Just needed her big brother

A week ago Gracie woke up at 12:30am crying.  So I went in to check on her and, when I picked her up, she was shaking badly and burning up.  So we took her temperature and discovered it was 102.4.  So we called our neighbor who came over to stay at the house with Isaac (who was snoozing away) while we took Gracie to the emergency room.

We walked in the emergency room and were instantly relieved to find our favorite ER doc on duty.  He's the father-in-law of a friend of ours and visits our church when he's in town working at the hospital (he lives an hour away).  So he checked everything over and found she had a massive ear infection in her right ear.  So they gave her some pain killer and a starter dose of antibiotic and we were back home in less than an hour -- that's the beauty, we're learning, of a small town hospital.

The next few days were quite challenging though.  She's never had such a high temperature before and it didn't break until Sunday evening.  So for nearly three full days she was burning up as soon as the Tylenol wore off.  Not to mention cranky due to pain and lack of sleep.

When Sunday rolled around and she still had fever, we decided that I would stay home with Gracie and Matt would go ahead and take Isaac to the church-wide camp we were all planning to attend this week.  Good bonding time for the boys anyway!

So they left Sunday afternoon and Gracie's fever finally went down Sunday evening.  So the next couple of days she had no fever, but still fussed quite a bit and on Tuesday morning, she woke up with a rash all over her forehead, tummy, and back.  So off to the doctor we went that afternoon and, through process of elimination, made an educated guess that her medicine was causing a reaction.  So we left with a prescription for another medicine, and finished our errands for the day.

Fast forward to Wednesday and our little princess seemed to be feeling much better, but still had some sleep to catch up on which left her very cranky.  Thanks to Benadryl (for the allergic reaction), she took two good long naps that day.  But in between naps, Big Brother and Daddy came home from camp and Little Miss Fancy Pants perked right up!  Forget about sleep!  She literally laughed and kicked her legs in excitement when she saw her big brother.

She missed him so much!  Even during the moments she was feeling better (or the Motrin was well in her system), she seemed absolutely discontent with toys she plays with all the time.  Isaac wasn't here to play with.  Then as soon as he returns, she's all smiles and playful again.  :)

Thankfully, she seems to be over the worst part of this ear infection and she has Isaac around.  So things are rosey again in her little world.  Now maybe I can catch up on my sleep!  

3 Years Old

My little boy turned 3 years old today and I've decided that it's absolutely not possible that he is already this old!  Of course, he is still the sweetest, funniest, smartest little boy I know and I am so thankful for the blessing he is to our family.

At three years old he...
-loves CARS.  Still.  Now we're on to Francesco and the CARS 2 cast.
-stands tall at 3 foot 1 1/2 inches.
-loves his baby sister and loves to play/share with her.
-loves cinnamon toast for breakfast.
-can brush his teeth pretty well himself.  He gets to brush by himself in the morning; mommy or daddy brushes at night (just to be sure his teeth get a good brushing each day).
-loves to swim in the "big pool" in his "Pool Patrol" car floatie.
-swings on the "big" swings...not in the baby swing.
-is fascinated by diggers, dumpers, bull dozers, and cement trucks.
-is getting quite creative in his play time.  He provides the voices for his cars or trains.  I also love his sweet invites to play..."Mommy, wanna play with me?" in the cutest little voice ever!
-loves to take pictures with the iPhone.
-likes to wash his hands.
-loves to play trains on his train table.
-loves to wash the cars.  Or play water fight with the water hose --  mostly when mommy is on the losing end. :)
-could live off graham crackers if allowed.
-likes to read his favorite book about diggers and bulldozers every night before bed.
-tries to stall before bedtime by anything that seems amusing -- playing in the sink while brushing teeth, rinsing the toothpaste out about 10 times (while spitting water down the hole in the back of the sink), reading a gazillion books, giving 100 kisses....
-recently saw his first movie.  CARS 2.  What else would it be??
-can't sit still when he eats.
-loves strawberries, blueberries, and plums.
-eats only the top part of the bun on a cheeseburger.
-still isn't potty trained.  (*Sigh*)
-likes to color and paint.
-loves to "fix" things.  Even if it has to be slightly taken apart to fix.  He'll take the tires off of a toy car to "fix" them.  He'll get a twig and pretend to fix the tires on his outside toy cars.  When a toy needed new batteries, he brought me his play screwdriver so I could change them -- in his mind it was a real screwdriver.
-will periodically stop mid-tracks while playing and through a frozen smile, without lips moving, he'll say "I'm not working." And mommy will have to "change his batteries" so he can start playing again.
-likes to go to Super Target.
-is starting to phase out naps.  Many days he lays in his bed for an hour and a half without going to sleep.
-likes to play with his friends, more so than just playing along side them.

Here's the birthday boy about to open presents today...complete with his "new" smile.  This is the forced smile you get when you say "Smile!" so he doesn't say "Cheese" and look like he's mid sentence.  :)

Birthday Boy!

"Smile!"

Happy Birthday sweet boy!  We love you!