February 28, 2007

Long Day

Well, today was a really long day. We got up this morning just before 7 a.m. so that we could leave by 8:30 a.m. and drop Carter and Kinnick off at my mom and dad's house and then head to Mason City for Maddie's 10 a.m. doctor appointment. We spent from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. for Maddie's evaluation with the clinical psychologist. He was really nice and we all felt quite comfortable talking with him. Maddie got to fill out some worksheets, draw some pictures, make up some stories, and all kinds of other fun stuff. She said that it was sort of like going to school. We do not know anything as of right now. The doctor told us that he would gather all of the information and sometime in the next 2 to 3 weeks will let us know where we go from here. By the time we headed home the weather was getting crappy and the roads were really slick. It took us about 2 hours to get home. We picked up Carter and Kinnick at my mom and dad's and Carter was so tired that he fell asleep on the couch eating some Kix cereal after only about 3 or 4 bites. He was TIRED! We are under a blizzard warning and if we get the weather they have predicted for us I would guess that Maddie will not have school tomorrow or Friday. We have kept our electricity so far and that is good. I guess we will see what this storm brings our way. It is now about 11:15 and I am tired. OH, ONE MORE PIECE OF NEWS, THE PENNY CAME OUT TODAY! Adam got the opportunity to look for it this time. I was happy that he got to take his turn. Love, Steph

February 27, 2007

The things we have to do as parents

More to the story about swallowing the penny......okay, if you have been reading along you know that Carter swallowed a penny this weekend. Well, now we are waiting for it to "move through" his system and "come out". After not pooping yesterday I started to be concerned about it. This morning he woke up at 5:30 crying that his tummy hurt really bad. Adam got up with him and after listening to him whine and be uncomfortable he finally decided to put a suppostory in and see what happened. Needless to say, within an hour or two he produced "results". Well, by this time Adam was gone to work so I had the fortune of "looking for the penny". Carter was quite excited about helping look for it. He was right there next to me peering into the diaper. As we were standing there I thought to myself, "these are the types of things you don't think about having to do BEFORE you have children". It was interesting to say the least. And I get to look forward to doing it again next time . The money has to show up sooner or later. Enough about that, I wanted to let you all know that tomorrow morning Maddie has a doctor appointment in Mason City so that we can hopefully get answers about what has been causing her vision problems and also her anxiety issues. The appointment is scheduled to last about 3 hours or more. I am just hoping that we can get home before the yucky weather hits. I will let you know how things go and what we find out. Love, Steph

February 24, 2007

The blizzard is here & Carter swallowed a penny

Yep, you read that right! Today has been crappy weather. Freezing rain and now snow. Really windy and it is not supposed to let up until sometime late Sunday into early Monday. What fun it is to live in Iowa. Adam decided that since the weather was cruddy today and we were stuck inside that he would reorganize all of the kitchen cupboards and 3 of our closets. Maddie was ambitious about helping at first, but then she realized it was work and wanted to play PS2 instead. I did not want to spend my day reorganizing either so I gathered up my school stuff and came up to my bedroom to write a report. Not so sure that Adam was happy that I left him to do it all by himself, but he knew that I wanted to work on school stuff all weekend long. I will say that now that he has it all done it is really nice. He did a super job! I am not sure what he plans to do tomorrow, but I want to write another report for school while he is here all day and can watch the kids.
We got the kids ready for bed and for some reason Carter kept fussing. He normally does not act that way when we put him to bed, but he just kept going on and on tonight for some reason. Adam went upstairs to check on him and he said that he wanted to watch TV so Adam turned the TV on and came back downstairs. The fussing still did not stop. Adam went up again to see what was wrong. Carter was upset because he had dropped a penny that he had snuck into bed with him and he could not reach it to pick it up. Adam told him that the penny would sit on the dresser until the morning and then Carter could put it in the money jar. Adam came back downstairs again. And Carter still kept on whining. I told him to go upstairs and just bring Carter back down so that Kinnick could get to sleep. The next thing I hear is Adam yelling for me to come upstairs. That usually is not good. It generally means vomit. Yep, I was right. Carter told Adam that he had a tummy ache. It was because he ate the second penny he had (which we did not know he had). Then he got himself all worked up about it and threw up all over the floor. So, into the bathtub he went. What a CRAZY night! The kids are all in bed now and it is 10 pm. I am going to watch the news and go to bed too.
Enjoy what is left of the weekend! Love, Steph

February 21, 2007

beautiful weather

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY! Wow, it sure was gorgeous outside today. The sun was shining and it was in the 40's. I know if has been awhile since my last post. I started to feel yucky on Saturday and was feeling worse by Sunday. As most of you know we were supposed to go to Iowa City on Sunday because Kinnick had an appointment on Monday. We went ahead and dropped Maddie and Carter off at my mom and dad's house but by the time we got to Humboldt we had to turn around and come home. I started vomiting and knew that I could not make the trip. I laid around on Sunday, Monday and most of Tuesday. Today I feel most like myself. Maddie stayed home from school on Tuesday too because she came home from school on Monday and was vomiting also. I think that we are all healthy at my house now!!!! Hope it can stay that way. We rescheduled Kinnick's appointment and will go on April 16th unless there is a cancellation and we can go sooner. Not too much else happening here. The kids are in bed and Adam and I are watching the Hawkeyes play Purdue in basketball. The puppy got a bed to sit on when he is in the family room with us and so he is learning that he has to stay on the bed. He is actually doing better than I thought he would. He keeps looking at me like "Mommy, let me come over and sit by you". He went to the vet Monday and got "fixed". He did really good with that. Well, I guess that is about it for now. Love, Steph

February 16, 2007

The weekend is here

















YEAH! IT'S FRIDAY! Nothing too spectacular today. Maddie was a little better about going to school this morning. She had an appointment with her therapist at 3 pm. Adam took her to it and so I will have to talk to him after Maddie goes to bed to see how it went. Maddie is in the toyroom playing a video game right now and her brothers are up in bed for the night. Adam is getting ready to watch Miami Vice the movie. I am going to do some school work because I do not care to watch the movie. Hope that you all have a super weekend!

February 15, 2007

Wednesday & Thursday

Wow, these last 2 days have just gone way to quickly. Valentine's Day started out with Maddie not wanting to go to school because of the problems with her eyes and also because her stomach hurt. We caved and let her stay home. She spent the day in her bedroom without TV, video games, or computer. She actually did better than I thought she would. I went over to Algona for a doctor appointment and then ran to K-Mart to pick up a few things. When I got back home both boys were ready for naps so that gave me about 2 hours to get some typing done for the elderly man that I type for. When Adam got home from the bodyshop we grilled steaks and had mixed veggies with them for supper. When we finished eating the elderly man called and told me not to type what he had given me because he had changed his mind and was going to re-do the letter. WONDERFUL! After we got done with supper we gave Carter and Kinnick a bath. Carter said his tummy hurt and wanted to take his "ralph bucket" to the bath with him. We called the bowl he puked in last week his ralph bucket. As they were taking their bath I was talking to Adam who was hanging up shelves in Maddie's bedroom right across the hall from the bathroom. I turned around to find Carter standing up and peeing in the ralph bucket. Talk about trying to keep a straight face. It was hard to do. When it was time to get Maddie off to bed it was not fun! She was very difficult and did not want to go to bed. She said that her eyes were bothering her when she shut them. After about 2 hours of going back and forth with her she finally went to sleep. But she was up several times during the night having the vision problem and came into our room just screaming and terrified. This morning Maddie did not want to go to school again. We put our foot down and told her she had to go. She was not happy about it but she went. I emailed her teacher at lunchtime to see how Maddie was doing and she told me that Maddie was having a good day. That made me feel better. We also talked to the principal and she said that when she saw Maddie at mass this morning that she seemed happy and okay also. After school Maddie went to the YMCA and hung out until her game at 4:45. She played but Adam did say that she kept telling him that her eyes were bothering her some. When they got home we had supper and then Maddie did her homework. She seemed okay, not in the best mood, but not terrible either. When it was time for bed tonight she was awful again. We put her to bed at 8 and I think it was 10 before she went to sleep. She sees her therapist in Algona tomorrow after school so hopefully we can get some ideas on what to do to help her until we get to see the doctor in Mason City. I will keep you updated on what happens next. Oh, one more thing, to top it all off, Kinnick has the diarreha part of the flu now. FUN!

February 13, 2007

another crazy day

I think I need to say that nothing more could happen this week that would suprise me. This morning Carter woke up still puking. Every little drop of water he drank came back up. He was cranky and tired and I could not get tylenol in his system long enough to work. He could not get comfortable and nothing I did was what he wanted. FUN! Then Maddie's school called me at 9:45 to tell me that her teacher sent her to the office because she was having problems with her vision again. I talked to Maddie on the phone to try and calm her down but it did not seem to help. I told school that I would call Adam and have him come pick Maddie up. He decided to take her back to the clinic to be seen by the oncall doctor. The doctor could not find anything medically wrong with her. He decided that he wants to have her see a doctor over in Mason City on February 28th. So hopefully that will give us some answers. They are leaning towards PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). Adam took Maddie back to school and explained to the principal what was happening with Maddie. So, I guess that is about it for today. Kinnick is napping and Carter is resting on the couch. He has been eating popsicles this afternoon and has been able to keep them down so maybe he is finally on the mend???????????????

February 12, 2007

another update

Okay, here is what we found out today about Carter. He originally had influenza B and got over that and then he ended up getting influenza A. The only thing we can do is let it run its course and make sure he does not get dehydrated. He has laid on the floor all day and rested. His temp has gone down a little bit. Maddie has had 2 more episodes with her eyes tonight. One at 7:30 and one at 9:30. We feel helpless because So that is what is new here at my house.

Carter is at the doctor

Just an FYI: Adam called the clinic because Carter was running a temp of 104. They wanted to see him at 3 pm. I will let you know when I hear something. Love, Steph

update

Maddie and Adam got back home a little after 11 last night. The doctor could not find anything wrong with Maddie. He said that it could possibly be related to the cold medicine that she took last week while being sick. He suggested that we take her to have her eyes checked again. We are also supposed to journal when her episodes occur. If she is not better by the end of this week he wants us to come back into the office and see him. So I will keep you posted about this. Carter woke up this morning running a temperature again. He started vomiting again too. He is napping now. I feel so bad for him. I know this post is short, but I need to get lunch made for Adam. Have a good week everyone! Steph

February 11, 2007

2 trips to the ER today

Hello. I am sitting here at 10:11 pm waiting for Adam and Maddie to call me from the ER. Maddie had an episode tonight that upset her to the point that Adam and I did not know what to do. She told us that everything looked really far away. That is the only way she can describe it to us. She had this problem quite sometime ago but we thought it was due to a medicine that she was taking. The doctors had us take her off the medicine and she seemed to get better. We even had her vision checked out and that was fine too. We are not sure what caused it this time. She just kept saying that she felt like it was taking over her body. Adam took her over because it is snowing here. I called him on his way over to see how the roads were and he said they were AWFUL! So, I am just waiting to see what happens....
This morning we took Carter and Kinnick to the ER. They have coughed for 3 nights straight and the OTC medicine just did not seem to be working. They tested them both for influenza. One test came back positive and the other came back negative. The doctor did think that both boys most likely did have it though. And Maddie and Adam too. YUCK! He gave me a prescription to prevent me from getting it. The doctor asked us why we had not come to the clinic earlier in the week and we said that we had been told by the triage nurse that we talked to that we should not come in because there was nothing else they could do for us. Well, according to the doctor if we had taken the kids in within the first 48 hours of symptoms then they could have gotten this preventative medicine too. Guess I learned my lesson. Next time I want to take my children to the clinic I am going to schedule and appointment. No matter what the triage nurse says! We got some cough syrup with codeine in it for the boys so hopefully they will sleep better tonight.
Not much else happening. Just sitting here waiting for the phone to ring.......
I'll update again as soon as I can....Love Steph

February 09, 2007

I am happy this week is over!

It's Friday and I am so happy that this week is gone. Adam and the kids are finally starting to feel better. Maddie still has a really bad cough and because of it we are not letting her play in her basketball game tomorrow morning. She is bummed, but she knows that she needs to rest and get better so she can go back to school next week. I spent the whole morning cleaning the house. Trying to get rid of the germs. I spent the afternoon with Kinnick on my lap. He was just still really tired today and not quite back to his happy self. His special ed teacher came to see him and she told us how happy she is with the progress he is making. She even offered to go to Iowa City with us when we have his evaluation done on the 19th. Other than that there is not much new here. The kids are all in bed for the night and Wrigley, Adam and I are watching TV and having popcorn (not Wrigley). We do not have plans for the weekend, so that is good. We will just hang out here and relax. Have a good weekend!

February 08, 2007

Our week from H E double hockey sticks

Wow, what a week it has been. It is all a blur to me. I managed to remain healthy while everyone else in our house was sick. Maddie woke up Monday morning feeling worse than she did on Sunday. We kept her home from school. We called the clinic to see if we could get her in to be seen by one of the doctors but they told us that we should keep her home and keep treating her as we had been. They told us that they were inundated with people who were sick with similar symptoms. They told us that if she got worse to bring her into the ER. After lunch I went to Algona to pick up some Tylenol at K-Mart for Maddie. While I was there Adam called my cell phone and told me that Kinnick woke up from his nap with a fever and had started puking. I started getting every cold and flu medicine that I could find and brought it home. Kinnick continued to puke until about 10:30 p.m. By the time we all got to bed Maddie, Adam and Kinnick were all feeling AWFUL! Kinnick did not sleep well, but at least he was done puking. On Tuesday Adam was in really bad shape. His whole body hurt and he looked like he had been run over by a truck. He had a really bad cough too. He spent a good part of the day in bed sleeping. Wednesday was pretty much the same as Tuesday except that when Carter woke up he had a tummy ache. He puked all day long. Not fun. He was up all night last night puking. And then again this morning he was still puking. I was really worried about him getting dehydrated and so I called to ask a nurse if we should bring him in. She told me to see how he did during the afternoon and if he did not get better they would want to see him. Adam went to Algona and got him some Gatorade and pedialyte. By the time he got back home Carter had woke up from a nap and seemed to feel better. He wanted to eat lunch and so we let him start out slowly and he did good. He kept it down. He was a totally different kid. The only symptom he has now is the cough that everyone else in my house has (except for me) and also a low grade temp. The school has asked us to keep Maddie home until she is no longer running even a low grade temp. We have decided to keep her home again tomorrow and let her have the weekend to get better. I think she is bored being home with us. The school said that there were 48 students out with the same thing as Maddie. I am hoping that I wake up healthy tomorrow. That would be so GREAT!

February 06, 2007

Germs and sick people

Well here it is Tuesday night and this is the first time since Saturday that I have been able to sit down and post. It has been crazy here. Saturday was my birthday. Adam and Maddie got up and went to run some errands in Algona. The boys and I hung out here at home because my friend Kim and her husband Kevin were stopping by to bring a birthday gift to me. Kim, if you are reading this, the cake was AWESOME! After Kim and Kevin left the boys and I went to Algona to watch Maddie's basketball game. When her game was over we went out for lunch. Carter wanted onion rings so we decided to go to Family Table. They have the BEST onion rings. After lunch we went to K-Mart and then headed home. The kids gave me the birthday gifts they got for me and then Kinnick took a short nap before we headed into my mom and dad's house to have cake and ice cream. Nicole, Brad and Jordan came and had cake with us too. Then the boys played for a little bit before we all headed home. Maddie seemed to be coughing a little bit but I figured it was just a little cold. When we got up Sunday her cough was a little worse. My mom and dad offered to take us out for breakfast so we went to Family Table for breakfast. We came home and as the day progressed Maddie felt worse and worse. Her temp went up to 104.5 degrees. Adam started to complain that his throat hurt too. So, that was it for our weekend. I cannot wait to tell you the details of the past two days but it will have to wait until tomorrow. I need to get Carter to bed, it is almost 10 pm
to be continued..........

February 02, 2007

What a mess

I have a story to share about something that happened this morning. I was busy cooking lunch for Carter and Kinnick while also folding a load of laundry. Kinnick was in his high chair in the kitchen with me and Carter was supposed to be picking up his toys in the toyroom. It was really quiet but I did not think anything of it because Veggie Tales was on and I thought he was probably watching it. Adam came home just as I got lunch on the table so I told him to get Carter and bring him into the kitchen. Next thing I hear is Carter crying and saying "Daddy yell at me". I looked at Carter and his nose was white and his hair was grey colored. His clothes had something on them too. Adam proceeded to tell me that Carter dumped a whole bottle of baby powder all over the toys in the toy room. He said he was "cleaning". I think that I have the best smelling toy room in the county. Now we have to determine what Carter's punishment should be. Adam got all of the powder cleaned up while he was home for lunch. What a great guy! Now I am sure you are all wondering why I would leave baby powder within Carter's reach? Well I thought that I had it out of his reach but he reached really far over the gate and pulled the basket that I keep the powder and diapers on over.THE JOYS OF PARENTING NEVER SEEM TO END! Have a great weekend! Love, Steph

February 01, 2007

Is it bedtime yet?

Hello. It is 9 pm on Thursday night and I am ready for bed. I could not sleep last night and ended up falling asleep sometime between 3:30 and 4:00 am. When Adam woke me up this morning I begged him to let me sleep longer. He ended up letting me sleep until he went into the bodyshop to work. He brought me a cup of coffee and I thought that was so sweet! What a great guy! Yesterday Adam took Carter down to a farm progress show in DesMoines. Carter thought it was GREAT! He climbed in and out of every tractor that was there. That left Kinnick and I at home alone and we enjoyed our time together. I was able to work with him on the activities that his teacher set up for us. The weather looks a little bit yucky outside. We let the puppy outside to go potty and realized that we may want to listen to the radio in the morning for possible late starts/cancellations. We don't have alot planned for the weekend. Saturday is my birthday. Maddie plays basketball at 12:30. I hope that we can just hang out here at home and finish up some projects that have gone by the wayside. Well, I am really having a hard time staying awake. I need to get myself ready for bed. I will try and take some pictures of the kids and get them uploaded for you to see. I know it has been awhile since I have done that! Love, Steph