Sprinkler Time

The warm weather is here and look who is feeling better...She requested her princess suit and Jacob got his Thomas suit, then off they went to run around the yard through the sprinkler.Eli hung out in the shade before his afternoon nap.

I had to post this picture- Eli has "naked baby" photo's coming up (a family tradition) and I don't think I am going to be able to hold him up like we did with our other babies. He is heavy! Look how huge he looks. He will be the same age as my other babies but almost twice the size.

32nd Birthday

Today is my BD. 32- wow. I only feel 23. It didn't feel like a birthday because it was such a busy day, but that's all okay. I did get a picture with my favorite people: Travis and are both celebrating our birthdays this weekend with a date tomorrow night. After the crazy 2 weeks we have both had we would love nothing more than to just relax together and catch up. But, that will have to be our gift to each other next year, because things are not slowing down for us.My day started with Paige coughing and crying through the night in bed with us. Poor baby girl is so sick. I managed to get the 9 o'clock doctor apt first thing this morning for her, and sure enough she is sick. She has hand,foot,and mouth disease (a first for us) and her strep culture came back with a "possible positive" which sent us home with half a dose of antibiotics and they will call me when the culture comes back with the rest of the dose if it comes back positive. So she might also have strep throat. That explains why she looks and feels so bad. She feel asleep for about 10 minutes at dinner:And my brother Daniel was in a play tonight where he also was voted best actor by his peers. It was a cute play and Daniel was great. He had the best part and preformed it perfectly. I was in theater in HS so it was really fun to see Daniel doing what I loved doing.And lastly, I had my infectious disease appointment today that went really well. I love my ID doctor. Short story: Got some blood tests done to find out if there is a bigger problem, but more than likely he thinks I am just having bad luck and wants me on antibiotics for 6 weeks to really attack the bacteria.

Like I said, it was a busy day. I was so touched by everyones calls, text messages, emails, FB wishes, and gifts! I am blessed to be loved by so many. Thank you! Stay posted for Travis's birthday post-

5 Months

Sweet, happy Eli is 5 months old! Hard to believe sometimes. How can you not be in love with a baby as cute as this???He's not just a handsome face either- he is such a sweet and happy baby too. We are all so smitten with him.He was at the doctor a week ago and weighed in at 21.11. We still haven't done cereal but it is in our pantry and will probably introduce it later next week. He is sick right now. I can't tell if it's a cold or allergies, but he has a yucky cough. Poor guy. I always feel bad for my babies when they have a cough. Probably because I hate coughs so much myself.He still is not sleeping through the night. Most of the time it is just once, but occasionally he will take two feedings. We haven't made him cry it out, even though we know he isn't really hungry. Look at him! He could stand to skip that feeding and be just fine.He is moving all over the place. He inches his way off his blanket and loves to touch the carpet. It is so cute to watch him. The feeling on his fingers amazes him. He is still crooked and goes to physical therapy. Poor kid didn't get any stretches this past week with all that was going on. I am the only one who does his stretches and he is so big and strong that my left hand didn't have the strength this week to do it.Look how big he is in his chair. He will be too big for it soon. He takes the arch thing off all the time. Hercules!Taking a little cat nap...And he is the beloved baby brother. Paige says all the time "that's my brother!", they just love him.I couldn't get a picture of Eli with Paige today because she just feels terrible. Look how sick she was today.
She was fussy every other time too. Normally she is all over him too.

What's wrong with this picture?

Three beautiful babies right....Do you see it?Need a closer look? Eli is wearing "pretty as a princess" bib! Now, I took the picture and didn't catch it but I am going to blame the pain killers I am on. Daddy though, the one who put it on him in the first place, is without excuse. So sorry Eli. Part of being a third baby I guess.

Thumb Update

My thumb is looking good enough to just have a band aid. I have to wash it with soap 3 times a day and other than that I should keep it dry. But, I am able to do more without that big bulky bandage. It is still sore, but I am hoping that is more from it being so stiff with the way I have been holding it for a week.I have to wear gloves when changing Eli (or if I bathe him) while I am still healing, more for his protection. And I am still on one antibiotic that is hopefully working against the infection. I have a game plan that is started for going forward, supplements and probiotics to strengthen my immune system. And I see the Infectious Disease doctor on Thursday (my BD) to find out more. I hope and pray this is our last bout with mrsa.

In the mean time, all our kids are sick. They all have yucky coughs and Paige was up in the night sounding like she had croup. Therefore, we are very tired today and wanting to be healthy again!

Mercy, mrsa. Mercy!

Here we go again! I got another mrsa infection, this time on my thumb. I can not tell you how bad we hate mrsa. This is my third time with it: First was the worst, back in January. Second (my easiest time with it) back in March was on my face, hardly anyone knew about it since it responded nicely to antibiotics and never got bad. But this one, Oh...if I could cuss...this one was on my thumb. If you didn't know before how sensitive your fingers were, you would after the tip got infected and swollen. When it would get bumped it took all myself control not to introduce a colorful word to my children's vocabulary. And, being on the end of my thumb, is got knocked around a bunch. It is hard not to use your thumb.
It started back on Friday the 14th, my thumb started hurting. I couldn't see a cut or splinter, but if the pad was touched it hurt. It felt like a piece of glass digging in my skin. I knew right away it was mrsa. Once you have had an abscess, you remember the feeling.
But, I tried to remain calm and give it time to see if I was wrong. After all, it wasn't even red. Then the next day I could only see a small red dot if I pressed down hard on the skin. Nothing worth going to the ER over and my doctor would not appreciate a weekend call for that. Then Sunday you could see a small red spot on the tip, confirmation I wasn't crazy. Monday, I went to the doctor (who was out so I saw the PA) and she said it wasn't mrsa. I argued with her, explaining my history and experience with painful boils and abscess. She disagreed but still put me on Bactrum to be safe. Tuesday, it was worse with visible infection under the skin. Wednesday, site was worse and pain radiated down to my elbow. This time it was my doctor and he agreed it was in fact mrsa. He contacted my Infectious Disease doctor who saw me in January and got me on two different antibiotics and pain killers before referred me to a hand specialist. I was in so much pain by this point. Thursday rolls around, hand doctor lances it, surprised to find the infection was worse that he expected it to be- all the was to the bone! He said I came in just in time, and if I had waited even one more day it would have been bad. I can't imagine. And here it is...He had to put a drain in it over night, which means I had a stick of gauze sticking out of my finger going all the way to my bone. I was in so much pain until that Hydrocodone kicked in. Friday was a much better day. It only hurt when they took the drain out of my finger (OH MY GOD!), but it has been fine once they wrapped it up.
We might have to do another draining if it looks bad on Monday, but I am hopeful. I feel good and I am on two good antibiotics. I am completely out of commission. I can't use my left arm from the elbow down so I am of no help to Travis or the kids. Thankfully we have had help. Travis has had to take over everything for the kids. Eli had a concerning spot too, and since I had a boil we didn't take any chances on him. He is fine and it looks like it was just a random diaper spot, but he still got a week on Bactrum, diluted bleach soaks with antibacterial soap 3 times a day, and bactrban ointment to the spots. He has the cleanest bottom in the world right now, I guarantee it! Look how cute he is in his soak sessions: This is his new thing with his tongue, I just love it!Can you tell I love it? 6 pictures of that cute pointed tongue. Plus, with me feeling so terrible I splurged and gave Jacob one of his BD presents early. He is nuts about his "Thomas and the Jet Engine". Look how Thomas has a surprised face.The cool jet engine that is battery powered. Daddy was a little confused why we would let Jacob have an early gift in the middle of the week when I was the one sick. It made sense to me. I felt so terrible that it gave me a few seconds of joy to see his excitement. And Paige, she turned to me holding an empty UPS box after Jacob opened his gift wondering where her present was. I smiled and pulled out a big Starbucks chocolate chip cookie that I had picked up on my way home from the doctor's office. They both were in heaven!Grandma has been lots of help, taking so much time off work to help us out. Soaking up some yummy Eli time.And Daniel came over today to help too. I will keep you posted on how things go. I hate mrsa. We were told we would most likely have it again but I didn't think it would be three times in 5 months. MERCY!

Tuesday Love

We love Tuesdays! They are busy, but we love all the people we see on Tuesdays. One of them is Jessie, our neighbor, who has been my "Mothers Helper". The kids L-O-V-E her. We all do. She is so sweet and a big help to me from 3:30-dinner time.The kids love her bracelets.When Jessie is playing with the kids I get lots of one on one with sweet Eli.After dinner Jacob went to lay on the blanket with Eli while they watched Barney- look how his arm is around him! Can you feel the love?After that it was bath time for Eli and Paige was right there with me to help.
She was the cutest helper.

29 Months

Sweet Paige is 29 months...such a big girl now. She is so much fun!The pacifiers are all gone. We all miss how cute and addicted she was with them, but for her teeth sake, they needed to go. She still asks about them but is sleeping just fine without them.And potty training was a complete success. She had one pee pee accident- which she was able to stop and finish on the potty, and no poopie accidents. She is in underwear all day, even during her nap! She is able to wait if we are out, and is waking up dry in the mornings. We have her in a diaper at night but only for a few more days since she has been dry in the morning for months now. We are so proud of her.I need to take her to the dentist because I think she has a cavity. I think she will hate it, but she keeps saying her mouth hurts and I can't see any teeth coming in. I hope it goes well.I love these two pics of the boys. Paige loves her brothers and they love her too. I love it when she says,"that's my brother!" So sweet.She is so smart too. Remembers everything! She is smart like Daddy, but a complete ham like Mommy. She looks so tall and skinny to me lately. She is losing all her baby fat. We always joke how she is already a teenager with us because of the way she acts sometimes. Miss Independent! We love her SO much!