That's my excuse & I'm sticking to it...

I'm sick.  Really sick.  It's been a nasty cold/flu bug of some sort.  You know, the kind that causes fevers, body aches, sinus crud, coughing, headaches, and just general icky-ness.  We got back from my grandma's b-day party/ND trip on Monday.  Then on Tuesday, I woke up with this.  Elise had it too, and so did Mark.  Both of the twins have it too.  So far, I've been the worst though.  

So today, Elise was supposed to go to her homeschool Friday thing, and I didn't take her.  Well, I completely forgot that Lily had speech therapy today, and I didn't even call to cancel.  As soon as I remembered, I called to apologize, and I left a voicemail explaining.  I still feel awful that I forgot though.  In my defense, yesterday pretty much passed completely without me even being aware of it.  Oh, and by the time I woke up this morning, Lily's appointment was already over.  

Unicorns Part II

Conversations in the van....

Leah:  "Mommy, I prayed, and then I listened for Jesus to talk to me in my head."

Me [in a very pleased voice]:  "Oh, you did?  Sweetie, that's wonderful!  What did Jesus say to you?"

Leah:  "He said I can be a unicorn when I grow up."

This "unicorn" business is not going away!  In fact, Leah is apparently under the mistaken impression that our whole family will "grow up" to be unicorns now!  LOL  We tried to explain, but it's just not working.  

Dear Jesus,

From Leah during prayer at dinnertime:

"Dear Jesus,

....and, please help me to be a unicorn when I grow up.

Amen"

All I want for Columbus Day is.....

....my two front teeth!

You know when you wake up in the morning to hear your daughter shout, "MAMA!  Leah hit me in the mouth, and my TOOTH fell out!"  It's always a little scary.  Then your daughter says, "I'm not happy that she hit me, but I thanked her anyway because now my tooth is out."

This happened a few weeks ago.  Elise is now unable to eat corn, unless we cut it off the cob, and she's getting quite used to eating apples on the side of her mouth.  

Fast forward to this morning....I wake up to hear her saying that at some point in the night her tooth fell out, and she was too tired to do anything, so she held it in her hand all night.  This morning, she had to look for it in her  bed, but she actually found it!  

I think the most exciting tooth story from my childhood is when I accidentally swallowed one eating a piece of chewy Halloween candy.  My mom always pulled mine out.  Elise won't let us even think about that though.  No matter HOW bad it gets!  She just wants them to fall out on their own.  And, they do.  

I'm slowly going crazy

It's here--the "game" (for lack of a better name for it) I detest most at this stage in my daughters' lives.  It's the game that makes me want to run screaming with my hands over my ears and lock myself in the bathroom until it's over.  

"[Insert name of sister  here], do you like me?"

Sister replies:  "No."

Other sister burst into hysterical tears, wailing: "[Sister's name] doesn't liiiiiiiiiiike meeeeeeeee!"

I'm thinking, "Of course they do.  Just STOP ASKING!"  

Except.....they don't stop asking.  The whole scenario gets continually repeated until I really do want to lock myself in the bathroom until it's over.  

Finally the other day, I went through all of them, and asked each one if they loved their sisters. Thankfully, they were all feeling pretty cooperative, and their answers were all yes.  So, now I try to remind them of this whenever I sense the "game" is about to ensue.  Sometimes I still want to run screaming from the room, but at least part of the time the "game" is over before it starts.  

Sick days...pics of Lily from the last couple of weeks

This pic was taken of Lily the Tuesday we went to the hospital.  I took it during the day.  I think it was the only time she smiled the entire day!  As you can see, her O2 sats are only 91% on O2, and her HR is also elevated.  When she's feeling good, her HR is usually 80s to low 100s.

One of the mommies on my mommy board sent Lily this puppy (Bernie) the last time Lily was in the hospital back in Feb (when she was in the PICU for a few days).  Lily loves her puppies.  

This was taken during a neb and vest treatment after we were in the hospital.  As I've mentioned before, the vest basically shakes her up, like she's in the spin cycle of a washing machine.  But, I can't knock its effectiveness!  

All 3 girls in Lily's "doctor bed" playing with play-do.  The Child Life specialists must have the best job in the whole entire hospital.  People cheer when they walk into a room!  :-)

Elise

This is what happens when Lily gets Harlequin Syndrome.  Half of her face (right down midline) gets red (sometimes tomato red, and sometimes faintly red) and sweaty.  It's happened a few times post-op and a few times when she's been outside exerting herself in the heat.  This was the first time it happened when she was sick, and this happened several (maybe 5) times in just a few days.  This time, Lily's face was pretty red, but it's hard to get pictures of.  You can see the line distinctly, but the color is more washed out than it was in person.

Here she is at home with her new MR-850 set-up.  We've only used it a couple of times so far, but I'm hopeful that it will be a good thing to have around over the winter months.  

My understanding is that the flu/RSV season has begun a bit earlier than usual this year.  I hope and pray we have an easier time than last year!  

Guess what...

Lily has been O2 free since yesterday afternoon!  She's still not completely "over it," but she's doing a LOT better!