Back to School!

Kristin went back to school today! She was so excited and I'm happy that her temp has been normal since Saturday. After school she was completely exhausted. Chris took us out to eat tonight and Kristin fell asleep while waiting on the food. Once we got home she went straight to bed and slept for a couple of hours. She is now in my bed watching cartoons, getting ready to go back to sleep. She's still not quite her old self, but she's getting there. She did have a rough day yesterday...she was very grumpy and spent most of the day mad at me. This morning when I opened her bedroom door, I noticed a piece of paper taped to it. Here is what it read:

"Mom u leve me ulone!"

I kept it, of course.

I was glad to go back to school today too. It made me happy to get hugs from my kids...apparently they do miss me when I'm not there! We were low on kids today (there's another bug making the rounds), so I spent the day cleaning and putting out St. Patrick's Day work and decorations. In another month and a half, it will be Easter!

Doctor's Visit 5,821.....

Ok, so we haven't been to the doctor quite that many times, but between last year and the past couple of months, it sure feels like it! Kristin went to her post-op visit this morning. The doctor said the pathology report of her tonsils showed that they were big (he said he didn't remember them being so big) and that the pits (did you know tonsils have pits?) were inflammed and full of infection. He is worried about her high fever (this morning it was almost 103), so he basically told me not to let her leave the house. No going anywhere to expose her to anymore germs. So much for her going to work with me....the preschool is like a giant petri dish! We will hang out here the rest of the week and if her temp stays up and isn't gone by next week, we have to go back. She's on an antibiotic, so if there is an infection somewhere, hopefully that will take care of it. If her fever goes down and stays that way, she won't have to go back for 6 weeks. Oh, when we were checking out after the visit, the receptionist said the most beautiful words to me...."no charge!" I about passed out!

The past two nights have been the worst so far. Kristin has been waking up screaming with her throat and ears hurting. The doctor said that the steroids from surgery have worn off, so now she's getting the full effects of the inflammation. But from here on out, it should get easier. Kristin is laying in my bed watching Disney channel. By the end of the week we'll both be dying to get out of the house. Anyone have any good movie suggestions?

Surgery Day

Well, we all made it through yesterday and it was one LONG day, followed by an even longer night! We got up bright and early to be at the surgery center at 7:15. We got checked in and back to Kristin's cubicle in pre-op. The nurse checked Kristin out, Kristin changed into her gown and was so NOT happy about what was going on. But she started to relax some and colored some pictures.



Not too much later Dr. Davis came in to give us surgery info and what to expect afterwards. He also got to sign Kristin's forehead and cheeks (the represent adeniods and tonsils). He said there were several hospitals in Florida where doctors got the wrong patients, so in January the surgery center began requiring the doctor to "autograph" patients as an extra precaution. Kristin thought it was cool!


Dr. Davis' "signature".



She was feeling good in this picture from the goofy juice! I was having to help her sit up...she refused to lay down!


About 30 minutes before surgery they gave Kristin the "goofy juice". She was so high it was funny. I laughed so hard I thought I'd wet my pants! When they took her to surgery she was as happy as could be without a care in the world! She took 5 stuffed animals with her (3 mini-beanie babies and two bigger stuffed animals) and they all went to surgery as well! Chris and I went to the waiting room and about 30 minutes later the doctor came out to talk to us. He said the surgery went well, her tonsils and adenoids were small, which made them easier to get out. He said she was doing great, but was having a hard time waking up.

When we got back to the recovery area, it was just the saddest thing ever. Kristin was confused, scared, hurting and wanted to go home. I was trying to feed her a slushie and I started getting upset and nauseous. It was bad. Finally she got some more pain medicine and she took a little nap. Luckily she didn't get sick after surgery...the doctor said they give kids steroids during surgery and they don't get sick, but the only dowside is that the pain is worse a couple of days after surgery, when the steroids wear off. Anyway, they brought her a dvd player and she watched a couple of movies, ate popcicles and drank sprite. Everyone at the surgery center was great....they did a good job of making your child, as well as you, feel cared for.


This was after she got some medicine for pain and was finally resting.



After her nap they brought her a dvd player and huge folder of movies to choose from. She watched The Bridge to Terabithia.


A little after 2:00 Kristin was discharged. Grandma and Grandpa were at the house waiting with a balloon, stuffed animals, and a Hannah Montanna outfit. I took off to get Kristin's medicine, then Chris' dad took Chris and I out to eat since we hadn't eaten all day. Thanks, Grandpa!

Last night was rough...Kristin woke up crying a few times and just didn't sleep well. She woke up around 8 this morning really hurting. She is so mad that she can't eat normal food and I'm not used to having her "down" for so long. Normally even when she's really sick, she's still running around like usual. She keeps telling me, "I've never felt like this before" and "I've never hurt in my throat like this!" This has been a change for all of us and I will be glad to have the goofy, wild Kristin back. Today she went on a quick trip to Wal-Mart with Chris to get more jello...she was exhausted when they got back. It's sad.

Today Kristin got flowers, balloons and a teddy bear from Nene, Lynn and her family. Here's a picture of Kristin with those along with two books from us, her goodies she got yesterday from Grandma and Grandpa, and her dolphin she got in recovery. Doesn't she look pitiful???



Tonight I was more than happy to let her eat ice cream for supper and I'm hoping we'll all get a little more sleep than last night! Thanks for all the calls, e-mails, prayers and well-wishes!

Love, Love, Love

All you need is love, love...

Tonight I was watching Kristin make her Valentine cards and when she got to Alex's, she turned to me and said "Don't look!" (Alex is a little boy Kristin talks about all the time and apparently he is very sweet and cute. ) She covered the card while she worked for several minutes, finally finished and put it in the pile of cards. Well, after she was finished, of course I had to take a look. Here's the card:



Love is all you need!

FlyLady

Thanks to Mandy I have discovered FlyLady. I'd heard of her before, but thought she was a little too OCD for me (I know there are people laughing at that), but I finally really read her website and figured her out and just LOVE her! Basically what she does is give you the tools to get yourself and home organized and how to keep it that way. Now, most of you know that I am not a neat freak, by any means. But I am OCD and get very weird about certain things. For instance, I have been known to clean baseboards at midnight, or rearrange rooms just spur of the moment...very impulsive. Yesterday I decided to pull the fridge out and clean beside and behind it, just all of a sudden! And since I am ADD, I jump quickly from one thing to the next, including cleaning, rarely finishing the first task before moving on to the next. And, my room at school....I am so weird about having it a very particular way...MY way! I just realized I am like this when I started getting off work at 3:30 and another teacher is closing my room at night. There is nothing wrong with what she does, but I have had to learn to "let go" of things having to be a certain way.

Anyway, I'm getting off the subject...where was I? FlyLady! She suggests that you write out daily routines for yourself, and she divides your house into zones, and you make time in your daily routine for cleaning those zones, etc. Since I get off track so easily, writing out a routine for myself as well as a weekly checklist has worked miracles. For me there is just something about writing it down, it somehow makes me feel like I have to get it done. I will never be a person who keeps their life organized on a Blackberry...I have to have pen and paper and I love being able to mark things off a list! Also I am blessed to have a husband who helps with the housework (even if he doesn't do it MY way, I've learned to be thankful he's doing it!). I live by lists, especially at work, so I don't know why it took me so long to figure out that this would be great for me. Oh, at the best part...the journal that you keep your routines and stuff in is called your CONTROL Journal! I like that, of course, since I have to be in control!

Here is my journal:

And since we're talking about cleaning, here are some of my favorite cleaning supplies:

Simplicity dish soap...all natural, organic
Green Works cleaner...I use it for everything! Alot of people who want natural cleaner make their own out of vinegar, but I cannot stand the smell of vinegar, not to mention if I get any on me, I break out in a rash. So, this stuff works great for me. The bottle of concentrate is inexpensive and lasts a long time.

My Dyson Animal vacuum...it is so awesome! Everytime I vacuum I am amazed by all the animal hair it gets up and how clean the carpet is...it really sucks!

Kristin's surgery is set for Friday the 13th, 9:15 at the North Hills Surgery Center in Fayetteville. We, of course, have to be there at 7:15, for all the pre-op "stuff". I think it will be hilarious when they give her the "goofy pill", she's goofy enough as it is! Anyway, she is counting down the days and is handling it well. I think she's looking forward to feeling better after she gets over the surgery. I've stocked the kitchen with soft things to eat...popsicles, a little ice cream (she's not a big ice cream eater because of her milk allergy), frozen fruit for smoothies, yogurt, applesauce, etc. Needless to say, I will be glad when it is all over and done with. Hopefully this will take care of her sore throat, ear aches, and constant fever!

The Tonsils Must Go!

Today I took Kristin to her appointment with the ENT. First of all, our trip to Fayetteville was quite an adventure..my "shortcut" turned out not to be so short since I was stopped in the middle of traffic for over 5 minutes then re-routed, due to ice storm clean-up. I was glad Kristin was napping so she didn't hear my occasional "IDIOTS" and "MORONS" outbursts. (Lynn and I come by our "driving talk" honestly....thanks, Dad!) We managed to get there on time...her appt. was at 3:15, we were told to be there at 2:45 to fill out paperwork and I pulled into the parking lot at 2:43!

Kristin was very good during the visit. Everyone in the office was so nice and we both really liked Dr. Davis. (Everytime I say his name I have flashbacks from college). He checked Kristin out and was very concerned about her continuous fever and said her tonsils need to come out as soon as possible (no waiting around for spring break!). He's also taking out her adenoids, but is holding off on ear tubes...he believes all her ear trouble is due to the tonsils and adenoids. Kristin stayed very quiet and still while we talked and would raise her hand when she had a question, and she asked good questions...she wanted to know if she would feel the tonsils being taken out, how long her throat would hurt, and how they take them out. She is scheduled to have the surgery next Friday (the 13th!) and so far is pretty calm about it. The office will call tomorrow to let us know what time to be there.

After we left the doctor's office we stopped to eat an early dinner at Applebee's in Springdale. We had such a good time just sitting there talking. I let Kristin talk me into a huge dessert...the Triple Chocolate Meltdown...(I think that took all of my extra Weight Watchers points for the week!). I was glad we were able to turn a doctors visit into a fun afternoon.




Is Chris trying to shake out her tonsils????