"Cough Free"

Last week, Wednesday, I got a call from E's school while I was at work. She had a fever of 101.6, and I needed to come get her. I groaned a little bit as we had been every other week, since Jan. 

THATS A LOT of trips to the pediatrician's office. A LOT. 

They swabbed her for strep- Negative

I mentioned she had been coughing since late January/ Early February.  

"Its just a virus, let it play itself out, theres nothing we can give her for a virus"

I was told if her fever lasted through Sunday, I needed to call and come in on Monday. Guess who had a fever at 2am Easter morning, yup, E. 

On our way and upon arrival at the peds office, E was whining "I want to go home""I not want to go to dr me all better"

After the nurse weighed her (a whopping 29lbs) and asked what brought us in, after telling her that we have been every other week since Jan, she cleared her throat and said you will be seeing "Dr. H" instead of a PA today. I finally got E calmed down & Dr. H examined her. No UTI or bladder infection, the fever was caused by a bad sinus infection. and oh yah "Your child has asthma" 

I was shocked by this diagnoses and had a ton of questions. Dr. H said E's incessant coughing is a form of asthma. Really? 

He said "She has been treated with a handful of different antibiotics, prescribed by the PAs or Nurse Practitioners in the office, and nothing has worked" well a PA/RNP is NOT a doctor. "I believe that her cough is asthma. Lets try a liquid form of albuterol and if that works we will put her on an inhaler. I don't want to put her on a "puffer" if the medication won't even work" 

So we left the office with 2 scripts, one for her sinus infection and one for asthma medicine. 

Here we are 24hrs later and since I have given E 2 doses (yesterday AM and this AM) of her asthma medication and... NO COUGHING! 

She slept ALL night, w/o a single cough! I am completely enamored with this medicine. I am thrilled my baby isn't coughing constantly anymore. I know she was so uncomfortable. 

And all it took was seeing a doctor (!). Who would've thunk it?

I just have to update her school paperwork tomorrow when I drop her off and all is good. I will be calling the Dr. office (Im happy too this time) tomorrow; To schedule getting her on an inhaler, sometime next week. 

Although I have paid a FORTUNE out-of-pocket for her apts, we haven't met our deductible yet, I am so happy that we have found a "cure" if you will for her horrible coughing. 

I am also happy to announce that E has been fever free for going on 36hrs! FINALLY! She can go back to school tomorrow, we have both missed school. I have actually missed work!! So much I am going to have to catch-up on. 

E has her first dental appointment today, I am so excited/ nervous about how she is going to do! 

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Keep up in between posts, I Tweet , A lot.

xo

-Kandid Kelli

"Five Question Friday"

Rules for Five Question Friday: Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, and LINK UP! Oh, yeah...and most importantly, have fun!!

Questions for Friday, April 22nd: (Special thanks to @TylerH2102,@jengacek, Pam,Rachel, and Sandy for their question suggestions! I'd LOVE to link YOU in a future 5QF, just c'mon over to my community and offer up your best question suggestions! It's getting a little sparse over there, so I'd LOVE some more questions to choose from! Also, watch for my weekly Thursday shout out for questions on Twitter [@5crookedhalos]!!)

1. What is your favorite Easter tradition?

As a child we used to dye eggs on Friday night or Saturday, on Saturday my mom and I would make an EB cake and decorate him with candy. Then we would leave carrots out for the EB and Sunday (Easter) we would get our new dresses on for church and then go through our easter baskets.  At church we were allowed to sit in Big Church (versus Childrens church) and  then following service we would go to my Grans house for an Egg Hunt and big dinner. During dinner my uncle John and Gran would talk to us about the importance of the "Holiday" and how its about more than just the EB and the egg hunts. 

2. Are you a "shower" or a "long, hot bath" kind of person?

Shower! I sometimes like a bath, but unless its a big garden tub, which I don't have, I stick to showers. My mom has a big huge tub so I sometimes take a bath at her house, but I take a shower when I am done b/c I don't feel clean after a bath, I feel dirty b/c I was basically sitting in my own filth. I do it to relax. 

3. Can you parallel park and if so when is the last time you did it?

I can. Not well but I can. It has been a few years. I think I PP a few weeks after E was born and she is 3 now.

4. What is your favorite Easter candy?

Oh gosh, I love it all. Reeses (and reeses pieces) eggs, PEEPS (opened and hardened a few weeks) & Jelly Beans are my favs  though. I was never a big chocolate bunny fan, as the chocolate tasted funny.

5. Easter: do you go all out with the Easter Bunny or focus on the religious part of the holiday?

I do both. I am following the same traditions I had in place when I was a child for my daughter. I think we might add a few small things, but I feel like you can focus on the religious aspect of the holiday while still having fun with the EB and all. You have to find the happy medium. Because Easter is ultimately about Jesus rising from the dead! 

"Five Question Friday"

Rules for Five Question Friday: Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, and LINK UP! Oh, yeah...and most importantly, have fun!!

Questions for Friday, April 22nd: (Special thanks to @TylerH2102,@jengacek, Pam,Rachel, and Sandy for their question suggestions! I'd LOVE to link YOU in a future 5QF, just c'mon over to my community and offer up your best question suggestions! It's getting a little sparse over there, so I'd LOVE some more questions to choose from! Also, watch for my weekly Thursday shout out for questions on Twitter [@5crookedhalos]!!)

1. What is your favorite Easter tradition?

As a child we used to dye eggs on Friday night or Saturday, on Saturday my mom and I would make an EB cake and decorate him with candy. Then we would leave carrots out for the EB and Sunday (Easter) we would get our new dresses on for church and then go through our easter baskets.  At church we were allowed to sit in Big Church (versus Childrens church) and  then following service we would go to my Grans house for an Egg Hunt and big dinner. During dinner my uncle John and Gran would talk to us about the importance of the "Holiday" and how its about more than just the EB and the egg hunts. 

2. Are you a "shower" or a "long, hot bath" kind of person?

Shower! I sometimes like a bath, but unless its a big garden tub, which I don't have, I stick to showers. My mom has a big huge tub so I sometimes take a bath at her house, but I take a shower when I am done b/c I don't feel clean after a bath, I feel dirty b/c I was basically sitting in my own filth. I do it to relax. 

3. Can you parallel park and if so when is the last time you did it?

I can. Not well but I can. It has been a few years. I think I PP a few weeks after E was born and she is 3 now.

4. What is your favorite Easter candy?

Oh gosh, I love it all. Reeses (and reeses pieces) eggs, PEEPS (opened and hardened a few weeks) & Jelly Beans are my favs  though. I was never a big chocolate bunny fan, as the chocolate tasted funny.

5. Easter: do you go all out with the Easter Bunny or focus on the religious part of the holiday?

I do both. I am following the same traditions I had in place when I was a child for my daughter. I think we might add a few small things, but I feel like you can focus on the religious aspect of the holiday while still having fun with the EB and all. You have to find the happy medium. Because Easter is ultimately about Jesus rising from the dead! 

"Five Question Friday"

Rules for 5QF: HAVE FUN!! Oh, and copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, Friday morning and LINK UP!

Questions for Friday, April 15th: (Special thanks to @Eligabiff,@RoryBore, @jengacek,Rachel, and Chrissy for their question suggestions! If YOU would like to be linked in a future 5QF c'monover to my community and offer up your best question suggestions! Feel free to shout 'em out on Twitter to me [@5crookedhalos] usinghashtag #5QF!)

1. What is your favorite sign of spring?

The blossoming flowers and the floral smell in the air

2. What was your best birthday ever?

I can not pin-point a "best" Maybe the one where my bestie surprised me and showed up at my house. I believe it was my 23rd? My 24th SUCKED! It was my last night in PA and I had to cook my own dinner and brownies. M's mom left that day for a conference in DC & E had an ear infection, I missed being with my family on my birthday. It was the first time, ever, I was not with my mom. I am hoping my 25th (June 17!!!) will redeem last yrs. 

3. What is your favorite dessert?

This is a hard one to decide on, as I have such a sweet tooth and I love to bake. But my favorite would be a tie between chocolate, peanut butter chip cookies and pumpkin chocolate chip glazed cookies. Both Homemade.

4. What is the best excuse you've ever used to get out of a ticket?

Ive never been able to get out of a ticket. Less than a week after E was born I had to take her for a weight check (because of how small she was at birth). She H.A.T.E.D her carseat & was wailing, I was speeding (I wanted to be out of the car & for her to stop crying I told him this) and the officer followed me to the hospital and ticketed me there.  

5. Do you wake up before your alarm, with your alarm, or after hitting snooze several times?

After hitting snooze several times. HANDS DOWN. I am lucky if I get up before or with my alarm. Haha.

"Bounce & Play; Soak Up the Rays"

E turned 3 on Monday, April 4th, so naturally her party was on the Saturday before, April 2nd.

I got a catalogue with birthday "sets" in in. Basically ANYTHING and EVERYTHING you need, down to the goodie bags, for a child's birthday party. After looking through it (great prices! I priced everything out, saved me so much money), She wanted to have a Super Why

 themed party. 

We love pbskids in this house, so I said ok.

While thinking about where we would have the party, I immediately thought,  "Our House". We finally have a place of our own, and when I looked at this house, I dreamed of having birthday parties, in the perfect backyard. So once the location was decided I needed to decide what the children (we had 8 kids ages 2wks-9years old) would do. 

BOUNCE HOUSE!! So after pricing those (for rental) I found buying one was cheaper. I got ours. fully equipped with a WATER SLIDE, on eBay, brand new still in box, for cheap.

The bounce house & Slide...

Mal (4), E (3) & her cousin Luke (3.5), having a pow-wow by the slide.

They moved the chat into the bounce house.

Hugs for her cousin.

Best Friends.

We took one of the invitations to Publix to have her cake made, but due to copyright restrictions they could not do the super why boy. This is what we decided on:

Purple is our fav. color so it was beyond perfect!

To eat we had a variety of nuggets and chicken salad from Chick-Fil-A, snackie foods (chips, cheese, pretzals, salsa/chips, grapes) an water and soda. 

Mal enjoying some cake in the backyard.

While opening presents, apparently this one made us ALL "oooahhh"

After talking it over with some family members we thought it best to keep the BH & slide dry during the party. 

After most guests/kids left, TM (in lieu of TT as it didn't sound right, more on this later) hooked the hose up to the sprayers and BAM! Her BH & Slide instantly turned our backyard into a water park. The water was chilly, but E had a blast.  

E running to go on the slide, again. TM supervising. 

E all suited up with her BIG GIRL bike, from TM and I. 

The girls with the swirl pops from  the goodie boxes. 

They are too much.

The morning of E's birthday, I got up a tad early and made her a waffle and put candles in it accompanied by a juice box, which is a big deal, b/c normally she has milk at all meals, except MWF at school, she gets juice at lunch. 

Birthdays and holidays are a huge deal in this family. When her waffle was ready, I went and got E, who was in cupcake jammies, and after loving on her I sang "Happy Birthday" to her and b/c she is 3 she thought that blowing the candles out 3 times was necessary.

Birthday girl on Birthday morning, with waffles/candles, before school.

**All in all I can NOT believe that my BABY is 3! 

Where does the time go?

...

Keep up in between posts, I Tweet , A lot.

xo

-Kandid Kelli

"April 4, 2008... April 4, 2011"

E,

I still can't believe that today, you turn 3. It blows my mind that it has already been THREE years. It feels as if I was, just holding my tiny newborn. You have grown and learned so much over the past year. It blows me away at how incredibly smart you are. You are so vocal yet at the same time you are so observant. You're the reason I get up in the mornings. Hearing you say "Good Morning Mommy" is by far the bast way to wake up. You have gone from unsure toddler to a very confident little girl. Everyday I thank God for picking me to be your mommy. You have so many people in your life who love you and feel so blessed to know you. You have the biggest heart and love everyone you meet. Everyday there is something new that you do that astounds me. I can't believe how lucky I am to have you, it's been THREE years and I still feel like I need to pinch myself to make sure its all real. We have our good days and we have our bad days, we're girls, its bound to happen, but our bad days make our good days that much better. When you say: "Mommy I love you the whole world" no matter what little crisis I may be going through those words make it all better. In the last year you have: moved more times than anybody ever should and you adjusted wonderfully each time, gone from a crib to a toddler bed to a twin bed, started preschool 3 days a week, willingly on your own given up your baba, and you are fully potty trained. Your laughter is contagious and boy did we laugh a lot. Without you I don't know what my life would be like, you are my sun on a rainy day. You completed me the day you were born. Happy Birthday baby! I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for us. 

I love you doodles.

Love,

Mommy

Labor/ birth story here

1st Birthday letter was hand written

Second yr birthday letter here

At her third birthday party, she is surrounded by love. 

...

Keep up in between posts, I Tweet , A lot.

xo

-Kandid Kelli

"Five Question Friday"

Welcome to Five Question Friday!!

Rules for Five Question Friday: Copy and paste the following questions to your blog, answer them, then LINK UP! Remember, the most important rule of all is to HAVE FUN!

Questions for Friday, April 1st: (Special thanks to @joleneslavik,@PardonMyDust,@Katieb38, @lisanoel03, and Lorilynne for their question suggestions! Wow! I got a great Twitter response today! If you want to be linked in a future 5QF, head on over to my communityand offer up your best question suggestions...or shout 'em out to me [@5crookedhalos] on Twitter, using hashtag #5QF!)

1. Have you ever had surgery? 

Oh my! This one makes me laugh! I have had more surgeries/ procedures than one can count on 3 peoples hands. 

2. Ever ride in an ambulance?

Honestly, not that I can remember. 

3. How are you in a medical emergency? Panicked? Calm?

Depends on the emergency and who is involved. When I almost cut my finger off I was pretty calm until I saw bone, and freaked out. When E had an unbreakable fever of 104 on new years day 2010 and I had to take her to the ER I was pretty calm. 

4. Do you have a garden? Flowers or veggies?

No, but I would love to have one. Although, I moved into my house Sept 1. so everything was changing and dying. You know with the seasons. Well about a week ago I noticed a tulip (i think) plant, just ONE, its now gorgeous and red and I hope it stays alive. I did not plant a bulb so I am thinking the people who lived here before me did. 

5. When did you move out of your parents house?

I moved out in Aug 2004, when I left for college. I then was put on 'suggested' bedrest in Dec 2007 and was forced to move home so my mama could help me out. Then I moved out, again, in Dec. 2009, moved back for a few mons from June-Sep 2010 and in Sept. 2010 I moved out for my last time. 

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Keep up in between posts, I Tweet , A lot.

xo

-Kandid Kelli