I HEXED MYSELF--IT'S MY OWN FAULT

I have now been up for approximately 28 hours--Yep I did it to myself. I said what would the last two days of January bring and they brought it on good......

PCMC Emergency Room visit #3, with child #3 for the second time.

Yep--it turned into RSV.PLUS he has a bacterial infection that has turned into pnuemonia.

the poor little guy, I feel bad for him.

Here's Handu with mommy in the ER. He will be in the hospital for 3-5 days at the least, then who knows what?

For any little kids who are interested, we saw Spiderman at the hospital and he told me to tell all the little kids I know Hello from him.

February, get here in a hurry!!!!

HOSPITAL VISIT AGAIN, THIS TIME: TWO KIDS

WHEN WILL JANUARY END--I'M VERY SICK (TRULY) AND TIRED.

I have never thought of January as being a particularly remarkable month, but this January has got to end. Two more days--ANYTHING can happen in that amount of time!!!!!!!

Austin (the 4 year old) has been really good today, helping my mom and me a lot. I have been so sick--in bed--with the flu and the respiratory gunk and the three kiddoes have been sick too, but Austin is feeling much better.

Ashlynne (2 1/2) has the bug with a 103.4 temperature and horrible chesty cough and a flaming earache. This child who is generally bouncing off one wall to the other, sat around in her pj's all day and wanted me to hold her all day.
Andrew (6 wks) has a respiratory cough, and lo grade fever. Great is it RSV? No! Thank goodness. "But keep and eye on him, he's not out of the woods yet." Says Urgent Care Doctor.
(one day old)

He is doing well otherwise. Born 6 wks ago at 6.4 lbs is weighing in at a whopping 9.10 lbs. tonight at urgent care. He certainly isn't starving. He is getting "pinchable cheeks" as his mother says. And finally getting little rolls on his little spindly legs. He's a handsome little guy, and he is loved by his big brother and sister and all of us.

(6 weeks/Jan 27, 2009)
Before you say--Where is' their mother while this is all going on: She had surgery on Tuesday and can't lift anything or anyone. And their dad is out of town in St. George for 3 weeks for work.
Hopefully this all will pass soon--I have a week and a half worth of laundry that needs to be folded and sheets changed and they aren't getting done by sitting here being sick or posting this blog note.

SAME EMERGENCY ROOM, DIFFERENT CHILD!

Two weeks ago we had "Baby Handu" in the emergency room at Primary Children's for seizures
This week it was a different child, Ashlynne.

RJ, the children's father, is working out of town in St. George for the next two weeks, and every time he leaves town, generally something happens to one of the kids;

Austin sliced his finger open--had to have stitches.

Ashlynne swallowed a penny, could inhale, but couldn't exhale. Had to respiratory therapy remove the penny.

Ashlynne, again; was jumping off their couch and her face hit the coffee table--thought her cheek-bone was cracked.

Ashlynne is a very hyper-active child. She sits still for nothing and no one. She rarely sits through a ten-minute cartoon. When she finally does sit still, she will not stop talking. Yack, Yack, Yack, Yack, Yack, Yack, Yack............

She has had more injuries in her 2 1/2 almost 3 years than Austin has had in 4 year years.

Here's a look at the before and after of her little stunt from the other night.

Good news though: only a rather large bump, a bruised cheek and a black eye. It hasn't slowed her down a bit.

UTAH IN JANUARY

Utah is absolutely beautiful, unless it's January. If you don't live in Utah and have never experienced the dreaded "inversion", here's your chance.

No matter which direction you look there is "GUNK" everywhere. You can't see the mountains in either direction and you can barely see a car in from of you sometimes.

This is a bad year, but I've seen worse. Generally it lasts for 2-3 weeks, but I can remember the year 1980 that we had it around for nearly 8 weeks. It was awful. Especially for those with lung problems.

(Looking East, you can barely see the mountains)

Looking South, you can sort of see the "red" dodge in front of me. It's only a half of a block away.

Looking West at Downtown from "A" Street in the Avenues and City Creek Apartments at the bottom of 3rd Avenue.

And, looking North, from LDS Hospital and State Street

and looking directly from LDS Hospital at the Capitol Building. Generally you can see the entire valley. But there is no distinction in color when this stuff hits the valley. Everything is a dull gray!

The only thing I have good to say about the inversion season is that it does make for the beginnings of some nice sunsets!

A BOY AND HIS DOG!!

I thought that these pictures were fun of Austin and Sofee (like Sophie). He has already taught her to fetch. And she is learning new things every day.

He is so adorable with her and he loves to be outside with her and run in the snow.

Fetching.....
Sniffing the stick...
Running with her...

Playing in the snow...

Just having good ol' fun!

PICTURES, FINALLY!!

So, here we go. I think I did it. I've been sitting at this computer trying to figure out how to download my camera onto the computer (I'm somewhat computer illiterate) I've been here for 3 1/2 hours now, and I think it's working; FINALLY! Roy (not my husband, my cousin), are you proud of me? I didn't have to ask for your help, although I know you were willing.

I would have done it earlier, but I had to punt. The other half (gotta love him) lost my directions for downloading, so I've been doing it on a wing and a prayer.

So here are a few pictures of the latest additions to our family!

Sofee (like Sophie) the dog, was acquired because no one was at home to take care of her at the Rodriguez home. She is adorable, and although I am allergic to dogs, I couldn't let Kassie get rid of her. So I drug myself up and handle it the best way I can.

Right now, as I sit at the computer posting, she is my guard dog laying underneath the chair. She is also very cute and cuddly with the kids. With Andrew, she sits by him if he is having a seizure, and she sleeps next to mom's bed at night. Now if only I can get her potty trained. Maybe I can train her and Ashlynne together. Any thoughts?

This is our newest little guy. Andrew Russell Rodriguez.

THE THINKER!!

This is big brother, Austin, who loves to give him kisses; and big sister ,Ashlynne, who loves to hold him (but only until something better comes along).

Since I have figured out the blog page, I now have to work on downloading to the Mp3 player.

We're taking life one day at a time, but for all it's worth, I may end up in the Big White House at the top of the hill in Provo. And I guarantee that that's the only way I'll go to Provo.

Scrooged again!

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

We just got back from a quick trip to Idaho Falls for the
wedding ceremony of my cousin's daughter.
I truly have to admit that as much as I enjoy traveling,
no matter the length of the trip, upon traveling home;
I become SCROOGE, with a Large, LARGE, CAPITAL
"S".

I think the reason for this is that I pack for a nice little
trip, then I have to come home, unpack the car, unpack
the suitcases, put everything away, do the laundry,
then it's back to the daily grind-stone. My dad was
like this too. About 100 miles from home, in any given
direction, we both turned into the beast from !@#$!
Why?
Who can say or speculate. It happens every single time.
And, it seems to be getting worse the older I get.

Fair Warning: It would be safe to say that if you travel
with me, beware of the last 100 miles of the trip (I even try
not to talk, because I know how I get. Then if I do talk,
well; who knows what may happen!) So, traveling with me?
Beware!! I am apologizing in advance.

SILENT PRAYERS AND SEIZURES

We're saying a lot of silent prayers for our adorable new
little guy, Andrew. We were watching the kids last night,
because RJ and Kassie both had to work early this morning.
Around 8:30 mom noticed that this little (and I mean little)
bundle of joy was jerking, especially on his right side, but
sometimes on his left. He didn't seem distressed or agitated
in any way.

At 9:30 we called the doctor and were promptly told to
get him to the hospital; that he was probably having a
seizure. Mom and I loaded him up in the car, left Keith
with Austin and Ashlynne and headed in that miserable
snowstorm last night to Primary Children's Medical Center.

Kassie and RJ met us at the hospital and were taken to
the exam room. He underwent the entire series of CT Scans,
Blood work, urine cultures and the worst of the worst for any
and all mother's; A spinal tap. No mommy in their right mind
would stay for a spinal tap of their child, especially their 2 1/2
week old. So that's why there are Nana's and Grandma's.

They admitted him and ran more test's this morning and
this afternoon. He had and MRI and then an EEG. I went in
at 11:00 to relieve Kass and RJ so they could go home and
shower and change. During that time I was escorted,with
Andrew, down to EEG; where I swear they put hundreds of
leads on his itty, bitty, little head. they put me (yes me) on
the bed and had me hold him for over an hour, while they
monitored his brain waves for any signs of seizure activity.
We sat and had a good little one-sided chat.

As of tonight when I left for home at 5:45, the MRI and EEG
were completely normal. His CT, blood and urine were good too.
They will run more blood work and cultures to see if there is
any underlying reason for this activity. More than likely he will
come home late tomorrow night or early Thursday morning.

Primary Children's has been great. RJ would beg to differ, but
everyone from the emergency room to the Infant Medical and
Critical Care Unit have been superb. They treat you as though
your child is the only child they are treating right now.
Now the Neurologists are another story for another day.

So if you get a chance, say a little prayer for our "Handsome
Handu" , as Ashlynne calls him. We certainly are.