Aurora and Alex had appointments with their Asthma and Allergy specialist today. For Alex, this was a followup on his antibiotics for the sinus infection and his eczema. His sinus infection is gone, but the foam stuff she gave me for his eczema made it much worse! She gave me another prescription for some steroid cream, but I think I will just stick with Eucerin for now, it at least keeps it under control. I may also try a few things some friends have recommended. As I expected, she discharged him from her care. He tested negative for allergies and does not seem to have asthma, so there is really no reason for him to see her. We followup with the ENT regarding his sinuses on October 22nd, and I'll talk to his pediatrician about his eczema at his 2 year appointment.
For Aurora, this was a pre-season appointment to discuss our game plan for the season ahead. In previous years, Aurora has coughed constantly from October until May. She has tested negative for allergies, but they think she has some sort of seasonal allergy related asthma. Last year, her coughing was down a LOT and we had absolutely no issues this summer so I am hopeful she is growing out of it and this season will be even better. Right now she has no symptoms at all, so the current plan is to have Pulmicort on hand and if she starts showing signs to begin using it once a day. We are also keeping her on the Singular.
That's the latest news!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Halloween Wreath
Aurora and I made a Halloween wreath last night, in preparation for this weekend. Daddy is out of town so the kids and I are going to decorate for Halloween, among other things. I love to make wreaths but really haven't since I had kids! I think she did a great job!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Pets
Aurora wanted me to make a post telling all about our animals, so here we go. We have 5 cats and a rat, and 2 baby lizards on the way. Yes, I said 5 cats! It sounds crazy but I guess they are like kids; after you have three a couple more doesn't make much difference, right? Anyway here they are:
Virus is the "old man" of the bunch. He is 10 years old and is one of the first cats Josh and I got when we moved in together. We found him at the animal shelter. He was playing in the litter box! As a kitten, he was all white except for his tail and ears. The spots came in as he grew up. We believe he is part siamese and part snowshoe. His name is Virus because when he was a kitten he got into EVERYTHING and he used to sit on top of our computer monitor. He's a mellow guy that has been the buddy to many kittens!
Neco is next in line. Neco is Japanese for "cat". He is about 6 years old. We got him as a kitten from Josh's grandmother's farm. One of her farm cats had a whole litter of kittens. We went to check them out and we found him, probably about 5 weeks old, with his left paw completely mangled. We took him to a local *hick* vet who looked at it and said "Well we can either cut it off, or let it fall off" @@ We decided to take him home because there is no way he would survive or find a home with a mangled paw. We bandaged him every day for 6 months. Eventually the two remaining toes dropped off and the stump healed over. It doesn't seem to bother him; he walks fine, but he does hold it up when he needs some extra sympathy!
We also got Smofo from the farm the following year. He is 5 and actually has the same mom as Neco! I caught him bare handed on the farm, he's a little slow :-) We call him Smofo because when he was a kitten he had a lot of gas and Smelled like a MoFo!
This is Ninja. I got him for my birthday last year, so he's a year old. I had a siamese growing up, who passed away shortly before Josh and I moved in together. I've always wanted another one, and I knew it would be a good cat with the kids (because they act like dogs) so we found a local breeder and got him. I wanted an Asian sounding name, and Ninja is very appropriate because he is sneaky and can slide into a room (or closet) without you noticing! He also talks a lot and will jump into your arms.
This is our newest addition. We call him Cricket. He walked into Josh's work last week and came right up to him. I think he is about 4 months old. We orginally tried to get him a home at Josh's parents' house, because they have always loved Neco and they recently lost a cat of their own. We thought it was meant to be! But they don't want him. By that point, he had already settled in at our house and he and Ninja are best buddies now. He burns Ninja's energy and keeps him out of trouble! He is very laid back; Alex messes with him and he just lays there and doesn't care.
This is Aurora's Fancy rat. Her name is Ratatoullie. She orignally had hermit crabs that my mom had gotten them for Christmas, but was bored with them so we found them a home and I told her she could pick something more interactive. She settled on a rat. I had misgivings, but rats are actually really cool pets! She does not bite and she loves to hang out with the kids or on your shoulder, and she is very smart!
In this picture, Aurora is holding a blue-tongued Skink. Josh's grandmother has a pair of them. They just had babies and she has insisted on sending 2 of them for Aurora and Alex. They are very laid back and as you can see, get pretty big. She tells me they eat dog food and crickets! Hopefully they won't eat our Cricket! We are preparing for their arrival sometime in the next week or so.
Pretty soon we will be charging a zoo admission to enter our house!!
Virus is the "old man" of the bunch. He is 10 years old and is one of the first cats Josh and I got when we moved in together. We found him at the animal shelter. He was playing in the litter box! As a kitten, he was all white except for his tail and ears. The spots came in as he grew up. We believe he is part siamese and part snowshoe. His name is Virus because when he was a kitten he got into EVERYTHING and he used to sit on top of our computer monitor. He's a mellow guy that has been the buddy to many kittens!
Neco is next in line. Neco is Japanese for "cat". He is about 6 years old. We got him as a kitten from Josh's grandmother's farm. One of her farm cats had a whole litter of kittens. We went to check them out and we found him, probably about 5 weeks old, with his left paw completely mangled. We took him to a local *hick* vet who looked at it and said "Well we can either cut it off, or let it fall off" @@ We decided to take him home because there is no way he would survive or find a home with a mangled paw. We bandaged him every day for 6 months. Eventually the two remaining toes dropped off and the stump healed over. It doesn't seem to bother him; he walks fine, but he does hold it up when he needs some extra sympathy!
We also got Smofo from the farm the following year. He is 5 and actually has the same mom as Neco! I caught him bare handed on the farm, he's a little slow :-) We call him Smofo because when he was a kitten he had a lot of gas and Smelled like a MoFo!
This is Ninja. I got him for my birthday last year, so he's a year old. I had a siamese growing up, who passed away shortly before Josh and I moved in together. I've always wanted another one, and I knew it would be a good cat with the kids (because they act like dogs) so we found a local breeder and got him. I wanted an Asian sounding name, and Ninja is very appropriate because he is sneaky and can slide into a room (or closet) without you noticing! He also talks a lot and will jump into your arms.
This is our newest addition. We call him Cricket. He walked into Josh's work last week and came right up to him. I think he is about 4 months old. We orginally tried to get him a home at Josh's parents' house, because they have always loved Neco and they recently lost a cat of their own. We thought it was meant to be! But they don't want him. By that point, he had already settled in at our house and he and Ninja are best buddies now. He burns Ninja's energy and keeps him out of trouble! He is very laid back; Alex messes with him and he just lays there and doesn't care.
This is Aurora's Fancy rat. Her name is Ratatoullie. She orignally had hermit crabs that my mom had gotten them for Christmas, but was bored with them so we found them a home and I told her she could pick something more interactive. She settled on a rat. I had misgivings, but rats are actually really cool pets! She does not bite and she loves to hang out with the kids or on your shoulder, and she is very smart!
In this picture, Aurora is holding a blue-tongued Skink. Josh's grandmother has a pair of them. They just had babies and she has insisted on sending 2 of them for Aurora and Alex. They are very laid back and as you can see, get pretty big. She tells me they eat dog food and crickets! Hopefully they won't eat our Cricket! We are preparing for their arrival sometime in the next week or so. Pretty soon we will be charging a zoo admission to enter our house!!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
State Fair!
Megan and I took the kids to the state fair yesterday and they had a blast! We went to the petting zoo, to ride the ponies, and to the kids play area. And of course the best part of the fair is the FOOD! I finally got Alex to try some funnel cake and he and Aurora went to town on one! Alex was not too sure about the petting zoo and ponies - I think it has to do with all of the animals being much bigger than him! He would hold the food cup out as far as he could to the goats so he didn't have to get close to them, and he made me pick him up! You can see from some of the pictures below from the look on his face he just wasn't sure about them. They did have a baby buffalo which I though was cool. We also tried to put Alex on a pony...he was okay for about 30 seconds and then started crying lol! Aurora is an old pro and loved riding the ponies. She keeps asking to ride a horse, I'll have to look into that. Anyway we all had a great time, I love this time of year! Stay tuned for the International Balloon Fiesta in 2 weeks!
Friday, September 19, 2008
Chronic Sinusitis
This is what Alex's Allergist thinks he has, based on the the results of the X-rays. It is basically where the sinuses are inflamed all of the time. It can lead to constant sinus infections, and according to the x-ray Alex actually has an infection right now. There are many different things that can cause chronic sinusitis - a deviated septum, narrow sinus passageways, nasal polyps, too much fungus production, or a combination. Unfortunately, the only way to know for sure is to have a CT scan done, which at his age requires sedation. My boss was actually diagnosed with this a few years ago and had surgery for a deviated septum and is going back in surgery this fall to open up his nasal passageways. Depending on the cause, there is a variety of treatments - surgery, antibiotics, steroids, daily nasal flushing. So the plan of action is to take his x-rays to his ENT and get his opinion. From there we will discuss the CT scan. Unfortunately the only day I could get an appointment with the ENT was on his birthday, October 22nd. Poor guy! For now he is on antibiotics for his current sinus infection (this explains why he has been extra cranky this week!) and I am going to start rinsing his nose with saline spray daily.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Already?!?!
OMG my daughter is TOO YOUNG for these conversations already!!!!!!! So on Monday night, Josh was at a dinner thing for work, and Aurora and I are working on a project. And then, out of the blue, she asks one of THOSE questions:
"Mom, how do babies come out of their mom's tummies?"
Holy cow I need to prepare myself for these things! The only thing I could do was be honest, I've always been honest with her from the beginning, with body parts and everything. So I said:
"The baby grows and grows in its Mommy's tummy, and when it is big enough to be out in the world it comes out of her v - "
Aurora: "Someone at school told me they cut the mom's tummy and pull the baby out that way"
Jaw drop - she was talking about this with kids at school?!?! How in the world did that come up!
Me: "Well sometimes...if the baby is too big or is sick and needs to come out right away, they will cut her tummy and pull the baby out and then stitch her back up and put a big band-aid on it until it's all better"
Aurora: "Oh - which way did Alex and I come out??"
LOL!!!!!!
Me: "You and Alex were both perfect so they did not have to cut my tummy"
Aurora: "Ok, thanks"
OMG I can't believe we just talked about this! Good thing her Daddy wasn't here, he's even less ready for these talks than I am, I think!
"Mom, how do babies come out of their mom's tummies?"
Holy cow I need to prepare myself for these things! The only thing I could do was be honest, I've always been honest with her from the beginning, with body parts and everything. So I said:
"The baby grows and grows in its Mommy's tummy, and when it is big enough to be out in the world it comes out of her v - "
Aurora: "Someone at school told me they cut the mom's tummy and pull the baby out that way"
Jaw drop - she was talking about this with kids at school?!?! How in the world did that come up!
Me: "Well sometimes...if the baby is too big or is sick and needs to come out right away, they will cut her tummy and pull the baby out and then stitch her back up and put a big band-aid on it until it's all better"
Aurora: "Oh - which way did Alex and I come out??"
LOL!!!!!!
Me: "You and Alex were both perfect so they did not have to cut my tummy"
Aurora: "Ok, thanks"
OMG I can't believe we just talked about this! Good thing her Daddy wasn't here, he's even less ready for these talks than I am, I think!
XRays
Well we had Alex's Xrays done yesterday to check for sinus problems, since we've ruled out just about everything else that could be causing his constant drainage. What a nightmare! First, they wanted me to try to stand him up against a wall, pin his arms down, and try to press his chin up against an x on the wall. Yeah freakin' right!!! That was NOT happening. They tried twice and couldn't get a good shot. Then they decided to lay him down, and I pinned his arms down while a tech tried to hold his head still with two foam blocks. It took 3 times of that before they got a good shot, Alex screaming the whole time. My mom was in the waiting room and could hear him screaming from there!! And he took his displeasure out on me the whole evening until bedtime. Whew! I hope this turns up something. If not, I don't think there is anything left to check, which means we'll just keep dealing with it and hope he grows out of it. The doctor should call us in a few days with the results. Poor baby :-(
Monday, September 15, 2008
Tagged by Krista!
I got tagged by Krista! The directions are to post a favorite pic of me and my children and answer the following questions, then tag as many as I'd like!
Here we go:
1. How many kids do you have? Two
2. What are their ages? 4 and almost 2
3. What time do you usually start your day? 5am Mon-Fri, 6:30 Weekends
4. What do they eat for breakfast? Carnation Instant Breakfast drink and dry cereal when they first wake, then they get a full breakfast during the week at school and then on weekends we do one day of cinnamon rolls and one day of bacon (or sausage), pancakes, and oranges
5. Do they get to watch T.V.? Yes, it is always on in the background but they barely watch more than 5 mins here and there while playing. Aurora gets to watch 30 mins of Scooby Doo after bath if she's been good
6. What's their favorite activity? Dancing and listening to music is by far their favorite and they also like to race trucks around the house
7. Do you get a break during the day for some "you" time? Only at lunchtime in my office, where I shut the door and eat and read my blogs
8. How do you end your day? Josh and I relax in bed and either watch our shows that we've Tivoed or play video games
9. What's your best parenting advice or tip? Let them make as many decisions on their own as possible...offer two choices of food, clothes, activities, etc
10. Tagging the following:
1. Missy
2. Michelle
3. Lauri
Here is one of my favorite pictures...I don't have a lot of myself with the kids because there's nobody to take the picture! This was last Halloween:
Here we go:
1. How many kids do you have? Two
2. What are their ages? 4 and almost 2
3. What time do you usually start your day? 5am Mon-Fri, 6:30 Weekends
4. What do they eat for breakfast? Carnation Instant Breakfast drink and dry cereal when they first wake, then they get a full breakfast during the week at school and then on weekends we do one day of cinnamon rolls and one day of bacon (or sausage), pancakes, and oranges
5. Do they get to watch T.V.? Yes, it is always on in the background but they barely watch more than 5 mins here and there while playing. Aurora gets to watch 30 mins of Scooby Doo after bath if she's been good
6. What's their favorite activity? Dancing and listening to music is by far their favorite and they also like to race trucks around the house
7. Do you get a break during the day for some "you" time? Only at lunchtime in my office, where I shut the door and eat and read my blogs
8. How do you end your day? Josh and I relax in bed and either watch our shows that we've Tivoed or play video games
9. What's your best parenting advice or tip? Let them make as many decisions on their own as possible...offer two choices of food, clothes, activities, etc
10. Tagging the following:
1. Missy
2. Michelle
3. Lauri
Here is one of my favorite pictures...I don't have a lot of myself with the kids because there's nobody to take the picture! This was last Halloween:
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Little Man
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Aqua Dots
Remember Aqua Dots? They were all the rage last year before Christmas; all the kids wanted them. It was the first time that Aurora told me exactly what she wanted for Christmas, and Aqua Dots were at the top of the list. At least 3-4 times a week she would mention them. So I bought them early into the season and stashed them, feeling like the best mom in the world for securing her #1 gift!! Then came all of the alerts and recalls - Aqua Dots were recalled because when swallowed they drugged the kids! OMG I was so sad to have to return them, knowing how Aurora was going to be. And on Christmas morning, when she came out and saw all of her presents, the first words our of her mouth was a sad little, "But where are my Aqua Dots?" I felt like the worst mom in the world!
But I digress. Enter Pixos! I received an email from the makers of Aqua Dots telling me that they now had non-toxic Pixos and I would be receiving some. I still haven't received them, but I did pick some up for Aurora at the store. She loves them! She wants to do them every night, and it really helps her work on her fine motor skills, something she needs since she still has a hard time holding a pencil right and using scissors. I'm actually really impressed with the product. I'm glad they came out with a replacement. Here are pictures of Aurora with her current obsession.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Dance Fever
One of the kids' favorite things to do after dinner is to turn on music and dance. It is so cute to see them dancing and it burns energy too! Alex is my 80's guy, he loves 80's songs, especially "Never" by Heart...as soon as he hears it he gets exciting and starts rockin'! Aurora is my hip hop girl. She loves R&B and Hip Hop...when she was 3 she was singing all of the words to 'Temperature" by Sean Paul. In the past, every time I've turned my camera on the kids would stop what they were doing..but last night and tonight I finally got some good footage! The first video is Alex "breakdancing", the second one is Aurora trying to do the "Electric Slide", and the third one is both of them dancing together. And in case you are wondering, the cage-like thing in the background is for the kids to play with their pet rat without her getting loose! Enjoy!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
New Pajamas
Megan, Aurora, and I went shopping this weekend for new clothes for the fall/winter. Aurora is so tall and skinny, I love it! We had to get her 4 slim jeans. I hope that means she has Daddy's metabolism! Alex is in a 2T for everything, and he still has the cute little baby belly that sticks out. We also got new pajamas and I let Aurora pick hers out...of course, being the tomboy she is, she picked out CARS, Speed Racer, and Batman @@. I keep Alex in fleece because we keep the house cold at night and I can't guarantee he'll keep the blanket on...but I didn't want to get anymore footed PJ's because he slips on the kitchen floor in them, so I found some adorable "little man" pajamas. They both wanted to show them off, so here you go.
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