Lexi's 14th birthday!

Katie's trip to CHOP for Pulmonology 5/7/09

Here is a quick shot of Emma at CHOP............we were there for Katie's Pulmonology appt. We were concerned about Katie's constant coughing. We ended up doing another chest xray which did show some irritation in her lungs, however, the doc thinks the coughing is NOT asthma, more so the effect of a really bad virus...........

Matty has whooping cough! (Isn't it 2009???) LOL

Seriously, I soooo thought whooping cough was a thing of the past.........but nooooo, not with my children! :) Matty has had this barking constant cough for awhile now.........but as you can see from my previous posts, I've also been dealing with a bunch of other sicknesses. In any event, I finally took him to the pediatrician today. Yes, Matty has "para-pertussis", which apparently is a form of whooping cough. We also had a chest xray done, as the ped. thought he heard some rattling in Matty's lungs-but xray came out clear, so that was good news. So for now, Matty is on an antibiotic, along with a cough medicine with codeine-which is helping him sleep VERY NICELY right now! :) (I think I need some! )

I do have to mention that we have lots of sicknesses going on in the home right now......Matty has whooping cough, which the violent coughing has also led to some vomiting b/c he coughs so hard and intense. Austin has a snotty nose and I *think* an ear infection-I've been treating him with Tylenol, but I may bring him to the ped. tomorrow as well. Katie's cough continues........and Emma has the stomach bug along with a fever. She is very quiet, not eating, vomiting here and there today, and just not her "ornery" self. And then there is my Nicholas. Poor kid. He woke up in the middle of the night with violent vomiting. I felt so bad for him. Since Daddy had to work OT today on his day off, Nick and I camped out on the couch (with a clean sheet down to prevent any stains!).......Since Nick still sleeps in our bed most nights, I had horrible visions of Nick puking on a sleeping Tom..........that would NOT have been a good sight! :) So, as of today, Nick has stopped vomiting, but continues with the diarrhea, is running a fever, and is even complaining of his "heart" hurting........that part makes me nervous.........but I think his heart is racing at times when he is doing too much.......so I think that is the problem. So, depending on how everyone is in the morning, I MAY bring Austin, Emma, and maybe Nick to the pediatrician.......I stocked up on Lysol last night at ACME and plan on using a TON of it this weekend! :)

Katie's trip to the hospital Emergency Room

So, last night I decided to call the pediatrician after a long day of Katie have very intense coughing attacks. She was virtually coughing ALL day with so much might that she even vomited. The pediatrician recommended driving her directly to CHOP, b/c of her past medical history and with our past experiences with the local hospital just transporting her there anyway. Well, I have to say, I think I would rather have her transported now on. We arrived at CHOP at about 730pm............and were NOT seen UNTIL 2:00AM!!!! It was HORRIBLE. The waiting room was full of every sick kid imaginable...........with lots of throw up and tons of coughing........Anyway, the diagnosis was "Reactive Airway Disease"-a fancy term they tell me for asthma. So, we are working strong on giving her lots of Chest Physical Therapy (basically pounding on her back and chest with this small rubber tool) and giving her the Flovent Puffer daily, along with the nebulizer as needed.........I am in the process of scheduling a stat appointment with her Pulmonologist as well. :) Clearly, never a dull moment in our home! :)

Kids on the couch.......

Appropriate title, right?! Here are my five kiddos...........snuggling up b/c virtually my entire house is SICK. :)

MOD Walk 2009

What a beautiful and HOT day for the Walk this year. There was a great turnout as well. We started the day with TONS of sunscreen AND water! I am sad to report, that I did NOT make the entire five miles.........I did about 1/2......and between the stopping for water for the kids, and extra sunscreen, I think I burned an extra ton of calories, anyway! Lexi and N ick went ahead and completed the entire five miles. Afterwards, we hung out around the DJ, and Nick even won 4 tickets to a Trenton Thunder game for his dance rendition of the "YMCA"! :) Lexi and Nick had a GREAT time "bustin' a move"! :) Thank you to everyone who supported us in this great cause!

Sittin' pretty.....

waiting for the results of our 2nd chest xray.........

Baseball fan?

Here's Katie sportin' Nick's baseball hat......as we were waiting to see the pediatrician AGAIN!

Outside fun!

It was FINALLY warm enough to let the kiddos play outside.........boy, did they have FUN! :)

Katie has pneumonia.............AGAIN

Yes, this sweet and pleasant looking girl has pneumonia...........AGAIN. I am getting really tired of this! :) After many, many nebulizer treatments and the oral steroid, Katie just was NOT getting any better over last weekend. I brought her back to the pediatrician on Tuesday, after he called her in an antibiotic on Monday. We had a chest xray done and it showed pneumonia in her right lung-consistent with aspiration pneumonia. Anyway, I took her back for a re-check on Thursday afternoon, b/c she continued to have a very nasty cough. This time, the ped. believed the right lung was clear, however, heard "squeaking" in the left lung!! AAAAHHHHHH! :) Anyway, the ped. has her on TWO antibiotics now, an oral steroid, the nebulizer every 4 hrs, AND a puffer 1x/day. I sure hope this is the "cocktail" Katie needs to get better! :)

Anyone want to fight????

Nick LOVES his sparring classes in karate. He LOVES fighting-just like his Daddy! :) I tell you, Nick thinks I am joking-but I would NOT want to meet this six year old in a dark alley!!! :)

I am an AUNT! FINALLY! :)

Yes, it is true.........my sister FINALLY has a baby............ummm, puppy that is! :) :) This does qualify as being an "aunt", right???!!!! Please welcome Anya to our family......Nicholas insists he is Anya's brother, rather than "cousin". :) LOL.........He did help Aunt Patti pick her out, so I guess that does give him "brotherly" rights! LOL :)

Notes left around the house.......

Lately, since Nicholas has learned to read really well, he has been leaving me notes around the house, requesting certain things he doesn't want to come out and ask for!

This note reads:

Can you take me to Target so I can get a soup can? $15.00

Sooooo cute. He actually wants a soup thermos so he can bring soup into school for lunch like his friends......... :) LOVE these notes........ :)

Nick's new "stuff"

So, much like his mother and father, if Nicky has money, it definitely burns a hole in his pocket! :) Nick had about $30 to spend.......and boy did he ever! He made sure he hit the sales, though!~ He bought a hoodie from the GAP outlet for $16.99, then a hat from Gymboree for $6.99, and then he had just enough to buy a CARS cell phone from Disney Store for less than $6.........he thought he was "happening" with his sideways hat, hoodie, and cell phone! :) :) He was pretending to talk to Ryleigh, a little girl from his class!!!! :) He was planning a "date" with her to Outback STeakhouse! :) He is a trip! :)

Katie and her best friend........the NEBULIZER!

Yes, Katie is sick again. (And so is Mommy, by the way!) She has been hacking like crazy, so I took her to the doctor yesterday. Come to find out, she has "the croup", as the pediatrician p ut it! :) So, I am giving her an oral steroid, as well as the nebulizer every four hours..............and the saga continues............ :)

Spring Fun!

Today was a beautiful day for the kids to be outside playing.......I only had about 1/2 hour to let them outside since I had a haircut appt-but boy oh boy, did they take advantage of that 1/2 hour! :) Running and playing, jumping in dirty water, you name it, they did it! :)

Fun at a birthday party

Nick had a blast earlier today at ChuckECheese for a classmate's birthday party. He LOVED playing skeeball, and even got "into" dancing with ChuckE during the Happy Birthday song! He got soooo into it, the host *almost* put the "birthday necklace" around Nicholas! LOL :)

Nick's up at bat! :)

Nick's first baseball game

Nick FINALLY had his first baseball game-the first two were rained out. He was sooooo excited. His "plan" was that he was going to hit ALL home runs. Then, he wanted me to GIVE him $5 for EACH home run. AND........he told me that has he hits the home run, I must take the $5 out of my wallet, and WAVE it in the bleachers so everyone can see! I swear, he is such a character!!!! LOL........Video to follow of my little homerun hitter! :)

PS-the first pic is a cute one of N ick and Lexi walking to the snack bar together. He holds her hand soooo nicely when they go somewhere together! :)

A baker!

Nicholas decided he wanted to "try out" the new bundt cake pan I bought.......and once he found the banana cake mix in the cupboard, he was on his way! :) He and Lexi made the cake all by himself----with Nick even cracking the eggs (and picking out the shells from the mix!) :) I have to say that I was very impressed with the look AND taste of the final product! :)