Ewww! and Ouch!

Here's a quick, but very detailed run down over the past 4 days. When I picked Kennedy up from school on Friday she felt a little warm so I checked her temp and it was normal. She was a little snotty, but nothing terrible. On Saturday we had 2 weddings to go to so we all got ready, the car was packed for a day full of excitement and fun. I picked Kennedy up to put her dress on her and she was hot, red cheeks and all. She had a temp of 101. So, change of plans. Michael takes his tie off and decides to stay home with little K. After calling numerous times to check on her we (Preston and I) head back from Fort Worth so Michael and Preston can go to his cousins wedding in Allen. There was a bad wreck....30 extra minutes to deal with traffic= one nervous mama. Michael says K seems okay, she's jumping, no fever, etc, etc...he decides she's well enough to go to the next wedding. So off we go rushing to Allen. We didn't actually make it to the wedding in time, but we went to the reception. (Yes, I feel terrible that we weren't there for the wedding). :( So we're at the reception and Kennedy looks like she feels really bad. I was holding her tightly and she started shivering. Still, no fever though. In the meantime, Michael and Preston went outside to talk with some other family members and after sitting there by myself for a while I decided to join them. Not 1 minute later my sweet little Kennedy threw up, not spit up, she threw up. Then it continued for what felt like an eternity. She hadn't eaten cereal or baby food that day, just breast milk so at least it wasn't super gross. Still, she was coughing and snorting and shaking. I felt TERRIBLE for her and scared too. Finally Michael returned with the diaper bag and car keys so I get her to the car and we could frantically drive home. I usually don't panic when things happen, but that night I totally panicked. Preston never vomited as an infant so it really freaked me out. It was awful. We were both covered in it. YUCK! Well, the fever continued through today so we went to the Pediatrician's office this morning. She had a temp of 102.7 (yikes) and was super congested. They did a CBC and her WBC count was really high so they attempted to draw blood for a blood culture. I say attempted because 3 pokes later (including digging in her poor arms and hand) they were unsuccessful in drawing blood. Apparently it's difficult to find veins in fat little arms. She ended up getting a shot of a powerful antibiotic in both legs and she seems to be feeling better now. Now we have to go back to the Dr tomorrow for another CBC to see if the WBC count is lower. Hopefully we won't be there for 2 and a half hours like we were today.
In my last post I forgot to mention Kennedy's growth info from her 6 month check up. Well, let's just say she's a big girl, with lots of room for her huge brain. Her head measurement was at the 85%ile and today she weighed a whopping 18 lbs, 4.4 oz, and she's a breast fed baby. Isn't that amazing?!?

Clever

I always think about things to write on the blog. Cute things Preston says, funny things Kennedy does and anything else I find entertaining. I also try to think of creative, clever titles for my posts, BUT...I'm not the slightest bit creative or clever. Hence the title of this post. :)

So here's a run down of our lives over the past 6 weeks.

1. Preston was sick with the swine flu. He basically had high fever for 5 days, but finally began to feel better. The pediatrician wouldn't give him Tamiflu - which seriously annoyed me since there's a baby in our house. I missed 4 days of work, which put me way behind in therapy sessions, but thankfully no one else got sick. It was extremely difficult to keep him away from the sweet little sister that he loves so much.
2. Kennedy now has 2 little teeth and she loves to put everything in her mouth.
3. She also LOVE, LOVE, LOVES to jump in the jumparoo. I may have mentioned this in the last post (it's been so long I can't remember what I wrote - guess I should have read it before adding this one).
4. I began feeding Kennedy rice cereal and veggies. She loves all of them! I just started fruits this past weekend so she has more exciting flavors to try really soon.
5. Preston had a fall party at school which was fun. The childcare kids also went Trick-or-Treating throughout the school on Friday. It was really cute to see the kids in their costumes and all of the school kids really liked seeing the little ones dressed up too.
6. Halloween - Preston was SOOOO excited to get to go trick-or-treating. We practiced what to say when the person opened the door and we really thought he might have it down. So we go to the first house, he knocks, they open the door and he stares at them. Not a sound, not a peep, nothing. They ask what his horse's name is. Again, no response. They put candy in his pumpkin and he's off to the next house. He did remember to say "thank you" by the time he was at their driveway. Oh the manners this sweet boy has. :) Toward the end of trick-or-treating (maybe the 6th house we went to) Preston was feeling a little more comfortable so he rang the doorbell, and shouted to the top of his lungs "TWICK O TWEAT" - sadly, no one came to the door. Either they were annoyed a child was hollering or they forgot it was Halloween and left the porch light on. Anyway, a few houses later we were back home to pass out candy to the few kids that came by. We usually have quite a few trick-or-treaters, but this year was pretty scarce. I have a TON of candy left over, so now I need to find a place to get rid of it or I'll eat it.
7. Over the last 6 weeks I've probably washed close to 60 loads of laundry. I don't mind sorting and washing the clothes. I just hate putting them away.
8. How could I forget this...after Preston was sick he decided he no longer wanted to be Mr. Independent, instead he preferred Mr. Helpless. He has been very emotional and needy. He sat in my bedroom floor last week crying for me to carry him to the car. Seriously, he was throwing a fit because I wouldn't pick him up and put him in the car. He has been super loving and affectionate one minute, then he's doing something sneaky the next. I'm not sure if he's acting this way because he was sick and got lots of attention or if it's just the wonderful age of almost 3. Any advice???
9. In early October Michael and I went the Cattle Baron’s Ball which is usually a really fun, great people watching event. This year was the exception though. It had rained all day and all evening, but we thought it would still be fun to go. My parents came up to watch the kids for us and thank goodness they did, because when we tried to leave (which was less than 30 minutes after we got there and it took us over 2 hours to drive there, wait in traffic and park) we couldn’t get out of the muddy field. Limo’s were stuck everywhere, people were covered in mud and the list goes on and on. I ended up calling my sweet dad and he drove over to pick us up since the truck was stuck. I felt like I was 15 years old with my dad coming to rescue us, but I’m so thankful he did. Otherwise we would have been stranded there all night long. D Magazine referred to it as the Mud Ball of 2009. That was a very fitting title. **The end of the story – Michael, my dad and my brother in law drove back out there the next day and they had a tractor pull the truck out. They said it was a HUGE mess out there. I just realized that our muddy boots are still in the garage. Oops!
10. This one is huge! Preston has a new love for Elmo videos. YAY!!! I have tried to get him to watch T.V. for a just a little bit so I can wash the dishes or laundry without having him glued to my side and my efforts finally paid off. Well, okay, he just decided he wanted to watch it and now he asks for it everyday after school. I know I probably shouldn’t be excited he’s watching T.V., but I am!
11. As I’m adding photos I keep thinking of things to add. Kennedy is no longer in the infant carrier. She has moved up to a stylish bright pink, oh.so.comfy convertible car seat and she seems to really like it. I decided to switch seats because she was getting too heavy to carry around in the carrier.

I'm sure there are more things that have happened, but I'm too sleepy to think of them right now. Enjoy the photos!

Ken Ken's new car seat

My poor little swine flu baby

Rock-n-Roll

I know what you're already thinking, "Two posts in one month? Is Courtney feeling okay?" Yes, I'm fine, a little sad, a lot happy and always stressed, but nonetheless, fine.
Kennedy turned 5 months old this past Monday and she now has all kinds of new tricks. She can roll over, and over, and over, etc. She can hold herself in a sitting position for about 10 minutes. She can blow raspberries. She found her feet (which I love) and she laughs at her brother A LOT. She also scoots around her quilt and can change direction pretty quickly. I know it's only a matter of a month or so and she'll be crawling - just like her brother who crawled at 7 and a 1/2 months and walked 2 months later. So here's where the sadness comes in. I'm sad because my baby is growing up WAY TOO FAST. I know I should be excited that she's meeting developmental milestones and I am to an extent, but it just makes me sad that she's doing these things already.
On to the "happy" things. I am so very thankful that Preston has great language skills. On Monday we were at a stop light on our way home from school and he said, "Mom, that guy has a tree in his car." I thought to myself, "A tree?" So I slowly looked over to the car beside us ( which I usually don't like to do - I know, I'm weird) and there it was - a tree (you know, the air freshener trees) hanging from the guys rear view mirror. I thought it was hilarious and very observant for him to even notice that. This year I have quite a few severely impaired language kids that are on my caseload and I ask myself all the time how can my 2 and a half year old son have these skills that some of my 2nd and 3rd graders don't have and what is the best way to teach them these skills. He amazes me everyday. Some days it's by how high he can jump on the couch, other days it's by how loud he can sing in the living room 2 feet away from me and still others by how sweet and adorable and loving he is to his mommy, daddy and sister. :)

Oh and another fun thing that we've been working on is potty training. Preston's interest varies from day to day. Lately we've been putting him in underwear when we're at home and he's been doing pretty good, except for tonight when he had an accident while he was sitting in the 'naughty spot'. Yuck!
Now on to the stressful part of life that I mentioned at the beginning of this post. Since I went back to work on August 17th someone in our family has been sick every week. Right before school began Preston had a nasty tummy bug all week, then he was sick with a cold which he was nice enough to give to his baby sister, who then shared it with me, which I passed back to Preston - but the cold virus mutated and was worse than the first time around and TODAY little Kennedy is sick again. The poor thing has had snot dripping from her nose since early this morning and she hasn't slept much all day. Despite the snot and possible teething pain she still seems happy and content. I just pray that we'll all be well very soon. I don't like it when my babies are sick.
Since this is my longest post in ummm..forever. I'll let you enjoy some adorable photos for now.

5 months old

What? A new post? Seriously?

So here's a quick update. I went back to work in mid August, which means my babies had to go to daycare - so life has been a little stressful. We're all doing great. The baby is getting so big. She weighs about 16 lbs now and is such a sweet little angel. She blesses us with coos, smiles and giggles all the time. Preston is a GREAT big brother. He loves his sister so much. It warms my heart to see them together, holding hands, and reaching for each other. Soooo cute!

As for daycare....both Preston and Kennedy go to daycare at my school, which is just around the corner from me. Preston was very emotional the first week, but has done awesome since then. Kennedy has been fine with someone else loving on her and taking care of her during the day. I do appreciate their teachers very much, but it makes me sad that I can't be the one with them all day.

Well, we're headed to a b-day party, so I'll try (keyword: try) to finish the updates when I get home.

Enjoy the photos.

This morning Michael took Preston to Home Depot and they had a little kid class going on. They both had so much fun and Preston was so proud of his "project" and his little apron.

The first day of school. (Yes, I had a tear in my eye while I was taking the photo.)

Sweet baby girl!!

Gigi and Poppie with the kids

They love each other SOOOO much!

Two & a Half times 2

Today is sort of a special day. Preston is 'officially' 2 and a half years old AND Kennedy is two and a half months old today. I think that's kind of neat, but I'm funny about numbers (or at least my mom thinks I am).
I'm excited to say Preston has been pacifier free for 8 days now. About a month or so ago he told me he wanted a guitar. I thought that would be a great reward for getting rid of the paci, so I told him he could give his pacifiers to my sister's baby and when he did we would buy him a guitar. The day finally came that he packed up the pacifiers in a gift bag and handed them over. I was so proud of him!! The funny thing was that he pulled out each paci and handed it to her one by one.
By the way, my sister (CaCa, aka: Karra) is expecting baby #2 around December 13th. They find out the gender in about 3 weeks. We're so excited for them!!! We love babies!
Yesterday Preston told me he wanted a skateboard. (or a 'kateboawd' in Preston talk). So that will be the reward when he sleeps in his own bed for 2 weeks. :) Wish us luck!
I took some cute pics of Preston with his new guitar so I'll try to post them tonight.

No more tears

The last several days have been so much better with Preston. What changed, you ask? Well, we're not making him sleep in his own room. Instead, he can sleep in our room on his "nap mat" from school as long as he stays on the mat. During the night he wakes up and tries to climb in our bed, but I give him the choice of the mat or his room. Needless to say he chooses the mat. So it wasn't the plan I had in mind, but at least there are no more tears. The potty training isn't going so well either. I guess I have to choose one battle at a time.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but my goals this summer were to get Preston into a big bed, get rid of the paci and potty train him. A little ambitious? Maybe, but I think it will happen. Tonight he asked his dad for a paci, but seemed to find one hiding in our bedroom instead of getting a clean one. My solution: I told him it was dirty and it needed to be washed so he threw it in the sink (just like he does everything that's "old"). Amazingly all of his paci's were dirty. Oops! It worked for tonight and he's already asleep without his beloved pacifier. See, miracles do happen. :)

I'll keep you posted on this weeks events. I'm sure something funny (or distressing) will happen.

Sweet smiley baby

Preston doing what he does best - JUMPING!

Preston enjoys doing 'tummy time' with Kennedy. It's really cute to see them on the floor together. It seems like just yesterday he was as little as she is.

I love her thighs! I could just eat them up.

Ready for an update?

It's been over a month now since I last posted an update and SOOO much has gone on during that time. First of all, my sweet little baby is growing so fast. She's 2 months old now and at her well check she weighed 10 lbs 11 oz. That's a great gain from her tiny little 6 lbs 4 oz at birth. She is measuring at the 50% for weight, 55% for length and 75% for head circumference. Just so you know, both of my children have 'biggish' heads, or as my brother likes to say "that's a big ole coconut."

Moving on.....Kennedy is such a sweet, happy little girl. She smiles all the time, coos at all of us, loves to be held and is doing awesome with tummy time. She is sleeping an average of 7-9 hrs at night, which is wonderful!!!! She has actually rolled over twice already. I'm sure it was because she was mad and didn't want to be on her tummy anymore, but nonetheless, she's done it twice. She has the cutest little chubby thighs, beautiful blue eyes and red hair. I love her so much and am so thankful God chose me to be her mom.

Now for a little update on Preston, the ever so busy, non-stop, won't sleep in his own bed, makes himself throw up when stressed or left in his room, sweet boy of mine. As I'm writing this he's spending 2 minutes of 'quiet time' in his room for not listening to me. The 'quiet' part is a lie. He's hollering for me to let him out and there is absolutely nothing quiet about that.

We've had a major battle with him lately. He refuses to sleep in his own room. A week and a half ago he climbed out of his crib and appeared in the living room saying "I got down by myself." So a few days later I turned his crib into a toddler bed. He seems to like it as long as someone is in the room with him.

**2 hours later after playing with Preston, feeding both kids, reading books and making 2 trips to the potty with Preston** He's now in his room for nap time, screaming his head off again and saying "mommy, mommy, mommy" over and over again. I don't know what is so terrible about spending a little time in his room. As I was getting close to the end of a book I was reading to him just a few minutes ago he stood up and told me his "throat was hurting", then it was that his "tummy was growling" and he "needed a little cheese", then he "had to go potty and oops I just pee peed in my pull up." Everything to avoid having to take a nap alone. Alone is the key word. My sister has told me several times to not force the issue of Preston being in his own room. She's afraid it will make him too nervous and have too much anxiety. I pray that doesn't happen to him, but I need a little "quiet time" myself.

Okay, now for a little humor (even though I shouldn't laugh at this). I just went to Preston's door because I couldn't tell what he was saying. Are you ready for this??? "Mommy, I threw milk at my dresser." He knows he's not allowed to throw his cups so what a great reason for mommy to come and open the door. Did I mention there is a child proof knob on his bedroom door so that he can't get out? I know it's terrible, but I did talk to the pedi about it first.

The story gets better. It's now been 15 minutes since Preston was supposed to take a nap, but in that time he has pulled his diaper off by himself and screamed to tell me it was off, he pulled ALL of the blankets out of his dresser, told me he threw up (but he didn't). I went in once to put the diaper back on and while I was in the room he pooped in his diaper - so I changed him again. I read one more book to him, told him I loved him and I left. The crying and screaming has not stopped since I closed the door. And NOW he's saying he peed in the floor. I have a video monitor in his room so I can see most of what he's doing. Sure enough, he had taken his diaper off again and ever so honestly showed me where he peed on the floor, in his room. (It wasn't very wet, thank goodness.) So, FINALLY, after 50 minutes he's asleep, and I'm exhausted.

I know there are things I'm forgetting to write about, but I'm having trouble concentrating right now.

I apologize for being so negative, but this little guy is wearing me out and we have 8 more weeks of summer break to go. I know I've made this request before, but please, please, please pray for my sanity and that I'll have more patience during this rough time.

I almost forgot. The reason for the child knob on the door is because the baby gate no longer works.