Hannah

Hannah changes her clothes many times a day and she has an old shoe box where she keeps her most favorite possessions (mostly makeup). Anyway, I found her changing, again, and asked her what she was doing. "Just want to put on something prettier," she replied. Then she went out back to play with a balloon (that she accidently let go up into the tree). I thought I'd get a few shots...if you click on the photos you can see her lovely Tinkerbell glitter makeup. She's a hoot!

Not much going on here this week.

Yeah! The girls are finally better! That virus really made them miserable. They were so upset, unhappy, and clingy....it was very draining for all of us and it is great to see them back to their happy little selves again! Only problem is that I now have it, which is no big surprise. I don't think it will be that big a deal. I've read that it is much harder on kids than on adults, who usually get a milder case. I hope so...today is my birthday.

I can't wait to get back out with my camera...got to find some time to figure out what the issue is with it. The shots look terrible and I only wish I knew what I was doing wrong. I could really use my photo expert brother and am missing him horribly today. It's my first birthday without him and it's funny how the reality of his being gone just hits me at certain times. Today, when I got into the car to take Hannah to her swim lesson, she turned off the DVD player and a CD came on a bit randomly. It happened to be Dan Fogelberg's "Missing You." I have no idea who put that CD in my car and when, but I didn't know it was there. It really got to me....I cried all the way to the beach. What a song to do it! My brother is the one who introduced me to Fogelberg's music. In fact, he introduced me to almost all the good music I know (he was older and had more sophisticated musical taste compared to what was on the pop charts during my teenage years). Oddly enough, he and Dan Fogelberg died of the same illness (prostate cancer) within weeks of each other.

Anyway, I'm posting a couple photos of the one outing we did this week to see a live demonstration of animals from around the world. This is much like the organization that we've had for a couple of Hannah's birthday parties. The kids really like the snakes!


This is the look on Christopher's face while holding the snake below. The look on my face would have been a whole lot different than that!

This snake looks like silly putty. I'm not a snake fan and I found this one particularly unappealing. I think it was his color, or maybe his size...actually it was both, along with the fact that, well, he was a snake. I used to like snakes but I think something changes with age. I had a pet mouse as a kid and I could never have one now. Now I hate both snakes and rodents. Hannah keeps asking for a snake....ugh! Then, I'd have to have mice to feed it. I couldn't think of a worse combination. I'm not doing that to myself. I'm trying to hold out and just stick to the two golden retrievers we have, but she is relentless. She must say, "I want a pet" about 100 times a day lately. I find that there are times that I'm losing my strength to say no and was even on petfinder.com the other day. I then called the local animal shelter...the one that my brother and I got puppies from when I was about 10. And I found out that one of my favorite vets of all time does all their spaying and neutering. I was getting sentimental (God, what am I thinking???). They have lots of kittens. My last kitty lived until age 20. Kitties are so cute but do I want another 20 years of a litter box that the kids will all say they will take care of, but you know how long that enthusiasm will last. But, I'm a sucker. At one point, my parents had 38 pets. My brother wanted to be a vet so they loaded him up with animals. It was great! We loved it. I know he did indeed do a ton of the work, but my mom was also the ever enthusiastic, didn't need any sleep, worker bee that didn't mind a bit. I have some of those qualities...like the enthusiasm. Not sure I'm quite the worker bee and I already get no sleep (Emma makes sure of this). I do have a very hard time saying no....and for that, I blame my parents who rarely did when it came to animals. They raised dogs (puppies are like heaven to little kids and we had them a lot). They got me a pony and built his stall, got me bunnies and built me an awesome hutch, along with giving us many cats, fish, turtles, hermit crabs, rodents, etc. They even let me keep a crow in my room that was hurt and I rescued him (broken wing). He lived in my room while healing (vet taped his wing) and I lived secretly terrified that he would peck me to death (like in the Hitchcock thriller I'd seen at my cousins) while I slept, but he was an animal and I HAD to save him. If not me, then who? I was always bringing home some stray or injured animal and they were always up to the task of either letting me "save" it or letting me keep it. That crow chose to live in our barn for a long time after that...I think he used to watch my father tinkering around in his "workshop." It's hard to say "no" to a pet after having parents like that. But, I know it won't be this guy pictured above. Hey Rebecca, are you still looking for a home for that ADORABLE Siamese kitten????

The snake makes Hannah look so small. Well, she is pretty small. I wonder if his jaws would actually be big enough to swallow her whole. I hope his owner has no small children!

The doctor prescribed ice cream to coat and soothe the girls' mouths which have been so sore (milk is good, too). This was one "medicine" that I had no trouble getting them to take!

I just like this photo of Christopher. He's really a very sweet guy and I adore him. He's was so helpful while the girls were sick. It was hard because they'd both be screaming (and I do mean screaming!) for me at the same time and I would have been spread way too thin if he hadn't pitched in to grab a bottle or drink for one or to read a book to the other. It was a huge help.

This photo of Hannah is technically pretty terrible, but I kind of like it anyway.

Emma's Got It Now!

We woke Emma in the night to give her some Tylenol because she was burning up. We didn't get much sleep, but she's up and fairly cheerful so far....the sores haven't errupted yet. Hannah, who I expect will be feeling much better today, is still fast asleep at nearly 10am and that is very unusual!

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

Hannah has it and I must say that she is as miserable as I've ever seen her. Her fever spiked to 106.3 after having a day of fever, SEVERE headache, and malaise (she slept or screamed most of the day and was delirious by night). I didn't know what it was but was concerned about the headache and afraid she'd seize from the fever. We went into the ER on Thursday night were there into the wee hours of Friday morning. They misdiagnosed this even though they saw red bumps in her throat and Hannah later complained of 2 sores along her gums (which the nurse said were definitely not HFMD when I asked about that possibility) but were simply normal canker sores....WRONG! A red light should have gone off in her head but they had already diagnosed her with a UTI so their minds were made up (and they looked at me like I should butt out!). Oh well, the urine culture hasn't grown a thing yet but it is still pending so perhaps she has both illnesses or they were wrong...we shall see.

There is some significance here. If Hannah has a UTI, she needs to have some invasive, uncomfortable tests done. She had one 6 weeks ago and had an ultrasound to check for reflux, etc. It was fine, but our pediatrician said that if she has another (it was her first one), they would need to do further testing as a child with reflux or other issue can suffer kidney damage so they take UTIs in small children very seriously. This diagnosis, if wrong, would have sent us down the path of these expensive, more invasive tests. I'm glad I question everything (even if they give me the evil eye for doing so). I don't want to say that I don't trust doctors, because that's not completely true, but I've seen too many mistakes to not want some proof. I've been calling for the final results of the urine culture. I hope she only has HFMD and not a UTI, too....that's more than enough!

She's a bit better today. She woke screaming about her throat pain, but we've been treating it and she is doing better. Her fever is about 100 today and she is much more herself, though not eating much of anything and only drinking a little bit still.

I wonder if Emma will get this. It's very contagious. I just hope the big kids are immune already!

UPDATE: The final report on the urine culture shows no growth...no infection. I called three times before I got the answer. The weird thing is, no one would have called me to say, "oops, we were wrong...Hannah can stop the medicine." Something is wrong with this system! Anyway, she had another tough day, but is improving some and I'm thankful for that. There has been so much crying (screaming, actually) over the last few days, I'm feeling kind of beat up, which I'm sure is nothing compared to actually having the virus.

Windy Day at the Beach!

7/13/08

It was very choppy and a tough day for the little ones to swim but they had lots of fun running, playing and digging in the sand. The water and sky were beautiful and it was a great day to sit and watch the boats go by.

Happy Birthday Hillary!

Hillary turned 18 on Friday. I can hardly believe it. As a mom, I found it to be a bittersweet milestone, but I'm thrilled for her. She's all grown up, independent and no longer needs a permission slip signed by me ;^). She's away at camp so on Saturday we left the ocean and headed for the mountains to visit . We brought her a picnic dinner (the menu was her choice), a birthday cake and some gifts. The real gift was us being able to spend some time with her. When we first arrived, Emma was stunned to see Hillary there (I guess little kids don't really know where they are going when you pop them into the car for a long trip). She ran to her, jumped up into her arms and gave Hill a big, long hug. Emma looked back my way and called, "Mom, we're home!" It was really sweet. The look on Emma's face was priceless. I guess if we are all together, wherever that might be, it feels like "home" to Emma. We stayed for their weekly Saturday night concert performed by some pretty amazing young musicians. We are always blown away by the beauty, spirit and amazing talent of this place. It's been such a nurturing place for Hillary to spend her summers....this is her 8th year there. The above photo is of Hillary walking off stage after her group's performance.

More Vacation Fun

Last Friday, we took the girls to a garden and museum for an outdoor theater performance. The grounds were beautiful and there was so much to do besides the performance. There were outdoor games, face painting, a moon walk, live animals, and a carousel. We had a wonderful time and plan to go back for a concert next Friday.

More Beach Photos

Emma is a very smiley, giggly little girl but you'd never know if from her photos. She has always been this way, well, unless I ask her for a smile. The last photo shows you what she does when I ask. "Cheese!"

Swimming Lessons at the Beach

Christopher and Hannah have started their lessons at the beach. The lifeguards, who are often the same ones year after year, make it tons of fun. They know ALL of the kids names (there are hundreds of them on the beach over the summer) and are so much fun. They go way above and beyond to give the kids a great summer at the beach. When we arrived at the beach our first day this season, one of the guards yelled that we were there and jumped down out of the lifeguard stand. She rushed over and scooped Hannah up and gave her a huge hug and welcomed all of us back. They take a lot of pride in making their beach the best in town. At the end of the summer, they have a swim meet were the swim kids from our beach compete with all of the kids from the other beaches in town. The favorite event each year is the beach carnival. It's a day long event just for the kids at our beach with dunk tanks, games, contests and lots of food. It's the best day of the summer!

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July! In the village where we spend our summers, they have a 4th of July parade. All the kids in town either ride on floats or decorate their bikes and go in the parade. There are bagpipes, floats from other organizations, including the library, and a truck full of ball players from the Cape league that comes around and drenches the crowd with super soakers and water balloons. It is a thrill for my children and they look forward to it all year. After the parade, the kids all gather in the field at the elementary school where the parade ends and the fire department sprays them with water from the fire trucks and the kids run screaming. There is usually a band playing and the "ice cream man" is there, too. We then come home for a cookout lunch and afterward wind up at the beach for the afternoon. At dusk, we head down to another beach in town to take in the fireworks, which were incredible this year. It's our annual ritual so much fun.


Emma's new bike all decorated and full of candy to throw to the crowd.
Along the parade route. Hannah in front and Christopher in back.

A very tired Emma!
Done in the parade, but watching the rest of it go by.

Hannah running back after getting soaked by the fire trucks.

Can't wait until next year!