A Very Happy Halloween

For those of you who are not on my mom's email list/prayer chain, let me fill you in on the past few days. From the last post, you'll know that we took Erin to the ER on Monday. Tuesday, we got up to go to her 15 month checkup and have her shots and she was still just laying there with her head on Chris's shoulder, breathing hard and looking so so sick. When the PA took her pulse and oxygen level, it was way out of whack. Her oxygen level was in the 80s (we want it to be in the high 90s) and her pulse was up to 180, which means she was working way too hard to breathe. He put her on oxygen and it went up a little, but dropped back alarmingly low when he took it away. The skin between her ribs was sucking in with each struggling breath. They called an ambulance to transport her to the hospital. The EMTs strapped her carseat (and her) into the gurney and put the oxygen next to her face. She slept the whole way to the hospital. My HC went home to grab some clothes and stuff and met us at the hospital. All that day, we battled fevers, lethargy, and low oxygen levels. I held Erin in my arms all day with an oxygen mask next to her face. They tried to put some nose prongs with oxygen on her, but she got too upset and her pulse got too high again. So we waited. She got breathing treatments every four hours. That night her O2 levels got too low again so they put the nose prongs on. She sort of left it alone. Every time I checked her, she had pulled it out and put the prongs on top of her nose. We went back and forth like that until they took it out on Thursday.

Finally, she started feeling better and getting more and more active, though she hasn't really eaten much for about a week. Gramma and Papaw sent her some balloons that were batted around a lot and a stuffed bear that she hugged in her little metal crib at night. They also sent some pretty flowers that were a constant reminder of love and hope. It was pretty dodgy for a while, as we thought they might have to hook her up to an IV. To my everlasting relief, it was not necessary. She managed to drink enough to fill a couple of diapers and we were spared. When her oxygen levels were acceptable, it was necessary to "wean" her off of the oxygen. Last night she was monitored and found to be okay. Today we were discharged and came home!! Finally!
It is so good to be home. Don't get me wrong, the cable was nice, but I missed being in the middle of family life. My wonderful HC held down the fort at home (it was spotless when we got home today (!!!))and drove over every day with Ian to see us. Ian and I went for some great walks so I could get some fresh air.
Erin was so thrilled to be outside today.
Since she does still have RSV, she is contagious for as long as she has mucus in her lungs. So until she quits coughing, we have been ordered to stay away from babies, old people and anyone who may have lung trouble. Sheesh. Some coughs linger forever. But it looks like church is out for us on Sunday.
So we got home and it was flight of the bumblebee to get Ian's Halloween costume ready for the Main St Trick or Treat that started at 4. He wanted to be a robot.
I Googled for ideas (yes, Mother) and got some great ones. Then I headed for Dollar General to see what I could find. I got an LED light to attach somewhere, some metallic quick dry spray paint and some duct tape. And I made a robot. Oh. Yeah. Unh!
Today was Ian's field trip to the pumpkin patch and he was so excited when I picked him up from school. Me too. We ran home to see if the spray paint was dry on his costume and proceeded to add the finishing touches. Then we ran/waddled/carried Ian's costume on the bike stroller to Main St. Erin was kept quarantined inside the enclosed bike stroller. We didn't know anyone else who could have taken Ian trick-or-treating, so we just went anyway. He only tripped and fell over twice. Boy was it a good thing that I brought the duct tape and scissors with us. We had a couple of blowouts. Then we got the hookup at the ambulance table and got our pumpkin bucket filled to the top. Ian was over the moon. Then he proceeded to get a sugar high the likes of which the world has never seen. And it was given to him by an EMT. Of course they cleared out before detox. Cowards.
It took a long time to get him calmed down tonight, but he still had fun. I let him give the trick or treaters candy in their bags. He was very meticulous (and stingy!) about it.
So now everyone is in their own bed (with no beeping or interrupting rectal temperature taking), sleeping like little logs. And I am trying to catch up. But my bed is just looking too too good right now. It'll feel good not to have to go to bed fully dressed. It'll feel good to go to bed, period. So I will.
Thanks to everyone with encouraging words and prayers for us. They were felt and much needed. I thank God for all of it and know that my strength came from Him.

ER ---> RSV

Erin didn't have a high fever today, but she was just not herself. It was in the 30s this morning, so we drove Ian to school. Erin fell asleep in the car. She ate about 3 bites of eggs for breakfast, but kept laying her head on my shoulder and dropping off to sleep. Her cough was getting worse. After her 3rd nap, her difficulty breathing was getting worse, even after the nebulizer. She was at around 60 breaths per minute. The ER doc later said that normal is in the 20s. Yikes. We loaded everything up, picked Ian up from school (it was nap time, he wasn't that upset to leave early) and went to Siloam Springs to the ER.
We had thought about going to Stilwell Hospital, where Erin was born and where Ian's croupy ER visit had taken place, but the ER there had failed to catch a case of appendicitis in an acquaintance the day before, resulting in a very scary ride to Siloam Springs for an appendectomy today. Poor woman. So we decided that we would go to Siloam Springs and drive around until we found the hospital.
Chris's uniform and Erin's age got us to the top of the list and moved to a better lobby. The nice volunteer gave the kids little sewn teddy bears, made by a local church. Ian's didn't stay nice looking long; he played pretty hard with it. Erin stopped fussing long enough to say hello to hers.
We got to triage pretty fast, but had to wait for a bed. I got to sit and get Erin admitted (are there any emergency numbers we can call? (they all live in FL) Do you mind if your case is monitored by student doctors? (How else are they going to learn?) Is Erin a male or a female? (incredulous smile).
Finally we got into our room, plopped Ian down with his busy bag (I knew that our things-to-do bag was still unpacked from the camping trip for a reason) and waited. An ER nurse with cool hair gave Ian some coloring papers and a quilty type blanket for Erin, created and donated by a generous and crafty soul from Bella Vista. This was great and very comforting for Erin, who snoozed off and on. Eventually, over the course of a few hours, Erin got a breathing treatment, an RSV test and a chest x-ray. They all agreed that she was one sick little doll. She cried and fussed a lot, especially when they had to hold her down for the x-ray and when the respiratory nurse sucked out her nose with the Blue Beast (though the hospital's bulb syringe was more of a teal color).
Then we waited for the lab to send back the test results. After quite a bit longer, after we had all checked out the main ER bathroom, where ER waiters are sent and those who are retrieving specimens go, I decided to hold it if I had to go again. It was just used a lot and no one felt like sitting on the seat. It reminds me of the kind of bathroom that usually gets assigned to people doing community service. The kind that teaches you very effectively to go and sin no more. Eek. You get the picture.
The results came back. It was RSV pneumonia.

*For those interested in the intricacies of this, read on. If not, skip to the next paragraph. From www.cdc.gov: "Respiratory syncytial (sin-SISH-uhl) virus, or RSV, is a respiratory virus that infects the lungs and breathing passages. In fact, RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lung) and pneumonia in children under 1 year of age in the United States.
Symptoms of RSV infection are similar to other respiratory infections. A person with an RSV infection might cough, sneeze, and have a runny nose, fever, and decrease in appetite. Wheezing may also occur.
Infants and children infected with RSV usually show symptoms within 4 to 6 days of infection. Most will recover in 1 to 2 weeks. However, even after recovery, infants and children can continue to spread the virus for 1 to 3 weeks."


She had another breathing treatment and her lungs were listened to again. The good news is that we were right to take her to the ER. The bad news is that it's a virus and we're just going to have to get through it. The breathing treatments help a bit, but we were told to keep sucking out her nose, pound her on the back to loosen the mucus in her lungs, keep the fevers down if they come back and keep the fluids going. Her oxygen levels were good and we were free to go. We got a scrip for Prednisolone to help with inflamed airways. So that was that.
We went to Walmart, got our scip, then to McDonald's for Happy Meals (Ian: "Oh, you so proud of me, I get a Happy Meal!") and then we went home so my wonderful HC could work the rest of his shift. It's really neat to see who your friends really are when emergencies happen. We had several calls of "what can I do?" from friends and co-workers. We had offers to watch Ian and pick him up from school and lots of "How are thing?" calls. It was just very reassuring and fuzzy-feeling.
And there's nothing like talking to your Mom when you start to doubt yourself. Just another instance of "you were SO right." Thanks Mom.

Unwanted Guest

This morning, Ian seemed better. He really wanted to go to school, so we bundled everyone up and set out. He coughed a lot, but he made it. But now Erin is coughing up a storm and dragging today. I was too. No fun. We were getting the bike stroller out to take Ian to school and I was passing our Halloween decorations. We hung up our little trashbag ghosts and strung up our fake spiderweb. It didn't come with the little plastic spiders, so I raided my stash of Halloween goodies for a few spider rings for Ian and HC to stick in the fake web. Well, this morning, one of them moved. And got bigger. Waaaay bigger. And it was yellow and white and black. Eeeeeeeew. We all froze, then stared at it, fascinated and disgusted and with creepy crawlies starting to shiver over the backs of our necks. Then we shook it off and took Ian to school.

When we got back, Chris spit on it to see if it was still alive (it was) because that's what boys do. When it doubt, spit on it or in it or over it. If it flinches, it's good and you're really scary. :) Guys are so funny.


It's still there. It has moved into the spider version of a model home, I guess. Furnished and even with a fake family so you won't get lonely. But it's really cold outside, so maybe it really needs a home. I hope it knows that its new home will be condemned and removed next weekend. Shiver, blrrrreagh. Not a big fan of spiders here. Ugh.

Here, this will cheer us up. A nice picture of Ian's pumpkin. It's supposed to be a drippy face. Ian had fun cleaning out all the slimy seeds and urging me to hurry up carving it. Now we have to visit it. I think he forgot about it today or else we would be out there lighting the candle and watching it in the dark until our toes turned blue and fell off.
But back to the no fun part of our evening, Ian coughed so hard he threw up his supper and red KoolAid all over the carpet and down the hallway. He then had to interrupt his vomit moment to pee, so we were laughing a bit. For example: "Bleah, Bleah (that's him throwing up). Cough cough. OH NO! I have to PEEEEE!" "Go then," I said, wondering how much would continue until I could start cleaning up. I was also holding a grossed out Erin on my hip. I wiped a tissue over Ian's nose and mouth as he ripped down his underoos and started whizzing like a champ. He had just peed about 10 minutes before. Wow, was his little bladder full. "Wow," I said. "Where did all that peepee come from?" His little pale face grinned up at me. "I don't know," he said. "But it's coming out." And he only sprinkled a little bit. What a buckeroo.
I got him settled in his room with a movie and draped towels over the messes in the living room. Uh oh. Erin felt hot. The battery in the thermometer is dead! I tried to get a replacement at the town pharmacy today, but they didn't have that one. They ordered it and it will be here Monday. Not that it helps me over the weekend. The only thing left is: DUM Dum dum. The Heini-o-meter! [screaming] Poor Erin was introduced to it and her little temp was 101.9. Oh NO! So she got some meds and some nebulizer for her wheezy cough and conked right out. I really hope she sleeps tonight and the temp doesn't go up like Ian's did.
So she went to sleep and I proceeded to scrub red food coloring out of the carpet. Wheeeee.
Now I need to finish up before someone else needs me.

Sick of sick--Part 3

This week has been one thing after another, it seems. The kids started to get the coughs and sniffles back, then some breathing trouble and then Ian woke up with the croup. Sigh. On night 2 of the croup, he woke up and couldn't breathe, so the nebulizer has been our friend, especially the little mask that leaves Ian hands-free so he can play on the computer at the same time. :D
Then last night the fever hit us. It climbed up to 103.4 and Ian started babbling and talking to people that weren't there. I was seriously freaked out. We started the ibuprofen and tylenol rotation. It slacked off after a lot of rocking and cold cloths on the face and neck. It went down to 101 and he asked to go to bed (I guess I wasn't that comfortable to sit on). He woke up at 5 telling me there were owls in his room (his version of monsters in his closet). I went in there, cleared them out and he went back to sleep. I got up at 7 and he woke up with a 101 fever still. Then he threw up the ibuprofen all over his room. Sigh. So we decided to stay home from school today.
I made chicken and dumplings for instant wellness. It sort of worked, though Erin picked out all the dumplings and launched them across the kitchen. I may still have one in my hair. But Ian hemmed and hawed and didn't want it until we told him it would make his cough and sickness go away (doesn't chicken have healing properties??). He quit playing in it and ate most of it, but only because he wanted dessert. But it was a change from the same old request I'd been hearing about all night and all day.
All he wanted was chocolate milk. All night. Then all day. Constantly. He was sick enough to not be bouncing off the walls, but he still bounced on the couch, the bed and the chair. Please Lord can we be well enough tomorrow to go back to school??? Pleeeease?

Camping with the Kiddies

Last week we went camping. This is a monumental thing because though we had planned going several times, we never quite managed to go. To make it a little more pitiful, we have owned our tent for about 5 years and have never even taken it out of the bag until this camping trip.
The weather is getting cooler, the leaves are changing and I sat down and sort of told my HC that we were going camping. Ian had the 16 and 17 off from school for something called "Fall Break," which I wished we had when I went to school. My HC has Wednesdays and Thursdays off, so we decided to take Ian out of school early on Wednesday, go to the campsite and come back on Friday in time for HC to get to work at 4.
We were so excited to finally go! There was a tense moment when we discovered that our unused tent instructions had somehow gotten wet and the pages all stuck together. Trying to unstick them resulted in ripped, unreadable pages, so I had to call the toll free number and have the nice ladies email me another copy of the instructions. Then we packed everything we could think of, including both of our dogs, borrowed a trailer, got Ian and headed to Arkansas.
It was very foggy, even at 1 in the afternoon, so the ride to Devil's Den (about an hour), was uneventful.

We got everything set up and Ian started his cycle of "Oops, I fell in the creek again." From the time we stopped the car until we left, Ian had wet shoes and socks draped around the campsite drying out.


Then my HC started on his Manly Quest for More Firewood and I got baby detail. And doggy detail. And drying soggy shoes and socks detail. But it was so beautiful. That night it was cold, but everyone slept like happy rocks.


On Thursday we decided to go on a hike to see the actual Devil's Den, which is a cave. There are also several sister caves with names like Devil's Ice Box, etc.

There was a very misguided park ranger who informed us that we would have no trouble with the bike stroller on this trail but clearly, he was wrong. My poor HC ended up carrying it a good bit of the way, especially on the half of the 2 miles where only a thin mountain goat would fit.
Ian loved running around and looking over ledges. I lost at least a pound on my racing heart alone as he fearlessly explored. Berry accompanied him a lot, but managed to fall in between two rocks and get stuck, so he was watched a little more closely after that. Buddy plodded along, I'm sure almost comatose from the altitude or exercise or something. Either one, when we got back to camp, he lay down and didn't move for over an hour.
We saw gorgeous mountains and rocks and caves (2 bats!) and were really really sore when we got done. Poor HC still has a sore knee from wrenching that dumb stroller up and down that mountain.
We decided to take it easy that afternoon. We saw the dam and the creek and the extension bridge. We roasted our hot dogs and brats for supper after HC collected a small plateau of firewood.

We also had lots of marshmallows. We heard some splashing in the creek after dark and HC spotlighted some deer walking across (right there!!) to the other side. We were tired and sore and went to bed.


Then it got COLD. Everyone did okay until about 2am. Then Erin woke up, cold and grouchy. She didn't want to be in bed with us. She wanted to be warm and in her
own bed, thank you. I took her to the nice heated camp bathrooms, but there was too much light and she was wide awake. I sat there dazed while she ran all over the bathroom wide awake. At about 3:30 I went back to camp and walked with her, hoping that she'd drop off. I heard an owl and some howling coyotes, which was interesting. She fell asleep until I went back into the tent (all those noisy zippers!!), then started the wailing again. I was tired and frustrated. I woke up my HC (isn't it amazing how guys can sleep?) and told him the situation. "I'm cold and Erin's cold," I told him. "I cold too," Ian chimed in from his little bed with his mound of sleeping bag and blankets. After more crying (Erin) and shivering (everyone else), we decided to call it a night and pack it up.
It was so nice to get home to our heater! The next morning, Erin greeted each individual toy with a peppy "Hey you!" and Ian slept until 9 (Erin slept in, but still woke up at 8). For the rest of the weekend we goofed off and played and recovered. :D



So looking back, our first family camping trip was great. We will be going back in the spring, when it's warmer, to camp some more. Camping with the kiddies? It was....educational. But fun.

Okay Pumpkin?

This past weekend was the Weekend of the Pumpkin. I had gotten a couple of small cooking pumpkins and let Ian decorate them to drippy splendor with his Crayola markers because he was very disappointed that these weren't his promised jack-o-lanterns. Saturday morning was The Morning.


I carefully followed the instructions on the Pioneer Woman website and lopped the stems off and cut them in quarters. Then came the fun part of getting the seeds and strings off. Ian was not so enthusiastic about this part, but he still helped. The chunks were cleaned and baked and then baked some more. Then they were skinned and stuck in the food processor and made about 8 cups of pumpkin puree. Go away Libby's! I don't need you anymore! I have Home Made Pumpkin Puree! It is stacked nicely in my freezer by cupful in baggies. :D
Sunday afternoon, after I finally finished chiseling dried pumpkin strings, etc off of every conceivable surface (evidently Ian had a BUNCH of fun helping), I decided to try out pumpkin pie. My only problem was the recipe. I had a great recipe in my big folder of recipes, but someone (cough cough) had messed with the computer before the recipe was printed off and instead of 2 tsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp of ginger (or whatever) there was 4^%2346549822 tsp cinnamon, 233%$#@&&$@23354 tsp of ginger.
Chaos ensued.

Then I remembered that there was a pumpkin pie recipe on the one can of Libby's pumpkin puree that I had left in the pantry.
So I used that one and the can it came on...I guess I'm saving my puree for the next one.
*Update*: Since the above portion was written, there is now nothing left of said pumpkin pie but a tiny sliver. It is for my HC when he gets home; sort of a little pick me up after he sees the empty pie plate in the sink. ;)



Tomorrow is Ian's first field trip to his teacher's farm/dairy. They will be back by lunch time, but he is more excited, I think, about getting to ride the bus than he is about seeing a farm. We'll see, I guess.

Rainy days

Not only was today Monday, but it was a rainy Monday. That means the children will be sleepy, the parents will be sleepy, nothing will get done and you will eat too much junk food to keep from being sleepy. And then you'll take a nap. But the kids won't and then you'll be grouchy.
Anyway, Erin didn't nap well because she has now discovered her favorite junk food: homemade peanut butter cookies. And then some Chex mix. I need not have worried about it going to waste. It's gone. The kids have suddenly discovered that they are ravenous for it and polished the last of it off this afternoon and then wanted more. To my innovative commenters, I've never heard of the Puppy Chow, but I've done the Muddy Buddies (with peanut butter + chocolate + powdered sugar) with great success. Mostly they just make a powdery mess, but they've never gone to waste.
I don't think the peanut butter cookies will survive until tomorrow. My HC has already filled a giant bowl with some and toted them off to work with him. He was very glad that I made them while HE was napping this afternoon. :|




All Erin wanted was the beaters. Both of them...

When Ian got home, he saw the camera on the counter and wanted to take pictures. I thought for a second. Then shrugged and said okay. It's not like he'd be wasting film. I reminded him how it worked and let him click away. Here's a sample...





*Just to be truthful, there were several that were deleted, since they focused on body parts that should not be showcased on a public blog.
Then Ian got tired of portraits and decided to get a little more artistic. These are a few identifiable expressions.





If anyone needs a label, they are: a couch pillow, Buzz Lightyear on TV, the ceiling fan, couch pillow adjacent to my purse, a 'V' magnet on the fridge.
A few more that Ian insists be added, since he's over my shoulder right now:




These are: supper on the stove, the fridge and a dishtowel on the chair (I made the mistake of mentioning me and Erin, but I was corrected).
And we couldn't conclude our first showing without a few pictures of the artist himself.




Please, ladies and gentlemen, cash only. Ian's piggy bank doesn't take checks. :)

Getting By

Several interesting things have happened this week. It's hard to believe my last post was last Sunday. I guess days just fly by, especially when there's no school on Friday.
Monday, I took both of the kids back to the doctor to try to solve the nasty cough that was still keeping both of them awake at night. They both got some albuterol for the nebulizer, Ian got a z-pack and Erin got a special med for the nebulizer. We have now weaned Ian from the neb (he informed me last night "I don't want to breathe tonight, Okay Mommy?") and Erin is down to her one medicinal session. And the results? drum roll. The cough is still there, but it is not keeping them awake, it just rattles around at random moments.
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My HC and I are doing SO well in our 'new room' and our isolated bed. I used to wonder why split plan houses were such a great idea. Wouldn't you want to be close to your children? Yes. No. Uh, can you repeat the question? Even on the other side of the house, my Mommy superhearing can still detect every snort, sniffle and falling blanket. And the loud noises too, like cranky babies and falling Ians.




While Erin was so sick we kind of reverted to nursing, since it was the Only (and I do mean ONLY) way she would sleep for several long nights). So this week we have been weaning again and everything is almost back to post-nursing shape. Yay. Nursing is great, but not with someone with the bite pressure of a great white. Nuff said.
On Wednesday, my HC and I went to Tahlequah (the 'capital' of the Cherokee nation) to look through the Dawes roll and to put to rest some family myths. No family names on there, no Cherokee benefits (now quit nagging, family members!). We were able to trace the Cherokee ancestors back to Tennessee (by way of Georgia and North Carolina). So if anyone in our family is still interested in proving ancestry to get Cherokee benefits, they will have to go to Tennessee to find out. Our obligation is finished.
But the drive was gorgeous and will be more so when the leaves all change. It should happen in the next few weeks.
We also decided to treat ourselves and eat in a real restaurant! It's been so long since I've been to Chili's. It was great. Looove the chips and salsa. Mmmm.
On Thursday, we just chilled out. My HC saw an exercise machine and a treadmill in an alley behind a beauty salon/gift shop/tanning salon/woman's gym (they have toning beds....right). I went in and inquired about them. I was told I could buy the treadmill for $25 (the belt was about to be severed but I could buy a replacement belt) and the Air Walker for $40 (it worked but I have since discovered that it has a knocking sound and shakes a bit while you're using it).
So the Air Walker came home. Woo hoo!

Friday was no school and a parent/teacher conference. And the Book Fair. Ian is doing great in pre-k and will be starting a reader soon (!!!). He is doing extremely well and is a good student. He works well with positive reinforcement. Of course, we knew all these things. :D
We all had fun at the Book Fair. It's so hard to resist all of those shiny new cheap books. Sigh. We did get a few though. I know. Just paint "Sucker" on my forehead. I love books. Then we went home and bummed around and I made chili from scratch (in other words, from dried beans....MMMM).



Last night, Erin only woke up 1 (ONE!) time. [cue Hallelujah Chorus]


Today was pancakes, video games, and challenging my HC to try out the Air Walker and stop sneering at it (he stopped sneering after 5 minutes. Then he had to do something manly like weight-lifting). Erin never did take her afternoon nap, which made for a long afternoon.
Fall always puts me in a baking mood, so I started a new batch of Sourdough Starter today. This is the stuff you put in your bread mix when you want to make sourdough bread. It has to sit on the counter for 2-5 days. You stir it once a day (it's covered by a towel, don't get grossed out on me) and then put it into a sealed jar in the fridge. As long as you don't forget about it, it will stay nice and not get black and separated and smelly and make people think you have an illegal still in your kitchen. So THIS time, I will remember to stir it every week or two. Yes. Definitely.
I also made Chex Mix, but I have a feeling that no one will eat it this time either. Too bad I have All This Cereal....