6/19/13: 6 yr old well visit

I can't believe Elodie turned 6 years old yesterday.  Happy Birthday beautiful!!  She looks so much older and taller than she did a year ago.  She's got a ton of energy, passion, and spunk.  She loves to hug and hug you so tight you're afraid she's going to break something.  Elodie is strong-willed and wants to be right all the time so it's hard for her to take constructive criticism or admit mommy or daddy is right.  She loves Jesus and won't go to bed at night unless we've prayed together.  We can't wait for God to get a hold of her heart because we know they'll be nothing stopping her for living for Him then.  She loves her brother and knows just want to say to annoy him or lead him into trouble.  They're quite the pair.  The other night they were both lying in bed in their own rooms yelling back and forth to each other "I love you" and "I love you too."  It was so cute.  She also likes to watch 19 Kids and Counting with mommy and some home improvement shows as well.  Her best friend is her cousin Sara, whom she'll spend hours video conferencing with.  They play games and make believe and have a general great time together.  She likes to dance so we've signed her up for a dance camp at a local dance academy this summer.  She also likes to sing.  Academically, she's bright.  Last year at school, she was awarded "Best Reader" and "Most Dramatic."  She really isn't motivated to read though so we've been trying to make her read 15 minutes per day for the library's summer reading program to give her more practice and confidence.  We also need to be working on her math skills over the summer but she's still technically ahead since she's in the 1st grade math program.  She really enjoys drawing and making art projects and spends most of her free time doing that.  She loves making cards and projects for other people.

Elodie requested a balancing bike for her birthday like her brother Callen has. She had it a couple weeks now and is already picking her feet up for extending periods of time, while riding down hill.  It's so rewarding to see her excited and proud about her achievement.

Today at her doctor's appointment, Elodie weighed in at 45 lbs. (50th percentile) and measured 46" tall (almost 75th percentile) so she's still tall and skinny.  Her BMI was 15 (50th percentile).  She's basically a healthy child, but we're supposed to add Calcium supplements since she's currently still dairy-free.

7/20/12: C's trip to the ER

When we got home from our trip to the Tetons Monday, Elodie sounded sick, with a headache and stuffy nose.  Tuesday, she had a runny nose and by Tuesday night, Callen had caught it and woke up almost every hour all night long.  Wednesday, he had a runny nose and cough but seemed otherwise okay.  Wednesday night, we were in his room like ten or fifteen times between 8pm and 11pm.  I heard him around 5:30am and when went into get him, his breathing just didn't seem right at all.  Callen was asking for (coconut) milk so we went downstairs to get it and then brought it up to sit in our room to drink it.  I asked Dave, "how long has he been like this?" and Dave said, "for about an hour."  I was very concerned.  His chest was heaving in and out rapidly and he sounded wheezy.  After sitting with both me and Dave, Callen threw up his bottle of milk. After cleaning him up and everything else up, we went down stairs and it was 7am.  I was still worried because he seemed so lethargic and I knew that was something to be concerned about.  I was debating whether to wait to take him to his doctor at 8am when they opened or just take him to the ER, and if the ER, Avista or Children's.  I finally decided Children's hospital so I ran upstairs to change quickly and gather a food bag from him since I knew from experience to prepare to be there awhile.  Then we were off.

There was someone checking in when we got there so I had to wait.  Then I checked in with his insurance card and the lady said the respiratory therapist would come listen to him to see if he could jump ahead in line.  Well the respiratory therapist came out and didn't even listen to him.  He just took us straight back, had Callen stand on the scale to be weighed, and then took us into a room where a nurse was already waiting for us.  They immediately asked me questions, as we undressed him to put a pulse-ox on him, I realized how bad Callen was and that I should have taken him in much sooner.  The muscles under his rib cage would suck up and under his ribs, the skin between his ribs sucked in.  He looked like a starving child from a third-world country.  God totally protected Callen because he could have gone into respiratory failure before we got there.  Anyhow, after they gave him a neubulizer treatment, he got a chest x-ray to rule out anything more serious.  He was so good and sat exactly how he was supposed to.  I think he was just so sick that he did it.  He also oral steroids, and albuterol inhaler and the doctor said he sounded better but she was still unhappy with how he looked.   Plus, he had gotten really hot and lethargic after his treatment.  So she ordered a double round of neubulizer treatment and another albuterol inhaler.  After 6 hours there, he was finally discharged with orders to take albuterol every 4-6 hours, including through the night, for the next 48 hours and oral steroids twice per day for four days.

He got a puppy from the x-ray tech.  You can almost see the blue oxygen tube that they taped to the blanket.

Hard to take a good photo of him without me in it when he sat on my lap for the entire 6 hours.

Today he seemed much better and was running around again.  He's been taking his medicines like a champ.

can't stay still for a photo

This is what happens when you have an older sister.  You ask to wear tutus and crowns.

He had a follow-up check-up at his doctors office tonight and she said he sounded good.  She said to let him run around a little so that the gunk would loosen up in his chest because the only way it was going to get out was for him to cough.

He had to wear a mask at the doctor's office because he had a cough (whooping cough risk).

He wanted to wear his mask home.

So when we got home, I let him go on a walk around the block, but I guess it might have been a little too much because he cough, cough, cough, cough, cough and then threw up all over me in front of all the neighbors. Awesome.  The doctor at Children's had said that it is common for children in respiratory distress to throw up so we went home to give him his medicine.

6/26/12: 5 yr old Dr visit; C words, construction

Yesterday, Elodie had her 5-year-old well visit.  She passed her vision and hearing tests with flying colors and was declared very healthy.  She was 43.9 inches tall (75th percentile) and weighed in at 42 pounds (50th percentile).  Her BMI was 15.3 (53rd percentile).  She was supposed to receive four shots but I thought that was a bit much in one visit so I postponed two of them for in a month, but she received the DTap in her left left and MMR in her left arm.  She was so brave but she cried because she said it really hurt.  I told her if she stopped crying that instant, I would take her to McDs because I couldn't handle both kids screaming/crying, since Callen had started crying before he even got his shots (DTap & HepA) and was still crying and continued to cry until after we were home!  So Elodie stopped that instant and she got her treat. :)

Waiting to do her vision test

Didn't stand still the entire vision test.

On to the hearing test.

I hear it!

Callen LOVES his trains!  Choo choo! (pre-haircut)

Callen got a haircut last night :)

Too cute!  I had to take a photo of the back of his shirt :)

"reading" a book (he likes to make you say what EVERYTHING is in the book)

Today, Elodie went to her second day of Sports Camp at Christchurch in Louisville.  She really enjoyed herself and earned a trophy for "Best Attitude."  We are very proud of her!  She said they did baseball and cheerleading, where she got to put on foot on each adult's hand and stand in the air!  She also did an art project of Shadrach, Meshach, and Obendigo and came home for the second day in a row soaking wet.  They said she was a little over zealous with running through the sprinklers.  Elodie, over zealous??  No! Never!! :)

Elodie & her little bowling pin and ball trophy

Doing warmups

We are on day 4 of the remodel project.  Ed mostly spent today with two helpers doing the second day of electrical so that we can have our rough electrical inspection tomorrow morning.  Then late this afternoon he tore out the front porch and cut the trex-like stuff for the new porch.

The new stuff just sitting on top so no one falls out the front door.

the old stuff in a pile off to the right

A fire started today in Boulder.  Here's a photo of all the smoke from our street:

Callen had his speech therapy today.  I feel like he's finally saying some more words.  He'll say "bye bye" spontaneously.  He'll repeat or tell if you if you ask what it is: ball (ba), up (uh), down (dah), more (mmm-oh), sister/sissy (sss-sss), go (ga!!!!).

3/14/12: C's 18 month old doctor's appointment

Callen had his 18 month old visit tonight. He's 22lbs (10th percentile), 31 inches long (10-25th percentile). Still tiny but growing on his curve. We have a referral to the state funded therapy evaluation for his lack of talking. We also got a prescription for his ezcema because it is really bad. We postponed getting his dtap vaccine because he's sick but she said his lungs sound good and his ears and throat look good considering his nasty sounding cough. Hopefully he'll sleep through the night tonight.

12/14/11: C's 15 month old doctor's visit

Callen had his 15-month-old doctor's appointment tonight. He measured 30 inches and 20 pounds 11 ounces, which both keep him about on his growth curve of about 25th percentile. He's my tiny boy. The doctor was okay with his growth now that he seems to be staying on a curve. He might not be growing much, but a little is better than nothing. She did say that since he's such a picky eater that I should start giving him vitamins. We also went over his development and I shared our concern that he only has one word ("dada") but she said that most 15 mo. olds only have six words. She said based on what we talked about that his development is more on par with a 12-13 month old. She's not concerned because he's meeting milestones just fine, albeit a few months behind. We're not really concerned either. It's been really fun having the baby part stretch out a bit. Not quite ready for him to be getting older!! Plus, we feel he's made a lot of developments lately, with adding another sign and being able to shake his head "no" when we ask a question. He'll come up to us and stand at our legs, pull our pants, and put his arms in the air for up. He walks really fast pushing the toy airplane, walks fairly fast holding a hand or two, crawls (fast) up stairs, climbs on everything, etc. She also looked at his teeth and said he's getting his top right front and the two on bottom on either side of the front and the back top molars are bulging but the bottom ones weren't as much. She said he is late in getting teeth. I'm pretty sure Elodie was too. It's hard to remember.

C's weight re-check

It's been four weeks since C's 12 month old doctor's visit where they informed us that he hadn't gained any weight in the past 3 months. Not good. He was 19lbs, 2 oz. (5th percentile), 28.5" (10th percentile), and 18 5/8" head circumference. So we added as much fat to his diet as we could in the past four weeks. We added either grapeseed oil or olive oil to his veggies and meals. We'd give him little spoonfuls of coconut oil. We gave him peanut butter or almond butter on banana slices, veggie straws, or whole wheat bread at least once per day. We also discovered almond yogurt in about four different flavors and coconut milk yogurt too. And then just a couple days ago, we started giving him coconut milk (more fat than others) because he loves to drink water, but water has no fat in it and fills him up. The doctor today confirmed my intuition and said that he should only be drinking breast milk or coconut milk and no water.

So today C was measured and weighed. He is 28 3/4" long and weighs 20lbs exactly. He gained a pound in four weeks so operation fatten Callen was successful! The doctor said to continue doing everything that we've been doing and we'll recheck his weight at his 15 month old appointment, which is in two months.

Although I'm glad that he's capable of gaining weight and that he has gained weight, it is not without work. We have take off his clothes at every meal b/c otherwise, there would be oil and peanut butter all over his clothes. As it is, he can be one shiny baby because he likes to put his hands down by his side and get oil & food on his legs/knees and put food behind him. He'll also get food and oil in his hair and of course all over his face. So when we're on the go for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, he really doesn't get any added fat to his meal because it's just too messy.

One added perk of more fat in his diet is that he's been sleeping through the night. There have still been a handful of nights where he woke up and I nursed him and put him right back down, but for the most part, he's sleeping through the night. I think that is fabulous after six months of him waking up once every night. Although I nursed him every time, it makes me feel bad that he might have just been hungry this whole time!

We're going to keep praying he outgrows his milk allergy so he can eat and drink dairy and get fat from dairy because that is just so much easier (and cheaper).

9/14/11: C's 1 yr old doctor's appt

Callen's 1 year old doctor's visit:  28.5 inches long (10th percentile); 19 pounds 2 ounces (5th percentile); 18 5/8 inches head circumference.  He also got his MMR, Varicella, and flu shot immunizations.

8/9/11: L & the dermatologist

Elodie went to her 2 week follow-up appointment at her dermatologist, Dr. Casey Gallagher, tonight. Dr. Gallagher had originally said she had pediatric plantar dermatitis (kid foot rash), but tonight said that she has Dyshidrotic Dermatitis (which I get occasionally on my fingers) and said that he's never seen it this bad in a kid. So we're supposed to keep applying the steroid ointment twice per day and see if she's improved at all in a week.

6/22/11: L's 4 yr old visit

Today, L had her 4 year old well visit. She was 40.8 inches tall (75th percentile) and weighed 37 pounds (50-75th percentile). Her BMI was 15.6 (50-75th percentile). She had a hearing test and did great and she also did the vision test with no problems.

6/8/11: C's 9 month old visit

Callen is 27.5 inches long (>25th percentile) and weighs 19 lbs, 3 oz. (>25th percentile). His head's circumference is 17.25 inches (>10th percentile) and his hemoglobin is 13.1.

3/18/11: C napping on tummy

Yesterday I thought C might have been napping on his tummy. Hard to tell on the video monitor. Then this morning you could definitely tell he was sleeping on his tummy (put him down on his back) and he was still sleeping on his tummy when I woke him up at 12pm. Now he's down for his afternoon nap and he's sleeping on his tummy again. If I remember right, L did the same thing when she could roll over.

He's also rolled over several times today already and I've still yet to catch him in the act. I only see the evidence after the fact (aka he's on his tummy & I left him on his back). I think he only rolls one way so far. From his back towards his left onto his tummy.

In other news, L's cough seems worse today so I took her to the doctor. They said her ears were fine, her lungs were clear, no wheezing, no boogies in her nose. Her throat looked a little irritated, like from postnasal drip and she had a fever of 99.6F. She's acting mostly fine. Ate lunch really late and then I gave her tylenol b/c her temp was up to 100.4F and I thought she'd feel better & act better if she felt better. (She was cold.) Anyhow, I'm hoping everyone else can stay healthy since Dave's on day 2 of working four 12 hour shifts so I'm on my own through the weekend.

The good news is that after 5 nights of waking up in the middle of the night and crying for hours, C is finally sleeping through the night again (at least the last two nights). We think he might have been having a hard time staying asleep since we had to stop swaddling him since he could roll over while swaddled. We had also just changed his schedule (dropped a feeding), added his first baby food (oatmeal), got his shots, didn't poop for 5 days (had to add baby prunes to his diet), etc. Basically he had a whole lot of change (not purposely planned at the same time) at once so we didn't know what was going on with him. Plus, we were thankful that Dale & Candy had L almost all those nights so he didn't wake L up too.

3/9/11: 6 mo. old Dr. visit

my big chunky baby is actually just average...26" and 17#3oz and his head is 17" diameter. She said his lower gums are still a little swollen. I won't hold my breath for those teeth anytime soon. She said that most 6 month olds can roll over but not all and she wasn't concerned at all. Her super smart daughter didn't roll over until 8 months. I'm actually totally fine with him not rolling over now. At least he stays where I put him. When he rolls over, I'll have to worry about what he's getting into and where he'll end up.

He fell asleep in the jumperoo tonight but was crying after I put him to bed so I got him up again for a little. This morning he was crying in his crib so I went to check on him and he was on him tummy still swaddled. He had rolled over. Since we don't think it's safe for him to be like that, we decided that was the end of the swaddle. We put him in two sleep sacs tonight. It occurred to be that since he's not swaddled now that we should be putting him to bed with his little stuffed elephant that he sleeps with at nap times. It's small enough that it's not a hazard to his breathing and it gives him something to hold onto and smash in his face and suck on, plus it plays music for a little bit. We put him back to bed and he cried a little bit but was much happier with his elephant. Now he's sleeping and hopefully he'll stay that way. He had a little rash today that the dr. said looked like a viral rash but he doesn't have any other symptoms. Hopefully it's not that and will go away. And hopefully it's not related to the oatmeal we started him on yesterday.

2/25/11: dr's visit for C

I finally got Callen to sleep after 5am. I slept in the chair w/him off & on until 4am. then he "played" in our bed until 5ish. I still have no idea what his problem was. no fever. not acting sick. going to the dr this morning to get his ears checked just in case. don't want a repeat of that tonight. seriously thanking God for all the other nights that C's great. Dave & I are like walking dead today.

Turns out I was right. He has an inner ear infection in his right ear so he's getting numbing drops to help with the pain and antibiotics for 10 days. He was really good at sucking up both doses. He also got weighed. Came in at 16 pounds, 9 ounces. And I was also right about his teeth. His gums are swollen and she said it looks like he might get his bottom two front teeth in the next couple weeks.

1/20/11 C's 4 mo old dr appt

went during the snow storm yesterday for C's well visit. His weight gain is slowing down...he's now 15#5oz (50th %tile) (which is what he was 2 wks ago at the ER) and 24.75" (50th %tile). Had to go back to 5 feedings per day today...don't know what I was thinking trying to change his schedule b4 getting shots.

8/2/10...34 weeks dr appt...

I had my 34 week doctor's appointment this afternoon. My blood pressure is fine (a concern with all the swelling) and baby boy's heartbeat is good & strong. I'm measuring 35 weeks. I had them check my weight gain this time vs. with L. With L, I started heavier but only gained 22lbs. This time I started lighter but am already 2lbs more than I was total with L and i still have SIX weeks left. Opps. Darn that second trimester when I felt like I was starving all the time even though I was eating all the time.

7/19/10...32 weeks...dr's appt

I had my 32 week appointment today. Baby boy's heart rate is 160 and he's measuring 33.5 weeks. I only gained 2 lbs in the last 2 weeks so that's good too. Unfortunately, there's nothing they can do about the swelling of my hands and feet and calves. The doctor said it won't go away until after I deliver. Bummer. It's been really uncomfortable and just plain ugly. I honestly can't wait to get my figure back, but I know that will be awhile!

In other news, we got a super cute little boy outfit from Dave's dad and stepmom today (and a nursery rhyme book for L that D's reading to her now). It's always exciting to get cute stuff since I haven't seen many cute things out there for boys. It's MUCH easier to shop for a girl.

7/6/10...30 wk ob appt...

Today I had my 30 week ob appointment. The doctor said my blood pressure and weight gain was good (only gained two pounds in almost 3 weeks this time...yay!). I'm measuring 31 weeks and baby boy's heartbeat is good too. We went over some questions I had and I'm really happy with my decision to switch doctors. I just feel so comfortable with her. I asked her about my herniated belly button and she said that it would be covered by insurance to fix it, but that I'll have to wait until I've lost all the baby weight to have the surgery (an abdominal surgeon would do it). Guess I'm stuck with my ugly stuck out belly button for awhile. I also got my last-resort-c-section scheduled for the day after I'm 42 weeks and an ultrasound to determine his size when I'm 38 weeks.

6/21/10...L has a fever...spells her name...

Yesterday after L's nap, we realized that she had a fever. She was still playing though but then wanted us both to sit on the couch with her and watch tv. Then right before bed time, she said her right ear hurt.

So this morning we saw her doctor who informed us that her ears looked fine but that her throat was very red. I gave her (generic) tylen*l after the appointment and her fever went down. She seemed fine and even had half a cream cheese bagel (a first) for lunch. She's been playing with her new tool sets, her Le@pster2, and riding her scooter around the house. She took a nap until she was awoken by the massive hail storm around 3pm. Around 6pm, her fever was back and we gave her more tylen*l at bathtime and the fever was down again. So far I'm just glad there are no other symptoms and we're praying we stay healthy. The last thing either one of us needs is to be sick right now. I'm just so tired anyhow and D's super, super busy at work. Plus, my sister's coming in a week and we all want to be healthy!

This morning L surprised me by spelling her name out loud and then repeating her name, like in a spelling bee. E -L-O-D-I-E, Elodie.  She's been really consistent about it all day.

5/7/10...baby moving like crazy...

It seems like ever since the baby started to move, he hasn't stopped. This boy moves all the time. This week I realized you could see him moving on the outside of my belly too. Pretty crazy.

I've had groin pain for the last week and an half so today I went to the doctor to make sure it wasn't something serious and they confirmed I pulled a muscle. I'm supposed to get a belly support thing to help with the healing and even then, it could take 2 weeks to get better. I'm also not supposed to carry L...which I've already been trying to avoid since it hurt.

so this is what you've all been waiting for... (today's 20 wk ultrasound)

We had an ultrasound today and the baby looks great.
Heartbeat...check
Heart w/4 chambers...check
Two kidneys...check
Nose & nasal septum (no cleft lip)...check
Lips...check
Brain...check
Spine...check
Abdomen...check
Two hands...check
Two feet...check
Three legs...wait...I'm mean two legs and something else :)

You can't see the legs in this one (well maybe one of them) but you can see his thingy:


Here's two of his face:




Here's his hand :)