Adelle is 1

Adelle is 1, originally uploaded by Conch0608.

A year ago, two weeks late and sick with a bad upper respiratory virus, I was induced - and sweet little Adelle made her appearance. What a joy and delight she is to me. Always the bright smiles - ready to clap her hands and dance with me even when there's no music and I'm just singing "Dance...put the record on..do do do dooo (cuz who actually knows that part of the song) just dance..." Happy Birthday my darling girl who is no longer my sweet cuddly baby!

Adelle's Cake Smash

Cake Smash 7, originally uploaded by Conch0608.

Adelle turns one next Saturday! Where did the time go? I know everyone asks that. I swear she's still my little tiny baby though. It still shocks me to see her show up where I don't expect her or say something that I understand. She learned how to climb stairs this last week. Also learned how to go down them! Although she still scares me a little! I'll be in my bathroom getting ready for the day, the kids downstairs watching tv and I'll hear the pad pad of little hands and knees coming into the room and it won't be Hunter! While Hunter was my cautious one - Adelle is my dare devil - at least comparatively speaking! She's not walking yet but it won't be long - she loves to grab one of your hands and wants to RUN! She is incredibly busy.

She also has a smattering of words she loves to say...
Baby
Banana
Daddy
momma
bye bye
nigh nigh
Hi

The last three she likes to do while waving. She loves the song "Joy Joy" complete with actions and I'm told she will try to sing along although I don't hear her sing as much as Hunter. One of those developments I'm missing out on with going back to work I guess.

Above all though - she loves to DANCE. Any music will set her hips wiggling and shoulders shaking! It is a riot to watch!

Anyway - my little girl - my joy! I love her so much and I pray that she will be a woman who loves God with her whole heart. Happy Birthday Adelle (next week!)

51/365 My models

My good friend Stephanie makes the most beautiful hats for kids and adults. I keep stealing her hats for my kids. She's called her company Warmth on the Brain and will have a blog very soon showcasing her work! Over the next few days I'm trying to take my pics of the day with these hats. Adelle is apparently now old enough to rip off the hat as soon as I can get it on her - so it's a little bit of a struggle - but man does she look cute in them! (yes I'm biased).

50/365

50/365, originally uploaded by Conch0608.

Reminding me that I love her...especially right now - when she is living up to her Screamy McNoSleep name.

50/365

50/365, originally uploaded by Conch0608.

Relaxing after a tickle fight. The moments that remind me why I love being a mom.

49/365 "Feeling Primal"

49/365 "Feeling Primal", originally uploaded by Conch0608.

Sometimes you just have to scream!

49/365 "Feeling Primal?"

49/365 "Feeling Primal?", originally uploaded by Conch0608.

Another Screamy one...

48/365 "Screamy McNoSleep"

48/365, originally uploaded by Conch0608.

That's her new name we've decided.

47/365 Adelle

47/365 Adelle, originally uploaded by Conch0608.

47/365 "Cousinly Love"

47/365 "Cousinly Love", originally uploaded by Conch0608.

The kids and I went to my sister's on Family day. Brian was working so we picked up Grandma and Grandpa and spent the day out there. Eli loved his pirate hat from Grandma! More importantly - the kids played rather than fought! Or I should say - Hunter finally was content to play and was less dramatic than usual.

Can't remember which day these were taken - part of the mishmash that was the 365 challenge in Feb.

The Adelle saga continues

Well here we are - late Saturday night/Sunday morning and you're wondering where the pics of the day went? How could she drop the ball so soon? Well I have been keeping up as best I can - there will be more - I just haven't gotten them all off my camera yet. Most are just of Adelle since I've mostly seen her recently.

When I left off we had come home from our first overnight at the hospital. Adelle did seem to get better. By Sunday her fever was low grade and she was back to eating and smiling. On monday I didn't call the pediatrician because she was doing even better. However Monday night/early Tuesday morning she woke up with a climbing fever. I paged and then called the Pediatrician Tuesday morning (when he didn't answer his page). He had me meet him at the hospital where we informally met in a free exam room. He quickly told me that Adelle's urine cultures had come back with a bug in it that means she has a UTI and possible a kidney infection. He wrote me a perscription and said if she wasn't better by Thursday to call him again.

Hopeful that this was the end we filled the perscription and started her on it right away. By this point though Adelle was SO SO sick. Her fever climbed back up to 104.8. During the night she rocked and thrashed about moaning. She screamed when I touched her, moaned when left on her own, and shivered and shook. Her lips were purple and her stomach and arms were red and white - a reaction from the antibiotics I'm sure. She was breathing fine so I kept her on it as I knew it was more important to treat the infection at this point. In the morning I tried to give her the meds. I heard her tummy gurgle and then she threw up everywhere. I waited awhile and then tried again, but she just threw up everything again. Upset I called my mom to see if she had any thoughts how to get it in her. She told me to call the pediatrician. I did and he was very concerned. He called ahead to the emergency room at the hospital while I packed up Adelle and got ready to meet him there. We waited for 2 hours for a bed in the pediatric emergency unit. She had an IV put in her hand, and they started antibiotics pretty quickly. Because she had been so sick for so long and because of her reaction to the oral antibiotics they gave her we were admitted into the Stollery a little later that day.

We didnt' get a bed upstairs in the Stollery until shortly after midnight. Even then they didnt' have a crib for Adelle. I signed a consent form for her to sleep in a bed with me. She was so miserable though. I tried to get her to sleep beside me but she didnt' want to touch me. Eventually she settled horizontally on the bed. I curled up as best I could at the foot of the bed.

The next morning she hasn't improved enough for them to try her back on the oral meds. They continue the IV and explain to me that E.coli was the "bug" found in her urine that indicated a UTI. I was concerned it was something I had given to her - bad food or something but the doctor assured me that this was not the scary E.coli that the media talks about. This was probably something in her poop that she picked up because the passage from outside to inside is so short for girls. They also wanted an ultrasound of her kidneys to see if any damage had been done. We'd be staying for another night. Brian took the day off and stayed with me and Adelle at the hospital. I popped home for a shower and to update those who were praying for us.

When I got back Adelle was definitely feeling better. Brian went home to bed and I hung out cuddling and playing with her. Shortly after I noticed that her IV hand was wet and the white block her hand was taped to was pink. I called the nurse and sure enough she had managed to rip the IV out of her hand. They removed it and decided to leave it out at least until morning. Perhaps she could even start the oral meds at that time and we could skip having to put the IV back in. What freedom! It was so nice not having to work around those tubes, we both slept better that night!

Friday morning - still no ultrasound had been done and Adelle is IV/antibiotic free. I bugged the nurses about it again. They would leave to "look into it" and not come back. Arg. Apparently they were understaffed and really busy. However it just seemed to me that everyone gave up working on Fridays. My mom came around 11 to sit with me and help out. With Adelle not having a crib I couldn't even go to the washroom without having someone have to come and watch her. It wasn't always easy to get a nurse to come either so it was great when my mom or Brian was there to help out.

They took us down to ultrasound right away. The tech had to get the doctor to come and take a look as one of her kidney's is enlarged. Other than that they were beautiful though! We're hoping it's just from the infection and that will get better but we'll have to follow up in a couple months to make sure.

Around 3:30 (I had been bugging the day nurse about Adelle's meds all day) we got a new nurse. I asked her about Adelle's meds and she shrugged at me and said - it's not a big deal - we'll get them eventually. I asked her if she realized Adelle hasn't had any antibiotics since yesterday? She argued with me (I couldn't believe it) and said she had it through IV only this morning. What IV...she ripped that out last night and now it's been almost 24 hours! When she realized this she very quickly ran off to "check", but came back no less than 5 minutes later with the meds.

Adelle developed a slight rash and we spent another night observing her. Brian spent the night again. I was so glad to have his company! I am so thankful to my brother in law Chris who went out of his way to take care of our dogs so that Brian could do this. Anyway she handled the meds fairly well so in the morning we were jumping to get discharged! Of course nobody came. Not even nurses. Finally around 12:30 a doctor shows up. He wondered about us staying another night but I am fairly confident that I can take care of Adelle from home now. He released us and we finally got to go home.

Adelle is doing SO much better. She still has kind of a deer in the headlights look - and is very wary of anyone other than mommy and daddy - Grandma got the sober stare all afternoon. She is taking the meds well and we hope in another couple days she'll be back to her monkey-ish ways!

Adelle

So about 9 days ago, I noticed Adelle looked a little pale and she had some dark circles under her eyes. Later I felt her and realized she was burning up - her temp was 104.2 that first time. It dipped down to 100 with tylenol but constantly came back up to that 104 mark. She was rubbing her head, pulling her hair, and pushing on her ears so I was positive she had an ear infection.

On Monday I took her to a nearby walkin clinic. The doctor looked in her ears - said "well mom, she's probably coming down with something - but she doesn't have an EI just keep giving her tylenol. Bring her in to the Stollery if you get really concerned. Now I thought that was weird advice. First of all - she had had this for 5 days - and she was "coming down with something?" And seriously? The stollery? I think of that place as a place for seriously ill kids. My nephew Ty, has been in and out of the stollery since he was born. They've saved his life many many times. Why would I take her to the Stollery when she was so close the the grey nuns (if I needed an er). In my mind that doctor was a quack and obviously missed the ear infection that Adelle obviously had.

Wednesday - after spending Tuesday night with my in-laws they were both EXTREMELY concerned about Adelle. She miserably hung out with the family, not eating (and in my in-law's house that must mean you're dying ;)), and not to mention those dark circle's under a 10 month old's eyes are very disconcerting. They thought I should try again. I got an appointment with one of the doctor's in my doctor's clinic. She was wonderful. She agreed that this fever was strange and after thoroughly going over her could find nothing that *should* be causing this infection. Her ears were clean, Adelle has no sign of congestion anywhere. Teething? I asked? Teething shouldn't cause a fever this high was her response. She gave us a requisition form to do a bag urine test, as well as we made a follow up appointment for Saturday. I did the urine test immediately so we could get those results back right away. We wondered if she had a bladder infection. This doctor as well told me that I should have a low threshold when it comes to bringing her back in to see her or even to take her to the Stollery. I questioned her on that and she said that the Stollery would be the best place for her to get the tests she needed so to go there rather than grey nuns.

Thursday - I went to Ladies Morning out and left Adelle with Brian's mom. When I came to pick her up, my MIL (motherinlaw) told me in a very no nonsense way that I was coming in, eating lunch, packing up Adelle, and taking her to the hospital. I questioned her - has anything changed? Why do you think so? Her response was that Adelle was very obviously sick - her fever seemed particularly high, and she just *knew* that something was seriously wrong with her. Now my in laws are not people who jump to the doctor, or over-react to health issues. So I gave it some thought but still wasn't convinced we should rush off to the hospital. I packed the kids up and came home. Coming in the door holding Adelle I felt her head - she was wet with sweat and her eye's didn't look right. I gave her a dose of tylenol and grabbed the themometer. 105.8. Woah...ok so that was serious in my books. I called Brian and asked what he thought and then called my MIL to let her know I'd be dropping Hunter off on my way to the Stollery.

Stollery (1pm) - in triage the nurse was a "peach" if guys can be "peaches". He sarcastically commented on the doctors that said to bring her in. Only because they are too useless to do anything I believe he said. Which made me feel like a loser for bringing her in. I'm already super sensitive to that. Her fever had come down upon check in - only 101 so I'm not sure they took me very seriously. In fact - nope. We waited and waited and waited and waited. They warned me peds was moving slow but it wasn't until 6:30pm when they opened "the tent" that Adelle finally got a bed and a doctor. Fortunately Brian showed up after he was done work so that I could have a break from holding her.

6:30pm - They take us through an outside door that's blocked off like a tunnel. We walked into...a tent. It was like something out of a MASH show. Except everything was white not green. They pumped heat into the tent and other than it being breezy, it was pretty warm. They made a make shift room for us out of dividers since they needed to strip Adelle. They were very concerned and took us very seriously. The pediatrician and nurse with us in the tent were awesome. They inserted a catheter into Adelle to get another urine sample, did a swab, and drew blood. They examined her very carefully, and brought in another doctor for a consult. I was actually surprised at how often a nurse or doctor checked back in with us. I've been in these situations where you wait for hours without word from the doctors.

10pm - The doctor breaks the news to us that they will need to admit her. We'd be looking at at least 48 hours. The initial results of her blood work was that her white cell count was high, and there were some other markers that showed there is an infection somewhere that they just can't find. Her hemoglobin is really low and they aren't quite sure why - typically that happens when children drink too much milk, but she hasn't had much other than breastmilk. Brian leaves to go get some overnight things and to bring home at least one of the two vehicles.

11pm - In an actual room, but still in the pediatric emerge, Adelle is looked over by two more doctors and 2 residents. (again no Ear Infection - shocking lol). They are mystified, and one comments as she's taking our history that she usually has more written down and has half a clue where she's going. I'm feeling like we are in our own version of the tv show House - without dr. house. Adelle having been given tylenol is actually looking more like herself than she has. She's responding to people anyway and charming in her own way as she claps her hands and says "yeah yeah". The doctor wondered about discharging her then - but then again didn't like the color of her face and eyes. After back and forth consults with other doctors we finally are told we'll be staying.

1:30 - we were sent for a chest xray then settled in for a long night. Nurses in and out of the room, no proper bed for Adelle - other than the gurney - not safe for a 10 month old. We took turns on the gurney and in a big arm chair. Not sure which one was better lol.

4am - I woke up from a doze and noticed Adelle was really hot again. The nurse came back in and took her vitals. She was back up to 103ish.

9am - we had the senior pediatrician do a physical on her, and say she'd be back with a team later. They came shortly after, and we discussed things it "wasn't". It's not meningitis or Kawasaki disease. However again it's very disconcerting to not know what is causing it. The only worrisome thing he said was that it *could* be an auto immune disease where her body is turning on itself. In the end we decided that Adelle would be more comfortable at home. They can't do anything for her right now that we can't do and she'll rest better. Not to mention - it's my birthday on Sunday and selfishly I didn't really want to spend it in the hospital. So armed with the senior pediatrician's pager, cell phone, and information on when to bring her back we came home. If something different happens this weekend we're back in sooner. If she is the same on Monday we go back in to be admitted and more tests.

She had a good nap just now - but just woke up to a fever of 104.7 We're settling in for a long night. Thank you for all of you who are praying. We sure apprecaite it. Please pray she either gets better on her own or that the doctors will have wisdom where to go next. They are reluctant to do invasive testing on her when they don't really know where to look. And I'm glad for that - so now we just wait...

25/365 "Husha Husha we all fall down"

25/365 "Husha Husha we all fall down", originally uploaded by Conch0608.

Hunter playing "Ring around the Rosie". I again cheated and ask Brian to take this. Hunter was obviously feeling better!

25/365 "The sicky"

25/365, originally uploaded by Conch0608.

Ok I'm cheating slightly. I didn't take this. How can I with a 10 month old attached to me. Brian snapped it this morning in one of Adelle's more pathetic moments.

Adelle is still pretty sick. We've had another day of laying around listening to our kids whine and trying to make them comfortable. Hunter's top molars are coming in and I honestly don't know what I'd do if Brian weren't home. Tomorrow will be a challenge - both kids on my own. Hopefully at least one of us is feeling better.

24/365

24/365, originally uploaded by Conch0608.

Adelle is sick. Her temp hovering around 104.3. I can get it down for brief periods of time - so during one of those times I stuck them both in the bath.

I thought she'd been acting strange the last couple days - wanting to cuddle, and then yesterday her eyes had dark circles and I thought she looked off - my mom actually felt her and said "she's buring up!" I feel so awful for her. She is so miserable. I suspect an Ear Infection - if not a double...poor kid.

We're all a little under the weather - Hunter is getting his two year old molars and can't stop biting his hand. Today was a write off as we laid around and tried to make Adelle as comfortable as possible. At least I managed to give Brian a much needed haircut!

23/365

23/365, originally uploaded by Conch0608.

I decided to make cookies and the kids wanted to "help". Help me eat them I think. Somehow Adelle managed to get the spoon for her dough fix. Hunter was fine just eating right out of the bowl. This is a part of my childhood I well remember - sampling the dough - my mom always let us and I have such fond memories of my sister and I tasting all the way along any particular baking project.

22/365

22/365, originally uploaded by Conch0608.

I thought it odd she wanted to cuddle this night. She's normally go go go - but she just wanted to lay in the arms of Hunter's big puppy.

22/365 "Ding"

22/365 "Ding", originally uploaded by Conch0608.

Helping mom make burgers on the grill. Ding...I think it's done!

21/365

21/365, originally uploaded by Conch0608.

Yes she is wearing two different socks...

21/365 "Get well soon"

21/365, originally uploaded by Conch0608.

Oma and Opa arrived back from their vacation in the Dominican Republic last night/early this morning. We went to drop off Opa's cell phone. However since they aren't feeling so great I didn't bring the kids in - just dropped the phone off. Hunter was so so sad - he knew we were at Oma and Opa's but didn't understand why we couldn't go see them. He called for them the whole way home in between tears. So when we got home we made them a get well soon card! Hope you two feel better soon! We miss you!

20/365

20/365, originally uploaded by Conch0608.

Stinker...crawling off my studio set as fast as she can - you can even see that knee off the ground - she was flying!

20/365 "Play...doh"

20/365 "Play...doh" , originally uploaded by CPohl.

I was a good mom for a moment today! We did an activity lol! He loves playing with playdoh but I rarely take it out since I end up taking it out of his mouth every few minutes. Although - I remember hiding underneath the table with my cousin eating playdoh...all that salty goodness! Look at us now...we're almost normal ;)

19/365 "milky goodness"

19/365 "milky goodness" , originally uploaded by CPohl.

Adelle tried cow's milk today - she wasn't too impressed.

19/365 "Hunter sleeping"

19/365 "Hunter sleeping", originally uploaded by CPohl.

18/365

18/365, originally uploaded by CPohl.

18/365 "One of these things just doesn't belong here"

18/365 "One of these things just doesn't belong here" , originally uploaded by CPohl.

He ducked onto my set I was using for Adelle. He doesn't quite fit does he lol. That's ok - he didn't really want to pose either - more just get some attention.

17/365

17/365, originally uploaded by CPohl.

17/365 "Shy Guy"

17/365 "Shy Guy" , originally uploaded by CPohl.

Ok not really shy - quite irritated at me actually. I think he's getting a little fed up with the picture a day thing.

16/365 "sleeping"

16/365 "sleeping" , originally uploaded by CPohl.

Look at that - Hunter and Adelle fell asleep together...just squint really hard...

15/365 "Danger is my middle name!"

15/365 "Danger is my middle name!" , originally uploaded by CPohl.

Adelle was quite precarious on the edge of the top step. Brian thought I should get a shot from below. This taken at the instant she decided to go forward. I dropped the camera and grabbed her head as she did a summersault into my arm.

No cameras or babies were seriously harmed...

15/365 "Snow day"

15/365 "Snow day" , originally uploaded by CPohl.

Playing with my off camera flash, the sun, and of course the snow. Very hard to aim a flash and a camera at a very busy boy.

14/365

14/365, originally uploaded by CPohl.

14/365 "Busy boy on his cell phone"

14/365 "Busy boy on his cell phone" , originally uploaded by CPohl.

Does this mean we talk on our cell phones too much?

13/365 "Growing up"

13/365 "Growing up" , originally uploaded by CPohl.

Those hands - they grow way too fast. I loved her hands when she was born. Long and graceful I know they have the potential for so much. Watching your kids grow is such a mix of emotions. Excitement for what they will be, but a sadness as what they were/are passes too quickly.

13/365 "Just like mom"

13/365 "Just like mom" , originally uploaded by CPohl.

He wanted to take a picture of me - not sure it will turn out though ;)

12/365 "Feeding Time"

12/365 "Feeding Time" , originally uploaded by CPohl.

Grandmas always love to feed their grandchildren. Adelle in her normal place as Grandmas looks for yet another snack.

12/365 "Grandma's got the coolest toys"

12/365 "Grandma's got the coolest toys", originally uploaded by CPohl.

We got a new furnace today so off we went to Grandma's while it was being installed. No sense us all freezing and listening to them bang away. My mom has toys from when I was little - man it brings back memories. These plastic blocks open up and I was showing Hunter how to make a "guy smilie" puppet out of it.

11/365 "What a wonderful world part 2"

11/365 "What a wonderful world part 2", originally uploaded by Conch0608.

We had a wonderful day...can't you tell?

11/365 "What a wonderful world"

11/365 "What a wonderful world", originally uploaded by Conch0608.

Happy times...

10/365 Adelle "Snow day"

10/365 Adelle "Snow day", originally uploaded by Conch0608.

Playing in the snow and with my flash. Don't mind the badness of this paritcular piece of "art". I'm making myself take snapshots even if they aren't "my standards"

10/365 "Wild night"

10/365 "Wild night", originally uploaded by Conch0608.

Oh if only I had gotten my camera in there a moment sooner. He had one of those knitting looms around his head and he was sleeping. Must have played until he fell asleep. Note the basketball hoop around his waist...little stinker! Daddy had been home alone with the kids and put his earphones in to watch a movie while they napped...he apparently didn't hear "a thing". Surprised? Me neither...