2 More Doctor Visits

In a previous post I told about our recent trips to the doctor. Well here's an update for you. Good news is Katelyn finished up her antibiotics today!! YEAH! However, Rachel and I both went to the doctor yesterday, so now we're both on antibiotics! Rachel has a sinus infection, which is what we thought. Her poor little nose has just been full of that yucky green stuff, and her eyes had even started having lots of discharge from the infection. Kind of gross, I know. I ended up with a sinus infection and ear infection, along with my signature cough! So there's still lots of coughing, snot, and medicine around here! Rachel seems to be feeling fine, and I'm feeling better than yesterday, so I do believe we're going to all survive!!!

Tooth #6

Up until Wednesday, Rachel had lost 5 teeth (3 on top and 2 on bottom). She had 3 other teeth loose, and 1 of those was getting really loose! She likes to wiggle her teeth once they are loose, and she's good at pulling them too! Christmas Day she was really working that one tooth that was pretty loose. She just kept wiggling it back & forth. Kate guessed it would come out on Thursday. Kate - I hate to break it to you, but you weren't right. Rachel got it out Wednesday afternoon! Here's her smiling face to show her missing bottom tooth.

Of course, Katelyn wanted to get in on the camera action, so here's a picture of Katelyn. She actually does have one tooth that is a little loose, so before too long she may have a toothless picture to show!!!

Christmas at Puddin & Papa's House

After we opened our presents here Christmas morning and had a chance to play a little while, we got ready and headed to Puddin & Papa's house. All of Robert's brothers and sisters and their families would be there. The girls were so excited to be going to Puddin & Papa's house. When we got there, most of the other people were already there. Rachel & Katelyn got several games for Christmas, so we took some games with us. Rachel talked Charlie and Steve into playing Twister with her and Robert! It was quite comical! The guys were all pushing on each other trying to knock each other down. Luckily, they didn't fall on Rachel! After that round of Twister, Rachel and Brittany had a calmer game of Twister. During the Twister commotion, Katelyn and Kayla played with some magnetic wooden dolls that Puddin has. After this, Rachel brought out her new Cadoo game. Rachel, Beth, Charlie, & I played Cadoo while Katelyn, Robert, and Donald played with Katelyn's new UNO cards. At the same time as these two games were going on, some of the "big kids" were playing Brittany & Kayla's new Life game. So there was a lot of game playing going on Christmas Day!!! We had a great lunch and then it was time for presents. One of the few things that the girls actually asked for was an Etch-a-Sketch! Puddin & Papa got each girl their very own Etch-a-Sketch, so they were excited! Rachel & Katelyn also got some very cool clothes, magazine subscriptions, hip hats, Cinderella DVD, books, hair accessories, and games. What a fun day!!!

Since everyone was there, we set up my tripod and camera to get a picture. The picture didn't turn out as well as I would've liked, but it's still better than nothing! The lighting wasn't very good, and I'm not a professional so this is as good as it gets!

Front row from left to right are Ryan, Jessica, Rachel, Puddin, Papa, Katelyn, Kayla, and Brittany. Back row from left to right are Shannon, Charlie, Donald, Beth, Steve, Connie, Kate, Robert, and me!

Puddin & Papa got all of the grand-daughters these cool hats. Left to right are Rachel, Jessica, Kayla, Brittany, and Katelyn.

Here's a slideshow of our fun day at Puddin & Papa's house.

Christmas Morning

Waiting patiently to go open presents!

Christmas morning at our house was fun & exciting as usual! Robert got up and went downstairs to get the cameras set-up and ready. While he was downstairs, he heard little footsteps coming down the stairs! Turns out Katelyn got a little sneak preview of what was under the tree! She was still half asleep, so we're not sure if she really saw anything or not. Robert took her back upstairs and got Rachel up, and then we all headed back downstairs to open presents. "Santa" had left the girls some fun toys to play with and matching sweatsuits. What always amuses me is how excited the girls get over the little things in their stockings. Just a simple pencil and notepad seem like gold to them!

Our big gift to the girls this year was a karaoke machine! Of course, we had to get two microphones so that there wouldn't be any fighting over them! They both also got a dress, books, workbooks, videos, and lots of games. Rachel got a telescope and a Webkin, and Katelyn got a Bible and a clock. One of Katelyn's classmates got everyone in the class a Webkin for Christmas, and Rachel went on and on about how she'd like one. I asked her what kind she'd want if she had one and she said she'd like a monkey one if they made them. So I found her a monkey Webkin and it's really cute! She was so excited when she opened it! Katelyn has a little New Testament that she carries to church every Sunday, but she gets frustrated when Pastor Chris speaks from the Old Testament and she doesn't have that in her Bible. So we got her a big girl Bible with a cool purple Bible cover. She was so excited!!!! Something else that Katelyn has been wanting is an alarm clock. So I found her a basic, blue alarm clock. She loves it! She wants us to set the alarm for her all the time! I'm sure in a few years she won't be loving that alarm quite so much!!!

One of the neat things that Rachel's Sparks class did at church was to wrap up a gift and put it under the tree to open on Christmas. It was a gift to Rachel from Jesus. On it was a cross and a printout of the Bible verse John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." I thought that was a really neat reminded of what Christmas is really about.

Robert surprised me with a cool new video camera! It's not much bigger than a cell phone! It records to internal memory or you can use a memory card. It plugs directly into your computer's USB port. And you can connect it directly to the TV too. It's really cool and so compact and portable! I've recorded a few videos that I'll have to post later.

Christmas on the 23rd

Our first Christmas celebration was on Sunday evening with Mamaw & Papaw and Lloyd & Wendy. This year we celebrated at Lloyd & Wendy's house. The girls had fun handing out the gifts to everyone. As usual, Rachel & Katelyn received some wonderful gifts! Katelyn got a pair of boots that she loves! She had to put them on immediately and wear them the rest of the day. She even wanted to sleep in them!!! Katelyn also got some cool clothes, new PJs, a Backyardigan's color by number set, books, workbooks, and a boy Barbie (aka Ken) with extra clothes. She got all sorts of cool things in her stocking. You can see one of her favorite items from her stocking in the pictures below. It's a cow change purse that clips on your pants, backpack, etc. Katelyn clipped it to her clothes, so you can see it hanging down in most of the pictures!!!

Rachel also got lots of cool new books, workbooks, new clothes, PJs, and a potholder making set. Lloyd used to make potholders when he was young, so he & Wendy got that for Rachel. After we opened up all the presents, Lloyd showed Rachel how to make potholders. Papaw also used to make potholders and sell them when he was young. He actually had to make his own "loom" and used scraps from the hosiery mill that his dad (my Papaw) would bring home from work. So we had 3 generations of potholder makers together!!!

Robert & I got lots of great gifts too! I have to admit that one of our favorites is a "coupon" for 1 night of babysitting and a gift card to go to the movies from Lloyd & Wendy. They did this for us last year too, and Robert went on & on about how great it was. He inspected the coupon for babysitting last year and couldn't find anything to indicate it was for just one use. So this year when Lloyd & Wendy made the babysitting coupon they made sure to put on there that it's for ONE use only! We all got a big laugh out of that!

It was a fun night to spend with family! Here's a slideshow from the evening. There are even pictures of Rascal and Abbey (the cats). Abbey was just declawed, so she has a cone on her head.

Christmas at Dollywood

Advent Calendar

Robert's mom, Puddin, made this Advent Calendar for us when Rachel was born. The girls look forward to putting an ornament on the tree every day til Christmas. They are good about taking turns. This year, Katelyn got to start out with putting an ornament on the tree on the 1st, and then Rachel took her turn on the 2nd.

All I Want for Christmas Are 2 Trips to the Doctor, 1 Visit to the ER, and a Busted Head!

Yep - that's what our past week has been filled with! It all started last Saturday night at a Christmas party at one of Rachel & Katelyn's friend's house. We were getting ready to go and the girls were all back in Alexis' room cleaning up. Next thing I know, Katelyn was screaming and one of the other moms was bringing her to me. She told me she wasn't sure what had happened, but she thinks Katelyn fell and hit her head on a dresser. I put Katelyn in my lap and was trying to comfort her. I just thought she was being overly dramatic. I kept rubbing her head and asking her where it hurt. Then I noticed that my hand was moist. I thought to myself "She shouldn't have tears on the back of her head." So I checked my hand - sure enough, it was blood! So now it was time to try to get it cleaned up a little to see how bad the cut was. Of course, since I had been rubbing her head, I had proceeded to smear blood all across the back of her hair. She now had blond hair with red streaks! I got her cleaned up some and determined that it wasn't too bad. I decided to just head home and get her cleaned up better and let Robert look at it too. We gave her a bath and decided that it wasn't worth a trip to the ER! It had pretty much stopped bleeding. It might could have used a stitch or two, but we just put some liquid bandage stuff on it and gave her some Tylenol for the headache. Oh - you want to hear how she did it? She decided she wanted to stand on a basketball without holding onto anything! Evidently, that's not a very good idea since she fell and hit her head on the dresser! When I asked her if she had learned a lesson she said "Yes - don't stand on a basketball." I told her that the lesson really is DON'T STAND ON A BALL - PERIOD!!!!

Now it's Sunday and Katelyn wakes up really stuffy and congested and coughing a lot. She had been sick back at Thanksgiving and was on antibiotics for 5 days because of an ear infection and just the crud. She never truly got over it and had continued to cough and walk around with a Kleenex in her hand. Sunday you could tell by looking at her that she just didn't feel good at all. Monday morning I took her to the doctor. She had fluid on both ears and a sinus infection, along with her nasty cough. She takes daily meds (Zyrtec and Flovent) for allergies and asthma, and also has a "rescue" inhaler for when her coughing is really bad. We had been using Xopenex off and on since Thanksgiving. The doctor agreed that she shouldn't be sick again so soon after being on antibiotics just 3 weeks prior. So this time she's on 10 days worth of antibiotics. The doctor also gave us a prescription cough medicine with a decongestant and antihistamine to use as needed. We used that for a couple of days and it seemed to help her. Now she's doing much better - just a little cough every now and then.

Okay, so we're thinking we're all going to be fine for Christmas. Then Thursday night rolls around. Rachel had been coughing a little for a few days and we had started her on her Xopenex inhaler. She wasn't bad at all, and didn't act like she felt bad. She had played all day, went to Kid City while I played tennis, and just acted fine. We did all of her usual meds (Singulair, Zyrtec, and Flovent) at bedtime, plus her Xopenex inhaler. She went to bed a little after 8:00. All was fine. Robert and I watched some TV and then at 10:45 he went outside to turn off the Christmas lights and I came upstairs to put on my PJs. That's when it happened. Rachel woke up trying to cough, but couldn't breathe. I mean she literally couldn't breathe. It wasn't like she was congested, she just flat out couldn't breathe. She had a panicked look in her eyes. We've been through this several times before, so the first thing I did was rush her to the bathroom and get the inhaler. I gave her several puffs, but it didn't work. By this time Robert was upstairs. He rushed her outside into the cold air. This is usually what can get her calmed down a little and the cold air usually opens up her airways enough for her to breathe. But not tonight. She was struggling SO HARD to breathe at all. We were getting a little panicked ourselves. We briefly thought about calling 911, but decided since we're just like 2 miles from the hospital to just take her ourselves. I called our neighbor, Jill, and she rushed over to stay with Katelyn and we took off to the hospital. Robert drops us off at the ER door and I go in and tell them she has the croup and needs steroids. They just kind of look at me like "sure lady." We tell them she has asthma and allergies and that we've done her Xopenex inhaler at 8:00 and again at 10:45, and it's not helping much at all. They kind of change their attitude then like maybe we know a little of what we're talking about. After all, we've had to the go the ER in Nashville, Cookeville, Knoxville, and now here! We know when she has the croup and needs a dose of steroids!!! By this time, Rachel is beginning to breathe a little easier, but it still having a tough time. After a few minutes, we get back in a room and the doctor comes in and very quickly determines she has the croup. DUH! I already told you that! Now where are the steroids?!?!? They bring her a strong dose of steroids and then she does 2 breathing treatments there in the room. We hang out there for a while to make sure that's going to work, which it does, and then they let us leave. The doctor gives us a prescription for 3 days worth of steroids and tells us to go to our pediatrician when they open. So we get in bed around 2:00 am. She sleeps well the rest of the night. Friday morning I take her to the doctor and spend $30 to hear what I already know. She has the croup, continue the steroids, use her Xopenex as needed for coughing, come back if she starts running a fever or gets worse. And of course he warns me about this developing into a secondary infection like pneumonia. I ask for a new prescription for Xopenex for the nebulizer. Since both girls use inhalers now, all of our nebulizer meds have expired. But sometimes the nebulizer works better than the inhalers. So he gives me a prescription for the nebulizer meds and we head home. She was feeling well enough to go to Dollywood yesterday afternoon, but that'll have to be another post!

So right now we have 2 charts going. One chart is for Katelyn's medicines and one is for Rachel's medicines. We're a regular pharmacy around here! We have inhalers, nebulizers, antibiotics, steroids, allergy pills, prescription cough medicines, etc.!!

Rachel did well last night too. The steroids seem to have kicked in and have opened up her airways so that she's able to breathe. Her cough has changed from a croupy cough to a loose, wet cough. Our only worry now is that it will turn into a respiratory infection or pneumonia. Who knows - we may head back to the doctor on Monday!

So it looks like Rachel and Katelyn are getting co-pays, co-insurance, and deductibles for Christmas!!! HaHa!!

Elves That You Might Recognize

Click here to see some elves that you might recognize!

Rachel and Katelyn - Live in Concert

ABC's Opera Style

This post is just for fun! Rachel sometimes will launch into her opera voice when she's singing. Her favorite song to sing "opera style" is her ABC's. Here's a video of her singing "opera style." I've seen her do this a bunch, but it still makes me smile to watch this. Hope you enjoy!

I Just Have to Brag on My Girls!!! - Part 2

I guess since the previous brag session ended up being all about Rachel, this brag session will be all about Katelyn!

Katelyn is such a sweet girl! All of her teachers say that about her! She has a mischievous side to her too, but I think she usually reserves that for us at home!! Katelyn goes to a mother's day out program twice a week. She loves it and wants to know why she can't go to school 5 days like Rachel does! Katelyn's pre-k teacher has told me that her kindergarten teacher next year will love her because she already knows how to do so much! She writes both her first and last name on all of her papers at school! She colors better than any 4 year old I've ever seen! Of course maybe it's because she could sit and color 24 hours a day! Seriously, whenever I go work out she goes to Kid City and colors the entire time! All of the teachers there talk about how well she colors. She stays in the lines completely, and she adds details to things. She not only knows all of her letters, but she also knows how to write them (uppercase and lowercase)! And she has a variety of words that she knows how to spell! When we go pick Rachel up every day at school, I have to sign her out. Most of the time, Katelyn wants to do it. She signs Rachel's name, then my name, and puts that Rachel is in 1st grade! The teacher's aides that "guard" the sign-out sheets are all impressed with how well she does! I don't have to tell her how to spell anything - she just walks up and signs Rachel out!

This past month Katelyn has also learned how to tie her shoes!!! She had been intently watching us tie our own shoes, but we hadn't really worked with her much on it. One morning while she was getting ready for school she started yelling "Daddy! Daddy! Come here quick!" When Robert got in her room she had tied her shoes! I guess she had studied us and had a mental picture in her mind of how to do it! And she didn't do it the "easy way" of making two "bunny ears" and then tying those together. She tied her shoes just like I do! That day when she went to school she was so proud of herself! She had to show off for her teacher! And the funny thing was that Katelyn did NOT want to tie her shoelaces in double knots - she wanted her shoes to come untied so that she could show everyone she could tie them all by herself!!!

Katelyn can also do numerous "big girl" things, like jump rope, hula hoop, flip over on the monkey bars, hit a baseball that has been pitched to her, and dribble a basketball!

Katelyn is such a sweetie! I'm so proud of her and thankful to be her mommy!

I Just Have to Brag on My Girls!!! - Part 1

I know, I know. Everyone thinks they have the best, smartest, and cutest kids, but I'm here to tell you that you're wrong! I have the best kids!!!!

Let me start off by bragging on Rachel! She is doing so AWESOME in 1st grade! Every week they have a spelling test on Thursday. The spelling words are given to us the Friday before. All of the spelling words are on the test, plus a bonus word that they haven't had to learn. If you make a 100 or 101 on the Thursday spelling test, then you don't have to take it again on Friday. But if you make less than 100, then you have to re-take the test on Friday. Let me just say that Rachel has only made a 100 once - all the other times she has made 101!!! She does so well academically!

In 1st grade they have also created the 100 Book Club. The goal is to get kids to read 100 books at home during the school year. They have a chart that they keep up with it on with the title, author, number of pages, date read, and parent signature. You are allowed to count books that the child reads to you OR books that you read to your child. Plus, if it's a chapter book, you're allowed to count each chapter as a book. I told Rachel from the beginning that we were only going to count books that SHE read because I knew she could read 100 books by herself during the school year. I also told her that we'd count chapter books as just one book - not as multiple books. She was fine with this and the charting of books began! Since this started just a week or so into the school year, the first books that she read were easier books. But now she's reading much harder books! She loves the Amelia Bedelia books! I've bought several of those from a used book store, and we've checked out some from the library. She has also read one of the Little House chapter books. She is just reading SO WELL!!! And last night she completed her 100th book at home!!! I'm so proud of her! When she looks at her chart she knows that she read all 100 of those books all by herself! How awesome is that? And the school year isn't even half over!!! Rachel has entered the 100 Book Club!

Speaking of reading, Rachel has been reading books at school and then taking Accelerated Reader (AR) tests on the computer. There are just a few kids in her class that are doing the AR books and tests. Here's a simple explanation of how it works. The kids are tested to determine their reading level. Once their reading level is determined, they are supposed to pick books that are their reading level and above. There is a list of all the books in the AR program and each book has been assigned a reading level. After Rachel reads a book, she takes a test on the computer to test how well she comprehended the book. If you pass the test, then you earn points. These points are accumulated during the 6 weeks. At the end of the 6 weeks, kids can redeem their points at the AR store in the library. So far, Rachel has passed every one of her AR tests! I'm so proud of her!!!

Pretty much every day I get compliments on Rachel from the school staff. The principal and assistant principal have told me numerous times what a good kid Rachel is and how well she does and how they wish they could clone her! Rachel's teacher is very complimentary of her too! One time when she was out, the substitute teacher happened to be a lady from our church. The sub told me that on the note Mrs. Wilson left for her, it said if she had any questions to just ask Rachel!! At church it's the same thing! Her teachers all brag on how good she is and how sweet she is!

Can you tell that I am SO PROUD OF RACHEL!!!!!! She's an awesome 6 year old and I'm so glad that she's my daughter!

Well, I've written a book, so I'd better go ahead and post this. I'll brag on Katelyn in the next post.

Christmas Sisters

Decorating the Tree

The week-end of Thanksgiving we put up our Christmas tree. The girls get so excited about decorating it! Of course, we end up with a ton of ornaments on the bottom half of the tree, and all on one branch!!! I must admit, they have gotten better over the years about spreading the ornaments out around the tree. Robert helps get the top of the tree decorated by picking the girls up to reach the top half of the tree. After a few lifts, this gets to be quite a workout!! Here are some pictures from our day of decorating: