What Austin Did

(during Keira's photo shoot)..he found Ray's wallet and proceeded to tear it apart...lol

You  can see him "swiping" the card

Uh Oh...Busted

Black and White Photoshoot

I am still learning the art of black and white..and it's definitely an art...you can't just take a pic and then change it to black and white..there is a lot more to it than that (which I am finding out)..here are Keira's pics from the photo shoot that I shot in black and white...Now remember I am still learning

Keira's Photoshoot

My mom got a flower girl dress at her work for Keira to play in...she wanted to a little photo shoot at her house, so she set up a cute little area to take pics and I got to practice more at being the "photog" (lol)..Keira had a blast dressing up, and I got to play with different things...it was an antique mirror (so that gave a different effect) and if you look closely you will see pics on the dresser..they are wedding pics of her family...us, my mom, my dad's parent's, my mom's mom, and my mom's grandparents (?? I think, sorry mom if that's not right !..lol)

This one makes me really afraid !!! I am in a lot of trouble when she gets older !!!

Doc Appts

I finally got a hold of the allergist..we will be seeing him on Friday at 10:30..he's supposed to be doing blood work and an immune system work up..I am sure it will be a couple days after that before we hear anything..Meds seem to be working..the fever hasn't come back, the congestion was getting better, but getting kinda thick again..he does have a heck of a scrape and bruise on his cheek he got from a face plant he made on Sunday and Keira scratched her cornea (I think)..she complained about somethign in her eye..I got an eyelash out, but she kept sticking her finger in it and scratching it..turned it red, swollen and even more sore..it too seems to be doing better now though..so who knows...just another day in the life around here...sick kids with attitudes..maybe that's what I should change the name of our blog to

Happy Memorial Day

It was actually a busy AND do nothing weekend...We ended up going last minute out to Bryan to help Tammy and Terry move stuff from the garage to the new building...that way Tammy can have her stockpile room..i mean garage for her car..lol...Sunday was gonna be just the family sitting in the backyard ( I didn't want to throw a big party), but we ended inviting my dad, Papa, MeeMa, and PeePa over..it was a really good time..We made burgers and the kids played outside..Everyone went home, Austin went to sleep and Keira made s'mores on the fire pit..Monday, Shane did nothing..me, I attacked the kitchen..I decided I wanted to clean on top of the cabinets..so I tore everything down, scrubbed the walls, the top of the cabinets and packed it all away..so now it's empty !!! Shane hates it that way (which makes me like it even more)..Oh well, it was a good weekend..

Hey, Let's Try Some Antibiotics...

Just got off the phone with Austin's pediatrician and she is sending in a prescription for antibiotics..this would be his 10th course since September..We are setting up appointments with an allergist and of course back to the ENT..I asked about doing some blood work, to maybe rule out things, maybe narrow down where the infection is at..She said that the allergist will do a full panel and check the immune system so there is no point in her sending me for one too..She didn't want to put him through it twice..Hopefully one of them will be able to pinpoint the problem..We are sitting in a holding pattern here..The antibiotics will not kill the infection, there is no way, but maybe it will lessen it some or kill some of it..maybe enough so he feels better until we can find it and ???? If he gets worse tonight I am supposed to bring him to the clinic tomorrow so she can see him....I am almost to the point of showing up at Texas Children's Hospital and telling them..put him in a room, run some damn tests, take some x-rays and find out what in the hell is wrong with him!! Then FIX IT...Poor baby..

Of course this doesn't just affect Austin, Keira is also suffering..She is not getting the attention that needs from me..He takes so much energy that she gets kinda pushed aside, which is why I was so happy to put her in school..it was something that was for her...My mom will be taking her for a day next week to do "grandma" things..I looked into swim lessons at the Y and they are outrageous, so I am gonna check into some else..I am sure it's too late to really get her signed up for anything, but who knows...

Meditation By Tennis Ball

For over a month now I have a pain in my back..right between the left shoulder blade and the spine..it starts out as a blinding, numbing pain and turns into a shooting, blinding pain...It's a knot on the muscle that is just low enough that I can't reach with the icy hot, so I suffer and try and massage throughout the day..I finally started doing some research the other night..trying to figure out if it was a pinched nerve or a knot on the muscle or what..i found a solution..a tennis ball !!! They said take a tennis ball and lay on it on the knot for 5 minutes, a couple times a day..well I did and it hurt like hell (and kept moving since I was on the wood floors)..the next day, I went into the closet, lay down on the tennis ball and just breathed..once again it hurt like hell, then it got a little better, then a little better..I scooted down to "work" the tennis ball up the side of the shoulder blade and felt POP..I released a huge amount of acid buildup outta the muscle..now the "pain" is a lot closer to the top of the shoulder..almost like I am pushing it out..I only get sharp pains when I pick Austin up so it must be working...What is more important? I can lay there and feel the muscle relaxing as I breathe..I shut out the world, the sick kid, the screaming kid, the tv, the husband, the dog and just breathe...it's amazing how much it is working..I know that sounds silly, especially for me..I more likely to medicate with Captain than just meditate, but i just thought I would share...to all you Mommies out there toting "little" ones and feel the pinch..try it, you would be amazed...

101

And I am not talking about the old rock radio station !! We are back with fever again.. Which means there is an infection somewhere, just gotta figure out where... All of the meds he is taking have nothing to do with an infection, soooooooo???

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This is Austin's morning medication... 2 inhalers, 1 allergy pill, nasal spray and Tylenol for fever and pain... Poor guy

It's all gone!! So at least that's one thing.. We did have a pretty rough night, but at least we ate...it's been almost a week since he had a real meal

A Little Better?

Austin seems to be feeling better...the fever stayed around 99 - 100 today..He was in a pretty good mood most of the day, except for not napping and being very short tempered..you can tell he is just mad at the world..he is still not eating..He asked for breakfast and lunch and didn't eat either..stopped at McDonald's to tempt him with nuggets..he ate 1 1/2..normally he eats the big kid's meals with the 6 piece and then finishes off Keira's fries..lol..As I type this I am listening to him cough and kinda gasp..Not liking the sound..I think we are gonna go ahead and make the appt to see the ENT, we have insurance and I guess peace of mind is worth the $30 copay...Let you know how we do tomorrow...sigh

What is it about "old mcdonald's" nuggets?? Well at least it's something

We seemed to have woken up in a good mood today.. Very low grade fever (99.8) and have eaten our morning snacky cup of cheerios and asked for another.. So my hope is up that the new medicine is working.. Now is he gonna get another one? I don't know.. I am not sure how a steroid inhaler would get rid of an infection, but I am not the doc

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Maybe Feeling Better?

Well his fever hovered all day around 99-100.. Normally, not a big deal for me.. But with everything else going on, I am watching carefully... He showed some interest in food today, ate half a toaster strudel for breakfast, had a go-gurt and asked for lunch and dinner (ate neither).. Around noon or 1:00 he looked really sick (picture birth announcement sick).. Pale, big bags under eyes, droopy, clingy... I tried to put him down for a nap and we fought for hours.. First he would lay there, just listening to his music and I would think he asleep, then he would pop up crying.. Then it progressed to a's soon a's I set him in bed he started screaming!! Making himself sick screaming.. So I finally gave up... He had his second dose of the steroid tonight and a's soon a's Shane got home he jumped up and ran around the house chasing Keira.. So either he's got it in for me or the steroids worked.. Not sure, either way I had to swear to Shane that wasn't the little boy I had all day.. Lol.. He just grinned and said, Uh huh.. Hahaha... Thanks everyone for the phone calls and emails.. I know whatever is going on isn't life threatening, but it's frustrating none the less.. I hate seeing him sick and when my little tank loses a pound in 10 days, you know he's been sick... Gonna have to change his name from chunky monkey to spider monkey

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Monkey Update

Since you all know he went back to the doctor again on Monday I figured I would update on what they found..NOTHING !! They can't figure out what is wrong with him. He defintely has/had an infection, but they aren't sure what. The best way to explain it as she told me is this..

Most kids get colds (We already figured that was how he got the first ear infection, from Keira's school) and most kids can shake the cold by themselves 2-3 days. There is something in his system that won't let him shake it. We found it was the ears holding the infection behind the drum, which is why we put the tubes in. Well now the ears are draining, but he is still holding an infection. He does have allergies and since they are so bad right now, that's not helping the situation any, but that's not the only thing. She put him on the inhaler again, a steroid inhaler, and a nasal spray to help open up the passages. He is very congested and coughing a lot. If there is not a significant change by Friday then I am to call her and she will write the referral to the ENT (AGAIN) and an allergist..

I asked her why an allergist? Allergies don't give you fever and diarhhea..she said no, but there is something more going on that just that..something in the sinus cavaties (what little ones he has)..The ENT is for the adenoids..They were not infected when he had his tubes out, but.....They could be now..This is my theory...He kept getting infections that wouldn't drain out his ears and now that they do drain they are draining into the adenoids..Since the adenoids are responsible to filtering infections, if they are infected he can't shake the infections...so normally I think the first course of action is antibiotics, but since he has already 9 courses in the last 8 months..(the last one was the strongest he could take at home for 14 days..Two days later he was sick again) I don't see them working very well..I am betting that the adenoids are gonna have to come out now...But who knows..we are in a holding pattern right now..he's miserable, cranky and very mad at the world...he feels horrible, and he doesn't understand why...He does have the last 4 teeth coming in (the bottom two have broken all the way through, the top two are breaking through now) so that adds to it..As of this morning he finally ate something (half a toaster strudel) and his temperature is hovering around 100

10 Years Ago

We all know the anniversary is long gone, but I thought I would share these..my mom and I are working on a project and I pulled these out and thought I would go ahead and share..WOW

Like the shoulders?

"I cross my heart and promise too, to give all I've got to give to make all your dreams come true..In all this world you'll never find a love as true as mine"

Our cake..you can't see the topper..it was gorgeous

Uhm, shoulders again..lol

Maid of Honor on right my sister, then my Aunt Diane and then my cousin Tammy

What the hell, here's another one..lol

Tammy HATES me pointing out that she is crying in the background

hmmmmm, see a pattern here?

Shane, cousin Johnna, me and my Dad

My Sister and I (nice shoulders uhn?)

My nephew was our ring bearer

These are just some that my dad took....We didn't get any prints from our wedding photographer..he was a friend of my sister's and just gave us the proofs..

Keira-isims

Since we all know little kids have funny vocabulary I wanted to make sure I got some of the Keira-isms written down so I didn't forget then...

Tortatos - mean, windy clouds that pulls trees up and tears up roofs
Angry Toenails - an ingrown toenail (this one probably threw you..lol)

I know there are more, but since I am tired I am drawing a blank..I will update this as she comes up with more Keira-isms...

Something To Make You Say Awwww...

With Austin screaming so much and having a couple different issues we weren't sure which one "set him off" yesterday evening..We both thought it was teeth and for some reason I have 142 bottles of gas medicine, but no teething medicine so Shane ran to Kroger to get some..I came out of Austin's room with him and his big sister was waiting for us..She had set up a bowl of water with ice and had a plug floating in it (we had one going already, but it wasn't cold enough so she added more ice..lol), a cup of cold water for him to drink, napkins to wipe up the water, the box of tissues to wipe his tears, and some books to read to him !!!! She had all this set up in the kitchen where we were sitting..Moving to the living room, I sat in the big chair and she sat on the ottoman to read him a story..right before she started she jumped up and ran into her room to get her pillow to put under his head "to make him more comfortable" and then ran into his room to get him a blanket..OMG !!!! We know she is such a good big sister, but wow..I told her I was so proud of her..not because she helped out, but bcuz she wanted to make him feel better and that made her pretty on the inside too..."Mommy, my insides are pretty?? Good"...lol...I love listening to her talk !!!

Graduation Party

Well since we have done nothing but worry about Austin, I figured I would share some of the fun we had this weekend..Abby is in a MDO/Pre-K program that includes gymnastics and they had a end of year show..So we went to support her and watch her "graduate"..It was really cute and now Keira no longer wants to be a Pet Doctor when she grows up, she wants to be an acrobat..So I am gonna look into some kind of gymnastics out here, the problem..most of the gyms I have looked at are already training the kiddos for the Olympics..I just want her to bounce around and have fun (but that doesn't seem to be an idea around here)..Anyway, we went back to Tammy's house afterward for a little "graduation party" for our girls to celebrate them becoming big girls and heading off to kindergarten...

Abby's Gym

Austin just waiting..I was playing with the settings again

Keira's sad face bcuz she can't be an acrobat

Swingin' on the rings

YEA !!!!

Fly Abby Fly !!

Little bit of mud, just a little bit..Sucked the shoe right off little man

Playin' in the pool..He loved splashing the girls with the hose

Tinkerbell alarm clocks - For the "big girls" to use to get up for Kindergarten..Thanks "Auntie" Tammy

Happy Graduation Girls !!!!

YOU DID IT !!!!

Yup,Still Sick

Up quite a bit last night with Monkey..He has had diarrhea for three days now and his little butt is so raw he can't sleep or see straight..I am not worried about dehydration, he seems to be drinking alot, but no food and no real relief..caved and gave him baby kayopectate, but it doesn't seem to be helping..so we have a mild fever and this..Calling the doc AGAIN tomorrow

100

Fever is back!!! 99.9 too 100.. Calling doc tomorrow... This all can't be teeth
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Cranky Monkey

And we are off again...No fever, but we are sick..I know I am sick of him being sick..
upset stomach (diarrhea for three days)
Loss of appetite (let me put it this way, not only is he not really eating..he didn't eat CHOCOLATE CAKE yesterday or his CHEETOS today !!!)
Cranky
Cough
Runny nose
Thirsty..So thirsty all the time
And now I am sitting here watching him dig at his ear...WTH can be going on..Not all of those are from the teeth..I know the ones he is getting are the big mammer jammers and they hurt, but.....He seems to be in a fairly good mood most of the time..he does run through the house screaming and laughing, but he's a lot more clingier than before and cried and wouldn't have anythign to do with Tammy or Diane for the first 10 minutes yesterday

Fever Down

Austin woke up this morning with a lower grade fever.. 99.6.. So we will see... Shane did complain he wasn't feeling good last, sore throat and cranky..Austin is tired this morning, no appetite again and short fused.. Oh well medications and fingers crossed

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Last Day of School

Tomorrow is Keira's last day of pre-k...wow..I can't believe it's been a year..that school was amazing and I am thankful every day that we found it..I wish we had found it earlier, but she was able to benefit from it at least some..Austin will be starting a MOD there next year for one day a week and it's on to Kindergarten for our little princess...The big debate is on, move or private school ?? I am NOT happy at all with the elementary that she will be going to..I wasn't too concerned at first, until i actually met some of the people that would be going there and was informed that at least 20% (!!!) were in enrolled in ESL !!!! Those are just the ones that failed the English test, not including the ones that can pass it, but still choose another language to speak...but don't worry, they want them to speak, read and write English by the 5th grade !!! OMG

102.6

That was our temperature today..After being at the doc's last week and told there was nothing wrong with him we have hit bottom again...yesterday he had the cough and a little runny nose, today we have a bad cough, green goo out the nose and a fever this evening of 102.6 !!! Which doesn't worry me too much, we were able to break it with tylenol and a bath..he's sleeping (if you can call it that) and now I am sitting here trying to decide what to do...I was told last week there was nothing wrong with him, but teething and some allergies !!!! I am so tired of him being sick, poor little guy just can't catch a break

How Many Times Can Mommy Get In A Fight??

We went to the zoo today...I figured since school was almost out it wouldn't be too bad !!! WRONG !!! There were a TON of school buses and field trips today..I got so pissed off I couldn't see straight..Let me start off by saying it has NOTHING to do with the color, but it just seems that they were all of the same two colors...As I stated on Facebook, lack of economic stability does NOT mean you need to have no manners and live like a heathen !!!

It all started in the aquarium..Keira was looking at the jellyfish, 5 students wanted to take a group picture, well she didn't understand so she just kinda stood there and then turned around..well this must have been a sign for one little girl to push her out of the way..We moved onto another tank..She was looking at the fish and rays and I had Austin in the stroller pushed up to the edge watching the fish..well I guess we were in the way, bcuz THREE of them proceeded to CLIMB over Austin to get a picture..by that time I yelled at the kids and the teacher apologized..These students were from an asian background and I would say around 10 years old...


On to the African exhibit..I could go soooo far with innuendos, but I won't..As we were walking through the chimp exhibit I heard a scream and then the ENTIRE doorway got blocked..A little girl was standing in front of her mother on her scooter during the field trip and RAN OVER another little girl from another school..granted this was pretty "traumatic", but she just bumped her and by the time I got there the crying had stopped, but could we get out the door?? NNNOOOOOOO...Finally through the crowd we get the rhino exhibit and Keira grabs those "binocular" things to look through, she was standing there just getting ready to look when out of now where comes an "executive" in pink flying to get to them..pushes Keira's face into the viewer as she pushes her out of the way..When I yelled "what the hell?? HEY" I got a look from another "executive teenager" about my attitude, but (and this will tell you how old I have gotten) I took the higher road, checked my daughter for injury and just walked on...onto the playground...There were about 10 kids at the whole playground, running, having fun, playing together quite well..Then I hear it..a noise, kinda like a rumbling and here comes herd of them..Now they are about 20 kids more running around, slapping, screaming, pushing and NOT caring about anyone else there...I was trying to keep a close eye on the kids and the stroller and everything else..Austin made it through the equipment once, as he was climbing the "stairs" he almost got trampled by a very BIG 12 year old not caring about a thing..luckily (for the kid and his parents) Austin was missed (this time)...he goes through again and makes it up the stairs to the first landing (about 3 feet off the ground) and I guess is walking a little slow bcuz a (much BIGGER and OLDER) kid PUSHES him out of the way, which is actually OFF the equipment!!! I was able to break the fall and stop his head from hitting the ground, but he still hit hard !!!! I don't think the kid actually meant to push him off the equipment, just outta the way, but DAMMIT !!!! I was so pissed and guess what, there was NO adult around, no one came to apologize, no one came to make sure he was okay..there was one mother sitting on a bench that heard the screaming and crying and stood up to see (you could tell it was the "momma" reaction and when she saw me was okay)...I grabbed Keira and we left..Keira was VERY good !!!! I told her we had to leave and Momma would explain why once we got out of there and she said okay, let's go...So once we got out of the playground I explained to Keira that there were a bunch of kids not behaving and she said to me "yes momma, they weren't using their manners..let's just go eat lunch"..I was very proud of her..we ate lunch and headed on to the rest of the day..Austin was fine, but I was disgusted...I understand that race or bank accounts don't make a person, but I have never seen so many ill mannered, rude, wild children in my life !!! My 16 month old can say please and thank you and they can't have common courtesy !!!! I understand that kids are kids, and they all get excited and get rough and don't mean to hurt other kids..I also KNOW that my kids aren't perfect and Keira misbehaves sometimes too, but DAMN !!!! oh well..here are some pics of the good times we did have...

Austin testing his boundaries...lol

Keira in the "the tube" (there is a tube that you can crawl through that is in a fish tank)

Austin's first time in the tube...it took a few minutes to get him in it, he didn't quite understand

He LOVES IT !!!!! (notice he's not looking at me, noooo he's smiling at some lady..lol)

Going on through

He stopped and wanted to look around

I did not write about this one, but I guess the kid (that looks about 8) didn't like him stopping bcuz he pushed him and I guess told him to move

You can see Keira turned and said something to him, not sure what she said but notice the kid is not as close to Austin anymore !!!! That's my girl !!!!

The big explorers on the way out

So proud of his little self !!!

For those of you that "know" me and wonder why (or how) I bit my tongue today..it was HARD, but Keira was being soo good and she kept saying that "those girls weren't using their manners" or "that wasn't nice, they didn't use good manners" so I wanted to be the bigger person ( I know not hard, look at the wasit line..lol) so she could see that using our temper would get us no where...DAMMIT !!! This makes me a full fledge adult now doesn't it?????