Easter

I know I am really behind on posting what has been happening around here, especially since so much has been happening! We just got back from Las Vegas for the National Hardware Show late last night, and I will hopefully write up a post about that really soon! First I wanted to be sure to get up some pictures from Easter this year.  Since Blake had to work on that Saturday, we stayed around home this year.  On Friday Blake and I had gone shopping in Lincoln with only Barrett to find us both something to wear to the Young Retailer of the Year banquet in Vegas.  The older two kids stayed with grandma, and when I went to pick them up late afternoon, we dyed Easter eggs with the cousins before we left.

 Keely did better than I thought she would for awhile, then I think right after this picture, the blue green dye she was using spilled all over herself and the floor.  I thought for sure it would stain, but it all came out of her clothes just fine...even the white shirt!

 When we got home, we had been 'egged' by our good friends, Danielle, Austin, and their daughter Bria.  The kids had so much fun searching for the 12 eggs in our front yard. 

 As you can see in the sign, Egged, means that someone comes to your yard while you are gone and hides eggs to find with Bible verses in each one except for one.  The one egg is empty to remind us of Jesus' empty tomb.  It was such a neat idea and I think this year talking about Jesus and the empty tomb and the real reason we celebrate Easter started to sink in with Brooks. 

 Here are the kids enjoying their candy and finding the Bible verses. 

 On Sunday we went to my parents' church in Henderson then out to their house for dinner, playing outside, and an Easter egg hunt.  My nice camera ran out of batteries right away, so I didn't get any good pictures of the Easter egg hunt.  I used my mom's camera, so I will get them eventually, but didn't want to wait any longer to get them up on the blog.  Thank goodness the weather ended up being really nice most of the day.  Lane and Brooks had a blast playing together.  It's so good to finally see Brooks excited to play with other kids (not just mom and dad and other adults).  Here they are playing football.

 All the kids checking out their Easter baskets after the hunt.  They all had so much fun.

A Sick Baby

Last week was a week I hope we never have to go through again.  It started actually a couple weeks ago when Barrett came down with a stuffy nose.  He started to not sleep or eat as well but it was just a stuffy nose that I figured would run it's course and he'd get over it.  Friday morning (April 4) Barrett had woke up with a little cough, so I decided to take him in to the doctor just to be sure he was ok.  The doctor checked him out and his stats were all fine except one of his ears was a little red indicating the start of an ear infection.  Since he'd had his cold for more than 10 days already, the doctor prescribed him an antibiotic.  I was hoping this would be the start of a better week with Barrett getting better, but he really didn't get much better, and his sleep got worse at night.  By Monday evening he still was not really better, but I fed and put him to bed as usual.  He woke up around 1 am coughing again so I fed him, but he still continued to cough and not go right back to sleep.  As I was holding/rocking him, I noticed his breathing was shallow and faster...just not normal looking.  We called the hospital at 2am, and I talked to the doctor, but we couldn't determine if he needed to be taken to the emergency room right away or if it could wait until morning.  We concluded it could wait unless his breathing got worse, but I was unable to go back to sleep and ended up watching him breathe in my arms the rest of the night.  I dozed off a little at about 6 am but other than that I didn't sleep since 1am that night.  I called the clinic as soon as they opened at 8 and after I dropped Brooks off at preschool, Keely and I took Barrett in.  They checked his weight and temp and he had a fever at just 100.  His oxygen level was low at 91 (it should be 99 or 100).  The doctor listened to his chest and they sounded pretty clear, but since he was obviously working hard to breathe (he was using his stomach muscles to help push air up) he wanted to admit Barrett to the hospital and get chest x-rays and monitor him.  Keely was great through the whole process and played well in the hospital room while the nurses checked Barrett and even came with us to the x-ray room.  Thankfully though, my mom was able to come get her before they had to start any of his IVs, because I'm not sure she would have taken his screaming very well!
After the x-rays came back, they determined that Barrett had a mild case of pneumonia, and that he would need to be monitored at least overnight and put on an IV antibiotic.  Barrett did well the first day...he was put on oxygen during some of his naps, but he had good levels when he was awake.  The worst of the day was trying to draw blood for tests and putting in the IV.  Luckily the anesthesiologist was at the hospital for a surgery that morning so he was able to come put the IV in his foot (the nurses tried at first in his arm and couldn't get it).  Barrett was exhausted after all of that, and here is the first picture I took of him in the hospital.  You can see the IV in his foot

And after he had been sleeping a bit, his oxygen levels dropped below 90 and he was put back on oxygen.

For night, the nurses put his leg on a board so that he wouldn't be able to bring the foot to his mouth and pull the IV out.  (Barrett has become obsessed with his feet so it was difficult to keep him from messing with them all day!) So the picture below is of the huge and awkward board I had to deal with all night with breast feeding and rocking him to sleep.  It was kinda ridiculous, but we managed.  He didn't need oxygen the whole night and took his midnight antibiotic treatment well.  I got maybe an hour or so of sleep in the bed with Barrett in the crib, but ended up holding him in the recliner for the remainder of the night.  I was able to sleep in the chair, but still was not a great night of sleep!

The next day his oxygen levels started dropping below 90 again during his naps.  Bummer! About midday they decided he needed to stay another night.

During his noon dose of IV antibiotic, his IV in his foot became infiltrated.  I'm not sure entirely what this means, but just that Barrett screamed during the start of the dose and it had to be pulled out.  The nurses proceeded to try and get a new IV started in his arms and poked my poor baby for over 30 minutes trying to find a vein.  I felt so bad for him and could not be in the room while they did this.  They finally gave up and called in the anesthesiologist.  He came around 4pm to try and successfully got one in his hand without much screaming from Barrett.  Thank goodness! Here is Barrett with his 'cast' of an IV.  (sorry for the awkward angle!)

He continued to try and pull the IV out though, so the nurses had to put a board on his arm and wrapped it up even more.  He tolerated this brace a lot better than the one in his foot! He seemed a lot happier! Probably helped that by this time I think he started feeling better too.

Barrett did well through the night the second night and slept a little better in his crib but he still had to be woke up for a midnight antibiotic and ate several times throughout the night.  His oxygen levels also dropped again as he slept, so that was discouraging.  On the 3rd day we had been there Barrett started to get pretty restless.  I think he was quite tired of the small hospital room and so was I! I was still pretty sleep deprived and walking a fussy baby around the small room was getting old.  The doctor listened to his lungs and determined they were completely clear.  However, during his naps that morning he was still needing oxygen! ugh.  I just wanted him to get better so we could go home! After his noon antibiotic dose, he took a couple afternoon naps and didn't need oxygen for either one! Hooray! By 5pm the doctor came by and said his stats were all looking good and that we could go home.  I was so happy and relieved!

Barrett did pretty well through the whole experience considering, and I could get a few smiles out of him while he was awake.  The nurses couldn't get enough of his cuteness.

After being gone for 3 whole days and 2 nights, I was so ready to be home again! I hadn't seen Brooks or Keely since Tuesday morning, so Thursday evening when we got home about 6:30, they were pretty ready to see both Barrett and me too! Thankfully my mom could watch Brooks and Keely on Tuesday.  Blake normally has Wednesday mornings off and was able to hold off going to work until 2:30 when our normal babysitter, Ashley, could come over and watch the kids till 5:30.  Then Blake took the kids to our friends, Austin and Danielle's house for the evening while he closed at Ace.  My mom was then able to come watch Brooks and Keely Thursday again.  She took Brooks to preschool and took Keely along to her nail appointment she had already scheduled for that day.  She said Keely did great just sitting on her lap and coloring the whole time :)  I'm so thankful for parents that live close and friends we can rely on to help when needed! It was such a tiring week for me emotionally and physically that I'm glad we had help with the kids! I wished Blake could have spent more time with Barrett and me in the hospital since he was only able to be there for a little bit Tuesday evening, but when you have 2 other kids at home, it just wasn't possible!

I'm glad last week is over and was happy that we could be home together this past weekend to try and recoup.  Barrett has yet to get back to a good eating/sleeping schedule and wants to be held more than normal, but at least we are home!  

Phases

Every week it feels like we are hitting a new phase in our lives.  Most of this is due to the fact that newborns and babies change almost daily in their first 6 months of life. We go through sleepy stages, fussy stages, trouble eating stages, gassy stages, growing stages, you name it.  Barrett has probably hit about all of those in the past few weeks, and it's been a little trying, but like I said, it's just a phase, and it will pass.  Brooks and Keely have probably spent more time playing the iPads and watching Curious George than I would prefer, but sometimes we just have to do what we have to do to survive! But as you can see in the photo, Keely is playing a spelling game, so they really are learning when they play, right?!

Barrett has proven to be very similar to Brooks in his demeanor during the days.  He likes to be held a lot, whether he is asleep or awake, and really prefers Mommy the most.  Luckily he has done better with Dad than Brooks did at this age, but since Blake is at work during the days, it still falls on me to hold the little guy most of the time.  I might complain about this sometimes, but if in order to get my little guy to take a good nap in the afternoon to be happy in the evening means I have to hold him for it, so be it. Some might say I'm creating bad habits for him, that I should make him nap in his crib, or set certain nap times, but I just can't tolerate having a fussy baby if all I need to do is hold him to make him happy :) He is only a baby for a few months, and I did this with Brooks till he was over a year, so I don't think I will ruin Barrett.  Brooks still takes a nap most days in his own bed (ok, since Keely has moved into his room he now naps in our bed, but by himself), so I have concluded that holding my baby for an hour every afternoon isn't such a bad thing.  I honestly don't mind the downtime as well, since the other 2 kids are normally napping at this time too, it's quite peaceful in the house.  Cleaning, cooking, and Ace work all get pushed aside, but hey, this phase will pass too before I know it.
This is my view for the afternoon most days....I'm not complaining :)

Keely has also gone through some phases lately.  She is definitely a girl and almost everything can turn into a crisis, but we just go with the flow, and usually she can snap out of it after a short crying fit.  A few weeks ago she wasn't feeling good and I finally ended up taking her to the doctor and she did in fact have an ear infection which was probably causing most of the fits, so thankfully after she started feeling better, the fits became fewer and farther apart. I'm not sure what this one was about, but as you can see, it was a major crisis :)

 

To continue with the phases theme, the phase of these two boys being so different in size is probably a short one.  Before I know it, they will be running around playing together like the 3 year age difference is nothing.  They grow so fast!

And now some of the many faces of Barrett...he is turning out to be a pretty goofy guy that likes to smile at all of us, especially when Blake comes home and talks to him...he's always got a smile for Dad!

And he's still a finger sucker.  Kinda cute, but hope it doesn't last too long and he becomes a thumb or finger sucker as he gets older.

And again, with the fingers in the mouth as Brooks plays beside him. 

It's hard to believe that in just a year, this cute little guy is going to be walking around and playing with the other two. 

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What really blows my mind is this is a picture of Keely just a year ago in February.  How she has changed in a short year!

So for now, my life is crazy and stressful with 3 little ones under 4, but I hope I can remember the fun and joy they have brought me once it's all past and they are grown up and in school all day.  How different my life will look then!

A Trip to Smith Center

A couple weeks ago we took a long overdue trip to Smith Center.  As we were loading the van for the weekend only trip, we realized why we hadn't gone anywhere for awhile...the van was packed! Wow it takes a lot of stuff to go anywhere with 3 kids, especially with a newborn.  I look forward to the day when we no longer have to bring a pack and play along for a kid to sleep in if we go somewhere overnight!  Luckily even though it was January when we went, the weather was beautiful! (At least while we were there, a cold front came through as we were driving home and we went from 60 degree weather in Smith Center to snowing by the time we got home!) Here are a few pictures from the short trip.
Grandma getting in some good grandkid time.  Keely was excited to have Grandma and Papa time again and made sure she got in some good hugs throughout the weekend.  

Great Grandma Burgess got to hold Barrett for awhile.  He was in the middle of a nap time, so he let her hold him for quite a while.

Blake talking with his Granddad.

On Saturday, we got to go to the park after naps and play outside.  It was nice to get some much needed fresh air and sunshine.  Keely loved the big slides.  Brooks was nervous to go down it, so he stayed on the ground mostly, but he still had fun.

We brought Brooks' soccer ball along and he kicked it all over the park.  I think we need to sign him up for soccer league! Not sure how he will take playing with other kids, since at the park he would rather just kick by himself instead of with the kids there, but we have to keep trying!

Brooks jumping off the 'green thing'.

Keely playing catch with Uncle Jerry and Papa.

It was a fun weekend even though it was a lot of work to haul all of our stuff for just a few short days! Barrett did great sleeping and did his normal waking up of once a night while we were there.  He has now since entered what I call the most difficult baby stage, so his sleeping has not been as good and he has become a little more difficult, but more on that in the next post!

A Beautiful Day

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted.  I keep meaning to and then of course Barrett is having a needy day where he wants to be held all the time or something else comes up.  Anyway, a few weeks ago we had a rare 60 degree day in January, and we took advantage! It was so nice to get a little sunshine in and get outdoors again.  With Keely older now and not having to constantly chase her so she doesn't fall off the drop-off in our backyard makes spring and summer time outside something I will look forward to more this year!
Brooks was super excited to shoot some baskets on his outdoor hoop!

Barrett got his first real outdoor experience.  He seemed to like it and was pretty calm the whole time.

They missed their sandbox!

 

Both kids still absolutely adore Barrett!

Brooks takes good care of him and wipes up any drool and talks to him all the time.

He's still a pretty happy baby! and is finally giving us some great smiles!