No Me Gusta Croup

Well, we had our first non-Lydia-related ER visit last week.

Last Sunday morning, Savanna came into our bedroom with some SERIOUS Darth Vader breathing going on.  She stayed home from church with Daddy, and sounded HORRIBLE all day.  She kept saying, "Mommy, I not working."  By Sunday night, I started to get really worried.  I had Randall check her oxygen levels with his pulse oximeter and they were okay, but I just didn't think I would be able to sleep with her breathing being so labored.  Then, she started getting upset, and I noticed that her hands were kind of a greyish blue color.  Randall took her outside into the cold air, and I got ready to take her to the hospital.  She still sounded terrible, but she was actually kind of excited to have a night out with Mommy.  When we got into the car she said "Where is everybody?"  I explained that the other kids were staying home, and we were going to the Dr. to make her feel better.  I think she was pretty excited about that, because every five minutes she would say,  "Mommy, I go WITH YOU to the Doctor!"  in a cheerful voice (well, as cheerful as you CAN sound with a bad case of croup).  I guess I need to plan some more mother-daughter activities that don't involve the Emergency Room!  When we got there her oxygen was a little low, and they did a breathing treatment right away.  They also gave her a steroid medicine.  She still sounded bad, so they had us wait for an hour to check her oxygen level and make sure she didn't need another breathing treatment.  After the hour, her oxygen level was up and we were able to take her home.  It was definitely better than the 3 times we've taken Lydia to the ER, even though I was so frazzled when we left that I didn't bring an IPAD, coloring book, or anything to keep her entertained while we were waiting.  Fortunately we were in a fun ocean themed room so we spent a lot of time playing "I spy a red fishie, blue octopus, etc."  Savanna is still coughing (along with the rest of the family) but fortunately everyone is doing much better, and no one got it as bad as my Savanna Baby.  Stupid. Winter.

Fall Fun

It seems like in the past we've had 2 days of wonderful weather (between scorching heat and teeth-chattering cold), but this year we've had lots of EXCELLENT fall weather.  What better way to enjoy beautiful weather than taking walks to the park?  (Warning:  I took A LOT of pictures...)

 I just CAN NOT say enough about those CHEEKS!

 Look how grown up my baby Carter is getting -

 The best thing about taking the kids to the park...they're all tuckered out by the time you get home! 

Happy Halloween!

We had a very busy and fun Halloween season this year -

Our annual Brown family (that live in Utah) Halloween party.  Savanna was being a real gem that night, as you can see.  We also got together with Randall's side and I forgot my dang camera!  I also forgot to take pictures when we painted pumpkins with my cousin Alexis and her kids.  Dang it! 

Savanna "Princess Bella" was more interested in playing with the leaves than getting her picture taken -

 I eventually got her to look at me long enough to snap a quick shot -

I love this picture of Superman "flying"-

 and the classic muscle flexing -

Lydia decided to be a "vampire fairy princess" this year -

I didn't feel like putting on makeup and dealing with vampire teeth at every party (my side, Randall's side, Activity Days, Randall's work, Halloween), so she was also just a plain old fairy princess on occassion.

Meleah, the spunky "nice witch" -

 

And Carter the lethal blue ninja -

Halloween was a little bit crazy.  We started out the day with the school parade.  Then at noon, I got a call from Carter asking me where I was because the class party (that I was IN CHARGE of) was starting.  Apparently his teacher has the wrong e-mail for me, so I didn't know that it started early.  So, since the babysitter that I had planned wasn't available yet, I woke the baby up, threw the kids and bin of party activities in the car, and raced to the school. (Discovering after we walked into Carter's classroom that Savanna wasn't wearing any shoes...) Fortunately I sent a Mad Libs activity and crossword puzzle a few days earlier so the kids had something to do while they waited for me.  In the end, it all worked out okay.  Cameron, Savanna, and Emma were really good during the party and I think Carter's class had fun.  I was obviously too frazzled to remember my camera. 

Our dreaded "I'm on a diet" candy bowl complete with fruit rollups, licorice (the nastiest candy known to man), and "glow in the dark" vampire teeth that don't actually glow in the dark. (Thanks a lot Oriental Trading!)  Not a stitch of chocolate to be found.  I know...LAME.

Lydia wouldn't pass by without posing for a picture and giving me a hug and kiss. 

Meleah took more of the walk quickly and pretend they're not your family approach.  ;)

I saved Emma for last for a Flashback Friday.  Emma wore the usual baby ducky (or as Savanna would say "rubber ducky") costume.  It was pretty tricky to get a picture because she kept trying to crawl away the entire time.

 I love how she always holds her little hands together -

Savanna (2011) -

Meleah (2007) -

Lydia (2005) -

And just so they don't feel left out, I'll include the boys even though they didn't wear the ducky costume.

Carter (2003)-

Cameron (2009) -



Spirit Week

Here are some pics of the kids "spirit week" -

 Fake Injury Day

 Pajama/Crazy Hair Day

 Future Career Day

 Carter was a Scientist and the girls were teachers in case you can't tell.

Mustache Day

I didn't take a picture of Carter before he left for school with his friend, and Meleah was "too shy" to have a mustache, but Lydia was all for it.  Wednesday was crazy socks and shoes day, but it was also picture day so I was too busy curling and styling to worry about crazy socks.  Carter did wear a pair of mismatched Christmas light socks and a my pink and black star slip-on shoes (Hey, they were only FOUR DOLLARS!) ;)  They all had lots of fun, and now I'm ready to get back to my usual "just get your kids ready and don't worry about what the stinkin' theme for the day is" routine.

My Poor Baby

Randall had a small cyst on his cheek removed the year that we got married, and it has slowly been growing back ever since.  We finally decided to have it removed again, and it was a bit of an ordeal. 

Last time the other Dr. just opened it up, removed the cyst, put on a little bandaid, and was done in about 5 minutes.  Well, this time there was apparently a lot more tugging, pulling, cauterizing, and who knows what else to make sure the dang thing didn't come back again.  I felt bad that I didn't go with him once I heard that it was a little bit traumatizing, but Randall said he didn't really need me passed out on the floor or over on the sidelines breathing heavy to prevent puking to add to his stress.  ;) I almost passed out just watching him pull out the foot long piece of gauze the doctor left in there to prevent infection! (Seriously, DISGUSTING!)  Anyway, the pictures really don't do it justice but his face swelled up SO HUGE on one side.  I have to admit that it was pretty hilarious.  My favorite part was how the swelling pushed down one side of his lip, making him look a bit stroke-patient-esque. 

The REALLY funny thing is that we had Stewart family pictures 2 days after the procedure.  Our nephew Conner is going on his mission in a couple of weeks so Jill wanted to get pictures taken before he leaves.  We were worried about finding a bandaid that didn't show up too much in the pictures.  Little did we know that that would be the LEAST of our problems!  To add to the hilarity, Savanna apparently found a black marker somewhere in their room in the middle of the night and came down looking like this the morning of the pictures  -

This was actually after I had already started to remove it.  I was able to get it MOSTLY off... AND then my children proceeded to play at the park before the pictures were taken.  Apparently to them "Do NOT get dirty AT ALL!" means jump in mud puddles and basically roll around in a big pile of dirt while wearing your Sunday best.  I have yet to see the pics, but needles to say, my expectations are NOT high.  ;)

p.s.  Randall is doing much better now, and is almost completely back to his usual adorably handsome self.