Well the great hunting season is over and Dusty is back home with his family. (So happy to have another adult around!) Here's a picture of Dusty's deer....

Oh wait, that's right, he didn't get one this year. hehe

He was hunting in Northern Wisconsin where you could only shoot bucks this year because the population was down, so we are deerless this year. Luckily Grant and Lisa were lucky enough to get a deer during bow hunting season and sent us some meat...

Oh, and lets not forget to brag about my grandpa's 12 pointer. At least someone will be eating well this year!

Yes, I love my husband for cooperating with this. I'm almost done milking the fact that he left me home alone for 5 days with two kids under 2...almost.

I am exhausted, two kids under two is tough. It's even tougher when you're a single parent! Dusty left with my dad to go hunting last Friday and I was home taking care of the two kiddos until Tuesday evening. (My mom met us and we headed up to the lake for Thanksgiving.) That was 5 whole days of me being a single parent and let me tell you, sleeping and eating are pretty much non-existent. We had Rory's 2 month checkup, Santa pictures, a football game with the cousins, Rory's chiropractor visit and Thanksgiving grocery shopping to do. In the evenings after I got both kids to bed I would binge eat, clean up and crash in my bed until one or both of them would wake me up. (Max had been having some bad nights; I think he really missed Dusty since he also became very needy when Dusty left too.)

Of course we also had to squeeze in another visit to Urgent Care for Rory, and of all times it had to be Tuesday evening as we loaded up to leave. It was pretty funny having the truck all packed for going up to the lake and taking a detour there, mainly because it has just become routine for me. So Rory is on her third set of antibiotics for the same double ear infection she has had for 2 weeks now. Luckily these are only for 5 days instead of 10 and we plan to take her back in next week to see our pediatrician and have her ears looked at again. Like I said, it is just becoming routine to go there.

Thankfully, once we got to the lake Dusty was more than willing to get up with Rory for her night feedings and let me catch up on my sleep. It definitely worked out to my advantage that every time he called, both kids just happened to be crying. We're all back together now though and I'm very, very thankful for that!

Ho Ho Ho! Max, Rory and I went and visited Santa at the mall today. Cousin Lyla and Auntie Katie also came with and it was great! There was no line at all and Santa even waved and talked to Max before we went into the photo area which really helped. Rory was a bit crabby when we got to Santa but she was a trooper also. I'm standing just to the right of them during the picture so naturally the kids kept their eyes on me the whole time but I'll take what I can get.
Max wasn't thrilled to be sitting on Santa's lap, but he didn't cry. We even got a chance to talk to Santa and tell him what we wanted for Christmas, but we didn't stay too long, Max just wanted to get his candy cane and Rory was not OK with sitting still. A typical day in my life, Rory wants to move and Max wants to eat!

The best part? We all went to Olive Garden for lunch! Mmm mmm, or maybe that was just the best part for me...

Rory's healthier, that's good news. Of course, I still feel like she is falling apart! I remember going in for Max's well visits and having a list of questions and leaving feeling reassured and a little embarrassed by some of the obvious answers. (Of course, also frustrated that there wasn't a cure for colic!) I certainly don't feel that way after this last one for Rory. Let's start with the growth and then work our way down to the more frustrating parts.

Rory is 22.5" long which puts her at 57% for her age and she weighs 12.5 lbs which puts her at 88% for her age. I was shocked at this since the reason we have to put her in 3 month clothes already is that her arms and legs are too long for the 0-3 months. She doesn't fill the clothes out and a lot of them are baggy on her in the stomach; I'm guessing all that weight is in her legs since she has got some strong legs already!

One of the most obvious concerns we had were her ears. She still has her ear infections, they aren't as bad but they are still there even after being on her meds for 5 days which stinks! She will continue the meds for another 5 days so hopefully that will clear it all up. The good news was that she still had clear lungs and her coughing has gone done significantly over the last week.

I also discussed with the doctor one of the concerns we had at her 2 week check up, her head is always turned to the left. We assumed she must have been that way while in my belly and that she would eventually stretch her neck to the right but she really hasn't over these last 2 months. After Rory got her ear infections I started to consider taking her to a chiropractor and with her head always being turned to the left I told our doctor that I planned to do that for both issues. Our doctor isn't fond of a chiropractor working on an infant, and she wasn't when we took Max to one for his colic, but I'd like to give it a try to see if it helps. The doctor wants me to take Rory to a physical therapist and gave me a referral for that. I think we'll probably end up doing both so that Rory can get all the help she needs to get this fixed as it can lead to a much more serious condition. Of course, we may decide to only do one or the other depending how we feel the outcomes go, but I think we'll at least try them both out.

Lastly, Rory has had a diaper rash for over 3 weeks now. It isn't terribly bad, but it just won't go away and I had the doctor look at that. I guess her body is reacting to her medicine and she has developed an infection so I had to pick up an over the counter fungal cream. While it sounds really gross, I am pleasantly surprised with the results. After one diaper change most of the rash is already gone!

So my little girl isn't 100% healthy but she is doing a lot better than she was even a week ago - its good news, not bad. And just for the record, as much as this all sucks, colic is WAY worse so she's still the better infant!

Sorry the pictures are grainy, they're from my cell phone. It's hard to take pictures of Max with my camera because the minute it comes out he goes running to get behind it to look at where the camera is pointed. Needless to say he is getting too dang smart. Anyway, Max has developed a bit of a shoe fetish and I've been documenting it on my cell phone. I got a picture of him taking on and taking off his new galoshes today in the basement. Keep in mind this is the fourth pair of shoes he's done this with today.

I also have an excellent picture of Max in our closet putting on Mom's stilettos. Like I said, he's developing a bit of a shoe fetish and who can do that without adding stilettos to the list?

He actually prefers to wear Daddy's shoes. He's brought two different pairs upstairs today to put on and also was putting on Daddy's work boots in the entryway. It is really cute to see but also somewhat annoying because he becomes very frustrated when he can't walk in them and cries. It's also an annoyance because he likes to bring them upstairs which means everything else that was on the shoes also makes their way upstairs. I'm sure it is just a phase though so I might as well enjoy it while it lasts. And he's so dang cute, who can stay mad at him anyway?

Urgent Care again. This morning I went to give Rory her bottle when she woke up only to get thrown up on. She proceeded to do that two more times after her bottle too. I know, this may be TMI, but I'm tired and exhausted and tired, so I don't feel like sugar coating it.

Since I feel as though I've become that paranoid mom I proceeded to call the nurses line to see what they thought. You'd think by now I'd know that if an infant is at all sick they're going to tell me to take her in, yet I proceeded to call in hopes they'll say something like "wait it out". So naturally I was told to take her in to get checked out. Luckily Urgent Care wasn't busy and we got in real quick. I hate the idea of introducing her to any more diseases. I mean, when my car broke down at the Dr's office I refused to go back in and wait, we walked around outside until she fell asleep. (Keep in mind it was in the high 50's - if it was too cold I wouldn't have done that.) Anyway, back to today's visit, we met a very nice pediatrician who took one look in her ears and said "whoa". Apparently her ears were very infected and the medicine she was on had not been working. So he gave her a shot of some new medicine and we will proceed to orally give her the medicine for another week.

We have her 2 month check-up with our pediatrician on Friday. I really hope we do not have to go to the doctor's office anytime earlier than that. I don't know if I mentioned this, but I'm tired. Rory has been a trooper through it all. She continues to work on her smiling and cooing and tries real hard to not let this all bother her too much. Man I hope this is the last time I write about Rory being sick. We're all hoping for that!

Day 6 was MUCH worse!

Tuesday's blog left off complaining about my car not starting after everyone was sick and I had taken Rory in to the doctor for the second time already that week. Don't worry, later that afternoon while helping Andrea I stepped on a staple and lodged it into the bottom of my foot.

Wednesday morning at about 3am Rory decided she was not going to sleep for more than a half hour at a time so we had a really rough morning. Dusty was feeling better and went to work so I was home alone with both kids sick. Yeah, it was a fun day of whining, crying, and illnesses. Rory's temperature started to slowly creep up and sure enough by 7pm it was 100.7 degrees which means we were once again heading off to the doctor's.

Thankfully, Uncle Randy was able to come over and stay at our house so Max could stay home and sleep. His fever was over 102 degrees, but no need for alarm at his age. Dusty and I both went since we weren't sure what to expect; I knew there was a strong possibility we'd be heading to Children's with this fever. The doctor that evening just happened to be our pediatrician that we had seen all week! I have to admit, it was really relieving to see her frustrated at seeing us and seeing that Rory was still getting worse. It's just nice to know you're not crazy. I mean, we'd been to the doctor's office 3 times in the last 4 days now and I hate feeling like I'm just being overprotective.

She asked some questions and then told us we'd have to take the next step now that she has a fever and do some blood work. Both Dusty and I were nervous because we weren't sure if that meant she was sending us to Children's and we really didn't want that outcome. Our doctor started to examine Rory and lo-and-behold, she has developed ear infections in both ears! On Tuesday, both our doctor and the resident she is training checked Rory's ears and they were fine, so between Tuesday morning and Wednesday evening they flared up. Apparently that isn't all that uncommon. Since she is so young, and has been sick for 6 days, there was no question that they were going to treat it. (We have never once treated an ear infection on Max yet.) Also, because of the ear infection, we had reason for the fever and there was no longer a need for blood tests. Yippee!

So now Rory is getting antibiotics, I was permitted to give her Tylenol for her fever, and I am so happy we could finally drug her! I'm sorry, I know our children are over medicated, it's a fact of life, but 6 days of Rory getting progressively worse and worse and no way to comfort her makes you very happy for a prescription. We're still treating her bronchitis with the nebulizer, and she's getting the antibiotics for her ears which makes things a bit interesting but we get to start weening her off the nebulizer starting today. Hopefully we've reached the top of the hill and it's all down from here!

You know the saying, "When it rains, it pours"? Let's just say I've invented a new one that says "When it pours, watch for the monsoon."

Dusty and I were fortunate enough to be able to get both ourselves and Max vaccinated against the H1N1 on Monday. The unfortunate part was that both of us reacted to the shot. I was just achy while Dusty had a full on reaction with nausea and the like. So I loaded up the kids and went to my in-laws to keep them out of Dusty's way and to also get a little help since I wasn't feeling 100%. Rory's coughing seemed to be getting worse while we were there and she didn't sleep much so we had a pretty crabby baby on our hands.

Last night Rory's cough got much worse so I got up and called the Dr's office to make another appointment to go in. Max woke up with a fever and Dusty was still feeling terrible. Luckily, Randy was not working today and was able to come over to help with Max while I was out. Everything is still looking great in Rory's lungs so they believe it is just yet another viral infection that should peak around days 5 and 6 and then slowly get better. We're on day 5 so hopefully it peaks today instead of tomorrow! Then I should still expect 2 weeks of coughing which is just awesome since she has been coughing for almost 6 weeks now. (Yes, that was sarcasm for those of you that didn't read it that way.)

I loaded Rory up and we left only to get to my car that refuses to drive. I say "refuses to drive" instead of "won't start" because it started just fine but then it would jerk a little bit and the engine would just shut off. Another phone call to Randy to come and get us this time! So my car is currently sitting at the clinic until Dusty can get a little more energy today and then he is going to go get it and tow it to who knows where and get it fixed. They both think it is the fuel pump but who knows. The way my day has been going the car is probably totaled and we'll dump a bunch of money into it before coming to that conclusion. OK, I may be a bit over dramatic here, but come on, you just read about my day, it's allowed.

My weekend started out great; I got to hang out with Bridget and Anna Friday evening staying out too late and enjoying a glass of wine. Saturday, Becca, Lisa and I got our books picked out for next year's book club and I was able to stop in Stillwater and have a drink with Sara, Kacie and Jason.

Upon returning home that evening I found out that Rory was once again sick. She had never gotten over her cough from when we were at the hospital and I had planned to call the Dr's office this week if it didn't go away but of course it can never be that simple. Sunday she developed a low-grade fever. We went to Jill's baby shower since I wasn't able to leave her at home, (I had stuff to bring for the shower) luckily she never really got worse, just kept coughing.

We went to the Doctor's today and they did another chest scan and oxygen level check. They are treating her for bronchitis and we are going to be doing the nebulizer for a few days now in hopes that will help with all the congestion since there appeared to be some in her lungs. Hopefully this will clear everything up and she is so far doing great on the nebulizer, we just have to hold it in front of her face since she is still too small for the mask. (Which is a cute fish...)

Hopefully this will cure her cough and I can go back to being a normal paranoid mom instead of the freak I'm becoming; don't go near my daughter without washing your hands, please! I am a little nervous the doctor may be thinking she has asthma because she gave me such an overabundance of the prescription (0ver 90 liquid capsules) but I can ask her when we see her next Friday about that. For now, I'll just focus on this cough.

Halloween and a baptism, all in one weekend! Halloween I spent most of the day cleaning my house and kicked Dusty and the kids out. I believe they spent the day at Grandma's and got in GREAT naps. Luckily Max still doesn't understand what Halloween is and the excitement didn't keep him up! We went over to Katie and Andrew's so that the men could take Max and Lyla trick or treating while us women and Rory stayed back to hand out candy. (And maybe drink a little wine, but the boys had beverages on their walk too!)

Rory really was not into the whole party scene so I didn't get the cute pictures I was hoping for. We did stop at my mom's on the way to the party and she took pictures before Rory got crabby so hopefully she'll have some cute ones to give me. It was quite the night of fun, with Lyla pooping on the floor and Molly's dog sniffing at Max's privates, we all joked that this was one of the wildest Halloween parties we'd ever been to. We're looking forward to doing it again next year - and Chris and Jill's little one will be here by then to join in the fun too!

Sunday we were off to church to get Rory baptised. It was a little different experience than last time with only one other family getting their child baptised, and we had a priest instead of a deacon, but at least I can check that off of my list of things to do. Rory was once again not in the party mood so I pretty much bounced and pacified her the whole time so most of my pictures are blurry. Plus we didn't get a picture of Rory with her godfathers on my camera so I'll have to get one from my mom or someone else. And yes, Rory has 3 godfathers. Proud Uncles Randy, Ed, and Cecil. She is going to be one spoiled little lady!

Rory wore the same baptismal gown that Andrea, Tara and I wore so that was very special. Of course now I have to store it until someone else uses it, thanks mom! Ha Ha. Needless to say I was exhausted from this weekend and of course that means the kids will be up before 7am the next day, and no Dusty to help since he is working. Oh the joys of being a family of 4!