These daffodils started blooming right after Riley's party. They were so late this year. Now we have irises blooming and the alliums and peonies are almost ready. I have the vegetable garden all planted and the green beans, peas and cucumbers are already a few inches tall! I bought hot peppers, tomatoes and eggplant as starts and they are growing well. I am excited for the basil to grow so I can put it on everything.
Riley got some seed packets for her birthday and planted those in the front of the house. They have also sprouted and she is really excited. She did all the digging and planting herself this year. After she was done she complained that her legs hurt and said it was really hard work.
The Popsicle dress that Nora is wearing is the first dress that I ever made for Riley and it took me so long that she only wore it once or twice. It feels nice to know that I have improved enough to make a few things really quickly now.
Making Oatmeal Cookies
Nora always pulls up a chair to when it is time to make something. She has been making some really fun faces for the camera lately! She wanted to get down because the stirring was all done, guess she had enough. The pictures were from making oatmeal cookies a few weeks ago.
I like to get the kids in the kitchen whenever I can. It always amounts to a lot more cleaning but they really enjoy it. This week we were making some mini blueberry muffins to pack in Riley's lunches and I was so tired that when Nora went to pull up a chair I almost told her no. Then I thought about it and if she were Riley at the same age I would not have said no. I changed my attitude and let her help. She had a lot of fun dumping the flour into the bowl and stirring it up. She likes to get her hands in everything. August has been practicing cracking eggs and has gotten really good at pouring. He didn't spill any of the milk or oil! He looked so proud.
Riley is officially 6! May 3, 2018
I always put of streamers around her door to walk out through in the morning. She got special funfetti pancakes with frosting drizzle for breakfast. She was also excited to take a special snack to school, mini muffins. It was a weekday so we didn't do anything too crazy we just spent extra time together so I had the whole dinner prepped while she was at school. She wanted macaroni, carrots and grapes for dinner then we went to Culvers for some custard for dessert.
Riley got to open her presents after dinner. This year she received a puzzle with underwater scene and some plants and planter to make her own garden. She carefully planted them then has been putting special rocks and seashells in it. She is a nurturer and has loved taking care of it.
Riley's art
Her birthday cake and a chick hatching out of an egg. They had some baby chicks at school recently.
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| The daffodils in front of our house |
They are crazy sometimes. I can't seem to take many pictures of August were he is not roaring. Is roar a language? He thought his potato head was funny and asked me to take his picture!
Not playing hide and seek. It is just fun to shut yourself in the cupboard. She also likes to go into my closet and shut the door.
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| more roaring |
August Health Update
On Friday, May 11, I noticed that August's breathing seemed strained and he was just sitting on the couch. That is unusual for our kids. They can have a really high fever and just keep playing on the floor like nothing is wrong, a little more grumpy though. I called the pediatrician and got a 10:15 appointment. I cancelled another appointment that I had and was planning to re-schedule for later in the day.
Once we got in the appointment and they listened to his breathing and checked his oxygen levels they were immediately concerned. They then proceeded to do an albuteral treatment. This didn't open his airways up or help his oxygen levels much so they admitted him and wheeled us upstairs immediately. I guess I was shocked, I thought that once again I was exaggerating this in my mind and we would be in and out and on our way.
Now on the pediatric floor of the hospital we were greeted with more wonderful people. They listened to his lungs and again described his lungs as being really tight. The airways in his lungs were reacting to something and were closed up. This was making his breathing very fast and strained. His heartbeat was fast and his chest sank in as he tried to get air. One person got him started on another breathing treatment and asked questions. Another helped me by getting some diapers for Nora as I came unprepared to be admitted. Riley was at school and would need to be picked up but I wasn't leaving August so Keenan was staying in close proximity to his phone. After 2 more 10 minute albuteral treatments, a dose of oral steroids and an x-ray to rule out infection he hadn't improved much. They then said that he was a more serious case and they were going to start him on a 4 hour treatment. 4 hours with a mask on is a long time for anyone much less a 3 year old but whatever it takes. We ordered some lunch first and I tried to get Nora to nap but I ended up putting her in the crib bed with toys so I could focus on August. August enjoyed the novelty of eating in bed and watching tv then fell asleep on me. Keenan picked up Nora and went to get Riley and came back shortly after his long treatment was over. He had improved some but they still said his lungs were really tight and he was going to have to stay overnight to have more little treatments throughout the night. Keenan stayed overnight with him and I took the girls home for a movie night and some popcorn for dinner, Nora had cereal. I was worn out and a little concerned about August.
The next day his airways were opened up and he was doing much better. He got to come home before noon. They don't know what caused this but prescribed some things to help keep his airways from getting too irritated.
I met with his regular pediatrician on Monday and we made a maintenance plan to keep him from getting too bad. They concluded that he has seasonal allergies and asthma. She said that this is common in patients with his history of a peanut allergy and eczema. I like knowing what to look out for and that I can do something to help and when to just bring him in immediately. She said that I won't want to wait to long to bring him in if his breathing is bad and that my threshold should be lower now. If he is struggling just bring him in right away.
He had been looking really bad for about a month but he had been sick and I just thought he was getting sick again. I guess the circles around his eyes and the increased scratching was from the seasonal allergies and not the eczema. I guess I know now. He looks so much better now and his skin is starting to heal! It is nice to see him feeling better, he seemed really tired before.
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