Just RK

This was mid morning.  She was pretty chill and quiet this morning, but smiles were there.  (Note the shirt…spring chicken…funny.  Thanks Amy and/or Jen !) This is about 5:30p.  She stayed there for a while, then sat up, scooted over a little, and… Something’s not right.  She has a fever of 100.5, which is quite significant for her generally cool normal temp.  My issue: She is on day 4 of her Omnicef, Zyrtec, Singulair, and Nasonex combo.  She has been very obstinate and difficult at school this week—though she was a little better today, according to report.  She’s only going half-days (90 mins) at school this week, on advice from the doc to give her more rest and time to strengthen from all this illness. Her congestion is better, though she’s still pretty snotty.  It’s been nice to have her sleeping better, breathing quietly while sleeping, and I’m pleased with that improvement.  So until the fever today, I was a fan...

I’ve spent far too much time lately on blog designs, learning html code for adding fonts (and downloading TONS of fonts) to various parts of the blogs, changing the html code to create various three column formats, and adding post dividers.  Some of these fun new things can be seen at Braska’s blog , and the layout changes can be seen at Dashlyn’s blog .  I’m working on several makeovers for other friends, and I’ll link to them when they’re done. It’s really becoming addictive to marry my digiscrapping obsession with learning the html and css coding.  I could do this for hours a day, and occasionally do if I have a chance, but I’m neglecting other things.  Everything in moderation…  but wow, it’s so fun to see things take shape, and to make the blogs feel like they’re different instead of the cookie cutter Blogger thing.  Not that it’s bad to be basic, but I like to be unique.  I’ve got a long way to go to be anything more than hobby amateur, so I’ll...

Big news in my world! Walmart has an Equate verson of Aquaphor!!! Almost 50% less. Woo hoo!!! (mobile blogging post)

Here’s the view from my perspective right now. Julie and I are at a scrapping event put on by the Pujols Family Foundation for moms of kids with DS.  They provided lunch, they gave everyone TONS of stuff (albums, papers, stickers, more papers, more embellishments, and on and on…), and we got some stuff done.  I’ve been working on backgrounds, both the free kind for whoever and those that are commissioned by people for a specific purpose. I was the only one sitting behind a laptop, doing the digital version of the “real thing.”  They had little mini classes about stamping and scrapping and even digital scrapbooking.  A great event overall, and I’ve been out of the house for almost 5 hours! Woo hoo! What did you do today?

More drama on the homefront, but this time a bit more painful physically. Everyone in our family is ok. Just clarifying for those of you who yelled at me last time I saved that til the end. Braska's nutritionist was due for a visit at 1pm today. I was getting ready and saw her drive in at 1:10 pm or so. I was putting away lunch things and straightening up the living room. The therapists, I've found, often finish their phone calls in the driveway or for some reason don't come to the door right away. So I continued doing the last little pick-up for a few more minutes. I glanced out at the drive to see the truck was there, but I couldn't tell if she was still inside. At that moment, I heard a loud crash against the front storm door. I headed there to open it, and as I turned the door handle, I heard, "Help! Please help!" I flung the door open to see her face down on the porch with her head against the door. The screen was partially up, so I asked her if...

I’m exhausted, but so many of you have been looking for an update… I can’t live with myself if I keep you waiting.  I’m a pleaser. It’s rough sometimes. Tee hee. I jest . The study went well, as far as I can tell.  Donna, the tech, was great and said they got what they needed. She doesn’t give results, of course, as the doctors will look it over and give an official report.  BUT she did say that she didn’t notice concerning pauses.  I was surprised because Braska pauses a lot when she sleeps, it’s almost like she’s holding her breath for a few seconds.  Get this…did you know that for them to be concerned, the pause in breathing needs to be 20 seconds?!?  20 seconds?!?  That’s a long time, if you ask me.  I’d be freaking before I got to 15 if I was counting.  Of course, if the patient is having dips in the oxygen saturation numbers (desatting), that would also cause concern.  Donna did say that Braska did not have any desatting du...

Wow, what a long day.  It began with so much frustration, but we survived.  Thankfully, God lets me yell and complain at Him and He still loves me and waits until I calm down to say, once again, “I’ve got it. You don’t have to worry. I’m in control and it’s all going to be ok. No matter what it looks like right now.”  I believe that. Even when I let myself get distracted. Thank goodness He is patient. I also want to say thanks to Sara and Tricia for encouragement today via phone.  Sara called and got more than she probably bargained for. And Tricia answered her phone and might have wished she’d have let the machine get it.  Though I’m not much of a phone person generally, it was nice to talk to you guys and learn from your similar experiences. My apologies for all the blah blah blah you had to endure! Braska and M are at Children’s snoozing away right now.  I took them down and stayed through the prep process.  (There are pics on Braska’s blog ...

Wow… that was the most negative post I’ve done in a while. sorry about that, but it’s where I am sometimes lately. So very frustrated. It comes and goes. I usually try to hide it because it’s not pretty, but I’m too worn out to sugar-coat today. Because we didn’t have enough fun things to wonder about, I found this on Braska’s tongue this morning.  It’s a fairly large white spot.  It won’t scrape off with a Nuk brush, doesn’t move.  A close-up for your viewing pleasure. Ideas?  I’ve already been Googling and perusing my medical resources (my years in medical practices comes in so handy sometimes) but I don’t find much that matches this. It’s not a tonsillolith—the white spots sometimes seen in and around the throat and tonsils.  It’s much larger than a taste bud or two that’s swollen.  So I’m not sure.  Related to the upper respiratory issues?  Who knows…

Snot diaper. Mucus catcher. Goo grabber. Something to attach to the face to save the multiple boxes of tissue we’re going through. I don’t know what I’d call it, but I am losing my mind at the constant snot coming out of Braska’s face. It is literally nonstop, and it’s coming out her eyes too. That is BEYOND gross. It’s not like the pink eye goo, but just like thick snot showing up in her eye corners every 10 minutes. What in the world?!? I can’t tell you how frustrated I am at this constant sickness/snot. It’s actually making me angry. I’m tired of the piles of used tissues everywhere because we can’t have enough trash cans around to hold them. I’m tired of the shiny streaks of junk on the couches, chairs, every piece of clothing, and carpeting. Just the sound of the snot bubbles is making me want to throw things. It’s so maddening. Clearly, there are people who are dealing with more. I get that. I know this isn’t truly the end of the world. But for 4 solid months I’ve been totally un...

I wouldn’t even know where to begin to talk about this right now.  No, I’m not celebrating the historic day that was yesterday and this healthcare bill issue. You would have thought Diane Sawyer was announcing Ann Taylor was giving away clothes from the way she was so excited last night.  Disturbing . Thanks to Kayla for mentioning this on a board.  It’s from here if you want the interactive version.  You can click to make the picture larger if you just want to get a better peek at the image. I’m not into predicting, and I’m not asking for any defense of either side of this debate, really, but I feel sure when people work this hard to pass something that doesn’t even pertain to them personally, the rest of us should sit up and take notice.  At the very least, if the legislators are going to put this through, they should have no choice but to have to live with it as well…all the way to Mr. Yes You Can himself.  I can just see him toasting last nigh...

Oh.my.gravy. (Yes. We actually say that in my house) Braska just tolerated IN-MOUTH oral motor therapy for the first time in two years. I'm blown away! (mobile blogging post)

  And a whole bunch to go... but celebrate the small victories, right?!? Today marks the end of 9 weeks. The goal this week is to get more exercise in the schedule...if it's a 530am trek downstairs to the treadmill, then so be it. Maybe nap time, maybe at night. But I've got to step up the exercise. With 2 poorly sleeping girls, a sleep study, no school due to sickness, and a generally poor mood on my part for a variety of reasons...it's going to be a tough week.

KiKi came home from Grammy’s today.  She didn’t want to have anything to do with me.  She was giddy to see her sister, and they wrestled and hugged and giggled like crazy. But when given the option, she returned to Auntie Julia, her new best pal.  After Grammy and Auntie Julia left, Kinlee wouldn’t even come to me to get up from her nap.  She stayed in bed almost 40 minutes just waiting for someone ELSE to offer her a way out. Tonight she warmed up some as she walked all over the living room.  Little crazy girl.  Fall down, get up, walk walk walk… fall down, get up, walk walk walk…  I was tired just watching.  And Braska didn’t even attempt to keep up.  The flip-flop has happened, as far as gross motor is concerned. Kinlee has passed Braska right by.  So far, no one seems to mind at all.

Reece’s Rainbow has a great program, Prayer Warriors , which matches a volunteer to a child, so that someone specifically is praying for that child every day until they find a home. I’ve known about this for some time, but I keep forgetting to get with it and ask for a child to be assigned to me. So this week I did, and yesterday in the mail I received news of my new “project.” Meet Toby. One truly adorable little guy. He’s about 5 months old, living in Eastern Europe in an orphanage. His birthday is only 5 days after mine! Is he just precious or what?!? So every day I will be praying for little Toby, that he finds a family, and that he is safe and loved until that time. And I have a picture on my fridge to remind me, besides just showing me how cute he is. I’m also praying for and trying to raise money for Zoe still. Though I can’t physically bring one of these little ones home, I can definitely take a few minutes out of my day to plead with God on their behalf. Do you have a few min...

After my visit with the doctor today, I've got no new plan. He says wait. He says it will get better. He says I must give it time. It's been 8 days now. I feel like that's plenty of time. The ear is just plain driving me nuts, but I'll survive. If it's not better by Monday, I'll be perched on his doorstep again insisting on a more definitive plan. There's got to be some way to get this fluid out of my ear... And he says the ear issue is causing the throat pain...drainage down the back of my throat. Lovely . KiKi comes home tomorrow, Braska's on the mend, though slowly. I've got a lot to get done this weekend. We'll see if I have the energy to get it all accomplished. For one positive point...BrocChick total: 27 lbs.

What a difference! Braska slept all night, though she did wake a couple times for just a moment. Or at least she stirred a little bit. But she didn't get up til about 8:20 am, almost 12 hours of sleep. I think that's a first! Granted, she was covered in dried grossness this morning, with her nostrils completely occluded, but she slept. And I slept. And that's awesome! Thank you, God! (And thanks JD, too.) We're heading back to my doc again this morning. I just don't get how I can be on day 4 of a Z-pack and not be improved. The obvious answer is that it's not the right med for the job. So we'll see... I'm losing my patience, though.

You might have seen the update over here regarding Braska’s strep infection. And Kinlee’s subsequent fever. It’s good times, let me tell ya. We’ve got a divide-and-conquer plan in place, though, so we’re surviving. Braska’s here with me, while Kinlee is still at Grammy’s house. It seems that we caught KiKi’s at the beginning, so we started the amoxicillin and she’s doing well. M is trying to steer clear of this sickness, so he’s bailed on us and isn’t coming home til we’re germ free, I suppose. So Braska and I are hanging out, playing a little, trying to nap… ah yes, trying to nap. I would love to get caught up on the house or something, but I still don’t feel very well and I’ve got no energy at all. Sleep was not something either Braska or I accomplished last night. Unfortunately, I forgot one small thing when we started Braska on the ever-present, bubble-gum-flavored, bright pink amoxicillin suspension liquid yesterday afternoon. She has a very unpleasant reaction to red dye....

Mobile blogging-- Testing 123...would i use mobile blogging much?? Who knows. But I'll see if it works and go from there. Anyone do mobile with Blogger?

Nice, huh?  This is me right now.  Wanna guess how it feels?? Over the last 10 days, Braska has had pink eye, Kinlee got it, of course, and this is how I woke up today.  The fun part is that this isn’t the worst of my current health situation.  Wednesday evening I started feeling like it was coming.  You know, when you can tell you’re going to get sick, but it’s just torturing you by coming on nice and slow.  It drives me crazy.  Nothing I can do but wait for it.  Thursday I had a sore throat, not a “normal” one, but way more painful.  It got worse throughout the day.  That night was very un-fun.  Nothing would help the throat. Not ibuprofen, not Tylenol, not Chloraseptic, not cough drops, not gargling salt water, not even straight salt on the throat.  (Yeah, I was ready to try anything.)  By Friday morning, I was feeling beyond just “under the weather.” I can’t imagine the girls having this.  How miserable ...

In honor of World Down Syndrome Day on March 21, Reece’s Rainbow has a special project this month to help sponsor children for adoption.  I have chosen little Zoe as my special girl, to spread the news and put her cute little face out there, hoping that someone might want to scoop her up and bring her home.  Her birthday is just 6 days before Braska’s .   She has just 8 months left in her “baby house” before she will be sent to a mental institution.  Rarely do small children live more than a year in that environment.  I just can’t bear to consider my Braska going to a place where no one would interact with her and she would be left to fend for herself, IF she’s not restrained to her bed. How I wish I could go and get her, along with several other little ones, or at the very least find families to give them homes.  Yet all that is open for me right now is to tell everyone about the need, and pray that people will open their hearts for lit...

At least that’s what her shirt says… so we’re going with it.

Ok, so it’s not so much a “fight” but it has felt like it a little in the last couple days.  If you didn’t see the post on Braska’s blog about yesterday’s feeding demo (and if you want things to make sense) you might want to start there first . Today the goal was to talk to the contact at the school and Sue, a superb OTR/L with excellent feeding skills and experience.  She was our OT for about 3 months at the end of the summer, right before Braska’s transition out of EI.  She is wonderful, as a person, with Braska, and at what she knows as a professional.  I wanted Braska to stay with her when starting school, since Sue works there as well as privately, but the school is set up so that each classroom has an OT who works with the kids in that room.  Since Braska wasn’t in one of Sue’s rooms, we went with the OT in the room.   Let’s just say that has not worked out the best . There’s a lot that could be said about that, but I’ll leave most of it alone ...

Kinlee's really showing herself to be running straight for toddlerdom. She is signing and "saying" (approximations) lots of things now. She signs daddy, more, please, eat, milk, yes, all done, and dog. She has consistent words/sounds for daddy (da), mommy (mama), belle (bubba), milk (muh), hair (ha), sissy (sisis), no (nah), yes (yah), shoe (shuh) and eat (eah, with a short sound at the end, but no T). Her more word-like words are hat, uh-oh, bye, and hi. When Baby Signing Time is on, she rocks her little "baby" self like crazy, as shown below... She is also doing well with her walking, increasing her steps a few each day, it seems. Today she went 12 or 13 steps at a time, a few separate times. But these are from last night, and she was tired, but still...it shows how much she likes to try again and again. She is really loving her increased mobility and manages to get into just about everything she has access too.

Love this one.. .back when the tube was an accessory, including it being in a little bow and clipped with the ribbon bow, too.  This was also pre-glasses, as you can see from the non-straight gaze.  Cute little bug… 7/19/07—2 days shy of 8 months old.

(This is a scheduled post…so I’m writing it Friday night, but you won’t see it til Saturday.  That’s because I want to be sure you have time to see this post with the exciting news!) Tomorrow/today (Saturday) I will be spending the day at our local/regional DS conference.  The DSAGSL puts this on each year.  I’ve never gone, for a variety of reasons.  But this year, thanks to my buddy Adrienne, I ended up on the planning committee along with Julie . Both of us first-timers, and kind of representing the “moms of younger kids” set.  I also was asked to be part of a workshop with a parent panel on the process of doing the first IEP, transitioning from Early Intervention to the school system.  So tomorrow will be a busy day, one that I am expecting to be exhausting in a few ways, but I hope that it will go well for those who come.  I really hope more are in attendance than what it sounds like there will be.  Julie is picking me up at 7 am. Neither...

Jack’s going to have a little sister!!! Woo hoo!  Julie and Allan have committed to and started the process of adopting little Dasha from Eastern Europe through Reece’s Rainbow !  Her name will be Dashlyn Belle, which I think is SO neat.  This has been on Julie’s heart for some time, and it is now so very neat to see them finally able to move forward! Grab This Button <a href="http://smithadoptionfun.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x198/wish4rk/dashlynbutton1-tiny.jpg" /></a><br/><a href="http://smithadoptionfun.blogspot.com/">Grab This Button</a><br/> Be sure to visit their adoption blog here (put it in your reader, Reader users), grab the button above to add to your blog or your Facebook page, and spread the word that another little one has a Mommy and Daddy on their way to get her soon!  Of course, if you’d like to donate to the costs of bringing her hom...

(If you’re just joining us…here’s the backstory .) I keep wanting to get on here and update, document for later, etc.  But I always have something that is higher on the priority list.  That will probably continue to happen, so I’m going to try to do a quick blurt out of some info and tips that some have asked about. ~I’ve lost 21 lbs so far, and I’m not burnt out yet.  That’s pretty amazing. I’ve made a few tweaks to the deal, but the basic plan is still in place. More on that later. ~The Wii Fit has become a very expensive scale and spreadsheet-keeper to document my progress.  I need to find a time that I can make a workout work.  It’s been frustrating that neither early or late or while the girls are up OR when they’re napping has worked for a variety of reasons.  Most of them are named Kinlee, though.  Julie and I have done a little walking, but we need to do better.  I’d be making more progress if I could kick up my exercise, that’s for ...

I take a lot of pictures on my phone, some video, and it lives there, unless I send it to one of a couple of people who might enjoy it and can receive those messages.  So when I noticed some cute ones tonight, I thought I’d share. Did some shopping at a local warehouse boutique…also known as Rachel’s storage unit.  I just thought the stacks  of Crate & Barrel boxes (this was only one of at least 3) were too funny.  Wedding presents unopened because they have no place to put them yet.  Next on the checklist for them, buy a house.  BUT I found an entertainment center and got a GREAT deal! I had a whim and acted on it. That’s not always wise in my experience, but we’ll see how this one goes.  I put Kinlee’s bed in Braska’s room and made Kinlee’s room a playroom.  I quickly realized that 9 x10 is not that much space for so many toys, but they are loving it.  A further toy purging is to follow very soon. Pretty self ex...