RSV strikes again

I'm desperately trying to stay on top of my blogging... mostly because my memory is horrible and I love being able to look back in the archives and be reminded of the things I should remember. But life with three littles is crazy so I don't get to write as often as I used to. Still, I just can't fly the white flag yet. This blog is not dead! The reality is - most of my life is documented on Instagram these days (annieshoe on Instagram). But I'm just not ready to say goodbye to this sacred space yet. So, I'm going to try to keep it alive.

Anyway, we've had an eventful couple of weeks around these parts. All three kiddos had colds for several days and then last Monday (the 9th), Claire woke up complaining of ear pain.  I decided to take all three kiddos to the doctor because everyone was miserable. Claire was rocking herself back and forth and crying the entire time we were waiting, so I knew she must be in a lot of pain. The doctor said Claire had a terrible ear infection.  She said Claire's eardrum was about as red and swollen as they come and not to be surprised if it bursts.  She prescribed an antibiotic and checked out Emma and Charlie.  She determined they both just had colds and sent us on our way.  Fast forward a few hours and guess what happened?  Claire's ear drum burst!  She woke up from a nap and had blood and puss all over her ear. Poor baby!  Although it actually relieved the pain from the infection.

The week went on and Claire got better, Emma stayed about the same, and Charlie continued to get worse.  Three days later, on Thursday, I decided to take Charlie in for a recheck.  He was on day #4 of a fever, wasn't eating or playing, and had been sleeping more than I felt comfortable with.  He took a 5 1/2 hour nap on Thursday and that just didn't seem right.  I took him in, thinking they would tell me he had an ear infection.  Instead, the doctor said he was wheezing and his oxygen stats were low (93).  They gave him breathing treatment and rechecked the oxygen.  This time it was at 87. The doctor told me I would need to take him to the ER. It was a little unsettling to have your doctor say they couldn't help him and he would need to go to the emergency room! My neighbor met me at the ER and picked up Claire and Emma.

We were met at the entrance to the ER by a team of people who whisked us into a room right away.  They immediately started working on Charlie - hooked him up to the oxygen, put in an iv, started breathing treatments, gave him fluids, and did a chest x-ray. I couldn't believe how quickly they got to work!

It wasn't long before they determined he had RSV and pneumonia and would need to be admitted.  Although the ER experience was much better this time around, I instantly had flashbacks to when Emma had the same thing!

Charlie ended up needing to stay 4 nights in the hospital. They had a hard time weaning him off of the oxygen but by day #4, he was back to his old self and ready to go home!

Justin and I took turns staying the night at the hospital and the girls got to come and visit!  We were there from the 12th to the 16th.  I think Charlie's thing for hospitals on holidays should stop now. ;)

Valentine's Day visit from the big sisters!

Family and friends stepped up to help with the girls. People brought food. People had food delivered from states away. Flowers and gifts were sent. We are so thankful! It's so awesome to see how God uses people to fill in the gaps and serve in different ways when we are in need.

Finally ready to go home!

Here's to hoping spring is right around the corner and we all stay healthy for awhile!

Dancing Queens

The girls' dance class performed in The Nutcracker over the weekend.  We were surprised by the production value of a park district class.. but the girls sure loved their big, fancy costumes and their parents loved watching them on stage.

Sugar plum fairies!

Cousin Lauren was in the same class... so fun performing together!

A very special part of the day was that Claire's kindergarten teacher, Miss Christensen, came to see the show and brought Claire flowers.  Claire was so happy!

Grammy and Babu came to see the show, too!  It was so special having them in the audience to cheer them on. We are so thankful for the way they encourage our girls. 

Turning six

Claire turned the big SIX last week!  She had been planning her 'girls only Lego party' since her fifth birthday, so the stakes were rather high.  ;)

The day of her actual birthday was a lot of fun!  It started with opening presents, donuts, and chocolate milk.

Claire got a new bike (thank you Craigslist)!  Too bad she won't get to try it out for another four months!  Stupid winter.

She had to get some Lego building in before school!

Her sweet teacher made her day at school extra special.  She had asked us to write special letters to Claire and send them to school.  On her birthday, her teacher read the letters to her in front of the class.  She also got to wear this special birthday crown all day.  Justin was working from home that day so over his lunch break, he went to school and had lunch with her.  Then he read a story to the class.  I think that might have been the second happiest day of Claire's life (second only to the day her baby brother was born).  ;)

After school, Claire and I got to go on a special birthday date.  I took her to get her very first manicure and it was so much fun!

I love special time like this with this sweet girl.

We decided to have her birthday party the following day, on Friday, right after school.  She invited three friends and they all walked home from school with us for the party.  Like I mentioned, it was a Lego party.  We had a lot of fun planning it!

I thought a Lego cake would be sooo easy to make. Umm, no.  Not easy.  This was way hard to frost. 

Claire came up with this cool idea on her own!  

The girls designed their own Lego person because no party of Claire's is complete without art involved.

You can't have a Lego party without a little 'guess how many Legos'!

The party was great for the first hour!  The girls were sweet and had fun.  We ate snacks, played games, decorated Lego people, had cake, and opened presents.

Such sweet friends!

Claire even insisted that everyone share their picture and describe it to the group.  Future teacher, perhaps??  :)

About a half hour before everyone was going to get picked up, Claire said she was tired and laid down on the couch.  Umm, so NOT like Claire.  A few minutes later, as I was going to encourage her to go play with her friends, I realized she had FALLEN ASLEEP.  So weird.  I could not wake her up.  It was so embarrassing when all the moms came to pick up their daughter and the birthday girl is asleep on the couch.  Yeah, weird.  So everyone left and I finally got Claire to get up.  She told me she didn't feel well so I suggested we go get her pajamas on and go lay down, even though it was only 4:15.  We got to her room, she sat down on the bed, and started puking everywhere!!  I could not believe it!  Poor girl had come down with the stomach flu.  She told me later that she didn't fell well at school but was too excited about her party to go to the nurse.  :(  How sad is that?  I felt terrible that her friends had been there and probably are all puking now.  I had no idea she was sick.. what a nightmare!

After all was said and done, I think she still had fun... although she wanted nothing to do with the leftover cake.  Poor child.

We are so thankful for these six years.  Claire has made every day brighter and more exciting because she is in it.  I am a proud mama!

Kindergarten.. it actually happened

Y'all. All of this crazy change lately.  Moving, settling into a new home, making new friends, missing old ones, Emma turning 4, Claire starting kindergarten.  Please, Lord... can we get a little stability up in here?  My emotions can't handle any more of this!

So, she's off.  We walked her to school this morning and kissed her teary cheeks goodbye and left.  I couldn't even offer her any encouragement because I was crying too.  She was so excited but started to feel a little nervous when we had to leave.   I think and hope she will recover from her sadness quickly and settle into the day well.

Look at this beautiful child.

I loved walking her to school and seeing all of the neighborhood kids heading there too.  There's something about school that just creates such community.  

  Excited to see what God has in store for Claire this year!