Serious.Blog.Slacker.

I'm sorry guys! I don't know what's going on with me! I feel like I've let you down! My computer isn't uploading pics, so I've been using that as an excuse to not blog. So, when I feel a little inspiration, I promise I'll post something really exciting!!! =)

Our New Pet Continued...

Since this last post, I have two more reasons why Leini reminds me of a puppy:

1- She likes to growl now...

2- She ACTUALLY ATE dog food yesterday! YUCK! My 10-year-old neice was holding her for me while I was helping my nephew with his homework. A few minutes later, I hear her coughing. I realized my niece had set her down, and she was eating out of the dog's bowl! She had 3 pieces in her mouth. I was so grossed out! I washed her off so thoroughly, but last night, I could still smell dog food on her breath! Yuck! Do you think she COULD be part dog? lol

Our New Pet!!!

The more I think about it, the more I realize....

This....


(not my baby btw! My computer wasn't uploading pics from my camera, so I had to substitute! lol)

Reminds me so much of this....


(not my dog either! =))

Seriously.

Let me explain.

This past month since Leini's been crawling, I've been noticing some tendencies she has that are so much like an active little puppy!

Here are some examples:

1- Kassie thinks it's funny to get a cracker and call her name. When she sees the cracker, she immediately starts crawling for it! Just like a puppy.

2- Anytime someone opens the front door, she immediately starts to race for it. Again, just like a puppy.

3- If left to explore for a minute, I know immediately where I can find her. Where you ask? In the kitchen. She has learned to crawl underneath the pantry to look for cereal that Kassie might have dropped when she was helping herself. Leini tries to be so sneaky and hide the little treasure in her hand so I don't see it. Again, just like a puppy.

4- She has an obsession...with shoes!

Need I say more? If I didn't know any better, I'd swear this little girl was half puppy! =)

Welcome Spring!!!

Ok...I know I'm not the only one the feels this way, but it is so nice to have Spring weather finally here! This week has been full of long walks outside, playing at the park, and a good long visit to Wheeler Farm, where my mom taught Kassie where meat comes from! YIKES! Tonight, I was cooking up some hamburger, and she told me, "Mom, I don't think I want to eat animals anymore...I just want to enjoy them!" I have a four-year-old vegetarian on my hands now! Thanks again Mom!

I love you Spring...thanks for finally coming...please stay for awhile! =)

Because Sometimes When it Rains, it POURS!!!

I want you to know that after looking over my last few posts, I do realize that most of them have been on the topic of sick/hurt children. I just have one more to add...then I'll lay the subject to rest for awhile! Read my previous post and read what I've been up to this last week. I was sad to find that when I came home from the hospital, Kas had a bad cough that seemed to come from nowhere. It had been less than a week since she had stopped coughing from her last cold. Well, last night, I was awoken with a blood curdling scream as Kassie lay in a pool of throw-up. I'm sure you appreciate this picture! lol But, poor thing had it coming out both ends all night! =( Between her waking up all night, Leini has still been extremely fussy and not eating regularly, so around 4 this morning, I realized it was pointless to try to sleep anymore and gave up trying. I should have known better, but I kept asking myself, "What next?" Well, I quickly found the answer to that was when Leini woke up this morning with a bad cough and runny nose. That's what I get for thinking!

Car Seats and Carts DO NOT mix!!!!

Ok...so I really thought about whether or not I wanted to blog about where I've been the past few days, because it has been a traumatic situation, and something that I still feel horribly guilty about. But, the more I think about it, if my sharing what happened helps someone else from having to go through the same thing, then it will be worth sharing. So, I guess I'll just get it out....

On Tuesday night, my sister and my friend Kristin and I were shopping at Wal-Mart. I had Kas and Leini with me, and Leini had been really fussy and didn't want to sit in her carseat, so I had been carrying her throughout the store. We had been there about an hour. I needed to pick up something off the shelf, and by this time, my arms were so sore from holding her. I set her in her carseat(which was fastened on the shopping cart) so I could reach something off the shelf and put it in the cart. In literally 5 seconds, the carseat fell over the side of the cart, and Leini fell face first on the hard linoleum floor. The carseat fell right on top of her.
=( Honestly, it is an image that will be burned in my mind for the rest of my life...and something that I have had a hard time forgiving myself for. It only took a second, and she was seriously injured.

So, she screamed for a good 20 minutes or so, while a huge goose-egg appeared on her forehead. Her nose and forehead took on a weird greenish-yellow tone. We applied some ice, and I called my Dr.'s office to see what I should do. They told me the signs of concussion to watch for...and we waited to see what would happen. She kept gagging like she was going to throw up, but she never did. After the initial screaming, she went completely limp in my arms and I could not keep her awake, which is very unusual for her. After about 15 minutes of falling asleep, she woke up and was very somber. We decided it was better to be safe, so my sister took me to the ER. I was crying so hard that I couldn't even check her in, so my sister was explaining to the nurse at the check-in counter what had happened. It didn't help that when she told them, "It just happened so fast," the nurse looked at me and said, "It only takes a second." That only made me cry harder. I felt as though I was a horrible parent!

They kept her to be monitored at the ER for several hours, but they told me it was probably more harmful for her to have a catscan done at such a young age because, "the amount of radiation she would receive would be equivalent to the amount of radiation from the Hiroshima bombing." That completely freaked me out, so I opted not to have a catscan done.

When we got home that night, she started vomiting. She wouldn't really eat, and by the following morning, I called my Dr.'s office and they told me I needed to take her immediately to Primary's. To lighten this story up a bit, when I found out I needed to take her back in, I started crying again, and Abe was standing by me holding her. When she saw me crying, she reached out for me and said "ma ma." This was something she said about a month ago for like 3 days straight, but had refused to say again, even after much prompting. I thought that was sweet! Anyway, back to the story.

So, on Wednesday morning I took her to Primary's and they told me that they would need to do a catscan...which freaked me out because of what I had been told at the other hospital. They told me they could lower the amount of radiation she received to a safe level. They found out that she had a skull fracture that started right below her soft spot, and went half way down her forehead. The good news was that there was no damage to her brain, or no inner bleeding. So they kept us overnight to watch her. She continued to throw up and then had diarhea, and they were worried about her becoming dehydrated. She started eating 1-2 ozs every 4 hrs or so, which is not less than half of what she usually eats. After an eventful night, where I had to share the room with 2 seperate patients, they discharged us the following afternoon. I really thought she was doing a lot better, even though she wasn't eating much. And then yesterday came and she stopped eating completely.

I took her into my Dr.'s office and he told me she wasn't dehydrated YET and to try giving her Pedialyte, Gatorade, even a Slurpee (WHAT????) to get her to drink something....anything. After many prayers, I thought we were headed back up to Primarys. She refused to eat anything all afternoon. Finally, around 9 o'clock last night, she was screaming, and she finally took a couple of ozs in a bottle. Last night, she did much better. She started drinking her formula again, in small portions, and she seems like she's slowly starting to return to herself. Hopefully it gets better from here! The hard part is reading the information they sent home with me that talks about future problems she may have with learning, etc. My trauma neurologist at the hospital feels that she won't have any future problems though, and her outlook was very positive.

Ok...sorry for the long story, but my reason for sharing was to make you think twice before you set your child in their carseat, even for a second without buckling them. The ER said they see more head accidents in infants from carseats. Please, please, please don't ever put the carseat on the bed, a table, anywhere higher than the ground. It only takes a second for a fall. And last but not least, carseats and Wal-Mart carts are evil! lol But seriously, they said that most accidents with carts have happened at Wal-Mart. Please learn from my mistake and don't let it happen to your child. It has been horrible! But, I'm hoping someone can learn from my mistake.

Here are some pics from the ordeal:

This one was taken after we got home from the ER the first night...and the swelling had already gone down a lot...



Kicking back in her metal cage at the hospital...she doesn't look very upset, but I assure you, the smiles were few and far between...



Her poor arm after they popped her blood vessel when they were trying to take her blood...



Happy to finally be home from the hospital! The sticky tape that was on her was what they connected the monitors to. Before we took them off....(notice Kas in the background dressed like she's ready to go swimming! It was bedtime, but she was convinced she should be going swimming instead! lol)



After we took the tape off...the red marks are still there!



My poor baby! Hope you never have to go through this! Although, it did give me a better perspective of what some of my friends have been through with their kids. It also makes me SO grateful for everything I have.

What Happens When Daddy Is Left in Charge?

Last week, I came home from work to find Kassie's hair in the scariest shape! Abe had done her hair in 3 little braids on each side that hung down and one big braid in the back for the rest of the hair! There were big chunks that were just hanging out with nowhere to go! I couldn't believe she was seen in public looking like some poor orphan girl! I had to take a picture, although you REALLY don't get the full effect!



NEED I SAY MORE????

I think he was just trying to be funny (I think?).

Thank goodness I'm done working my full time shifts and I'll be home in the morning to get Kas off to school! lol