An Update for the Scrapbook Calendar

2/14 ~ Valentine's Day: It was a beautiful day, so Caleb and I played outside after school. We went for a wagon ride and blew bubbles in the driveway. Rudy was asked to substitute for the conductor of the U of A Campus Band, so he was a little late coming in. When he got home, we went out to dinner at Acambaro. 2/15-17 ~ A trip to Hot Springs: We drove down to Hot Springs on Friday after school. Caleb was awesome in the car and didn't really fuss much until the last 30 minutes or so. That's when I really wanted to start fussing too, but I didn't think it would be a very good example. :) On Saturday, Aunt Harolyn came over to visit and then we took Caleb to meet Drs. Jim and Elaine McNiece. Mom, Mr. L. and the McNieces have been friends for years! After that, we took Caleb up to the backside of the racetrack so that he could see the horses. Mr. L. has a friend who is a horse trainer, so we were able to go back to his barn, where Caleb could really get up close and personal. Caleb loved it! Last year, he wasn't so sure about those big animals, but this year, he was enthralled. He even reached out to pet them.

We had a relaxing weekend with Mom and Mr. L. and enjoyed our visit tremendously, but it was time to pack up and head home on Sunday.

2/18 ~ I was out of school on Monday, so I took advantage and made 3 doctor appointments. I got all of my systems checked out and given the go ahead and also managed to get a pedicure while I was at it. It was a busy - but productive - day.

2/23 ~ Aurick's 6th Birthday Party: Caleb was invited to his first Chuck E Cheese birthday party on Saturday. I took him when he woke up from his nap and he had a great time. He even danced with the big kids! I was so proud. I may never forgive Stacy for introducing him to Chuck E Cheese's...just kidding! The best part was that Caleb wasn't afraid of the costumed Chuck E. I was happy to see that, because we're taking him to his first Razorback basketball game on Saturday and I sure would like to get a picture of him with at least one of the mascots!

A GREAT doctor visit

We went to see Dr. Harmon today for a re-check on Caleb's ears and respiratory system. Praise Be...we got a good report. He said that everything is completely okay. We were so excited!!! So - we're not going to have to get tubes this year. However...the first ear infection he has, we are going straight to the ENT and requesting that he put in tubes immediately. Dr. Harmon agrees with that gameplan and we're going with it.

Stomach Flu...again

Back in early September, I wrote a post about our family having the stomach flu. I hoped I would never have to write another one. Yet, here I am - just 5 short months later, reliving the whole thing.

Here's how it all went down...
We all survived the respiratory junk that hit us at the end of January. It cost us a fortune in medications and nearly cost us our sanity (remember the steroids?), but we survived intact. Jan was up for the weekend, so we went out for a nice dinner at Cafe Rue Orleans on Friday night. We thoroughly enjoyed it - as always. Friday and Friday night, Caleb had a little bit of diarrhea, but we chalked it up to his antibiotics and didn't think much of it. On Saturday, Jan agreed (quite willingly) to keep Caleb so Rudy and I could have a day out together. We decided to take a chance on getting tickets at the arena for the Arkansas vs. Florida basketball game, so we went to Fayetteville. We did manage to get pretty great seats and had an absolutely fantastic day together. We watched the game, celebrated the big win with the other crazy fans, went shopping and went to dinner. Rudy even bought me a new iPod for Valentine's Day! Before the game, I commented to Rudy that my stomach didn't feel very good, but I just thought it was because I was hungry. During the game, I started to feel a little queasy and almost feverish, but I pushed it off because I was having so much fun. Rudy called a few times during the day to check in with Jan and Caleb and she said that they were having a great time, but that his diarrhea hadn't stopped and that he was developing a terrible diaper rash. She called us at dinner and said that we should probably come home pretty soon, because he was absolutely miserable and needed some really strong diaper cream to stop the rash. We left as soon as we could and stopped at Walgreen's for diaper rash treatment. When we got home, poor Caleb was in terrible shape. His diaper rash was so painful that he just couldn't be consoled during diaper changes. We were still blaming the antibiotics for his troubles...

I went to bed late Saturday night with a splitting headache and woke up Sunday morning with THAT FEELING. I laid there in misery for a while before I made my first sprint to the bathroom to throw up. That continued throughout the morning and went downhill from there. I definitely had the stomach flu. (In the meantime, Jan had to go help her mother take her father to the hospital. Grandpa's health has been really poor this past few months and he needed some pretty significant medical attention.) Rudy took over taking care of Caleb who obviously had more than just the antibiotics upsetting his stomach. Caleb was a different child than I have ever experienced. He cried at the top of his lungs all day long. He had to be held constantly and could not be satisfied by anything at all. I couldn't lift my head off the pillow without throwing up, so Rudy was completely exhausted by noon. We also knew that the way things were going - there was no way Caleb would be going to school on Monday and that I probably wouldn't either. That's when we decided that we needed to call for backup. I called my mom and she agreed to come up and take care of Caleb. She made it to the house at about 5:00 - just about the time the flu hit Rudy. I was as sick as I have ever been on Sunday night. I could not walk from the couch to the bed by myself. Mom was amazing (as usual) and did everything in her power to take care of Caleb and me and managed to get all of our laundry done at the same time. Somehow, Rudy managed to go to work on Monday. Mom left after going to Wal Mart to get prescription diaper cream for Caleb and Gatorade for me.

Monday and Tuesday nights, Rudy had concerts at the middle schools, so it was just Caleb and me. They were both very trying nights. We were both tired, both still not feeling great and both cranky. That doesn't make for a very good combination. But - we survived and our whole family had a great night last night. Rudy had another concert tonight and Caleb and I had one of the best nights together that I can remember. We played and read books and had dinner together. It was a complete turnaround. I'm praying that we are through being sick for a while and that we can enjoy some time together this weekend without any of the distractions of being sick, tired and cranky.

Do Tears Freeze?

So, we thought we'd be super-parents and take Caleb out to play in the snow yesterday. After all - kids love snow and he seemed to think it was pretty awesome last year, even though he was only 8 months old. Here's how it all went down:

All morning, Caleb went to the window and said, "'no" (his attempt at "snow") and laughed and looked in absolute amazement. So...after Caleb woke up from his nap, we started the bundling. We all put on a couple of layers and asked Caleb if he wanted to go outside. His normal response of, "'side! 'side! 'side!" was a pretty good sign that we were headed out for some fun! At first, his eyes got big, then he managed a half-smile. Then I picked up some snow and let Caleb touch it. He REFUSES to wear gloves or mittens, so I didn't push that too hard. Even though there wasn't much snow, we got out the sled and Rudy pulled Caleb down the sidewalk a couple of times.

After that, things went downhill fast - and I'm not talking about sledding. Caleb freaked out. He cried when we tried to go for a walk, when we tried to go inside and when we tried to put him in his wagon. He was so upset! I asked him if he wanted to go inside and he cried harder. I asked him if he wanted to play and he cried. I'm embarrassed to say that it took me WAY too long to figure out that Caleb's idea of "outside" was very different from what he was experiencing and he was not handling it well. When I asked Caleb if he wanted to go outside, he expected to go out and find grass and concrete and sunshine. Even though he could see the snow through the window - that was just not his idea of what happens when we go "outside." We finally came in and stripped off the outer layer of clothes. He calmed down after a while and we went on with our normal lives...inside the house.

We have a 2nd snow day today and we are NOT going outside.

Antibiotics are Awesome!

We survived the parental round of general grossness around here - thanks to some handy-dandy antibiotics.

We're enjoying a wonderful SNOW DAY at home today! We haven't been out to play in it yet, but we plan to when Caleb wakes up from his nap.

Can't catch a break...

Caleb is all better!!!!

Rudy and I are sick.

I think Charlie Brown said it best: "Good grief."

Update from the Infirmary

Life is so much better at our house these days. Caleb is feeling amazingly better. Rudy took him to Dr. Harmon on Friday for his 2nd round of rocephin shots and I took him in on Saturday for the 3rd round. The doctor that saw him on Saturday said that he still has 2 infected ears and is still wheezing. He wrote a prescription for augmentin and some eye drops. I think he's on the mend, but still isn't out of the woods just yet. We're keeping a close eye on everything.

The Lyons family came over for dinner last night. We enjoyed it so much. We love having friends over and we just haven't had the room to do that since we moved here. Now that we are in our house, we are looking forward to entertaining more.

MUCH BETTER (video included)

NEWSFLASH AND HALLELUJAH: Caleb woke up from his afternoon nap a little groggy, but by dinnertime, he was almost back to his usual self. By bedtime, he was completely back to his usual self. He put on a show - dancing, singing, laughing and running around the house - that made Rudy and I laugh a much-needed laugh. Of course, Caleb is still sick - the ear infections and respiratory junk didn't go away miraculously - but I can handle all of that as long as he's not acting like a demon child. I am so glad to have my little boy back. See ya, orapred...may you never darken our doorstep again!

Multitasking:

Say "cheese"...

My 100th Post and it's a long one

Forgive me if this post makes little or no sense. I'm writing on limited sleep, but writing helps me process information and is oddly therapeutic, so I'm putting this in words. Plus - I'm sure I'll need to look back on this post in a few weeks/months to remember this whole episode.

As I wrote in my last post, Caleb went to the pediatrician last Thursday. He was put on amoxicillin and xopenex (nebulizer) for a respiratory infection that was causing coughing, matted eyes and runny nose. The pediatrician also wrote a prescription for orapred and a stronger dosage of xopenex and said to have those filled if he didn't show improvement. Rudy stayed home with him Thursday and Friday. Saturday night, he had a fever of almost 103 degrees. On Sunday, we took it easy and stayed home all day and night. Monday, I had to go to work, but Rudy was off for the King holiday. He dropped off the extra prescriptions and I went to get them after work. Caleb took his first dose of orapred on Monday night with his dinner. We knew he was still too sick to go to school on Tuesday, so Rudy planned to stay home with him again. On Tuesday, the Caleb we all know and love was replaced by a monster. Rudy said that he spent the whole day crying about the smallest things and being aggressive for no reason at all. When I got home Tuesday, he was still being a pain. Rudy needed a break and I can't blame him one bit. He went to run an errand and I decided that maybe Caleb was just feeling cooped up and needed to get out of the house for the first time since Wednesday afternoon. I took him to the mall to get some dinner and read books at the bookstore. When we walked into the food court, he threw his first full-fledged tantrum. In addition to screaming bloody murder, he pulled my hair and pinched my cheek and flopped his whole upper body limp while kicking me. Looking back on it, this was pretty impressive body control. I certainly didn't see any positives to it at the time, though. I was just glad the mall wasn't crowded and there wasn't anybody there that I knew. I calmly (pat on the back) took him into the bathroom area and sat him down on the couch and very sternly told him "no scream, no kick, no hurt Mama." He got big tears in his eyes and gave me a hug. It was almost like he realized that he had just had an out-of-body experience. It was at that point that I realized that I was dealing with more than just a tantrum and that this had to be related to his medicine or to being sick or both. We got dinner from Subway and he hardly ate anything. He did, however, enjoy the echo of the empty food court and drinking water from a straw. At that point, whatever made him happy was fine with me. After dinner, we went to Borders, where my precious child proceeded to go up to a display of Cookie Monster books and say, "uh-oh" before pulling about 10 of them to the floor. He did manage to help me clean up his mess before heading off to the stairs, which he decided to climb. That was perfectly fine, except he didn't want to come back down once he got to the top and - again - threw a lovely fit in the store. I managed to get through the check-out with the help of a very kind store associate who played with Caleb while I paid. I got into the car and drove straight home, still wearing the mark on my face from where he had pinched me earlier.

When we got home, Rudy and I struggled with the decision of sending him to school on Wednesday or not. His nose and eyes had dried up and his cough was much better, but we were now looking at the major personality change that we figured out was from the orapred. We decided that since he hadn't had fever in 36 hours, we'd take a chance with the knowledge that I might have to drop everything and go get him. I dropped him off on Wednesday morning, checked in the nebulizer with instructions for dosing and talked to one of the directors about the decision we had made and asked her to please call me immediately if I needed to come get him. My phone rang at 3:00 and I left work 15 minutes early to go get him. His teacher said that he was just so obviously miserable and had coughed and cried all day. I don't know why they waited so long to call me, but I got to him as soon as I could. He coughed all the way home with the strangest cough I've ever heard. It was heartbreaking. When we got home, he cried for over an hour and I couldn't figure out why. I offered him milk and a graham cracker, but he threw them back at me. When Rudy made it home, Caleb just wanted to be held. His wonderful Daddy dropped everything and held him while I cancelled my students for today and made some mashed potatoes - one of Caleb's favorite foods. When we put him in his chair to eat, though - he wouldn't even take a bite. He just cried until we picked him back up and held him.

In the meantime...I called the doctor's office Wednesday afternoon to ask if we could please take him off the orapred if it wasn't absolutely necessary. Dr. Harmon's nurse, Noel, was wonderful and managed to get us off the orapred and got us a prescription for pulmicort - another nebulizer medication. When she called me back to tell me that she got the prescription, Caleb was standing right next to me, crying so loudly that I could hardly hear. Noel asked me if that was him and I told her, "Yes, and I have no idea why he's crying." She said, "Haley, he doesn't either." That made so much sense to me and put the whole thing in a much better perspective. Nurses are amazing that way.

Caleb took both of his nebulizer treatments like a champ, which is tough, because that means sitting still for a long time! We gave him his amoxicillin and put on his PJ's at 7:00, because he was just so lethargic. As soon as I picked him up from the changing table, he put his head on my shoulder and went to sleep. I sat down in the recliner and held my sleeping child for 2 hours last night. If it was the only comfort I could offer him, I was willing to sit for as long as he needed. I thought he would rest better in the bed, though, so I put him in the guest bed with me. He woke up off and on all night long, coughing so hard I thought he was going to be sick and crying out in pain. He tossed and turned and finally got into a restful sleep at about 4:30. We both slept hard from that point until about 7:30, when I got up to start getting ready to go to the doctor. I didn't want to wake him up since he was finally sleeping, so I waited as long as I could to get him ready. I gave him a cup of teddy grahams while I was packing his diaper bag and a backpack with some things to entertain him at the office. He managed to spill the grahams, which sent him into a screaming fit on the floor. I knew it was going to be a trying trip to the doctor.

We actually got in to see the doctor pretty quickly, which was a huge blessing. Morning appointments are the way to go! I was quite a sight at the office, though. I had my coat, Caleb's coat, Caleb's "bed" (his blanket that he suddenly wants all the time), a full-size backpack and a kid-size backpack that we use as our diaper bag. Oh...and a toddler with a mind of his own who wanted to go in the opposite direction of where we needed to be at all times and screamed horrifically when I suggested otherwise. I'm sure I was "that mom" that all of the others looked at and just shook their heads thinking that I was a complete disaster and needed to get it together. They were right, but I didn't care. When Dr. Harmon came into the exam room, I said, "I bet you hate to see our names on your daily schedule." He just smiled and patted me on the back. Don't think that I didn't notice the fact that he didn't deny it. He looked at Caleb's ears and said they were in bad shape. I asked if they were infected and he said yes. He listened to him breathe and watched his pulse-ox for about 30 seconds and then wrote a prescription for phenergan with codeine and ordered a shot of rocephin for today and another one for tomorrow. He said that he'll decide tomorrow whether or not he needs another shot on Saturday. He's off the amoxicillin, but still on both breathing treatments. The rocephin shots are apparently very painful for kids, so the nurses apologized over and over to me and to Caleb for giving them. I assured them that neither of us would hold a grudge as long as they made him feel better.

After the doctor's office, we stopped very quickly at my office so that I could get my therapy materials for tomorrow. After that, we headed for Walgreen's to drop off our new prescription. Caleb had fallen asleep in the car, so I ate some Chick-Fil-A in the car while I waited on the medicine. When I went to pick up the prescription, the pharmacist told me that she had called the doctor's office because the phenergan was not recommended for children. Apparently, it can cause respiratory distress in children. What?!?! Why in the world did my pediatrician write the script then???? I kept my cool and asked her to call me when she heard from the doctor. Shortly after I got home, she did call and said that they had come up with an alternative and it would be ready when we wanted it. Rudy is picking it up on his way home from work today.

I tried to put Caleb into his bed when we got home, but he didn't want anything to do with that idea. I asked him if he wanted to eat and he said, "eat" so I put him in his chair and gave him some chicken. He very s-l-o-w-l-y managed to eat 4 nuggets and drink 1/2 a cup of milk. I gave him his breathing treatments and we read a book, then watched some "Melmo" (Sesame Street) before I put him down for his nap. That was about an hour and a half ago and he's starting to wake up now. We'll see how the afternoon goes...

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

On Saturday, the 12th, Mom and Mr. L came up to bring us some odds and ends for the house and to visit. We had a wonderful time. Rudy cooked an amazing dinner Saturday night and we all sat around the table and laughed at Caleb as he learned to say, "Oh, no!" and a hilarious version of "Oh, man!" It was a great visit.

On Sunday, we took advantage of Mr. L's truck and followed them to Ft. Smith to give Jan an outdoor cabinet that we couldn't get to her on our own. We stayed and had lunch with her before leaving for home.

I woke up on Tuesday feeling like I had been run over by a fleet of trucks. I absolutely couldn't get up and make it through a day with 3, 4 and 5 year olds, so I called in sick. I ended up sleeping 20 of the 24 hours of Tuesday. It took a few days before I started feeling better, but I didn't really have much of a choice...

On Thursday morning, Caleb woke up with a matted eye, runny nose and a fever. He had been coughing a lot all week, but the fever was what really concerned me. Rudy took the day off and took him to the pediatrician. He was diagnosed with a bad respiratory infection. He's on a nebulizer for breathing treatments and also a round of antibiotics. The nurse said that he didn't need to go to daycare on Friday - or any day until he got better because his immune system was weak and he could end up with RSV. So, Rudy stayed home on Friday as well. It was miserable for me to go to work and leave them here. I was worried all day, but I was so busy that I didn't have time to do much about it. Besides, it was a crummy day at work and I really just wanted to get home to my boys.

Friday night (after lots of debate about what was the right thing to do), Rudy and I went to dinner and a movie. We got a babysitter and actually went on a date. Kelly is a junior in college and we've known her since she was in high school. She had our cell phone numbers, so we felt comfortable leaving Caleb in her care. He was only awake for about 2 hours while she was here. Our much-needed date was fantastic - great meal and great movie (Juno) - and we got back here by midnight.

Nothing really changed with Caleb on Saturday. We stayed home all day and night. During his bath, he got a funny look on his face and said, "Poo." I asked him if he had to poop and he nodded his head. I picked him up out of the tub and put him on the toilet, but that made him cry, so I put a diaper on him. After a few minutes, he said, "bath" and I put him back in the tub. He hadn't dirtied his diaper, but he had wet it. Right after his bath, he did dirty the diaper that I put on him. I'm hoping this means he's starting to realize the feeling of needing to go to the bathroom and that will make potty training a little easier next year. We'll see. He's been doing that more and more often lately. While Mom and Mr. L were here last weekend, he started pooping IN the tub and I said, "Caleb, are you pooping?" He nodded at me and said, "Yeah." Mom scooped him up out of the tub and I cleaned it out before running him a fresh bath. Only in a mother's world!

He went to bed just fine Saturday night. I had trouble getting to sleep and had dozed off at about 2:45, when I started to hear him moaning and crying. I thought maybe he was just unsettled and would get back to sleep in a few minutes. It just got worse, though and he eventually started calling for me. I went into his room and picked him up. That's when I realized that he was burning up with fever. I changed his diaper and wet PJ's and then gave him some ibuprofen. As I tried to get him to sleep, I took his temperature and it was 102.9. I took a deep breath and prayed that the ibuprofen would work quickly. Fortunately, it did and I felt his fever break a short time later. He tossed and turned for a while and finally went to sleep about 4:00. Needless to say, we both took long naps today. We stayed in again today and I'm about to go stir crazy. Not stir crazy enough to look forward to going to work tomorrow - that would just be crazy!

Rudy is off tomorrow for MLK, Jr. day, but I have to go to work. We're going to wait and see how Caleb does tonight before we decide about daycare tomorrow. He seems to feel fine, but he's still very congested. He has danced around and played a lot today, and we have followed him around with tissues. I think he is just as stir crazy as we are, but we can't chance him getting any sicker, so we'll be conservative about sending him back.

Christmas and All Settled In

We're finally HOME! We could not possibly be happier with our new home and we are thrilled to be settled in and unpacked. Everyone keeps saying that they are amazed that I already have pictures hung on the wall and boxes unpacked. Well, it's me and that's how I do things. I can't stand to live in a place where I have to sidestep boxes and the walls are bare. I want it done so I can relax and enjoy my life.


The morning of the 21st, Rudy got up and took Caleb to Jan's in Ft. Smith. She kept him all weekend for us, which we greatly appreciate. We closed on the house at 2:00 and went straight home to start moving stuff. We moved the entire contents of the kitchen that night. On Saturday, we got up bright and early to get a head start on the moving truck. We hauled a couple of loads of stuff in our cars before the truck ever showed up. We had 2 guys helping us move and they were pretty good. They had all the right equipment to make even the heavy stuff easy to maneuver. They were gone by 4:00 and we were left with a big huge mess. At times, we looked around and had no idea where to even begin to work. But - we jumped in there and got it done. We made sure that Caleb's room was ready for him when he got home on Sunday. The basics were all done by the end of the weekend.

On Sunday, we met the Villines family for lunch in Fayetteville. Todd, Tammy and Elle brought Caleb to meet us. We enjoyed our time with the family. Jerry and Sherry, Rebecca and Derek and Tom came back with us to see the house after lunch. We were so proud to show it off, even though it wasn't finished yet.

On Christmas Eve, we spent the morning waiting for the cable guy and the delivery of our new dryer. (Our old one had almost caught fire and we didn't know it!) Once all of that was done, we went to Jan's in Ft. Smith. The Voise family had a wonderful dinner there and it was good to see everyone. The best part was watching Caleb and Elle play together.

Christmas Day (Rudy's 32nd birthday), we came back home. After Caleb's nap, he opened his Christmas presents from us and then we went over to the Voises for dinner and to visit some more. Jan and Chris came back to the house and spent the night. We were all exhausted when we got home! We had been on a whirlwind adventure for several days...and it was only just starting.

On the 26th, Mom came up to help me with decorating/unpacking and watching Caleb while I did those fun things. It was wonderful having her here. I don't know how I ever would've gotten all of those boxes unpacked without her! Rudy left for Fordyce (deer camp) on the afternoon of the 26th and met Mr. L. down there. Mom and I worked ourselves to the bone for 2 days and then packed up on the 28th and went to Hot Springs.

After Caleb's nap on the 28th, we went over to Aunt Harolyn's to see everyone. Becca, Jimmy and Maddox hadn't been there long and we were so glad to see them! Caleb and Maddox played and had a Goldfish cracker picnic in the floor with Aunt H. Caleb taught Maddox how to call the Hogs, which was almost enough to give Jimmy a stroke. Of course, all of the Arkansas fans in the group loved it! The two boys had a great time playing with cars and trucks, dancing and soaking up the spotlight. That evening, we went to Pepapa and Anna Joyce's house to see them and I helped Pepapa set up his new high-speed internet. It was quite an ordeal, but we got it done and got home just in time to put Caleb to bed.

On the 29th, Rudy and Mr. L. came back from Fordyce and Rudy had killed a deer. He was so excited! That afternoon, we went back over to Pepapa and Anna Joyce's for our big family Christmas. We had a great time seeing everyone. It was a very special Christmas this year. We were so glad to have the little boys running around and playing. It was the first time we've had 2 little ones at Christmas in a very long time! In addition to that, we were all glad to be together for the first time since Kim's breast cancer diagnosis. It made the meaning of Christmas and the feeling of family a lot more important than usual. She is doing fantastic and I was so glad to see her smiling face! Please continue to pray for her and for Jimmy.

When we got back to Mom and Mr. L's after dinner, we went ahead and opened all of our Christmas gifts with them so that packing up the car would be an easier task the next morning. Not that it was easy with all of the stuff that we had to take home!

Caleb made a major haul on the Christmas gifts this year. He got a wagon, lots of Little People stuff, some movies, some books, a 3-in-1 tricycle/rocker, cars and trucks and even a Lightening McQueen car that he can ride on and make lots of noise! He loves it! I even cleaned out his toy box when we got home from Hot Springs to make room for the new things.

We spent the last couple of days of the year finishing up the house and getting our lives back in order after the move. We didn't do anything at all on New Year's Eve. In fact, we were sound asleep when the clock struck 12. We were completely disappointed in the Hogs' performance in the Cotton Bowl. I even managed to sleep through the entire 3rd quarter. It was THAT bad!

I had to go back to work on the 2nd, so Rudy took Caleb to school and came home to work on the remaining "to-do" list. On Friday night, Chris came up and spent the weekend with us. He and Rudy did some lawnwork for the Voises on Saturday, then went to see a movie Saturday night. Saturday and Sunday were beautiful days, so we spent a lot of time outside playing. Rudy went back to work on the 7th and some sense of routine has returned to our lives. We're looking forward to the weekend. Mom and Mr. L. are coming up on Saturday morning. They are bringing some fantastic hand-me-down furniture and taking our old refrigerator back with them. They are looking forward to seeing the finished product of our new home...and looking forward to seeing Caleb too.

As for Caleb's milestones...I couldn't be more excited! He's talking so much now that I can't even keep up with all of his words. He has even started putting 2 words together occasionally. A couple of days ago, he said, "Hi, Daddy." He loves to play with his Little People and with anything that has wheels or plays music. He asks for Elmo, movies ("moobee") and TV ("teebee") more than I'd like for him to, but we monitor what he watches, so I guess it's okay. He loves Monsters, Inc. and Cars. He also loves Sesame Street and pretty much anything on Sprout. I was amazed a couple of days ago when I realized that he can identify a star...and says that word "star" anytime he sees one. He also says, "Wow!" when something really amazes him. Oh...and he dances. It is pretty much the funniest thing he's ever done. I've tried to catch him doing it on video, but he loves the camera, so when I get it out - that's all he focuses on. He will go to Rudy's clock-radio on his nightstand and press the button that turns on the radio. Then he starts grooving with his shoulders and turns around in circles. This lasts about 15 seconds before he turns off the music, then turns it back on and does it all over again. It never fails to make me laugh! His other favorite thing right now is opening and closing doors. This is enough to make me crazy sometimes, but I figure it's a passing phase. It'll get old after a while and we'll move on to something else that makes me nuts. Other than wanting to be "side" (outside) all the time and throwing a holy fit when he doesn't get to go, he's a pretty easy-going little man. He loves his school, his teachers and his mama and daddy. My favorite thing in the world is to walk into his classroom in the afternoons and hear, "Mama!" and see that smiling child come running towards me. What more could I ask for?

15 Days Later...

I'm back! It's been 15 crazy days since I took the time to sit down and record the life of the Villines family. Things have been a little wild around here since I last wrote.

Caleb has gone back and forth from being a complete and total grump to being our normal fun-loving kid. I like the fun-loving days a lot better, but who wouldn't? We've been blaming it all on teething (the usual scapegoat) because nothing else makes sense. He hasn't had fever and hasn't shown any signs of ear infection or any other horrible sickness. He's just mad at the world. He isn't sleeping well either. He's been waking up every night somewhere between midnight and 2 AM and cries like he's been stung by bees until we give him some milk. He usually sucks that down by the time his diaper is changed. We've tried putting him back in his bed and walking out, but that starts the wailing all over again. At first, we were determined to wait him out and just let him cry, but that's impossible. He will literally cry all night long - which means no sleep for anyone and some very miserable days. So - we give in (I know...I know) and get him. We've been taking turns sleeping in the guest bed with Caleb for over a week now. It's getting old. I'm hoping that the transition into the new house is a natural time for us to cut that out. However, we have some crazy days ahead of us with the schedule that we have for Christmas break. Tonight, we resorted to Benadryl to (hopefully) help him sleep through the night. We'll see.

We close on our house tomorrow at 3:00. Everything has come together beautifully. Last night, we went by there with our Realtor to make a punch list and I literally got tears in my eyes when I pulled in the driveway. The house is just so pretty and so much more than I ever dreamed I'd be able to have at the age of 31. I can't wait to live there. The movers come Saturday morning!

Santa

We took Caleb to see Santa at the Promenade on Friday night. We stood in line forever! Once we finally got to the front of the line, the bozo running the camera decided that it was time to refill the photo paper, but didn't know how. So...that took what felt like eternity! In the meantime, Caleb runs over to Santa and laughs, smiles and does everything you want your child to do when they meet Santa. As soon as the camera moron figured everything out - Caleb was completely done with Santa. He didn't want to sit there anymore, he didn't want to smile and he didn't want to have his picture taken. I finally got him to say, "cheese," and the camera moron missed the shot because he was tinkering with the computer. The camera moron stood there and shook some danged bells while Caleb sat and cried, pouted and reached for Rudy and I. Aggghhh! The guy showed me the 3 shots that he took and I simply said, "never mind." Rudy and I took Caleb and left. I was not a happy camper!

Tonight, I decided to brave it again and give it another shot. I took Caleb back to the mall. Santa was on his dinner break, so we walked around for about 20 minutes while we waited on him to get back. We waited and waited for the people in front of us to finish. When they did, I took Caleb over to see Santa. I had thought ahead and brought his squeaky Santa toy for Caleb to hold. Well...here's what we got:

Yes...Santa is flipping off the camera while holding my child in his lap. I can't decide if it's the saddest thing I've ever seen or if it is downright hilarious. I could crop it to just be from Caleb's shoulders up so that he isn't traumatized in the future...or I could just leave it alone and laugh about it for years to come!

Ho Ho Ho!

I can't even believe it.

Remember this? It wasn't long ago that I was just wondering when we would all be "well." Praise the Lord! We just got home from a pediatrician follow-up appointment where Caleb was pronounced WELL and was given his flu shot and his 18-month vaccinations. Rudy's nagging cough and bronchitis have passed and other than a little sinus pressure from the weather change - I'm doing fine too.

When we left for Thanksgiving, our new house was up, but didn't have any brick or flooring. When we got back on Sunday, it was mostly bricked and the tile had been put down! Woo hoo! I had a few extra minutes this morning, so I drove by to see what had been done. There were about 5 or 6 workers in the garage. I don't know what they were doing, but at least they were doing something!

Thanksgiving was a wonderful break! After our offer was accepted on the house, I went over to pick out granite for the countertops, carpet, paint, lighting, doorknobs and make a couple of other decisions with the builder. After that, we went to the house to take some pictures. We decided to go see the Christmas lights in Fayetteville and have dinner too. That was a lot of fun! Caleb loved the lights and all of the people.

On Monday, we went to see the Morrises in Spiro. We stopped by Jan's office to say hi and drop off some things that she left at our house. After lunch and a visit with the Morrises, we headed for Hot Springs. Mom and Mr. L. were so excited to see Caleb (and us, I guess). We had dinner and then Caleb had his first oreo. He made such a mess that he had to have a bath!

On Tuesday, Caleb spent the day with his Pops. Pops took him to Mountain Pine to show him off and he was the big man on campus for the day while Mr. L. went to a meeting. They came back home that afternoon for an attempt at a nap. Rudy and I went to Shreveport for a much-needed mini-vacation and came back on Wednesday.

Wednesday was a low-key day for us. Rudy and came back from Shreveport and Mr. L. grilled burgers for us. I took Caleb to get a haircut. Other than that last part, it was a relaxing day!

Thanksgiving Thursday was great! Mom really outdid herself on a Thanksgiving feast big enough for a family of 10, instead of just the 5 of us. After our wonderful meal, the boys headed for deer camp until Saturday. Mom, Caleb and I were lazy the rest of the day. I guess all that laziness made Caleb not want to go to bed that night, because we couldn't get him to sleep for anything! We all ended up sleeping in Mom's bed together - all 3 of us!

On Friday, I took Caleb to visit Memmie and Poppie for the morning and a yummy lunch. After lunch, we headed back to Hot Springs, so that Caleb could get a nap in the car. When we got back the Razorbacks were playing LSU, so I planted myself in front of the TV to watch what I was afraid was going to be an LSU blowout. The Hogs surprised me (and football fans everywhere) by beating number one LSU in Baton Rouge! It took 3 overtimes, but they managed to pull off an upset for the ages! It was so much fun to watch! After the game, we went over to visit with Pepapa and Anna Joyce and ended up staying for dinner.

The big boys came back on Saturday. Mr. L. grilled steaks that were to die for! Even Caleb ate some tiny bites. Aunt Harolyn had dinner with us and we all laughed at Caleb's antics. He was really putting on a show at dinner. He never ceases to crack me up when he's in that mood.

We came home on Sunday and got ready for another week of work. Rudy made chili and we vegged out all evening. Caleb had a terrible night of not sleeping. He woke up at 2:00 and I finally got him back to sleep at 4:00 by laying in the recliner with him on my chest. We slept until 6:00, when I had to get ready for work. Monday night wasn't much better, but Rudy took the night shift and slept in the guest bed with the Bug. I was so thankful that he slept through the night last night.

So...it seems like we're on the upswing. Yeah!!!! We also got a good report on Kim's bloodwork, so everyone is thankful for that.

Thankful

As Thanksgiving arrives in fine turkey-day fashion in only 3 hours, I continue to realize how much I have to be thankful for this year. These are just a few of the things that seem to continually come to mind tonight:

Rudy and Caleb - Seriously...what did I do to deserve them? Even through the frustrations of everyday life like pneumonia, sleepless nights, checkbooks and piles of laundry - I love those two boys with every ounce of my being. God truly blessed me when he gave them to me.

Mom and Mr. L. - My foundation could not be any more solid. I know that I am loved unconditionally and I know that they would go to the ends of the earth for me - without me having to ask.

My grandparents - Wow! When I think about how blessed I am to be 31 years old and have 4 living grandparents, I am amazed. The simple blessing of knowing that they have walked before me is enough to give me the strength to face anything.

I am thankful to have extended family to lean on and be leaned on by, friends to share the craziness of life with, a safe place to lay my head at night, a new home on the way, 2 working and comfortable vehicles, a job that gives me the means to do those little extra things that make life a little bit sweeter than it needs to be, food to fill my senses and most of all the love of God that I see in every detail when I slow down long enough to notice.

Thankfulness is a little overwhelming and heartwarming at the same time. Happy Thanksgiving to all...


p.s. Thanks to all who have offered up prayers for my Aunt Kim and Uncle Jimmy. Without telling all of their business online, I can tell you that Kim got wonderful news at a doctor's appointment this week and our whole family is grateful for everyone's prayers. The tough stuff isn't quite over, but there's light at the end of the tunnel. Please continue to pray for them as enter the next phase. We are certainly thankful to God for getting them to this point.

Sold!

No time to write this morning...
Just wanted to say that we got our house! We'll be moving over Christmas break! We are ecstatic!!!

A New House...Maybe

In the 6 days since I posted last, a lot has happened:


Wednesday, I got my hair cut/colored. The best thing about getting my hair done is that I get the fun of coming home looking like this:

Yep - that's me...with straight hair. Ha! It cracks me up everytime I look at it.

I worked late on Thursday in anticipation of BEING OFF ALL NEXT WEEK! Yeah!!!! Now, that's something to be thankful for. I need a break from work in a bad way and it just so happens that I'm off all week.


Rudy, Caleb and I met with our Realtor this morning to look at houses. Whaddyaknow...we found one that we love. You can see the info here. This is what it looks like right now:



Obviously, we won't be moving in in the next week or anything, but maybe someday! We made an offer, but we haven't heard anything. It has 3 bedrooms, an office, a 3-car garage (or 2 cars and a 4-wheeler if you ask Rudy), a big laundry room, a huge living room and a covered back porch. Did I mention that I love it?!?


On a more serious note - I have a BIG prayer request. My aunt, Kim, recently found out that she has breast cancer. The lump was removed last week. She's going to meet with a surgeon for tests, etc this week to figure out a course of action. Kim is an awesome person and probably the healthiest person I know. This whole thing makes no sense, but she has complete faith that God has reasons for everything and will pull her and Jimmy through this stronger than ever. Her sister is currently being treated for the same thing, which is what lead her to get a mammogram in the first place - since she's only in her thirties. So...if you would - please say a prayer for Kim (and Jimmy).


Happy Thanksgiving...

Maybe Someday...

...I'll be able to write a post about how we're all healthy and we're all feeling great and nobody in our house is sick. Not today.

I have a head cold/sinus pressure that is about to make me crazy. Rudy still has the remnants of bronchitis. And then there's Caleb:

Saturday night, Caleb went to bed at 8:30. Stacy and I were cropping and started to hear him crying around 10:30. I went back to his room and picked him to try to soothe him back to sleep. He was having none of that! He cried and patted the back of his head, so I gave him some Ibuprofen and put him back down. He slept for a little over 2 hours and then woke up screaming. I went in and gave him some milk and tried to lay down in the guest bed with him. He wiggled, squirmed, cried and yelled all night long. Rudy and I ended up taking turns sitting up, just trying to soothe him because he was obviously so uncomfortable. We couldn't figure out what was wrong, though. He eventually went to sleep laying on me in the recliner at about 6:30. We spent the whole day on Sunday switching off holding Caleb and napping. Somehow, Rudy also cleaned the bathrooms and washed his car, but I have no idea how! It was one of the most miserable experiences I can remember! We were all so tired and cranky and we just couldn't figure out what was wrong with Caleb. I called the Dr's exchange at about 6:00, because he hadn't eaten anything all day. He had just laid on the floor or in our laps. He wasn't interested in toys or food or anything! The nurse called and said that we should just watch him and make sure his fever didn't spike, but other than that - she had no words of wisdom. I just knew that after laying around all day, we would never get Caleb to sleep, but he went down to bed just like always and slept all night long. He woke up this morning a little cranky, but nothing out of the ordinary. We went to school and he seemed fine. I got a call from his school at about 1:45 that he had a fever and that his right ear was draining really badly. I told them I would be there as soon as I could. I finished my last kiddo for the day and then went to get him. We went straight to the doctor's appointment that was supposed to be for pnuemonia follow-up. When we got in to see Dr. Harmon, he said, "We're going to have to get this kid to stop getting sick on the weekends!" Rudy and I agreed whole-heartedly! Dr. Harmon took one look in Caleb's right ear and said that his eardrum had ruptured and that the left one looked like it might do the same. He put Caleb on another round of strong antibiotics and said that if that doesn't work, we'll probably do a 2nd set of tubes. The poor kid has been through the ringer and back again. He was in a pretty good mood tonight and enjoyed playing with his Daddy while I got some necessary work done. Hopefully the drugs will do their job and we'll be better, but I'm not making any promises!

All is Well

Wow - a Saturday afternoon at home with nothing that we HAVE to do - this is amazing! As I write this, Caleb is napping, the Hogs are losing to Tennessee and Rudy is hunting somewhere in the mountains. That part about the Hogs is the only crummy part of our day so far.

Caleb and Rudy are feeling much better these days. After all of the medicines they've had, they should be! I have a little bit of a cold, but nothing worth worrying about for sure. Everyone has been so sweet to check on "my boys" this week. I've been doing what I can to get them well and I feel like I've been pretty successful. Caleb goes for a follow-up appointment on Monday afternoon, so we'll (hopefully) get the final word on pneumonia.

Last night, he gave us yet another scare, but this was just his boyish nature showing up. I had dinner with my co-workers and Rudy was watching him here at the house. They were winding down their night, just sitting on the couch watching TV. Rudy got up to get a drink from the kitchen and came back to find Caleb sitting on the floor, crying. He called me to tell me that Caleb wouldn't walk or even stand. He wouldn't put any weight on his left foot. I came home and we decided to give him overnight to see if it got better. It obviously wasn't broken - it wasn't even swollen. He woke up this morning, still not putting weight on it, but as the day has gone by, he's started walking with a slight limp. It's pretty pitiful, but at least we managed to stay out of the ER. We still don't know exactly what happened, but I'm not worried about it.

We're in line for a busy week. I'll try to post an update after the appointment on Monday, but I'm not promising anything...

Halloween and Pneumonia

That's right...Caleb is sick again! But let me start at the beginning...

On Monday (10/29), we went to see the ENT, Dr. Black, for a tube-check and to get his thoughts on Caleb's tonsils, etc. He said that he's not at all worried about the tonsils. Hallelujah! He also said that Caleb's ears looked great! I about fell on the floor! I was surprised to find out that his tubes were completely out of his eardrums and could be removed from his ear canal with some long, skinny tweezers. That was a traumatic experience for Caleb and I both, since he had to be strapped down to a papoose board to do it. However...it didn't involve surgery or anesthesia, so I was a relatively happy camper. (Caleb was not!) Dr. Black said that he would share the information with our pediatrician and that they would watch his progress together. If the ear infections come back, we'll probably get a new set of tubes and they'll likely take out his adenoids, but not his tonsils. I'm just praying for healthy ears and NO MORE TUBES.

That night was the Halloween carnival at Caleb's school. We got him all dressed in his costume and took him just for the photo ops! He (of course) had no idea what was going on, but had fun anyway. He loved the candy bowls with the hands that move on motion sensors. He thought that was terribly funny.

We stayed just long enough to get a picture with Jackson...I mean, Batman...and then we left.

Halloween was on Wednesday night. We went to the mall for a little while to see what was going on before we went over the Schmidts' to Trick-or-Treat in their neighborhood. It was cold, so I was glad that Caleb's costume was warm. His costume brought lots of laughs! Even though everyone seemed to think he was a chicken, we knew that he was the cutest duck that ever waddled. He got tired pretty fast and we resorted to the stroller, which was difficult - considering the amount of fluff in his suit!

On Friday, I met up with Monica and Jenny in Branson for Christmas shopping. I usually hate Branson, but it was good chance to see the girls and to get my shopping done early. I managed to mark off almost everything on my list! Yeah!!! (While I was in Branson, Caleb spent some time with his Grandma and Rudy got to play golf and go to the Razorback game with Chad.) The girls got up and left bright and early on Sunday morning, but I stayed and got some much-needed sleep. That turned out to be a very good thing...

Rudy called me at about 10:30 Sunday morning as I was leaving Branson. He said that he and Caleb had been up most of the night and they both were running fever. That was NOT what I wanted to hear! I got home as quickly as I could and they were both sleeping when I walked in the door. As I started to put away my things, Caleb started crying. I went in his room and picked him up. He felt feverish, so I took his temp. It was 102.5! I immediately changed his diaper and his clothes and started getting ready to take him to the urgent care...again. Rudy came in helped me get Caleb ready and then followed my insistence that he stay home and get some sleep while I took Caleb. We got to the doctor's office at about 2:00. We got into a room at about 3:00. We finally saw a doctor at 3:30. Caleb no longer even had a fever! After lots of talking and poking and prodding, Caleb got a chest x-ray and a swab to test for RSV. The RSV test was negative (Yeah!) but the x-ray showed pneumonia (Boo!). He had to have an antibiotic shot in his thigh and we got a prescription for another antibiotic. We were also told to start him back on the albuterol inhaler every couple of hours. The official diagnoses were bronchiolitis and pneumonia. I almost cried. The doctor recommended that we follow up with the pediatrician in a couple of days and said that Caleb couldn't go back to daycare until we did so.

So...I stayed home today (Monday) and called the pediatrician's office this morning. They suggested that I go ahead and bring him in today, since the doctor doesn't work on Wednesday. We got an appointment for 2:00. Caleb and I spent the morning together - just playing and snuggling. It was wonderful. I woke him up from his nap to go to the doctor and we got there at 2:00. Surprisingly, we got in to see the doctor really quickly. I thought that was a good sign, but it wasn't! The doctor and nurse worked together to get us in and out, but we ended up having to be there for over 3 hours waiting for lab results. It was crazy! They did blood work and said that his white blood cells and platelets were elevated (whatever that means). He had to have 2 more injections of antibiotic and we got another prescription in addition to another inhaler. Dr. Harmon said that Caleb can go back to school when he's fever-free for 24 hours. We're about 10 hours into that now. Caleb was so much fun tonight that it was hard to believe he's sick. He laughed and played and acted just fine all night! It was such a relief!

I'm staying home again tomorrow so that we can make it to the 24 hour mark with no fever. Plus, I'm supposed to call the doctor with a report on how Caleb is doing. If he's not better, we'll have to go back in for another shot and Dr. Harmon will try some other tactics to fight the pneumonia.

I asked him why Caleb has been so sick this year and confessed that I am very concerned about his immune system. He said that he's not really worried about immunodeficiency, since he's healthy-looking. He really thinks that he has just gotten sick and then been exposed to a lot of other things that keep him from getting well. My mental image is that he got hit really hard, fell on the ground and keeps getting hit as he's trying to get back up. It's not a good mental image...but it makes sense. Germs are such bullies!

Dr. Harmon said that he strongly suspects allergies for Caleb and that the winter will tell a lot for us since the highest allergens aren't present much in the winter. He said that he doesn't want to do allergy testing yet, since Caleb is so young, but that might be in our future.

Rudy also has a bronchial infection and got a shot for that today. He is going to work tomorrow because it's easier to deal with middle school students when you're sick than it is to deal with a sick toddler when you're sick. He had a low-grade fever this evening, but has been feeling okay tonight. He really wants to get better so that he can hunt this weekend. Plus, I think he's just tired of feeling bad.

Hopefully, this will be my last post about being sick for a while, but I'm not banking on it. I'm just praying that everyone in our family gets well and stays that way! This Mama needs a vacation from sickness!

Jenny, the Pumpkin Patch and More Doctors

The week of October 15th was (very thankfully) a pretty normal one around here. There were no trips to the doctor, no new prescriptions to fill and no major events to work around. It was wonderful!

On Friday, the 19th, we were excited to have our friend, Jenny, from St. Louis, come to visit! She got here around 5:30 and we all went to dinner at Carrabba's. Yum! After dinner, we came home and played with Caleb, then sat up talking for a while. On Saturday morning, Rudy went to play golf with a neighbor and Jenny, Caleb and I went to a couple of the big craft fairs that are very popular around here. We weren't very impressed with the first one, but the second one was wonderful! I bought a mini Christmas tree decorated in Razorback stuff for our little temporary home since I don't plan on pulling out all of the Christmas stuff here this year.

Jenny and I went out for some "girl time" on Saturday night. We went to eat in Fayetteville and then hung out at a couple of places on Dickson Street before coming home to our PJ's. We were sad to see Jenny leave on Sunday.

Sunday afternoon (10/21), we met up with the Lyons family and drove to Southwest City, Missouri. We went to visit the Right Choices Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch. It was wonderful! We even went on a hay ride pulled by a real tractor! The boys (Caleb and Jackson) had a blast playing in the hay tunnel, pumpkin patch and corn box. Caleb adores Jackson and will do whatever he says. (We need Jackson around more often.) Baby Grace didn't quite know what was going on, but she was a trooper the whole time! Even though the Lyonses had to leave early, we stayed and enjoyed ourselves until almost dark. We even had a picnic dinner. Caleb got to pet a pig, slide on a feed sack, jump on a hay bale and go in a big, red barn.
On Monday (10/22), Caleb woke up with goopy eyes and a runny nose. By the end of the day, he had a rash on both hands and the worst diaper rash I've ever seen! He was also running a fever. Again...Rudy and I took him to urgent care. The doctor said that he really thought it was just allergies causing all of it, but he wasn't sure. He wrote a prescription for a decongestant and told us that if it didn't get better, he would recommend allergy testing and possibly immune system testing. I guess my maternal instincts kicked in at that point, because I just didn't feel right about it. The next day, I called a pediatric clinic for an appointment. I wanted to see a REAL pediatrician...someone who really knows babies and kids and what to look for when they are sick. I got an appointment for Wednesday morning and took a half day off of work. In the meantime, Caleb continued to be sick. He had a fever Tuesday afternoon and didn't sleep on Tuesday night. I had to lay in the guest bed with him to keep him from crying all night. We managed a couple of hours of intermittent sleep. On Wednesday (10/24) morning, I took him to see Dr. Harmon at 8:15. We were at the clinic ALL morning. We left there at 10:45! Caleb weighed 29 pounds (90th %ile) and was 32 inches long (50th %ile).

The good thing about the morning appointment was that the doctor wasn't rushed and had time to answer all of my questions. I filled him in on Caleb's medical history and we talked about all of his symptoms. He looked him over very thoroughly and then suggested that he thought it was all probably just allergies, but that he wanted to do a little blood work to make sure it wasn't something bigger than that. So we waited and waited and waited. Finally, the doctor came back in and said that the lab was backed up and he would call me with the blood test results. He gave me samples for allergy medicine, a prescription for eye drops if needed and said not to use baby wipes until the diaper rash healed. I took Caleb to school, gave him the allergy medicine and went to work. Later that afternoon, Dr. Harmon called our house and left a message on our answering machine. He said that Caleb's blood work showed "9 monos", which was borderline for a diagnosis of mononucleosis. He instructed me to keep an eye on him for a spiking fever and said to call if I had questions. What?!?! Of course I had questions, but the clinic was closed by the time I got the message and I couldn't call. So - after Caleb went to bed, I got online and did some digging to find out about mono in toddlers/babies. It seems like all of Caleb's troubles for the past month or so may be attributed to mono: swollen tonsils, intermittent afternoon fevers, lethargy, cold symptoms, rashes, etc. I was blown away. It was like a weight had been lifted from me. I felt all along that there was more to it than just allergies and I had some vindication in knowing that my feelings were justified. That didn't make my baby feel any better, but at least I knew there was something to my maternal instincts that I should trust. There's really nothing you can do to treat mono. You just have to treat the symptoms, so we've been giving him allergy medicine to dry up his eyes and nose. I did call the doctor's office on Thursday morning, but STILL haven't heard back from them. For some reason that doesn't worry me. Just knowing what's going on with my child makes me feel better and I don't really need much more information.

Wednesday (10/24) was my 31st birthday. After spending the morning in the pediatrician's office, I spent my afternoon at work. We went out to dinner after work, drove through some neighborhoods that we like and then I spent the evening doing laundry and cleaning up the house. I know it doesn't sound very exciting for a birthday, but it was nice to be home with my husband and my child and have the sounds of life surrounding me.

Rudy and Caleb have been gone all weekend. Rudy went to a bachelor party at the deer camp in Fordyce. On his way down there, he dropped Caleb off with Jan in Ft. Smith. This was my annual weekend with "my girls" for homecoming. Cindy and Les got here Friday night and we went to dinner at La Huerta. We laughed until our faces hurt and then came home, put on our PJ's and laughed some more. Yesterday, we went to the Razorback game, did some shopping and had dinner at Tim's Pizza. Cindy had to head back to Tulsa last night, so Les and I did some crafty stuff (scrapbooking, frame-making...) until midnight and then fell into bed. She got up and left this morning and I've been procrastinating going to the grocery store. Rudy and Caleb will be home around 4:30 or 5:00.

Caleb has an ENT appointment tomorrow to check on his ear tubes. After that, he has his Halloween carnival at school. Wednesday is actually Halloween and we have plans to Trick-or-Treat with the Schmidts. Should be a fun week!

Real Estate

Our house sold tonight! Praise the Lord!

It's hard to believe that we are all healthy and the house sold at the same time. I really think God was pushing me to show me what I could take before he gave me a rest. This is amazing! The house has been on the market for 6 months - almost exactly - and we got a call tonight from our agent with an offer. We counteroffered and the buyers accepted. We're not getting as much as we hoped for (isn't that always the case?), but we are at least getting something! I was starting to wonder if we were going to have to pay someone to buy it.

We are truly grateful for this blessing!

From Bad to Worse and Now We're Better

We started October on a sour note with Caleb fighting a major ear infection and a minor eye infection. The ear drops, eye drops and oral antibiotics were quite a ritual and we were glad when they were over! Rudy ended up also getting an ear infection and is actually still fighting whatever caused it, but since he's 31 years old, he is a little better at handling those sorts of things than Caleb is. He was feeling pretty rough on the 5th, so Caleb and I went to Hot Springs by ourselves for the weekend. It was a fun, low-key visit with Mom and Mr. L. Caleb rode on the golfcart with Pops and played in the yard with LaLa for 2 days straight! He was really feeling a lot better - just because he was with them. We drove back on Sunday, ready for another week of work and daycare.

Rudy had a busy week, with responsibilities on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. Since Caleb was finishing up his ear drops, I took a look in his ears on Tuesday night just to see if they were looking better. They were better, but still not healed. I told myself to just keep an eye on it and see how he did. I was trying not to panic. On Wednesday, I worked, went to the gym and came home to a child with laryngitis. There's just something pitiful about a one-year-old with such a squeaky voice! I took one look at him and knew immediately that something wasn't right. Rudy was on his way out to a brass ensemble rehearsal and I put Caleb in the car to go to urgent care...again.

We got to urgent care at 6:15. At 7:15, we finally got called back to see the doctor. At 7:30, the doctor finally came in to see us. So much for urgent. I gave the doctor a rundown on the past couple of weeks' adventures and medications. He took a look at Caleb's ears and said they were both infected and one of his tubes is on its way out. When he looked in his throat, he gasped and his eyes got big. I've never seen a doctor do that! He asked me if Caleb's tonsils are usually that big. I told him that I've never really looked at Caleb's tonsils, but that he's never had laryngitis before. He poked and prodded at Caleb's throat for a while, then put some things in his computer and his PDA. He finally told me that he was very concerned about Caleb and that if he were more lethargic, he would have sent us straight to the hospital to be admitted. I almost passed out - literally, I had to sit down. He said that he was going to put him on a strong antibiotic in addition to a steroid and that he needed to have a dose before going to bed that night. I was instructed to watch his breathing very closely for signs of respiratory distress and to take him to the ER immediately if he showed any signs of difficulty breathing. I was terrified. We left there at 8:00 and went straight to the pharmacy to get the prescriptions. On the way, I called my mom to see if there was any possible way she could come up and help us with Caleb so that Rudy and I wouldn't have to miss more days of work already. She offered to leave immediately, but that would've gotten her here in the middle of the night. We agreed that she would come up on Thursday morning and Rudy would stay home until she got here. She ended up getting to our house at 9:00 Thursday morning and stayed until this morning. She definitely earned her grandmother crown this weekend!

Rudy and I grudgingly went to work on Thursday and Friday. Mom and Caleb stayed around the house and played until they were both exhausted! They also did ALL of our laundry and straightened up our house. Mom (somehow) managed to also get some work done while Caleb napped. I was amazed! We went to dinner Friday night and walked around the Promenade to enjoy the Fall coolness. Rudy and I went to the Razorback game yesterday. (I don't even want to talk about that.) While we were gone, Mom made chili, chicken spaghetti, banana pudding and chocolate chip cookies. Good grief! We are set for the week for sure! She also took Caleb to Chick-Fil-A and to Wal-Mart to buy some toy trucks. They played and watched the ballgame on TV and were sound asleep when we got home.

This morning, Caleb woke up with color in his cheeks, a smile on his face and a brightness in his eyes that we haven't seen in quite a while. It has been a wonderful day at our house. We've played and napped and enjoyed LaLa's cooking!

Now, we're getting ready to take on another week and we're hoping for a whole week without having to go to any doctors' offices.

On a more normal note...our 17-month-old little boy is ALL BOY. He has developed a love for hitting things, people and Dewey and for throwing his toys and cups. He gets in trouble for it and cries and cries like he's been condemned forever, but then he gets up and does it again. I'm hoping this is a phase and trying to tell myself that it's partially because he doesn't have the ability to communicate well just yet. If it continues, we'll have to take another approach!

As frustrated as we are with the aggressive behavior, we're also delighted with some of the other changes that we're seeing. Caleb is using more and more words and is now "singing" along with us when we sing to him. He has hand motions for Itsy Bitsy Spider and bobs his head to the Alphabet Song. He says "ro ro" when we sing Row Row Row Your Boat. He follows some one-step directions and loves to be tickled and read to. He's also climbing and can get into his stroller and rocking chair all by himself. Most of all, he loves to watch the videos of himself that I have on my computer, play with his his Daddy and snuggle with me.

Halloween Preview and Laughter

With all of the bad news about ear infections, eye infections and head bumps, I thought I'd share a couple of fun things:

First, some laughter ~

Next, a preview of Halloween 2007. I'm on the lookout for orange PJ's to complete the look:

Weekend (and) Update

We were excited to have Jerry and Sherry come visit this weekend! They didn't get to our house until almost midnight Friday night. We stayed up talking until we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore. They brought Caleb a Bubble Blower Mower and an adorable outfit from Rebecca. Rebecca also sent Caleb a little stuffed monkey that he has fallen in love with! For some reason, he calls it "Bobo."

Friday afternoon, Caleb got a terrible haircut at Great Clips, so I took him back on Saturday morning and asked for a do-over. The lady that I like was there and she did a great job. However...it's really short! As fast as his hair grows, though - I'm not worried about it!

Saturday morning, we were outside playing and Caleb took his first big tumble...right into a brick wall. In addition to his big mosquito bite on his cheek, he looks like this:

Jerry and Sherry volunteered (with vigor) to keep Caleb while Rudy and I went to the Razorback game, even though we offered Jerry the chance to go to the game with Rudy. They wouldn't have anything to do with it! So, we went to the game on Saturday. They decided to be nostalgic and took a trip to campus during the game. They even snuck a peek at the game from outside of the stadium. They took Caleb all over campus and then went to eat in Tontitown. They didn't get home much earlier than we did!

Sunday morning, we had a wonderful home-cooked breakfast (courtesy of Chef Rudy). It was a nice morning. We visited and played with Caleb until Jerry and Sherry left. As I wrote in my last post, Caleb wouldn't go down for a nap on Sunday. He cried and cried until I thought he was going to make himself sick! Little did I know!

After going to the ER on Sunday night, we struggled to get up and ready for work on Monday morning. When I was giving Caleb his medicine before we left, I noticed that Caleb's left eye was a little goopy, the way it gets when he has a cold. I cleaned it up and didn't worry too much about it. When we got to Pine Crest, I noticed that there was a little blood mixed in with the discharge from his ear. That worried me, but I thought it was probably just from the infection, or maybe from the examination the night before. I (of course) had it on my mind all morning, so I called to check on him when I got to my school. One of the front desk ladies had just gone down to check on him and said that his ear was still bleeding and that it wasn't looking good. I asked her to call me if it got worse and she agreed. I called and made a doctor's appointment for the afternoon. Later in the afternoon, the school called and said that his eye had swollen almost shut. I was worried sick by the time I met Rudy and Caleb at the doctor's office. By the time we got in to see the doctor, Caleb was worn out and pretty agitated. Dr. Byrum looked at Caleb's ear and said it was really bad and then looked at his eye and grimaced a little. He made some changes to our medication regimen and said that if it isn't better by Thursday, we need to come back for a culture. We're now giving Caleb 2 doses of oral antibiotic, 4 doses of eye drop antibiotic and 4 doses of ear drop antibiotic each day. It's an awful lot of medicine and pain for him. He hates it so much! Agggghhhh! I nervously asked if he could go to school tomorrow and Dr. Byrum said no. He has to stay home until he's on the antibiotic eye drops for 24 hours. So - I'll be home with Caleb tomorrow. I can't really complain about that, but it does make 3 1/2 sick days for me already this year! Oh, well. I have my priorities and if anyone questions that, they are being ridiculous.

If you're reading this, you must care about our little family, so please say prayers that Caleb will get better soon and life will get back to normal. We all need a break!

2nd ER Visit - exactly 11 mos after the first one

I have more to post about this weekend, but it will have to wait. I'm posting this at 11:30 on Sunday night. I actually copied and pasted it from an e-mail that I sent to our parents and a couple of friends:

We just got home from the ER. Everything is okay, but it's been an exhausting night. This afternoon, Caleb refused to nap. He cried for over an hour and a half while I tried everything I could think of to get him to sleep. I decided he was just being a twit and let him cry. He finally fell asleep and we both took about a 30 minute nap before he woke up screaming again. I noticed that he had something on his face by his right ear, but didn't think much of it. I figured it was runoff from the crying episode. He went to the park with Rudy, played at home and ate a huge dinner! As I was getting him ready for bed at 8:00, I used a baby wipe to clean his face next to his ear. He screamed like I was killing him. I got my otoscope and looked in his ear. Ugh - it was completely full of fluid and looked worse than any other ear I've ever seen. I sat him down on the bed and he fell asleep immediately. I told Rudy I was worried about it and that I thought we might need to take him to the ER, but I didn't want to overreact. We decided it was better to be safe than sorry, so we went. After waiting for what seemed like forever, we went back into the actual ER and waited some more. Finally the doctor came by and took one look in Caleb's ears and said we need two antibiotics - one for in the ear and one to take orally. We waited some more for the actual prescriptions to be written and then dropped them off at Walgreen's on our way home. Rudy has gone to get them now. I tried to put Caleb down to sleep in his bed and he threw a holy fit, which I would normally ignore, but I just can't since I know that he doesn't feel like himself. When I'm sick, I want my Mama and I guess he does too. We're going to sleep on the guest bed tonight and hope for the best.

Splish Splash

It rained buckets this afternoon, leaving our street with puddles all over the place. Since Rudy is at band tonight, I decided to take Caleb outside to play in the driveway. He had other ideas, though. Since we live on a barely-traveled street on the back side of the neighborhood, I walked with him as he explored the wonder of puddles. He laughed hysterically every time he splashed his little Elmo shoes in the water. It was one of those moments where I realized how lucky I am to have a little boy.

September

Life is going by so fast! It's been about 3 weeks since I posted anything and lots of things have happened. Let me see if I can remember it all...

We all survived the stomach flu. As of my last post, Mom and Mr. L. had driven up here on Saturday to get Caleb so that Rudy and I could try to nurse ourselves back to health. Caleb had a wonderful time at their house. He played outside and walked all over the place. They said he loved the ducks and the water! I got up Sunday morning and drove to Hot Springs to get the little man. I still wasn't feeling all that great and it was obvious that he wasn't either, but we made it home safe and sound Sunday evening. Rudy was still feeling awful, but we all managed to go to school on Monday as scheduled. Rudy woke up on Tuesday still feeling terrible, so he stayed home. He went to the doctor Tuesday afternoon and found out he was still running a fever, so he stayed home on Wednesday as well. It was a rough week for him. Caleb and I bounced back a little quicker. We also found out that Mom got the virus on Tuesday and was down for the count for a couple of days. It was miserable for everyone! Now we're all better and back to a somewhat normal life, but it was questionable for a while!

We were glad to be feeling better for the weekend. We left for Sherwood right after school on Friday and got to Memmie and Poppie's house about 8:00. We had a wonderful dinner (of course) and then played with Caleb for a while to try to get him ready to go to bed. I put him down to bed at about 9:00 and he cried so hard that I was afraid he was going to be sick! I got him out of bed and he played and played and hammed it up for Memmie and Poppie until 10:30. Rudy was exhausted from a week of being sick and then driving 3 hours to get there. He went to bed early and I ended up sleeping in Caleb's room with him just to try to get him to go to sleep. It was a long night for me!

We got up Saturday morning for the weekly "big breakfast" at the Hatches. It was wonderful as always! Caleb loved Memmie's homemade biscuits. I've never seen him eat so much at one meal! He ate biscuits, eggs and even a piece of bacon. I loved watching Caleb warm up to Memmie and Poppie and realize that they love him just like we do. The child is certainly loved by a lot of people. There is no doubt about that!

Saturday afternoon was Maddox's 1st birthday party. Becca and Jimmy decided to have 2 parties for him since they don't know many people where they live. The first party was in Little Rock and they invited all of their Arkansas family. They had a great turn-out and we had a fun afternoon. There are lots of pictures on Shutterfly .

We spent Saturday night playing marbles with Memmie and Poppie and listening to the heartbreaking Arkansas/Alabama game. Memmie and Poppie don't have cable, so we didn't get to watch the game. We listened very intently and tried to contain our emotions as we came from behind and then lost.

On Sunday, we went to church with Memmie and Poppie, then out to lunch at Red Lobster. Caleb showed out for the whole restaurant when we got ready to leave. Rudy was carrying him out and he was yelling, "bye-bye" to everyone. At least he wasn't crying!

We drove home on Sunday after taking some pictures of Caleb and his great-grandparents. Caleb and I slept all the way home and Rudy got us here safe and sound.
On Monday, Caleb started his new school: Pine Crest Private School. We really like it there and he seems to be adjusting well. It was a hard decision for us to move him, but it came down to 2 factors: money and location. We liked Building Bridges and the people there, but Pine Crest is much closer to our house and it's $500 less expensive for the year. That's really big, considering we still own a home in St. Louis that doesn't look like it's going to sell anytime soon. We also had been having some problems with a child in Caleb's class biting him. He had been bitten 3 times in a week and that's just not acceptable. I know that children that age bite and there's not much you can do about it, but 3 times in a week is a little excessive.

The rest of the week was pretty normal. We did our usual family routine. On Friday, I got a call after lunch from Rudy, saying that Pine Crest had called and said Caleb had thrown up twice and we needed to come get him. I immediately thought the worst: stomach flu again! Fortunately, I don't think that's the case. I truly believe it's all related to teething. Caleb's molars are trying to come through and he's having a hard time. He has had diarrhea really bad all weekend - just like when his first teeth came through almost a year ago. I went to pick him up and he was sleeping so hard on his little mat on the floor. It was an odd sight for me to see, but I felt good because I knew that he felt safe there. We came home and he played just like nothing was wrong with him at all. He hasn't thrown up again, but has had some pretty gross diapers.

Mom came in on Friday afternoon. She stayed with us all weekend and loved every second of being with Caleb. Yesterday morning, while Rudy and I were getting ready for the ballgame, she took Caleb to Old Navy and Belk and then went to the mall to look for some Crocs for him. She wanted to get him some so bad, but couldn't find his size. Instead, she bought him a bunch of PJ's. She also wanted to get him a rocking chair, so Rudy and I stopped and bought him one at Cracker Barrel on our way to the game. It's red and says Razorbacks on the top. Too cute!

Rudy and I went to Fayetteville yesterday at about 10:30! The game didn't start until 5:00, so we had lots of time to visit friends and walk around. We started out meeting up with one of Rudy's college roommates - Bryan Wilhelm. We hadn't seen him in a long time and it was great to catch up. His wife and 2 daughters were there too and it was so nice to see them all! After that, we went to Bud Walton Arena to look in the Razorback shop. It just so happened that the basketball team was practicing, so we got a sneak peek at the team. After that, we walked over to the indoor practice field to see if the band was practicing. We visited with some friends there and then went to the Alumni house. We left the alumni house just before pre-game. We got to the stadium and got an invitation to sit with one of Rudy's co-workers in their box. That was so nice! We spent the whole game in the luxury box and never broke a sweat! :) The game was horrible! We couldn't believe we lost to Kentucky. We were so mad that we didn't even go out afterward. We came straight home.

Mom left this morning after we got up. We're having a lazy day at home now. Jan came up this afternoon to play with Caleb. We're having dinner with the Voises and Doug this evening and then the week starts again tomorrow morning. Rudy's playing golf with Doug tomorrow afternoon. So, it's another week at the Villines house! We're hoping for a healthy, uneventful week!

Eeeew ~ Stomach Flu

Our house has been attacked by the stomach flu! It started Thursday morning. Caleb was still asleep when Rudy left for work, which is strange, but we just wrote it off because of the bronchitis he's been fighting. I got ready to go and then got him up and ready. I put him in the car with his morning cup of milk and off we went. I got to the end of the driveway and heard a sound I'd never heard before. I can't explain it...nor do I want to. Suffice it to say that I thought maybe I hadn't put the lid on his cup well and he had spilled his milk. I turned back to look and he was covered with milk, then threw up again. I calmly put the car in drive, pressed the garage door button and pulled back in. I ran in and pulled off my work clothes, pulled on a t-shirt and grabbed a towel. I got Caleb out of the car, wrapped in the towel and took him in the bathroom to get him cleaned up. I was so proud of myself for not gagging! I put some clean PJ's on him, then called the school absence number. I put Caleb in the high chair with a cup of water and made some phone calls to the preschools I was supposed to go to on Wednesday and then called Rudy to warn him that he might have to take off on Friday since we try to split our sick days for Caleb. Caleb and I spent the day snuggling and sleeping. This was the first time he's ever laid his head down in my lap to rest and it was so sweet. He felt so bad. He just wanted to be held and comforted. He didn't throw up again that morning, but had some pretty nasty diapers. I put him down to nap from 10:30 - 1:00 and from 2:30-5:00. He was exhausted. While he slept, I cleaned up the car seat, which was gross, but I still didn't gag! At dinner, Caleb seemed to be feeling better, so we tried to give him something to eat. He took a couple of bites and threw up in his plate. I felt so bad for him. He had no idea what was going on and he was miserable. That was the end of it for Caleb, though. He hasn't been sick since. He doesn't have much appetite yet, but he seems to feel okay.

I went to bed Wednesday night with a headache, but planned to go to work on Friday. woke up at 3:00 on Thursday morning with that nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right. Rudy was sleeping on the couch, so I had the whole bed to myself. I laid there until 3:30, when it finally hit. I was sick all morning! By noon, I had absolutely no energy left and couldn't even get out of bed. I was running fever and using my cell phone to call Rudy to ask for Gatorade and popsicles. It was completely pitiful. Rudy was great to take care of me and entertain Caleb all day.

Rudy came into the bedroom at 5:45 this morning and said that we needed to call someone to come get Caleb, because it had hit him. I called my parents and they drove from Hot Springs to get Caleb. They left their house at 6:00, got here at 9:00 and left here at 9:15. I was feeling okay, but still not good. I probably could've managed Caleb today, but I wasn't so sure. I was running a low-grade fever and didn't want to chance re-infecting him. Rudy has been in the bed all day today (against his wishes) and is feeling pretty crummy this afternoon. I took a long nap this afternoon, caught up on Days of Our Lives and I'm doing some laundry. I'm going to drive down in the morning to get Caleb, spend a couple of hours in HS and then come back.

On a happier note - Caleb's bronchitis seems to be gone!

Doctor visit

When Caleb got up from his nap this afternoon, I took him to the convenient care clinic. The doctor said that he "just" has bronchitis, but since he's had it for over a week, it's probably bacterial, not viral. She wrote him a prescription for an antibiotic. He is obviously feeling pretty miserable and is worn out from trying so hard to breathe. It's 7:35 right now and he's already asleep. We're saying prayers that he gets better very soon - for his sake and ours.

Vocabulary

Humor me. I'm a speech path. :)

At 16 months (as of yesterday), Caleb can say the following words:
Mama!
Dada!
Dudu (Dewey)
dog "dah" (sometimes he just barks instead)
bird "buh" (points at the window where there used to be baby birds in a nest)
LaLa "wawa"
cracker "kah-kah"
night-night "nah-nah"
ball "bah"
nose "nuh" (points to his and ours)
go
bye bye
duck "duh" (quack-quack)
banana "nana"
hi
tree "tee"
Woo Pig "ooo dah" (with hand motions)

We swear he's also saying, "what's that?" He says it all the time with perfect question inflection: "uh dah?"

He also signs "more" - but that's just his sign that he wants something to eat or drink. He doesn't really understand that it means "more."

He shakes his head for "no" and nods his head for "yes". The nodding is hilarious, because he always raises his eyebrows and makes a funny face when he does it.

His receptive language is also getting really strong. He understands when we ask him to get things, come here, let's go, etc.

Other than the fact that he claps for us after we sing to him and that he tries to sing along sometimes, you'll have to ask Rudy about Caleb's musical skills. I can only tell you about his speech and language. Ha!