Is it Spring yet?

I HATE winter and daycare. The two combinations equal sick kids. Got a call from daycare today around noon that Addison had another temperature....seriously...this is crazy. She started having a runny nose on Saturday and I knew for sure she would spike a temp this week but I did not think it would be today. She is only 4 months old and I know she has to get exposed to all these bugs and have all these fevers but she just can't seem to get better. She had a rough night last night. She did not really want to eat when she was awake and crying so I did not know what to do with her. Mark helped me get her calmed down and she finally ate and finally went to sleep.

Then Lauren was up and crying at 2 in the morning saying she wanted to wake up. Oh no...it is 2 in the morning...you are not waking up...go back to sleep...then she wanted a drink of water...and then I think she finally fell back to sleep...

Well as I sit here and type this daycare calls...this time it is Lauren's teacher...Lauren has a fever...ARE YOU KIDDING ME?...this is crazy...

Thankfully I have a very understanding boss who knows how hard it is to work full time and have small children. So I went home early today...and I told her I would be there tomorrow and Mark would stay home with Addison...That was before I knew that Lauren had a fever. So now I don't know what I will do

Oh and on top of that...I still have no PTO...it accrues based on hours worked...and well I have missed a lot of work and I have used the little bit that I have accrued to make up for the hours missed...

Come on Spring :)

Addison's Optho Appointment

We had to take little Addison down to Children's Mercy Hostipal on Monday for an appt. with the eye Dr. She has had a clogged tear duct since birth and so her right eye is always red and goopy. There is always yellow drainage coming out of that right eye. Well 6% of babies have this and 90% of the time it is gone by age 1. If it does not clear on its own there is a minor surgery to repair it.

We also found out that she has a small degree of farsightedness. This is not a problem unless she starts to cross her eyes in order to focus on things that are near to her. So we will have her checked out around her 1st birthday again. The Dr. will take a look at her clogged tear duct and assess her vision again.

Mark took the day off and brought her down to the hospital. The optho clinic is just 2 floors above the Cardiology Clinic so he stopped by my clinic to meet all my co-workers and show off Addison. It was a lot of fun to have them down there.

2 pink bottles of Medicine

That is what is in our fridge now. Both the girls are on antibiotics now. Took Lauren to urgent care yesterday because she spiked a fever Wednesday afternoon at daycare. She has had a cough for almost 2 weeks now so I figured she should probably be seen. As a pediatric nurse I know what to look for and what to listen for to know if my children are really sick. I know Lauren's lungs sounded fine and all she had was a virus, however when she spiked a fever after coughing for 2 weeks I figured she should be seen. The Dr. gave us a script because Pertussis is going around the community...believe me I would know if my daughter had Pertussis...she does not...but anyway we got an antibiotic out of the visit and hopefully with the combination of benadryl at bedtime she will start feeling better!

2 days of work I have missed in the last 5 days ( and I have no vacation or PTO)
2 trips to Urgent care in the last 6 days
2 bottles of pink medicine in our fridge

That pretty much sums up life at the Harding house. Addison is starting to do better. She is still coughing, but she is not puking anymore. She is starting to sleep better at night, but likes to wake up 2-3 times to be fed like a newborn...I think she is catching up from being sick. So I hope when she gets over this cough she will start sleeping longer and not getting my up at 11 and 3 in the morning...She is full of smiles so we know she is starting to feel better.

Around our house

Well Addison has been in daycare for 3 weeks now and she is soooo sick. Poor little girl. She started having a cough on Monday and by Wednesday daycare called saying she had a fever. She stayed home with Mark on Thursday and slept most of the day. I took her to Urgent Care at her PCP's office on Friday morning. I was worried that she was not keeping her self hydrated. Her cough is so bad and her nose won't stop running. I thought for sure she had RSV, but she tested negative. She does have an ear infection, so we started an antibiotic for that. She was up a lot last night eating about every 2 hours, but only eating for a few minutes at a time and then going back to sleep. She looks so pitiful I feel so bad for her. Hopefully she will start feeling better tomorrow and maybe one of us can head back to work on Monday.

Lauren has really been a ball of fire these last few months. You can tell she is almost 3. She is sassy and independent. She is not listening very well and loves to push her boundaries. Mark and I are trying very hard to raise her well and set limits with her, but as any parent knows it can be exhausting. She has also been a lot of fun. She amazes us each day with what she learns at school and how smart she is. The many things she says make us laugh each day. We try to keep those fun memories around when she is acting like a little devil!

Work is going great for me. I really like it even though it is hard to be back. I am sooo tired each day since Addison is still waking up at least once a night. I am learning to take care of our Heart Transplant kids which is very cool. Our kids are transplanted in St. Louis and once they are recovered we follow them at CMH. I monitor their meds, their blood work, schedule appts for the families and work closely with each family. I am just learning what it all entails but I think I will like it.

Mark is working hard these days at work. He has been really busy. Each night at home he continues to be a huge help around the house. He is such a great husband and father. Each night he gives Lauren a bath, reads to her and gets her to bed. Every Saturday Lauren and Mark head to Hy-vee for donuts. Lauren loves it, but I think Mark loves it more.

So that is what is happening in the Harding household. Hopefully little Addison will start feeling better soon. We feel so bad for her and just want her to feel better.

Full of smiles

The past few days I have been able to capture some smiles on camera. I just love her big gummy smile and her tongue sticking out!

You want me to sit here and smile. Too much work mommy!

Lauren and Daddy trying to get Addison to smile for the camera.

There's a smile, now just look up at mommy!

Love that cute little face. She took a 3 hour nap on both Saturday and Sunday this weekend! Yea...probably because she had her mommy up at 11, 3, and 6 last night. I am just so glad I did not have to work this morning...

So I napped both days this weekend as I was completely worn out from the week. No naps and getting up at 5 each morning took its toll. Addison woke up once each night to eat...usually around 3 or 4 in the morning. Lauren has been sick all week with a runny nose and cough and she woke up several times in the night coughing...poor little girl. On Saturday around 11:15 she said "I want to go take a nap mommy." WOW...we have never heard those words come out of her mouth. So we gave her a little lunch and off she went...upstairs on her own to take a nap. She woke up 4 hours later..poor little thing.

So another week of work awaits us as we try and juggle working full time and have two kids. We are starting to figure it out...now if we could just get some more sleep we would be great!

3 months old already

I can't believe that Addison is 3 months old already. She is growing and changing so fast each day. She is so much more alert and aware of her surroundings. She is beginning to notice when I walk into the room and follows me with her eyes when I walk around her or walk away from her. She continues to well in daycare and continues to wake me up each night. Lauren slept through the night at 9 weeks so I am really tired at work these days. I just try and go to sleep as soon as I can at night and hope Addison only wakes up once.

She loves to laugh and talk to us and she hates tummy time. Lauren continues to adore Addison and is always in her face giving her hugs and kisses. She is reaching for toys and grabbing them when she lays on her play mat. It is so neat to watch her grow and develop.

Evenings at our house are utter chaos with both Mark and I working full time and not getting home until 6. Don't even bother calling us as we are too busy or too tired to answer the phone.

A few cute smiles. Still hard to catch on camera because as soon as I get it out she just stares at it as soon as I get it out.

Lauren just adores Addison and she is such a huge helper.

Addison is just starting to get big enough to sit in her bumpo chair.

Happy New Year Everyone

Happy New Year Everyone. My New Year's resolution is going to be to blog less...kind of crazy huh! I returned back to work this week and well I learned that I am simply not going to have enough time to keep up on this blog like I would like to.

Work was good. It was very busy so it made it easy to get through the day. Of course little Addison is waking up 1-2 times a night still so I am very tired and not quite sure how I am really making it through the days so well.

Addison has done great at daycare. The teacher really worked with her to figure her out and get her to take the bottle from her. I am really happy with the teacher. Little Addison is so laid back and easy to take care of that I know she will do fine.

Mark has been a huge help around the house. It was utter chaos when I got home from work in the evening. Addison's wants to nurse, Lauren is hungry for dinner and running around house, and Mark is trying to get dinner ready for everyone.

So I think that the blogging will get put on the back burner for a while. I will do what I can and share pictures when I can.

Happy New Year!

Christmas with Gramps and Nana

We spent Saturday evening at my parents celebrating Christmas. We had a lot of fun.

Opening her stocking. M&M's...Lauren's favorite

Addison slept through the whole thing. She missed out on all the fun. Next year she won't miss a thing. She will be up and toddling around...

Santa brought Lauren more dress up clothes which she loves. She also got a Dr's kit. She has been checking us to see if we are sick since she got it...She has even been checking Zoe!

Christmas was blast this year. It was so fun to watch Lauren open the presents on her own. She did not even care what was in them. She just wanted to open and open presents. Then she took the time to go back and see what she got. Next year Addison will have fun playing with all the paper and bows rather then sleeping through it all.

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve and today. I will post more later when I have time. Hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas. We sure are! Everyone is napping right now getting ready for more fun this afternoon and evening!

Christmas with the Hardings

We spent the weekend in Omaha with Mark's family celebrating Christmas. Lauren had so much fun playing with her cousins and trying to dodge Uncle Jeff. Lauren claims not to like Uncle Jeff...but last night she said "I don't like Uncle Jeff...I like Uncle Jeff just a little bit" and then put her fingers together to show just a little bit...it was really cute. Addison had a pretty rough trip which made it rough for me and Mark. She did not want to nurse on Saturday and hardly ate at all. She did not want to take naps...she just cried and cried...so we headed out early Sunday morning to get her home. She is back to her old self now...eating and sleeping fine! Lauren loves her Emma. They played together all weekend.

All the girls watching The Little Mermaid. Kate is in the red dress and Lauren and Kate are good friends too. We are convinced that those two are going to cause some trouble as they get older.

Hanging out while we open presents...a rare moment of being content on Saturday...

Lauren got dress up clothes and Tinkerbell from her Grandma. They were perfect gifts. She loves both. She also got a pony from Aunt Betsy and Uncle Pat which she has played with non stop over the last few days.

Do I really need to say anything?

except that she will probably hate this picture when she gets older...

Christmas Parties

Today we went to the Children's Mercy Holiday Party at the Hyatt. This is the first year we have gone and it was a lot of fun. There were many arts and crafts for the kids, a magic show, snacks, Santa, and books from Borders. Lauren did not want to sit on Santa's lap however she did wave to him a lot and was really excited to see him walking by her when he went to take a break!

Lauren got a snow man painted on her cheek. She sat there very patiently while they painted it on. I was very proud of her.

There is a huge selection of books from Borders that the kids can pick from. We got three great books for Lauren and Addison. Of course, Lauren picked out the Disney Princess book. It is really cute. It is a book and it also included several figurines of the princesses for Lauren to play with.

Friday was the Christmas Party at Lauren's school. All the parents were invited to attend and it was a lot of fun watching all the kids play. There was lots of food and they exchanged gifts with one of their friends in the class.

Landen, Lauren and Killian. They have been together since the infant room and they are her best friends at school. They are so cute!

Lauren's gift from Elaina. A dress up outfit. Lauren loved it!

Lauren and Elaina. I think they really are friends, even though Lauren says "Elaina hit me at school today" almost every day. Who knows if it is true or not. I do know Elaina is in time out a lot, but I doubt that she hits Lauren every day...

All dressed up. When she got up this morning she put in back on over her PJ's. It was a great gift from Elaina.

Cause Why?

The question of Why has begun in our house. The way that Lauren asks is "Cause Why?" It is actually kind of fun to see how far you can get off the initial question and actually teach her a little something. She saw the neighbor going out for a jog and asked "Cause Why?" After several "Cause Why?" questions I turned it into a lesson on exercise and how that is healthy and good for your heart, etc...and then Lauren thought about it for a few minutes and said "I exercise with Coach Patty." (That is the person who comes to daycare on Wednesday mornings for exercise class.) I said that is right Lauren, she was pretty proud of herself.

I say it is cute now...we will see in a few weeks or months from now when she is still asking "Cause Why?"

Christmas Pictures

We got the girls pictures taken today so I thought I would share some of my favorites. They both did so great! I was not holding out much hope for getting one of them together, but they both did so well and we got one Mark and I both really liked. Addison did really well, hardly cried. Lauren cooperated the whole time. We used good old fashioned bribery to get Lauren to cooperate!

It is so exhausting getting pictures taken. Of course the place is running late, so we waited 45 minutes before we even got started. Then took pictures for 40 minutes, then had to pick them out. We were there for 2 hours! So needless to say it will probably be late spring or early summer before I return. Lauren is only a few months away from turning 3 so these can be her 3 year pictures! We will wait and get more when Addison can sit up on her own and give us a big smile!

The first snowfall, Gingerbread house, and Decorating the tree

We had a very busy weekend around the house getting it all decorated for the Christmas season. It was so fun to see the snow falling on Saturday when we were decorating the tree. Of course we did not have any snow boots for the season yet, so I rushed out and got some for Lauren because I knew she would love to be out in the snow, and she did. I actually needed several things from Target, but I dreaded going out shopping. I highly suggest shopping the Saturday after Black Friday...there were not crowds anywhere..no lines...I went to Target, Old Navy, and Borders and was gone less then a 1 1/2 hours. I was shocked!

The snow was great for making snow balls. We even made a small snow man, but then Lauren decided to destroy it before I could get a picture.

We also decorated a gingerbread house this weekend. Which I learned can be a little challenging with a toddler. Lauren seems to have so much energy these days that we are running out of things to keep her busy while at home, so I thought the gingerbread house would be a fun activity. We did have a lot of fun decorating it, even though it is very hard to get it to look all nice and pretty like the box. It was a great thing for Lauren and I to do to have some "mommy and Lauren time."

Watching the snow fall for the first time this season.

Most of the ornaments are in the same spot, right in front where Lauren put them!

Playing in the storage box kept Lauren entertained for at least an hour while I put up all the decorations in the house. I have so many Christmas decorations that I put some aside for her to play with while I decorated. No, the top of the box is not locked on, Lauren can easily get out of the box and breath and play!

You can see there are no pictures of Addison from the weekend. That is because she slept through everything! She woke up to eat a few times and then just want back to snoozing...