a prayer for back to school
3 years ago
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Kate and Her Auntie
As Kate grows closer to two, she is starting to look SO much like my sister Andrea, don't you think?
Record Snowfall
God is once again giving me a taste of the Minnesota winter I've been missing so much this year. It has been snowing all day here in Dallas. Not just any snow, those big, soft sticky snowflakes that stick to everything they fall on. I captured Kate's sentiment about the snow, which happens to match mine perfectly as well.
Thank you, Lord, for the snow.
Thank you, Lord, for the snow.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Kate's First Haircut
(This is also my 300th blog entry!)
Over the last week or so it has occurred to me that it was about time for Kate's first haircut. The back of her hair was just much longer than the sides, and it needed to be evened up.
So I made the appointment and we went this afternoon! Kate was so good. Originally we put her in a yellow car chair, and she was NOT a happy camper. We didn't know what was wrong, and the lady cutting her hair said we'd probably have to cut her hair in my lap. I took her out and she said "down" so I put her down. She ran right over to a red car chair, and wanted up! After that, she was fine. Whatever!!
"Before" Picture
The first snip!
Adorable little hairdo!
I did fine with it too - I wasn't emotional at all! I think it's because it's not like she was losing anything babyish - she's already such a big girl in every other aspect it's just par for the course. It's really not a drastic change either, so that probably helps. All I know is that I need to go learn how to cut hair, I couldn't believe how much a child's cut costs!!
Over the last week or so it has occurred to me that it was about time for Kate's first haircut. The back of her hair was just much longer than the sides, and it needed to be evened up.
So I made the appointment and we went this afternoon! Kate was so good. Originally we put her in a yellow car chair, and she was NOT a happy camper. We didn't know what was wrong, and the lady cutting her hair said we'd probably have to cut her hair in my lap. I took her out and she said "down" so I put her down. She ran right over to a red car chair, and wanted up! After that, she was fine. Whatever!!
"Before" Picture
The first snip!
Adorable little hairdo!
I did fine with it too - I wasn't emotional at all! I think it's because it's not like she was losing anything babyish - she's already such a big girl in every other aspect it's just par for the course. It's really not a drastic change either, so that probably helps. All I know is that I need to go learn how to cut hair, I couldn't believe how much a child's cut costs!!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Update
Just a few random things there and there to update! First of all, Kate is sick again. On Friday morning she woke up with her nose running like a faucet, and running a low grade temp around 100.5 . Since then, her temperature has come back down but her nose is still bad. I think this is the first time she's ever had just a plain cold, something without a fever! I also think this is the first time that she's gotten "sick" that (so far) we haven't had to take her to the doctor for. When she wakes up from overnight or her nap, however, she does sound a slight bit croupy, but maybe it's just all the gunk in her system because she sounds better after an hour or so.
All of her immunology bloodwork has come back, and everything is normal. Her immune system is functioning correctly. She is, however, a strep carrier. All that means basically is that whenever she does get sick, it may or may not be strep, but she's going to test positive for it every time. So the doctor has to make a judgment call on whether or not to treat her with antibiotics based on all her other symptoms, rather than the results of the test.
She is growing mentally in leaps and bounds lately. It's amazing and so much fun to see her develop verbally. Jeff is now "Daddy" instead of "Dada" which is cute, but a little sad too! I'm still Mama. :) She also has a cute but annoying habit of wanting to tell and how me EVERYTHING. She will say, "Mama, mama, mama, MAMA, MAMA!!!! MAMA!!!!!!!!" Until I say, "What, Kate?" And she will reply with, "hi!" or "bow?" or "bye bye!" or "Bailey!" or "Backpack!" and so on. She will not give up until I say, "Yes, Kate, Bailey." I know it's very cute, but it just goes on and on and on and on!!
She loves repeating words. I ask her to try lots of words, and she makes an attempt at repeating everything. I love it! She is internalizing a lot more than I give her credit for, too... I'm constantly amazed at how much of what I say to her she is understanding.
Normally every night we read her favorite book, "Goodnight Moon" at bedtime. During the month of December we read a Christmas book, "Angel Angel." Well, Goodnight Moon is lost right now, so we're still reading Angel Angel. Basically, it follows the same premise as "Brown Bear Brown Bear," but insert Nativity figures. Her favorite part is where Baby Jesus enters the book. Everytime we get to that page, she points to Jesus, her eyes light up, and she turns to look at me with the BIGGEST smile on her face! It's so sweet. :)
One week from today Jeff and I will be sitting on the balcony off our room on our cruise ship, somewhere in the Caribbean. :) We are so excited to take a vacation! We will miss Kate but we know the Grandparents will enjoy some special one-on-one time with her.
All of her immunology bloodwork has come back, and everything is normal. Her immune system is functioning correctly. She is, however, a strep carrier. All that means basically is that whenever she does get sick, it may or may not be strep, but she's going to test positive for it every time. So the doctor has to make a judgment call on whether or not to treat her with antibiotics based on all her other symptoms, rather than the results of the test.
She is growing mentally in leaps and bounds lately. It's amazing and so much fun to see her develop verbally. Jeff is now "Daddy" instead of "Dada" which is cute, but a little sad too! I'm still Mama. :) She also has a cute but annoying habit of wanting to tell and how me EVERYTHING. She will say, "Mama, mama, mama, MAMA, MAMA!!!! MAMA!!!!!!!!" Until I say, "What, Kate?" And she will reply with, "hi!" or "bow?" or "bye bye!" or "Bailey!" or "Backpack!" and so on. She will not give up until I say, "Yes, Kate, Bailey." I know it's very cute, but it just goes on and on and on and on!!
She loves repeating words. I ask her to try lots of words, and she makes an attempt at repeating everything. I love it! She is internalizing a lot more than I give her credit for, too... I'm constantly amazed at how much of what I say to her she is understanding.
Normally every night we read her favorite book, "Goodnight Moon" at bedtime. During the month of December we read a Christmas book, "Angel Angel." Well, Goodnight Moon is lost right now, so we're still reading Angel Angel. Basically, it follows the same premise as "Brown Bear Brown Bear," but insert Nativity figures. Her favorite part is where Baby Jesus enters the book. Everytime we get to that page, she points to Jesus, her eyes light up, and she turns to look at me with the BIGGEST smile on her face! It's so sweet. :)
One week from today Jeff and I will be sitting on the balcony off our room on our cruise ship, somewhere in the Caribbean. :) We are so excited to take a vacation! We will miss Kate but we know the Grandparents will enjoy some special one-on-one time with her.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Merry Christmas!
... A day late! We are in Oklahoma for Christmas and we've had a great time. The best part was, we had a white Christmas! I've been very homesick for Minnesota this winter, so it meant everything to me to have a white Christmas! The sleet started Christmas Eve morning, then gradually changed to snow a little after noon, then it just kept coming down the rest of the day! 60 mph wind gusts made for a seriously awesome blizzard. :) We took Kate outside Christmas Day to experience the snow firsthand once everything had calmed down outside. She was pretty non-reactive to the snow, although once she fell down and her (gloved) hands touched the snow, she was pretty much done and wanted inside.
If I had known we'd get a record setting blizzard in Oklahoma, I would have brought my good camera with me. Of course, all I had with me was my point & shoot. Oh well, I managed to get an "ok" picture...
Kate got all sorts of fun presents. Surely they'll keep her busy for a couple weeks at least! :) Once we go back home, it's back to reality. I have to take her to the doctor for a blood draw on Monday. Dreading that one with every ounce of my being! Poor little girl.
If I had known we'd get a record setting blizzard in Oklahoma, I would have brought my good camera with me. Of course, all I had with me was my point & shoot. Oh well, I managed to get an "ok" picture...
Kate got all sorts of fun presents. Surely they'll keep her busy for a couple weeks at least! :) Once we go back home, it's back to reality. I have to take her to the doctor for a blood draw on Monday. Dreading that one with every ounce of my being! Poor little girl.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Strep Throat.... AGAIN
On Friday I got a call from Kate's daycare, letting me know she was running a fever, so off I ran to pick her up. Her cough sounded like Croup, and of course they told me she had been exposed to it earlier in the week. Our weekend was pretty rough with the croup, high fever and little sleep. She seemed to be getting better, her fever was diminishing, but her cough just kept getting worse and worse. I decided to take her to the Pediatrician today.
Take a wild guess - yep, it's Strep Throat. They said that in 10-14 days they want to run a blood test on her, that will tell them if she was/is truly infected with strep, or just carrying it. They did say, though, with her symptoms and the way her throat looks, she looks to be actively infected.
They said the next step, as long as we're in there taking blood, is to finish out the rest of the full immunology workup. See what's wrong with her immune system. They've looked for all the "normal" stuff already, so now they'll be testing for the more rare stuff.
I just feel so defeated. I am just feeling bad that I put Kate through the whole awful experience of surgery and recovery, seemingly all for naught. Poor little Kate is such a trooper, but I can't help but wonder if we will ever achieve long-term health with her. I know it certainly could be worse than recurrent strep, but at the same time, it's so difficult and sad to have a child who is constantly sick. I'm very thankful that my job is so flexible. I've been going to work in the 3-4 am time frame all this week so I can get done and be home in time for Jeff to make it to work at a reasonable time.
Because she was sick for my birthday yesterday, we had to cancel all our fun plans, but we're hoping to reschedule my PF Changs dinner for Sunday or something. I'll leave you with a sweet seasonal picture of my little Angel. :)
Take a wild guess - yep, it's Strep Throat. They said that in 10-14 days they want to run a blood test on her, that will tell them if she was/is truly infected with strep, or just carrying it. They did say, though, with her symptoms and the way her throat looks, she looks to be actively infected.
They said the next step, as long as we're in there taking blood, is to finish out the rest of the full immunology workup. See what's wrong with her immune system. They've looked for all the "normal" stuff already, so now they'll be testing for the more rare stuff.
I just feel so defeated. I am just feeling bad that I put Kate through the whole awful experience of surgery and recovery, seemingly all for naught. Poor little Kate is such a trooper, but I can't help but wonder if we will ever achieve long-term health with her. I know it certainly could be worse than recurrent strep, but at the same time, it's so difficult and sad to have a child who is constantly sick. I'm very thankful that my job is so flexible. I've been going to work in the 3-4 am time frame all this week so I can get done and be home in time for Jeff to make it to work at a reasonable time.
Because she was sick for my birthday yesterday, we had to cancel all our fun plans, but we're hoping to reschedule my PF Changs dinner for Sunday or something. I'll leave you with a sweet seasonal picture of my little Angel. :)
Friday, November 20, 2009
18 Month Checkup
Overall, all is well! The Pediatrician said her tonsil area looks great, just a little bit of scar tissue sitting there.
She weighs 28 lb 14 oz (90th percentile), and is 34 inches long (99th or greater). When she weighed in the morning of the surgery, she was 31 pounds and change! She's lost 2.5-3 pounds through all this! The Ped said as long as she's still eating well (she is!) then it's totally fine. It's weird to see her slimming down so quickly - she still definitely has a gut, but her face has changed the most I think.
I did mention that I thought I've been noticing Kate walking a little pigeon toed. She watched her walk and agreed, then sat her down and lined her legs up. She said Kate does have some Tibial Torsion and her left is worse than her right. She said most of the time it fixes itself by 4-5 years old, but we will watch it from now on, and if it gets worse she'll send us to Scottish Rite to check it out further.
She weighs 28 lb 14 oz (90th percentile), and is 34 inches long (99th or greater). When she weighed in the morning of the surgery, she was 31 pounds and change! She's lost 2.5-3 pounds through all this! The Ped said as long as she's still eating well (she is!) then it's totally fine. It's weird to see her slimming down so quickly - she still definitely has a gut, but her face has changed the most I think.
I did mention that I thought I've been noticing Kate walking a little pigeon toed. She watched her walk and agreed, then sat her down and lined her legs up. She said Kate does have some Tibial Torsion and her left is worse than her right. She said most of the time it fixes itself by 4-5 years old, but we will watch it from now on, and if it gets worse she'll send us to Scottish Rite to check it out further.
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