What goes around...stays around?!

I hope you all like listening to stuff on repeat.

As mentioned in a previous post, Persephone got her very first ear infection the week before Mother's Day.  After almost 5 days of trying to administer amoxicillin to a wild cat, we took her BACK to the pediatrician.  They switched her to omnicef for another 10 days and it seemed like immediately she improved.  She finished her omnicef on Friday 5/23.

This past Saturday 5/24 while Mimi & Pops were visiting she was in a perfectly good and playful mood.  We were confident our sweet girl was back. 

Out of nowhere after her bath that night she turned back into the ragdoll we were introduced to 2 weeks ago.  She ran another low grade fever, her eyes were pitiful and she just laid in our laps.  I gave her some Motrin and we put her to bed. 

The next day she continued to run a low grade fever, but had moments of being happy and then moments of being cranky just like last time.  We gave her a bath and put her to bed at about 8:30pm....at 11:00pm she was still wide awake talking to me, playing with my phone...talking to the cats and the ceiling fan.  I gave her some benadryl and put her back to bed.  She eventually fell asleep, but still managed a 6:30am wake up hahahaha.

I had been having symptoms of a cold for the last 2 weeks, but never went to the doctor.  I get tired of wasting my co-pay for them to tell me it's allergies and to just take an OTC medicine.  After having more coughing fits Sat/Sun I opted to go to the doctor.

I went ahead and brought Persephone with me to the closest Walgreens Healthcare Clinic because her pediatrician was closed for the holiday (and Walgreens charges the same amount as your regular physicians co-pay).  I ended up getting diagnosed with sinusitis and an ear infection in each ear.  When she looked at Persephone, she said her ears (specifically the one with the prior infection) wasn't "angry" and the omnicef had obviously done it's job.  When she looked down her throat though, she said her tonsils were touching so she diagnosed her with tonsillitis.  This would explain the fever, lack of appetite and overall unhappiness.  Since we both agreed amoxcillin was a bad idea to try and repeat and since she had just finished omnicef the nurse opted to go with azithromycin to try and knock out the tonsillitis.

I was glad to hear her ears weren't the issue, but who hears "tonsillitis" these days?  All I ever hear about is strep...strep...step...ear infection...flu.  You get the point.  Apparently strep IS a form of tonsillitis, so I think they just automatically resort to calling it strep.  Persephone didn't have the white spots or other common physical symptoms so she didn't swab her for it and explained the azithromycin would help even if it were strep.

The nurse did explain something I never knew though....children's eustachian tube is horizontal and as they get older it slowly starts to point downard so the fluid drains better.  That's why its not as common for adults to get ear infections as it is children.  ::insert irony since I have one::.

When I was a baby I got sick often so they yanked my tonsils and adenoids before I was 2 or 3yrs old.  I really haven't gotten sick much since then - certainly not with ear infections.  The occasional sinus infection or bronchitis during spring/fall.

We went ahead and sent her to school today since she hadn't had a fever in over 24hrs and has overall been acting normal.  She loves daycare, so if we can get her damn immune system operating at 1,000,000% we'll be good to go.

Back to good!

I was listening to a 90's station on iHeart and heard Matchbox 20's "Back to Good", I love this song.  Anywho, it reminded me that I haven't given an update on how Persephone is feeling.

She fell ill last Wednesday the 7th and it wasn't until a week later did we notice her personality shine again.

Recap:

5/7/14 We picked her up from daycare, she was whiney, lethargic and hot.  We took her temp and it was 99.5.

5/8/14 She stayed home with my brother as this was still a daycare "trial" week, still lethargic, not really eating and fever hanging in the 99's.  That evening we took her temp and it had risen to 101 despite OTC fever reducers.

5/9/14 Took her to pediatrician, diagnosed with ear infection, prescribed amoxicillin for 10 days.

5/10/14 Horrible runny nose, lots of drool, horrible attitude, very irritable lol.  Fever is gone.

5/11/14 Still had runny nose, drool, attitude problem - noticed she has molars coming in on top AND bottom.  Looking back we were hit with a double whammy - 2yr molars AND an ear infection.  Give us a break.

5/12/14 Hardy stayed home with her, she started acting a little better, but now has wet cough.

5/13/14 We decide to let her go back to day care since she's acting a little better, and has no fever.  Still has wet cough.

5/14/14 I decide to take her back to pediatrician since the cough is persistent new development.  Ear infection is actually worse than on Friday, but still stationary in the one ear.  Doctor decides to prescribe omnicef to clear it up.

5/15/14 Baby is NORMAL.  Very little snot and she's happy.  OMG SHE'S HAPPY AGAIN.

She was like a cat/dog refusing medicine.  She can kick pretty good, my mom described her as an ox.  I think she has a neck like an owl as it can rotate 360 degrees.  She clenches her teeth and/or bites down on the syringe.  She's very good at getting medicine all over us and everything else except in her mouth.  Maybe it was the amoxicillin that made her demeanor change??  She still fights us a little with the new antibiotic, but she's acting normal so it's much easier to administer since we aren't already at wits end.

Now I sigh with relief, except I can't breathe because I caught the cold that caused her all this trouble.

END FIRST-TIME-PARENTS-FIRST-SICKNESS-RANT.

Did anyone else feel when their first born got sick they were close to killing your spouse?!?

Wordy Birdy

I haven’t done a baby update in a while.  So now that Miss Priss is talking more, I thought doing a post about her words would be appropriate.

Phrases

 All gone

Thank you (dank eww)

There it is (hee it eh)

What is it?

What's that?

Where'd go?

You Okay?

Single words/sounds

Argh Argh

Ball

Bee

Beep

Bubble

Bye bye

Candy (canny)

Car

Cat

Cheese (sees)

Cow

Cup

Daddy

Daisy

Disney (dissee)

Down

Duck

Ears

Eat

Egg

Eww

Eyes

Feet

Frog (froh)

Hey

Hi

Horsie (hussie)

Juice

Kitty

Kiwi (wiwi)

Meow

Mimi

Mmm

Monkey (monee)

Mommy

Moo

Nana

Night Night (nigh nigh)

Neigh

Nini (this is what we call her pacifier)

No

Nope

Nose

Ooh Ooh Ooh Ahh Ahh Ahh

Okay

Pee Pee

Play (pway)

Poo Poo 

Pops

Potty

Puppy

Rawr

Shoes (soos)

Swing (sing)

Truck

Tummy

Uh oh

Up

Weeee

Whoa

Whoopsie

Wow

Yay

Yes

Yucky

Yummy

Here's a short video clip of her naming animals

Animals w/ Mommy

Germs are bad...mmmkay

Although having Persephone at home for the first 1.5yrs of her life was what we preferred, I think we were also a little spoiled.  She hasn't been exposed to many toxins, germs..etc.  This week though - we were met with a mean fever and a very lethargic little girl.  This week we left her attend day care on Monday and Wednesday - a test run of sorts to make sure she can adjust.

Wednesday when we picked her up from day care, she was cheery, but a little warm.  I thought maybe they had just been outside to play recently.  After dinner that night we took her temperature and were surprised to see it at 99.5  We administered Tylenol and took her temp again about 30 mins later and it was 99.1.  We put her to bed and hoped nothing would come of it.

Aside from her being extra lazy and a little irritable, she had no other symptoms.  Thursday morning when she woke up, she was still noticeably warm.  We took her temp again and it was 99.9 so I gave her some Motrin (since we're supposed to rotate between that and Tylenol).  I text Michael and asked him to stop and get some pedialyte on his way over.  He stayed to watch her, said she was sweet and cuddly, but still not herself.  She barely ate lunch, but she was drinking juice pretty steadily.

When we got home, we tried giving her a pb&j and some chips for dinner.  She pecked at it like a bird, but was still drinking pedialyte so we weren't terribly concerned.  She made a helluva dent in a chocolate chip cookie.  At this point, if we can get her to eat anything that's good enough for us.  We decided to take her outside for a little bit just to get some fresh air.  She livened up slightly - enjoying an evening swing and stroll around the block in her buggy. 

We gave her a bath and immediately after she went back to cranky-I-don't-feel-good-at-all-baby.  We felt so helpless (and still do).  She's NEVER been sick.  She's had a couple of teething battles, but nothing like this.  We gave her Motrin and got her ready for bed, right before taking her upstairs her temperature read 100.3!  Wah!?!

Based on a Google search, physicians only get concerned when the temp is 102+.  Since she still didn't have any other symptoms than being lazy, I tried to remain calm.  Overnight last night she started coughing real short abrupt coughs.  We also noticed her nose had ran.  Hardy cuddled with her while I got ready for work.  We gave her Tylenol and checked her temp right before leaving for work and it was 102!!! 

I called the pediatrician as soon as they opened and thankfully they were able to get her in at 9am.  After a quick examination and description of her ailments, the doc decided she had an ear infection.  She didn't even bother swabbing her to check for strep. 

We got a prescription of amoxicillin to take 2x day for 10 days, and she stated if strep did develop this is the same antibiotic they use to clear it up anyway.  Wish us luck that she starts feeling better soon!

Seriously, I know kids get sick for all sorts of reasons all the time, some repeatedly.  But since this is her first real bout with sickness, Hardy and I are going a little insane.

Day care

So as many of you may (or may not) know, we have been so beyond blessed to have my older brother, Michael as our in-home babysitter.  Every morning for the last year and a half he's come to our house and watched our little girl.  But, the older she gets, the more stimulation she needs, the more interaction with other children she craves.  No one is a stranger in her eyes.  She loves to wave "hi" and approach people regardless of their appearance.  Of course we'll teach her she can't love every stranger, but for now we're always in her presence and it's innocent.

I have been researching child care centers for a couple of months.  I stumbled upon Kids of Covenant which is based inside of Covenant Connections Church in Flowery Branch.

 

Kids of Covenant 

They have a smaller classroom ratio than most day care centers.  I called and spoke to the director, then took a tour one afternoon and felt pretty confident this is where she would be most comfortable.  I know I could have toured other centers, but the prices weren't much different and I liked the idea of her going from 1 on 1 to 1 on 8 maximum.

She was scheduled to start Monday June 2nd, but the more I thought about it, the more I figured she probably needed a trial run to make sure it would work out.  This week, we signed her up for Monday/Wednesday/Friday and still have Michael fill in on Tue/Thur.  ***We're horrible parents and didn't even take a pic of her at her school....boooo we lost 10pts.

Monday we handed her to one of the teachers and she went without a hitch.  She was cheerful, excited to see the toys and other kids and didn't even notice we left.  I think I called to check on her 4 times.  The first update was wonderful.  They said she was being so sweet to everyone and even sang "Let it Go" a few times.  They have a daily "report card" where they let the parents know how many diapers were changed, activities, playtime, songs, nap time and what they ate.  I love this!

Wednesday she wasn't very happy.  In fact, Hardy left me to pass her over alone because she was upset.  I know the benefits of her attending day care will far outweigh those tearful moments. 

Looking back though, she was kind of off on Wednesday and I'm wondering if that was the start of her being sick :(

Wednesday evening is when we first noticed her fever....FIRST FEVER EVER!!!  First sick baby post to come this weekend.

Wedding Season

I've been at King GREEN for10yrs this year.  Through this decade, I've gained several friends I'm so blessed to have.  One of them is Jennifer, the daughter of Charlie King (owner of King Green).  Her boyfriend, now husband has also worked here for a number of years.  Jen has always been so kindhearted and open minded.  Although she's business savvy she still makes time to cut up with us and more importantly she hasn't fired me for my antics hahaha.  Frank can turn a rough day upside down in a heartbeat.  He's so full of comedy and life he can make work a lot of fun.

Saturday was Jen & Frank's wedding at Montaluce in Dahlonega.  Can I just say GORGEOUS!!  I didn't take any pictures of the outside of the venue, because I'm an idiot...so here's one I snagged from a Google search.

  

I'm totes jealous of their guestbook...it was an 18x24 personalized with leaves for all the guests to sign.
Such an awesome idea!

Not the greatest picture quality...

 

The ceremony took place outside on a small dock on the lake.  It was absolutely perfect.  The sun, the wind...it couldn't have been any more serene.  We didn't even have to walk to the ceremony, they had complimentary shuttle service to take us down the hill to the lake.  Just to the right of our seats were the vineyards. 

Sadly, Jennifer's mother passed away last summer.  While she wasn't present in body, I'm most certain she was present in spirit.  I started taking pictures of the sun setting behind an oak tree during the ceremony and these weird lights started showing up.  In the first photo, there's an obvious pink/red oval shape, it disappeared after the first picture.  But if you look close at all three of these there's what to me looks like a cross and/or angel shape in light red.  I could be making it up in my head, but it makes me feel better thinking of it as Barbara, Jennifer's mother.

Do you see it?  Do you see anything? Am I crazy?

The first kiss :)

I absolutely love their faces in this picture.

Such happiness.

Who's this ugly chick with my husband?

One of my FAVORITE things about this day was the display dedicated to Barbara.

Jennifer got her wedding dress out of storage, steamed it 

and had it on display along with some photos from her parents wedding day 

and a few family photos/mementos.

The dress was absolutely gorgeous and looked like it belonged at Montaluce.

The day really couldn't have been more perfect.  After the ceremony we all went inside for hors d'oeurves and champagne - the couple also had a delicious "signature" cocktail.  All I remember is that included Patron infused with hibiscus - it was very tasty.  For dinner we had salmon and beef spare rib with goat cheese mashed potatoes, shrimp 'n grits and asparagus.

I want to once more wish Jen & Frank a lifetime of happiness, love and hope.

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Jorge!!