Play Time

Ethan and Natalie can bicker quite a bit, but for the most part they really do get along and play nice. Last week after school they were playing dress up and had a big story going about what they were doing. At one point they were spies or something. Then later Natalie put Ethan's Batman Halloween costume on. They were cracking me up that day!!!

I love how serious Ethan looks and Natalie's pose with her red toenail polish!!!

They thought this was hilarious!!! I was dying when I saw her! There is just something about Batman with pigtails! I can't get over it!!!

First Sick Day

On Saturday, Natalie came home from a friends with a fever. At one point it was just under 104. It had gone down quite a bit by Monday, but was still over 100, so I kept her home from school on Tuesday. Tuesday morning she ended up throwing up several times, so I'm glad I kept her home!!! Because of that, even though she was feeling better, I kept her home yesterday too. At 1:45 I got a call from the school because Ethan was in the nurses office with a "low-grade fever" and complaining that his head hurt. By the time I went over to get him, brought him home, and he got some pj's on his fever was already up to 102.6. Then he started throwing up. He's been going at it ever sense. I was up with him at least four times last night, poor guy. This morning he has only thrown up once, and I'm hoping he'll be able to keep the Ritz crackers down that he is currently eating. This is the first sick day he's had this school year. And boy has it knocked him out! Last night I had to run into Omaha, and while I was gone he passed out on the couch while Roby was playing video games. You can tell Ethan doesn't feel well if he falls asleep while video games are on! (Bowl is in case of sudden vomit urges.)

I hate seeing my kids not feel well, and I'm hoping that his fever will go down soon!!! (If nothing else so that I don't have to call in "sick" to work three days in a row! ugh)

Bubbly

Natalie still loves taking bathes, and whats even more fun?!?! When its full of bubbles!

This smile is proof enough!

Watch me hold my breath under the water!

Do I look like Santa?

More From Winter Break

One of the gifts the kids got for Christmas was a gift card to Toys R Us. They were extremely excited to be able to chose what they wanted all on their own. We decided to make the trip (to a Toys R Us we had seen not long after we got here) before they had to go back to school. Before we started towards Omaha we needed to wash the truck. This was Natalie's first time going through a car wash, and it was quite entertaining!!! She didn't know what to expect...things scared her at times and made her laugh at others.

He can't help it, being weird even in the car wash...maybe it had to do with waiting in line for almost 20 minutes before it was our turn.

The jets of water can be pretty loud!

She liked the pretty colors the soap on the windows made.

Being cool about it all.

We drove to where we thought the Toys R Us was...but it ended up being the wrong mall. We wondered around for a while before finally finding the right one. It only took about 45 minutes to get there after leaving the car wash! Natalie was sound asleep, but woke up quickly once she realized we were there. Ethan ended up getting a Lego Hovercraft and Natalie got several Puppy/Pony In My Pocket sets. They were both very happy with their purchases!!!

On New Years Eve I let Natalie invite several friends over. There was one more little girl that came over, but I forgot to take a picture until she had already gone home. There was a little bickering, because that's what girls do, but they surprised me by how well they played together!

Ethan meanwhile, enjoyed one of his new video games that he got with his Game Stop gift card.

Christmas Afternoon

Here are a few picture of Roby and Ethan putting together Ethan's big Lego City Airport set.

Roby was in charge of the airport terminal.

Ethan did the airplane.

Natalie was content in her room playing with her new baby and stroller.

Giving the baby a kiss goodnight...its nap time.

Admitted

I took a couple pictures of Ethan and Roby after they poked his finger for his blood tests (I was surprised how much they were able to get that way!), and right before the person came in to do his EKG. Because we were at the Children's Hospital ER, they had a cupboard full of movies to entertain the kids with. Ethan chose An Extremely Goofy Movie, which he only watched half of because they were that quick!

I really hope we won't be taking him back any time soon!!!

No One Freak Out

Today has been a hectic day.

This morning I went to my first neurology appointment to talk with a doctor about my migraines. He said I have a form of migraine that is probably one of the hardest to treat for several reasons (he told me the name, but I can't remember right now). I have several people in my family who also get/got them, they are extremely frequent, and because it has been going on for such a long time. Right now he wants to "break the cycle" using a different preventative medication and two as needed meds.

After that, I am proud to say, I signed up for two classes towards getting my prerequisites done to enter the two year nursing program at a local community college. I need to take a math placement test to see which math class I can get into. If everything else goes through (transcripts/financial aid) I will be starting classes on Roby's birthday!!! I'm sure I'll talk to some of you about all this on the phone...and will most likely be writing more about it later on.


For now, that's enough of that.


This is the don't freak out part.


Today after dinner I sent Ethan into the bathroom to brush his teeth. A couple minutes later there was an odd crashing/thud sound. I yelled, "Ethan are you ok?!" Nothing. Then either Roby or I said it again. Nothing. I got up and walked down the hall towards the bathroom to find Ethan sitting on the floor, still holding his toothbrush, rubbing his head and crying. I asked him what happened and he said he didn't know, but he had fallen. I asked him if he was playing around or anything. Nope. I asked what he was doing before he fell, he was brushing his teeth...then he was on the floor.

I tried really really hard not to freak out. I made him sit by the bathroom door while I got a flashlight and thermometer. I made sure his pupils dilated and contracted. They did. I took his temperature. 99.8 -- Normal. I talked to him a little more, and as far as I could tell he somehow lost consciousness long enough for him to fall down and us to call to him twice.

I called the doctor on call and she said that she was worried about him because this has never happened to him before, he was doing something "ordinary" (brushing his teeth), he hasn't been sick, and he hadn't been doing anything active. She wanted us to take him into the Children's Hospital ER tonight.

I called our friend and asked her to watch Natalie while we went. I had no idea how long we'd be.

Of course its been snowing all evening, so the roads are not great. We got there safely, checked in, and got seen right away. (I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly they got to us!) The doctor looked at him; asking us all kinds of questions, making him walk and balance for her, listening to his heart, etc. I told her about his heart murmur (and how its "benign"). She then asked him if his heart ever felt like it races or skips a beat (because this could cause someone to pass out), he said "No" and I told her that mine does (many medical conditions are hereditary). She wanted to check his blood sugar/salt levels and get an EKG. (She was a very good doc from what I could tell; thorough, knowledgeable, and didn't rush anything.)

This all took less than half an hour.

Ten minutes later she came in and told us that he looks perfectly fine. His heart is great. His blood looked fine. She didn't know why he passed out, but to just keep an eye one him especially during exercise. It was "probably a one time thing."

Because the doctor on call mentioned seizure, I was beyond worried about that. I asked the ER doctor and she said it was highly unlikely anything to do with his brain (not 100%, but not probable). If he had had a seizure or something worse, he would have been tired/groggy after. He was disoriented for a minute or so, but then to his normal self.

This made us feel a lot better, but I am still worried sick about him. He will be sleeping with me tonight--probably to make me feel better more than anything. I'm going to send a note to school with him and talk to the school nurse so that everyone knows to keep an eye on him.

Lets hope the doctor was right and this was a one time thing!!!

Now I need to get some sleep....ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Christmas Morning--Presents Part 2

This picture I will share who its from! Natalie chose to give Ethan Lego's because she knows how much he loves them!

The perfect gift from your little sister!

And this was from Ethan! He wanted her to have her own chair in his room so they could watch movies/play video games more comfortably.

I think she looks pretty happy about that idea!

We'll have to wait until it warms up a bit to use our new version of Blongo Ball.

More toys for the puppies!

Ooooo Spider man!

The new Barbie!

See his fake excitement about getting The Karate Kid?! hee hee

But wait...there is something cool taped on the back!

If only I would have known before that she would be this excited about a "big girl" tea set!!!

His big present!

He really was extremely happy to get this!!! ;-)

Junie B. Jones books!

Look what I can make!

A table for her room! What she "always wanted!!!"

Ooooo A gift card to Toys R Us!

Making sure to read his card.

She did read her card, but she was really happy about getting her own money too!

Gift cards all around!

Thank you to everyone who sent the us happy holiday wishes, cards, or gifts. It was greatly appreciated (and played with!)!!

**********

I didn't take as many aftermath pictures this year as I did last year...it really wasn't that bad. Maybe it has something to do with the kids getting older and a few less things that we have to put together right now!! Ethan put most of his Lego sets together (I do have a few pics of Roby helping him with the big set), and Natalie only needed help opening toys. They had a lot of fun, and seemed very happy with everything they got! (They better be!!!) I'll look back for more pictures to post from the following days tomorrow or early next week.

Hope your eyes are still working after all those pictures! :-)