Thanksgiving Day Flashback

Our first Thanksgiving as a family - November 2009

 It's hard to believe that the beautiful, two year old little girl we celebrated Thanksgiving with yesterday was once so little and fragile.

We are glad to have you back to your happy self, Rachel girl!

What a Week.

It's been a long week of nothing but snot, spit, medicine and crying coming from our Rachel girl. And it's still going....big girl is still in major pain without a heavy pain medication. We've tried just Tylenol but it does not work. I called her pediatrician to get a refill on her pain meds and he seemed concerned that she is still in so much pain after a week. He wants us to call the ENT's service and see what they would like us to do. Ugh. I just want my girl to get better. :(

You can see from this photo how tired she is. I don't know how we managed to get a smile. She is so beat up from lack of sleep and crying and being in pain. She's lost weight too and I hate seeing her so skinny. And her hair? Well, when she is upset and hurting all the stuff coming out of her nose and mouth gets smeared into it. She's had to have a bath every night this week. Come back to us Rachel girl. I miss your wild ways.

In a Special Needs Home

Every once in a while, I realize how my life is probably a little different than that of a mom who has typical children. I consider myself a mom to TWO special needs kids right now...Charlie's severe milk allergy certainly qualifies in my mind and it's very likely that he'll continue to be allergic to milk and possibly other foods as well. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that most households do not have a industrial sized pump of food thickener and special order amino acid formula on their counters.

Now, I realize this isn't a huge deal and that there are plenty of you out there who are going "Oh yeah? How about having 'XYZ' in your house?" So go ahead, send me a pic and share your story. I'd like to do a little feature on items used by children with special needs. I think it will be a good way for others to learn what is out there and maybe even help each other out. My email address is maggie (dot) fluck @ hotmail (dot) com. Can't wait to hear from you!

Rachel and Friends

I have been trying to decide on what to do about Rachel and Friends. I originally started it to donate items to families in the NICU at Women's Hospital in Greensboro, NC and Brenner Children's Hospital in Winston-Salem, NC. These were the two hospitals that Rachel was a patient in. Now that we are in Alabama, I have no connection to the NICU here even though Charlie was born in one of the hospitals. Because I haven't decided on how to proceed, I am going to just send out a box to Women's Hospital in Greensboro this year. I have a connection to the Family Support Network there. If you would like to make a donation, you can send any items to me (just email me at maggie (dot) fluck @ hotmail (dot) com for our address) OR you can donate the items directly to the Family Support Network. Just be sure to attach a note saying you are participating with Rachel and Friends. Here is a list of items currently needed for families of babies in the NICU at Women's. Please help if you can. Small gestures are greatly appreciated by families of babies in the NICU. Thank you to those of you who have donated in the past. I hope to start up bigger and better next year with a new direction!

Surprise! It's a Tube!

Yesterday, Rachel had her tonsils and adenoids taken out. To my surprise, she also had a tube inserted into her right ear. I say surprised because she's always passed her hearing tests and the ENT just looked in her ears the Wednesday before and saw nothing wrong. I guess once he was able to take a better look there was some really thick gunk in there! So now, the tube in combination with the removal of her tonsils and adenoids gives me high hopes that we will start hearing some actual words from her mouth. I also think she will sleep much better.

A bear the hospital gave her...

trying to get out of bed because she saw me with the camera

The actual surgery was super short. I had Stephen call me when they took her back to anesthesia which was 8:30am. I got to the hospital at 9:15am and they were already done and she was in recovery with Stephen. Her actual recovery has been cruddy so far but we upped her pain meds right before bed and she seemed much, much happier. And not happier in a loopy way but happier in she drank apple juice like it was going out of style because she felt so much better way. She even smiled for the first time all day! That makes me less stressed out about being home alone with her tomorrow. The doctor warned us that Thursday may be the worst day as far as pain goes so I'm crossing my fingers that things go ok.

Now here is some eye candy to finish off this post...

3 Month Old Charlie

"Little" man turned 3 months on Saturday. We celebrated early with a trip to the pediatrician on Friday. He had croup and there wasn't any way I was waiting it out over the weekend and then have to go to the ER instead. The bright side of that appointment? I got his weight for his baby book. The boy was 17 pounds, 3 ounces! That is off the charts. Really, he is huge. I'm not making this up. Anyway, I got him at a good moment and snapped these pictures of him to commemorate the moment. He is a handsome little devil if I do say so myself.

Rachel has her tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy tomorrow morning at 9am so please keep her in your thoughts. It's going to be hard seeing my little smiley girl in pain. Maybe send some good thoughts my way too.

SICK

So, the wonderful trip to Sci-Quest sent us home with a parting gift....germs. Yeah, I, Rachel and Charlie have been sick with the snots since Tuesday. Rachel has been the speediest to recover. I think it's because she uses Nasonex. But even with boogies running down her face, she still usually has a smile.

The best part of mornings...

Charlie on the other hand HATES even the slightest booger in his nose. Wow, that little guy just flips. His little cold turned into croup. It started today after his naps and I took him right in to the Pediatrician because there wasn't any way I was waiting until after the weekend and taking the chance we had to go to the ER. Now we have meds and things should be turning better for him shortly. I am still shaking it off. I'm not huge on taking medicine if I think I can muddle through it. So far, so good. I hope everyone is feeling almost 100% by Sunday. We're going to get a family picture taken. I thought it would be a good idea to get one before Charlie is no longer an infant!

Before that nasty bug took over...

On Monday, Rachel will be going into the hospital to have her tonsils and adenoids removed in the hopes that it will help her sleep better. She's always had some sleep apnea but over the last 2 months it's gotten much worse to where she is constantly tossing and turning throughout the night. You can hear her banging her head and legs against the bars as she tries to find a position that allows her to breath better. It's terrible. Her ENT said that on a scale of 0-4 (4 meaning the tonsils touch), Rachel's are a 3. I'm looking forward to her being more comfortable at night and sleeping better, but I hate that we have to put her through this. It already is killing me thinking about her being in pain.

Mr. Smiley and All That Jazz

I think I can finally say that little Charlie has turned a corner. Finally. He is now a happy boy most of the time. The only time he isn't is because of typical baby stuff...he's hungry or he's tired. I like this new baby. But, oh, I keep saying "little" Charlie when in fact the guy is a monster!

He is now in 9 month clothes. That's right folks, he'll be 3 months on the 12th. HA! So, we have a very small little girl for her age and a giant for a 3 month old. Again, total opposites in every aspect of who they are. BUT, Charlie loves Rachel. His face just lights up at the sight of her. When she is eating lunch, he is just smiling away watching her. Rachel is warming up to him too. She comes over when he is doing tummy time on the floor and lays down next to him as if to say "You can do it!". She likes to pet him nicely (as we taught her using the dogs) and help him put his hand in his mouth (which she does with the dogs and their paws, hahah!). I've been trying to get some video of Charlie as he blabbers and laughs but that camera just spooks him right now and he stops in his tracks whatever it is that he was doing. So, hopefully, soon, I'll have some of that.

She's been obsessed with trying to fit into tiny spaces lately

This past Saturday we all went to Sci-Quest. It's a pretty cool place, especially if you are a kid. Rachel was a bit too small for most of the stuff but the place was so huge she had fun just running around. They had two big screens that were interactive and she liked those. Charlie slept most of the time in the Baby Bjorn on Stephen. Again, I can't wait until Charlie starts walking and they can run around together. I just know they are going to have a blast with each other.

Halloween Happiness

Ah, Halloween. How I love it. This year, my energy level wasn't where it should be but Rachel more than made up for it. She had an absolute blast walking from house to house (something we have to keep her from doing whenever she is outside). She held my hand the whole time and was basically pulling me! Once her little treat bag got some treats in it, she was more than happy to hold that too. Little Charlie lasted about two seconds in his costume. Not only did it just fit, he was hot as heck in it, so we had to change him out of it before we went outside. The kid is a heater. He's going to be that baby in only a diaper all next summer and I'll be getting disproving looks from other mothers. I promise to not take him to Walmart like that though! Here is picture overload!!

the only smile while in this costume!

happy naked!