Off to the zoo!

An animal lover I am not. But I do appreciate a good trip to the zoo, so I wasn't going to pass up free tickets the husband could get for his company day at the Cincinnati Zoo today. My brother & sis-in-law went with us, and we all had a delightful time. It was pretty cold this morning and much colder at the zoo than at our house. Luckily, frozen fingers and noses didn't keep us from enjoying all the outdoor exhibits. (Please don't judge me for not having gloves on her tiny hands. I was guilt-ridden the entire time we were there and kept blowing hot air on them. Lesson learned.) I was a little worried that the munchkin would freak out over all the animals but she did surprisingly well. Only when the animals were close did she grab on tight (i.e. she was NOT a fan of the Children's Petting Zoo.) Free tickets, free lunch, free memories - can't beat it!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Brooke has the wingspan of an American Kestrel :)

October in videos.

This month has been a whirlwind, but we did manage to catch a lot of it on film. Her personality really shines in these; they are just too cute not to share.

The first one is from Fevergate #1, almost a month ago. We were 3 days in to it, but she was playing like she didn't have a fever of 103. She loves to walk behind this little toy. She's so close to walking without it now.


In this one, the day of one of the Reds playoff games a few weeks ago, Brooke & Daddy are playing with her big red ball. She's really good at catching it (possibly because her sweaty hands just stick to the rubber...) Every time she "threw" it, she'd raise her hands in the air with pride. Playing with this ball brings about some fantastic giggles :)


Elmo is Brooke's BFF and she gets soooo excited when he comes on. This is her reaction to hearing the Elmo's World song. She knows what it is within hearing, like, 2 seconds of the song. Genius baby? I think so. Anywho, the pure excitement of getting to watch her furry friend is quite evident in the wild arm shaking she does. (And I promise the TV isn't broken; for some reason, it showed up that way on the video camera.)


The last one is from this morning. She just recently started "dancing" along to music. It's pretty much awesome. The music is coming from her little house; she is obsessed with pressing the buttons to play the little songs. (I have the songs memorized and find myself singing them all. the. time.) But whatev, the girl adores dancing away so who am I to stop her. Rock on, girlfriend! (Though hopefully not so hard that she literally rocks the house down...)

Extra thankful.

It's easy to be thankful today. I started the day very apprehensive, taking our little pumpkin in for some unsettling tests. Brooke was a rockstar! There were tears, don't get me wrong. First up was an ultrasound, then she was catheterized (again...twice in 2 weeks) and pumped with fluid/dye before getting X-rayed. Plenty of reasons to cry. But honestly? She really was a trooper. And she's already forgiven us for putting her through it. So not only am I seriously thankful that she got through it, but the results are already in....and all is clear! She doesn't have reflux, or any other problems for that matter. She is anatomically great. This is the best news I've heard all month. So, so thrilled. 

Here are a few more things I'm thankful for on this perfectly chilly Thursday.

~ Orange corduroy jumpers and hot pink bows. Heaven.

~ The library of childrens' books my sister lent us for the Big Lady, because she would rather page through books than play with toys (not a bad thing, in my opinion.) And the fact that my sister doesn't care what state these books are in when they are returned. (No amount of crazy glue can fix some of them...) That's godmotherly love.

~ Halloween carnivals that are put together so flawlessly that both kids and adults alike can't help but have a ton of fun.

A little costume sneak-peek. The full reveal of cuteness to come on Halloween :)

~ Chocolate cupcakes with butter cream frosting made on a whim, simply because nothing else in the pantry sounded sweet enough.

~ 3 healthy family members at 10242 Kingsport. Finally.

~ A husband that reads to his baby girl every night before bed and laughs hysterically with her while they bounce the big red ball and whose patience with both his girls is unwavering.

~ Apple cinnamon donuts, and subsequent cinnamon-sugar kisses :)

Excuses, excuses.

Busy.

Exhausted.

Worn out.

Busy.

Sick baby...again.

Call #2938 to the pediatrician this month.

A load of baby laundry almost daily due to this new digestive problem.

Busy.

Tears, mostly hers but some of mine, too.

Crabbiness, mostly mine but some of hers, too.

Busy.

A million and one excuses for not blogging in a week. I wish I could say it'll get better, but it might not. I just don't foresee a break anytime soon.

But I promise Halloween pics and the 10-month post will not disappoint :)

Feeling better!

We are fever-free, y'all! Finally. And this time, it's likely for good.

Because the fever was still high on Friday, I took her in to the doctor again. (In case you're counting, that's 4 trips to the pediatrician in just the first half of October. All the nurses know her. And, not surprisingly, love her.) She sent us to Children's to get a urinalysis, which very sadly meant Brooke had to get a catheter. Thankfully, the nurse was very fast so the tears/screaming only lasted a minute or two. It was heart-breaking, but we all survived.

Results of the test proved that she does, in fact, have a urinary tract infection. My poor girl. We've been on antibiotics since Friday night and her fever has been gone since then. Hopefully, any pain she had with the UTI is also gone. Now comes the bad news. UTI's are very uncommon in munchkins her age, so they're concerned something else could be going on. She may have inherited a condition I had when I was her age. Consequently, we have to take her in for some testing next week. An ultrasound, another catheter, and a few x-rays - it's gonna be a loooong day that day.

Anyway, my pretty girl is finally feeling better so I couldn't be happier. She's back to her old self, getting in trouble and making me laugh constantly. Such a relief :)

(p.s. Doesn't she look so grown-up in this outfit? To die for.)

Thankful...somehow.

It's very hard to feel thankful in the midst of Fevergate #2. Though, I imagine that is the point of this whole deal: to remember to sit down once a week and realize that, despite all the crap you've been dealt that week, life is pretty damn good. So, here's my list on this finally-getting-cool-again Thursday.

~ A healthy family. No, not right now. Brooke was still around 101 degrees when I put her to bed tonight. But in general, we're a healthy bunch. And I couldn't possibly be more grateful for this, that a 5-day fever is the biggest medical obstacle we face. We are blessed.

~ The triple batch of chili that I made this afternoon that is now portioned into 5 frozen dinners for chilly nights when I don't feel like cooking.

~ Lestoil, because no amount of Dreft can deal with this amount of spaghetti sauce. We took her shirt off before she ate, but not the pants... (p.s. This is what 102 degrees looks like. We lucked out in the awesome-baby department, no?)

~ 3.5 hour naps. While I wish it was mine, it was the Big Lady's. And I woke her at that point. (Fever- & medicine-induced, mind you.)

~ Support from family in a new venture that I'm (considering) undertaking. More on this later, but I'm super excited/scared about it. But their support makes it 10% less scary.

~ This face.

Not again...

I have a riddle for you. What has 5 teeth, just learned how to clap, and has yet another high fever?

Ugh! The Big Lady is miserable again. Fever started last night at 103.1 degrees. We got as high as 104.7 this afternoon. Again. Deja vu, no? We've pretty much spent the whole day cuddling on the couch, watching an excessive amount of Elmo. Except for the trip to the pediatrician we made mid-afternoon. Same story, different week: everything looks clear so we're going to wait it out until Friday unless other symptoms present themselves in the meantime. At that time, if the fever persists, we'll go in for further investigation.

I just put her to bed with a fever of 104.1, some Infant Advil, and a prayer that the poor girl kicks this mysterious fever overnight!