Kael's Hospital Stay-Day 2...

On Wednesday we left the emergency room with the orders that Kael was allergic to Amoxicillin and to stop medication immediately {Which was fine because I forgot to give it to him on Tuesday, so the last day that he had the medication was Monday. Oops, but I guess it was a good thing!} We also had to keep him on Benadryl every 6 hours until the spots went away. They told us not to give him any Motrin for his fever because that could make the reaction worse. So he was on Tylenol every 4 hours to keep the fever down. The Tylenol wasn't doing anything for the fever. It was just maintaining it between 102 degrees and 103 degrees. The next morning {Thursday} he woke up with this on his face....

Things were getting worse, and he was even on Benadryl. I think the welts on this side of his face formed the shape of a "C". Weird.
We knew that this was not normal. His fever was still prevalent and his welts were getting worse!

So back to the emergency room we went! Yay, my favorite place! People were looking at my child like, "Ahh what has that child got? Everyone hold your breath around him!" I know that is what I would be thinking and telling my two year old! :)

He was so sick. His eyes were so tired and sick. {It is funny because Kael has "tired" looking eyes anyways. I can't tell you how many times a day when we are out running errands I hear, "He looks like he is going to fall over dead asleep!" I just smile and nod, but really I am thinking, "Really? Because he just woke up from a two hour nap!"} This time his eyes really looked tired and sick to me! Poor baby! He was so HOT! He made me hot just holding him!

The emergency room doctor wanted to make sure that their wasn't anything that they were missing. They had to come in and take a urine sample for testing. They had to give him a catheter. It took 4 of us to hold him down! The we had to hold him down again for the I.V. It was horrible. It was so hard to listen to my child scream. He was looking at me like, "Aren't you going to save me!?" It was the hardest thing ever!
After they finally left him alone he cried himself to sleep!

He was really annoyed with his I.V. He kept trying to take it out. They put a board under his arm to help keep the I.V. in place. He quickly figured out that he could whack things with it! The emergency room doctor decided since his condition was getting worse that he should stay overnight at the hospital for observation. He wanted a pediatrician to look at him more closely. I was super impressed with McKay Dee Hospital! They were amazing through this whole thing! As soon as we got to our room we had a Child Life Coordinator bring him a cute blanket and some toys to play with. Our room was full of people and he was not sure about any of them. After the I.V. and catheter experience he was not trusting anyone! He would cry when anybody would come near him. All of the hospital staff was dressed in protective gowns, masks, and gloves. They had to protect themselves in case he was contagious {which he wasn't, but they have to be safe!} A total of 3 Pediatricians came to see Kael. They all had different opinions. They wouldn't let us use Kael's old doctor as his primary care physician because technically he should have a Texas doctor for that {that is another story for a different day}. I was bummed because I LOVED her! But the 3 doctors that saw Kael were good too. They were a little stumped as to why Kael had a continuous fever with this reaction. They tested him for bacteria in his blood and urine, along with other viruses. The took chest x-rays to make sure he didn't have Pneumonia or the Influenza {The x-ray process was also an experience. They smashed him into this over-sized hour glass looking contraption. His legs were dangling and his arms were above his head. Talk about traumatizing...for the both of us! He did like the ride in the wheelchair to the x-ray room though!} They also sucked mucus out of his nose to test him for RSV. It is safe to say that this child has been put through the ringer! If his fever had not gone down by today they were going to do a spinal tap to check for Meningitis. Glad that we didn't have to do that!

He was so excited when Grandma and Grandpa brought his brother to see him. He was so happy to see familiar faces that weren't going to bother him with tests! His brother did get too lovey with him which annoyed Kael a little! He was in good spirits when they arrived but that quickly faded when the Motrin wore off and his fever came back! He fell asleep on Grandma.
Bryan's parents and family are in San Diego, so they missed out on all the fun! ;)

He looked horrible. As a parent I felt totally helpless. I didn't know what to do or where to turn. The doctors were stumped. They thought it was a reaction to the antibiotic but they couldn't really explain his high fevers. Luckily my Dad and Bryan were able to give Kael a Preisthood blessing. I am so grateful for this in my life. What a blessing it is to have a husband and a father who can perform such a great blessing! Kael was given another dose of Motrin for his high fever {103} and it went away!

Of course Peyton had to play in the "cage". He thought the "hopsital" was fun! Bryan went home to sleep with Peyton and I stayed with Kael. I knew that it was going to be a long night. Kael is a horrible sleeper anyways, but you throw a crazy crib into the mix and it was a nightmare! I was up all night trying to get him to sleep and in the crib without waking up. Hospitals are so noisy! I hate that! They also came in to check his temperature and vitals several times which kept him awake! Needless to say, I got an hour and a half of sleep! It was a LONG night! I did not want to stay another night!

Kael's Hospital Stay-Day 1

Just before we left for Utah, Kael acted like he had an ear infection, so we took him to the doctor. The doctor said that his ear was a little red, but he didn't want us to start him on the antibiotic unless he didn't get better by the next day. Thanks to Bryan we were also approved for Medicaid the day before we left {He had to go sit in the "Tijuana Barn" for 4 hours, a.k.a. the Health and Human Services Building. It is disgusting, it is like being in a 3rd world country!} We are students and poor, so therefore we are able to receive Medicaid. Anyways, he wasn't better the next day and we were going on vacation, so we started him on the Amoxicillin. He was on the medication for 5 days. On the evening of Tuesday, December 14th Kael started to run a little fever. I figured it was one of his teeth coming in. He had been fussy all day. In the early morning hours of Wednesday, he woke up and was so HOT! I took his temperature and it was 102.4. I gave him some Motrin and we went back to sleep. In the morning when he woke up, he had red spots on his face. I figured that they were fever blisters. After putting him in the bath I noticed a few red spots on his back. About an hour later he was crawling around and I noticed red spots on his legs. It looked like he had been bit by a bug or spider. They were all over his arms as well. I took his temperature and he had a fever of 100.3. We decided to take him to the emergency room {that is the only place that Medicaid will cover when you are out of state}. I hate the emergency room, it is so dirty and full of germs.

This is Kael waiting for the doctor to come and look at him. The lady who checked us in thought that he had the Chicken Pox {I thought if he has the Chicken Pox and I brought him to the emergency room, I will feel like a dummy!} The doctor immediately told us that it was not Chicken Pox. She thought it was an allergic reaction to Amoxicillan. They ran a strep test to be safe {it came back negative} and gave him some Benadryl. The spots seemed to shrink and after 4 hours we were able to go home.

His chubby spotted legs.

The Benadryl made him sleep!

He tried to stay awake! He wasn't very successful!

Here Comes Santa Clause..... at Bowman's!

Peyton is in LOVE with Santa Clause!
He thinks he is a pretty neat guy!
And why wouldn't he? I mean the man is magic! Peyton also LOVES to go see him at Bowman's. That is all he talks about ALL year long. He can only see him at Bowman's.
He has been so excited to come to Utah {mostly to the "White House"} and see Santa at Bowman's. My mom thought that it would be fun to get my family together and Bryan's family together and go to Granny Annie's for breakfast and then head off to Bowman's to see Jolly Old St. Nicholas! It was SO fun! Our two families got together and had a yummy breakfast! Peyton LOVES to go to Granny Annie's. He got yummy hot chocolate with whipped cream on top! After we finished breakfast we went to Bowman's. There was a little bit of a line that we had to wait in, but that was okay because we had to pick out just the right car to ride in. {This is always such an ordeal. Which one to choose? The fire engine or the police car? Hmmmm. Peyton has a hard time choosing. We often have to change carts twice!} Peyton was so jealous of all the kids that were already there to see Santa Clause {We are in a competitive stage in his life. Everyone is out to get his toys, or going to his house, or his car. I am not sure why he is so competitive. Neither Bryan or I are very competitive. Lets just say we hope this ends soon. It drives me crazy!} After we distracted him with a ride around the store in his police car {while Daddy held his place in line} it was his turn!

Now, what was on this two and-a-half year olds Christmas list this year?

A guitar with REAL strings.

Drumsticks {luckily he hasn't asked for an actual drum...just the sticks...phew. Although, I am hoping he does not use the sticks as a weapon...on his brother. Who am I kidding? I know my child, HE WILL USE THEM AS A WEAPON! Santa and I might need to have a chat about the drumsticks!}

A microphone.
{So basically Rockband....his obsession!}

And a Woody with a pull string {it must have a pull string}.

Not your typical two-year old's Christmas list!

I thought that Kael would be freaked out by Santa Clause, but he really wasn't!
Of course he had to check out the beard, but he didn't really mind sitting on this stranger's lap {As long as mom didn't walk away!}

One more look at his beard.

Peyton was in heaven! He was so excited to see Santa Clause!

Now there's a smile!
We found Kael a hat at Bowman's!

Bowman's takes pictures of the kids sitting on Santa's lap and then develops them for you {all for free...which I think is sweet of them :) } Since Peyton and Kael are kind of a big deal around here, the ENTIRE family came to see Santa {Mom and Dad, both Grandparents, two aunts, and two uncles} And you can bet that Santa Clause got all of Peyton and Kael's peeps together for one big happy picture! As soon as Bowman's develops them I will scan them and post them!

I LOVE that Santa Clause is such a magical guy for children! It is so much fun to see now that I am a parent! Peyton thinks that Santa Clause can do ANYTHING! The other day I hit my elbow HARD on the car door {so hard that I lost feeling in my hand for awhile and it brought tears to my eyes...ouch}. Peyton was so worried about me. He kept telling me, "It's okay Mommy! It's okay! Santa Clause will fix it. He will come and put a pancake on it and make it better!" It was the sweetest thing! Not really sure how Santa Clause can fix with a pancake {that intrigued me}, but it was the thought that counts!
The Christmas season keeps getting better and better with every year!

Kael is 9 months.....

He is too big!

Yes, my 9 month old is walking. He started taking steps a couple of weeks ago! He is still a little wobbly but getting better as each day passes! I am still in shock and have been for a couple of weeks now at the fact that he is walking! He has always been such an active baby. I should have known from the day that I started to feel him kick inside of me! Another clue would have been his speedy entrance into the world {an hour and a half from first contraction until he was laying on my chest...intense!} He always liked to be on his tummy, so he was a very early crawler {just about 6 months}. Lets just say my life has been a little chaotic and active the last few months! Kael LOVES his brother {most of the time}. He LOVES when Peyton wakes up in the morning. He is so excited to see him. He will give him big hugs and kisses. So sweet! He also loves to wrestle with his brother. He laughs and squeals at Peyton! He also knows how to hold his own. He is one tough cookie! Peyton will push him down and he will just get back up and start moving. He also has learned how to fight back with Peyton {which can make things interesting sometimes}. He also knows that Peyton gets into trouble when he is bothering him. He will look in our direction and cry as if he is thinking, "Tell him to get away from me!" It is pretty funny. He loves to play with little cars. He will turn them upside down and take his tiny finger and spin the wheels. He is finally eating finger food! Most of the time he will swallow it. He likes to eat what we are eating. He doesn't really like fruit {which I think is totally weird} He LOVES anything orange {mainly sweet potatoes and squash} I am surprised he is not orange! When he wants more food he makes a little goat sound. It is hilarious! We call him our baby goat! He is a heavy boy! He weighs just over 22 pounds. Kael is a very tall boy as well. He has grown out of his 12 month pants! He still is a horrible sleeper! Maybe one day he will sleep through the night {I am not holding my breath!} We LOVE watching him learn and grow! We love you Kael!

An Elf Came To Visit...

Herbie the elf came to visit before we went to Utah. "Herbie" wanted to bring Peyton and Kael some suitcases for their Christmas trip to Utah. Peyton had seen a little boy at the airport with a Buzz Lightyear suitcase and wanted one. Whenever he sees something that he wants he asks me, "I am going to ask Santa Claus for that." I thought it was perfect that "Herbie" brought these for the boys!

Woody and Buzz suitcases. Woody's badge lights up and Buzz's laser lights up when it moves. I knew Peyton would LOVE this feature!

Kael was anxiously waiting for his brother to wake up!

Peyton came out crying because he "couldn't find me". He does this every morning. He thinks that I have disappeared if he can't see me the moment he opens his eyes {the fire alarm fear...argg!} But I know the crying thing is an act...he immediately stopped crying when he saw the suitcases. This is a picture of him asking, "Oh. What is that?"

"The Buzz one is mine, and the Woody one is for Kellies." {Peyton calls Kael "Kellies"}

"Who brought these to me?"

"An elf came to my house?"

"I like the Woody one!"

Peyton was so excited with his gifts from Herbie, Kael was naturally indifferent! It was all fun in games until Peyton decided that his was broken! Then his world crumbled! He wanted us to go to the store right then a buy a new one! He had the suitcase upside down with the wheels in the air and it would drag right {obviously}. We had to teach him that Buzz's back had to be facing the sky so he could fly if he needed to! He then was bothered that his dad put a pillow inside of his suitcase! Lots of crying! I never thought that my boys would be so dramatic! He did pretty good pulling it through the airport until we had to walk up a hill....then he was "too strong" to pull it! :)

Christmas in Dallas...

I am not going to lie, it was a little hard to get into the "Christmas" spirit in Dallas when it was 70 degrees! They make it as "Christmasy" as they can though. Along the city bridges and cement walls they line it with garlands and Christmas lights. It is very beautiful at night! One night we decided to go and experience some Christmas things people like to do in Dallas. They have a cute little city that is just southwest of Dallas Love Airport called Highland Park. It is the really wealthy area of the metroplex. The houses are beautiful and HUGE! They all light up their gorgeous houses and their large trees that cover the streets! We drove around looking at lights while listening to Peyton's favorite Christmas CD....Taylor Swift. He loves the song "Last Christmas". We had to listen to it 33 times that evening! After we were caught in the end of the Highland Park Christmas parade and saw Santa Claus on a fire engine we decided to head over to Neiman Marcus in downtown Dallas. Everyone told us to make sure that we saw their awesome window displays! I remembered seeing the ZCMI Christmas window displays as a child...and I loved it!

They had all the Big Brothers and Big Sisters Clubs across America decorate stars to hang up in the window. It was very cute!

Kael loved viewing the windows from the stroller...wishing he could walk alongside Peyton {which he has already started to do! Pretty sure he started taking steps at 8.5 months. One word...CRAZY. But I will post on that later!}

The whole theme of the windows was "Space Monkeys". I was a little disappointed, I thought the windows would be more "Christmas" themed, but it was still a cool concept.

There were tons of these little tubes and slides going in and out of the windows. During operating hours, you could take your children to play in the tubes. You walk alongside your child as they make their way in and out of the display windows.

Peyton wanted to go inside and play so bad. First of all, they were closed. Second of all, you have to be four and a three feet tall. So it will be a couple years before he can play here. {That is if they continue to do a display like this.}

They crawl alongside the monkeys, they are washing the tubes the children crawl through! As the monkeys were washing the tube, they were singing the song "Car Wash". Instead of using the words "car wash", they were singing "star wash". It was cute!

At the end of the tubes, there was a slide that the children exited out of. When the store is closed, they lock the slide opening with a big vault lock. Peyton thought it was a pirate wheel.

Even though they were closed, Peyton found something to play on!

He wanted his dad to come sit and watch him play.

Kael and mom.

It was a really cool idea and would be totally fun to play in. Peyton would have loved to climb around there! Maybe next year!

We headed up to Utah for the Christmas break. We will spend about a month with family. I won't lie, as much as I HATE the snow and cold, it is nice to have it around for the holidays. I think I will LOVE January and February in Dallas though. I am not a real fan of the single digit temps and the fog!

Two Things I Hate....

Recently, there has been two things in this world that I have come to HATE...well lets just say I LOATHE!

One of them being this little beauty...

This train passes by our house on a crazy schedule. I can't even call it a schedule really. It usually passes by in the evening between 5 and 7 O'clock. It then passes back by between 11 and 2 a.m. Seriously. It is across the street, but that doesn't really matter when sound is concerned! It doesn't travel very fast, at most 15 mph. It is a cute little train when it isn't honking in the middle of the night. It scares Peyton when it passes by in the middle of the night. When I hear it honk, I can count to 3 and then I hear the pitter patter of little feet running across the kitchen and jumping on my bed. We then have to have a conversation in the middle of the night about how the train is nice just like Thomas the Train!

Another horrible, but necessary object....

When we turned on the heater for the first time this season, it burned something out and caused a little smoke. This then caused our smoke alarm to go off. Luckily the train had passed by and Peyton was already on his "pre-made" bed {it's easier than making one in the middle of the night}. It was 6 a.m. We all got a rude awakening. Then exactly 7 days later it went off again, this time at 11 p.m. Not exactly sure why, because we did get our furnace fixed! A few days later, Bryan burned a pizza and the fire alarm went off. A series of unfortunate events really. Peyton is now scared....of EVERYTHING! Someone knocks on the door...he loses it! Kael knocked over some pots and pans and he ran screaming! He won't sleep alone, he won't play alone, he won't even be ten feet away from me. The only really hard part is sleeping, he has to sleep in our room. Luckily Bryan made him a comfy "doggy bed", so he is fine on the floor. I don't really know how to fix this, the child remembers everything. I can honestly see him at 18 sleeping on his doggy bed! You can see why I HATE these two items, right?