Monday, May 30, 2011

Stomach flu

Well, it never fails….Ryan went to Chicago last week and Ainsley started throwing up Sat. morning. It was the worst stomach flu we’ve had yet!!! Thankfully, this didn't happen in Disneyland (we got home on Thurs. night). At least Ainsley is a great puker…she makes it to the bathroom and doesn’t complain too much, unless she is dry heaving :o(. She couldn’t keep anything down on Sat., probably threw up 8-10 times. Sunday was better, only twice, but not interested in food at all. Monday she didn’t throw up at all and had a bit of diarrhea, but still was not able to sit up or walk without getting a stomach ache or turning ghostly white. Tues. I decided to take her in and was given some really bad advice….just feed her whatever she wants…yogurt, etc. Well, she started throwing up again that afternoon and it was a struggle to get her to drink, so I was a bit concerned about dehydration at this point. How long can a person carry on in this state??? Not having Ryan home to give a second opinion was not helping either. I called my nurse friend who recommended I take her to urgent care, so that is what I did. Thank goodness for friends….Laura came over and put the boys to bed while we went in. They immediately gave her some anti-nausea medicine, but thought she was o.k. for hydration. They were shaking their heads why this wasn’t prescribed during our doctor appt. that morning. The day would have gone so different :o(. Anyway, I was able to get some Gatorade in her that night and we drank and drank the next day and had very small bits of food. She was able to walk around and sit up on the couch, so I knew things were improving. Thank the good Lord for medicine! She was still struggling with a stomach ache every time she ate, but that got a bit better on Thursday. She literally spent 5 days lying on the couch, not eating more than a few crackers. We were very careful with what she ate and by Sat., she was about 85%. It was easy to tell when she was feeling better because she was antagonizing our foster child and being her sassy self. We were happy to have the attitude back :o). Now we just have to fatten her up….she is uncomfortably skinny :o(. Given her appetite today, I don’t think it will take long!!!

Feeling good enough on Sunday to pick lemons with dad and enjoy some lemonade:

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Legoland and Disneyland

My mom flew into Oakland on a Saturday and we packed up the car and headed down to Disneyland Sunday morning. We had our foster child, Reggie, Ainsley, Peggy, Trina, and myself. We decided to take my car and in order to fit we had to borrow a luggage roof rack from our friends – Sarah and Eric. The drive was a little rough at times (6 hours) but overall the kids did great. Thank God for DVD players!! We finally arrived at the Worldmark resort condo (thank you Grandma Wade!!!). My Grandma is such a sweet lady. She let us use her time share in Anaheim and it was beautiful! After dropping the family and checking in I went to park the car in the garage. I start driving up the garage ramp and I heard something. I thought to myself hmmm, I wonder if I shut the luggage roof rack all the way after we emptied the luggage?? So I stopped and got out of the car and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. So I got back in the car and kept driving up the ramp and wham, I heard it again! I stopped the car immediately and got out again and realized that the luggage rack wasn’t clearing the cement beams. I had to turn around and try to get back down and out of the garage and as I maneuvered around the scraping of the roof rack was nail biting and I was worried it was going to be ripped off the roof. I finally managed to get back out and parked in the lower garage that had much higher ceilings, but it had cracked in a couple places :o(. Great way to start the trip!


Next morning we woke up and traveled further south to Legoland (1 hour). We got there and the line of cars to get in was hecka long. Once in the park we had a great time looking at all of the exhibits. It’s amazing what can be done with Lego’s. The Star Wars exhibit was the best and the kids loved it. We had fun on some of the rides and enjoyed building Lego’s at many different Lego stations that we’re set up all around the park. They also had a small aquarium that we visited. It was o.k., but if you are going there, it isn’t worth the extra money. Grandma Peggy bought Mr. Reggie a Lego kit and the kid worked on it the entire way back to the condo. Within 45 minutes, he had it put together – I think he’s going to be an engineer.









It was in the high 60's, but we HAD to go to the pool. Ainsley didn't want to leave the hot tub. The pool was actually quite nice :o).


Disneyland/California Adventure – Tuesday we awoke to a lot of rain!! Trina, my mom and the kids left a little earlier than our foster child and myself-we were in no hurry! First part of the day we got soaked and then it finally cleared up. During the rain storm Trina and Ainsley waited in line to see the princesses for an hour and a half (Trina wasn’t too happy about that) but Ainsley loved it and got a hug from Minnie Mouse. Ainsley also got lucky and saw Tinkerbell and Mary Poppins. Check it out.

Because of the rain all of the cool rides we’re closed down. No Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Carribean, or tea cups. It was a total drag, but we managed. We got to go on the Buzz light year ride with the kids and the entire inside of the ride smelled like feet as everyone was wet. The second part of the day we went to California Adventure. Wow was that cool. We talked to Crush the talking turtle from Finding Nemo. And we went on the Toy Story ride where Ainsley and my mom were laughing hysterically the entire time. They had a cool display of Lightning McQueen and Mater, check it out!!


The second day was much better as the weather was great and all of the rides were open except for Indiana Jones. We went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride several times over and the kids had a ball. One of the best parts of the day was when Trina and I took Reggie on the Matterhorn. The entire ride is in the dark and a roller coaster fashion that jerks you around. Reggie was holding on to me with a death grip and didn’t want to go on it again. Trina and Khalif did their own thing in the morning and my mom and I and the kids did our thing and it seemed to work a little better. The second half of that day we also went to California Adventure and enjoyed the rides. The best ride of the entire trip was at California Adventure. It was called Soar’n California. It was a virtual ride where you were strapped into seats that moved in front of a large screen that was filled with different sites in California. And you we’re literally flying through these sites such as Napa Valley, San Francisco, LA, and Disneyland. The kids enjoyed it so much we had to go on it again. It made Trina a little sick. It was amazing and so real!! We also drove the bumper cars and Reggie drove – check it out. A Bugs life was also fun as we flew through the air in a Chinese box, check it out.


That day we also went on the Grizzly Grrrr water rafting ride. It wasn’t that warm by that time and we knew that we were going to get wet. So we put on our ponchos and hopped on with the kids. The guy that we were on with had already been on the ride and told us that we weren’t going to get wet. After going down a couple of drops we came to one of the final drops and wham we got drenched. I think that guys was a bit surprised to be soaked. Everyone was dying laughing because of shock and comedy. It was a great day and it truly was enjoyable. The next morning we awoke, packed up and made our way back to Northern CA. All in all it was fun with a little stress, but I’m sure the kids will have some memories to share.




















Monday, May 9, 2011

Foster update

We were getting about 1-2 calls per week for foster children in Feb. and March, mostly infants, but since we were all so sick, we decided it wasn’t a good idea and since our trip was coming at the beginning of April, we were not open to fostering. They called the week before we left and then it was quiet while my parents and sister were here, not a single call. About an hour after the Rinehardt’s were gone, the phone rang and it was the county. We were hoping to have a little down time, especially since Grandma Peggy was coming in a couple weeks and we are going to Disneyland. I had a bit of a knot in my stomach after our last experience, but I kept thinking about how God has protected us in the past and if it was meant to be, then we would go for it. We prayed and sat on it for several hours and then Ryan observed him for a bit and decided to bring him home. It has been night and day from our last experience. Kinda sad in a way because he hasn’t asked for mom at all :o(.


We’ve had him for 2 weeks now and he is a happy little guy (will be 2 in July) and has us laughing a lot. We had some early tantrums for attention, but after ignoring them, they are virtually gone. I’ve been trying to reward good behavior and it seems to be working; so well that I am now doing it with Reggie and Ainsley. He is a great sleeper….sleeps for almost 12 hours a night (without waking up!) and takes a two hour nap. This is key for the kids because they still have their playtime in the morning while he is sleeping and we still have some time with the kids when he is napping. Reggie is getting more interested and finding ways to interact with him and he loves Reggie and demands hugs, so it is good :o). Ainsley is very interested and we are working to learn how to play with younger children. She thinks it is fun to take toys and get a reaction and I’ve really been trying to explain how that feels. The last couple days, she has made some big improvement. She loves on him a lot and will open herself up to be pounced on. It is so fun to see them show love to him :o). Makes me love them even more! They really watch out for him and are already worried about him leaving.


The first week was a bit hard on Ryan and me, wondering what we’d gotten ourselves into….the loss of free time, extra work, juggling 3 children, etc., etc. Life seemed busy enough without this, but we have to trust God’s plan. It is good God sent him because he puts a smile on our faces and when I look at his big brown eyes, I know we are doing the right thing and that makes it worth it. Just one big challenge to conquer….biting other kids at church and the gym.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Rinehardt's visit

The Rinehardt’s came Wed. night (2 weeks ago) and unfortunately, the clan was sick with a bad cold which didn’t make sleeping that great, especially for Spencer. He was up every couple hours the first few nights and then had a couple nights that were o.k. The last night, he was up from 3:30-5:30! A strong reminder why we use birth control!!! I have to say, even though his sleep was off, he was still a happy little guy :o). We didn’t do too much while they were here, except a trip to Six Flags on Friday which is always fun. This year was the first year we didn’t have to worry about naps (Spencer was supposed to sleep in the ergo or stroller, but that didn’t quite happen), so we stayed a little longer and didn’t feel as rushed. We saw a lot of animal shows and went on a few rides.

Ainsley touching a Sting Ray (she has been very interested in touching animals and even had a pet worm when Gma and Gpa were here!):

Spencer!

Not a good ride for the stomach :o(

We had a nice Easter, waking up bright and early to do an egg hunt inside the house and open baskets. It was kinda rainy, so we decided to head to the movie theater to watch Rio. It was a good movie and the kids enjoyed their popcorn treat. We had a nice feast that night, steak and potatoes and brownies :o).

What a mess...I'd like to have a chat with the person who thought coloring eggs was a good idea:

The kids had a lot of play time and fun together time.
Maggie enjoyed getting braids which was a treat for me because I have to beg Ainsley.

Story time:

Maggie must have spent ½ her time in the bounce house!

Spencer was spoiled with good fruit eating strawberries from the patch….the oranges on our tree have been fabulous this year and he was loving it (he also enjoyed the ice cream at Sweet Tomatoes!).