Is Anybody Healthy?

I think the whole state of FL is sick! So far we have...

April: sinus infection, strep throat, acute bronchitis (on antibiotics)
Ben: who knows because he won't go to the doctor
Zak: double ear infections, chest congestion (on antibiotics, oral steroids, breathing treatments)
Ryder: possible RSV, bronchitis (on antibiotics, oral steroids, breathing treatments)

Grandma Mary: on antibiotics
Chuck: on antibiotics
Lynn: bronchitis (on antibiotics)
Piper: bronchitis (on antibiotics)

Kathy: flu, bronchitis

So our goal for today is to get on the airplane, make it through the 2 hour flight and get home. We were told that flying with ear infections and sinus infections can be painful, but that you can fly. So we head to the airport around 11:30am for a 1:30pm flight.

Tomorrow we plan to do nothing in the hopes of all feeling better. And Monday we go back to our regular routine...Ben goes to work, Madelyn comes to the house and we just move on.

Very Sick Boys

Today has been a very long day filled with doctors and a hospital visit. This morning both boys were coughing and wheezing really badly. So we quickly decided to take them to the local walk-in clinic to be seen. The doctor looked them both over and then told us what he felt was going on. He said Zak had double ear infections and chest congestion, but it wasn't pneumonia yet. He felt that since his pulse ox was still good and his breathing did get better after Albuterol breathing treatments that he would be fine after a course of antibiotics (Amoxicillin) and oral steroids (Orapred) along with the breathing treatments of Albuterol every 4-6 hours. So I felt pretty good about this information and knew that he would be ok. Then we moved on to Ryder and he was a different story. The doctor at the clinic said he didn't have the ear infections that Zak has, but he felt there was pneumonia in his lungs. He was worried because his breathing did not improve after the Albuterol breathing treatments even though his pulse ox was still ok. So he sent us to the children's ER at the local hospital so he could have x-rays and be looked at by a pediatrician.

Aunt Vicky came to the rescue and stayed at the house with Zak and Piper while my mom and I took Ryder to the ER. I was very happy that we didn't have to wait long at all to get into a room and seen by somebody at the hospital. They listened to his breathing and took his history. Then he got 2 chest x-rays to check for pneumonia. Once the x-rays came back the pediatrician came in to check him out. She said that from the x-rays he did have bronchitis, but no pneumonia yet. She feels that he probably does have RSV with a secondary infection of bronchitis. RSV is what causes the average cold for older children and adults, but for preemies it can be fatal since their systems can't fight it off. She did a breathing treatment for him that had Albuterol along with another medication and then said he could be discharged with a prescription for antibiotics (Zithromax) and oral steroids (Orapred) along with us doing the breathing treatments of Albuterol every 4 hours (including overnight). His pulse ox was borderline once we did get discharged so we will watch him closely and hopefully he will show improvement soon.

Meanwhile, I had to figure out a way to fly home with 2 sick boys on Saturday by myself. While we were at the hospital and I was talking to Ben on the phone we decided it would work best if he flew to FL tonight instead of flying back to MD. Then we switched Zak's ticket for Saturday to a ticket for Ben. This way we will each be able to take care of 1 of the boys on the flight. Our goal is to keep them healthy enough to fly home on Saturday which should work as long as they don't get worse between now and then. I will feel better once we are at home and can see our own pediatrician, but I am also thankful that I was here with my mom when this happened and not at home without Ben!

First Real Haircuts

Today Piper, my mom, and myself went to get our hair cut and while there we decided it was time for the boys to have their first real haircut. I have always used our clippers at home to cut their hair. Piper went first and did very well. Then Zak had his turn and he was also very good. Mindy (person cutting our hair) said he was very calm and well behaved compared to many kids she has seen. He got the works including some hair gel to spike his hair. He looks so much older now! Then i was Ryder's turn and he also did very well. The only issue we had with him is that he wanted to flirt and watch every move Mindy made which made it difficult at times. He also got some hair gel to spike his hair and he looks very cute as well. Here are pictures from their first real haircut...

I also have some cute pictures from the 3 kids playing in the backyard yesterday that I never had a chance to download so here are a few of those also.

And I had to add these 2 pictures because I thought they were just too funny not to include. My mom was getting rid of Piper's first pair of ballet slippers and Zak seemed interested in them so I put them on him. He danced around and had fun in them. Ben would have never let us do this while he was here.

Lemonade Award

I received this award from somebody the other day so I wanted to get it done before I forget.

So now we're going to pass this little award around. Here's what we have to do:
1. Put the logo on your blog or post. (Right click on the logo at left and save to your own computer.)
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great attitude and/or gratitude!
3. Link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post with the person from whom you received your award.

Here are the blogs that I am passing the award to:
1. ABC Triplets
2. Uribe Twins
3. Twincerely Yours
4. Confessions of a CF Husband
5. Aaron, Jill, and Lilly
6. Snyder-ville
7. Bobby, Stacey, and Lauren
8. ME, Josh, and James
9. Vukmanics
10. Knzus

The Beach & Sick Boys

Last night Zak seemed to be coughing a lot along with some wheezing so I started giving him the Albuterol inhaler. This morning he just sounded so much worse with a good amount of wheezing. We had plans to go to the beach at New Smyrna so we packed everything up and headed to the beach. I made sure to bring all of the inhalers with us and I used them just about every 4 hours. We didn't bring the nebulizer to FL because it was just too much to bring so we had to use the inhalers only. While at the beach I decided to take Zak to the after hours pediatric office once we got back to my mom's house just to make sure he didn't have an infection along with trying to get a prescription for Albuterol to use in the nebulizer (Kathy had one we could use). So I did take him and the doctor said he just has a cold and his asthma seems to be acting up because of this, but he wouldn't give me the medication for the nebulizer so we have to stick with the inhaler and hope it works good enough. Ryder is starting to get the bad cough tonight so we will just keep an eye on both of them and take them back to the doctor if they get worse. They are both happy and playing, but just not 100% themselves.

We all had a lot of fun at the beach today. Zak cried when he first put his feet on the sand, but quickly got used to walking in it. Zak seemed to be having a day in which he needed to stay within 2 feet of me so he generally followed me around and coped what I was doing. He enjoyed following me around with his ow bucket and picking up shells to put in it. I did get him to sit down for a few minutes to play with shovels and the sand, but then he wanted to play with his truck and follow me once again. Ryder was not concerned about walking on the sand, but once he found a good spot to sit down and play he didn't move. He seriously stayed in the same place the whole time and played with the buckets, shovels, and trucks. After leaving the beach we stopped by to see some other family that lived close to there before heading back home. It was a long day, but we had a good time.

*Side Note: The boys have been dressed alike many times during our trip. Ben likes to dress them alike even though I don't. I have found that my mom also enjoys dressing them alike.*

Dog park videos

Vicky took a bunch of videos at the dog park yesterday so here are a few of them.

My mom and Vicky took the boys to the playground, but they only had 1 infant swing so the boys had to share once again. They are getting too big to do this all of the time though.

Dog Park

Today it was finally the FL weather we have been hoping for! It was sunny and in the 70's! We went to the dog park to meet up with everybody (Vicky, Fred, Jesse, Kimberly, Christian, Mike, Kaleb) and then went across to the big open grassy area for lunch and to play. The boys loved running around with the dogs and enjoyed the many doggy kisses they received. Once we ate the boys has fun running around and playing with bubbles.

Once we got home the boys took a nap and Ben finished getting packed. Chuck took Ben to the airport since he has to fly back to MD and get ready for his trip to Kansas City this week for work. The boys and I will miss Ben this week, but I am also happy that we will be here with my mom and have lots of things to do to occupy us.

Ryder, Zak, Piper

Ben and the boys eating

Ryder with the dogs

Zak
Kaleb with the dogs

Ryder

Kaleb and Zak
Zak
The boys with my mom (aka Grandma)

I also wanted to post a few cute pictures from lunch yesterday. We finally made it to one of my favorite places to eat while in FL...Steak N Shake.

Project 365: Week 3

I am a little late posting this since we have been busy in FL.

Day 15 of 365 (Jan 15): Pooh & Tigger robes

Day 16 of 365 (Jan 16)

Day 17 of 365 (Jan 17): Zak pushing the stroller

Day 18 of 365 (Jan 18): Day at Disney

Day 19 of 365 (Jan 19): Backyard Play Time

Day 20 of 365 (Jan 20): At the mall

Day 21 of 365 (Jan 21): Zak getting into trouble

New Shoes

Today we went to the mall to go shoe shopping for the boys. I wanted to get shoes for Ryder that were more sturdy and good for walking now that he is on the move. My list of requirements for shoes for the boys was a little long and difficult to fulfill though. I wanted them to be tie and not velcro, to have a good amount of sole to help with making their pants not drag on the ground, and not be white. After going into Kids Foot Locker, Sears, Dillards, Macys, and Stride Rite we ended up finding shoes at Payless. We found some cool looking Cars shoes for Ryder and Champion shoes for Zak.

After successfully finding shoes we went to the food court for lunch and Ben was very excited to get to eat at McDonald's. Of course he wanted the boys to enjoy this food as well (I hate McDonald's). They both had a good time eating nuggets, hamburger and fries from there while I enjoyed my Chick-Fil-A.

While we were at the mall we stopped to play in the kids play area which the boys always love to do. Piper has discovered that it is also very fun! Apparently, she never knew they had indoor play areas until she came to MD and played at the ones with us. Now when ever she goes to a mall she drives my mom crazy until she gets to play there.

Playing Outside

Yesterday the weather was beautiful so we decided to play outside most of the day. The boys loved being able to play in the backyard and it was great for me since the yard has a fence around it so they couldn't get out. Piper let the boys play with all of her outdoor toys which was nice. They really enjoyed the "roller coaster", play house, and the swing. Ryder took a pretty bad face plant into the dirt off of the swing and didn't really like getting all dirty. Zak, on the other hand, had lots of fun throwing the dirt and sand around which led to getting himself covered! Then the 3 kids sat down on the porch to have a snack together (the boys would repeatedly put animal crackers in Piper's mouth until she was overloaded with them all over the place).

Aunt Vicky came over in the afternoon to see the boys and have dinner with us. We went into the front yard while she was here which was not as relaxing for us because there is no fence so we ad to chase the boys all over. Piper decided to take the boys for a ride in her wagon up and down the sidewalk (Vicky has a video so I will try to get it posted on here later).

After dinner the 3 kids got into the bathtub together which was very cute. The boys had their first bubble bath and Piper enjoyed showing them how to rub the bubbles all over themselves.

Today we have not done much because it rained all night so it is too wet to play outside. We all did go to watch Piper at her dance class this morning.