Happy Halloween 2010

 Introducing: Dr. Callie

 

 Dr. Callie cares deeply about her patients.  Here is her most recent patient, Samantha.  As you can see, Samantha is wearing 2 foot casts and has a bandaged head.  This is serious stuff here.  But Dr. Callie handles it with ease.

 

First, she urges Sammy to "stay calm."  Next, she checks for a normal heartbeat, which she can detect without even listening through her stethoscope -- she's that good.

 

As you can see by the smile on Sammy's face, she's happy to be in Dr. Callie's care, for Dr. Callie has great skills, but also a kind bedside manner.

And after all the work is done, why not hit a hayride?

Yes, Samantha and Callie were quite a hit at the ward Halloween party...bringing in the prize for "Most Original."  They are quite a team these two.  They both had a lot of fun at the party...the jump house, the cotton candy, the parade!  Oh did Callie love the parade.  I wish we had video of it...but Callie pulled Sammy's hospital bed (aka...red wagon) the entire time.  Sammy giggled and Callie, at one point, yelled out, "It's Halloweeeeeeen!"  It was a great night.  Unfortunately our camera's battery was low and went kaput on us, but at least we got these gems.  I was hoping to get a picture of the girls with Eric and Stuart Russell (Marcus' cousins) who were down visiting, but it didn't happen.  In fact, I'm really rather bummed that we didn't get a picture of them at all.  Oh well I suppose.

Happy Halloween

Friends

 These just make me smile.

Ready for School

This picture is actually kind of old but just found it again in my camera.  This girl is going to be so ready to start school!  She loves waiting for the bus with her backpack.  I know she'll love it, but there's such a different feeling about the idea of Callie starting school.  I feel like, in a way, she's more vulnerable than Samantha.  I'm not sure if this makes sense, but because she has good cognitive understanding and is a bright little girl, I'm afraid of all the stuff she'll be exposed to...the taking sides, back biting, being yelled at by other kids, having hurt feelings, feeling incompetent...all that stuff.  Oh how I want to protect my little baby.  But, she'll be fine, and that day is still off in the distance...but when I see this, it just makes me think.  I love my princess.

Hand Foot Mouth

Saturday: Granny's (and Annie's) birthday.  We went out to the Olive Garden for dinner to celebrate Granny's 80th.  It was a nice dinner, especially because it was the first time Marcus and I went out to dinner without the girls in a long time...maybe a year?  It was like a real date ~ with our family.  Samantha and Callie went over to the Black's where Sydney, Kelsey, and Brittney babysat for us.  They have dogs.  Callie loves dogs.  The last 1/2 hour, Samantha was a mess, uncontrollably crying.  They earned their money.

Sunday: I wake up late and we rush to get ready for church.  Samantha sits still through Sacrament. Callie sits on Daddy's lap.  Life is good.  Life is peaceful.  I enjoy the talks given, am sad about my friend moving, enjoy how cute Marcus looks.  That afternoon, I notice a rash on Samantha's hands.  I'm a little concerned, but don't really know if I should be at this point.  By evening, it looks like this:

 left hand

 right hand

I start to worry.  This doesn't look so good.  But then I thought...hey, what if it's an allergic reaction to the dogs?  That would explain the extreme sadness and the rash.  When she falls asleep, we slather on some cortisone cream to see if it helps. Oh, and Callie seems to have a pretty high fever though our thermometer wasn't working.  She's definitely not happy and very warm.

Monday: Callie's not doing much better.  I prescribe a day of tv and sleeping on the couch and as much fluid as she'll take.  Sammy, on the other hand (no pun intended), wakes up to this. 

 

Improvement.  I thought...surely it was an allergic reaction.  After some debate with myself, I send her off to school.  About 30 minutes after she leaves, I get a call from her teacher.  The school nurse wants me to pick her up.  I call Kaiser's advice nurse and she said it sounds pretty classic for hand foot mouth.  From the time she left the house and arrived at school, her little dots had turned into bumps...blister-like bumps.  Poor girl.  

Tuesday: Callie's fever is down.  We ate pancakes and played outside.  We went to the doctor to confirm for the school hand foot mouth (they have to send out an exposure notice now), and the doctor said it looks like it's starting to clear up already.  No new pictures, but things really do look a lot better.  It still may be a few days, but we're on the mend.  He found a few sores in the back of her mouth, but for the most part, she's pretty happy.  Callie decided she wanted pineapple.  When she took a bite, she screamed (Callie's a little more delicate).  She was pointing to her tooth so I was afraid she finally had a cavity -- something I'm constantly obsessing about.  I couldn't find anything.  I didn't see any sores.  I had her stick her tongue out, and sure enough, at the back of her mouth, just before her throat, she has a few bumps.  She did eat the pancakes though and has been drinking water.  Tylenol will have to be her friend for a couple days maybe.  

Wednesday: Each day looks a little better.  Her hands look a lot better and there's just one little bump on her foot that I notice.  Callie hasn't showed any other bumps/spots.  Just the couple in her mouth.  I hope that's the worst of it.
 

So there you have it.  Hand Foot Mouth.  Luckily it's just one of those things that runs its course and it's not really dangerous...just a pain in the hand, foot, and mouth.

Whole Wheat, Oatmeal, and Banana Pancakes

When Marci asked if I'd choose pancakes over waffles, I went with the waffles.  I mean, I love waffles.  But today, I made some homemade pancakes for the girls.  I'm a homemade pancake/waffle mix girl, but I haven't done it in a long time.  The mixes always leave a chalky feeling in my mouth.  Am I the only one?  Well, when Callie asked me today if she could go to McDonald's house (yes, it's McDonald's house, not McDonald's), I told her no and that we'd make pancakes.  She was slightly appeased, and I was still getting over the fact that my almost 3 year old was asking to go to McDonald's.  I don't think I knew what McDonald's was until I was 7.  We've only been there a couple times ourselves...but I'm kind of disturbed.  Ok...getting back on track.


So, I decided not only were we NOT going to McDonald's (easy one for me there), we were having homemade pancakes.  I wanted to try something new.  I did.  And I love them...so did the girls.  You know when the pancake is so good you don't even need syrup?  Yeah.  Mmm

Whole Wheat, Oatmeal, and Banana Pancakes
1 c. uncooked rolled oats
1 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. brown sugar
2 T. dry milk powder
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 egg
2 c. milk
2 T vegetable oil
1 t. vanilla
1 banana, mashed

This is how I did it.  Mix all the dry stuff together in a mixing bowl.  Put in the wet stuff.  Mix it all together and let it sit for 5 minutes.  Heat up your griddle like you would normally for pancakes and cook same as usual...cook until bubbles form and the edges are dry.  Flip, and cook until browned on the other side.


These are so good and easy. 

I'm not reconsidering.  I think I'm a homemade pancake girl after all. 

Hand Foot What?

Yeah, when Maren commented that hand foot mouth was going around, I thought she made it up.  I had never heard of it before.  I looked it up, and behold, there is such a thing.  And long story short, Sammy has it.  So, we're hanging out at home this week.  I'm off to make the girls some pancakes.  And we'll post pictures and stories when Callie's taking her already-much-needed nap.

Just Another Sunday

We try to do our best of avoiding too much of the tube.  Yes, that darn television, if you aren't careful, can suck you in.  I've gotten really good at cutting back on the shows I watch.  I really only watch a couple shows now...though really, I probably shouldn't watch anything.  And we've cut way back on tv for Callie.  She was watching a lot in the mornings.  So, we have a new routine that gives her 1/2 hour in the morning, and that's what we shoot for each day.  That one "I'm-still-waking-up" show that she can watch is ok in my book.

But today, oh dear me, today was filled with tv.  She was chipper pre-nap.  You know those days when you are madly in love with your children?  They can do no wrong?  They are just little angels and you feel so lucky and blessed to be their parents?  Yeah.  It was that day for me.  I was enjoying Callie so much, I even stayed in bed with her until we both fell asleep for her nap.  When was the last time you did that?  It's the best.  I was singing her to sleep, brushing her hair with my fingertips...next thing I knew, Marcus was tapping my foot wondering if I had really fallen asleep.  Um, yeah.  I was asleep.  Anyway....

While Callie napped, I took Sammy on a TWO hour walk!  Holy moly friends!  When was the last time I did that?!  Marcus was able to relax a little bit and I talked on the phone to my mom, Bryan, Analisa, and my mom again before I got home.  Yes.  It was quite the walk.  I'm just glad Sammy enjoyed it too.  She was so content, and adorable.  I'd stop to see how she was doing, and she'd just look up at me and smile.  She's been in a remarkably fantastic mood the past 2 days. 

Back to Callie...So, post-nap wasn't too great.  She wanted me to hold her, so I did for a long time.  I just sat on the hallway floor with her and held her.  I noticed she was quite warm.  We decided she could relax and watch some tv.  Well, poor girl, I think is in fact sick.  Blargh!  After I painted her finger and toe nails pink (upon request of course) she began chattering her teeth like she was in the Artic!  In fact, she was shaking so much she could barely hold her cup of water.  Our thermometer died, so I'm not sure what her temperature was, but I'm just hoping it's not too high.  Poor girl.  So, yes.  Callie was indulged with vegging on the couch and watching tv most of the afternoon.  But really, when you're not feeling so hot, there's not much else you want to do.  So, she gets a pass on this one.

Samantha has some ailments of her own.  She has developed this insane rash on her hands.  There's some on her knee and her feet too.  I have no idea what's going on.  It doesn't seem to bother her, but I'm going to see if it's not better by tomorrow and then call the doctor.  I dropped her off with a babysitter yesterday, and I'm wondering if she's having an allergic reaction to the dogs?  Not sure on that one.  Either way...

I just hope that both Callie and Samantha haven't spread something to all the other nusery kids!  How sad would that be?  Ah well...just another Sunday I suppose.