So, I took the kids to the Zoo on Monday. It was too beautiful a day to pass by! I brought a surgical mask for Jenna just in case it was packed, but thankfully it wasn't! I couldn't find my small bottle of hand sanitizer, so I stuff my huge industrial sized bottle into the stroller *hehe* My friend and her little boy joined us; it was a nice get-a-way from the chaos which is my house :)
Okay, to the funny party...
We were leaving the play area and a little boy ran up to Jenna and grabbed her hand. The grandparents of the little guy apologized and I said, "That's okay." I was secretly thinking..."AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" So I did what any other mother in my shoes would do...I instantly globbed some hand sanitizer in my hand and raced to lather Jenna's hands in it. You should've seen the looks I got from those grandparents! I'm sure they were thinking I was a totally paranoid parent...wait...I am *haha* With just cause though :)
Anyway, I guess to any healthy individual, this story isn't that hilarious. But, if you have chronically sick kiddos, you can totally relate :)
Friday, November 6, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Jenna's GI appointment
Well, it could've been worse, but I was praying it was nothing. Jenna's mic-key button has been leaking what I thought was bile since she had H1N1. Her GI doctor, Dr. Sferra, said that when she had H1N1, she developed excess tissue around the stoma (stomach opening around her mic-key button) on the inside of her stomach which is rubbing. The fluid leaking is most likely a blood/bile mixture. He has prescribed Jenna a topical ointment to use over the next 2 weeks to help with inflammation and irritation. On the 30th, the will perform a minor procedure to remove the tissue via cauterization. Ick! She will be sedated to help with nerves and to keep her from moving during the procedure. Dr. Sferra said it is a painless procedure since the tissue does not have any nerve endings. Praise God for that! Sorry for the yucky details, but that's just what you get to hear if you read our blog ;)
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
this, that and more of the other
Okay family and friends... I seriously need some motivation to keep-up with this blog! Facebook has sucked me in and I'm trying to dedicate more time to blogging.
As I am sitting in front of the computer, Joshua is reading letters off in one of his books. He so wants to learn to read! I think I am going to make some trips to Lakeshore and splurge a bit on some materials for him. **Hmmm...Christmas money! Great idea self!** He knows his letters so well and even sounds some of them out. I'm a proud mommy!
Speaking of Christmas, I already purchased one of Joshua's gifts. He really loves to play with his play food and pretend he's making me a delicious meal, so I bought him an inexpensive play kitchen. Nick would've rather he gotten a play tool bench, but I think he still has time to grow into such a toy. Don't you think? Joshua's also getting his first bike, and a twin size bed for Christmas! My mom bought him some bedding a while back that goes with his bedroom theme, so it will be nice to finally use it!
As many of you know, Jenna had H1N1 last month. Me and a friend went up to Colorado for a relaxing get-a-way at my parents with the kiddos in tow. The first night we were there, Jenna started throwing-up (which she's not suppose to be able to) and developed a nasty fever. I'm so glad I followed my gut and took her into the hospital. My poor mom ended-up driving us at 1:00am. Later that day (after a lengthy ER visit), Jenna was admitted. She developed a fever of 105.3 and her oxygen saturation dropped to 82%! It really set-off some emotional bombs within me...it was like her NICU stay all over again. Thankfully, after some TLC in the hospital, Jenna was released within 5 days. So much for a relaxing get-a-way! I think sometimes I take for granted how sick she really is because she doesn't act like a little girl with so many complications. The only outtings I was taking her on was church and doctor's appointments. I thought I was doing a pretty good job of keeping her away from germs. We go to a very small church and everyone's pretty health conscious...or so I thought. I'm almost certain she picked-up H1N1 at church. She hadn't been to the doctor since the H1N1 outbreak.
Jenna has a GI appointment tomorrow. I'm so thankful! I've been worried about her Mic-Key button. Since she caught H1N1, it has been leaking stomache bile daily. Not only is it gross, but it's irritating her skin. I would keep a barrier between her Mic-Key and her skin, but she doesn't much enjoy that and rips it off each time I try. Too much of a risk...she might pull her Mic-Key out with it.
Now I'm just rambling! My appologies :) I guess this blogging thing is easier than I thought. Sometimes I tend to get on here when I have nothing on the brain, but I know better now.
Oh! One of my good friends, Katrina, introduced me to an iPhone appolication...RedLaser. It's actually an application that takes a scan/picture of bar codes. All you do is hold your phone in front of the desired bar code, it snaps a picture/scans it and submits it into the database. The item you scan is then searched. Guess what it does? It pulls-up a list of locations/stores where you can find the item the cheapest! I'M IN LOVE!! Yay :) I always thought that would be a great invention and somebody did it. Yay for smart people!!
Back to Christmas! We're going to Nick's parents this year :) They have yet to meet little Jenna and I'm so excited! I miss them dearly and really enjoy visiting them. Nick's dad, Allan, is who Joshua got his baby blues from. Thanks dad! Ann, Nick's step-mom, is a riot! She loves the kids and treats us as if we were her own. They run a dog kennel and they always have fun animals to play with. Joshua LOVES it and will really enjoy it now that he's older. I think he was only 1 when we last visited.
Well, this house isn't going to clean itself and Jenna's in need of some snuggling. She had a rough night of sleep last night and woke-up acting a little out of sorts. I will hopefully be back tomorrow! Until next time ;)
As I am sitting in front of the computer, Joshua is reading letters off in one of his books. He so wants to learn to read! I think I am going to make some trips to Lakeshore and splurge a bit on some materials for him. **Hmmm...Christmas money! Great idea self!** He knows his letters so well and even sounds some of them out. I'm a proud mommy!
Speaking of Christmas, I already purchased one of Joshua's gifts. He really loves to play with his play food and pretend he's making me a delicious meal, so I bought him an inexpensive play kitchen. Nick would've rather he gotten a play tool bench, but I think he still has time to grow into such a toy. Don't you think? Joshua's also getting his first bike, and a twin size bed for Christmas! My mom bought him some bedding a while back that goes with his bedroom theme, so it will be nice to finally use it!
As many of you know, Jenna had H1N1 last month. Me and a friend went up to Colorado for a relaxing get-a-way at my parents with the kiddos in tow. The first night we were there, Jenna started throwing-up (which she's not suppose to be able to) and developed a nasty fever. I'm so glad I followed my gut and took her into the hospital. My poor mom ended-up driving us at 1:00am. Later that day (after a lengthy ER visit), Jenna was admitted. She developed a fever of 105.3 and her oxygen saturation dropped to 82%! It really set-off some emotional bombs within me...it was like her NICU stay all over again. Thankfully, after some TLC in the hospital, Jenna was released within 5 days. So much for a relaxing get-a-way! I think sometimes I take for granted how sick she really is because she doesn't act like a little girl with so many complications. The only outtings I was taking her on was church and doctor's appointments. I thought I was doing a pretty good job of keeping her away from germs. We go to a very small church and everyone's pretty health conscious...or so I thought. I'm almost certain she picked-up H1N1 at church. She hadn't been to the doctor since the H1N1 outbreak.
Jenna has a GI appointment tomorrow. I'm so thankful! I've been worried about her Mic-Key button. Since she caught H1N1, it has been leaking stomache bile daily. Not only is it gross, but it's irritating her skin. I would keep a barrier between her Mic-Key and her skin, but she doesn't much enjoy that and rips it off each time I try. Too much of a risk...she might pull her Mic-Key out with it.
Now I'm just rambling! My appologies :) I guess this blogging thing is easier than I thought. Sometimes I tend to get on here when I have nothing on the brain, but I know better now.
Oh! One of my good friends, Katrina, introduced me to an iPhone appolication...RedLaser. It's actually an application that takes a scan/picture of bar codes. All you do is hold your phone in front of the desired bar code, it snaps a picture/scans it and submits it into the database. The item you scan is then searched. Guess what it does? It pulls-up a list of locations/stores where you can find the item the cheapest! I'M IN LOVE!! Yay :) I always thought that would be a great invention and somebody did it. Yay for smart people!!
Back to Christmas! We're going to Nick's parents this year :) They have yet to meet little Jenna and I'm so excited! I miss them dearly and really enjoy visiting them. Nick's dad, Allan, is who Joshua got his baby blues from. Thanks dad! Ann, Nick's step-mom, is a riot! She loves the kids and treats us as if we were her own. They run a dog kennel and they always have fun animals to play with. Joshua LOVES it and will really enjoy it now that he's older. I think he was only 1 when we last visited.
Well, this house isn't going to clean itself and Jenna's in need of some snuggling. She had a rough night of sleep last night and woke-up acting a little out of sorts. I will hopefully be back tomorrow! Until next time ;)
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
great news and other fun stuff
Okay, good news from Jenna's GI doctor. She had an appointment last week and he's pretty certain her liver and spleen are returning to normal size and tenderness! Yes!! Thank you Lord!! We're suppose to hear from Radiology to have an ultrasound to confirm, but I just know that they will find good news to share :-) Jenna also finished her antibiotics for C-DIF. I turned in another stool sample so they can check and make sure it's truly gone. Hopefully news will return quickly!
Another praise... Jenna has switched formulas. Why is this so exciting, you ask? Well, I will tell you :-) With Jenna's previous formula, her bag had to be re-filled every 3 hours. Now, however, with her new formula, she can go for 8 hours! Guess what that means? This tired mama gets to sleep through the night! Yay! Thank you Lord again!! I will now only have to mess with filling her bag every 8 hours which works perfectly with her meds schedule... 12am/8am/4pm. I'm still a little nervous about not checking on her to make sure her extension set hasn't popped loose or to make sure she's not completely entwined in her tube, so Nick's going to check on her when he gets up to get ready for work (5am). I will probably still just automatically wake-up to check on her during the night. An entire year of waking every 3 hours doesn't not become a habit over night :-) Did I say that right? Oh well if I didn't.
We had a fun 4th of July celebration! We always have a good time going to my SIL's parent's house. This year was different though... it rained! It worked out great though. A nice, pouring rain would fall and cool things off and stop long enough to pop some fireworks and then it would repeat. It was nice to not be choking on smoke, that's for sure :-) The kids had a great time. Joshua's not a fan of the noise, but he did seem to enjoy this year more than in the past. Jenna was a trooper. She didn't participate in the fireworks display, but she and her sweet little cousin had matching outfits and enjoyed being inside most of the time away from the noise. Jenna pooped-out at around 9pm... just in time for mama to go outside and see the big display.
I hope and pray you all are doing well. I'm thankful for the many blessing that have come our way recently. However, I am bracing for the enemies inevitable attacks... it seems that the enemy likes to get us when our guard is down and I'm doing my best to hold-up my shield!
Another praise... Jenna has switched formulas. Why is this so exciting, you ask? Well, I will tell you :-) With Jenna's previous formula, her bag had to be re-filled every 3 hours. Now, however, with her new formula, she can go for 8 hours! Guess what that means? This tired mama gets to sleep through the night! Yay! Thank you Lord again!! I will now only have to mess with filling her bag every 8 hours which works perfectly with her meds schedule... 12am/8am/4pm. I'm still a little nervous about not checking on her to make sure her extension set hasn't popped loose or to make sure she's not completely entwined in her tube, so Nick's going to check on her when he gets up to get ready for work (5am). I will probably still just automatically wake-up to check on her during the night. An entire year of waking every 3 hours doesn't not become a habit over night :-) Did I say that right? Oh well if I didn't.
We had a fun 4th of July celebration! We always have a good time going to my SIL's parent's house. This year was different though... it rained! It worked out great though. A nice, pouring rain would fall and cool things off and stop long enough to pop some fireworks and then it would repeat. It was nice to not be choking on smoke, that's for sure :-) The kids had a great time. Joshua's not a fan of the noise, but he did seem to enjoy this year more than in the past. Jenna was a trooper. She didn't participate in the fireworks display, but she and her sweet little cousin had matching outfits and enjoyed being inside most of the time away from the noise. Jenna pooped-out at around 9pm... just in time for mama to go outside and see the big display.
I hope and pray you all are doing well. I'm thankful for the many blessing that have come our way recently. However, I am bracing for the enemies inevitable attacks... it seems that the enemy likes to get us when our guard is down and I'm doing my best to hold-up my shield!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Well, I think Jenna is starting to transition from two naps to one nap a day. I've been putting her down at 1pm instead of 11am. She's proving to be a stubborn kid! Darn, I thought I was going to only have one head strong child! Oh well... maybe one of them will be president one day and return this nation to the nation we once were :-) Hey, a momma can dream, can't she?
Last night was my friend's personal shower. She received a ton of cute things and some... well, let's just say that they were interesting and leave it at that ;-) Preparing for the fun night was an all day event. I left the house at 8am with two kids in tow to run some last minute errands before meeting the other hostesses at 10am to start cutting fruit and decorating cup cakes. After a few hours of prep work and much appreciated kid care by one of the fellow hostesses parents, we were off to drop off the food and decorations and get ready for the night. I was able to trade off the kiddos with Nick at around 3pm while I was at a friend's house getting cleaned-up. We went back over to the party destination to finish decorating and make final touches for the party following our 6pm dinner-out at Zio's. It turned-out really adorable. One of the other girls took pictures, so hopefully I will get them sent to me so I can share. We had a watermelon bowl filled with cantaloupe, honeydew, grapes and strawberries; a tray of chocolate dipped strawberries and pineapple; homemade cupcakes; strawberry virgin daiquiris (complete with whipped creme, fresh-cut strawberries, and little umbrellas in very cute cups). The bride's flowers are gerber daisies, so we had them everywhere in cute, little glass vases; the outside/pool area had flower lights and more gerber daisies. It was quite a party...26 in attendance!
Tonight, we're celebrating my grandmother's birthday with my brothers and their families next door. Looking forward to family time! We've had it quite a bit lately and I'm lovin' every minute of it :-) Tomorrow, we're trying a new church. One of my friends from my mom's group is going too; that way, we both know somebody there ;-)
Last night was my friend's personal shower. She received a ton of cute things and some... well, let's just say that they were interesting and leave it at that ;-) Preparing for the fun night was an all day event. I left the house at 8am with two kids in tow to run some last minute errands before meeting the other hostesses at 10am to start cutting fruit and decorating cup cakes. After a few hours of prep work and much appreciated kid care by one of the fellow hostesses parents, we were off to drop off the food and decorations and get ready for the night. I was able to trade off the kiddos with Nick at around 3pm while I was at a friend's house getting cleaned-up. We went back over to the party destination to finish decorating and make final touches for the party following our 6pm dinner-out at Zio's. It turned-out really adorable. One of the other girls took pictures, so hopefully I will get them sent to me so I can share. We had a watermelon bowl filled with cantaloupe, honeydew, grapes and strawberries; a tray of chocolate dipped strawberries and pineapple; homemade cupcakes; strawberry virgin daiquiris (complete with whipped creme, fresh-cut strawberries, and little umbrellas in very cute cups). The bride's flowers are gerber daisies, so we had them everywhere in cute, little glass vases; the outside/pool area had flower lights and more gerber daisies. It was quite a party...26 in attendance!
Tonight, we're celebrating my grandmother's birthday with my brothers and their families next door. Looking forward to family time! We've had it quite a bit lately and I'm lovin' every minute of it :-) Tomorrow, we're trying a new church. One of my friends from my mom's group is going too; that way, we both know somebody there ;-)
Thursday, June 25, 2009
transparency time
Sometimes I wonder if I'm truly fit to be a mother. Joshua is driving me crazy and I just want to strip myself of all responsibility and be alone. Waking every three hours during the night is eating at me too. I wake-up and just totally dread doing everything. Ugh! Maybe I'm just being over emotional because I'm due for a visit by "the monthly visitor." I don't know. I'm just tired and frustrated. I love my kids, but I feel like such a bad mom. Lately, all I do is get onto Joshua. I use to enjoy reading books to him and now I'm lucky to crack one open once during the week. I guess I could be doing that now rather than ranting on my blog, but whatever. Just once, I would like to have a day to myself and not worry that Jenna might not be receiving proper care while I am gone. I hope I'm not scarring my kids for life. I want to be the cool, crafty mom that my SIL and many of my friends are. Instead, I'm just fat, depressed, and completely worn-out. I know it will be helpful to have a church to call home.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
jenna update and other stuff
Jenna seems to be doing much better! She's so bubbly and joyful :-) I'm praising God this medicine is doing the trick and pray it stays that way. As we speak, she's spanking herself with a wooden spoon. Hmmm...a form of self-discipline? Too funny.
So, for dinner tonight, we're having smoked chicken breasts, smokes mozzarella, and ranch mashed potatoes infused with mixed veggies. Yummo! I got the mashed potato idea from Rachael Ray. What a great idea! Nick wasn't too thrilled about my decision, but we have to eat healthier and this is one way he has no choice. I bet you he tries to eat around the veggies. I did my best to make sure they were well cooked so most of them would mash into the potatoes. We will see :-)
So, for dinner tonight, we're having smoked chicken breasts, smokes mozzarella, and ranch mashed potatoes infused with mixed veggies. Yummo! I got the mashed potato idea from Rachael Ray. What a great idea! Nick wasn't too thrilled about my decision, but we have to eat healthier and this is one way he has no choice. I bet you he tries to eat around the veggies. I did my best to make sure they were well cooked so most of them would mash into the potatoes. We will see :-)
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