Grace Goes To The E.R.

Below is picture my sister Liz took of baby Grace while lying in the hospital emergency room on her very first birthday. We had a great day of celebrating Grace's first year at a party with family and friends. The love for Grace was oozing out every window and door. After the party we went back home and spent some time with Larry's family, who were spending the weekend with us. About seven o'clock Grace felt kinda warm. Since we hadn't unpacked all of our boxes yet I didn't know where the thermometer was, but I knew she felt warm so I gave her some motrin. About a half hour later, she was back to her playful little self, happy and content. After such a long day, we all decided to call it a night about eleven thirty or so. Alliah and cousin Alexis were sleeping in Grace's room so we put her to bed with us. As soon as we laid down Grace started shaking. She was breathing really heavy and was grabbing onto me for dear life. I was scared! Her hands and feet were like ice, but her body was burning up! I quickly called our pediatrician and told them her symptoms. We were told to take her to the hospital. Larry and I were already out of bed and awake as could be. We got dressed and headed for the car. I tried to strap her in her carseat but she REALLY started shaking! I immediately took her back in the house and we called 911. The ambulance arrived within three minutes. Me and Grace were taken in the ambulance and Larry followed behind us with his mom and sister, Diane. On the way to the hospital Grace had a seizure. At that minute I was so glad to be in the ambulance. I would have freaked out had we been alone in the car with her. The medic stabilized her, but she was so weak and could barely lift her little hands up to grab ahold of mine. Her fever was 106.7 and rising. When we arrived at the hospital they strippped her down, rectally injected Tylenol and put cool towels all over her. My mom, dad and sister, Liz, arrived as she was starting to cool down. Liz took this picture of baby Grace as she lied in the hospital bed. She'd already downed a grape popscile, thus the purple lips.


It took five hours for the doctors and nurses to get Grace's temperature down. After Grace was poked, proded, x-rayed, checked, re-checked, and checked again, we finally left the hospital at 5:30am Sunday morning. You can see in the picture below that Grace was feeling much better. The hospital offered to let us stay for observation but Grace was 95% better than when we arrived. We went home. Unfortunately, we had to go back to the ER on Sunday night because her fever was back: 104.5 and rising. (The hospital gave me 2 thermometers) What?! Our poor baby. After reviewing her xrays from the night before, the doctor's concluded Grace had the beginning stages of pnemonia. The fever was the bodies response, trying to fight off the pnemonia. We were absolutely shocked! She didn't have a cold, cough, runny nose or anything! Pnemonia? The ER doctor put her on an antibiotic and four days later, Grace was back to her beautiful, playful little self. Thank God He helped us though that one. This whole experience made us appreciate so much more all the gifts God has given us: our children, our family, our life. We have so much NOT to take for granted.

Finally Signing In

Wow! I can't believe it has been over a month since I've blogged about the goings on in our lives. So much as happened that I don't know where to start. Ummm....I think the last post I wrote was about us moving. Yes, we're all settled in now. Just yesterday we finished up painting our home office and I stand by my word when I say it looks really, really nice. We converted half of the garage into our office. Larry built a custom desk, painted the walls in my favorite wall colors (light blue and tan) and he laid some plushy carpet so Grace can be in the office with me while I'm working. I sure am glad to have my wireless internet back up and running. I felt so lost in life without it. Sure, I can use the internet at work but work has been biiii-zeeee. Busy! Now I'm back in the loop of things.
During my haitus from blogging we celebrated Gracie's first birthday! We reserved the community room in the community we live in. It's not a huge room, but it fit her 35-40 guests perfectly. The girl was blessed! She got clothes, shoes, toys, books, you name it. The menu was two delicious pots of homemade spaghetti, salads, and garlic bread. Our friends, Jose and Yesenia, bought Grace the most beautiful princess birthday cake. Grace loved it and it was to-die-for in taste.
Unfortunately, we ended the evening of that beautiful day in the ER. I'll write about that next post.

Too Busy :9(

Man, oh man, have I been one busy woman! Sorry I haven't been keeping with the blog. It has been put on the back burner for too long. I have so much to write about I don't know where to start. December 9th was my last entry? Oh Lordy! Unfortunately I can't write right now because I have to start making dinner in about five minutes. But we had Christmas, Grace's first birthday, Grace's first trip to the ER *twice*, and much, much more! I'll have to take one story at a time starting.....uh, not now. Check back in a few days!

Made Me Laugh

All over the internet mother's are sharing how they are trying to teach their baby sign language. Because baby's have undeveloped verbal skills, moms and dads around the world are trying to teach their sons and daughters to be great communicators, even at an early age. At first I thought it was a great idea. Until I tried it. It's almost impossible to stop and calmly and delightfully say, "Hungry, hungry?" while holding my fingers up to my lips only to watch Grace look at me like I'm some kind of fool who eats her fingers. There's not enough time in the day! I've got dinners to cook, dishes to do, a house to clean, kids with homework, I work! So I saw this little blurb in one of the many baby/child e-newsletters I get and I've pasted it below. It matches my sentiments exactly.

Title: Your baby can learn sign language!

Here's how to say:
• "Please change my diaper": Turn beet red and make straining expression, then smile.
• "I'd like something to eat, please": Cram fist in mouth and suck wildly.
• "I'm tired": Make a series of weeping gestures before closing eyes and lolling head backward.
• "Please pass me that thing up there that I can't reach": Point and grunt, then continue pointing and open mouth into screaming position.
• "No thank you. I think I've had enough": Throw food or object to floor with exaggerated grin.

Oh, so true!

Classroom Christmas Gifts

2009 TEACHERS' GIFT
It's that time of year again: to give a special Christmas gift to the kid's teachers. School teachers usually get dollar tree coffee cups filled with candy, pencil holders or rulers that say, "World's Greatest Teacher," or a picture of the child they see {everday} with a "thanks for being my teacher" note attached ~ and that's if they get a gift at all. Teachers are shaping the minds of our next generation. They should be thanked! So, I began my internet search and found this little idea at FamilyFun.go.com. *I love this website* It's always filled with great crafts, recipes and party ideas. This year's gift is cute, creative and, best of all, inexpensive! I already have some of the matierals needed and I think Angel and Alliah's teachers will be thrilled. Not only can they proudly walk out of the classroom with a beautiful gift, but they can display this bouquet at home showing their friends and family what a great teacher they are, AND they can eat the candy when Christmas is over! What a concept.

CANDY STICK VASE

Materials: Aluminum can, Candy, Double-sided foam mounting tape, Ribbon, Plastic cup

Instructions:
• To make one, first snugly wrap 3 or 4 rings of double-sided foam mounting tape around a clean, dry, and labelless aluminum can (ours was 15 ounces).
• Peel off the tape's protective covering to expose its second sticky side.
• One at a time, attach colorful individually wrapped candy sticks (available at candy shops; we used 26) to the tape, setting them as close together as possible and pressing them firmly in place.
• For a festive finish, tie a ribbon around the container. To use the vase for fresh flowers or plants, set a plastic cup inside the can as a liner before adding water.


2009 CLASSMATES GIFT
As for the kid's classmates, I found this idea of a Christmas mouse waiting to be eaten! All it is is felt, googly eyes, and a candy cane. I'm gonna skip the pom-pom nose. Why spend more money than I need to? I'll just make the nose out of the green felt, too. This is so easy, even the kids can help! What a great way to encourage my kids to show the Christmas Spirit by giving to those they spend most of their days with. I think these will be a classroom hit!

MERRY MICE

Materials: Red and green felt, Scissors, Glue, Pom-poms, Candy canes, Googly eyes, Tape

Instructions
• Cut a 6-inch-long teardrop-shaped body from red felt. Near the center, cut 2 parallel slits that are 1 inch long and 1/2 inch apart.
• For a pair of ears, cut a 5-inch-long rounded bow-tie shape from green felt. This will be used to make the ears.
• To put the mouse together, fit the ears through the slits in the body. Glue on googly eyes and a pom-pom nose.
• Finally, add a curly tail by slipping a candy cane beneath the mouse and tucking the straight end between the body and the ears to hold it in place.

...Only 22 more days!

We did it! We made the big move this past Thanksgiving weekend and boy are we tired. I will write more later. Got lots of unpacking to do. Type atcha later...

Thanksgiving Week Menu

Here we are again...our weekly menu. I tried to be extra creative as I planned our meals for this week. I mean, really, we are going to be eating some yummy food this Thursday on Thanksgiving Day. How can any other meal compete with Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and oh so much more. I tried to think of some things that are not only some of our favorite meals but would also tantalize our taste buds. Here it is....

BREAKFASTS
Monday: scrambled eggs, potatoes
Tuesday: English muffin with peanut butter, banana
Wednesday: cereal
Thursday: chocolate chip pancakes
Friday: chorizo n eggs, potatoes
Saturday: breakfast sandwiches
Sunday: cereal

AFTERNOON SNACKS
Monday: Edamame with lemon
Tuesday: cheese, crackers
Wednesday: cucumber and carrots with ranch dip
Thursday: It's Thanksgiving!
Friday: Free choice Friday

DINNERS
Monday: bbq hotdogs, chili beans
Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie *yummy*
Wednesday: Tri-tip, green beans, rice-a-roni
Thursday: Thanksgiving!
Friday: hamburgers, seasoned potatoe wedges
Saturday: green chili enchiladas, mexi-rice, corn
Sunday: pork roast, veggies, chicken & broccoli rice

Again, just let us know when you want to join us...I'll make some extra.

Love Your Hubby Day

So I was told today is "Love Your Hubby" Day. I've never heard of this "holiday" before, but what the heck, I'm game. I'll celebrate! I'll note that somehow, someone forgot to tell Hallmark about this amazing day because they'd have thousands of cards to choose from, along with key chains, beer mugs and money clips to purchase. So, on this special day, I'm throwing this shout out to you, babe: I LOVE YOU! You have and will always have the key to my heart. You are my lover, my best friend, my laughing partner, my strong supporter, and the one who knows how to make me smile - even when I'm blazin' mad. I'm so very glad you're mine. "I'm my beloved's and he is mine." ~Song of Solomon 6:3

I'm sitting inside a Jiffy Lube getting my truck's oil changed. Didn't expect to be 1 of 3 ladies sitting in here that's for sure.

What's For Dinner This Week

Last week I decided to blog about what we were going to be eating for week. I try to create a new menu each Sunday night. Like I said last week, the kids love it and I love not being asked a bazillion times what we're gonna eat. There are many blogs I read that give the 4-1-1 on what's going to be on their dinner table, and seeing these blogs further infuse my weekly planning routine. So, here's what's on this week...

BREAKFASTS
Monday: waffles with strawberries
Tuesday: English muffin with peanut butter, banana
Wednesday: ham-n-cheese pocket, 1/2 orange
Thursday: oatmeal and toast
Friday: eggs and potatoes
Saturday: pancakes and scrambled eggs
Sunday: cereal

AFTER SCHOOL SNACKS
Monday: Edamame with lemon
Tuesday: sliced beef stick, cheese, crackers
Wednesday: cucumber and carrots with ranch dip
Thursday: crackers, jalapeno cheese spread
Friday: Free choice Friday

DINNERS
Monday: chicken enchiladas, chx fajita rice, zucchini
Tuesday: spaghetti w/Italian sausage, green salad
Wednesday: Chicken Pot Pie
Thursday: fish sticks, white rice, corn
Friday: bbq chicken legs, pasta salad, black bean chili
Saturday: Tostadas, sopa
Sunday: pork roast, veggies, chicken broccoli rice

...And don't forget to call and let us know what night you'd like to join us! :o)