My baby started kindergarten this week. She just finished up her first week there... I still haven't really processed it yet and I haven't shed any tears over it yet (surprisingly).
We met Tiny Dancer's teacher Monday night. We LOVE her! And then she went for her first day on Tuesday. She got a little teary-eyed and she told me she was scared, but we left. She told me later that she loved it. And everyday she continues to love it. She likes the cafeteria food too, which is good since she's so picky!
I pulled out some baby toy's that were Tiny Dancer's for the kids I babysit. I specifically remembered picking this particular toy out and buying it for her. Back when it was only her. She was the only child and the only grandchild. I started reminiscing about when we only had 1 child. We had money and we had it easy. We went and did whatever we wanted with Tiny Dancer in tow.
But I stopped that train of thought and thought about NOT having Little Monster and The Baby. I didn't like that feeling.
Those 2 have rounded out our family in ways I could have never imagined.
Sure, we don't have a lot of money. But I get to stay home all day with my babies. I hope eventually that includes homeschooling them. I don't even know if I would have ever entertained the idea of homeschooling if I was still working. And I wouldn't be a full time stay at home mom if I hadn't had more kids. One kid's childcare was easy, but after that... Little Monster is most of the reason why I am a stay at home mom right now.
And sure it's cause for celebration if I can make a trip to the grocery store with all 3 kids in tow and nobody gets lost or seriously injured, and I come home with at least half of what we needed.... but once they get a little older, that will get easier. And we will have 3 times as much fun as we would have had with only one child.
I don't want my kids to completely define me as a person. It's not fair to me or to them. But when I imagine a life without them, it's a life not as full. Not as beautiful. Not as rich with love and laughter. I thank God everyday for giving them to me. And my goal is to make them the 3 best things that I've ever done in my life.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Friday, August 16, 2013
We Are Food Allergy FREE (well, almost)
At The Baby's 9 month check-up, we got The Baby's and Little Monster's food allergies tested. Hers for eggs and his for dairy.
We were so excited to get the call - Little Monster's egg allergy is GONE. GONE!!! She can eat anything with eggs! This was AMAZING! We had done really great at cutting out eggs and I'm so happy we experienced it because I think I've learned a few ways for the whole family to eat a little better. But not worrying about anaphylactic shock is amazing! We don't have to carry around Benadryl and Epi pens anymore! Yippee!
The Baby's test came back good too - he has a VERY mild dairy allergy. So mild, the told me to not give him straight up milk and cheese, but not to worry about limiting it from his diet. We'd also discuss trying whole milk at his 1 year appointment. So, the other day, I gave him some stuff that had milk as an ingredient and wouldn't you know it, he broke out in hives immediately around his mouth.
At our follow-up visit with our pediatrician from The Baby's ER visit, I asked her about it. She said that was strange because it is really so mild, but we are just cutting out all milk for the next 3 months and after his birthday we will try the milk stuff again.
So, even though we do have a food allergy lingering around, it's so minimal that we don't need to worry about Epi pens. And since he still only eats a handful of things (mostly fruits and veggies anyway), it's not a big deal to keep that from his diet.
I'm so excited that we don't have to worry about it anymore... after we found out about Little Monster's non-allergy, we took her for a milkshake, homemade cookies, donuts, pancakes and actual eggs the following weekend. She's gonna gain about 50 pounds now. ;) Oh, well, she could probably use it!
We were so excited to get the call - Little Monster's egg allergy is GONE. GONE!!! She can eat anything with eggs! This was AMAZING! We had done really great at cutting out eggs and I'm so happy we experienced it because I think I've learned a few ways for the whole family to eat a little better. But not worrying about anaphylactic shock is amazing! We don't have to carry around Benadryl and Epi pens anymore! Yippee!
The Baby's test came back good too - he has a VERY mild dairy allergy. So mild, the told me to not give him straight up milk and cheese, but not to worry about limiting it from his diet. We'd also discuss trying whole milk at his 1 year appointment. So, the other day, I gave him some stuff that had milk as an ingredient and wouldn't you know it, he broke out in hives immediately around his mouth.
At our follow-up visit with our pediatrician from The Baby's ER visit, I asked her about it. She said that was strange because it is really so mild, but we are just cutting out all milk for the next 3 months and after his birthday we will try the milk stuff again.
So, even though we do have a food allergy lingering around, it's so minimal that we don't need to worry about Epi pens. And since he still only eats a handful of things (mostly fruits and veggies anyway), it's not a big deal to keep that from his diet.
I'm so excited that we don't have to worry about it anymore... after we found out about Little Monster's non-allergy, we took her for a milkshake, homemade cookies, donuts, pancakes and actual eggs the following weekend. She's gonna gain about 50 pounds now. ;) Oh, well, she could probably use it!
The Baby is 9 Months Old!
I cannot believe he is 9 months old... it just doesn't seem possible!
He went to the doctor for his 9 month check up - sweet boy is in the 10th percentile for weight and 25th percentile for height. Good thing his head is in the 50th! He's got a big noggin on a teeny tiny body... He's so much smaller than the girls were at his age - and that includes a 6 week premature baby! He's just the tiniest thing. Must take after Daddy.
The Baby also thought it would be a fun time for his first ER visit. The week after his check up, he cut his 2 front top teeth. Yes, top teeth! It was so funny to me because the girls got their bottoms first, which I know is more common, but this kid gets his two front teeth first. Silly boy. On Wednesday/Thursday, the girls each ran a really random, yet quick, fever. Pretty low grade, went to bed with Tylenol and woke up feeling fine. On Friday, my parents took me and the kids and my sister and her baby to Tuscola, about 2 1/2 hours away from here, to hit up the Tanger Outlet Malls for some back to school shopping.
The Baby was fine the whole day... he didn't whine or cry too much and he liked being pushed in the stroller. We go home and once Daddy got home, he noticed The Baby felt warm. His temp was almost 102! So we gave him some Tylenol, looked in his mouth and saw 4 more teeth trying to push through. I thought 102 was kinda high for teething, but he had no other symptoms.
We went out to eat and hung out at an arcade for a while and when we got home, The Baby started crying and we noticed he was retracting a bit in his chest. I gave him a breathing treatment and nursed him and once he calmed down, it look a lot less like retractions. We put him to bed and at 1am, he woke us up, crying and really struggling to breathe. Retracting a lot, but no nose flares, no blue tinged fingernails... but I thought he was acting really lethargic and his fever was back. I gave him Tylenol and he puked it up and then a breathing treatment, but he still was not really responding to us and his breathing sounded awful.
This is the point where I started freaking out and my husband had to get me to calm down. I begged him to take him to the ER. He said fine, but he'd go alone and call me if he needed me. I was up the rest of the time until 3:30 when they got home. They gave him more Tylenol, got his fever down and gave him a steroid shot. His pulse ox was 97 when he got there and 97 when he left, so nothing too crazy there but his pulse rate was in the 190s when he got there! Poor little guy... when they left, it was back in the 130s. Well, once he got home, he was hopped up on steroids so he didn't want to sleep and Daddy's alarm went off an hour later. He just stayed home and took him so I could sleep. Our day was all messed up. But The Baby was totally fine the rest of the day!
He does have a cough now and we went to our pediatrician for a follow-up from the ER visit where she ordered a chest X-ray. Thankfully, it came back normal. He's still got a junky cough, but we're hoping that's the end of this nonsense. Oh, yeah, he also started crawling the same week and his 2 bottom teeth popped through. 2 more on the top are close!
He went to the doctor for his 9 month check up - sweet boy is in the 10th percentile for weight and 25th percentile for height. Good thing his head is in the 50th! He's got a big noggin on a teeny tiny body... He's so much smaller than the girls were at his age - and that includes a 6 week premature baby! He's just the tiniest thing. Must take after Daddy.
The Baby also thought it would be a fun time for his first ER visit. The week after his check up, he cut his 2 front top teeth. Yes, top teeth! It was so funny to me because the girls got their bottoms first, which I know is more common, but this kid gets his two front teeth first. Silly boy. On Wednesday/Thursday, the girls each ran a really random, yet quick, fever. Pretty low grade, went to bed with Tylenol and woke up feeling fine. On Friday, my parents took me and the kids and my sister and her baby to Tuscola, about 2 1/2 hours away from here, to hit up the Tanger Outlet Malls for some back to school shopping.
The Baby was fine the whole day... he didn't whine or cry too much and he liked being pushed in the stroller. We go home and once Daddy got home, he noticed The Baby felt warm. His temp was almost 102! So we gave him some Tylenol, looked in his mouth and saw 4 more teeth trying to push through. I thought 102 was kinda high for teething, but he had no other symptoms.
We went out to eat and hung out at an arcade for a while and when we got home, The Baby started crying and we noticed he was retracting a bit in his chest. I gave him a breathing treatment and nursed him and once he calmed down, it look a lot less like retractions. We put him to bed and at 1am, he woke us up, crying and really struggling to breathe. Retracting a lot, but no nose flares, no blue tinged fingernails... but I thought he was acting really lethargic and his fever was back. I gave him Tylenol and he puked it up and then a breathing treatment, but he still was not really responding to us and his breathing sounded awful.
This is the point where I started freaking out and my husband had to get me to calm down. I begged him to take him to the ER. He said fine, but he'd go alone and call me if he needed me. I was up the rest of the time until 3:30 when they got home. They gave him more Tylenol, got his fever down and gave him a steroid shot. His pulse ox was 97 when he got there and 97 when he left, so nothing too crazy there but his pulse rate was in the 190s when he got there! Poor little guy... when they left, it was back in the 130s. Well, once he got home, he was hopped up on steroids so he didn't want to sleep and Daddy's alarm went off an hour later. He just stayed home and took him so I could sleep. Our day was all messed up. But The Baby was totally fine the rest of the day!
He does have a cough now and we went to our pediatrician for a follow-up from the ER visit where she ordered a chest X-ray. Thankfully, it came back normal. He's still got a junky cough, but we're hoping that's the end of this nonsense. Oh, yeah, he also started crawling the same week and his 2 bottom teeth popped through. 2 more on the top are close!
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