Pneumonia!

Well, I guess it wasn't just Rowen's typical illness. She started having breathing problems about 10 am. I tried giving her the inhaler before taking Logan to school, but she didn't want to cooperate. We came home after taking Logan, and she just wanted to lay in my arms. She kept trying to go to sleep, but every 20-30 minutes, she'd start screaming about her stomach. Every time she did, I'd put her on the potty, but she only peed a couple of times. I couldn't get her to eat or even drink anything. By noon, I tried calling around to see if anyone could pick Logan up from school if I took Rowen to the ER. I couldn't get a hold of anyone, so I made her a doctor appointment for 2:45, after Logan gets out of school. Lorraine Spano called me at 1:45 to see I wanted her to pick up Logan, and she said she would keep him for me so that I could take Rowen to the doctor early and not have to have Logan with us. That was really nice, because we ended up at the doctor for 2 1/2 hours.

Rowen's oxygen level in her blood was low, she was breathing too fast, her heart rate was fast and any time she tried to breathe too deep, she started coughing. Then she threw up the three sips of apple juice I had finally gotten her to drink. So the doctor gave her a breathing treatment with an extra strong derivative of albuterol and a steroid, pulmicort. Poor little girl fell asleep 2 minutes into the breathing treatment. She was exhausted. Then I had to take her downstairs for x-rays. She started to perk up while we were waiting to get the x-ray. She didn't even get scared and was so cooperative. She thought it was funny to see a picture of her bones. The x-ray showed some build up in her lower right lung, so it looks like she has pneumonia. So now, we get to do breathing treatments every 4 hours for a week as well as antibiotics. Our kitchen looks like a pharmacy. Now at least we have a nebulizer at home. Jen Wilson said that the doctors told her that whenever Cayden has breathing problems, if she gives her a breathing treatment right away, then that will help prevent the pneumonia. Cayden's had pneumonia twice! And the stomach pain was most likely caused by the pneumonia, it was pain radiating down from her lung.

I'm so glad her inhaler didn't help yesterday and that I took her into the doctor. Poor thing, I just wish I had taken her in earlier. She started running a fever yesterday evening, which the doctor said points to Rowen having bacterial pneumonia instead of viral. That's good, because viruses don't respond to antibiotics. And it figures, that Rowen loves "drinking medicines", but her antibiotic tastes horrible. When she woke up at 12:45 last night and her fever had gotten worse, I decided to give her some Motrin. She had fallen back asleep and I had to sit her up to drink it. She did, with her eyes still closed, and as soon as she drank it, she opened her eyes and smiled. She liked that "drinking medecine". Kids are so cute and silly at the same time.

Well, I hear her waking up now, and it's time for another breathing treatment. We also have to go back to the doctor at 9:30 this morning, so it's time for me to start moving.

~Jenn

Poor Rowen

Just when she was starting to get the hang of sleeping without a pacie, she came down with her typical illness, stuffy nose and deep cough. So now it's back on the medication and cough syrup. Ugh, I hate giving my kids medication all the time. And then this morning she woke up screaming that her stomach hurt. She's been drinking a lot of milk the last few days, I wonder if she could be lactose intolerant like me. Maybe I'll try her on soy milk and see if that helps.

This morning, I have a park day, but then I also have Rowen signed up for story time at the library. So I'll have to leave the park day after only 30 minutes. I hope someone else will have shown up before then, so I can at least tell someone why I'm leaving.

One more pacie note, Rowen found another pacie in her room yesterday, and she didn't once try to put it in her mouth. She immediately brought it to me and said that we have to put it in a package because there were more babies in the world that are crying. She is so sweet.

Logan keeps getting better and better at soccer. I hope that by the end of the season, he actually likes it and has a good time. Also, his teacher said that his writing isn't behind at all and that he does a good job writing his letters. It's just his coloring that he doesn't do very well. But there are other kids that she says do the same thing. He just scribbles over the picture, until it is all filled in. So we're going to have to work on that. But I'm glad to hear that his writing is just fine. I really don't care in particular if he never likes to color. I know it has to do with fine motor skills, but if he can write his letters, that covers those skills already.

Oh, and I just watched a really good movie yesterday. It's called the Wind That Shakes the Barley. It's about two brothers during the Irish fight for freedom from the Brits during the early 1920s. It's fictional, but I bet there are thousands of families who went through nearly the same thing. I can't watch too many films about that time period too close together. It always riles me up against Great Britain and I hate them and the US for not pressuring GB to stop the basic genocide that they were committing for hundreds of years. But the IRA isn't the solution. They turned commie way back in the twenties and they lost focus of the true reason for the fight. It wasn't enough to fight for Irish freedom from Britain, they turned everyone who didn't agree with their extreme leftist views (like no private property, everything controlled by the state and doled out as seen fit) into enemies and sadly, began fighting the Irish instead of the British. Fortunately, people who stood in the middle eventually won over most of Ireland, except for the north, of course, and so now the IRA is back to being a small underground group that supports left wing rebels around the world, predominantly in South America.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. It always takes a couple of days for me to get my balance back after watching movies or reading books about the British oppression of the Irish. If I had posted yesterday, I also would have ranted about the Catholic church's role in the oppression and how they purposely and willingly kept the people downtrodden and docile so as to keep them Catholics. Oops, here I go again. I'd better go start getting Logan ready for school so I don't end up working myself into more anger.

~jenn

Soccer success

Logan had his second soccer game today. The teams were much better matched. We actually scored a few goals, and I think we either tied the other team, or we were only short by one goal. But the important part is that Logan actually paid attention to the game. He ran much better today, kicked the ball a few times and didn't even cry once. So it was a marked improvement. He seemed to enjoy it more, also. We've told him, the only rules are to try his best and have fun. So, while I think he still could try harder, he did a great job. We were all so proud of him. I think playing with Uncle Brandon in the back yard at Grandma's house last night was a big help.

Today, while I was driving Logan home from soccer pictures, he asked when we were going to go to Utah next. I told him we would have to wait and see, because he has school now. Then he said that the people he wants to see the most are Uncles Brandon and Kolby. And then he remembered Dan and Rachel, too. I asked him if he would like to live there, and he asked if we would never come back here. I said we would come visit, but that Grandma and Grandpa would probably get a new house near us in Utah, too. Then he said he would live in Utah. He asked me if I knew why he wanted to live in Utah, and I guessed correctly. He said he wants to live with the snow. He thinks Christmas would be really fun if there was snow. Then he asked why Jesus just didn't make it snow in California. I thought that was a neat question for him to ask. It just shows all that he really does learn and remember from primary and from talks that we have at home. He knows that Heavenly Father and Jesus are responsible for all that happens here on earth. It was such a little comment, but it made me really happy, as a parent. I wish every day were filled with such moments.

She did it!

Rowen did it, she gave her pacies to the pacie fairy. At the last minute, she didn't want to put them in the envelope, but she did. Then she helped me place them on the back porch (we didn't want anyone to steal the present that would be left for her in exchange for the pacies). She had a difficult time going to sleep. Finally, I brought her in bed with me while Steve worked on some songs on the computer. It took Rowen almost an hour to fall asleep, which she did holding my hand. It was so sweet, but I felt very sad for her. I remember having to give up a baby blanket I had had for years. When it was finally in pieces and I had to get rid of it, I cried and cried. And I was seven years old.

After a whole day of her not having her pacies, I wonder if we did the right thing. It took over an hour for her to go to sleep for her nap, again, laying in bed with me, holding hands. She didn't scream or ask for her pacies back, she just quietly cried, sometimes putting her hand over her eyes. When she wasn't looking, I cried with her. I want her to grow up, but I hate feeling like I'm rushing her. I know this will be better for her in the long run, but it breaks my heart to see her feel so lost trying to sleep without her pacifiers. I'm very glad Logan never liked pacifiers. If we are ever blessed with one more little one, I definitely will try to forego the whole pacie thing. It's just not worth it.

Well, Rowen's birthday is tomorrow. Then my youngest will be three. Hard to believe it's been that long. Life just seems to flash by now. Rowen and I have been having lots of fun with just the two of us. She's so calm and easily persuaded. It's much easier running errands with one kid than with two. To be fair, it's easier to run errands with just Logan than with both of them too.

We're gonna go to breakfast with some kids for Rowen's actual birthday tomorrow. We're not having her party until the 20th so that Aunt Colleen can come. Rowen loves Aunt Colleen and Kevynn. She talks about Kevynn every few days. It's really cute. And she says that Ayden is her best friend in the whole world. It's adorable the way they get so excited when they see each other. And Rowen loves to sing Scooby Doo songs to Asher. I love my little girl.

Well, Erika's here, so I should stop being rude and go hang out with her, I just had already started this post, and so I just wanted to write something.

~Ciao

We went to the Irvine Adventure Playground in August. It was a ton of fun. And since our whole family was free, it was a great value. I highly recommend it for families with kids who like to play in the dirt or get wet, or climb on things. We went with the Bushmans, Wilsons, Ortiz' (I never did understand how to make a plural with last name that ends with a z) and Julie (with her nephew). All the kids had a great time smearing mud all over each other, and at the end, all of the grown ups had a great time smearing mud all over Julie. Here are some of the pictures.

Mud Park