Random Updates

Tuesday the girls went back to the doctor.  Addy had a follow-up & Alyssa still has a nasty cough.  They are always so good when we go to the doctor or anywhere else.  I think I'm kinda lucky?  Addy is doing very good.  No leftover signs of ear infection!  YAY!  Alyssa's congestion just isn't breaking up with the breathing treatments, so the doctor prescribed an oral steroid to go along with the breathing treatments.  Hopefully, the steroid will knock this mess on out of her little chest.  It breaks my heart when she coughs & can't get that crap out like we can.  She looks at me like 'do something mom'.

In just a few short months these 

little feet will be walking everywhere!

I dropped Buddy off to get his teeth cleaned yesterday.  He's a 'senior' now, so his cleaning bill is more expensive.  Imagine that!  When I went back to pick him up the handler brought him out with the rope leash, not his collar & leash.  She said that when they tried to put his collar on he snapped at them!  Uh oh! Must have been the anesthesia...  I was able to put it on him without a problem.  Once we got home I put him in the back of the house & blocked him off away from the babies - just in case he was still aggressive & out of it from the sedation/drugs.  After an hour or so I let him out & gave him a bath.  He's doing great.  Teeth are beautiful :)

I totally forgot to post about our pharmacy (it's a chain store & isn't CVS) giving Alyssa the wrong medication.  They gave her C-Phen instead of C-Phen DM.  It wasn't a serious, life-threatening mistake, but I'm so glad I pay attention & caught the error before giving it to her.  Usually I take a picture of the prescription before getting it filled (cause I'm weird like that), but this ONE time I didn't do it!  I called the pharmacy & asked them to pull the script & verify the medication.  It took a few minutes, but they confirmed it was the WRONG C-Phen.  They didn't have the DM in stock, so the tech picked it up from another store for us & we made the swap the next day.  I know mistakes happen & I could go on & on about this incident, but I won't.  This is the one & only free pass this pharmacy will get for the year.

What was I thinking?

I came across this picture the other day & it just cracks me up every time I see it!  It was taken about 30 minutes after I had Alyssa, but I don't remember what I was thinking or WHO I was giving the side-eye to in the delivery room!  

FlyLady BabyStep Day 1

OVERWHELMED? DISORGANIZED? LIVING IN CHAOS? The FlyLady's Simple FLYing Lessons Will Show You How to Get Your Home and Your Life in Order--and It all Starts With Shining Your Sink!

I've started following FlyLady to help me get control of maintaining the house.  It's not that the house is dirty (well, see the comment below about the sink), just disorganized & cluttered at times.  I find it's much more difficult to keep up the house with a toddler & an infant.  I'm not striving for perfection by no means.  I'd just like to get into a routine to help me have more time with my babies & husband.  Today the step was shining the kitchen sink.  WOW!  I wish I would have taken a before & after photo.  After this extreme cleaning I'm kinda grossed out by how it looked before, when I thought it WAS clean!  Almost each day I clean it with 409 or a Clorox wipe.  Did you know that in order to disinfect with Clorox wipes you must use enough wipes for the treated surface to remain visibly wet for 4 minutes?  4 minutes?  Did you know that?  I didn't!  And the 409....10 minutes to disinfect (30 seconds to sanitize) & then you are supposed to wipe surface with water to get the 409 residue off.  Maybe I should just start using my Clorox Anywhere Spray for everything - takes 2 minutes to kill 99.9% of germs & is safe to use around kids, pets, food.  Disclaimer:  I was not compensated to blog about MY opinions on cleaning products :)

Thanks for the website Ashley!

Bye 2010, Hello 2011

 Happy 2nd Birthday Addison Claire!  Could you tell she had pneumonia?

 Making memories at the lake!

 Plastic pool = $10, Happy baby = Priceless!

 Happy Birthday Alyssa Catherine!  Welcome to this wonderful world!

Yes, I know there are more pictures than months in the year!

Alyssa updates

Alyssa pooped 3x last week!  Very unusual for her, since sometimes she doesn't even poop 3x a MONTH!!  I took her to the dr this morning for a cough.  She has a mild ear infection & some congestion.  We are continuing the breathing treatments & starting a 3 day antibiotic. 

Once we got home I left her in the infant carrier while I did a few things. Not even 5 minutes later I got her out & went to change her diaper - not having any idea what I was about to find!  Holy Moly!!!!!! Let me start by saying I had poop on my shoulder!  I can't remember the last time she pooped such a large quantity!  She weighed 16.3 pounds at the dr, but I bet she's a couple of ounces, if not a pound, lighter now!
Things Alyssa loves:
Pat a cake
Itsy bitsy spider
Baths
Her big sister
Buddy
Outside

Things Alyssa doesn't love:
Getting dressed
Bouncer
Jumperoo
Playmat
Bottles
Being woke up by her big sister

She has started sitting up with a little help.  She can do it for about 30 seconds.  We just really started practicing this week, so she will get better.  Ahhhhh, she found her feet about 2 weeks ago!  I forgot how stinking cute it is when this happens!  

We also started oatmeal this week!  When Addison took her first bite of cereal she cried because it scared her, but not Alyssa! She kept reaching for the spoon & cried because I wasn't feeding her fast enough!  Next week I plan to start making up some purees & freezing them.  

I sure hope Alyssa isn't as picky as Addison when she's older!  I often wonder where I went wrong with feeding Addison.  She ate everything for the first 15 months  then refused to eat anything.  That left me resorting to nuggets, Mac n Cheese, yogurt, cheese & crackers, cereal, carrots....  Occasionally she will eat something like spaghetti or pork chops, but the next time it's served - NO WAY!  

A Sick Christmas

Last Friday morning we were supposed to be on the road to Louisiana.  Unfortunately, Addison started coughing at 5am & it only got worse from there!  By the afternoon, I was debating on making a trip to the ER.  Instead, I started breathing treatments.  Thank goodness we had Pulmicort & Albuterol along with our handy-dandy nebulizer.  Since Friday, we've been doing Pulmicort every 12 hours & Albuterol every 4 hours.  It's made a huge difference, so maybe we can wait on going to the dr.  She goes back next week for her follow-up appointment anyway.  Despite being icky sick she still had an awesome time opening gifts & playing with her new toys.

Carrots for the reindeer

Cookies for Addy & Santa

Stickers, stickers & more stickers!  

Why do I do this to myself?

Rumblin' Chuck - she's been talking 

about this dump truck forever!

Addison enjoyed Alyssa's toys too!

Friends

Both girls have colds right now.  Addison started getting sick last week with a runny nose & little cough.  Over the weekend she started waking at night, which meant one of two things:  she's 2 or ear infection.  Well, I'm glad I didn't put off taking Addy to the dr....EAR INFECTION!  This make #4 for the year.  We are so lucky to only have that few.  I know babies that had to get tubes by 9 months!  Alyssa's ears are fine - for now!  While we were at the dr office waiting in the exam room a baby next to us was getting vaccinations.  The baby was crying & Addy said "I need to make that baby feel happy"!  Such a sweet thing to hear her say.

Blake is doing a great job finding new places for Eric the Elf to hang out around the living room/kitchen area.  Eric the Elf keeps a close eye on Addy & reports to Santa each night.  It's so cute to watch her each morning when she is looking all around for Eric!

This is our Elf on the Shelf, Eric.  

Addy has a crazy obsession with candy canes right now!  That's all she talks about!

Maggie saw us outside checking the mail yesterday & ran over to visit Addy.  They played for a bit then it was time for Maggie to go home.  It makes me happy to see them together.