Giggle

Elaina's Surgery

Over this past autumn and winter Elaina has continually been on and off antibiotics for middle ear infections.  She always seemed to have fluid in her ears and the infection was just ending or beginning. The pain she experienced from her ear infections kept her awake at night; which also kept Mommy Megan and Daddy Dave awake at night.

We experienced the same series of ear infections with Zach which caused issues with his being able to hear.  Stick your fingers in both ears and then talk - that how Zach was hearing.  All mumbles and unable to hear words properly enunciated. So once we hit five ear infections with Elaina we made an appointment with the ENT to see about ear tubes.

Before Elaina was seen by the ENT last Thursday (Jan 19) she had two more ear infections which brought her to the "magic number" of seven ear infections. 

This morning we brought Elaina into the Midwest Surgery Center in Woodbury at 6:30 AM. Her surgery was scheduled for 7:15 AM. The surgeon was running a little late this morning so we brought Elaina back into the surgery suite at 7:30 AM. I held her in my arms and everyone in the surgery suite sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star with me as the anesthesiologist placed the mask over her nose and mouth. Elaina fell asleep in my arms.  I then laid her on the surgerical table and left the room. I posted to Facebook at 7:35 AM that Elaina's surgery had begun while waiting in the doctor's consult room. I didn't even have a chance to flip through 20 pages of the magazine I was paging through when the surgeon came in. She said the fluid in Elaina's ears was thick, goopy, snot like pus and the worse she's seen in awhile. She then said we made a good decision in having tubes put in because she'll now be able to hear much better. Although, this made me feel bad that we didn't get her in for surgery sooner. But you can't go and get tubes after only two or three infections it needs to be several. Elaina will need ear drops for the next week three times per day in each ear because of all the goopy icky junk in her ears.

I left the surgery consult room and returned to the main waiting room to wait for Elaina's name to be called so I could go back to the recovery room to see her and comfort her. I picked up my coat and sat down and then posted to Facebook at 7:44 AM that Elaina's surgery was done. So it was really done by 7:40 AM or so. Yes, it is that quick!

My name was called just a few minutes later to meet Elaina in recovery. She was crying in the recovery room and reached her arms out to me when she saw me. I picked her up and she snuzzled her face into my neck and continued to sob. She smelled like "hospital" which I presume to be the left over anesthesia smell. Poor baby! I sat down with her and rocked her while giving her a bottle of apple juice which she drank fast and wanted another bottle of apple juice. After drinking half of that she snuggled with me a bit more then we were ready to venture home.

As I sit here typing this entry Elaina is playing on the floor with puzzles in the other room with Dave as if nothing has happened. Kids rebound quick!

Catching Up on the Blog...

I have not blogged since January 7 when I was busy getting the laundry all done and packing for my week long work training trip to Chicago.

I left for Chicago the evening of Sunday, January 8. Dave, Zach, and Elaina drove me to the airport and dropped me off. While Mommy Megan was checking in and waiting to go through security Daddy Dave was driving a sobbing Zach and Elaina home. Zach did NOT want mommy to go to Chicago for work. Zach was crying so hard that it brought tears to Dave's eyes just listening to him. Poor daddy Dave!

Daddy Dave was great and made a Mommy comes home count down for Zach on the white board in the back hallway so Zach could cross off the days until mommy came home from Chicago. Dave is a smart dad!

Now, I typically do not talk about work in my blog. Typically work topics are off-limits as it is just safer to do so. However, I'll touch on it here a little.  The company I work for purchased another billion dollar company that specializes in water treatment. Which caused the division I work for to go from being one of the smallest divisions of my company to the largest division. So we are currently going through the transition of being reverse integrated into the company my company just purchased. So I was sent down to Chicago Naperville for training on the new IT systems and so forth because we'll be using those systems instead. Which is a good thing!  I was in training from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM every day with dinner and functions in the evenings as well. Needless to say, it was a LONG week; however, it was a good week and I learned a lot. I will probably have to go back for training at one of the National Meetings for additional training on a new system they are continuing to expand that relates directly to my team. So I may have to go to either Orlando or Dallas in February/March for three days. Now you may think I'm excited about that; but in actuality I'm really not. Sure being somewhere warm is nice -- but we'll be INSIDE all day in meetings and training. Sure the evening activities will be fun BUT to be honest I didn't really enjoy being away from Zach, Elaina and Dave for that week while I was in Naperville. I now know I would not enjoy a job that took me away from family on a routine basis at this juncture of our family timeline. Maybe someday down the road - but not now. This time when our kids are young is much too precious to miss on a regular basis. But that's just me and how I feel.

I do have this frivilous idea that Dave and the kids could meet me in Orlando on Thursday after the meetings and we could have a little mini-vacation. As long as my airline ticket didn't cost more to extend my visit we could save the cost of one ticket because my work would pay for my ticket because I would have had to fly anyways.  However, Dave flying alone with two kids on the way south doesn't seem like a fair option. We could leave Elaina at home and just take Zach or leave both kids at home - but for either of those options we would need a little help from Grandpa Jim and Grandma Linda. (My parents aren't retired yet) But if I think like Grandpa Jim and Hubby Dave -- we are in a recession and shouldn't be spending money on travel when we need to spend money on window treatments.

But I digress...

While I was gone at training for a week Dave did a fantastic job being home alone with Zach and Elaina. Everything went very smoothly. So for all of you who raised an eyebrow about Dave being home alone for a week with the kids he did a FANTASTIC job and didn't need help from his mom to get through the week. *giggle* He was creative with Zach with creating a count-down of when mommy will be home to help with Zach missing mommy. I have a wonderful husband who is great with our kids.

On Saturday, January 14 Dave, Zach, Elaina and I were supposed to go over to see my friend Carmel and her hubby Dale. The original plan was to venture over for dinner but then Carmel had some family dinner plans pop up so instead we planned lunch and an afternoon get-together. I COMPLETELY forgot about Zach's afternoon swim lessons. (Silly mommy Megan!) So we rescheduled for Monday instead as Sunday was her new nephew's baptism. Which worked out because frankly I was exhausted from my week of early mornings and late nights during my week of training so it was good that we moved this.

We pretty much spent the weekend at home just being a family. Zach and Dave went to swimming on Saturday and then to the library while Elaina and mommy hung out at home and snuggled reading books, napping and playing. 

Elaina playing with her Abby Cadabby doll.

Later that evening Zach finally talked Daddy Dave into hooking up the Wii. Yes, we've lived in our house for an entire year and haven't hooked up the Wii. Yikes! Zach LOVED playing the Wii - espcially sword dual on Wii Sports Resort...

Zach in action playing Sword Dual

Or you can watch him in action....

Zach all smiles after winning 10 games straight on his first try! He was a bit upset when he lost his first dual. He's learning the lesson of win some - lose some!

Elaina developed a cough while I was gone - but Elaina getting sick is out of anyone's control. On Sunday, January 15 I brought Elaina to Priority Peds to see what was up with her cough and her new symptom - wheezing. We left with a prescription for Zithromax and a diagnosis of an ear infection and walking pneumonia. (Elaina doesn't even walk yet so how can she have walking pneumonia?! It must be crawling pneumonia. Sorry couldn't resist!) We were instructed to bring her back if we didn't see an improvement in three days. Just to be safe we made an appointment for her to be seen the following Thursday by her regular doctor.

The evening of Monday, January 16 I drove across town after work to get together with Carmel at her mom's house. We decided it would be easier for Daddy Dave and the kiddos to stay home for the evening and for me just to go. Carmel made dinner for everyone and I sat in the kitchen chatting with her and her sister-in-law Margie while she cooked. It was a nice, relaxing evening. Thanks Carmel! (and Patricia too!)  It was fantastic to see you!

The rest of the week was a whirlwind of catching up on work after being out of the office for a week and catching up on spending time with the kids and doing laundry.

This past Thursday, January 19 Elaina had her follow up doctor visit for her walking pneumonia. Apparently for toddlers walking pneumonia/RSV/bronchitis are all interchangeable for an upper lung respiratory infection. Elaina was still congested and wheezing so she was prescribed nebulizer treatments. She also had an appointment with the ENT that same afternoon and she will have tubes put in her ears this coming Wednesday due to the number of ear infections she's had.  That same evening we order in pizza from Carbone's and had chocolate cake for dessert because it was my birthday. Zach helped me blow out my candles on my cake. Thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday on facebook as well. It always makes a person feel good with all the birthday messages on your wall. *grin* All the birthday cards in the mail were much appreciated as well. Yeah!

On Friday night Dave and I went out for dinner to celebrate my birthday at Axel's. I joined Axel's bonfire club awhile back and had accumlated over $30.00 in points that we redeemed that night. So Dave was a happy guy when the check came after our two steak dinner night. *giggle* We were going to catch a movie as well - but didn't want to wait until after 10pm for the movie to start. It had been a long week and we were tired. So we went home and relieved our fabulous baby-sitter a bit earlier than we anticipated. Oh well.

Yesterday, we relaxed around the house in the morning. Then Zach and Dave headed out the door for swimming and a trip to the library while Elaina napped and mommy enjoyed a nice long soak in the bathtub. Ahhh.... After naps Zach and Elaina read the books Zach picked out from the library and played together. I love how Zach and Elaina play together so well. (I know this won't last forever, but I love how sweet Zach is to his baby sister!)

Elaina checking out one of Zach's library books

Zach and Elaina sitting back to back reading books in the foyer. Zach checks to see that Elaina is being gentle with the library books.

Elaina is on the move - all done with reading books.

Elaina looking at me after reaching to play with the Christmas tree (yes, I know...more about that in a bit.)

Elaina does not like being told, "NO" and will cry to see if she can get her way. But this mom doesn't give in.  So she moves on to climbing...

She loves climbing up onto the kid sized chairs

A different perspective - looking down into a toy bin.

Hi Elaina!

Elaina climbs down from her perch and waves "hello!"

I want that!

Zach brought over Elaina's doll stroller...

Getting a grip on my stroller and...

Away Elaina goes!

following her big brother Zach!

Zach helping her out so she doesn't get caught up on the chair. Zach really enjoys helping his little sister.

Later that evening we all packed up and headed over to our friend Valerie's house for her graduation party from Bethel University. It was a FANTASTIC party! It was great to see so many people and meet Valerie's friends whom I haven't met before from out of town. Zach and Elaina had a good time too.  Elaina was a little social butterfly eating up all the attention from Valerie's parents and friends. *giggle*  We left the party early as Zach was tired and we knew we were on borrowed time with Elaina. We were home by 9pm and the kids went directly from sleeping in their carseats to sleeping in their beds. The night was still young so I FINALLY took down the Christmas tree and all the assorted decor around the house. This morning - that was the FIRST thing Zach noticed when he got up this morning. "MOMMY! The Christmas tree is gone! The Christmas tree is gone! Is the Easter bunny coming now?" *giggle* 

Well that is ENOUGH for now....you are all caught up on the happenings of Dave, Megan, Zach and Elaina and I even included a few cute shots of the kids! I hope you enjoyed the post.

Thanks for reading!

 

Why does Packing Suck?

I've been busy doing laundry all day to catch up on my own laundry as well as Dave's, Zach's and Elaina's for my trip and I leave tomorrow! YIKES!!

What trip you ask?

Well it's NOT the trip I speak of on my Facebook Status:

The status update is a Breast Cancer Awareness thing like the bra color thing a few years back.  Your destination corresponds to your birth month and the time is the date you were born. My birthday is January 19th so...

January - Mexico
February - London
March - Miami
April - Dominican Republic
May - France
June - St. Petersburg
July - Austria
August - Germany
September - New York
October - Amsterdam
November - Las Vegas
December - Columbia

"I'm going to Mexico for 19 months."  Dave's would be "I'm going to Las Vegas for 11 months." I like mine better than Dave's but Zach's is "I'm going to Germany for 23 months" I think we should all go with him instead!!! *giggle*

But I digress....

I'm packing to fly to Chicago for a week for training for work and I leave tomorrow. So I'm busy doing laundry so I don't fall behind while I'm gone. Dave will be busy enough as it is being home alone for essentially six nights and five mornings on his own. Our morning routine typically consists of Dave getting Zach ready and me getting Elaina ready - we divide and conquor. So I'm helping out Dave with putting together outfits for Elaina so he can just grab a hanger and get her dressed in the mornings. Makes it a bit easier for him to get both kids ready and out the door.

Dave's planned his menus for the week and he's all set for the evenings. No, the kids won't be eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches all week Maggie. *giggle*  Besides Elaina can't eat peanut butter for another 10 months. Although she was accidentally given a peanut butter cookie over Christmas but she's just fine. *grin*

Almost all of the clothes in the house are washed and put away. Now I just need to get the old suitcase out and start packing a weeks worth of clothes for my trip. I wish my trip was for fun and not for work though but I really can't complain. Next week should be fun too.

Contemplating...

I am still contemplating my one little word for 2012. I think I may have it narrowed down to three different words. But I need to narrow down to one word before I share my one little word here.

Have you chosen your one little word to live by yet this year? Chreck out Ali Edwards blog to read more about this concept.