So Let's Blog....

So Let's just blog here...
I'm tempted to take pictures of my piles of pukey laundry and post them, of the stuff that has cluttered...of my house in general just to make anyone else feel like they live in the cleanest environment. My new ministry is to make other moms feel great about themselves. It's easy for me. All I have to do is make a trip to the store with my 4 kids. Load up 2 in one cart, 2 in the other and push a cart while I pull the other cart. Believe me I've seen the look on people's faces. I just want to say "You're welcome" or "Anytime".
What is hard about being a mom is there is no hole that you can climb in and just say that I want to be alone today. Please don't bother me or I'm just going to sleep in this morning. You know, I think I'll take a nap. Today I spent wasted minutes arguing with my 5 year old that she has to sit in her car seat. So we start talking about the police and if they pull mommy over then they aren't going to be happy that she is not strapped in her car seat....and on and on. Wasted brain power. She stated that she wants to be a grown up. That is her new thing. We try to tell her that we want to be kids....not have any responsibilities, play all day, sleep and eat and have people serve you. "Hey, can you get me a drink?" Yep, those were the days. Alyssa, don't wish these days away. When you are mom, you are going to miss the carefree days of a kid.
So I have this kink in my neck. Hurts and is very annoying.
Emma took a bottle and has yet to puke. Please let her keep this one down. I am trying soy to help her little tummy until it is better.
Well, I must get dinner going. Always something....

Worse...

Looks like we are going downhill. Went to the dr. and Emma is down from 10 lb. 5 oz. to 9lb. 15 oz. She still has diarrhea and puking. We are going to keep a close eye on her so we do not head back down the dehydration route again. It is very frustrating and I'm so tired of this!!!!
Olivia is fine and has two more teeth. Go girl!
She weighs 16 lb. 15 oz.
Everyone else is healthy. Thank the Lord!!!

We're Home!

Emma was discharged today. Olivia was discharged last night. Both are doing much better. Emma gained back a pound and a half in the hospital. She now weighs 10 lb. 8 oz. She still isn't back to eating that great but we are doing our best. Olivia seems to be back to normal. Mike should be home in a few hours. I can't wait!!! I'm so glad he went though. But we did miss him a lot! Thanks for your prayers!

Olivia is home

Olivia came home today and is doing pretty well. She is definitely smiling more.
Emma will be in there at least another day. She is still having some difficulty keeping things down. Her levels are still above normal and she is still recovering. This just really took a toll on her little body. I'm glad she is where she is although I miss her tons. I wish I could be with her now but I have the three at home I need to care for too. Mike will be back tomorrow night so that will help. I'll call soon to get an update.
Thanks for the prayers!

A little better...

Here are some pictures of the girls. The picture of Olivia smiling is once she could hold down fluids. Now she is back to not so happy.

Basically the girls got sick and it dehydrated them. I knew Emma was losing weight and I just didn't think I could risk her going a few more days and her vomiting was getting much worse. So I took them both into the ER. They did blood work and Emma's results were not good. Her sodium was so high she was in seizure range. This was also causing her to vomit. They had to admit her. Olivia's results were not so bad but they needed to admit her because she had not peed in over 9 hours. They kept waiting for her to go but she didn't until they admitted her. They tried to give Olivia an i.v. twice but her veins kept blowing because she was dehydrated. So it's good that they are both there. They are sharing a room. They have started milk which is really good. I couldn't get either of them to hold that down at home. Emma threw up part of her last bottle. She still needs to rest and become more hydrated. They will do more blood work on her in the morning.

I think that is all for now. I'll keep you posted.

ER

This is Bethany's sister Alison. Just wanted to let you know that Bethany is taking both girls to the ER. Emma is on her 3rd day of vomiting and Olivia is on her 6th day of diarrhea and is not taking any milk. They are both dropping in weight and she doesn't want to take any chances of them losing any more and hoping the hospital will give them fluids and nutrients that they need. Please pray for direction and wisdom for the doctors and peace and guidance for Bethany and Mike.

Thanks, Alison

Puke, puke and more puke...

What a hard week!
Loren was the 1st to get sick. Puking, fever and diarrhea. Then Olivia. Then I thought we were done. Nope - next it was me. Boy I am glad Mike was off work this week. But then the last and worst was Emma. Of all people, why does Emma have to get sick? Been through enough, weighs next to nothing anyway....

So she is on her second day of vomiting. Fever is gone. She has lost 2 pounds. She is down to 9 lb. She is 10 months old and weighs the weight of a new born. Aughh!!! This is what stresses me. But I just have to keep telling myself that she will be over it soon and then we can start gaining weight again.

I was able to order 7 cases of the high calorie Enfacare today. Thank you to my church family!!! It means more to us that you will ever know!!! She is definitely going to need it now more than ever.

Well, I'm going to get back to laundry - the never-ending pukey kind.

So let's see.....

I think I didn't update on Alyssa's eyes. He thinks they are doing better but we still need to hit it hard. This was good news because she does not have to wear contacts for now. We need to keep this patch going. It is the hardest thing to do. I struggle to find the time and energy to keep it on her for long periods of time. But I just keep trying. This picture is of her new glasses that are on order. Her prescription had changed so it was time to get new glasses. She really wanted these hidious barbie ones. So I convinced her that these cute ones were barbie too. And they were. So that is what we got.

Emma finally hit 11 lbs. Yea!!!! What a continous struggle. My new problem/challenge is that she is getting stronger (which is good) but her suck is stronger which scares her when she eats. Her food is coming out faster and she doesn't know what to do with it. So I'm working with fixing that. I think it is getting better.

The picture of my sister (pregnant with her 10th child) and I is at a Hearts At Home conference. We had a great time!

The picture of Loren is her little self trying to get out of bed. What am I going to do with her???????

Well, enjoy the pictures. My next ones will be of Emma.

Day of poop....

If you are queasy by the title...don't keep reading.
So yesterday I was getting ready in my room. The girls were in the living room. Olivia was playing on the floor. I walk in to find that Loren was playing dolls with Olivia. Loren had taken off Olivia's pajamas and was in the process of changing Olivia's diaper. The diaper was off. She had the wipes in her hands ready to wipe. The only thing was there was this huge log that had rolled off the diaper onto the floor. Lovely!!!! I about flipped...then kept my cool, took a picture (had to show Mike), then went on to clean it up. After I showed Mike that night I deleted it. It would make anyone throw up so I didn't post it.
Then I'm giving all the kids baths and Loren decides to poop in the tub. Lovely again!!!
Enough pooping stories.

Head in the tree...

O.k. so this picture is hilarious. I walked into the kitchen and this is what I saw. Then I saw Olivia through the tree. Little stinker. She had taken a branch and pulled the whole thing down on her head. Thankfully, she was not hurt.

We road tripped it this weekend to Cincinnati and had a great time!!! This is a picture of Olivia in the car chillin like a cutie does.
Emma fell asleep in her exersaucer.
Loren LOVES to act like she is driving the car. (We are in trouble)
Alyssa is drinking out of her sprite bottle.

Emma cut her first tooth this weekend. I'm pretty sure the second is almost through. But Yea! So exciting!!! She is up to 10 lb. 13 oz. Another exciting thing!!! Olivia is up to 16 lb. 10 oz. She is crawling like crazy. Emma is starting to be much more active too. As she grows you can tell that it allows her to do so much more.

I need to unpack so I'll write more later but enjoy the pictures.

Back to Front

Today was a first for Emma. She rolled over from back to front for the first time. Yea, Emma! We have had a rough two weeks with a cold where she has lost about a half a pound. We are hopefully on the upswing now that the cold is gone. Hopefully we'll get some weight on that girl here. Olivia is closer to crawling like a pro every day. I don't know that I'm ready for that but it is coming whether I like it or not. I don't have a lot to write right now and it's time for all four girls to get a bath. But I will try to post pictures soon.
Love,
Bethany