We Survived HFMD Part 2

Read Part 1 Here.

The doctor also instructed us to give her children's benadryl, not the most pleasant idea we found out later. At 2:30 pm I returned home from the pharmacy with a chocolate pedisure and the acid-rinse, um, I mean benadryl. The pedisure was a success. Praise God! There would be no trip to the doctor. But, the most heart-wrenching part was to come when I brought the benadryl in the medicine cup to give to Scamp. We coaxed her to drink it, and she let out the most horrific scream and said it burned. Oh no! And she still had over half the dose to drink. After that, we put all her medicines into a spoon to pour it in her mouth in one drink.

That night we allowed Scamp to sleep in our bed. Daddy left the house for an emergency run to the store and both girls were asleep in our room. Oh, now I could have a little relaxation until I heard an alarming sound coming from the bedroom. Scamp awoke in pain and was wailing which in turn awoke 4 month old Scoodle who was screaming. Now, I know what parents of twins feel like when both children are crying. Who do I attend to first? I gave Scoodle her paci and tried to coax Scamp to calm down. She did, but Scoodle spit her paci out and began to scream again causing Scamp to cry. Oh dear! Back and forth the girls played off each other. Finally, I took Scoodle into the other room with a bottle, and daddy arrived home in time to put Scamp back to bed. The house was peaceful again except for my racing heart.

The next morning we were all worn down from lack of consistent sleep. I was feeling quite claustrophobic since I hadn't left the house but for a 30 minute trip to the store, which was cut short by my being needed at home. Carrying Scoodle on my hip, I took her to her daddy and said, "We've got to leave the house today even if it's just a drive in the car. He must have sensed my near panic and took the baby from me. I thought I was holding it together until Scoodle was released from my arms. I began to cry, and Beef immediately called his mother, the girls beloved Meme, and asked her if she could come up. She arrived a couple of hours later and stayed for several more. God bless you, Meme.

Luckily, HFMD has been the worst virus we've experienced because of how long it lasted (6 days) and how much pain it caused Scamp. She lived on pedisure for another couple of days and slowly returned to solid food. Daddy gave up his side of the bed to Scamp during that time. I know Scamp appreciated it. Some of the research showed that she still may be contagious for another few weeks. Baby Scoodle has had no symptoms, and we are very thankful.

We Survived HFMD

Have you ever heard of HFMD (Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease)? Not so luckily I have (through experience). It's a nasty virus that leaves very painful blisters on the inside of your mouth and throat and not so painful blisters on your hands and feet. My husband and I have both had it...twice. His experience left him twenty pounds lighter. So, you can only imagine how afraid we were when Scamp came down with it.

Saturday she started complaining about her mouth hurting when we were eating lunch at the pool. She even insisted on throwing her icee away unfinished because of the pain. But, I didn't discover the blisters in her mouth until that night.

She refused to eat much by Sunday, the day we started giving her children's ibuprofen for the pain. She doesn't take medicine well, so you can imagine how heart-breaking it was to give her liquid medicine that caused her mouth to hurt even more upon taking it.

We put her to bed upstairs Sunday night, but she woke up crying in pain. We then put her in bed with us and she proceeded to cry out in her sleep about every hour and a half for most of the night.

Monday morning was looking up when she was able to eat ice cream for breakfast, the only good thing about having HFMD, so we forwent taking her to the doctor. But, by mid-day she was in pain again and not on the verge of dehydration we hoped. Anxious, we called her doctor to see what the signs of dehydration were. If she hadn't used the bathroom by 4:00 o'clock, we were instructed to bring her in.

Read the second half tomorrow.

Baby's 2 Month Check-up

I just got home from Scoodle's 2 month check-up. I took both girls, and it was a bit stressful with my rambunctious 3 year old. She's been testing me more lately, and it's been a challenge to remain calm and kind. Both girls are in the bed, so I'm getting a few minutes to collect myself and relax.

Scoodle's appointment went well. She's 12 pounds and 13 ounces. Scamp was 10 pounds 13 ounces at 2 months. They are both in the 95th percentile for height, and I often wonder how tall they will be. I'm thinking they will be taller than me. I'm 5'8" and Beef is 6'5". Scoodle got a shot today, and it wasn't pleasant. It took several minutes to get her settled down. She wouldn't take her pacifier or bottle. Finally, after walking her around she stopped crying and took a little formula. The doctor said she may have a fever, so I've already given her a fever reducer.

We took Scamp to the eye doctor a couple of weeks ago and found out she has a turned eye. It turns slightly inward and can make it hard for her to focus. The week before my nephew's eye completely turned in. They have treated him with a patch he wears over his good eye 6 hours a day plus prescription glasses to help his turned eye strengthen. His eye has improved somewhat. We are going to take Scamp for a second opinion. The first doctor prescribed glasses for her, and we just want to make sure that's all that needs to be done. Please pray for both Scamp and my nephew.

My Best Friend's Wedding

One of my closest friends, Janice, got married a couple of weekends ago. We had a full week of activities with showers and rehearsals. This was at the rehearsal dinner. Scamp has to take a purse filled with her most needed essentials everywhere we go. This pirate hat and princess top just happened to be handy for this occasion.



Beef was one of the groomsmen in the wedding. He cleans up well, huh?


This is Janice and I. I loved her dress.


We had a great Memorial Weekend. We had lunch with some friends on Saturday and a big cookout with Matt's family on Monday. They pulled out the inflatable water slide from last year, and the kids played on that all day. Click on the link to see pictures from last year. Scamp was a bit hesitant to get on at first, so we left her alone. Then, she climbed up and went down by herself. We couldn't get her off the slide after that.

Birthday Pool Party

Sunday, we went to my nephew's (Bubby) 6th birthday party at the pool. I can't believe he is six already. He's had a big year with starting kindergarten. He had the stomach flu earlier but was able to still have fun at the party. He even had to be rescued by a lifeguard. He went into the 5 foot area without his life vest on. He was bobbing up and down, not panicking, so the lifeguard near him didn't think anything was wrong. But, another one a little further away saw him and tried to give him a life preserver, but when he didn't take it, she jumped in after him. We got a good scare, but Bubby wasn't even upset. When I was about his age, I went under and had to have my sister, Bubby's mom, pull me out. I cried and didn't want to get back into the pool for awhile.

Scamp had to wear her shades in the indoor pool. The party was in the evening, and the sun wasn't even shining through the windows. She's so adorable. She had the biggest time in the kiddie pool with her other cousins until she got mad at Bubby. She whopped him in the face with her bucket then cried when he yelled at her to stop. We didn't know what had happened until we saw the welt on Bubby's face!

Here's a good preggy shot of me. I'm 38 weeks today and still holding on. I'm ready to have this baby anytime you are, dear Lord!

Snow Days '09

It usually snows here in March, and we certainly didn't miss out on snow this year. We got a whopping 2-3 inches! At least this year, we had enough snow to make a snowman before it melted away. BTW, that's Scamp's birthday cake above.
I was so glad to have a coat that actually zipped. Squirt was all bundled up!


At my parent's home about 30 minutes away they got several more inches. My mom measured 9 inches. This was the second day of snow when Scamp and I traveled up to see my niece, nephew and dad who were off for the day.

I wish I could have rode the sled my dad hitched up to his T-Rex. Maybe next year.

Christmas 2008

 

Here's some of the best pictures we took for Christmas with my family. We always have a good time with lots of love and lots of presents. Scamp was so eager for Christmas to arrive this year. Her enthusiasm helped get me into the Christmas mood, and I even put the tree up before Thanksgiving. I'm also not a huge fan of Christmas music, but if Scamp's in the car we have one of her two Christmas CDs playing. I have more Christmas pictures to post later. Click on the collage to enlarge the pctures.

Whoville in Ice

Is anyone else having trouble uploading pictures to blogger? I have tried to post about our trip to Ice! three times now. I'm finally able to get some photos up!

This ice sculpture event is held every year with a different theme, and this year's theme was "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." They provide parkas for every one. It is so cold inside. At first, Scamp was scared to go in because you had to make your way down a narrow hallway blocked by long plastic flaps, but once inside she was thrilled. Scamp and Beef both went down an ice slide. We saw lots of Who's, and the finale was the Nativity scene. It was quite spectacular. I hope to post some Christmas pics soon.

Corn Maze 2008

 

Fall is my favorite time of the year. It's also one of our busiest times because we try to fit all the fall activities (bonfires, hayrides, corn mazes, fall festivals) into one month, therefore our weekends have been stacked full. We went to a corn maze near our home a couple of Sundays ago with Beef's parent's church. The weather was just right. I remember 2 years ago when we went to a similar corn maze, but the temperature was freezing and almost too cold for the kid's to enjoy. But, this year was so pleasant that as you can see Beef was wearing shorts!

Can you believe Halloween is this week? Scamp has chosen her costume already and has worn it twice, once to a birthday party and once to our church's fall festival. Maybe if I don't tell you what the costume is it will give me more incentive to post again very soon.

BTW, I'm 17 weeks along and am feeling much better. We will find out the sex of the baby in two weeks. Maybe I'll post some belly pictures with the results of the doctor's visit, too.

Rescue of a Fuzzy Baby Kitty, Part 2

For part one of the rescue, click here.

Mid-day, Monday

Scamp and I return from a shopping trip after which she fell asleep in the car. I had had no more thought of the kitten until I hear him begging for his mama again in the original jungle bush. I lay Scamp inside in her bed and start my search of the bush from the side closest to the back of our neighbor's house gently calling, "Kitty, kitty," when I hear someone else from the opposite side saying the same thing. It's our neighbor who heard the kitten meowing as well. We didn't know we were searching on separate side's of the bush. I explain our attempts of rescue beginning last night, and he basically leaves the hunt up to us because his son is allergic to cats.

Matt finally comes back out and sends me to the spot my neighbor previously claimed on the front side of the plant while he guides me to the kitty's lair. He has his eye on the him and tells me I have to lay down and reach about a foot and a half into the oblivion of this vast tree to grasp the now silent kitten. After two attempts, I lay hold of one of his paws and manage to wrangle him around his fuzzy belly pulling him out, claws and all. If he'd been any bigger than his five-week old self, I wouldn't have been able to handle those sharp nails. I quickly settle him into my chest and gently pet him. He's calm at last, and we take him inside for a bowl of milk. Scamp's still asleep, and we know what will happen. She'll quickly become attached to this little creature and will not want to share him. But, we are determined not to keep him.


We make a soft bed for him in Scratchy's carrier, but the poor little thing isn't happy unless he's snuggled up in the crook of someone's neck. Needless to say, I let him out until our own baby wakes up. "Look what Mama and Daddy found, Baby," I say as she peers down at the infant kitten. She's so excited and uses her stubby little fingers to pick him up. "My baby kitty," says Scamp. "No, Baby, that's Janice's baby kitty." Janice is one of our kitty loving friends who we think would have the ideal home for this new bundle of fur.

While Scamp's petting and strangling, oh wait, gently caressing the kitty around the neck, we call Janice and leave a message about the kitten. We hope she calls back soon because Scamp can't keep her hands off him, and we don't want her to become too attached. We intervene numerous times on the kitty's behalf while Scamp is holding him, but as soon as she sits him down, he's off following her. Finally, I leave for my 7:00 pm Bible Study, and Matt's left to supervise. When I arrive home two hours later with kitten chow in hand, Janice is there holding "Scamp's Baby Kitty." Scamp is already beside herself that she isn't in charge of the petting for the moment.


Bad news for Scamp. It's time for bed. She's had four hours plus of constant interaction with the kitten and wants him to sleep with her. But, Daddy tries to explain to her that the kitty is going to a good home at Janice's house. "Don't take my baby kitty, Janice," cries Scamp as tears of desperation streak down her face. Scamp begins screaming as Matt carries her upstairs to bed. What kind of parents are we? She finally settles down and goes to sleep. The next day wasn't as bad as we thought it might be. Scamp only mentioned the kitten once and without tears I might add. Later that day, I talked with Matt. He said he nearly broke down and let Scamp have the kitty as another indoor pet. It broke all our hearts to let the kitty go, but we have too many friends and family members who are allergic to cats. Scratchy will be out last indoor pet.


Kitty is doing well at Janice's. She has family staying over, and they all take turns sleeping with the kitty cuddled up on their necks. Janice has the pictures to prove it. We may even let Scamp visit baby kitty when he gets a little bigger and doesn't look so much like a tiny baby anymore.

Rescue of a Fuzzy Baby Kitty

9:30 pm Sunday.

We arrive home from Meme and Papa's to a hoarse meowing coming from our neighbor's enormous bush. When I say enormous I mean one-story house tall and 10-15 feet in diameter big. This is no flimsy bush but could easily hide a grown man if he could maneuver his way through the maze of tightly tucked limbs.

Scamp and I walk over to investigate. My heart is hoping the muffled meowing is from a kitty but could very well be the chirping of a tree frog. Even with the light from our front porch we can't see into the dense bush, so I retrieve a flashlight. Scamp is so excited to find what is lurking inside, but I can't see anything except branches. The meowing grows more distinct as I make my way toward the back of the jungle of limbs. "It's a kitty!" I exclaim to Scamp, almost sure that the tiny creature has nearly lost his voice from meowing continuously.

Matt arrives with his hefty high-powered flashlight and squeezes his upper body into the center of the bush. "I see it," he says. "It's just a baby," who has apparently lost his mama. Scamp's anticipation of seeing the kitten grows, and she ecstatically climbs into my arms to wait. But, the kitten has become frightened and moves farther away from Matt still half wedged in the tree. We move over to the other side of the bush on the front of our neighbor's house. I'm surprised they haven't come out with a baseball bat to catch us "cat-burglars" sneaking around on their property.

After about 15 minutes we give up since it's so late and too hard to see anything outside much less inside the bush. We put Scamp to bed, but Matt and his determination decide to hunt more for the kitten. We didn't realize our cat, Scratchy Paw Paw, was outside and has chased the poor baby kitty out of his hiding spot. But, Matt hears the baby across the street and proceeds in prowling yet again in another neighbor's bushes. With no luck however. He returns inside in defeat except for the fact he wasn't arrested! We accept our failed rescue and hope the kitty is able to find his mama. We put it all behind us...we think.

Read the rest of the rescue later...

The Great Smoky Mountains 2008 Day 3

The third day was our trip to the Aquarium. We first stopped at one of the parks along the scenic highway going out of downtown Gatlinburg. This detour is most certainly becoming a tradition in our family. We always make several family pictures. Here we all are minus my mom.
This is the first exhibit you see upon entering the aquarium. We we so glad we were able to use our free tickets. One of the best parts of the center is the shark tank. You step on a moving belt and spend 10-15 minutes following an enclosed shark tank, but there are many more fish besides the sharks. Scamp was freaking out most of the way through especially when we would go under the exceptionally long swordfish with their sharp beaks all plastered to the tunnel ceiling. It's really hard to take good pictures inside the tank, so I'm not going to post those.
There were a few mini aquariums where you could climb inside for a picture. Scamp and Bubby really enjoyed these. My mom, too, as you can tell!
This was the entrance to a miniature cave where all adults had to crawl inside. Scamp thought this was her own little clubhouse.
She really enjoyed meeting the "stuffed" shark. She gave him hugs. She would have been terrified this same time last year. She used to be so afraid when Chuck E. Cheese would come visit her!
We came back to the cabin afterward. The guys all left to ride the slick track cars while the ladies and kiddos under 12 stayed behind. Scamp and Bubby played hide-and-go-seek. I think this is just an adorable picture. Scamp loves her Bubby. That was the end of our stay. We left the next morning. I'll post our family pictures we took prior to leaving later since this is already a pretty long post.

The Great Smoky Mountains 2008 Day 2

If you've missed Day One of our Gatlinburg vacation, click here. Day 2 started of with a bit of excitement as we left our cozy cabin in Pigeon Forge and made our first drive into Gatlinburg. Nephew Bubby claimed our second back seat as his own and rode with us the remainder of our stay. I failed to mention that when we arrived our first day, our car started to overheat in the stop-and-start traffic into Pigeon Forge and escalated in temperature when we trekked up the windy mountain road of our cabin. We spent most of the trip with the windows down (thankfully the temperature was only in the 80s) and the heater on full blast to calm our engine. We didn't break down, thank the Lord. Therefore, we chose to park our car and take the Tram from downtown Gatlinburg to Ober Gatlinburg, a carnival/ice skating rink of sorts on top of one of the mountains.
Bubby was all smiles here, but he was a bit nervous. He braved through the at times jerky swaying and the overly packed corridor of the Tram car. I didn't get any pictures out of the Tram this time due to all the sight-seers blocking the windows. You can see more pictures of Gatlinburg from our trip last year here.
Our first visit at Ober Gatlinburg was the bear exhibit. It was a bit shabby because they were making lots of renovations, but we still managed to see some chubby ole' black bears sunbathing.
Nana packed us a picnic, and we ate in a small grassy area off to the side of the parking lot.
Several of my family members got all-day passes to ride the carnival rides, water slides, and the chair lift. Here's my dad following up my mom and niece to the top. Scamp and I took a turn also with Bubby and his mom (my sis Julie) leading the way. Scamp kept yelling, "I'm gonna catch you Bubby and JuJu."
You have the option to ride to the top of the mountain or get off halfway and ride the Alpine Slide down. We came here when I was twelve, but I was much too scared to attempt the slide that time. But, my free spirit (Beef's saying "Yeah right" about now.) got the better of me, and I rode down. Here's my BIL Bill and nephew Billy on the back left and Beef on the back right coming down.
The view from the top is breathtaking. It's so calm and serene except when you're with a two-year old and five-year old who chase each other screaming until the smaller of the two falls down! Poor baby!!

We stayed longer at Ober Gatlinburg than intended, so we waited to the next day to attempt the Aquarium. Box and Rocks were tuckered out and needed a cool breeze to help deter the intensity of the heater. Anyone care for an Ogle Dog? We missed our chance. Catch us here again for Day 3.

The Great Smoky Mountains 2008

We loaded the car up Sunday morning with Scamp in her jammies and her two buddies, Box and Rocks to head to the Smokies. It only takes us 3-4 hours to get there, and we met up with my parents and sister's family halfway.
We stayed in the Black Bear Resort in a chalet, and here's a partial view off one of our balconies. Scamp called our cabin the Big House. She loved that she got to spend so much time playing at the house with her cousin Bubby. There were 5 bedrooms and a jacuzzi tub in every one of them. It slept eighteen, but with a party of 10 we stretched out. Scamp slept on the floor on a mattress off a pull-out bed in our upstairs room. She loved it.

After relaxing for a little while once we'd arrived my mom, sister, and I headed to Kroger and picked up groceries for our four day stay. My mom always packs tons of drinks, snacks, and picnic stuff. We (my mom mostly) cooked breakfast and dinner daily, then we packed a picnic and ate at a couple of parks for our lunches. We didn't eat out our entire stay minus the trips to and from our destination. That saved a ton on money.
We went to the Wonder Works Museum on Monday before lunch. This was one of our favorite parts. A camera distorted our images on a huge screen as we danced to lots of disco music. A picture from this angle made us look like shadows.
After leaving Wonder Works my sister, her husband, Beef, and I attended a time share presentation and received 8 free tickets to the Ripley's Aquarium. It was my first presentation, but the guy was really nice even though we were only interested in the free tickets. He graduated from the same school Beef and I did.

Later that night, we went to Old MacDonald's Mini Golf where the pigs really do fly. I don't think we were supposed to sit on the livestock, but it made for a funny picture.

Beforehand, my niece had the idea to put Box and Rocks into her backpack. I've already mentioned that these buddies tagged along so that I could take pictures of them and make a scrapbook for our swap partners in a different state.

They even played golf with us. Many people looked at me strangely because I was always posing the raccoons for pictures.

Here we are from left: my niece Alex, Scamp, me, my nephew Bubby, and my mom. Scamp didn't play, but she roamed around with Nana and petted the talking animals. She requested to pet the "dirty little pigs." The things she says! Bubby had a fun time and did really well putting.
Scamp decided to show up her daddy in a game of Dance Dance in the arcade there. She's got moves! That's all for day one. I'll post more in a day or two.

Meme Shores

Welcome to Meme Shores.
Adult Admission: Free with entrance of a grandchild

Generations

Today, Scamp and I went shopping and to lunch with my grandma and one of her sisters, my great-aunt Lura. I grew up in a large family with close ties to all my extended relatives, especially on my mom's side. Her mom had 9 siblings, 5 girls and 5 boys total, and I knew every one of them plus my great-grandmother and great-grandfather. Both my great-grandparents have passed away along with one great-aunt but the rest of the siblings still try to get-together a couple of times a year.

It has been a wonderful blessing to have such a large extended family, and it's really nice for Scamp to be able to know and love them as much as I do. There is so much history they can all share and have shared with me all my life. I remember stories from my great-uncle Bob about growing up in the Great Depression. He was always excited on Christmas because he and his siblings would get an apple and an orange a piece and that was it. We don't even consider things like chocolate a luxury now. I hope I'm able to teach Scamp gratitude living in this fast-paced got-to-have-what-I-want-now society. I know I get caught up in that mind set way too often.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to listen and to learn. I hope Scamp is able to cherish the memories as much as I do.

Valentine's Day 2008

We waited until after naptime to do our Valentine's gifts. If you look really closely, you can see one lingering tear in Scamp's eye. She's awfully grumpy when she wakes up. I'm told she's just like her Mama in this area. I went in her room to get her, and she literally growled at me. She apparently wasn't done with her nap. I started to go back downstairs, but that seemed to make things worse. The only thing that helped her get out of her funk was for her Daddy to come get her out of bed. Even the lure of presents downstairs couldn't shake the grump out of her until she finally saw them.

After presents we ate supper at the Bangkok, a Thai restaurant. I love the food, and it's never very crowded. We were seated immediately. After that we went to the Hobby Store for Beef to look at RC airplane parts, then we went to the mall. We had a great Valentine's. How was your day?

Snow Day 2008

We woke up to a freezing day yesterday. It was the first snow day of the year. Scamp and I were supposed to go to BSF (Bible study) that morning but changed our minds since the schools were out. We headed out about 9:00 am along with Beef for a little frosty fun. We barely got an inch of snow, and it melted away before lunch. But, Scamp still had her fun digging with the spoon she requested.

Beef built her a tiny snowman. This was actually the second one because she had way too much fun destroying the first one with her spoon. We are mid-snowman-kiss here. It's still really cold, and the only snow that's left is on our back deck where the sun doesn't hit very often.

BTW, Happy Valentine's Day!! We haven't exhanged our valentines yet, so hopefully tomorrow I'll have some pictures to post.