Wednesday, May 28, 2008

All you need is Love

The theme of the day is LOVE:

Today is my and Bobby's 4th wedding anniversary. We celebrated this evening with a nice dinner at MELT. Melt is the kind of restaurant that needs reservations - even on a Wednesday night. I can't remember the last time we ate at a place the required reservations! We are so used to high turnover places that it was almost strange to sit back and relax and enjoy the atmosphere and food - and each other!

On to other news...
Ava and Alex gave each other a hug today. It was the cutest thing ever and I will try to capture it next time it happens - just so I can remind them when they are older that they did, at some point in their innocences, actually love one another.
Last night while giving them baths, I found 3 bite marks on Alex. Ava has been really holding her ground and wants these boys to know she is not to be messed with! I better hurry up with that hug pic!

Monday, May 26, 2008

A day at the pool leads to a surprise!




Today we visited Gram and Pape for a Memorial Day picnic. The big pool was still a bit cold for the kids to enjoy, but we filled up the kiddie pool with water from the hot tub for the kids to splash around in. Ava and Alex did not seem to like it nearly as much as their big brother.

Now, to the surprise part... Guess what was sitting on Grams counter top when we arrived? A pink binky! That means both pink binkies are found! We must have left it behind a few weeks ago when we visited. phew.
I apologize my dear dear Alex for blaming you for throwing them in the garbage.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

lost and found

Found: 1 pink binky - in the dryer! hooray!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Where have all the Binkies gone???

We used to have 7 binkies. Two green, two blue and two pink and one yellow. A few months ago, Alex chewed up a green one and we had to toss it. So that makes six - 6 binkies. (sing it with me "If one of those binkies should happen to fall...what would we do with no binkies AT ALL?") I digress.

Right now, we are down to 3. The missing binkies are the 2 pink ones and one yellow one. I have torn this house apart -Checked inside every shoe, every drawer, and even inside the vents (the kids recently figured out they can pull up the grates and throw stuff down there) OH and of course I checked the subwoofer - are you kidding? That was the first place I looked!

I can not find the binkies anywhere and I am going out of my mind. Ultimately, I am going to have to accept the fact that Alex probably threw them in the garbage and they are gone forever.

Meanwhile, we are not replacing said binkies. I suppose it was about time they started to disappear anyway.

Monday, May 19, 2008

A sign of things to come?


We saw these rainbows (two of them) yesterday afternoon- the most beautiful and vivid I have ever seen!


Sunday, May 18, 2008

Trendy mom

The recent confirmation that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are expecting twins this summer made me think about this new Hollywood 'twin trend.' Within the past year and a half Patrick Dempsey, Marcia Cross, and Jennifer Lopez have welcomed twins into the world. (find a complete list of celebrity twin parents here - i was surprised at some of the names on the list!) I must be a trendy mom after all! Cool.

A diagnosis!

On Friday night, Alex's temp started to rise again, but we got it under control. We continued giving him motrin, throughout the day on Saturday but did not wake him last night. Today, he seems to be fever free. BUT he has started to break out in a rash all over his torso and back. After some research on Google, I found that he has the classic symptoms of Roseola. A virus that starts with high fever for about 3 days and ends in a rash once the fever breaks. He also had some of the other symptoms... runny nose, cough, ear pain, and diarrhea. And because it is a virus, we just have to wait it out.
The incubation period is about 10 days, so we suspect that Ava may start to show signs at some point this week.
We are relieved that we have found the source of the problem.
Robert has his 3 year check up with Doctor Novak tomorrow, and we can discuss it further with him then. I am sure he will be relieved as well since he was just as baffled as we were when it came to this illness.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Alex update Friday 5/16

Last night was sleepless for me. Alex camped out in mom and dad's room and I pretty much just watched him sleep for most of the night. His breathing was rapid and shallow and that scared me. I gave him his own place on the bed, and let the AC vent cool him off. His temp was all over the charts until about 1am, when he fell into a deep sleep and it was down to 101.5. We had to wake him every 3 hours to medicate him.
By 6am, he had woken up with a normal temp. After some juice and his meds, he went back to sleep for about 2 hours. We continued the Motrin and Tylenol regimen all day which helped keep his temp close to or just above normal for most of the day. He napped a whole lot and he managed to eat a bit as well.
We went for bloodwork this afternoon. We are still waiting for the results from the blood culture, but Dr Novak called this evening with the CBC results and said that his white cells had gone up by about 1000. While the level is still very low, the rise indicates that he is getting better. He advised that we keep Alex home and lay low for a few days because he is very susceptible to infection and illness right now.
Tonight Alex is sleeping in his own crib. We will wake him only to give him motrin. He has had 3 doses of the antibiotic and we hope to have our old Alex back within the next few days.

Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers. They're working!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Alex update 5/15/08

Alex seemed okay this morning. I continued a tylenol/motrin regimen with him and his temp stayed low most of the morning. We had an appointment with the pediatrician at 11:15. Dr. Novak was unable to pin point the cause of the fever. He took a urine sample and sent us to the hospital for blood work. He said he'd call later when he had the results. In the meantime, Alex's fever rose to over 104 and he had 2 small seizures.
Dr. Novak called at about 5pm. He said Alex did not have a urinary tract infection but that his white blood cell count is very very low. (Normal is 5,000 to 20,000 - Alex's are 1870.) Based on the numbers and the rest of the blood work, he suspected that this is, in fact, a virus. And he is using his white blood cells to fight the virus germ. He wants us to return to the hospital in the morning for another set of blood tests. If his white blood cells go down again, we will need to re-evaluate. Dr. Novak ordered called in an antibiotic just to be on the safe side and Alex has had one dose so far.
Alex hasn't had any desire to eat, but we are giving him straight juice and pedalite as much as possible. We had a terrible time getting his temp to stabilize tonight, (up to 104.5, down to 101)but after a few cool baths he finally went to sleep with his temp at an even 102.
I am still so scared for what tomorrow brings. Please keep us in your prayers.

Another Seizure

Yesterday afternoon I found Alex seizing in his crib during his afternoon nap. His temp spiked to 105.3 even after motrin and 30 minutes in a cool bath. We spent the evening in the ER with an uncomfirmed diagnoses. I am going to call the pediatrician first thing this morning to see if we can get some answers.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Ava Lou and Alex Too!



We call her Ava Loo Hoo (As we've been told she resembles Cindy Loo Hoo from the Grinch who Stole Christmas) Sporting her new do - fraggle style.
Alex on a chilly May day getting down and dirty in the grass! Such a ham!

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

a few tidbits

Alex will shake his head 'No' when you ask him a question. Funny, that his sister learned to nod 'Yes' first, and he learns 'No' first.

While walking down the hall at the Y, Ava looked at an adolescent boy and said "HI." The boy looked confused, but proceeded to say "hi" back to her. She also calls Bobbby "Daddy" and will often say what sounds like 'sh!t.' quite often during any given day.

Alex now has 2 molars on top. He'd been miserable until they appeared.

Alex has been walking for about 3 weeks now. He's doing great and he's got his first pair of Velcro shoes - which are actually quite cute and will give me an additional 2 minutes each day.

Ava can run. I am addicted to buying her shoes. Grandmom got her the cutest little maryjane crocs. love them.

Alex's favorite foods: Tacos, cheese and oranges.
Ava's favorite foods: anything! But especially anything that is meat based. She once ate a 4 oz steak.(Pape should be so proud!)

When Bobby comes home from work (or from anywhere) Robert tells him "We were so worried about you, Dad."

All of the children have adjusted to the child care center at the YMCA. What a relief. We try to go in the late afternoon/early evening. I'm really happy with the arrangement.

And finally, not to toot my own horn, but I've lost 14 lbs. I am feeling fantastic -strong and healthy.

thanks for stopping by!

Friday, May 02, 2008

underwear nightmares

I have been encouraging Robert to dress himself. He pretty much has the idea of it, but is still working on the coordination part. I need to watch him put his pants on since he often puts both legs in one pant leg.
This morning I let him dress himself before school. I wasn't paying attention and he started to get silly. We were running late, so I completed the task for him.
Fast forward....
We get to school and I drop him off in his classroom. He randomly lifts up his shirt and he has a pair of underwear around his waist - both feet in one hole, and pulled up as far as they will go!
ugh.
Meanwhile, he already had a pair of underwear on his body. Only my kid...

Yes, ma'am

Ava nods her head when you ask her a question. It's very diliberate and very controlled. OH, and very cute! She makes me laugh all the time.