I really, really like these high button on the side ones!  I love that I can choose the color.  The website does say they run about a size small so to get one size bigger than your usual shoe size.  I think I might have to get these!  I love them!

Brooke causes mischief, Sister's mad num-chuck skills & Literacy Night

Who needs a teething ring when you can chew on mom's photo paper package?

Why is mom laying on the floor with the camera?  Oh!  Let me see!

I choose the pink one...again!

I like Rapunzel!

Little Sister has some mad num-chuck skills!

How terrible is it that I'm willing to bust out this costume for Literacy Night at the school, but if she asked me to do it for Halloween I couldn't say I'd be as willing to do it?  Cursed pattern, good thing she looks cute.  Stupid me...I'm think I'd be an awesome Queen of Hearts, Caleb could go as the King, Brooke could be the white rabbit & Nash could be a card man for Halloween....crap.  I think I've found our Halloween costumes.  Better get on that.

My easy child that agreed to go as Darth Vader - a costume we already had and he was worn many times.

Literacy Night at the school.  Like the look Brooke gives me every time she sees my camera lately?

Can you see how swollen little sister's top gums are?  She's working on those two front top teeth!  Her mouth was actually bleeding a bunch earlier this day.

Nash singing with the first graders at the beginning of Literacy Night.

Literacy Night was fun (for the kids).  They (with the exception of Brooke) each got a free book.  Nash sung with the first grade.  Sam gave her book talk.  Sam convinced me to buy her a copy of the book her class had read (Unicorn Quest I think).  The author was there selling/signing books.  She read it in class and really liked it, but had to miss parts when she came to my class once a week!  Silly girl!

The Beuners (spell?) were suppose to be there as well.  I purchased A Job for Watilda and The Escape of Marvin the Ape.  They are going to be signed by the authors.  These books were books my Grandma Lea got for my brother and sister when they were little.  I remember how much they loved them.  My kids have read Escape of Marvin the Ape at my mom's house and really liked it.  Due to the weather they ended up not coming.  They will come at a later date though and we will get our autographed books then.

One of the ladies I taught with at Adams Elementary (Mrs. Torres, ESL) was there.  She has written a book!  She was reading her book to kids.  She had puppets and a song that went along with it too.  I can honestly say that once I had a death grip on Caleb on my lap and he was holding a puppet, it was the best behaved he was the entire night!

I saw several ladies that I know and got to talk to them (RS President, Nash's friend's mom, Sam's friend's mom, etc).  My poor RS President about died when I told her about the week we'd had!  When we were leaving the school they were giving out ice cream sandwiches for a treat.  Funny to me because it was a snow blizzard as we were leaving!

Even though it was a really, really long day (didn't get home until nearly 9 and it was the first time we'd been home since we left for school/work) the kids had a lot of fun and I'm glad I took them.

I'm hoping next week is going to be better than this week has been.  However, I do realize that I have to get my very first cavity EVER fixed, Brooke and Nash are getting tubes (and Brooke's adenoids out), I have another Relay for Life meeting, AND Sam is performing at the Caprielle Review on Friday night.  Let's hope that it's not quite as disastrous as this week has been seeing how Travis will be home to shoulder half the burden!

Happy Friday!

The funny thing about kids...

The funny thing about kids is that none of them are alike...not even a little bit.  You have one kid and you think "Wow.  Ok, I've got this down.  I can handle another one."  And then another one comes and it's like getting hit with a semi truck all over again!

By the time Brookelyn came along, I wasn't in denial about kids being alike any more.  I knew she'd be different than the others.  Sure, some things would be the same, or similar, but there would be a lot of differences too.

Given that my kids are 9, 6 1/2, 3 1/2 and 9 1/2 months you'd like I'd quit making assumptions, right?  Apparently not.

This morning Nash woke me up at 7 am telling me, "Mom.  I'm sick."  Yes, I was aware of this son.  So, I ask, "Why?"  His reply came back as, "I just threw up all over the couch."  Awesome.  On the bright side, I know he didn't eat his dinner last night because his throat hurt so lucky for me, it was mostly water.  I can deal with that.

Yesterday after Caleb's dermatologist appointment I called Cache Valley ENT to change Caleb's appointment that was this morning to an appointment for Nash.  The kid is FOREVER complaining that his ears hurting.  I've had the ENT and the pediatrician look at them multiple times.  We've had his hearing tested (he has above average hearing).  However, he's been complaining for about 3-4 days that he's dizzy.  When we were at the pediatrician's office with Nash yesterday he said that one ear had fluid in it and the tube was no longer in.  In fact, it looked like there was debris in there that might need cleaned out.  The other ear still had a functioning THREE YEAR OLD tube in it (Sam's three year old tube resulted in a surgery to repair the hole from the tubes that wouldn't heal on its own).  I felt bad dragging him out of the house after he'd been throwing up, but I didn't want to lose that appointment.  Especially since I know that the dizzies can make you nauseated.

I dropped Sam at school, called in to work, and left Caleb and Brooke at daycare.  Caleb was funny when I told him I was taking Nash to the dr.  He says, "Not me?"  "No Caleb, not you."  "But MOM!  I still have spots!"

We were scheduled with the PA today at the ENT's office (which is fine because I like her).  We told her what was going on and she has a look in Nash's ears.  Hmm...left ear looks good - tube still in.  Right ear...hmmm...looks like there's a blue shadow behind that fluid filled ear drum.  CRAP.  We had his hearing tested.  There is some negative pressure in the right side (this could cause pain).  He's missing some of the lower tones on the right side (sounds all too familiar - his sister did this).  There is no hole in the right side which means that if the tube is behind the ear drum, it isn't coming out anytime soon (something new here).  Off we go to the other room to look at his ear under the microscope.  The PA called our favorite ENT, Dr. Blotter, in to have a gander at said right ear.  Yep, blue shadow.  What does this mean?  Well, in the 12 years that Dr. Blotter has been doing this, he's had THREE cases where the tubes fell out backwards into the ear drum rather than going out forward into the ear canal where they can then just fall out of the ear.  Only my child would make case number four.  In fact, let's be honest, it's a miracle that the other three cases he's had where this happened haven't been from three of my own children!

So, what are our options?  1-Well, we can leave it alone.  The tube wouldn't cause pain because they put things bigger than a tube in people's ears and they do just fine.  2-We could remove the tube and take the functioning tube out as well.  Then, give it time for the holes in the ear drum to heal.  Or, 3-We can go in, take out both tubes and put two new functioning tubes in.  Given our history, what's the best option?  Why choice number three of course!  Not only was I figuring that, but the ENT came right out and said it was the best choice based on our family history because, "You're family has been pretty bad, pretty consistently."  Couldn't have said it better myself man.  My next question, "Could we possibly schedule him for the same day as his little sister next week?"  "Sure!  I just signed off on her paperwork yesterday."

Even the PA told Dr. Blotter we should have a punch pass for buy nine get one free.  I smiled and said, "Actually, Brooke is getting set 10 for our family so Nash will be getting set 11."  Why couldn't I have just married an ENT?  That would have solved it, right?  Probably not.  They'd probably all have teeth or skin issues and perfect ears if that were the case!

Phone Dump

Today I emailed myself a bunch of pictures from my phone.  In no particular order they are:

Sister has her first pony tail this weekend!

This is how little sister sleeps in the car seat.  Cracks me up every time I see it.

Wild hair!

Gave Brooke a half of a cinnamon roll today.  Sister was in HEAVEN!  Yes, she loved the frosting, but the majority of the roll made it into her mouth as well!  She was so mad when it was gone; it was funny!

The blue paisley shirt my mom made Sam for her birthday didn't fit.  So, Sam picked out more fabric and mom whipped it out in two days (improved from the two years the other one took! ;) )  I think it looks super cute on her.  Mom ended up doing the longer version so that it would be plenty long and she made the size 10!  I can't believe she is wearing a size 10!  Ahh!

And the verdict is....

A viral infection.  It took a trip to the pediatrician and two different dermatologists to get this answer.  My pediatrician had no idea what it was, only that it didn't fit Hand, Foot & Mouth disease or HSP.  Hence the first dermatologist appointment.

Today I took Nash to the dentist to get a filling replaced and he ended up getting a crown.  After his dentist appointment, we headed over to the pediatrician.  He came home from school yesterday with a fever, chills, headache and generally not feeling well (he didn't even eat his cinnamon roll for heavens sake!).  He was complaining about his ears and throat still this morning so I made the appointment.

When we got to the pediatrician's office, I asked him if he got the message I left for him yesterday.  He shook his head (as though in disbelief) and said yes.  He told me he didn't figure the PA would know what it was and that he'd at least call Dr. Young in.  So much for that idea!  I told him I had an appointment with one of the dr.'s at CV ENT tomorrow morning so that we could then get into the allergy clinic.  Dr. Clarke (my pediatrician) said that if they didn't have any good ideas at the ENT's office to see if they could twist the arm of Dr. Hubbord to get him into that dermatology office.  He told me that Nash has a nasty sinus infection and gave me a prescription for him.  He also told me that his right ear still has a tube in it and that his left ear has the tube stuck in it.

Once I left the pediatrician's office, I found the number to Dr. Hubbord's office and called.  I explained the situation and that he was getting worse and that I didn't really want to wait another day to get him in to see someone.  They gave us an appointment for 1:30 pm today.

I went back to daycare and picked up Caleb and Brooke.  Caleb's fingers still had the burn like marks on them.  They weren't getting worse, but there were a bit more on  his hands than there had been earlier.  We ventured home to spend the two hour wait until the next appointment of the day.

When we got to Dr. Hubboard's office, they were great!  I only waited out in the waiting room maybe 10 minutes.  We actually saw Dr. Hubbord and not his PA (although, I do really like his PA.  She's the one that froze Nash's wart off forever ago.)  I showed Dr. Hubbord my pictures and he looked really close at Caleb's hands and feet.  Caleb was really good this time about letting him look - I think it was because he had a spiffy chair that the dr. was willing to "give him a ride" on!

After looking closely, Dr. Hubbord said that it ISN'T eczema and that hydracortisone cream ISN'T going to help anything.  He said that the spots do have some hive like qualities, but they are NOT hives.  He said that because they aren't hives but they do have hive like qualities, they MAY respond to benadryl, but it isn't guaranteed.  He said that it is Caleb's body's way of reacting to a viral infection.  He would have been contagious (if he was contagious at all) prior to breaking out (so Thursday, Friday) or possibly when he first broke out (Saturday, Sunday).  He said that there are a lot of infections like this (chicken pox for example).  Some of the infections like this they have named and figured out and others they haven't.  He said that it's just going to have to run its course.  The rash could last for anywhere from 1-6 weeks.  He said that if they get a lot worse or do something funky to come back in, otherwise, it's just going to have to run it's course.

As I was leaving, the nurse that had been in the room with us the whole time asked me if I had any questions.  I told her no, but thanks because today was much more productive than yesterday because I left livid yesterday (I had told her about what happened).  Her response was "You're not the only one."  Apparently that dermatologist's office has a reputation that isn't a great one!

I'm just glad I know what it is from and that it isn't anything permanent or serious.  He may react this way to viral infections for awhile, but, if I know that's what it is, I won't freak out any time soon over it!  I think Caleb will be glad to have me quit saying "Let me see your hands and feet!" and to be done with dr.'s office visits for awhile.  I, on the otherhand, am headed over to the ENT tomorrow morning with Nash to get that ear looked at and figured out!  He keeps saying he's dizzy and the pediatrician did say that there's fluid in his ear.  Hopefully they can get it cleaned out and that will help...Let's cross our fingers he doesn't end up with another set of tubes...that would be his FOURTH like his big sister!