Back to "Normal" - Art 101

Sorry that I've been not keeping up with the blog but if you've read my last entry and have been checking on Facebook you'll see that I have been being keeping up with my motherly nursing duties. Emily has been home sick all week (sent home from school on Monday afternoon) with high fevers and a cough due to a right ear infection and upper chest congestion. Wednesday on to Thursday, Emily finally made it through the night without a second dose of Motrin after having her last dosage at 8 p.m. when her fever was 102. She woke with a temp of 99.6. Finally, it was under 102. All day she stayed under 100 and her temp even came down into the 98 degree range. Unfortunately, I started feeling that scratch in the back of my throat and my sleepless nights were catching up to me, so I had Matt go down for his nap and made Emily join me for a nap in my room. We all slept for 3 hours. It felt fantastic to sleep. On Friday, Emily's fever stayed at bay and as a treat I took her to lunch to get her out of the house for the first time since coming home from the doctor's office on Tuesday morning. Her choice for lunch - Burger King. It wasn't based on the food but the toy that comes with the meal. Silly girl. Today she took her last dose of antibiotic (she says it tastes salty) and is doing well. She took a nap all on her own this afternoon and as I write this we found Matthew on the floor of his room sleeping.

So, the drawing for this entry depicts a happier, healthier, sunny day. This is Emily and Matt playing outside the house with their pets - Matt has a dog and Emily has her cat Pettyball (by the way recently she changed her pet request to a dog). Emily has picked a flower from the flower garden planted by the house. You will notice that there is love all around them by the heart in the air (don't take into account the fact that it is black - that has no meaning).

In the near future, you will be seeing drawings from Emily's new "Animal Book". She has been working on it the last two days. I think it will surprise you. I personally love her elephant and giraffe drawings.

Looks can be Deceiving?

We took this picture of Emily on Saturday, January 3rd while at the NYC Botanical Gardens train show. The show was our last "event" for Christmas break/vacation. The day before this outing I took both kids to the doctor to have them checked out. Matt was up Thursday on to Friday with a fever and was complaining about his ear hurting and Emily still had a cough that has been around for a few weeks. So, to be proactive for the "regular" week to come I thought I should have the doctor see if there was anything serious going on. Matt was fine....his ear pain seemed to be a result of one of the tubes which was placed in his ear last year being in the process of shifting and falling out. His ear drum was clear and so was his chest. Emily's chest was clear even though her cough was "rough" and is apparently a result of postnasal drip. I don't think she will ever learn to blow her nose. Well, Monday every one headed back to school and work. Around 1:45 p.m., Emily's school nurse called to say not only was she coughing a lot but she was running a fever of 102. So, I picked her up and brought her home. Later that evening and through the night her temp reached 104 and she complained that her ear hurt (the only time Emily has ever had a fever of 104 was when she was little and had a double ear infection). Also, her coughing was constant through the night so very little sleep was gotten by either of us. Fortunately, Dave stayed home Tuesday (he was feeling ill too) so I was able to schedule an early appointment for Emily with her doctor and Matt got some time with daddy. Emily has a right ear infection and the cough/cold has now moved to her chest so, she is on Zithromax. She has been running fevers every day and through the night. Motrin only takes it down to about 100 and even takes a while to bring the fever down to that. Because she has to be fever free 24 hours without the aid of acetaminophen for school, she was of course unable to go today and now tomorrow (102 temp at 11 a.m.) so we've decided it would be best just to keep her home the rest of the week. So much for getting back to my "normal" schedule....there is always next week. Her spirits are surprisingly good for being so sick and asks every night and morning if she can go to school and is disappointed that she can't go. Keep her in your prayers that the fever will break and that the cough will subside. Matt is just fine by the way - at least as of today. By the way, this is also the reason I haven't been blogging or Facebooking the last few days.....kids come first.

Year In Review Part 3

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Year in Review Part 2

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Year in Review Part 1

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