Time to do some catching up!

I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since my last entry! Actually, it's not hard to believe considering what the past 2 weeks have been like for us. It's been CRAZY around here!

I left off with Kaeli getting the stomach bug. She missed Tue and Wed from school. Went back to school on Thursday, but came home complaining that her tummy was cramping again. No school on Friday because of an in-service day so she got to stay home and try to recuperate.

Thursday night Ryan woke up vomiting. He got hit HARD!! The poor kid had no idea what was going on. He continued to throw up all night long. I did lots of laundry through the night and slept on the floor next to his bed (when I got a few minutes to actually sleep).

Of course then Friday morning AJ wakes up vomiting!

Saturday was pretty tough to get through since everyone was VERY sick and Steve had to work. But, we survived! By Saturday night things were looking up. I actually thought we had made it through the worst part.

UNTIL.....Kaeli came to my room at around 4AM limping and said her leg was hurting really bad. She pointed to her upper thigh and I assumed it was probably just a muscle cramp. I gave her some Tylenol and put her back in bed. I was slightly worried as I drifted back to sleep because she did start pointing to her groin area when I asked her again where exactly it hurt. But, I thought "what's the worst it could be?". Maybe some soreness in her lymph nodes or just cramping from dehydration. Around 7AM Paige came to our room to tell us Kaeli couldn't even get out of bed. She was in some serious pain. She said she couldn't even move her leg because it hurt so bad. I reluctantly put a call in to the on-call ped. I felt a little silly for calling about a hurt leg, but I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't just let her lay in bed and suffer without me trying to do something. The on-call Dr told me to take her to the ER at the Children's Hospital. Based on my description of her symptoms he was concerned she could have a joint infection. This is when I realized her hurt leg could be a serious condition.

We finally made it to the ER around 10:30 or 11:00 and our day just went downhill from there. The wait was sooooo long and Kaeli was getting pretty irritable. Her aunt Kristen was in town and everyone else was at Mom-mom's house having a party for Kristen. Kaeli had been looking forward to this day all week and she was EXTREMELY disappointed! Also, by now Kaeli has missed lunch. A bored, crabby, disappointed, hungry, and thirsty 7 yr old is NOT very good company! She was not allowed to eat, though, because they weren't sure what was wrong with her.

After answering a gazillion questions a gazillion different times the tests started. First thing they did was an x-ray. The attending Dr said that unfortunately they didn't see anything on xray. So, from there they had to do a blood culture and various other blood tests. The concern was that she could either have a joint infection or a blood infection. Her tests came back showing a high WBC count and two different tests for inflammation came back high. Kaeli was passed off from the attending ER Dr to an Orthopedic surgeon (yeah, that made me a little nervous). Two different ortho Dr's looked at her and her lab results. After consulting with each other, they determined she needed to be admitted for overnight observation. Because the WBC count was high they couldn't completely rule out an infection. Overnight they gave her anti-inflammatory IV meds. By morning she was a different kid!! She had some pain left in the leg, but she could at least move it and could put a little bit of weight on the leg. I was so incredibly relieved by her improvement. If she hadn't improved so much they were going to put her under anesthesia and use a needle to aspirate some of the fluid. WHEW!!

We were finally released from the hospital Monday afternoon. Kaeli and I were thrilled! Kaeli said she always thought it would be cool to stay at a hospital. But, after this experience she has changed her mind. She said they kept waking her up all night long. LOL Also, she said she was mad at the Dr's. They were supposed to be making her feel better, but instead they kept moving her leg all around and it made her leg hurt even more! Although I have to say she was real trooper when it came to the Dr's moving her leg. She was trying not to complain and would keep smiling as they tried to move her leg. They could feel the resistance in her movement and would finally say "is this hurting?". Through a clenched smile she'd say "yes" in a really cheerful voice!! I was laughing because when I even touched her she'd scream out in agony!

Another sick kid!

Paige ended up missing 3 days last week as a result of her stomach virus. Wouldn't you know Kaeli just developed symptoms this morning? She went to school all day because she only complained that her stomach hurt this AM. She ate her breakfast and she didn't complain very long. So, I didn't think much of it. She came home from school this afternoon and was just an emotional wreck. She was crying over everything. She finally asked me to take her temp because she wasn't feeling well. Sure enough, she had a fever of 101.2. She has only puked once so far. I'm expecting tomorrow to be the worst day since day 2 was the worst for Paige.

I just hope this bug stops with Kaeli. I can't imagine going through this with Ryan or AJ.

Paige is so amazingly empathetic. She was very upset about Kaeli throwing up. She didn't even want to sleep in the same room because she was afraid Kaeli would throw up in the middle of the night. She really cannot stand to watch anyone else suffer in any way, shape, or form. This intense ability to empathize with another person seems in such contrast to her ability to hold her own emotions inside. She hardly ever shows her own emotions or weaknesses. But, it's like her cryptonite is watching another person suffer. She actually seems to FEEL whatever the other person is experiencing. It's just amazing!

Quite an Afternoon!

I often get comments like "you certainly have your hands full" or "how do you do it with 4 young kids?". I'm sure many of you reading my blog have wondered that also. Well, the truth is some days are incredibly challenging and I wonder how I survive them. But, the good news is that I can look back at the challenging moments and laugh. So, this entry is all about one of those challenging moments.

Paige stayed home from school today because she wasn't feeling well. She slept most of the afternoon and didn't really eat anything because her tummy was hurting. I had to wake her up so we could go pick Kaeli up from school. Now, let me first say the arrival home from school is never a smooth transition. There's a lot of excitement and everybody wants something. And, as much as I've tried to teach my kids this fact, they still don't seem to understand that I'm only one person. So, we walk back in the door after school. Ryan and AJ are let loose on the floor. Kaeli and Paige are both vying for my attention. Paige asks for a drink of water because her tummy is starting to hurt REALLY bad. I get the water and, before handing it to her, ask her if she's ok. She just answers with "My tummy is just hurting so bad I think I need medicine". My heart truly goes out to her-but there's nothing I can do except offer a hug and kiss. I then hand her the water. She goes to take a drink and pukes right into the cup. I grab her and try to get her to the bathroom, attempting to leave as little of a trail as possible. Just as we get to the toilet Paige slips in the vomit and falls right into it. She's now covered in stinkiness. I have to leave Paige at the toilet to fend for herself because by now I realize AJ is trying to crawl into the bathroom. In case you're wondering, I don't think it's because of his concern for Paige. I think it's that he realizes the bathroom door is open and he now has access to his two favorite past-times--eating toilet paper and splashing in the toilet bowl. So, I quickly wash his hands (because I don't need him to catch this bug) and stick him in the high chair. He doesn't like being confined so he screams and cries during the remainder of this incident. I hear Kaeli screaming because Ryan is walking right through the vomit. I don't quite remember how I did this, but somehow I managed to simultaneously throw Paige in the bathtub and strip Ryan's pants and socks. I put Ryan on the other side of the gate so he can't get into the mess again. He also doesn't appreciate this confinement, so he proceeds to scream. Fortunately, Paige seems much better once she's in the tub. With much screaming in the background, Kaeli assists me by getting paper towels, cleaning supplies and garbage bags. Of course, she's keeping her distance because she informs me that she feels like she might throw up because of the smell. I get the floors cleaned and put all the dirty clothes in the laundry. Then I bathe Paige and wash her hair in record time! Now I can finally release Ryan and AJ and things begin to settle down. WHEW!!

AJ's first steps happened after the mayhem. So, that explains why Kaeli and Ryan don't have on pants, why AJ's overalls are unbuttoned, and why Paige is not involved in the fanfare.

Paige seemed much better after that one incident. Hopefully that was the end of it.

Look Who's Walking!!!

Ok, so he's not officially walking, but AJ did take his first independent steps today. It was completely unexpected! I've heard stories of babies who just get up and walk one day. That may not be exactly how it happened, but I have a feeling that's how I'll relay the story one day--many years from now when my memory has started to blur. Oh, who am I fooling? I suppose it would be just as accurate to say one or two years from now.

Here's the story of the first steps!! AJ was trying to get into a drawer at the bottom of the entertainment center. I closed the drawer and just left him standing there. He stood there, just staring at the closed drawer, for maybe 30 seconds. Then, to my amazement, I watched him take 2 very steady little steps toward the drawer before lowering himself to the ground. Of course, I immediately called Steve to tell him the story. I guess it doesn't sound nearly as exciting in writing. But, I just never experienced that with any of the other kids. With each of the other 3, the first steps only came after a great deal of cajoling.

Of course, I immediately pulled out the video camera. Obviously, you will not witness his first steps, but it's pretty close. Don't ask me why my kids seem to all be missing their pants--I don't have an answer. Oh wait!! Yes, I do!! I just remembered that we had a rather eventful afternoon. You'll have to read about that in my next entry.

So, without further ado.........