Happy Halloween Everyone!

We had a great evening of trick or treating and the kids were all so into it! Tate even ran from one house to another once in a while and would say Thank You like 3 or 4 times before leaving the houses. Keely was lagging behind the whole time but was VERY proud of her bucket full of candy. So much so that she wouldn't let ANYONE carry it for her even when it was so full it was jerking her around when she walked. They were all so cute! When we got home we had a few kids come over and trick or treat but not as many as I thought there might be. Today went by so fast and its hard to believe that the older kids vacation is almost over. Tj has started playing football even though the season ends in a couple weeks and him and Scott went to his football practice this morning from 10-12. Haley, the girls and I went out and did a little shopping and got started on Christmas gifts. Tj and his friend went with Tj's mentor to the museum today to the day of the dead celebration and seemed to have a good time. Tonight Tj went to the Lincoln Star's hockey game and Haley is going to go babysit for our old neighbor's kids. Seems like everyday is so darn busy anymore! Tomorrow Tj will get to play in a football game for the new team he just joined and it will be in Omaha. They have games every Sunday and they all are in Omaha as far as we know. So tomorrow will be spent there and it's suppose to be a nice day out so that will make it even better. Then its back to our normal school day schedule on Monday!

Lots of catching up to do

I really thought I was going to be getting new post up more often and then I had to ruin it by going way over a week without posting. Everyone did seem to get better last week with the exception of some of us still coughing. Tate continued to have a fever off and on all though the weekend and even this week. We went back to my hometown of Sargent last weekend. Tj didn't end up going with us because he was offered the chance to go watch the Huskers play again in Tom Osborne's sky box and couldn't possibly turn it down. We missed him but know he had a much better time staying in Lincoln than he would have had going to little ol Sargent. When we were back in Sargent we didn't really do a lot. We had dinner at my grandma's on Saturday and all our family was there. It was a great time and the girls had fun playing with my little cousins that are their age. We too had to watch the Husker's play on TV but I didn't watch for long since it was such an awful game. We got to go to my dad's grave and put out some flower since it had been 4 years since he passed away. While we were back we just had to go and eat supper at The Ritz! It's a little cafe that has such good food and even better ice cream and all of us seem to miss it so much. During the week sometimes we talk about how we are hungry for some ice cream from the Ritz or food from there. Sunday when we got up we all got ready and got left by 11am. It was nice to get back to Lincoln early afternoon so we could get ready for the new week. Haley and Tj haven't had school this whole week so it's been nice having them home during the days. Tj seemed to keep pretty busy and he can hardly believe the week is almost over. Tuesday afternoon he went with one of his mentors to a place called Spring Creek Prairie which is a 808-acre tallgrass prairie nature preserve located 20 minutes southwest of Lincoln. He said it was really cool and was so pretty it looked like it was just a big picture. Wednesday he had a dentist appointment then went and spent the afternoon and night with his mom. They went to the Michael Jackson movie he had been wanting to see. Tuesday and Wednesday Tate was so crabby and only wanted me to hold her both days so finally after Haley, the girls and I took Tj to his moms I decided that Tate had been sick long enough and took her to the doctor. By the time we got there she was so lethargic and didn't even wake when the doctor was looking in her ears, nose, and throat or pushing on her belly to see if her spleen was enlarged. Since she had really had a fever and the coughing for over 10 days off and on he decided it would be better to admit her and get all the blood work done along with a chest x-ray. He also thought maybe she was getting dehydrated and needed IV fluids. So we headed to the hospital and Scott met us there since it was time for him to get off work. They got her admitted quicker than ever and lab came and got blood work and before they even left radiology was there to do the chest x ray. It was great that the doctor called up before we got there so they could get right on it. All her blood work seemed to be OK and her Hemoglobin was 10.3 which is in the normal range. That is usually what indicates if she is having a crisis but when you get dehydrated it makes the hemoglobin go up so it's hard to tell. They do believe she was having a crisis since the hemoglobin was even lower than when she was in the hospital in March and having a bad crisis. It was also lower than it was in August when we were on vacation and she had the pain crisis. The IV fluids seemed to help a lot and they also gave her IV antibiotics to make sure she didn't have any infections. She had a good evening and we both even got some good sleep until 6am Thursday morning. They had given her the hydrocodone right before bed and it wasn't even 5 minutes before she was asleep. Thursday morning the doctor came in and saw us and decided that Tate looked good enough that we could go home. She thinks she is having the crisis from being dehydrated which was caused by the fever she has had off and on for over 10 days. It all come from the H1N1 her and I had almost 2 weeks ago. We got out of the hospital around 11 am and went and got TJ from his moms. In the afternoon we met Scott after he got off work and headed to Omaha to Coco keys water resort in the holiday inn. We had planned on going the whole week since the kids were out of school and are thankful that we were still able to go. We debated on taking Tate since she always seems to have a crisis after she gets cold from swimming but too her anyway. We had a great time and Tate even had a good time thanks to the pain meds. Keely played more there than she ever has and loved going down the slides. Haley and TJ and Scott went on the big slides quite a bit and had a great time. When we left around 8pm everyone was so exhausted. Today me and all the kids went out to Walmart and Sam's to get groceries. When Scott gets home we are all going to carve pumpkins. Tj is going skating and I am going to color Haley's hair later tonight. Tate still seems to be kind of grumpy but hope she wakes up from her nap in a good mood. Keely is doing great and seemed to love the one on one time with Haley while Tate and I were in the hospital. Tomorrow Tj is going to a museum here in town that is having a day of the dead celebration and if everyone is in a good mood tomorrow the rest of us may go too. I think that is all I can think of that we have been up. Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Here is the link to the spring creek prairie if anyone is interested in it
http://www.springcreekprairie.org/spngcrk.htm

here is the link to coco keys and now until November 19th there is free admission of you get there before 5pm Monday-Thursday. Get the passes online though so you are guaranteed a ticket.
http://www.cocokeywaterresort.com/Locations/omaha/index.aspx

Recouperating!

Tatum and Tj's party turned out great and they got so spoiled! Of course everyone had to watch the football game after we got done having cake and opening presents. Too bad it couldn't have been a good game! Everyone left around 6 Saturday evening. My mom, brother and grandma stayed in town at a hotel. Tatum had been asking all day if she could stay at the hotel with grandma. I really didn't think she would want to when it really came down to us leaving her there but she did and had a great time. When we saw her Sunday morning she said she wanted to stay at the hotel again. Late Saturday night I started not feeling good at all and my cough that I had through out the day got much worse. It was a long night Saturday night and when I got up Sunday morning my whole body hurt and my fever was 102.6. I guess I am glad I was well for the party but am worried how many people are going to now get sick because I might of been contagious Saturday. Sunday I continued to get worse and decided to go to the doctor. They said my sinuses were inflamed again and I had just finished a round of antibiotics so now I have an appointment at an ear, nose, and throat clinic this week to figure out why they won't stay normal. I also was tested for H1N1 and found out I have that. They prescribed me the antiviral medicine Tamiflu and also another antibiotic for my sinuses. I called the girls clinic as soon as I found out I had H1N1 to see if they would treat them just as a preventative and they told us to come to our appointment Monday morning for Tate's 3 year check. All I did Sunday was sleep and lay in bed and rest. Thank goodness for Scott and the older kids helping out around the house and entertaining the girls. Monday morning I didn't really feel any better but knew I had to get up and get ready to take Tj and Haley to school and care for the girls. Our old neighbor Roxanne called and said she would keep Keely if I wanted her to so I took Keely to her house when I took Haley to school. Keely is such a busy girl I don't know that I could have kept up with her or not I felt so awful. I ended up taking Tate for her 3 year check. It went well but by then she had also come down with a bad cough. The girl's doctor decided to treat them both with the tamiflu just as a preventative. After we got done at the doctor Tate and I came home and took a nap for a couple hours. After that nap I knew I felt a little better and my fever had not come back. As the evening went on Tatum got a fever and we have been having to give her ibuprofen since yesterday evening. She did sleep OK during the night and only woke up at 4 am with her fever at 103.5. Today I am feeling way better with the exception of a little cough and lots of congestion from my sinus problem. Tatum woke up in a great mood but still has the fever. Even with the ibuprofen I haven't been able to get it under 101. She is drinking good but not eating too much. As long as we can keep her hydrated that will help a lot. Keely doesn't seem to be showing any symptoms of the flu so lets hope the tamiflu keeps it at bay. Thinking back to last week when Scott first got sick he really did have the same symptoms as I have had. When his started out he had the fever and body aches. By the time he went to the doctor his fever and body aches were gone but had the horrible cough so they just thought it was bronchitis. So the virus has probably been in our house over a week and Haley even may have had it last week when Scott was sick. Tj is doing great so far and doesn't seem to be getting sick yet. He said he doesn't get sick very often so hopefully he doesn't get this. Today the girls and I are just staying home and getting some rest. I am going to try and disinfect everything I can to hopefully kill any virus or bacteria that might be floating around here. Today the kids both get out of school early at 2 pm for a teacher planning day.

The weekends finally here!

We sure are glad that the weekend is here! Scott ended up having to go to the doctor Thursday because he was not getting better. It turns out he has bronchitis and after some meds and rest last night he seems to be a little better today. The cough is just terrible and takes his breath away. It doesn't help that he has been working outside a lot and its been so cold, wet, and windy. Hopefully with the weekend here he can get a little extra rest and be feeling great to go back to work on Monday. I kind of have a weird feeling in my chest tonight and have started coughing also. I am really trying to ignore it and get some rest because with all the activities going on this weekend I can not be getting sick! I am on antibiotics right now so hopefully that will keep me covered from anything too serious. Tate's appointment on Thursday went OK. They really are at a lose as to why she can't possibly gain weight and had even lost some from the last time when we thought she had gained. As far as her weight they don't think she needs the feeding tube right now but if she continues to have pain crisis like she has since April she will be getting one. When she is healthy she doesn't eat enough to continue to gain weight and grow but when she is sick it only gets worse. The last couple crisis she had luckily she did continue to drink and eat some but not enough. Since we have been through almost all testing to try and find a reason why she doesn't eat without any answers they are again trying to tell me we need to have her behavior observed at mealtime to see if that is the problem. I know I am her mom but she is one of the best behaved kids I have ever seen. I have even questioned Keely's wild and crazy behaviors just because she is so much more active than Tatum. I am told that Keely is a normal kid and Tatum isn't as active and into everything as normal kids because of all her health problems. They are wondering if we let her get down from the table and play to avoid eating and other kinds of behaviors like that. That is not the case at all. She sits at the table with everyone during mealtime. She simply doesn't eat enough calories and has been that way since she was 4 months old. If this was an issue that just started then ya I would think maybe it was a behavior but I don't believe a 4 month old would purposely not eat! So when we talked with the nurse to go over the appointment I told her that we aren't interested in seeing if she has a behavior problem concerning meal time. She has been evaluated by a feeding specialist at the hospital here in Lincoln and was also evaluated by Lincoln Public Schools. All said she was doing great and didn't have any behavior issues. I think they are just trying to come up with something to blame. He also mentioned doing a endoscopy which she has already had one and it showed nothing. We will just continue as we have been and I will continue to call in her weight checks. If she continues to lose and they get alarmed they will call us otherwise we will proceed as normal. Also if she has more crisis or a lot of illness this winter and isn't able to take in enough fluids they will want to put in the feeding tube. Last night Haley and TJ went to a Lincoln Star's hockey game and had a lot of fun. Neither of them had ever been to a hockey game before. Scott, Tate, Keely and I stayed home most the evening and tried to get things ready for the party today. Speaking of the party. I can't believe that my first baby is 3 already! The time has gone so fast and it seems like just not too long ago we were on our way to Mississippi to meet her for the first time. She is such a strong, smart, loving, and all around amazing girl! TJ is going to be 12 on Friday but we are having his party today with Tate's as well. Even though we haven't had him since birth or even half his life we love having him in our family. It's hard to believe that I have a 12 year old now too. We love you Tatum and Tj and hope that you have a great day!

Suprise middle of the week update!

Gosh I sure am tired of this cold and rainy weather already! This week has seemed to really go slow but then again tomorrow is already Thursday. I just had a few minutes and thought I would update you all about the week since there is a party here this weekend and I might not get time to update. Scott and Haley haven't been feeling good but seem to be getting better tonight. Lets hope that continues and the rest of us stay healthy! Monday Scott and Tj went to Jui-Jitsu and had a great time. Scott must really be in bad shape though cause he came home with sore muscles and even some bruises. They are having a great time learning and will be continuing several times a week. Tj is doing step at school which is kind of like dance where they clap a lot and stomp their feet. It really is cool to watch and he is doing great. They are now practicing everyday of the week for a while because they will be performing in November sometime and need to get the routine down perfect. Tuesday Scott and I went to a meeting with our foster care agency to get updated on all the new changes that are coming to the foster care system in Nebraska. It really is quite overwhelming but hopefully for the sake of all the children in foster care all the changes will be a huge improvement over the current system. Tonight a friend of mine and I went out shopping for supplies for Tate and Tj's party this weekend. I got a call yesterday from the feeding and growth clinic in Omaha to tell me that after I called in Tate's weight check on Monday she has seen some improvement. In June when we were last there Tate was 11.4kg and now is up to 11.7 kg! To me that doesn't seem to be good improvement but hopefully they think it is enough for her to not a feeding tube again. Last week when we talked they had asked if we still had any of the supplies from when she had the feeding tube before. Since we rented the pump we don't have it anymore and I never want to have to deal with that stuff again so I am glad we didn't have it here on hand. They called again today and said they had a cancellation for the feeding and growth appointment for tomorrow. So now we will go to Omaha in the morning instead of the 29th. I am kind of glad that we will be getting it out of the way and see how the team thinks Tate is progressing. Keely is staying with a friend of mine so that will be a huge help so I can concentrate on what they say about Tatum. On Friday our friend is taking Tj and her kids to a Lincoln Star's hockey game instead of skating this week. Haley was going to go too but decided she doesn't know much about hockey and wasn't sure she would like it or not. That's OK with me cause I could sure use her help around here! Saturday is Tate's 3 rd birthday and next Friday is Tj's 12th birthday so we are having a combined party this Saturday. Actually it will be a birthday/husker party. I hope we have a great time and the weather cooperates. I will try to update tomorrow after Tate's appointment if there is anything alarming but we're hoping all is OK with the team and they tell us we don't need to come back for some time. Hope you all are having a good week!

Finally got the pictures taken!

Well it's been a long time again since I have posted. Sorry! Last weekend we did have the 12 year old boy that I told you all about and boy was it a busy weekend trying to keep him busy. We did have a lot of fun with him but he definitely has way more energy than any of us! TJ ended up spending the weekend with his mom so he didn't have TJ to hang out with and was really disappointed with that and he also could not quit talking about how bad he wanted to move in with us. I just kept having to remind him that we were going to have a great weekend and enjoy the time he had here. We really didn't go do much the whole weekend and just stayed in and relaxed. Scott has been talking to a friend who helps at a gym in town that does martial arts training and decided he wanted to go and try it out. Tuesday afternoon Scott and Tj went down to this gym and tried it and really liked it. They are trying to convince me to join. Tomorrow they will go again and try it out. I am sure they will end up joining and when they do it will be for our whole family. As of now I am not really sure I will ever go but should probably at least go see what its all about and who knows maybe Haley and I will like it too. Thursday we did finally go to our appointment to get the family pictures taken. It was a long evening but we did get some great pictures! I hate getting pictures and when its all done I am usually happy with the outcome at least. Keely's hair too 4 hours total to do this time but it turned out so cute and lets hope it will last at least a month before I have to redo it. I am sure some of you can't possibly understand how she would let us work on it for 4 hours. We had to do it in 4 hour and fifteen minute sessions and she did so good! She's so tough when it comes to getting her hair done compared to Tate. Tate doesn't even want you to tug a little on her head and Keely can take so much before she even starts to fuss. During hair time we have found it's easiest to sit the girls at the table and let them color or read books to them and that helps a lot. Snacks do wonders too! I have been sick this week with sinus trouble again and had to go back to the doctor to get more antibiotics and steroids for my sinuses. I am feeling 100% better today and can actually breath. They aren't sure why I keep having problems with my sinuses but if I don't get better soon and stay better I will have a scan done on my sinuses. They think there may be polyps in there causing all the trouble. I was just sick with the same thing in August so it wasn't too long ago. At least I am better now and I am so thankful we live in Lincoln where there are urgent care clinics open till 10pm that way I can go to the doctor after the girls have gone to bed. Friday Haley had a friend over after school and so did Tj. We all went out for supper then took Tj and his friend skating like usual on Fridays. Today we got around and went to Walmart to get groceries then I spent the afternoon cooking chili. Tj and his friend went with Tj's mentor to the wildlife safari that is between Lincoln and Omaha and had a good time. When they got back Tj went to spend the evening with his mom. Haley is having a friend over tonight and they are watching movies and eating popcorn and M&M's. Tate and Keely are doing good and actually have stayed healthy over the last week. Tate isn't doing too well eating again. Actually some days she does OK but she has grown taller again and really is so thin again. We go back to our feeding and growth appointment the 29th and she has her 3 year check on the 21st so I am sure someone will have something to say about her weight but lets hope not. At the end of the month Haley and Tj have a week off of school so they are looking forward to that. Tate can't quit talking about her birthday that is coming up and wants Dora everything! Guess that is all I know for now and hope you enjoy the pictures!

I was hoping to have new family pictures for you all to see on this post but we had to cancel our appointment we had last night. Keely has been sick with a lot of trouble breathing from her asthma acting up. I also need to do the girls hair and didn't get that done yesterday and the weather was rainy and cold. We have it rescheduled for next week so hopefully we will have new pictures up then. Everyone around here has been sick with something it seems. Tj is the only one who hasn't felt bad this week. Haley was home from school on Tuesday and I took her to the doctor. They gave her some antibiotics and she is feeling better. I think it's going to be a long winter since we all already have had some kind of sickness. Keely struggled all winter last year with respiratory problems and after getting her on her treatments for asthma it helped a lot. It's looking like this winter is going to be the same story. Last week our old neighbor and I had our garage sale on Thursday and Friday only. When I got there Saturday morning to put stuff out there weren't a lot of people out so we decided not to have it and went to garage sales ourselves! Later in the afternoon Tj's mentor came and got him and they went to the game. Scott and I went out on a little date when Haley offered to keep the girls. We just went out and did some shopping for Tj and Tate's birthdays that are coming up and then went out for supper. Of course the game was on at the restaurant so we did get to watch some of the game. We got home around 9pm and put the girls to bed and spent the rest of the evening relaxing. Haley, Tj and our neighbor's 13 year old daughter stayed up almost all night playing wii. Thank goodness they have the basement to hang out in and were quiet. Sunday when we got up we all loaded up in the suburban and went to Fremont to meet my mom. My brother had a little car that we decided we wanted to buy from him to cut out some of the money we are spending on gas every week running kids here and there. While we were there we went out for lunch then came back home. It was a very quiet trip home since everyone was so tired from staying up all night the night before and it was the girls nap time. This week has been a good week and we sure are glad it's Friday! At the beginning of the week we got a call from our foster care agency and they wanted to know if we would consider taking a set of twins that were a month old and just being released from the hospital. It was very shocking to get a call like this since they did know that we had changed our mind about wanting an infant right now. We did really consider it and after deciding it isn't the right time we told them we didn't want to be considered. Then again yesterday we got another call for a 2 day old baby boy. We also told them no to this situation. I am sure we will adopt an infant again someday but we know these two situations weren't for us. We will know when the right situation is presented to us and we will want to be considered. If that is next week or next year we will wait until its the right time. We are doing respite this weekend for a boy we have had before. He is a real talker and asks tons of questions about everything. He is 12 so hopefully him and TJ and Haley get a long good. Haley is also having a friend over tonight so I am a little worried about what I could possibly make that is going to feed 8 people. I am thinking maybe spaghetti. I have finally figured out how to cook for 6 of us but even then there are no left overs. Scott misses that because we use to have so much left overs and he could take it for his lunches. Tj will go skating tonight and I am taking Haley and her friend to get their nails done. As soon as she gets her allowance she thinks she needs to spend some of it I guess. With all this cooler weather we probably won't do too much this weekend but I guess you never know.