She's BACK!! Well, Almost Anyway!

Not good news

Poor Addysen. I took her back to the ped this am. She still looks and feels crappy. She's still retching some and just feeling awful, not getting any smiles out of my precious girl. She's lost 8 ounces since Wednesday but not dehydrated thank goodness. We are going to collect three different stool samples today and I'll have to take them back into Springfield later today or tomorrow, depends on her little bowels! We'll see what they show on Sunday. Above all things little love has ruptured her left ear drum in the midst of all of this!! It wasn't even infected on Wednesday! So we are now taking Zithromax for it. We really didn't want to use antibiotics but we really need to now since her ear's so yucky.

My yesterday wasn't too awful once my family got back home. The kids and I watched Toy Story 3, Jarika hadn't seen it yet. Naturally the two of us cried, must be the whole college thing! Pixar/Disney makes the best movies! Didn't sleep much, this gagging stuff is miserable for my girl! I did get Addy's Thanksgiving outfit on her, she wasn't real happy as you can tell. Keep the prayers coming, really hoping to wade this one out at home, I know she'll end up with something else if we get admitted :(

Still Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I would love to say that I have enjoyed a wonderful day with my family but that would be an untruth. Scott and the big kids are headed to the sorta in-laws for Thanksgiving. I am staying home with the sick princess. Poor girl, she threw up all of her feeding last night and spent the entire night coughing, gagging and choking again :( When she got up this morning she had completely soiled her diaper, pajamas and bed :( I got that cleaned up, a new diaper under her booty and she stretched and filled another diaper! Cleaned that one up and we had a repeat performance :( This poor baby. She is just not feeling very well. However, I am still very thankful today. I am thankful that I am able to stay home with my baby and take care of her. I am thankful that we are here, snug at home, instead of in the hospital. I know some of our friends are admitted right now and that just stinks. This time a year ago we wouldn't have been able to head this off without an IV, she is making progress. She is holding down some Pedialyte today, 5 ounces so far, will try a few more in another hour or so and see how she does, this has been a weird illness. She's perky for a little while, then laying in her classic flattened position the next. I may get her dressed and out of her jammies, she has a really cute Thanksgivingy shirt to wear today, I hate for her not to show off her cuteness!

We are cuddled up watching the gorgeous snowflakes (we were under a tornado warning last night, you gotta love the Ozarks!) and Elmo's Countdown to Christmas, definitely something to be thankful for.

Ugh

Addy finished her last feeding with another big ole spew this morning. Scott was up with her the majority of the night because she kept coughing/gagging/choking all night. Went ahead and went into the doc just in case it's something major. Lungs sounded clear, ears ok, stomach nice and gurgly, thoat ok, and nose seemed ok too. The doc went ahead and sent us home with a script in case she starts running a temp of 100 or more, she could have a sinus infection that's making her have drainage which causes the pukes in the am. Who knows. She's definitely not herself, hoping she is perkier tomorrow for Thanksgiving, she hasn't seen her extended family for quite awhile!

I hadn't posted pix of Addy standing the other night because I could never catch her when she was actually upright!!! Here's a little glimpse though!




Her first school picture:


My early Christmas present :)

Recovering

These past couple of weeks have been h&$! on the Heflin gang! Addy has been fighting a respiratory bug that we are successfully been able to avoid antibiotics with. Jake and Cooper have both fought a throat virus. Scott's sinuses have been making him pretty grumpy and feeling crappy. Sunday he was in Kansas City at the Chiefs game and Addy started the day by puking up her first feeding. That was awesome. So into the bath we went and she was not happy all morning. I had no Pedialyte but fortunately thanks to Facebook my neighbor Natalie went and got some for us! Addy didn't keep down her first ounce though :( It was a rough morning. By afternoon she held down a couple of ounces and went down for a nap. After I got her down I realized that I didn't feel very well. I had a temp of 100.0. Not a big deal, just enough to make me not feel well. I lounged on the couch instead of my usual weekend cleaning. Addy got up from her nap and kept down more pedialyte and was happy as long as Sesame Street was on constantly, which was fine by me, my fever kept rising. By 8pm it was 102 and I couldn't stop chilling like crazy, it was awful, Jake thought I was having a seizure. I was so cold and I was under four blankets! Scott got home around 9 and my temp was 103.5. I was taking Tylenol every 4 hours and could not get it to go any lower. I went to bed and got a up a few times. My temp was running 103-104 all night long!! I felt awful! I spent the entire yesterday in bed. Fortunately Addy was better and was only fighting with her coughing a little. She also destroyed her glasses again yesterday, ugh. They are really messed up so we'll have to make a stop at Dr. Pierce's office tomorrow while we are in Springfield for feeding therapy. SIGH. I felt pretty good last night and my temp broke about 11am yesterday and by this morning I was almost my old self. Quite a little bug I had, so glad that it's over, must really hoping and praying that no one else gets it! I'm really looking forward to spending time with our family on Thanksgiving, we haven't all been together since July4th!

I have no new pix to post of my family, I've been a picture slacker! However, I do have a precious new photo of Phoebe!!! Isn't she the cutest thing ever??? She looks so full of personality!!! I hope her family can go save her soon!! Please help by donating to her adoption fund, her click on her photo on my sidebar, it will take you to Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree :)

Good Patient

Addy's such a good little patient, she is actually enjoying her breathing treatments :) She hasn't had to have them in forever!! She's just got a cold and an eye infection. Still loads of poop but last week's sample was normal so we are just giving her Imodium every three days to see if that helps at all. Her ears were thankfully clear, the doc didn't want to put her on any antibiotics, that would start the C-Diff all over again! I'm hoping that she just stays with a cold and doesn't go into a sinus or bronchial/pneumonia type infection!

Sesame Street Live

We just got back from the cutest Sesame Street Live show! Addy LOVED it!!! We were on the front row so right in the middle of the action. The characters were so sweet to wave at Addy when she waved at them, it was really cute. She was a little taken back by the noise but quickly got over it when Big Bird appeared on the scene!! She clapped and laughed and danced the whole show, it was sooo cute!! I didn't get any pix of her since she was in my lap but I promise she LOVED it! A couple of the characters would come out into the audience right by us since we were practically on the stage. The Honker was dancing beside us and Addy was waving at him/her? and he/she reached down to shake Addy's hand and she screamed, signed "no" and practically crawled over my head. Other than that she thought they were great! Jake went along too, Grandmama was supposed to go but she just had an outpatient surgery on Monday and was more than happy to pass on her ticket to Jake! Even though he is 9, he enjoyed the show too. Thanks Grandmama!!

Crayon Rocks

Parker sent Addy the cutest little rocks that are crayons! They are perfect for developing her pincher grasp. She detests fine motor activities when she knows what we want her to do, she was totally fooled! She LOVED coloring this afternoon! Thanks Parker (and Tammy!)

Gorgeous Day

Yesterday after a wonderful morning at church Scott and the kids and I headed down to Arkansas for a little road trip. Scott wanted to take the kids on a ferry and go find the oldest cache in Arkansas (he is a geocaching addict remember). It was such a gorgeous day!! The road down to the ferry was awful, so curvy and such it took forever to get down there but it was a pretty view. I kept entertained by texting Denise, checking on my Ella girl! SOOO hoping to meet up again this spring, hopefully adding a few more enhanced kiddos to the meeting! Anyway, the trees are just past their colorful peak so they were nice and orange. The boys thought the ferry was pretty cool and Addy loved driving the car while we were afloat! Here's some random pix of the day, enjoy!

(Oh, Arkansas, don't you know when you state how to do something you need to use an adverb? obviously not!)

Weee I'm driving!

She is bound and determined to keep her pigs off of the grass!

Everything is fun until the big A shows up! (Asperger's syndrome)

he had a breakdown, couldn't motor plan how to get onto the monkey, then "hurt" his legs getting on, it was all downhill from there :(

Addy wanted no part of the monkey either.

I'll just smile and wave instead!

It's back

Well it was bound to happen. Cold weather. Welcome back eczema, we haven't missed you!

Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree

I am once again participating in Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree Project. I am adorable little Phoebe's Christmas Warrior. She is so precious and needs her forever family!! Phoebe lives in Eastern Europe and is 1 and 1/2 years old, perfect time to start the adoption process!!! I would like more than anything to be the family to go and get her. MORE THAN ANYTHING!!! However, we just aren't financially able to take on such a costly endeavor. I work full time and just can't put forth that much into fundraising right now with four kids (one in college) so it would not be fair to try to pursue adoption at this time in our lives. I am very prayerful that someday we will be leaving on a jet plane to go overseas to adopt a precious little orphan that desperately needs a family. My goal to raise for Phoebe during this season of giving is at least $1,000 towards her grant fund towards the cost of her adoption. I would LOVE for it to be more! EVERY DOLLAR MATTERS!! When you donate at least $35.00 toward Phoebe's adoption, you will receive a very nice Christmas ornament with Phoebe's picture on it. Who wouldn't want that??? I can't wait to see her hanging on my tree!!! Every child I have sponsored in the past has a family, I am so thankful for that! Just click on Phoebe's picture on my sidebar and it will take you to her donation page. PLEASE help me help Phoebe!!!

Tearjerker

I haven't really blogged much about this issue but this is actually a perfect opportunity to. My youngest son is driving me crazy. He has been in trouble at home and at school and is about to put me in the loony bin. This child of mine is a brilliant little boy who is all boy and can argue with anyone and anything. He definitely needs to become a lawyer. He can find a loophole in any rule and can argue with anyone about anything. Even though he is only 9 he always manages to get in the last word. We have tried just about every form of discipline we can think of. We are now doing manual labor. He's been doing chores for almost two weeks now. He's having to do many things and Cooper doesn't have to anything (thought that would put salt in the wound) but he's still being very mouthy and disrespectful. It's so tiring. I do think we are making some progress, he hasn't been in trouble at school in 5 days (from what he says), so maybe there is hope!
Today as I was cleaning out his folder I was just about to pitch this; when I saw Addy's name, I read and I cried. I am so blessed to have this little boy and so is his little sister.
In case you can't read it, it says:

Addysen Heflin

Awesome
Drums on her baby drum
Down Syndrome Princess
Yanks My Hair
Strong
Eats with a feeding tube
Not dumb

Hilarious
Entertaining
Fast crawler
Loves me
I love her
Not my sister, my awesome sister