had gotten the hang of this present thing. But they still did want almost everything opened immediately & wanted to stop & play with it just briefly, instead of leaving it in the box & moving right to the next present.

" Colors!!"

Couldn't wait to do a little coloring...

We did have to take a pretty big break to play with the pieces of "choo-choo train" track. And I ended up opening their last presents (new jammies) which I know we should have done first, but they (read: Logan!) kept grabbing presents from under the tree & I was so not in control of the whole process.

They did their stockings last & only dug into them because I told them their might be more choo-choos in there, so they better check!

Oh Logan.... such a hoarder!

Livi found pretties in her stocking!

And "cake stitters" {cupcake stickers}

"Hello pappies!" {Hello Kitty panties.... for sometime this next year, hopefully!}

"More in-air?" {More in there?}

Then we went to the toy room to find what "Sas-sa" {Santa} had brought for them!!

Running in to see Santa's Craigslist find.....

TRAIN TABLE!!

HUGE-HUGE-HIT! HUGE!! Seriously the boys have done nothing but drive trains now for 2 days!! Can't get Logan to come out to change his diaper. And the only way we can get him out of the toy room to eat is to set up the battery powered train set that goes around a little track that we got from Tisha, Aaron, Addie & Ava for Christmas. Its our new dining room table center piece!!

Livi got a make-over kit with a little blowdryer, brush & some plastic pieces that look like make-up. Its been a HUGE hit with her. She even says "blow-dryer" & loves turning it on & off. Off... or the "batteries break." {I told her once not to leave it on when she was done or the batteries would break... she remembers every word you say, every word!}

The kit had some pretend nail polishes too. She even painted her daddy's toes!

Hayden getting in on the make-up action!

More "brush-comb" Seriously she combed for hours! Not exactly the style I'd choose though Liv ;)

I had wanted something bigger for Livi to be from Santa too & just couldn't settle on what. So I decided I'd just do the train table for all of them because I knew (or thought) she'd play with it too. BUT, present opening came & went & she could pretty much care less about the trains. Just loved all that "al-up" {make-up} & her blow-dryer. SOOO... I once again had to help Santa out a little bit & make a trip to Walmart to pick up something I'd thought about. There had been a HUGE pile of these before Christmas. But Monday, I looked & looked & looked... and finally found one stuck back up on a top shelf. ONE! I was pretty sure they were $24.99 when I looked at them originally & now the sticker said $19.99. Even better. I picked up a few other things & when I checked out... it actually rang up as $9.99!!! Score! Lucky I was able to find one left!

Still doing her hair.... She is becoming SUCH a girly-girl & I just absolutley LOVE IT!!

We spent the morning playing & playing & playing. Caught a nap. Then headed to Grandma GG's house for even MORE Christmas!!

One more chance to wear their Christmas shirts.

Livi got a Doctor kit! Grandma helping her "sissen heart" {listen to her heart!} I swear there is almost nothing this girl doesn't know these days!

Analeigh checking out all the action

Livi helping her open her presents.

Such a big girl!!!

Blurry..... but all 3 kiddos helping GG open Livi's big present...

A rocking chair. More specifically, Grandma GG's rocking chair from when she was little all refinished!

The girls in matching GG-made hats :)

Livi's version of playing with tractors.

AHHHHH!! Logan was a little Christmas crazy!

And trying out one more present.... Trikes!! Livi calls them "bikes." Hayden calls them "cycles," as in motorcycles! To each their own!

Basket on the front has a flap that folds down leaving leg holes for a baby doll!!

They don't have the petals figured out yet, but I don't think it will be too long.

My best attempt at getting a picture of the 3 of them.

I got a Cricut... so excited! And a fantastic, beautiful refinished ring that was my grandmother's. LOVE!

Tuesday we ran around spending our Christmas cash & gift cards! Jeff got himself a table saw, which he has been wanting forever. And the kids got to ride in an AWESOME cart at Lowes, that looks like a race car! We both got some much needed tennis shoes. Livi wanted to do more shopping (honestly such a girl!) but instead we went home & played outside with our new trikes. Yes, outside, end of December in Nebraska. This weather is insane!! While its strange not to have a white Christmas, I'll take 50 degree weather any day of the week!

Christmas Weekend 2011

2011-12-26T22:55:00.001-06:00

I got fantastically lucky to have the whole Christmas weekend off!!! We had a great time! Had 2 Holiday celebrations (& we have 2 more to go!)

We packed up Friday morning & headed to Jeff's parent's house for a few days. Had our Maas Christmas dinner Friday night & then opened presents. Had all day Saturday to play with our new goodies with Addie & Ava. I got in some good Ava cuddle time. And we all went to Church Christmas Eve night. The kiddos did fantastic at Church! They were scared for the first 1/3, ate a snack for the next 1/3 & were a little rowdy the last part. But I only had to chase kids down the aisle once. Overall they behaved fantastic!!! I was so proud of their behavior this weekend.

Toddler Table for Christmas dinner

Present time!!!

This one has Thomas wrapping paper, it HAS to be good!

"Ohhhh!"

Cheese!

This was hillarious! I so wish we sould have caught it on video. First the boys opened some CARS lego sets & Logan wanted nothing else to do with presents. Hayden opened another one & it was a tractor. Logan saw it & came sprinting across the room to find HIS next present, ripped the paper of at light speed, shouting "tractor-tractor-tractor!!!" the entire time. Look at his hand in the picture, he was moving so fast I even caught it in the picture!!

Uncle J helping us open our tractors....

.... and build trains....

... and singing Elmo songs.

They had a BLAST with their Uncle J playing & hunting monsters in the basement!! They did such an awesome job not being mommy-daddy needy clingy kids this weekend. Maybe daycare is finally paying off?? I was so excited to see them play & explore a little on their own.

Awesome train from Tisha, Aaron, Addie & Ava had all the kids mesmerized!

Playing CARS Legos Saturday.

Logan could hook all the other cars on Mater's tow hook & drag them all around.

Logan hanging with "Papa Maas" at Church. The kids started calling Jeff's parents "Mama Maas" & "Papa Maas" this week!!

Me & Hayd at Church

Mommy & Miss Liv at Church

Then Sunday, Christmas day, we headed to my Grandparent's house to celebrate & open some more presents.

Poor Livi woke up with a fever Sunday morning. Check out those rosy cheeks! She was pretty bummy the first 1/2 of the day. Some motrin & tylenol & more motrin & finally her fever broke in the afternoon. She had a great time playing after that. Spunky as ever. And she has been perfectly healthy & fever free since, so I'm not sure what was troubling her?

Analeigh opening her presents

Livi not exactly cooperating with Molly

Mommy & Logan

Livi doing some cooking with "Mama See-cert" & "Papa See-cert"

What else would we cook but tractors??

Hayden is such a sweet boy. He had to share his "cycles" with Analeigh.

Isn't she beautiful? I can't believe her eyes are staying so blue!!

We had a very blessed Christmas Weekend. We were able to spend time with our families, eat good food, & watch our kids get spoiled!

Hayden Thomas Christmas 2011

Olivia Paige Christmas 2011

Logan Daniel Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas & A Blessed New Year.

Love: Jeff, Katie, Hayden, Olivia & Logan

Merry Christmas

2011-12-26T10:00:00.000-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We had a fantastic Christmas weekend!
We still have one more Christmas this week & we still have to open presents at home!
Then a few days off home as a family, before this mama has to work the New Year away...

We hope you had a wonderful Holiday & the opportunity to spend some time enjoying your families too.

My kids are AWESOME!

2011-12-20T21:40:00.001-06:00

Logan likes to sleep sideways in bed. Makes me smile when I see him that way, makes me think of when I was pregnant & I could feel his little head & butt sideways like that, curled up in my rib cage. AND it makes me smile to see him with FIVE little cars "sleeping" with him :)

They love looking at all our Christmas "mail!" Pinterest inspired. I think maybe next year I'll paint it?

Randomly... more Pinterest inspiration. I cooked with some green onion & afterwards put the bulbs in a jar of water instead of throwing them away. Jeff laughed. 3 days later....

They LOVE lotion! Love, love, love it. After I covered them all in lotion after a bath, I got them to have fun rubbing it all over MY back!! Ahhh!! (please excuse my love handles, yikes!)

And the awesomest of all..... my 30 beautiful toes!!

I see RED!

2011-12-19T22:43:00.001-06:00

Today we had such a fun day!! We may have never changed out of our "nammies" {jammies}, but we did some fun things today! After breakfast we watched Sesame Street. Today they talked about birthdays & baked a cake. Ever since the kids' birthday when they got a cupcake set, Livi has been obsessed with playing with her cakes. So after seeing it on TV she spent a good hour this morning walking around asking "Ya-ya make cake?" & her little toy cakes just weren't cutting it. Luckily I had a box of cake mix we had gotten over Halloween & never made sitting the cupboard. So.... yes, we baked a cake. Just because. I officially do not run this household anymore. She SOO calls all the shots. I told her we were making Baby Jesus' birthday cake, & she repeated it once or twice, but it didn't really stick. We had a blast! And daddy stopped for some funfetti frosting for us on his way home (I LOVE me some funfetti frosting!)

Pouring in the eggs

And water. If you look close... he missed with about 1/2 of the water, but that was our biggest mess so I'll take it!

Hayden stirring...

Liv stirring...

Logan wasn't quite as into it. He did dump one egg in, but prefered just to stare into the bowl during his turn to stir.

Hayden enjoyed stirring so much, he had a hard time waiting for his turn to come around again.

See!

Black & Orange funfetti cake. Not exactly the right colors for the Season, but oh well.

Watching it bake in the "hot." They are starting to do a good job listening about staying away from the stove & oven & even the dishwasher because we tell them "owie, hot." So they call the stove/oven "hot!" Kitchen gate not coming down anytime soon though. Its about the only major toddler proofing item in our house.

So far Logan is the only one who has eaten any. I figured the boys wouldn't want any & Livi would, as she has been the only one who has been into sweets. Hayden of course didn't want any (so anti-sweets like his dad) & surprisingly Liv didn't either. But Logan, who I never imagined would even try one bite, chowed through 2 pieces!!!

To keep them busy while the cake baked, I got out some string & noodles. I've been working on filling out their TIPS preemie developmental follow-up paperwork & one of the questions on there was if the kids can string noodles onto string. It was the only question on the questionnaire that I had to stop & think, I have absolutely no idea! I didn't do anything fancy like color the noodles, or have different shapes & sizes.... but we made our first macaroni neclaces!! They did GREAT! Livi & Hayden needed a little help pushing the noodle further down on the string so they didn't fall back off when they tried to put the next noodle on, but Logan was a PRO! He did his whole neclace without any help!

Hayden

The hardest part was them remembering to not try to put the noodle on the end with the knot in it.

Such concentration! Logan didn't even have to have a car on hand for this!!

Livi's working so hard. Look at her tongue!! Makes me giggle! Why do tongues have to hang out when we concentrate so hard??

Logan had to make a "choo choo train" out of the noodles too!! They all say "choo choo train" all of the sudden instead of just "choo choo."

One of our creations!

Tonight I trimmed the kids' finger & toe nails. {Pure torture for all involved, not exactly part of our fun day.} While I was cutting, I was thinking about how I desperately need to do something with my own toes, so asked Livi if she wanted me to paint her toe nails for Christmas. She of course said yes! Then as I trimmed the boys' nails (holding them down with all my might) she repeated, "Paint Ya-ya toes" over & over. So I got out some bright red polish to help celebrate the Season.

This is just the 2nd time Little Miss has had her toes decorated. She held perfectly still & even helped me blow them dry. The boys watched in admiration. It wasn't long after her toes were dry, that I had 4 little boy feet up on my lap, "Maas toes!" {Hayden} "None-en toes!" {Logan} "Toes Poppies" {pretties}

So tonight {as if a day of baking & making jewlery wasn't enough}.... we kissed them goodnight, said our "I Love Yous," & tucked 30 red toes into bed!

It was bedtime, so they weren't really into cooperating tonight, but I will try to get a picture of all their toes. But for now, here are Logan's sports jammies & painted toes!

{So thankful to have a husband who is OK with his sons having painted toe nails & doesn't buy into the controversy that THIS ADD stirred up back in April.}

Because painted or not, we're just thankful to have our 30 toes.

Conversations

2011-12-19T13:17:00.001-06:00

We are getting to the point that I can on occasion have full out conversations with the kiddos. Their speaking still isn't very clear. And there are "words" they use that most people wouldn't get. But WE can have real conversations & thats what counts.

I usually get home from work & if the kids are still awake, its just enough time for a story, a toothbrush & bedtime. Sunday night when I got home from work:

Kids: "Mommy home!" "Mommy kiss!" "Mommy back!" "Mommy ah done workin'."
Me: "Did you have a fun day with dad?"
H: "Yep"
Me: "What did you have for supper?"
O: "Bak Bak" {chix nuggets}
H: "Cheese"
Me: "Yummy"
L: "Bapple" {apple}
Daddy: "Tell mom what you had for lunch"
H: "May-ne snacks."
Me: "Fruit snacks?"
Daddy: "You had Manny fruit snacks before lunch. But what did you have for lunch?"
O: "Oatmeal!"
L: "Bath"
O: "New clothes"
Me: "Oh it was such a mess you you had to take a bath & change clothes after lunch?"
H: "Yep."
Daddy: "Tell mommy how many baths you took."
O: "Bath yucky!"
H: "Yuck!"
Daddy: "Yeah, apparently somebody sharted. We had to take 2 baths!"
L: "Yucky bath!"
Me: "Hahahaha!!"

Me: "Are you ready for bed?"
O: "No. More read Ma-mus book." "Mommy lap" "Tao-ch"
Me: "Ok you can sit on my lap on the couch & we'll read a quick story."

Break to read a Thomas book or 2.

Me: "Ok lets go night-night."
O: "Tuck in?"
L: "Lovie?"
H: "Lovie, bapet?" {blanket}
Me & daddy: "Yes we'll get your lovies & blankets & tuck you in."
O: "Mommy kiss!" "Maas kiss." "Go-gun kiss." "Moe Ya-ya daddy kiss."
L: "Viving!!!" {Lightening McQueen}
H: "Bus??"

Break to find all 3 Lightening McQueen matchbox cars & the Little Tikes school bus. Then get everybody tucked in with a bed full of toys & give seemingly 14 rounds of kisses.

Me & daddy: "Love you Hayden."
H: "Love you mommy-dad-ye."
Me & daddy: "Love you Logan."
L: "Love you."
O: "Love you Ya-ya."
Me: "Yes I love you too Olivia"
Daddy: "Love you more."
O: "Love you moe!"
Me: "Night, love you." (while closing bedroom door)
O" "Night, love you. Night, love you. Night, love you. Night, love you......" (heard my whole walk down the hallway...)

They are becoming such little PEOPLE every day.

And the things Livi remembers & talks about always blow my mind. Everytime someone gets hurt, & we say owie. She thinks back to her hosptial stay & says "Maas owie" "Moe beep-beep ear?" "Moe sis-sin" (while rubbing chest) As if to say we better take his temperature & listen to him with a stethoscope since he has owies!

On a side note. Hayden can officially open door knobs. He does it very, very infrequently. Never in the mornings so far. They wait in their room for us to come let them out. But he CAN. This will be a WHOLE new bag of worms!!

Tonight I Mourn.

2011-12-18T23:28:00.001-06:00

Tonight as I crawl into bed, I'm hugging my kids tightly & thinking of a beautiful 3 year old girl I had the opportunity to meet in October as she proudly spread flowers at her uncle's wedding. That little girl, a daughter & the niece of friends of Jeff's & mine, will be spending this Christmas in Heaven. We heard today that she tragically passed away yesterday following what I only know to be a tragic ranching accident.

My heart mourns for her family. I simply can not put words to how it makes me feel. She reminded me so much of her mommy & I can't get both their beautiful freckled faces out of my mind. My heart is not strong enough to imagine their loss.

Dear sweet little Brenna, I pray God brings comfort & peace to your family following this tragic accident. Please keep the Clark & Abbott familes in your prayers today & this Holiday season. Forget the candies, the cookies & the stress of the season & please stop to hug your kids tightly. Enjoy every moment you get with your families this this Holiday season. I know I will be.

Its beginning to look a lot like "Mis mis"

2011-12-16T21:48:00.003-06:00

I can't believe its less than a week & a half away!! We're trying to get into the Christmas spirit, but I still feel like it should be 3 weeks out. This time of year just flys by! I finally got a few presents wrapped, though they are on top of the entertainment center, not under the tree. I don't trust those 6 little busy hands! I have a few odds & ends things yet to get, but we're for the most part ready. We haven't been doing anything super special to prepare for the holidays. We talk to the kids about it. They know who Santa is (& sometimes call bearded men at the store Santa!). And while they love to talk about him, they don't like actually meeting him. Livi knows who Baby Jesus is, as in she knows who the figure in our Manger is (or "Jesus house"). The boys know, kind of, but not like her. She is so intent on knowing everything there is to know. She knows Jesus's mommy is Mary & daddy is Joseph. But usually calls them "Jesus mommy" & "Jesus daddy" & she enjoys taking the wooden characters to bed with her. And if you ask her whose birthday is on Christmas, she'll tell you "baby Jesus!" She remembers everything... as in there are a few presents for other people she knows what they are. And if you ask her what we got ______ for Christmas, she just might tell you!!

We've been staying busy.... and healthy! Trying to have fun & not get wrapped up in all the stress that sadly comes with the Holiday season.

It was very cold & since we have had sick kids, we rather brought the snow IN to play with.

Hayden thought it was pretty silly

Livi says "Burrrr." However she gets confused & says "Burrr.... hot!"

YUM! They ended up each eating 2 bowls full! {Don't worry, it wasn't yellow!}

Logan quite enjoyed it. Next time we get snow we better be healthy enough to get out & try out our new boots!

I know we just went through a growth spurt.... and they are looking a little chubby with their shirts off here!

We have been loving horsie rides. Mostly on daddy's back. But "Maas" can actually give Livi a ride for a few steps!! They both enjoy it.

Boom!

And teething.... apparently on my kitchen chairs! OMG!

I've been doing some crafting. Which the kids call "workin'." They like to do their "workin'' too. A few cut up pieces of construction paper can keep them busy a long time.

Wearing our winter coats!!

Got a land line!! Hope to never have to use it.

They are almost ALWAYS asking to have their diapers changed. "Change butt." "Owie butt" "Pee potty" "bi-per" or a variety of other phrases mean they are getting close to potty training time. YIKES! Livi trying to put her own diaper on before bed.

Some little $3 tractors from Walmart are keeping the boys busy. They have mastered the art of putting the wagon on themselves! Very impressive I think!! Awesome fine motor skills.

Takes some serious concentration.

We've been stealing eachothers stuff. Everything from toys... to breakfast!

Coloring!!

"Mis Mis Tea"

Don't dream of doing anything without a car in hand Logan!

Molly & LeeLee came to see Santa at the mall with us. And bring us some new Christmas shirts from GG.

The boys had to take a little break from waiting in line.

Almost our turn. "Nanta!"

They enjoyed his little workshop. Trees & presents....

But the big guy, not so much!! 3 tearful tots. Maybe next year??

Afterwards some "bak bak" {chicken nuggets} & "fries" from Burger King got us some cool hats. Lay down the back seat in a double stroller & you have a seat for 2! Until the kicking starts.....

Their little brains are still on fire. Repeating everything. Coming up with new words daily & speaking often in 3-4 word phrases. Even Logan. (Though I have a harder time differentiating his words & understanding what he is saying.)

Do you remember as a kid there were words your parents hated. (Like shut-up or stupid!?) Didn't understand it as a kid, there were such worse things out there we could have chosen. Well I have my first word that I'd like to never hear again. I hate "MINE!" All day "mine, mine, mine." Makes me dread the years ahead that I'm sure will include lots of shut-ups & stupids.

They have started telling eachother NO. In regards to things other than stealing toys. Like "NO" don't climb on the kitchen table.

Logan has started taking us by the hand to bring us somewhere when he wants something. He does this to his siblings too, often to their dismay.

This morning I asked Olivia what she wanted to wear. I wasn't really expecting a response, however she replied "Cat shirt." So I pulled out of her closet 2 shirts with cats on them & asked her which one. "Pink cat shirt." I was infact holding in my hand a pink shirt with the Cat in the Hat on it. I then turned to the boys & asked what do you want to wear today? To which Livi piped in & replied, "Ma-mus shirt" {Thomas}. And they agreed. {She is such a little mother!} Things are changing around her way too fast. They are SOO not my little babies anymore. {Though if you ask them they'll sometimes say "mommy baby," as in they are my babies!}

Livi is loving her little Leaptop computer. She is starting to learn some of her letters. She can find O, P, D & her favorite is W! She has done this ALL on her own with the help of her computer, I only wish I could take the credit for teaching them to her. She'll even say "O" "O-ya-ya" because now I tell her O is for Olivia.

We were reading some Thomas the Train books tonight & they all surprised us with some other knowledge. There are a variety of different train characters on Thomas the TRain & when we started naming names, they could point all 4 of them out that were in the book. James, Percy, Thomas & Gordon! And keep in mind, Gordon & Thomas even to me look very alike, both blue. Gordon is bigger & they have different numbers on the side. They could even point out which was Thomas when all they saw was the back 1/2 of the train with his #1 on the side!! We have never, ever discussed that with them. And I promise we don't watch DVDs constantly. I am amazed they picked that all up!

They get so proud of their accomplishments. And get so proud when they show off something new they have learned, even a word. I'm having a blast with this stage {most of it!} I'm so proud of them!

I think for the most part they'll make "Nanta"s NICE LIST this year.

P.S. Jeff is done with this semester of classes! Meaning only 1 semester left until he is done. Hip, Hip, Hooray!!

Another molar

2011-12-16T13:46:00.000-06:00

With our sleep cycle still in a tangle... sometimes fighting our 8am sleepers back to sleep at 5:30 (ahem Hayden Thomas!).... I've been checking mouths like crazy for more teeth.

Logan, of course nothing.

Livi, nothing. But she's got those fingers in her mouth ALL the time. And is on a milk binge. So maybe some 2 year molars are around the corner for her?

Hayden, I couldn't feel anything new. But today mid-tantrum-ed, full open mouth, I SAW another one. Bottom left. I see the white, though it really doesn't stick up past the gums. He's officially got 2, 2 year molars! {Guess that means he thinks he's old & can fight naps & wake up at the crack of dawn. I've got news little sir... no way Jose!}

Camera!

2011-12-11T21:58:00.001-06:00

I got my camera back!
My fancy-schmancy Canon I got last Christmas.... it broke a while back. As in would not turn on broke. Unfortunately from the purchase date, it was past its year warranty :( So it cost me a small fortune to get it repaired. {Merry Christmas to me, ugh.} From the sounds of it I got whole new camera insides. So I better not see any problems again!!!

Anyways, just got it back. Trying to re-learn how to use it! I really don't have a good enough lense for pictures like this, especially with kids who move alot. Or I'll use that as an excuse since I'm so not a pro. Anyways, they are fuzzy... but it was fun to try!!!! {Completely unedited.}

That explains it!!

2011-12-11T18:05:00.000-06:00

We have our 1st 2 year molar!!
Who else, but Hayden Thomas!

Their sleep has been off (mostly due to Hayden's sleep being off & him crawling into everyone else's bed!)
He has a very, "owie butt." One of the worst we've ever had, for no apparent reason! Lotramin is doing it some good, so it must have been yeast. And it must have been caused by teething!

Stuck my fingers back in all their mouths today just to check, given the sleep habits they have been keeping. And on the top right way, way back there... there is a new tooth through. Actually its quite a ways in already. Poor baby, I didn't even know it was coming.

Nothing for Log & Liv yet, though Hayden is always a ways ahead in the teeth category.

Follow up

2011-12-08T21:13:00.000-06:00

Took Livi in to follow up with the pediatrician today. He says her lungs still sound a little wheezy down in the lower lobes, so we're going to give her some Albuterol 2x a day in addition to her steroids for a week or 2. Just to make sure she keeps them open & clear & we don't back track. But she is breathing easy. Still snotty & has a cough. He peeked in her ears too, & they look fine.

They weighed her today too. With her clothes on she weighed 26lbs 15.5oz. Exactly a pound bigger than she was at her 2 year visit just 3 weeks ago! While its a little skewed for clothes & diaper (no shoes), thats a big 'ole weight gain girlfriend! Despite being sick, pretty impressive!

They ate like PIGS today. I mean they ate so much for breakfast, it took us over an hour! Eggs, waffles, toast, raisins & "alort" {yogurt}, their new favorite. They ate 2 entire boxes of Mac & Cheese for lunch, plus some chicken nuggets & fruit. They ate 1/2 a box of crackers snacking throughout the afternoon. And polished off 1/2 of a large Pizza Hut pizza & some breadsticks for supper. {Great snow storm food!} They have been waking up early. And cutting naps short. And today they completly refused, I mean REFUSED to nap! UGH. I'm hoping we are just going through some big growth or developmental spurt that is just rocking our sleep schedule. They are learning so, so, so much. I can imagine their little brains are working so hard they can't shut down to sleep! Hopefully we fall back into my coveted routine again soon.

Since we've been home from the hospital...

2011-12-07T16:39:00.002-06:00

I've taken what feels like a bazillion days off of work making sure Livi s healthy enough for daycare before I go back. So what have we been doing? Enjoying our much needed time together. And getting a jump start on my New Year's Resolution. Here it is in pictures, in no particular order...

Hayden being a cheese-ball. He has the best cheezy grin! And he's looking so grown up! Oh I make cute kids!!! I can't look at this & not smile.

Being "poppy" {pretty}!! She loves pretties. Hair bows, neclaces, bracelets.
{She still looks pretty exhausted doesn't she? Poor baby.}

Pretending to change her babies "butt." She didn't need a diaper, just "wies." She even had to find this one toy she likes to pretend is lotion, so she could put "low-lun" on her "baby butt owies."

Meanwhile, Hayden, our future CEO...

That picture surprised me. I didn't think we changed out of jammies all week!!! Guess we must have one day? Ha!

We opened a few b-day toys that were still in the boxes. Wasn't sure if they would be able to do this, but he was a pro! Livi did it too. Logan didn't care much. Guess its time to start working on threading macaroni noodle necklaces.

Where was Logan all this time? Either playing cars quietly by himself.... Or watching it snow.

Livi has been asking all week if we can "pay outside" or "pay no" {play in the snow} but we resisted since we have enough sickness for the moment. Though I am dying to get them out there & see what they think of it!!!

Livi is breathing great. Poor girl had circles on her sensitive, skin cheeks from the oxygen stickers for days!

And on top of all this playing, I did some creating. Lots of it Pinterest inspired of course. Pinterest, oh how I love thee.

Little Tikes Table we got for cheap off Craigslist a long while back with the missing decorative sticker..

Enter- Crazy Duct Tape

Wish I would have put it on a little higher, but its an improvement either way.

Gift bag I've saved since the kids' baptism. Love this print...

Perfect toy room art!!

And another piece of gift bag artwork...

Speaking of toy room.... we moved it back upstairs. Office/storage is now downstairs. We have debated this on & off for a while. The kids didn't play well down there, so it made us feel like the office/storage space upstairs was wasted space since we spend all our time on the main floor & very little time in the office. We thought about moving Livi to her own room. But for now we're giving this a go. This time we took out the TV & chair leaving more room just for toys & play. Got some more storage bins, so hopefully it works! So for now we're leaving the kids' beds all in the same room.

Cheap foam Target tree decorations

Not completely done with this wall. There will be some of the kids' art work hanging under the word ART eventually. And not sure what to all do with what's on the shelf? For now its just some random clutter.

To display their artwork!

New bookshelf in their room. Diaper boxes now holding puzzles & other misc. items.... will eventually become cuter storage.....

The only problem is by the time I get to their room in the morning....

As Hayden would say, "Itsa mess!"

So cute diaper box storage you say? Been pinning the heck out of it on Pinterest. Here was my first go at it. I've seen it done with fabric too. And I will try that as well. But for this one I used contact paper. Got a big ole' roll from Walmart for just a few bucks.

Cut off flaps. Duct tape rough edges. I duct taped the opening to use as a handle, but ended up covering it up.

From the flaps I cut off, I created an extra bottom piece for extra strength & to make it easier to make the bottom look pretty.

Duct tape & self adhesive contact paper

I did that bottom piece first, before I dove into the whole thing & noticed that the contact paper was just see-through enough that I could still see the Huggies Wipes labels. So I put on a quick coat of primer before doing the box. Next time I do it, I'll actually read one of the how-to's on Pinterest. I totally just winged it

& I think my technique of cutting of the paper to wrap the box made it harder than it should have been.

Not too bad though?! Added some ribbon I already had with a glue gun. A flower & "pull" both cut off of a gift bag I had stored away long ago. And ta-da....

Basement bath!
{This bathroom floor is SOOO on my to do list too by the way!}

And after all the toy room-office moving, we ended up with a cleaned out-ish corner in the kids' room, so we have an "extra" spot for more toys. I'm thinking baby doll or other girly stuff??!! We need some girly space. So bring it on Christmas!!

And I cleaned out a drawer in preparation for what this next year will hopefully bring....

All that we have left of onesies. Growing up too fast.

Another little project. The kids have this clock in their room with spots to put pictures. In 2 years, I've never done anything with it. There it hung on their bedroom wall with the factory stock pictures. The circles are pretty little, so I always wondered how well you could really fit a face in there. Instead, I found this piece of scrapbook paper when I cleaned the new office space....

Cut some circles.... and Ta-da!

The boys "working" in the basement office/craft room while I cleaned & started organizing.

Logan watching "Rawr Choo-Choo!" {Dinosaur Train}

Another Pinterest inspired craft... Cereal box, duct tape, scrapbook paper & Mod Podge.....

Add a few magnetic clips......
...and viola! Fridge storage bin for This & That! I have plans for another smaller one. {One piece of advice: Pick patterns that are easier to match up than stripes & hide flaws a little easier.} Its far from perfect, but it holds everything that was cluttering up the side of my fridge in a little prettier of a fashion.

Livi sat for a LONG time, like 45 minutes or more with my scraps from the cut up gift bags & did her "working." She is such a little girl & I love, love, love it!! We are going to shop & craft our little hearts out very soon Livi. Just get a little older.

Can't wait til they are old enough for glue sticks & scissors.

We are perfecting the art of a HUG! Mostly enforced after a time out that were the result of a hitting or pushing someone incident. Something that is happening way too much for my liking.

Basement. Office/family/craft room. The kids have a table down there & some storage bins for future craft/coloring items. Just a few colors & coloring books down there right now. We'll have to wait & see what Santa fills their stockings with....

This is where I stopped. I have some work to do here. Or maybe just stick it in storage & forget about it for a while? But I do have 3 empty storage totes that I think will end up in the toy room after Christmas. {And just for something fun to think about... those 3 storage totes with the white tops, were the kids' bath tubs in the NICU & when they first came home!}

I've seen some things on Pinterest that I hope to do with those clear plactic bins on top of the computer armoire (as seen top right of picture) to make them just a tad less ugly. Did I mention that I love Pinterest?

So what does all of this have to do with my New Years Resolution??

My resolution- GET ORGANIZED!
{& find some places to save on our budget}

Some might feel that I AM organized. In some fashions, yes. Organized about the kids' stuff, keeping it all clean & straight. But in terms of our actual house way, way, way less than I'd like to be. A house just clutters up over time. PLUS I feel like over the past 2 years kids have taken over everything. Which they have, & thats perfect. I wouldn't change it for the world. But we have packed up 1/2 of the things in our house as they took over more & more space in a gradual fashion. And things just got shoved here & there to make room. And I need to take it ALL out & put it ALL back in, but in a more organized fashion. Life is crazy enough, I want to at least go home & feel like things have a place. I'm hoping organizing my kitchen helps my grocery budget a little bit too. {An always on-going goal in my life!}

I have plans for the kitchen & main bathroom mainly. Those are the worst spaces. But I'm hoping to do a little bit everywhere. I think the kids' room & now the toy room are the only ones that I'm fairly content with. I have seen something on Pinterest for the laundry room that I would LOVE LOVE for someone to built for me!

I'm also hoping to dabble in making my own laundry soap & dishwasher detergent as I dig into each of these rooms. I know some people who have done it & it seems to work great for them. So I've been pinning a variety of "recipes" on Pinterest for that as well. This should feed in well to my save some money resolution. I spend a small fortune on laundry & dishes. Honestly!

Thats what we've been doing....
Who else is thinking about New Year's Resolutions? Whats yours?

The first 48....

2011-12-06T00:42:00.000-06:00

They are all in.

I am WAY behind in posting... but Logan's last eye tooth is in. Actually noticed it over Thanksgiving. So.... all 48 of the first teeth are in.

Bring on those 2 year molars!

They said it!

2011-12-05T22:19:00.001-06:00

I think we are getting healthy around here. We, as in the kids. I've got a crappy cold now.

After never running a temp in the hospital, Livi spiked a fever Saturday morning & I thought we were in for it. I talked to the clinic, gave her some tylenol, called in sick for a 4th shift & waited it out. But it never got too high & its gone today, so I think we're in the clear. Phew! She's still got a cough on & off (so does Hayden, his is worse than hers) & runny noses all around, but otherwise doing great.

The kids are spouting out all sorts of new words surrounding this illness. They all say "medicine." Livi even says "breathing medicine." I shit you not!! It kills me to hear her say it. Thats what we call her steroid inhaler. They all want to have medicine for their "owies", so we have to pretend to give the boys puffs off the inhaler too. And we filled up the her oral steroid syringe with water a bazillion times so the boys could have their "medicine" too. Sillies. They now like to "ear beep beep" {ear thermometer} & Livi is now ok if we "listen arm" {armpit thermometer} because "listen no owies." (In the hospital we they listened to her with a stethoscope A LOT & we always said just listening, no owies.)

We are in this phase where they repeat EVERYTHING. I mean like sentences everything. And the new words are just flying out. I LOVE LOVE this stage. The things they pick up on amazes me. Like in the mornings, "Daddy bye-bye working" or at bedtime Livi asking "tuck in" or when squeezing the water out of a rubber ducky "duck peeing." Ha! Another fun thing is that they are finally starting to actually say the animal or other object names instead of just calling them by their sounds. Like actually saying "cow" instead of just "moo." And saying "train" or "choo-choo train" instead of just "choo-choo." However one of the boys' new favorite shows is "Rawr Choo-Choo." (If you don't know kids TV, there is this awesome show the Dinasour Train.)

And for the season....so far they all say Christmas tree, snow, snowman, and Santa. We got Logan to say "HoHoHo" one night, but it hasn't stuck yet. We keep asking them if they want to go see Santa, & they answer "No way!" So our trip to the mall to sit on Santa's lap (which we will do at some point), I can't imagine it will go well ;)

Speaking of speaking. I talked to the people with the preemie developmental follow-up program, TIPS. Since the kids have been doing so well & we have no developmental concerns, we're just going to send in a questionaire rather than going in for a visit. We talked a little about speech on the phone, discussed articulation. Thats my only concern. The fact that things like bubble & waffle are the same word for Logan. And Daddy, Addie & cracker all sound exactly the same. She said they don't worry about articulation at age 2. As long as he is using the "word" consistently its fine. She said if they are all putting 2 words together they are just where they should be.

And do you know what 2 little words they have finally started putting together this week??? Do ya, do ya? Only the thing I have been waiting & waiting to hear....

"LOVE YOU!"

The past few nights we get a "love you" back as we tuck them in. Logan was following me around the house today saying something as I was cleaning. When I finally stopped to listen, he was saying "love you, love you, love you...." trying to get my attention. I melted!!

I love you, love you, love you too & I've been having such a great few days catching up on our time together & making sure Livi is healthy enough for daycare before I go back to work.

P.S. In our at home time, I did a little cleaning & I've also got some projects going on. I can't wait to share pictures. And I'm getting a jump start on my "New Year's Resolution"..... more to follow!

Home.

2011-12-01T22:41:00.000-06:00

I am still kind of surprised that they let us go home today, but I am glad! So nice to have all 3 kiddos fast asleep under the same roof! I'm ready to get to work catching up on multiple days of housework, bill paying, & life. And maybe sleep too?

At 4am this morning, I was pretty sure we were in for a 4th night as Livi, deep asleep, Livi ended back up on just a tiny bit of oxygen. 1/2 L. She was only on it for 2 hours. And with her vitals at 8am she was satting 96% on room air. Her lungs sound much better. Her retractions are intermittent & minimal. And her respiratory rate had been within normal range for more than 24 hours. My body actually gave out & slept last night from around 1-8, on & off, on the awful couch/bed. It was the first time Livi had slept in the crib for longer than 45 mins-1 hour the whole stay. We had both slept in the most awful recliner I have ever known to exist the remainder of our sleeping hours. Seriously awful recliner! So that stretch of sleep was the first stretch of time that I wasn't completely involved in her cares, and the first time I had to actually ask how she had been & what they had done, etc. Felt really strange not to just 'know.' But it sounds like at 4am when she went back on the O2, her oxygen sats were hanging around 88-89 (she is supposed to stay above 90), but Dr. Harrison said in a deep sleep, he is not concerned about sats of 89 when clinically she appears so much better. Better to get us home & back to a more normal healing environment.

After breakfast, rounds & an assessment, Livi & I crashed on the recliner & napped from 9-12! (after getting up at 8!) Then after lunch, we did our education with the nurses & respiratory therapist, and headed home. She is on oral steroids 2x a day for another 4 days. Inhaled steroids 2x a day for at least the duration of the winter. And we have albuterol to treat her as needed for wheezing or other signs of returned respiratory distress. We will see Dr. Harrison to follow up next week. And the pulmonologist mid-January, or earlier if she doesn't stay healthy between now & then. They didn't "diagnose" her as having asthma, but we have an "asthma action plan" sheet we are supposed to share with her daycare & we now own 3 inhaler spacers!

Livi's room & the recliner where we slept for days...

Coloring books. And a magna-doodle were my saving grace!

Look how full that little belly is above! I was pushing fluids to avoid an IV, but all she wanted to drink was milk. Too much milk = a constipated Livi. She got a suppository that evening which freed up so much more room for her lungs to expand when that belly shrunk back down! I'll take a suppository over an IV any day!

I didn't have my camera until the last night we were there. So I really don't have pictures of our stay. Just one from my cell phone from those first few hours. Makes my heart hurt just to look at it.

She was such a sweet girl there. Almost never cried. Always wanted to hold my hand during assessments & treatments. Something I think of a big kid doing! She talk up a storm to me, but be silent as could be when anyone else was in the room. She would wait until the doctor, nurse, etc. walked out the door then whisper "bye-bye". She learned a bunch of new words & shapes while we were there. She liked wearing her hospital gown, AKA "pish shirt" {there are fish on the gowns!} She left the oxgyen on always! She never ceases to amaze me.

Livi & I had a few hours to get settled in at home before the boys came home from Lincoln. They were at GGs, Jeff was in class. We were curious how their reunion would go? The boys both woke up "on the wrong side of the carseat" however, so it wasn't all as cheerful as we hoped. Logan & Livi were pretty sweet once he woke up & calmed down. Hayden was just in a bad mood alltogether this evening though. I think this week has been really hard on the boys too. They only saw me for about 1.5 hours in 72 hours. Thats a big change. Went to daycare without Livi. Lots of babysitters coming & going. Sleeping without Livi, waking without her. We all just need a few days to hang at home & recover physically & mentally. The boys have coughs too. And Livi definately still does. So I think they all have something viral, it just hit her really, really hard. Hopefully they are all 100% soon.

Logan was glad to see us once he woke up!

Livi wanted to hug him.

Then she chased him around saying "Go-gun kiss" (didn't know she could say kiss... she always just says "mwah")

Her & her best furry friend missed eachother too!

We are so thankful for all your thoughts & prayers. And for the babysitting, carepackages, gifts, meals, etc. I can never say enough how truly blessed we are. Blessed with amazing friends & family.

We are home...

2011-12-01T17:15:00.002-06:00

I will post more later. Just wanted to say, me & Livi are officially home. Waiting for daddy & the boys to get home from Lincoln.....

Our 1st Unplanned Hosptial Stay

2011-12-01T01:28:00.000-06:00

Disclaimer: I've written this blog over the course of 2 days of half asleep hospital stay, so don't expect perfection. My thoughts are choppy. And I tried to go back & edit, but didn't get real far, soexcuse me if I have tenses wrong!

In our mere 2 years of life.....in addition to the 5-6 weeks spent in the NICU. And Livi's day of eye surgery. We have already conquered 2 different ERs in town from all various standpoints, allergic reactions to pneumonia. Each child has been. We have managed this year alone to meet not one, but 2 insurance deductables (thanks to a mid-year job change). {Not to mention what our 2009 bills could have been if not for amazing insurance!} But this is our first ER visit turned hospital admission. And I'll tell you we were less than prepared. There will be some household updates that go on as soon as we get home!

One... invest in a land line when you have kids. The one time you need it, the $20 or whatever it costs a month will seem worth it. Trust me. I've been meaning to get us one for 2 years now. For exactly the reason that cell phones are not permanent. Thank heavens for amazing friends at 2:30am!!

Two... I will be putting together (& giving at baby showers from here on out) a pack that fits in a diaper bag & says "Take with you to the ER." Full of travel size lotions, soaps, a comb, tooth brush & paste, deoderant, razors, clean socks, underwear, a roll of quarters & a powder puff for all those zits weeks like this create. {At least I have clean clothes & undies thanks to a little grandparent & sister respite. Ones mind just never thinks to ask for the little things like deoderant in the moment.} Anything else anyone suggests I add to the pack?! Seriously, I'm making it!

So why are we in the hospital?

My poor princess.
She hadn't eaten anything all day Monday. She took an extra nap. I knew she wasn't feeling well. Just figured the stomach flu that I had Sunday was hitting her too.

By 6:30pm she was wheezing. Not totally surprising, she'd had a runny nose for days. So I gave her a breathing treatment we had at home. Put her to bed at 8. She was breathing heavy & having retractions. I definately wasn't completly comfortable putting her to bed, I just wanted to see how she settled in. I checked on her every hour x2 hours & she was just laying there awake. Breating too hard to sleep!! I gave her one more breathing treatment & watched her breathe for a while. I could count 4-5 ribs with each breath & she wouldn't sit still or settle to sleep. That did it for me. Restlessness I can not take. {Pretty sure I've said that before!} And hell, like I said, our insurance deductable is already met, whats another ER visit!! So at 12:30am, we headed on in.....

We went to Children's & got right in the ER. I was concerned, as our last visit there wasn't my favorite ER trip of our previous 3. But this one I was pleased with. She got back-to-back treatments right away, 1 albuterol & I'm not sure what the other one was, a combo of Albuterol & something else. Finally she relaxed & her breathing slowed down to closer to normal, but then her sats dropped to 87-88. So we did a 3rd treatment, got some oral steroids & ended up on 1.5L of oxygen. (Which is apparently just a whif in their terms, sounds like a TON to a NICU nurse!) We did an x-ray. And as the ER doctor so appropriately put it "They can send babies home from the nursery on oxgyen, but from the ER we can not." And so, we got admitted.

Her chext x-ray they say looks fine. One small spot of some atelectasis. But they don't think she has pneumonia. She is afebrile. We did not do RSV cultures. At first they thought maybe it was a true asthma attack (with her history). But it sounds like for now they have settled on a diagnosis of bronchiolitis. Just something viral, so no antibiotics. Just with her history of premature lungs & her either having asthma or reactive airway disease, it was just too much for her. {Apparently croup is going around like wild-fire here too, just an FYI!} They are not diagnosing her with asthma yet, they say its too early to tell. But we treat reactive airway & asthma the same at this point anyways. We have seen various residents, the ER doctor, the on call ped Monday night, our pediatrician & today we also consulted with Dr. Thomas (the respiratory doctor Livi has seen in the past & has an appointment with in January.)

Tuesday, we had a racemic epi treatment (and watched her heart rate for hours afterwards!). And 2 more doses of steroids.

She has managed to drink well, so thus far we have avoided an IV. Though it came close! Tuesday, her blood pressure after everything was through the roof! I'm talking 135/88 type BPs! And she wasn't peeing despite drinking. Her abdomen was distended & I was getting worried. We weren't sure what was going on? We ended up doing a bladder scan & finding she had 200+ mL urine in there. We were talking about cathing, IVs, etc & all of the sudden she said "Pee potty" & we took her to the toilet & she sat down & peed 100mL! Then 5 mins later said it again, & we found a 150mL wet diaper. Sheesh girl! After that, her blood pressure was back down to almost normal. Baffles me? She has asked to go potty here 2x since. I swear we'll leave her potty trained. Heck of an expensive potty training course!

By evening (after a massive nose, booger sucker outer fest by the respiratory therapist!) we had her on room air satting 94%. And she was pretty spunky tonight after a good nap. So the test was to see if she could keep her oxygen sats up while asleep. Knowing she had needed at one point up to 2L during the day while sleeping, I was doubtful. And unfortunately, as soon as she sacked out, her sats slumped down to 85! So we spent the night back on oxygen. So we are pretty much guarnteed to be here for at least another night.
Last night her & I finally got a little sleep. She had slept probably just 4 since we got here at midnight Monday And I had slept maybe 1.5 hours since Monday at 8am. My head last night was getting dillusional!

Wednesday so far is about the same. I'm at the hospital with Livi. Jeff had to spend a day at work, preparing to take more days off of work. And the boys are enduring their first day of daycare without Livi. My heart breaks for them too! We were able to get her off the oxygen again this morning. But when we got her down for a nap, her sats dropped back down to 88-89. (They want them above 90). So she is back on 1/2L of O2. An improvement from last night's sleeping sats though!!

We are going to re-start her on her inhaled steroids that she was on last winter. We "challenged" her this summer by weaning off of them. And had a great summer. But this was her first respiratory "challenge" off steriods. And it looks like a big fat fail! So back to the preventative steroids we go (its an asthma medication). Per protocol, we'll get all the asthma education before she goes home. Visit Dr. Thomas mid-January. Hopefully have a less than eventful remainder of our winter. And go from there...

My poor baby! She has had a hard, hard year! She is such a trooper! The only time she has cried was for x-ray & one middle of the night breathing treatment. Oh, and of course booger sucking. She holds my had like a grown up & is so, so brave! She needs a toy doctor kit though... as she's learned to enjoy playing with the stethoscope! Making me lift up my shirt to listen to my belly! LOVE HER!!

More learning

2011-11-28T10:51:00.000-06:00

Livi is on this crazy learning-spurt! She is so different that the little busy-body-boys who are just all about trucks, trains & airplanes.

She's rocking her colors: Blue, green, red, pink, purple, orange, yellow, white & black.
And shapes: circle, heart, moon, star, triangle, flower.

She brings me the magna-doodle & wants me to quiz her on things all day long.
The boys bring me magna-doodles & want me to draw cars, trucks, tractors & trains all day long.
Don't get me wrong, the boys are picking up words rapidly too, they just aren't as interested in actively learning it all!

Guess we need to start working on our ABCs!!!

She's even started asking "Whats that?"

This past week I came home one day to Jeff telling me we're in trouble with her already. Apparently someone lost some change in our couch at the b-day party.... and she found it. Brought it to Jeff saying "money!" "two money!" I have NO idea where she even learned that! I swear the only "money" she sees me use is plastic (sad but true). Such a girl!

Sunday she showed her dad that I apparently take too many pictures. She had multiple dolls, Elmo & Cookie Monster lined up on a chair. She had a block that has a moving part (kind of looks like a camera button, I'll give her that). Stood infront of them with it in her hand saying "Cheese!" Took the dolls off. Lined them up again. And did it again! I love their little imaginations!

But my favorite thing as of this weekend to hear the kiddos say is "Miss-Miss Tea" Any guesses as to what new fixture in our house they are pointing out??

Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T22:41:00.000-06:00

I got lucky to have a stretch of days off around Thanksgiving so we could celebrate with family.

Thursday we did Thanksgiving lunch at my grandparents with a slew of my aunts, uncles, cousins & their kiddos. The weather was beautiful & we spent a lot of time outside.

LeeLee's Turkey Shirt

They weren't in a very picture cooperating mood. We had to get out the fruit snacks just to get them to sit down.

Thursday evening, we traveled to Jeff's parents house for a late Thanksgiving dinner. We brought along the kids' new sleeping bags for a trial run. And I am proud to say they were a complete success!! They went down easily for night & naps. And slept well until morning. They didn't necessarily stay "in" the sleeping bags all night. But not too bad for a 1st time.

There was one little funny though. Saturday morning, the boys were up (& somehow opened their bedroom door!!) And we heard Livi whining in their room, so we went to get her. But she wasn't in her bed! We ran across the hall to our room. Searched the near by bathroom. And their bedroom closet. She of course didn't make a peep this whole time. Where the heck is she??!! Finally we pulled up the bed skirt on the bed in that room.... to find Livi underneath! Jeff asked her what she was doing? She replied "Stuck!" She had apparently crawled in from the side & was trying to get out the bottom, but the bed frame at the foot of the bed sat too low. We got in a good laugh! A similar event happened the following night while she was looking for her lovie in the dark.

Friday we watched the Husker victory (er... me & the kids napped through the first half!) We stopped by Jeff's Aunt Linda's house to help celebrate two of her grandkids' 1st birthdays. My boys are so much like their daddy... I can not get them to eat cake! Livi on the other hand, asked for it & ate a whole piece!!

Livi & daddy got to break the wish bone from the turkey. Wonder what Livi wished for??

We spent Saturday playing with Addie & Ava. And headed home Saturday afternoon. Jeff & I stayed up late & put up the stockings & Christmas tree.

Sounds like so far the kids are doing pretty well with the tree. Why do I say "sounds like"... well because I slept through most of Sunday. Why??

It's apparently my little way of keeping the holiday pounds off. I had the "pleasure" of enduring my 2nd stomach flu of the season. I can't believe it either. What are the odds?? I spent 90% of the day in bed. I'm pretty miserable. Logan slept poorly Saturday night & I don't think he felt like himself either. He napped on & off with me all morning & afternoon. He was so sweet. I would wake up to find him with his head on the pillow face to face with me, driving a car on the pillow & watching me sleep! Once I woke up to find him rubbing my arm. By evening, he seemed to be feeling himself. Hopefully no one else gets it this time! By this evening, I'm functional at least. I am absolutely exhausted! Just completely beat. And my body aches, aches, aches. But I will take that as long as the kiddos stay healthy this time!

Hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday

2011-11-22T10:43:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday to the best daddy we could ask for!

Happy Birthday also to Grandpa Tom.
And Happy Anniversary to Uncle J & Aunt Becky!

{The best I could get! Everyone's sign is already torn by this point & taped to their shirts ;) }

A TURKEY Play & Craft Date

2011-11-19T10:16:00.000-06:00

Friday morning my friends Kerry, Laura & I had an impromptu play date for the kids & craft date for the mamas. Thanks to some Pinterest inspiration, we now have some pretty adorable Thankgiving gear for our crew of pretty adorable kiddos!

Livi learned to say her friend Mason's name & spent the evening talking about "Mason house." "More Mason!" Though at this age, none of the kids really play "together" per say, Mason was apparently a hit with her.

Thanks for the great time girls! Its always a blast! Thanks for having us over Kerry!

My pictures didn't turn out all that fantastic. Kinda fuzzy! Hopefully Kerry's are better!!

Some pre-cut patterns. Lots of tracing & cutting. {A trip to Walmart} And some more cutting...

And ironing. And cutting. And more ironing.

And we have a boy turkey shirt! Front & back.

{A little blurry, Jackson was running away}

And a girl turkey shirt!

Mason, Jackson, Grant, Hayden, Olivia & Logan.... our little turkeys all ready for Thanksgiving!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!

Parent-teacher conferences

2011-11-17T15:50:00.000-06:00

I have officially sat through my first ever parent-teacher conference! Phew! Glad to have that out of the way. Kind of funny to think about, I know. But its true, our daycare did have a sort of parent-teacher conference about 2 weeks ago.

It was a pretty quick little ordeal. Less than 15 minutes. I didn't have any real concerns, nor did they. It was optional to go, obviously. But I was excited for a few one-on-one minutes with the kids' main teachers & curious on how they thought things were going.

In short, all is well. We still have a few morning tears on & off (really just from Miss Liv who has become a super-duper-mama's-girl in the past few weeks.) But I love Miss Janette who is there at drop off time. She is great in that situation. Otherwise its happily playing for them. They are often so into playing when they get picked up, we actually have to encourage them out the door. Which is the biggest change from the early days. I'm glad they enjoy their time. They eat well there. They are finally sleeping well there (more 2 hour naps vs 45 min naps. Though daycare days still = early to bed nights & crabbier evenings, assumingly just because they got woken up at the crack of dawn.) The teachers rattled off names of a handfull of kids who are their "favorites" to play with. And if I didn't think that socialization was a fantastic opportunity for them, I'd hire a nanny so they could sleep in. But I think, especially Hayden, so far as had some drastic changes in his socialization abilities, as strongly evidenced in his social bravery at the football game this past weekend. Jeff would agree.

Their teachers said the do an awesome job helping pick up. I know they LEARNED how to pick up at school. So far my favorite, favorite thing they have learned there. At home now I can tell them things like "If you want to go outside, we have to clean up all these trucks first." And they do! Ok, not always, but they are toddlers, nothing is always. They are transitioning to a new "main" teacher, as their old one is doing more work on the preschool side. (Makes me sad, I like Miss Amanda, she does a lot of creative, sensory things with them!) Their new teacher said she was shocked at how well they listen. That they only have to tell/ask them to do things once & that she was very amazed by that. Wow! Wish they listened like that at home!!

They said they did a little "experimenting" on how they did seperated, and that they didn't like it. I guess I didn't ask specifics as to what they did when seperated, probably because I wasn't surprised. I assumed that would be the case. They said they do branch out away from eachother & play. But then every so often, stop what they are doing to go around & find everyone. Take roll sort of. Then back to playing. Kind of sweet, I think!

They had a little book of some of their coloring projects. Pictures. They tried to get their handprints one day... Logan didn't cooperate. He didn't like the ink on his hands, just said "YUCK!" I just laughed, so typical. They had a checklist of developmental things they watch for & mark off. There wasn't much checked off, but they are only there 1-2 days a week & have only been going for 3 months. They sent the checklist home with me to go through & bring back. I checked off probably 90% of the things on it.... so that made me feel good about them from a preemie developmental standpoint. I asked about how they felt they did developmentally? They said they keep up just fine, they had never stopped to think about them being preemies. Even though I don't think they talk as much there as they do at home, they still felt they keep up in the speech category too. Most of the gals there do actually have degrees in Early Childhood Education, so its at least coming from someone who does have some educational background in it. Not just a college student part-time job thing.

So thats that. Check first parent-teacher conference off my to-do list! Next step, first trip to the principal's office.

Prematurity Awareness & 2 year well check

2011-11-17T15:43:00.000-06:00

November 17, 2011 is World Prematurity Day. Raising awareness about the seriousness of premature birth.

On this day, I celebrate NICUs everywhere & I celebrate the health of my preemies! I pray for all those less fortunate than us. And I stand amazed at the little miracles whose lives I've had an opportunity to play a small role in.

On this day, we celebrated by finding out just how big our 2 year old preemies are! We visited the pediatrician for our 2 year well visit.

Developmentally, we get an A! We said YES to pretty much all of the developmental questions they asked. {The only one I think that was a no was saying things like "I" or "Me" rather than "Olivia" or "Logan." We do say "mine" though} We talked a little about speech. They should have 50+ words in their vocab, (& I think we are all there.) Strangers should understand around 40% of what they say. (so hopefully they do?) And we should be putting 2 words together (which Logan quickly squeeked in this week!) So all is well for now. We'll just keep an eye on how they progress, especially with speech, making sure they are improving with their actual pronunciation of words.

Hayden still has big tonsils.... we'll keep watching them.
Ears look good!
Hearts & Lungs sound good.
And he was glad our past few months of daycare hadn't landed us back in the office too much thus far!

The main thing we discussed was Logan & Livi & their outie belly buttons or hernias? They had those massive umbilical hernias as babies, remember? They don't look all that big here, but I remember thinking Livi's was the size of a golf ball. Maybe it wasn't really that big at its peak, but thats what I remember comparing it to.

Most likely a product of prematurity (though Uncle Ethan had one too, so genetics could play a part?) Well they shrunk way down a long, long time ago, like at 6-7 months old, & I just assumed what was left was an outie. A little leftover stretched skin. But Dr. Fran thinks that the defect {the hole in the abdominal wall that allows for the hernia} is still present. Or may still be present. Small, but present. So he suggested we visit the surgeons to see if they recommend repair. Usually if they are going to repair themselves, they do so by age 2. So now that we're two, its time to check with the specialists. He said they might not even suggest surgical repair & at this point its really up to us. Not that I want any surgeries, nor do I feel they give us any trouble at this time, but I think its worth a vist to Raynor's office (or one of those guys in that practice) for a consult. Especially because I know Uncle Ethan's (which never got repaired as a baby) hurts him sometimes as an adult.

So I need to call & make that appointment. Livi needs a follow-up appointment with Dr. Troia {eyes} made for April-ish. And we were supposed to take Liv back to see Dr. Thomas {respiratory} this fall too, but I'm guessing now it will be after the 1st of the year for sure before we can get in?! Seesh! Guess I'll spend the afternoon on the phone!

We got 1 shot, Hepatitis A vaccine. And they got their flu {mist} vaccine.

They of course were scared. Cried some. Said "all done" & "bye bye" a lot. But we survived. Fully enjoyed some fruit snacks when it was all over. And assuming we stay on a healthy course- we don't go back until they are THREE! That seems crazy!

We had a difficult time getting Hayden to stay on the scale. I think he actually weighs more than what they got, but no biggy. {My guesses going in were 25-26 lbs for Livi & Logan, 30-31 lbs for Hayden.} And somehow they got Hayden to be shorter than Livi & Logan, which is obsurd. We laughed about it. All agreed even watching them run around the room that that could not be true. Tried it again, & still failed. Oh well. So... I stood them by the wall & measured them at home before putting them down for naps ;) I think what I got seems more accurate when you see the percentages. They are still shorties. These percentages are on their term growth chart.

Hayden:
Weight: 29 lbs 6 oz (67%)
Height: {They got 34.75 in which was the 60%} I got 34.25 in (48%)
Head: 20.25 in (98%)
*At 18 months, he was 26 lbs 11 oz (62%), 32 in tall (43%), head 20 in (99%!)

Olivia:
Weight: 25 lbs 15.5 oz (41%)
Height: {They got 35 in which was the 80%} I got 33.75 in (50%)
Head: 19 in (64%)
*At 18 months she was 22 lbs 15 oz (30%), 32 in tall (63%), head 18.5 in (65%).

Logan:
Weight: 25 lbs 12.5 oz (22%)
Height: {They got 35 in which was the 67%} I got 33.5 in (28%)
Head: 19.5 in (67%)
*Logan has really caught up in percentages this past 6 months. At 18 months, he wsa 22 lbs 3 oz (8%), 31 in tall (16%), head 19 in (57%).

What do you think??!!

2011-11-16T15:46:00.002-06:00

My mommy-blogger friend Ashli over at "Baby on the Brehm" posted picture of this new safe sleep campaign. I'm not going to choose sides on this debate. But just due to the pure shock value of the ad, I just could not help but share:

I'm a nurse. And a mommy. I know the sleeping campaigns. I know what the statistics say. SIDS... we all hear it 1000 different ways, 1000 different times. But this seems a little dramatic. Scare tactics taken to the extreme. I broke "the rules," my babes slept on their bellies. And had blankets. {Not in my bed though.} I understand what parents do for sleep in despiration. I understand cultural beliefs. Personal beliefs. And I also understand that those beliefs will withstand any attempt to change one's opinions by inducing fear. I also understand health care's responsibility to educate families on what the research says is safest sleep practices. But this is down right playing dirty!

The guidelines I saw recently are also saying a baby should not be put in a swing or bouncer for long periods of time, or for sleep until the baby is more than 4 months old. There goes the bouncy sleeping for those reflux babes. Is anything safe anymore?

Thoughts??!!

Advice??!!

2011-11-15T22:07:00.000-06:00

So... I'm thinking of doing some house re-arranging? I've asked a few other Moms of Multiples their input & have gotten kind of mixed answers.

Here's the situation:

Issue 1: We have a 3 bedroom house. One is ours, one is the kids & one is office/storage. We have the basement set up with basically a couch, TV & toys. The problem is, the kids prefer not to be down there, especially not alone. Everything migrates back up & our kitching/dining/living area upstairs just becomes a clutter. We spend almost all of our time on the main floor & by having that 3rd room as an office, it feels like "wasted space" & that we could make a better use of it.

Issue 2: We are starting to gender differentiate a little bit. And I'd like Livi to have a little space for "girly" stuff. And the boys have a little "boy space" for their cars {and their present Santa has hiding in our garage.}

Possible solution? Move office furniture to basement. Move Livi to her own room in what was the office {there is already a purple accent wall!.} And split up the toys between the 2 bedrooms to make room for the office/storage stuff downstairs. Of course some toys would still be in the living room & downstairs.

Ideally we'd have enough rooms to do it all... but for now we don't. I just want to feel like we are maximizing the space we have. And I want to make our house look the best possible way we can have it arranged so when Jeff (hopefully) finds a full-time job for fall, we can (hopefully) jump into the journey of selling our home & looking for a larger one.

My worries:
Will Livi sleep without her brothers???
Will having more toys, like the big stuff, in their rooms impact my good sleepers??
Will they play in their rooms, or will it all still end up under the kitchen table?

We always planned on splitting up the kiddos into boy/girl rooms as soon as we found ourselves in a larger house. Figured that would be a great time to jump to twin beds. New bedding, new beds & boy-girl seperate rooms with new decor. Two of the other b/g/b triplet mamas I talk to often moved their little girls to her own room around 9 months of age, their kiddos slept better that way. I thought about it then too, I just felt bad for her being "alone." And we had no sleep issues. Now I hope we can still transition ok? I have heard nightmare stories from another triplet mama who waited until right before kindergarten to seperate her g/g/b triplets & a whole year later still couldn't get their little boy to stay sleeping in his own room.

So... what do you think?? If you were me, what would you do??

IF we do it, I want to do it around Christmas, when Jeff has some time off. Just incase its a rocky transition. Plus I can incorporate some of Liv's Christmas gifts to be things she might need to make a girly room. I think Jeff's ok either way.

On a complete & total side note, look how long her hair would be in back if it wasn't for those curls!

I still love words!

2011-11-15T21:46:00.000-06:00

So I know we aren't leading the pack of 2 year olds with our vocabulary & speech abilities. But I don't think we are bringing up the rear of the pack either? I'm curious to see what Dr. Fran has to say when we go for our 2 year ped visit on Thursday? What "the list" of what-your-2-year-old-should-be-doing questions the nurse will read through all includes? And what we need to work on? And oh so curious to see what they officially weigh & how much taller they have gotten? {And if they do any better in the dr office being 6 months older & exposed a little more via daycare?!}

Just a few of the newest things we hear around our house....

Logan:
*"Ma-mus" {Thomas- as in the train}
*And he has totally got the hang of the 2 word thing this week. Apparently turning 2 did that for him? "Bye Bye daddy" "More nak" "two block"
*He's been saying colors {mostly blue & red} like crazy this week & occasionally he is even right, mostly with red, "run".
*And he is starting to repeat more & more things. He needed a "word-spurt!"

Olivia:
*"Neck"
*"Two blue sock" {Blue- another color she knows!}
*Its no longer just "nack," but "root nack" {fruit snack}
*"Ma-mus"
*"Uh- side" {outside}
*"baby bobble" {bottle}
*Among dozens of other things she surprises me with constantly! Her newest thing is sitting & "reading" books to herself outloud. It's all mumbo-jumbo, but insanely cute!

Hayden:
*Says "pee" everytime he poops.
*Also says "Ma-mus"
*"happen?" {said when he gets hurt. I think because I say "What happened?" when someone is crying}

Last week Livi, Hayden & I carried on a 10 minute conversation about who is all coming over for their party on Saturday!! They said "three mama" "two papa"..... then sometimes they switched around the 2 & 3 just to get a reaction out of me. "Baby Aba". "ADDIE!!" "Baby LeeLee." Livi said "Alex play?!" Liv finally has "Ti-tuh" {Tisha} down. And her & Hayden are working on Aaron & Ethan.... though the 2 sound quite the same & more like "Alan" than either of the above.

"March," "stuck," "help," "broke," "yuck," "mess," "sweep,"& "trash" also lead the pack as most heard words around the house. They are becoming a bit anal & a bit of "neat freeks." Always worried about having dirty hands & always wanting to throw trash away. Think thats genetic?? Or learned?

Along with more words comes more push for independence. I can't tell you how many hour long "fights" or tantrums I've had because I absolutely refuse to let them have fruit snacks for breakfast!!

Going to be an insanely busy next few weeks. Thanksgiving, Jeff's birthday, Jeff's finals, Christmas. Seems crazy to think of how close Christmas really is?! {Though I'm excited for Jeff for this semester to be over. Hopefully next semester will be a little calmer?} I've got a good start on presents. And a good list that won't take me long to finish, so that feels good. I think this year we'll actually put up a real tree?? Last year we just did a tiny one on an end table since we had 3 one year olds. Not sure how it will go over?? Hopefully it doesn't get tipped over?!

2nd Birthday Party!!!!

2011-11-14T15:05:00.001-06:00

We rang in the celebration of year 2 with a Sesame Street theme. "Melmo," "Cookie," & "Tweet tweet" {Big Bird} are a hit at our house!! We had beautiful weather for mid-November in Nebraska, not quite warm enough to be outside. But nice none the less. We had a house full of friends & family who came out to celebrate with us & spoil us rotten. We are so blessed & so loved!!

Elmo, Big Bird, Cooke Monster & Oscar the Grouch pumpkins

Sesame Street party hats for the kiddos!

Yummy Eileen's Cookies!

We let all the kiddos play for a while & then jumped right into presents. They did a pretty good job opening presents this year. They had it figured out & didn't need help. The only catch was they got so excited about the things they got, they didn't want to move on!! Towards the end, they were done. They just wanted to play with their new things. Jeff & I ended up mostly opening the last few. We should have done it in spurts. Opened a few before eating & a few after. That just goes to show they got a lot of good stuff!!

Hayden

Olivia

She thought Cookie eating her finger was hillarous!

Logan

We ended up getting 2 of the same present. Lightening McQueen & Mater. We tried to take one set & put it back to return. But Logan would have none of it! He insisted on immediately opening them all. But I think this was a blessing... hopefully it helps us avoid a few battles! Logan has slept with a handful of these cars both nights so far!

This is what the kiddos got from mommy & daddy. {Thank you Craigslist for making this purchase budget friendly!!} Hoping this will be a good way for toddlers to burn energy in the garage this winter!!

Hayden trying it out!

Olivia!

Hayden & Livi enjoy it. Logan, not so much. Typical. All the kids had a great time with it at the party!!

Then we ate supper {and mommy dreamed of a bigger kitchen!! Maybe next year?}
Here's Addie "talking on the phone" while she eats. Quite the little multi-tasker!

And afterwards, we did cupcakes & sang "Happy Birthday!"

They needed help blowing out their candles. And weren't so sure about the cake. Logan said "YUCK!" when he got red frosting on his hands. And Olivia immediately wanted her hands "wash." Quite a bit different than last year!!

Then it was back to playing! The kids were go-go-go for hours! Stayed up LATE! It was a real party!! We ended up with a 3.5 year old, 5 2 year olds, a 1 year old, a 5 month old, a 7 week old & a 2 week old at the party. Plus grandparents, aunts, uncles & friends!!

Livi, Addie & Liv's new baby bouncing!

Baby LeeLee came to celebrate too! I was the lucky one to catch her in an awake moment!

Towards the end of the night.... a worn out Livi cuddling with mommy & Analeigh!

My 3 Elmos giving Grandma GG & LeeLee kisses before she goes home.

The kids crashed & slept hard! And the next day took a good 3.5 hour nap!! Wow! They were party animals!

Our lucky ducks got lots of awesome loot again this year. Lots of books, CARS, food sets for their kitchen, dishes, coloring books, a basketball, Mr. Potato Head, games, a slead & snow boots, Old Navy fleeces, a baby doll, sleeping bags & barns with animals!

The sleeping bags come in backpacks. Hoping the kids will learn to sleep in these as it would be a lot easier than traveling with 3 pack & plays!

These are the barns the boys got. Hand made from their Great Grandpa!

We had a fantastic birthday. We are so thankful you were all able to make it out to celebrate!! We would not be growing into the kids we are without all of you in our lives. {Nor would our parents still be sane!} We are so blessed to have you all.

Happy 2nd Birthday Hayden, Olivia & Logan!
WORDS CAN NOT EXPRESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU!!