Saturday, January 31, 2009

KY--- Yeah, thats what I said.

So today I went to the store to get some femenine products, and I happened to take Katey with. Well as I am looking at the pads and such Katey is examining the bottles of lotion and such that are right next to the pads. She picks up a bottle of KY ( actually I have no idea what brand, but you get the point) and said, "Mom what is this?" Now she is 12 so we have had many talks about S-E-X, and I am very honest with her. I looked at her and I said, "oh Katey put that back, its for sex". Ok no big deal right? WRONG! She then with a very puzzled look on her face picks up another bottle and said "Then why is this one strawberry flavored". I took a deep breath, smiled, then looked at her and said "Do you really want to know?" She waited for a moment, covered her face and said "NO!, oh gross.... gross, gross, gross"

Im really glad she feels so very comfortable talking to me about stuff, and I think it is very important, but seriously !!! Will this get any easier?

I am going to bed,
Enjoy the laugh,
Shel

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Gma Dorothy

Hey everyone,
If you could please keep Gma Dorothy in your prayers today. She is having outpatient surgery today to replace the batteries in her pacemaker. Simple surgery, but her age always makes me nervous.

Thanks,
Shel


***** UPDATE ****
Gma Dorothy is recovering nicely and should go home tonight.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

My boy

Good lord this boy will be the death of me I swear.
Tonight while Brandon was playing on my Gazelle he slipped and fell and the leg swung up as he was falling and slammed into his arm. He screamed his head off and then wouldnt move it. After about 1 1/2 hrs Chris and I were concerned. If you touched him anywhere on his lower arm he would say it hurt, so off to the ER we went. We signed in, took his vitals and got into a room and what do you know, he starts to move it. By the time the Xray guy brings us back for Xray's he asks Bran to put his arm up on the table and oh yeah, lifts it right up and turns and moves it no problem. I was soooooo annoyed at this point. Its always that way, you take them in and once you get there, they are fine, but of course its not until you have signed the papers and gotten into your room. So $500 later, my boy has a bruise and a really cool sling that they gave him in triage.

Im going to bed.
Shel

Friday, January 23, 2009

TGIF

Today Ashlyn woke up just FULL of energy.
I decided she needed to get out of the house. So we went to play McD's. She had sooo much fun, and I met 2 really nice ladies. One lady comes every friday and has a 5yr old boy and 9, and 11yr old girls. She was really sweet. We both have Great Danes, and she does animal rescue. And the other lady has a 1yr girl, and a 3yr boy. She doenst have any kids in her neighborhood that are her kids ages, so we hope to get together and let the kids play. I think it will be so much fun to get out on Friday's and enjoy some Mom time, and let the kids have play time. Ashlyn just doesnt have anyone her age to play with, and both the mom's commented on how grown up she acts.

Anyway, I have to clean and work out, so have a super duper weekend.
Lots of Love,
Shel

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Adrianne Reynolds

I was going to write about the inauguration, but realized what today was.
4yrs ago today my cousin Adrianne Leigh Reynolds was brutally murdered.


4 yrs ago you were taken away from us.
4 yrs does not take away the pain and sadness of you being gone.
4 yrs does not make it any easier, or the pain any less.
4 yrs is a long time, yet when the pain comes back,
its still as hard and as strong as the day you were taken from us.



So much good has been done in your name, and we continue to do things in a positive way. You are always in our thougths, and you are always near our heart.So many times I wonder how you would have lived your life. What would you be doing right now? Would you be in love? Would you be a mother? Would you be in the Marines? Would you have tried out for American Idol? Yes, I still watch the show, and yes, I still cry and think of you when I watch it.
I miss you Adrianne.


4 yrs later, and I am no closer to getting the why's answered.

4 yrs later, and still no peace with what happened to you. I really hope you are looking down on us, and you are at peace. I really hope that you are singing with the angels, and that you are helping God take care of the children in heaven. I really hope that some day, we will see each other again.


I miss you Adrianne.
Lots of Love,
Shel

Monday, January 19, 2009

Gma Dorothy


Holy Smokes....


Chris and I got a call last night from Carol.
Gma Dorothy is turning 95 on Feb. 7th.

95 !!!

I cant believe it. Gma Dorothy is the most amazing, loving, sweetest, person I have ever met. One of the funniest things I remember about her is when Chris and I were pregnant with Katey. She told me she never thought she would live to see Great Grand Kids and she was very excited we were giving her a Great Grandchild. So she decided to crochet me a blanket. But she was really excited, and was really hoping it would be twins so she made me 2 blankets. When I see one of those blankets, it still makes me smile and remember how happy she was when we told her. And seeing all the Great Grandkids just brings her so much pride. I love Grandma Dorothy with all of my heart, and I am so excited that she is turning 95. I cant wait to go home and celebrate with her. And I have to bring lots of balloons, she loves balloons, at least that is what she told Katey at one of her other birthday's.


Happy Birthday Grandma Dorothy.
Lots of Love,
Shel

Friday, January 16, 2009

Wii Fit

I have been wanting a Wii Fit for months now. My father in law Jim got me one for Christmas and I have been sooo excited to try it out. Well, our Wii broke and its under warentee so we will be getting a new one any day now. Meanwhile, We got 7 new games and have not been able to play with any of them. So we borrowed a Wii from Katey's friend and have been having a blast. Everyone LOVES the Wii Fit. Chris and I have been working out every night, and I am actually down 2Lbs. Whoo Hooo. That being said... Im about ready to smack that Wii Fit Biotch. First of all when you set your Mii up, it puts your weight and BMI right out there where everyone can see, PLUS it makes your Mii Fat or Skinny debending on how you are, so I have a Fat Mii. But the worst part is when you step on the board it will either say Okay, or she will groan at you. When Chris steps on it, she usually says Okay, but everytime I step on it, she groans. Everytime she does it I call her a bitch and get irritated at her. Well, Brandon's been playing on it all day and she groaned when he steped on it and he groaned back and called her a jerk. I started cracking up laughing. At least I am not the only one ready to smack her. Speaking of Brandon, I can not believe how much this boy enjoys working out. He is all about being fit. He loves to do push ups and crunches and really enjoys doing all the strength training, and Yoga stuff. He's gonna be my running buddy come the spring. My Gazelle will be here on Monday and thats what I plan on using all winter, but come spring, Bran and I are gonna start jogging so we can do a 5K run together. I cant wait.

Ok, Im off to go Wii Fit some more.
Lots of Love,
Shel

Thursday, January 15, 2009

D-Cold out

Holy Crow it is C-O-L-D out.
School was called off today because its just too cold. Its neg 12 degrees out with a wind chill of Neg 45. Thats way to cold and dangerous for kids to be walking to school or waiting for a bus. So we played Wii all day and just got the call that school is cancelled for tomorrow too. WHOO HOOO ! Plus its a long weekend, they have Mon and Tues off. Im so excited to have my kids home for a short mini vacation.

Ok, so D-Cold? whats that mean? HA
When Katey was about 3yrs old we would always say something was D-licious. So she thought the D ment it was VERY licious.. LOL Well one day we were going out to the car and it was freezing. She said Brrrr Daddy, it is D-Cold out. We cracked up laughing and have used that saying ever since. She is now embarassed by it, but it reminds us of her being a little girl.

So bundle up, cuddle up, snuggle up, whatever you gotta do to stay warm cuz baby it is D-Cold out!
Lots of Love,
Shel

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Frozen like a bag of peas

Holy crow!
It is freaking cold outside. I swear we have had so much snow and cold, I am soooo done with it. We get it all plowed and do-able for a day or so, and then KABOOM another dang winter storm. I was totally amazed the kids had school today. We had recieved 3 inches yesterday, then another 4-5 inches overnight, and supose to have another 1-3 inches today. Also starting at noon today the temps are supose to just drop. Chris drove the 4wheel drive jeep to the train station, which is only 2 miles from our house, and it took him 20 mins. He said the roads were horrible and people couldnt get past the stop light because the roads were so slick. He ended up missing that train but made the next one. Good Gravy!

Today, Ashlyn, Kathryn, and I are all doing pretty well. If Katey doesnt get a fever tonight, then she gets to go to school tomorrow. She's had 2 doses of the antibiotic now, so Im hoping it will be good and kicked in by tonight.

Not much else is new, just cleaning the house and lysoling everything, and looking forward to a nice LONG weekend.

Shel

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Katey Bug

My sweet sweet girl is sick.
Katey NEVER gets sick.
She had a little bit of a fever yesterday and she looked like Death smacked her in the face. There was no way I could send my sweet girl to school. She didnt leave the couch all day. Then last night, she looked and sounded worse. I gave her a theraflu and sent her to bed early. I woke up at 3am and found Katey stretched out asleep on the bathroom floor. She didnt want to move, she just wanted to sleep on the bathroom floor. I never in my life saw her look so pitiful in my life. I took her temp and it was 103.5 HOLY CRAP! I got her some Ibuprofin, some vics vapor rum and a cool washcloth for her forehead and got her all settled back in bed.

She has an appt today at 2:30.
Lets hope she doesnt end up in the hospital like her sissy did.
Shel

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Poker Night and BOY

Last night we decided to have a poker night at our house.
Michael has been here since Friday and our friend Tommy brought his girlfriend, and one of Brandon's friends dad came too. It was $10 in and 1st place got $40 and 2nd place got $20. We had so much fun, and tons of laughs and Tommy won 1st place and Chris won 2nd. I cant wait for Cassie and Mike to sell their house so that we can start having poker night once a month. It's been nice having Mike here, but I really miss my sissy.

Then today, our Bran Buster Brown turned 9yrs old.
Its amazing how fast time really goes by. He got a pocket knife, and a nerf machine gun. He's really excited about both.

Chris is busy making breakfast, and I think the rest of today will just be relaxing and enjoying Buster B's day.

Lots of Love,
Shel

Friday, January 9, 2009

Friday

I have been coughing for a few days now and fully expected to catch what Ashlyn had, so I wasnt surprised to wake up this morning coughing up a ton of yuck. But my throat, or should I say neck hurts. Its not my tonsils, but lower and on the sides of my neck. The dr. said its around my thyroid, so he ordered some blood tests since my mom has thyroid troubles and my dad had thyroid cancer. He also said it sounds like I have pneumonia in my right lung and started me on meds. Im completly exhausted and am going to finish cleaning and hit the bed early tonight.

Ash is doing so much better. She still has a little gunk in her lungs so they want her on the steroids thru the weekend but she's doing really really good. Her pulseoxy was at 98% WHOOP WHOOP !!!

Ok thats it for now,
Shel

Thursday, January 8, 2009

another hospital story

Okay, so I told you my scare with the code over the intercom.
So later when I had to go get Chris from the train, I didnt want to leave Ashlyn alone again. So I left Kathryn at the hospital with her. I figured Kathryn babysits her, so of course I could leave her at the hospital. Well, Im just lucky my kids are soooo well behaved and sooooo all about Ashlyn because I guess it is against hospital policy to leave anyone under the age of 18 alone with the patient. The nurses were so blow away with how much Kathryn helped out. Ash had to to potty, and Kathryn said ok Ash, lets untagle you and unplugged the Pulse/oxy machine and then pulled the IV stand closer to the bathroom door and then helped her go potty, wiped her, washed her hands, then put her back in bed and re-connnected her to the machine. The whole time the nurse just stood there amazed that Kathryn knew what she was doing.

The nurse asked Katey, "how did you know what you could unplug and how to hook it all back up?" and Katey replied, "well, this isnt the first time she's been admited, I guess I am just use to it." Then when the respitory lady came, she was nervous because I wasnt there and when she gave Ashlyn her last treatment (the first time I was gone) Ash just cried the whole time. So Katey told the nurse "oh dont worry, she will be fine, we do this at home all the time. Just make sure you use the mask, not the blow by." Sure enough Ashlyn sat thru the whole treatment like a perfect angel. I guess the nurse assumed Ashlyn wasnt use to the mask and thought she was helping by not useing it when I wasnt there. Ashlyn HATES the blow by and prefers to do it herself.

Anyway, when I got back, the nurse complimented me on how amazing Katey was, and how helpful she was. She told me I was doing a great job with all 3 of my children and asked if she could send her 2 kids to my house.

Ashlyn is going good, and has a follow up appt. tomorrow with her Ped.
I'll update on how that goes, right now, we are going to go watch a movie.

Shel

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

2 posts today, wow

Ok, after a nap I still have no energy.
I am so excited to sleep in my own bed tonight, and have all 3 kids and Chris under one roof. Katey and Brandon are just such super big brother and sister, they get so concerned when Ash gets sick and they def. dont like to see her cry. She is soooo spoiled by them.

Oh here are a few stories from our hospital stay.
First off, we dont have anyone who lives close by or people we have babysit our kids, so when Ash is in the hospital things get difficult, plus we only have 1 car right now. So, I unfortunatly had to leave Ashlyn alone, but surrounded by nurses, to go get Katey and Brandon from school. This was the first time she was off oxygen and I was already nervous about that. The ped's floor is on one side of the building, but the ER parking lot is on the other side. I walked all the way thru the whole hospital and get to the ER, when all of a sudden I hear
"Pediatrics, Code Yellow, En-route to the ER"
Ok, now you must know I was on day 3 of sleeping in the hospital and I was already nervous about leaving her, add the fact that she was now off oxygen and her numbers were low... I turn and RAN thru the whole hospital in total fear that is was Ashlyn being rushed from the Ped's to the ER and not sure exactly what code yellow was. I ran around the last corner as the Floor nurse practitioner came around and saw me and put her hands up and said... "Oh no honey its not you!" I repeated the code to her and she said, no that means like a child got in a car accident or something and is on their way to the ER, this way peds, and respitory and everyone can be there ready when they arrive. She hugged me and we walked back to the ER together... This scared the crap out of me!!

Then that night, the respitory lady came in to give Ashlyn a breathing treatment, and I didnt sit up right away. I finally sat up and rubbed my eyes and OMG she took my breath away. I put my hand to my heart and gasped. She was surprised and I informed her that she looked exactly like my cousin Adrianne. I told her about what happened and she of course was very sorry, but I told her no, it was nice meeting her, and I was glad I got to meet her because Jan 4yrs ago was when she was taken from us and its nice to be reminded of her. When she left I thought to myself, wow, crazy... When Ashlyn was born we prayed to God to heal her, and we also prayed that Adrianne would watch over her. It was like Adrianne saying, Im still here, Im still your guardian angel. I felt so peaceful after she left, and thanked God for allowing me to "see" Adrianne this way. The next day, she was off oxygen.

Anyway, I'll have more stories later... Ash is on steroids and Im sure you will LOVE to hear all about her attitude.

Shel

Ash is home

Oh My Word !!!

Friday/ Sat morning Ash woke up in the middle of the night with a croupy cough and a 103.7 fever. Sat was the annual pool tourney and my aunt watched the kids. It was hard to go knowing Ash was sick, but its only once a year and I had all the meds so we went. Sat night she stayed the same, fever and cough. Sunday when she woke up she was miserable, 103.5 and just not herself at all. I told Chris I had to take her in, and surprisingly, he agreed.

I get to the ER and tell them she's retracting and breathing hard and they get us straight back. Her fever had come back so they gave us Tylenol and Ibuprofin and a double breathing treatment. They checked for flu, RSV, and a chest xray. The ER dr. came back and said it looked viral, but they were waiting on an "official" read because one part looked suspicious. Official report said Pneumonia. The ER dr. was impressed with how calm and on it I was and said she was gonna send Ash home... I said, wait, wait wait.. I am not comfortable with this and explained her history to her for the 10th time. I said, I would feel better if you call her Pediatrician and get his opinion on this because I am doing everything I am supose to do at home with breathing treatments, steroids, and she keeps getting worse. She wasnt happy about it but called the dr. The nurse came in and I said, "she wants to send her home, they havent even gotten a pulse Oxy on her and they want to send her home." SO the nurse takes her pulse oxy and she was only at 92-93% She takes this info to the dr. who comes back, obviously annoyed and says, well her oxygen levels are too low we have to admit her.

She kept tettering at 92-93% all day and the ped. ordered her on Oxygen if she stayed at 92 or below. When she went to sleep she dropped to 89-90% and had to be put on oxygen, and had to stay for 4 days because her oxygen levels kept dropping. I just wanted to go smack that ER nurse for doubting me and giving me sass when I know my kid. Ash has NEVER been like this before, not even when she was in Resp. distress. She's never required oxygen since leaving the NICU and I just knew things were not right.

She's on antibiotics, which the ER dr. wouldnt order because she thought it was viral, and when the ped. came in he was surprised that she wasnt on antibiotics and ordered them right away, and she's on steroids, and breathing treatments.

Im exhausted and going to go take a nap with my little munchkin.
Lots of Love and tired hugs,
Shel

Monday, January 5, 2009

Ash is in the hospital.

she's doing ok. She got put on 1L of oxygen last night when she slept because her oxygen levels kept dropping. Today she holds good at 96% during the daytime when she's active, and 93% when watching cartoons. They started backing her down to 1/4 L by this afternoon and she was doing great 95 - 96%, then she fell asleep and dropped back down to 89 - 90% and had to be upped back to 1L. She's still teetering on 91 -92% and the nurse turned it up a bit more. I dont think she will be going home anytime soon. Also the pulse machine also measures her BPM and it keeps alarming. Im not sure whats "normal" for a kids heartrate but she keeps alarming over 170... is that ok? They dont seem worried at all, but then why does it keep going off? Anyway, she is cranky and still fevers, and her head hurts when she coughs.

Update on Carol,
She is doing well, still very tired but was back to work today.
Blaker is out of the hospital, didnt need surgery, and had a follow up appt today that I will hear about later.

We had our annual Wassell Family Pool Tourney, and little Jared won !! Chris came in 4th place and I hope it moves him up on the ranks for next year.

Im taking a shower and going back up to snuggle with Ash.

Oh, and Happy New Year everyone!
Shel