What Happened to April?

The last time I posted a "what have we been up to" post was April 15th. Here's the "what have we been up to" since then:

April 16th - We ended the work week by having a meeting with the director at the daycare. We just weren't happy with the way Nola's first week had gone and needed to talk to her about it to see if we could make some changes or if we needed to look elsewhere. It all started when I picked Nola up from daycare on Wednesday and one of the workers said, "Does she cry a lot at home?" I was stunned because my first thought was that of my baby girl crying all day at daycare. I told her that she doesn't cry a lot - only when she's hungry or needs something. Most of the time, she's a very happy baby. She went on to tell me that she "cries more than the other babies." I managed to get out of the room before I got upset. I came home and called other daycares to find out their rates and ratios for infant care and Rudy and I worked out a gameplan for handling the situation. The meeting with the daycare director was the first step. Thankfully, it ended up being the last step too. It all boiled down to a lack of communication. The director assured us that our concerns would be addressed and that our expectations weren't unsubstantiated. She encouraged me to write up some instructions and expectations for Nola's care and I did so. Things have been much better since then. Nola's belongings are all in one place. I know what to expect from the workers and they know what to expect from me. We are getting in a groove and I think (hope!) it's all going to be okay.

April 17th - RAIN RAIN RAIN! We were supposed to go to Touch-A-Truck on the 17th, but the weather was just too nasty. We went to lunch at Einstein's and while were there, we decided to forego the T-A-T event. We came home and got some stuff done around the house, then I took Nola with me to a Boutique Show in Springdale. We didn't buy anything, but had fun looking at everyone's handmade goodies. That night, we went to dinner over at the Pratchards' house. Rudy and I took boiled corn and potatoes and Jeremy picked up 9 lbs of crawfish from the seafood market in Fayetteville. We ate until we were sick and enjoyed watching the kids play. Last year, we would get a babysitter for Caleb and Bella. This year, we have 2 newborns to throw into the mix - so we're ordering our crawfish to go.

April 18th - We went to church for the start of a new sermon series on world religions, which I'm really enjoying. After church, we had lunch at the Subway at the mall, then had Caleb's 4 year old pictures taken at Picture People. They turned out really good. I haven't scanned them yet to put on here, but I do like them. I'm happy that I've decided to always put him in a white shirt and jeans for his pictures, because they really show how he's growing and changing.

April 20th - Nola's first visit to the ER! Oh, boy!!! I came home from work and went for a walk to get some exercise and clear my head. By the time I got home at 4:30, Rudy was walking the floors with Nola to try to get her to stop crying. She was obviously not feeling well. I took her temperature and she didn't have a fever. We tried all of the usual suspects - feeding, changing diaper, rocking to sleep... Nothing worked. I gave her some gas drops. I gave her some Tylenol. If we did manage to get her to sleep, she woke up crying after only a short time. By the time we got Caleb to bed, we decided that one of needed to take her to the ER because something was obviously not right. She had cried so much that her breathing was more labored than usual and she sounded awful. I got her to the ER about 9:00 and when we checked in, she had a fever of just over 100 degrees. Someone came and gave her an updraft, which seemed to relax her breathing enough for her to rest. The doctor came in and looked her over, checked her ears, checked her mouth, etc. He ordered and RSV swab and a chest x-ray. She was none too fond of either of those procedures, but - thankfully - both came back fine. The doctor diagnosed her as having "some sort of virus" and prescribed an oral steroid and an inhaler. This is the best I could do at getting a picture of her in the ER. Every time I put her down, she screamed - so I'm holding her and taking a picture with my phone. Not her best angle...



We got home from the ER at 11:30 and Nola slept great all night. Because of the fever, Rudy stayed home with her the next day. He said that she was happy and alert all day long - no sign that she had been sick at all.


April 21st - I went to Reagan Elementary to meet with the principal and assistant principal. Cathy Ross, their fabulous speech-language pathologist is retiring this year and I decided I was interested in the position that she's leaving behind. Reagan is a great school with 2 self-contained classes designed primarily (but not exclusively) for children with autism. After meeting with the administrators, I was offered the position and went back to finish my day at Westside. So - next year, I'll be working at a different school in Rogers. And a year from now, I'll be registering Caleb for kindergarten there.


After school, I met Rudy at the daycare and picked up Caleb. We took him to the podiatrist appointment to find out what we could do to help him with the leg pain that he's been having for over a year. Nola and I stayed while he met with the doctor and then had to leave while he was being fitted for shoe inserts. I had to take Nola across town to her appointment at the ENT's office. Her appointment had been scheduled for a while. I was anxious to get her there and see what he had to say about our visit to the ER the night before. I told him about the prescriptions we had been given and he initially said that they sounded like the right path to take. Then...he looked in her ears. He actually grimaced and it takes a lot for an ENT to grimace at the sight of an ear canal. Dr. Black told me that Nola had a severe bilateral ear infection and that she needed antibiotics immediately. I asked why on earth the ER doctor hadn't seen that and he said he wasn't sure but that sometimes they can go from a little bit infected to a whole lot infected overnight and maybe that's what happened. We left there with the news that Nola's laryngomalacia is improving as expected and that she has her first bilateral ear infection before the age of 3 months.


April 22nd - Caleb went on his first field trip. His class went to the Farm Friends event at the UofA, where they got to pet lots of baby animals and pretend to milk a cow. They also had a picnic lunch at the park across the street from the pavilion. I think Caleb's favorite part was getting to take a real lunch box for his lunch. He also loved getting to ride on the church vans. Rudy met them there for a few minutes between schools and took some pictures for me. I was really sad that I couldn't go!


April 23rd - We were planning to have a regular old Friday night at home. The Pratchards called as we were getting ready to eat dinner and invited us to JumpZone. We took them up on the offer and met them there after dinner. Bella and Caleb (and Jeremy and Rudy) had a great time while Lauren and I took care of Nola and Max.

Here are Jeremy and I holding Nola and Max:


And Caleb and Bella playing in the Sesame Street bouncer:

April 24th - Rudy had a meeting all morning to get information about National Board Certification. Caleb, Nola and I braved the elements to go to Race for the Cure. We had dropped my car off at the mall the night before so that I wouldn't have to fight traffic to park, but our plan was foiled because the streets were closed off. We ended up having to fight the traffic anyway because we couldn't find a place to pull over for me to get out with the kids. It rained and rained and I pushed the stroller with one hand while holding the umbrella in the other. Caleb had his Lightning McQueen umbrella and stayed with me every step. When the race finally got started, the rain slacked off a little, so we just walked the family fun walk in the drizzle. We enjoyed doing the walk with the Lyons family.

After the race...a little soggy!

I signed us up for the team called the Breast Brigade. The team was formed in celebration of my friend and co-worker, Jenna, who beat breast cancer a couple of years ago in her very early 30's. Her husband was the chair of the race event this year, so we wanted to go and support her and all of the other survivors - including my awesome aunt, Kim, and her sister, Melanie!


After the race, we skipped the freebie tents and headed for home! We were cold and wet! When we got home, Caleb and I made hot chocolate and talked about the race. He was excited that he got to see the Chick-Fil-A cows and Strike, the mascot for the NWA Naturals. Plus - he got high fives from a bunch of cheerleaders along the race route, which he thought was the coolest thing ever. I didn't have the heart to tell him that we didn't really "win" the race like he thought we did.Caleb rested and watched a movie while I fed Nola and watched some TV. I fell asleep with Nola and woke up when Rudy came home. He gladly took over kid duty for a while so that I could take a much-needed nap. When I got up from my nap, it was still raining, but the radar looked promising. We decided to take a chance and go to the Razorbacks' spring scrimmage game because Caleb was so excited about going to the "Razorback Football Game Stadium." We found a place to park in the parking deck and met the Lyons to watch a little of the scrimmage and let the kids enjoy some of the excitement. We were inundated with kids because the mascots were hanging around close to us, so we didn't get to see much of the actual game. As the storm clouds started rolling in, we decided to leave and go get something to eat. We all went to Feltner Bros. for a burger and the kids had a blast playing while we talked.

Jackson, Leslie & Grace with Nola

Caleb with Sue E. (He calls her "Woo Pig Suzie")

April 25th - Sunday afternoon, I wanted to get some good pictures of the kids. I had looked for good places to take some pictures and finally decided to take them on the front lawn of the ADPi house. We had driven by there after dinner on Saturday to show Caleb the "princess castle where Mama used to live." The azaleas were in full bloom and absolutely gorgeous. We packed up the kids Sunday afternoon and headed back to Fayetteville. I was excited to get some great pictures of Nola to serve as her 3 month portraits without having to pay for professional portraits! Unfortunately, Caleb was being a little bit of a stinker and wouldn't give me a genuine smile for anything. I got lots of goofy grins, but I guess that's what you get with a kid who is about to be 4.

And I just couldn't resist this shot... Maybe it will be on her bulletin board in about 18 years when she moves into the ADPi house.

This week has been pretty normal. We haven't had anything major to contend with at night and we haven't had any special events. We're saving those for this weekend. Saturday is Caleb's birthday party and Sunday (Caleb's actual birthday) is Nola's baptism. I'd better charge the camera batteries...