Thursday, April 26, 2012

Don't Worry.. I'm Still Alive!

I've said it before but being the mother of 3 have left me very little time for blogging. There have been so many little things that I could have posted about but at the end of the day, I'm fried. So, to get myself caught up, here's the latest:

*Brookie recently started playing T-Ball! One of our friends is coaching her team and somehow John ended up co-coaching with him. Our friends have a little boy her age and she secretly adores him and loves being on his team. It's cute though and she really seems to enjoy it. She's actually pretty athletic, which shocks me, considering my athletic ability and all. She looks super cute in her pink helmet and she's the tiniest member of her team, though she's not the youngest. My little girl is a peanut!

*Adrienne has us cracking up one minute and pulling our hair out the next. She's got quite the strong will and heaven help you if she doesn't want to do what you're asking her to. On the other side of the coin, though, she can be absolutely hilarious, sensitive and affectionate... Just you have to catch her on the right day. Lol. Oh yes, and she would like for us to call her "Dr. Rachel" now. I'm not really sure where she's comes up with these things!

*Bailey has us on our feet from sun up to sun down. She basically runs everywhere, climbs everything, and yields to nobody. Trying to contain that girl is like trying to contain a tornado! She keeps us super busy but laughing through it all. My older girls were always kind of reserved like their daddy but Miss Bailey has my personality and has never met a stranger. She is afraid of nobody and she loves to flirt and smile and random admirers. Her favorite word is "ugh oh" and she walks around throwing things all day long just she can use it appropriately. She's been wearing her eye patches for an hour a day and she handles it really well. It makes her mad at first but after the first few minute she gets over it and forgets about the patch even being there. On my last post (which will be 2 weeks from tomorrow) I mentioned that she had been running a low grade fever. I took her to the doctor where they found absolutely nothing wrong with her. She's continued to have an elevated temperature ever since (about 100.3-100.8) so today she had blood work drawn. I'm a little anxious to get the results and make sure she's okay..

*Last weekend we took a quick trip to Philadelphia with some friends. We drove down, went to the mall, had dinner, stayed overnight and then woke up, went to the zoo and came home. The girls enjoyed it (along with our friends' three boys) and the weather was gorgeous.. A sunny 80 degree day with a light breeze. Bailey, of course, wanted to walk everywhere, which made things a little crazy, but it was fun watching her explore the world. We didn't catch many pictures because of the chaos, though!

*We are still loving that John is on the day shift! We meet out at a restaurant for lunch probably once a week and on the other days he's usually able to come home. After him working nights for so long it's still weird that I can call/text him throughout the day. They're doing shift bids again for June and we're not sure if he'll get bumped back to nights but we're really enjoying the luxury of days while we have it!

I think that about sums it up! Phew.. I always feel so much better when I'm updated. I don't think  that I've gone this long between posts since I started blogging over 5 years ago. Here's to more frequent updates in the future!

Friday, April 13, 2012

Strabismus

Bailey's pediatrician had some concerns about her vision because she has been squinting so I took her to a special eye doctor today. I had noticed her squinting but I really, in my heart of hearts, thought that we were just being "safe" by taking her to the eye doctor. I never thought they would find anything.

The doctor ran a few tests on her and said that her right eye was straying off and that she would most likely need glasses. Then, he dilated her pupils and got a better look. From that exam he determined that her eyes actually see fine when they're functioning properly ... But she has a lovely condition called "Stabismus," which means that her eyes don't focus well, causing her to have double vision at times. Poor little baby!

So for the next 6 weeks we will be doing patch therapy, which means that we'll cover one eye with a patch for an hour a day (rotating back and forth between the 2 eyes). Doesn't that sound like a blast? Actually, it sounds impossible, if you ask me! After 6 weeks we'll go back and have another exam. There's a chance that she'll need glasses or surgery... Or there's even a chance that things will resolve themselves by using these patches alone. That's what I'm hoping and praying for!

I just feel so bad for my precious girl. First the ear issues that won't go away.. In fact, she's running a low grade temperature and that's usually how a new infection starts. See what I mean???!?! And now this. On top of doctor's visits to the ENT we can how throw the eye doctor right on in there. I realize it could be a lot worse and that she is a relatively healthy child but it just seems like the poor kid can't catch a break. :-(

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Spring Break = Heaven!

Brooke has been out of school for an entire week now. I hated school growing up.... More than you can ever even begin to imagine. I find myself feeling that same type of dread and sadness about her going back to school o Monday as I did for myself when I was in school.

This week I have loved having no real agenda. There has been no alarm clocks or rushing out the door to first drop her off and later pick her up.  I also love having my perky little girl at the breakfast table... She gets everyone's breakfast out each morning and sets it on the counter. It's been extra lounging in our pajamas for half the morning and not finding any real need to hurry up and get dressed. These are the things that I have missed the most having her in school this year... The simple, little things.

I find myself longing for summer break to get here. However, with summer break coming, that means that the dreaded "K" word will be soon approaching. Ah yes, kindergarten... Where could I even begin to express the way my heart feels torn in 2 at the very word alone? I have this precious girl who loves school and beams with excitement whenever we talk about kindergarten. Then you have me who is terrified, saddened and just plain NOT ready to give her up for that many hours a day. Having her gone for 2.5 hours every morning has been hard enough this year and I can't even imagine next year. I am thankful that God will give me the strength because his growing up stuff is simply not something that I can manage on my own!

It seems like just yesterday that my oldest daughter was coming home from the hospital. The thought of having a school-aged-child seemed almost laughable to me at the time. Because after all, I signed up to have a baby... Not a full blown child! Lol. Looking back, I never really pictured her as anything BUT a baby and I was truly not prepared for her to blossom so quickly into a toddler, then a preschooler, then a little girl. I'm pretty sure she'll be a teenager before I even know what hits me. If only I had listened more attentively to the wise older people that warned me about how fast the time flies!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Bailey's One-Year Stats

Miss Bailey went to the doctor today for her check-up and she weighed in at 20 pounds, 10 ounces and she was 28 inches long... Landing her in the 50th percentile for both categories. When I get a few minutes I'll have to search back and look at how she compares to her sisters. I know they weighed pretty close to that at a year.

Her ears were clear today, which I was thankful for! However, I wasn't all that surprised or excited because she's been on a high dose of antibiotic for the last week, along with ear drops twice a day. Nonetheless, she's not in pain so I'm happy about it.

I am a bit discouraged, however, because now the doctor wants her to go see an eye specialist. She squints out of her right eye when she's trying to focus. The doctor wants us to go have it checked out to make sure that her eyesight isn't impaired. Goodness gracious. Does it ever end with this poor littlest girl of mine?

On an unrelated note, I have been having incredible, horrible pain while nursing Bailey for the past 3 days or so... So much to the point that I get tears in my eyes whenever she eats. It's been awful. I went to the doctor today, after feeling a million times worse overnight and as it turns out, I have mastitis. I was running a fever of 101 and had no idea and other than the horrible pain, I really haven't felt THAT awful... I've just had a perpetual headache and have been extremely, extremely exhausted. Now we know why! The doctor says that the antibiotics should fix me in a couple of days... In the mean time it's going to be rough. Yikes! Bailey is absolutely worth it, though, and I would do anything to be able to nurse her for as long as she wants to go.

So that's the latest around here! Now that John works days (YAY!!), I don't have loads of free time in the evening to blog... And trust me, I'm NOT complaining:-) I love that man so much!