The first of many first days of school ...{sigh}

I don't have too much to say, other than wow. My firstborn went to kindergarten today. She hopped right on the bus, sat with her two neighborhood friends, and didn't even look back.

But the big question: Did I cry? I only shed a tear when the bus pulled away and I realized what was happening ... before that, I think I was so tired it didn't totally register. Gotta love sleep deprivation. At least I remembered to take pictures!

There you have it. The first of many first days of school ...

My little speller

On Monday I took the kids to Target so Audrey could pick out a new backpack for kindergarten. (She picked Hello Kitty in case you were wondering, hahaha).

That evening we were sitting at the dinner table, and this is what Carter, my alphabet-obsessed child, yelled out:

"T-A-R-G-E-T spells Target!"

I looked at Chad and said "Wow, I never told him that!"

It just warms this former spelling bee champion's heart, a kid that shares my love of correct spelling...

Or perhaps I am spending a little too much time shopping at the bullseye???

Later, he looked at the gallon of milk and said "P-A-I-D spells milk!"

Guess we still have some work to do :)

A day in the life ...

Life has been - well, shall we say "different"? - with a newborn in the house. It's good, don't get me wrong - but different. We are spending a WHOLE lot more time at home for one. None of us seems to be thrilled with this development, but soon enough we will have more mobility. So, I have been having to be creative with our use of time - both the kids' use of time, and mine too. Here is a little glimpse at some of our "exciting" activities this week.

On Wednesday, Chad took Audrey to Hershey Park. They had an enormous blast. Meanwhile - the rest of us, well, had to be "creative" (there's that word again) in order to make our day "fun". Carter & I were "babysitting" Audrey's cat Cupcake, so we all decided to play Sequence. (The modified version that I play with Carter, which just involves putting chips on different animal pictures.) SOOOO fun.

We do little "photo shoots" of Chloe...

We even put big ol' bows in her hair. I should say AUDREY puts big bows on her. The other day we went out somewhere (like, in the car and everything) and I realized that while the rest of us looked like something the cat dragged in, Chloe looked like she was ready for a day out on the town!

I finally finished crocheting an afghan for Audrey that I started before Carter was born ... 2 1/2 years ago ... oh well.

Yesterday I made "zucchini brownies" with some extra zucchini we had sitting on our counter. (Isn't all zucchini "extra"?? The stuff grows like crazy and you can't get rid of it if you want to!!)

I know zucchini brownies don't necessarily sound appealing, but they are actually REALLY good. Here is the proof:

Not only is a 2 year old eating it, he is wearing it!

"I want more brownies!!!" :(

"Hey, I want brownies too ... give me some now or I'll give you a knuckle sandwich!!"

Sorry, I didn't promise this would be an interesting post ... but there you have it. A day in the life.

what happens when your back is turned

If you're on facebook and friends w/ Chad this is a repeat, but for those who aren't ...

The other night Chad took the kids out to play in the yard for a few minutes. He turned his back and this is what happened:



When I had just one child, I used to look at those moms whose kids colored on walls or got lost in stores or jumped in pools fully clothed and think - what's wrong with these parents? Why can't they keep track of their kids?

Now I have three kids. And I get it. :)

We survived

Just a few photos from our time in the hospital .

You can tell you're a bloggin' mama when you throw your camera in your overnight bag to the hospital ....

1st IV that our "Houdini" (to quote her nurse) managed to pull out and ruin. But really ... would you want that massive thing on your arm? Who can blame the poor girl?

2nd IV ... this one almost came out too but they managed to salvage it. Thank goodness. I think I would've lost it totally if they had to put one in her scalp. Although I REALLY don't know how they would've kept her from yanking a scalp IV out too.

Sleeping peacefully, which is what she spent most of her time doing.

My poor baby... thank God she's doing better now!

Thanks again for all the prayers and support.

Update on Miss Chloe

Praise God, Chloe appears to be doing well.

She has no fever. She is aggravated by the presence of her IV line. She is eating and sleeping and pooping like a champ. :) All good signs.

So far none of her "cultures" have come back positive (which is where they take her blood, urine, and spinal fluid samples and put them in a dish and see if bacteria grows). So probably no bacterial infection, which is what they were worried about. They need to give it a full 48 hours before they can say for sure, but they tell me that usually if something is going to grow, it does so in the first 12-24 hours. In any case, she has been receiving IV antibiotics in the event that bacteria is present.

Yesterday was pretty peaceful (albeit boring), although they had to redo her IV line AGAIN. I think she has been stuck about 6 times total in attempts to get a good IV. I guess little bitty veins are hard to find. The IV is now in her foot, which is yucky, but better than the scalp, which is where they would have to go if they couldn't get a vein in her foot! That would have been really freaky. Anyway, apparently Chloe put up quite the fight with the nurses over getting the IV in. The nurse brought her back and said to me - "That girl has bacterial meningitis like I'm tall and thin!" Guess she has far too much spunk to be all that sick.

Last night was kind of tough for me. Chloe was very fussy and had a hard time settling down to sleep. I was exhausted and had a pounding headache, and ironically, I'm sitting in a hospital yet I couldn't get a stinkin' advil to save my life ... until about 9 pm when the angel nurse I had gave me 2 from her personal stash. That nurse was a little gift from heaven. She came in at the start of her shift and asked how I was doing, at which point I said - "not so great" and burst into tears. She was a great help on so many levels. She even brought me ice cream with Hershey's syrup. :)

I am wishing, hoping and praying that we will be going home this evening. Please pray with me that this will be the case and that our lives can return to some semblence of normalcy soon. I am so thankful for everyone's thoughts, prayers, and well wishes. It gives me so much peace to know that so many people are holding us up with their prayers.

Pray for Chloe

This day certainly has not ended the way I thought it would.

I am sitting here in a hospital room.

I have spent the evening holding my baby girl after they have poked and prodded her ad nauseum. You NEVER want to hear your baby crying the way I heard Chloe crying this afternoon. It was absolutely horrible. I had to leave the room and then I kept crying thinking about her being poked and my not being able to do anything about it. Heartbreaking.

The doctor just told me that she has viral meningitis. Before you freak out (like I almost did when the doctor told me this), viral meningitis is common and not too scary. Basically, it's like any old virus and just needs to run its course. Bacterial meningitis is the scary one, and so far they have not seen any bacteria. But... not all of her tests are back yet. I am praying so hard. I know Chloe is in God's hands, but part of me wants to grab her back and take control. But I need to leave her in God's hands.

The good news is that Chloe is a "feisty" one according to the medical staff. They said she is a real fighter. I don't know if that bodes well for the teenage years, but for now I am glad that she is full of spirit.

Please pray for Chloe ... and please pray for her mama. Between this and the NICU business, it's an awful lot of drama for me to deal with in the first few weeks of her life.

I will be staying here with her in the hospital for the next 48 hours. And hopefully we will be done with medical issues for awhile...

Too tired ...

... to post much. But wanted to put a few pictures up.

Here's my crazy crew:

And my sweet baby girl