20091223

My baby is back!

After ten days of being sick, our little Emersynne is finally starting to show her happy little face again and we are very relieved!

It all started the day after Emersynne's 15 month check-up so at first I just assumed the fever was from her three shots. We spent several nights trying to keep her very high fever down and then she developed other symptoms like bad congestion, a terrible cough, and then diarrhea. Since it had only been a few days of having the fever I didn't call the doctors. Things usually go away after three or four days anyway so we really weren't all that concerned. After a really bad Saturday night of being up with Emersynne all night long it was such a relief to find that church was canceled due to our snow storm. I had know idea how I was going to teach my YW lesson and play the choir songs for the Christmas program on no sleep. Sunday was another bad night so Monday morning I took Emersynne in to the doctors.

The doctor spent a lot of time listening to her breathing and her lungs and then told us he felt it was best to head over to the emergency room to get her checked out. He said she was sicker than just a normal flu virus and wanted to make sure there weren't other things going on. So instead of doing laundry and getting the house ready for Grandma Vicki and Grandpa Wally, I spent twelve hours in the emergency room with Emersynne.

She was one sick little girl and just wanted to sleep. Every time she fell asleep in my arms somebody came in to run another test, watch her ribs while she was breathing, or listen to her lungs. She had chest x-rays to rule out pneumonia, was tested for H1N1, RSV, and something else. Since she had gone a week with no eating and hadn't been drinking much the doctors decided that while she was there they wanted her to have some fluids. She refused to drink so the only other option was to put an IV in. That was when we realized how bad she really was. Emersynne cried and cried as they tried to find good veins and she never got a tear out. She was really dehydrated which made getting the IV in very difficult. The first set of nurses came in and tried four times to get it in. They tried on her hands, feet, and arms. Her little veins would either collapse or they weren't even able to find them at all. After trying four times they sent for the IV team to come up and try. They tried three more times and didn't have any luck. It was so awful to watch and have Emersynne give me the look and just want me to pick her up and hold her. After giving Emersynne a break and letting her calm down another set of nurses came in to try. They spent some time looking at their options and after the fourth time for them trying they were successful. They got it in on their last time of being able to try. They had exhausted all their possibilities and had only one more spot to try. If they had not been able to get the IV in they would have had to put a tube down Emersynne's nose to give her fluids that way.

It was such a relief to know her body was finally getting the fluids it needed. After getting two bags of solution Emersynne had a wet diaper and was even drinking out of her sippy cup. The doctors suggested that we keep her at the hospital over night but since her condition was border line it was our decision. That was a hard call to make. In the end we decided to take her home knowing she would get a good nights sleep there. We spent the next day really pushing the liquids but she still refused and we had to resort to using a syringe to get it down her throat.

Grandma Vicki helping Emersynne "drink" her juice

She was still running a fever and miserable. We were worried about her condition and after a day of her being home from the hospital we were once again in the emergency room with Emersynne. She continued to refuse to drink and eat, still was running a fever, and had really bad diarrhea. While we were there we learned that the test for RSV had come back positive, she had Roseola, and some sort of stomach virus that was causing the diarrhea. After sitting with her for a few hours she started drinking and was interacting with the nurses. It seemed that she was turning around and starting to pull out of it. It was such a relief to be able to bring her home and not have to suffer through the IV ordeal again.

While Emersynne is not totally well we do occasionally see glimpses of her happy little self. She has started drinking again and is eating little bits too. Her rash from the Roseola is gone and her fevers are fewer and not as high. She still is clingy and fussy and not feeling really good but it is nice to see her improving and even see those smiles and hear her baby chatter again! That is the best Christmas present ever!


20091222

Furry little investigator

I was listening to the youth speaker during sacrament meeting at my church two Sundays ago when I first noticed it. Above and behind Maddie, and a little to the right, was a dark mass hanging from the bricks of the front of the chapel. After the meeting closed, I went to investigate, surprised to see that no one else had noticed.

My initial suspicions were correct. We had a visitor that hadn't been welcomed.








20091221

Fun with Grandma and Grandpa

Our visit with my parents earlier this month was a lot of fun. We didn't do anything really exciting or go anywhere really exciting but we just had a great time. I've learned that keeping up with six kids is exciting enough. We did the normal day to day activities and threw in a few Christmas activities as well. Abigail and Emersynne got to spent the most time with Grandma and Grandpa since the other kids still had to go to school.

Abigail loved helping Grandma put her make-up on every morning.

Snuggling with Grandpa Roy



Playing checkers with Grandma Cindy

I love how Abigail put so much thought into her game but really had no idea how the game worked and moved her pieces anyway she wanted!


Abigail won the first game so it looks like Grandpa is giving Grandma some pointers


Playing games


Anthony really enjoyed listening to the Chronicles of Narnia stories on CD that my Dad brought along to share.

Making cookie snowmen with Grandma and then getting to eat them!

Yummy!


Say Cheese!

Emersynne wasn't so sure about these people in our home but she soon warmed up to Grandma and Grandpa and had a great time with them!



The week went by way too quickly and before we knew it we had to say goodbye. Thanks for coming Mom and Dad!




Natalie's big day

Natalie is the reason my parents braved our New England winter weather to come for a December visit. With Natalie's birthday falling on Thanksgiving weekend we waited until early December for her baptism when it would hopefully be more convenient for grandparents to make it out here. We had a wonderful little program with Anthony and Grandpa Roy giving talks and then came home for a family party complete with a cake to honor Natalie.







Natalie loved her cake and was so excited to be the one to cut and serve the cake.

Natalie I'm proud of you and your decision to be baptized!

20091209

Our first snow day

The kids were so excited to wake up this morning and find out that school was canceled. Our first official snow day of the season. My first thought was "What are we going to do all day?" It's a good thing we had Grandpa Roy and Grandma Cindy here to help keep kids occupied and help keep my sane!

After playing in the snow for a few hours in the morning we had very wet snow clothes, boots, hats, and gloves hanging up all over trying to get dry. The kids kept asking to go out again but the snow had turned to rain and it was a soggy mess outside.

Thankfully the kids sat quietly and listened to The Chronicles of Narnia CD's my dad brought to share with us. The kids have loved the stories and it was a great inside activity.

We survived the long day and even did a little Christmas craft and made some cookies.






20091201

Path of destruction

How much mess can one little baby make in a totally baby proof room in less than one hour?







That's quite a work of art!

Poor Natalie. It's always her clothes that get pulled out of the drawers because those are the ones Emersynne can reach.

Our tree is up

With Thanksgiving over and Natalie's birthday over we packed up the fall decorations and put away the balloons and streamers. We actually had Thanksgiving decorations, birthday decorations, and the Christmas tree up (but not decorated) for a day while we made the transition.


Sunday night for Family Home Evening we decorated the tree. The tree had been sitting in it's place with just the lights on for a few days and Abigail had informed me that it was missing something. I thought she was going to tell me that it needed decorations but she told me how the tree was missing a star and how daddy was going to lift her up so she could put the star on the top of the tree. So that's what we did. The kids had a great time putting the decorations on and Jeremiah and I had a good laugh later when we saw all the clusters of ornaments that we knew Abigail had put on. She liked to put them all on the same branch but didn't mind when we spread them out a bit more.




So far Emersynne has left the tree alone. It helps that it is tucked away in the corner and I'm hoping that she won't venture over there to check things out but I'm sure it is only a matter of time!

My little helper

Recently Abigail has turned into the best little helper. She wants to do it all and we usually let her try but I think she is finding that some jobs are a little too difficult for her to handle. Just the other day Abigail was rather insistent on feeding Emersynne her yogurt. Thanks to Anthony for capturing these priceless shots. It's a good thing Emersynne was so patient with Abigail.