Sick Again? Really?

Well I think we need to just go ahead and make a follow up appointment after each time we go to the Doctor. After being on steroids for our last adventure, Keira finally seemed to be feeling a little better. Her cough had changed, but sounded more like a productive cough. She still wasn't sleeping well, but we contributed that to not being able to breathe. Then there was Thursday morning. Stephen brought her to me around 4:00 and I gave her a bottle in bed. She fought going back to sleep and was breathing really hard. Again, I just figured the massive amounts of snot are just making it hard for her. She felt warm, but she was also in thicker jammies. Well I get up and she gets up with me and I get ready for work as quick as possible.

We get downstairs and I lay her down to change her clothes and diaper to go to school. I see that her entire nose is blocked by lovely boogies and she still feels warm. Her eyes were puffy and goopy. I decided that I might as well take her temperature. The first time it said 105.3. The freaking out began. I tried again and this time is was 103.8 (our thermometer is pretty finicky, so I take it three times and average). The third time was 104.5, so pretty much a 104 degree fever; the highest she's ever had. I freaked out, ran upstairs to tell the boy and called another Kinder teacher to figure out what I should do. No sub plans made, Easter Egg Hunt Day, day before a three day weekend... she just said not to worry and took care of it for me! I love the people I work with. I called skister and got her opinion on ER or Dr Visit. She recommended Dr. visit and I called the on call Doctor.

We went in and sure enough, double ear infection. One ear half full of puss, the other 90% full. Poor thing!! I wish she would show me that she hurts, but she doesn't. So we got put on Omnicef for the ears and Vigamox for the eyes, which had pink eye. She was miserable from then until Sunday night. Her fever stuck around until Saturday morning. Finally, Monday night she decided that she wanted to eat and drink again. She still isn't eating as well as usual, but at least she is eating.

Sleeping is improving. She is still waking up around 10:30, but is crying herself to sleep. She is also waking up during the night, but we are making her put herself back to sleep. She has to remember that nighttime is for sleeping, not playing or eating.

Hopefully with warmer weather coming, the sickness will come to an end. I just can't handle her being so miserable! It is so sad! I am ready to have my healthy girl back!

Life Lately!

Things have been going going going lately! Here's a quick recap!

March 13th-21st I was on Spring Break, so Keira was on Spring Break! The daycare has the same schedule as the District I work for, so when I have a holiday so does she. Stephen took off the 15th-19th to hang out with us. It was so nice having him home and being a normal family. He is always so rushed to get home and see Kiwi before she melts down and goes to bed, so it was nice to have him around all day long.
On Monday, we went to Build-a-Bear and made Keira's second stuffed friend. She chose a very colorful bear that we ended up naming Berry.
On Tuesday, we went to Target and got her a push walker/car. She was a little hesitant to walk with it at first, but now she is a pro. She has had her fair share of stumbles and falls, but she really does love it!
The rest of the week we just hung out at the house or ventured out to Kyle or San Marcos. Not much was accomplished around the house, and that is okay! We really enjoyed spending some time with Daddy.
On Friday evening, Kiwi and I went to my Mom and Dad's out in the cornfield. We had plans of driving down to Rockport the following morning to visit with my extended family and see my Papa. Well apparently my stomach had other plans. I ended up getting what now seems like food poisoning and was sick all night. I really didn't think I could make it down to Rockport, so Kiwi and I came home Saturday morning. Keira was a giant fuss all day because her top teeth were starting to break through. FINALLY!! She is now the proud owner of two full teeth and the tiny tips of two top teeth, but I don't think they are friends! After a good night of sleep, I felt 100% better on Sunday. Just in time to go back to work!

We went back to school on the 22nd. Tuesday night Kiwi woke up in the middle of the night coughing. Stephen came and woke me up because she wasn't breathing well. Eventually she fell back asleep in our bed and I took her to daycare the next day. At daycare she was miserable; coughing, not eating, just not herself. So, to the Dr we went. She ended up having croup and got a steroid to help with the swelling of her airways. Little did we know that the steroids would make her crazy!! She spent the next 5 nights waking up at least 4 times. Several nights she came downstairs and partied like a rockstar! But I don't blame the Boy for letting her; what else can you do at 3:00 in the morning when your kid won't sleep?? Now we are battling to get her back on her normal schedule and break the habit of waking in the middle of the night. Joy Joy. She is still coughing and is very snotty, but the cough now sounds like more of a cold cough, so I guess that's good?

This weekend she started pulling up on me and then letting go. She now stands on her own for quite a while! Yeah!! It is amazing how quickly she went from just pulling up to cruising around the furniture. I really think she will be walking in no time! Even her daycare teachers have commented on her great balance! Future flyer I must say! Ha!!

We came home yesterday and I noticed that both her eyes were swollen and gunky. Her left eye started being gunky again in the last few days of Spring Break. I'm hoping it is just allergies. I know that I feel miserable, so she might as well. Well anyway, there was no pleasing the girl last night. We tried to walk, eat snack, drink a bottle, play, take a nap, eat dinner, take a bath..... nothing made her happy- until Daddy got home. Once he walked in the door, she was a happy camper. And then proceeded to stay up until about 9:15. Ugh! Go to bed!! This morning she woke up and was still a little swollen, and very gunky. I am anxious to see how her eyes look when I pick her up from school.

Tomorrow night we have the Annual Easter Egg Hunt for her Daycare. It should be interesting! I am excited about her first Easter and I can't wait to go egg hunting with her! Her and I will be off Friday for Good Friday and then Easter is on Sunday of course. We are planning on a quiet afternoon at home and hunting some eggs with Kiwi. She will love crawling around and finding them!

Well that is about it. I can't believe we are already so close to her first birthday. It honestly feels like the year has just flown by. This time last year Miss Maddycakes was just about to make her arrival and I was about chin deep in Maternity Leave plans. Now look at us! Our teeny tiny girl is almost a toddler! I tell her everyday to not get so big so fast, but I guess she is choosing not to listen!

Snow White

A couple of weeks ago, Snow White came on and Keira and I watched it. Well, it was on the TV and I sang along. Keira watched a few minutes here and there.

Well it came on again this week and I think someone was a little more interested this time...




I hope she keeps on loving Disney Princesses. It'll make going to Disney World one day much more fun!! :)

Hello Sunshine!

As sad as it makes me to have to put more clothes away that I will never see my baby girl in again, I sure am happy to be able to put Keira in cute little jumpers again!!

What a big girl she is becoming!

Slow down Kiwi, you are getting too big, too fast.

And it breaks Mama's heart!!

Love you sweet girl!

Surgery Day

Well eye surgery came and went, and we all survived. Here's the run-down...

Wednesday:
-Found out her surgery was at 10:00, much later than I expected! No breakfast would be a challenge! No solids after 1:00, no formula after 3:00 and no clear fluids after 7:00.
-I gave her a bottle when we got home from school, which I normally don't do.
-The three of us went to Target to roam around and she fell asleep.
-Stayed asleep until about 9:30ish and then we fed her dinner.
-Bedtime bottle and in bed around 10:15ish.

Thursday:
-Woke up around 6:30 and had some pedialyte.
-Left the house around 7:30 and found traffic to the Surgery Center. She slept the whole way; thank goodness! She did so much better than I thought she would with no breakfast!
-Checked in at 9:00.
-Walked around the center with Daddy and got an Elephant Beanie Baby.
-Went back around 9:30.
-Got prepped and changed into her gown and went back for surgery right at 10:00.
-By 10:20 she was back with us. She was SO hungry. It took a while for her to calm down, but she did eventually relax with Daddy.
-We were out of the Center by 11:00 and on our way home!

Once we got home, she ate a very big lunch and then napped for about 3 hours. She woke up just like her normal self! Her eye was a little swollen and had a little blood, but other than that it was great.

Now she is typical Keira! We have eye drops for a week, but her eye is clear! It is so nice to not have to fight with her every morning! I love that when she wakes up she can see with both eyes!

Here are a few pictures of the day of her surgery.

Waiting for the elevator.

Her very cute hospital gown! I wish I could have snuck it out of there!!

Right after she finished her bottle. Poor baby girl! Look at that swollen eye!

Relaxing with Daddy.

My Nannie

Have you ever had this feeling like someone is just all around you? There is no one there, but it just feels like they are there? Nannie would have said I'm crazy, but there are days that I think she is here; looking after us, watching us. There are days that the birds seem a little louder and the wind chimes are moving a little faster. The flowers a little brighter, like she's there. Even if it's just in my mind, I whisper I know she's there. And it makes me feel better. Peace of mind.

Today is one year since Nannie passed away. I wish Nannie could have met Keira and Keira met Nannie. I wish she could have felt Nannie's thumb rub on her hand like I did so many times and felt the comfort of knowing that Nannie was there. I think Nannie would have liked her. I really do.

I miss you everyday Nannie. I'm so afraid that I will forget the little things about you. The feeling of waking up at your house on a Saturday morning, you turning on the heater so we could all sit in front of it and warm up, decorating the house for Christmas, playing church with the juice glasses, playing rumikub, painting with water, making play-doh, going on long walks past the mailbox, making mudpies, picking wildflowers, going to the park, strawberry pie, chicken salad with bug juice, lettuce salad, crispies and hot cakes, mixing the sugar in the milk before you put in the cereal, being the dress model, singing in front of the tv like we were on stage, late night ice cream, popping popcorn in a pot, price is right, the hummers, nannie beans, the tire swing, long summer letters, my red haired girl, sitting with you in your chair and falling asleep.

If I love my family half as much as you loved us, they'll be blessed. You always put us first and loved us more than anything in the world. If there is anything that I hope I can pass on to Keira, I hope that is it. I love you Nannie.

What A Month!

Wow, things seem to be nonstop lately. Since Keira's 9 month well check on February 5th, we have NOT been on antibiotics for 2 days. Kiwi finished up her amoxicillin on Valentine's Day only to go back to the Dr on the 15th with a 102 fever. They ran tests, all that came back negative, and said that her ears had fluid in them, but it looked like healing fluid. Dr L told me to take her home, give her fluids and if she still had fever the next day to bring her back. So, we went home and waited. She had fever all night so we went back.

I was afraid of what tests they would run next; chest X-rays for pneumonia, or catheter for UTI. Thankfully (I guess), Dr L looked in her ears and her right ear was full of puss. So, new antibiotic. This time augmentin. Started the meds and within 36 hours, she was fever free!

Things were going great until this past Tuesday night (same day that I might add it SNOWED!! and bunches of it, well bunches of it for central Texas in February, ANYWAY....) when she woke up SCREAMING around 10:30ish. We went to get her out of bed to find that she had thrown up. Stephen got her out and went to give her a bath while I stripped down her bed. He ended up getting in the tub with her in his jammies because she was not having anything to do with sitting on her own. Very sad things to see and hear; I have found that I cry with my sweet girl when she hurts. We brought her back to bed with us and layered towels underneath us. Everytime she threw up, we ripped of a towel layer. Once she finally stopped throwing up around 2:00 ish, she tossed and turned. She ended up staying home with Stephen the next day, but did start to feel better. She still isn't eating as much as usual, but she is getting her appetite back!

Well just when we thought things were on the mend, Boy and I get the bug Thursday night. I now understand why she was screaming. It was awful, but it passed quickly thankfully. Now if only the cleaning fairy will come and finish scrubbing the germs out of my house!!

Keira has her eye surgery this Thursday. We still haven't been told when it will be on Thursday though. Hopefully early so that she has the rest of the day to relax at home. I just hope she isn't in too much pain. I can see some tears coming Thursday for me! After I take my day off for this, I will only have two sick days left for the rest of the year; March to June. They sure went quick, but after taking so many at the beginning of the year when we weren't in daycare yet, it does make sense that I would run out. Hopefully no one gets sick again or I'll be paying about $200 for each day I take. Nice right? I guess Stephen will just have to stay home with her if she gets sick and I just can't get sick! Do you hear that germs.... STAY AWAY!!!

It really will be a trying week. The emotions are already starting to get to me because of Kiwi's surgery, but this Friday also marks the One Year of Nannie passing away. I know that she will be with Keira that day, just like she is every other day. Thank goodness Nannie can hold her hand when I can't. That helps ease my fear.