Our trip to the hospital

As you well know from reading my last post, Elsie was kind of being a grumpety-grump last week and didn't seem to be feeling too great. On Wednesday she had a bit of a fever, but nothing too extreme. That night at about 1:30 a.m. she woke up crying, so I went in her room to get her back to sleep. I decided to give her a bottle since she really hadn't eaten much that day, and I knew it would calm her down. I noticed she was kind of shivering as she was drinking, but I didn't want to disrupt her since she was pretty enthusiastically drinking the bottle. Once she was done, I cuddled her to try to warm her up and noticed that the shivering was getting stronger and her breathing sounded very labored. I woke up Aaron and he held her for a minute and felt like we needed to take her into the hospital. By this time her lips were turning bluish. I woke up my mom to see what she thought and she held Elsie while Aaron and I got dressed. By the time we got to the ER, Elsie was not shaking anymore but her lips were still bluish. The did all sorts of tests to check for everything (this all took about 4 hours) and determined that she had a double ear infection, some signs of pneumonia (not too bad), and, most concerning, a very bad urinary tract infection. Because of her fever and the severity of the infection, the doctor felt like she needed to be admitted to the hospital to get an IV and for observation. We were hoping that it was something that could've been treated at home because we knew being in the hospital was not going to be great for any of us! Elsie had to get the IV through her hand. Oh my goodness, that was the worst! She was so upset when they were doing it and we were completely helpless. She kept crying out and looking at us. Aaron was so upset by that. So, for all day Thursday, overnight (Aaron stayed at the hospital that night and let me go home and sleep...what a stud!), and all day Friday, the nurses and doctor monitored how much she drank and peed. She would get so upset when any nurse or cleaning person walked in the room...even if they weren't even touching her. It was kind of funny. Most everyone commeted on how cute she was and then followed up with how she's got a bit of a temper. I guess I should've been offended, but they are so right! Just as we expected, she didn't do very great on drinking but her fever never returned and by Friday she was definitely getting antsy. We were convinced that she would do much better at home with sleeping in her own bed and being able to drink with her sippy cup. At the hospital she couldn't hold her cup because of the IV. Thank goodness the doctor let us go home Friday night! Elsie is doing much better at home and it a happy little girl now. I feel so bad that she was miserable and I was getting so frustrated with her. If only she could tell me what was going on! They are going to do an evaluation of her kidneys, urinary tract, and bladder to check the anatomy to make sure that is not causing the problem. Hopefully it isn't...although that is what was wrong with me when I was a child and I had to have surgery. We are so glad to be home and to see that Elsie is obviously feeling better than she was last week.

Oh, how things can change!

So, I wrote that last post this morning while Elsie was napping and things were all happy. Then it all went downhill when she finished her bath and it was time to eat some lunch. I don't know what the deal is, but my child refuses to eat and is driving me crazy!!!!!!! She gets so defiant and screams when I try giving her stuff to eat. Her list of acceptable foods is quickly diminishing. She gets super grumpy because she's hungry, but I can't seem to figure her out.

I love her, but, like I said, she can have quite the attitude. Now she's happy because aunt Gi-Gi (Angie) gave her some Cheezits and she's putting them down my shirt. Always looking for a laugh like her daddy, I guess!

Lovin' my little girl!

There are so many things about Elsie that make me smile. I just love that little girl SO much!! She can be so sweet, has a great sense of humor, is very smart, and can have quite an attitude as well. She's a little bit of everything!!

She loves to stand up all the time now. She likes it because she can get into things that she couldn't reach before. One of her favorite is this bin of office supplies that I have in our room. She likes to pull the pens out and play with them. It's fine with me until she learns how to get the caps off. She likes to draw on paper too.

I love to see her cute smile and have noticed that she has a space between her two front teeth just like I did.

She loves to push the buttons on the remote control and has now started to actually point the remote at the TV like she's in control. (She's going to have to fight her daddy for that...he doesn't like to give up his remote.) There is one button on the remote that lights up when you push it, so that's the one she likes the most.

There is usually some sort of object, mainly pens and spoons, sticking out of Elsie's mouth. I don't know why but she likes to travel around the house and do her normal activities while holding it in her mouth.

She has two favorit spots to hang out. One is in the bathroom where she can play with everything that is in the bottom two drawers and under the sink. The other is underneath Aaron's desk. If one of us is in here on the computer or doing work, so loves to crawl under there and hang out. I don't think her daddy minds it too much!

Books

I am in need of some new books to read. Any good ideas? I like most genres, but I'm really not wanting to read anything too depressing. The last book that I read that I really liked and was sad it was over was The Thirteenth Tale (can't remember the author's name right now). Maybe I talked about it once before. Anyway, that's my suggestion if anyone else is looking for a good read.

Forgive me...for I have sinned!

I was reminded by my dear sister today that it has been nearly a month since I last posted, and she was not happy with me. You'd think after being reminded while we were in Utah last week that I would've gotten right on it. But no...I've been sucked into this awful world of no internet and I can't get out! Actually, Aaron and I finally got dial-up at my mom's house just so we could have a little taste of it. That's nothing like high speed, though. Oh, how I miss it.

I will have to say that it's been kind of nice just reading other people's blogs and not worrying about what I'm going to write or what pictures to post. Like I've said before, writing is not my favorite thing, and I get anxiety (ok, a bit of an exaggeration) when it comes to blogging.

We are doing well here in Moses Lake. Aaron has a very nice work schedule, and I've been very spoiled. Elsie is continuing to keep us entertained and busy. She is now pulling herself up all the time (she suddenly became very able and confident while we were in Utah) and discovering a whole new world of things she never was able to reach before. She has definitely taken her time with each new stage, but she is happy as can be.

We've had a fun last couple of weeks. We went down to Utah for a about 6 days and had a great time with Aaron's family. The only bummer part is that Aaron wasn't feeling great for the first few days, and he wasn't up to doing much. We played lots of games, ate good food, celebrated Jeff's birthday, and went skiing. (The last time I went skiing was when I was a senior in high school...and that had only been my second time skiing.) Elsie got lots and lots of attention from her cousins, aunts and uncles...but mostly from her grandparents. She loved it!! It was nice for Aaron and I to have a break. We even got to hold hands in the mall. I liked it! Yes, that is me...the girl who looks like a boy next to Aaron. It was such a gorgeous day...the nicest day to go skiing. I was not feeling very confident that morning when we were getting ready to go. I almost stayed home, but I'm so glad I went. Everyone was very patient and took it easy with us rookies. I was relieved to know that Gary hadn't skiied in quite a while as well, and there were a few other cautious skiiers. By the end of the day, I was feeling like I finally knew what I was doing, but I was so tired. I even conquered a few REALLY steep hills...I did almost have an emotional breakdown on one because I was by myself and kind of stuck. I saw Ashley at the bottom and knew Nicole and Jeff weren't far behind me, so I finally decided I wasn't going to die and went for it!

Elsie is still the pickiest eater in the world and doesn't have a big appetite to top it off. There are a few things she does love...toast, cheese, pizza, chocolate, and grapefruit. A well-rounded diet, right?! She is SO stubborn. I really have tried everything, but she will make herself throw up if she doesn't want to eat it. Every once in a while she'll decide to try something new and actually like it. One day at Grandma and Grandpa Wise's house, she went crazy on a banana! I was so excited and she was so cute with her mouth stuffed to the brim. She couldn't take big enough bites! Hopefully, she'll lose some of her pickiness over time...or she'll just keep being as stubborn as ever...like her mom (as Aaron would say)!