mail

this little gem ended up in our mail yesterday on accident i suppose. do you think my neighbors would appreciate it returned to them?

proud of myself

i checked out a book from the library and tried my hand today at an actual hair cut for abi. i think it turned out pretty darn cute. as hard as it was, this just fits her so well.

we went through about 7 otter pops… whatever works, i guess.

abi update

doesn't look like anything ever happened... for this i am grateful

she saw a boy playing across the driveway (about 10 feet) and this is the conversation that proceeded...
Abi: Hey guy!
Hey!
GUUUUUUUUYYYYYYYYYY!
Boy: (doesn't say a word, but turns to look at her)
Abi: Hey guy! (and turns to run down the sidewalk again)
Where did she learn "guy" from?

two years celebrated in a hospital

I thought maybe we would have a nice vacation in Las Vegas this past week. We were headed down for my ballroom competition and to spend a couple of days chillin’. You know my last post was all about how busy we were and how worn out… well, I never thought we would be even more so.

Abi started with a runny nose and cough the morning we were to leave for Vegas, so on our way out of town that evening, we stopped and got some medicine for her (and an ice cream). She seemed to be fine.

About an hour into our drive she started screaming that she needed out and needed a break. By the time we got to Cedar City it was 10pm and we were still listening to her scream. But by this time, she was wheezing in her breathing too. We got on the internet at McD’s and found out our insurance (only for Utah) had an urgent care there that closed at nine. Darn. We were worried, but thought she just needed sleep and some more meds. So we gave her the next dose and headed off. We decided we would only make it to St. George and spend the night there if Abi wasn’t better. There was construction for the next 50 miles and Abi was screaming so much that we got her out of her seat and kept her in Dan’s lap while I wend 10 mph for the 50 miles! Ugg… but I am thankful for it. She finally fell asleep in Dan’s lap.

Abi hasn’t been sleeping through the night for the past 8 months so when she woke up screaming, we thought she was just having a night terror. She was incoherent and didn’t know what she wanted. She then conked out for good. We made it past St. George and since she was asleep I decided to head into Arizona. Suddenly, Abi woke up and threw up all over! It was scary for me because I was driving and didn’t know what to do!

We had gone far enough that we needed to make it to Las Vegas now. Abi’s breathing suddenly got worse and it wasn’t a fun drive. She hurled a couple more times before we got into town.

We checked in, and got ready for bed. In the meantime, Abi’s breathing was still shallow and her body was working on overload to get her oxygen. Abi laid down with me, started coughing, threw up and choked. She stopped breathing. I flung us out of bed and over to a garbage where I gave her the Heimlich. We then packed up our stuff and headed to the urgent care across town (3:30 am). The Dr. there helped us give Abi a nebulizer breathing treatment.

Abi finally fell asleep and we felt a big burden lift off our shoulders; however, her breathing and body didn’t get any better. Every time she would breath in it looked like someone was stepping on her chest and pushing everything into her tummy. That is how drastic the difference was. It was so scary for me and I cried lots that night. She kept asking for me to sing the temple song, the frowny face song, and popcorn.

We went back to the hotel with Abi still asleep (5:30 am). We laid her down and then got  into bed. About 30 minutes later, she started crying again. In and out of sleep for the next 4 hours. I didn’t get any sleep… and Dan only got a little.

The next morning we headed back to the Urgent care because she just wasn’t herself. She wanted to do everything, but would get about five feet and lay down on the floor to catch her breath. It was just too scary for us. The Dr this time told us to head to the ER right away. And this was the next 24hours of our trip. It was scary, we were tired, and we just wanted Abi to get better.

 

I skipped my competition that night and we just tried to take care of Abi. Dan’s sister Jenny lives in Vegas and she came to help us. She allowed us to get some food and sleep which was a lifesaver. I don’t know what we would have done without her. We actually got some good rest that night. The hospital was wonderful. All the Drs and Nurses were so happy and nice. Abi got tons of stickers for completing tasks and some new animals too.

Then Cameron came in the next morning and saw us too. We celebrated Abigail’s second birthday in the hospital. The nurses even gave her some gifts which we were grateful for. Abi has to do breathing treatments every four hours still and it is tough. She hates them and fights every minute of them. We have tried bribes, treats, distractions… everything. She is going to have to get used to them though since she has been diagnosed with mild-intermittent asthma. We have some more Dr’s appointments this week. 

Thank you for all your prayers and help. I am just so grateful for the promptings of the spirit in what we needed to do. I am also grateful for my friends who were down in Vegas competing too so the could come and give Abi blessings. I feel so lucky to still have a healthy child and that she is still with us and just as smart as ever. I hated seeing her so low and sick. It was hare to stay positive. So thank you for what you have all done for us. I know there were angels watching over us.

The last 24 hours of our trip were actually kind of nice, except that we were all so wiped out we really did take it easy. We swam, ate, and went to a discovery center. Abi was pretty much herself again (just a little ornery and tired). Dan is just awesome as a father and husband. He just took such good care of us.  I went to one night of my competition, but look back and we realize that we shouldn’t have gone. It was kind of the last straw. It wasn’t good. Then I got sick because of the lack of sleep, not eating right, and too much stress.

 

I am *attempting* to take it easy for the next three days before we head off again. Today I am doing laundry, finances (especially after this week), unpack, clean, and grocery shop.Do you think my taking it easy is going to happen? HA!

August (at least the first half) and still alive

I cannot believe what we have accomplished around here!- August started out with Dan's birthday which he scored some fun stuff

- Flowers for a wedding that turned out beautifully--- pictures to come

- Then we sent Clarissa off to school for 8 hours a day (for 2 weeks) to get ready for Dancesport

- this also included acryllic nails, spray on tan, and rhinestoning of two new dresses

- Clarissa had four ballroom performances in two weeks

- Clarissa's camera was stolen and returned (thank you!)

- Clarissa had dancepsort in which she dances about every 15 minutes for 10 hours... 6 events, 2 third place medals, and one 2nd place medal (total success!!!)

- Then came wedding time (Dan's brother Chase) and all the DRAMA with it... so not, not, not fun.

-This entailed wedding dress finishing, bridal shower, bachelor party, dinner with immediate families (which I cooked PS), glitter toes, and then the wedding day itself. Overall, this was like 40 trips to Park City.... and we are going again tomorrow :P

-The wedding was okay. Can't say it was my favorite of all time, but I felt my family looked smashing in our new outfits

- Then came finals... enough said

- Then came cleaning my house!!! AHHH!!! Only got two rooms done in 4 hours... the rest will get cleaned in September.

- Then came baking and decorating Abi's second birthday cake for the party - turned out just wonderful

- Then came graduation - what a beautiful, joyful day for my family. I am so thankful for the support they showed me. I have been so lucky to have been placed in with these people because they are the ones that got me through.

- Graduation and birthday party - so nice --- Abi got some great things that I am sure will come up in the next post when her real birthday comes next week.

- Then a movie at the Dollar Theater. It was Abi's first and we were so smart and took her in in her car seat so she had no thought of getting out. About half way through she asked to change it to Dora :) I loved watching the movie through her eyes though.

- Today I folded laundry (four weeks worth and almost everything we own) or about 2 hours. It was a daunting task. Then a game of Puerto Rico, then swimming, then NAP (finally!!!), then nickel cade (just for Dan) and I just finished my lesson for RS tomorrow.

Oh and can I breath yet?~? Nope! We still have 15... no 16 days left of this month and it isn't getting any slower. Sorry if you have tried to get a hold of me.

Here are some photos and I am sure in September I will post some more taken by this----

Happy Graduation to me!!! I get it on Monday!!!

If you want to check out my dancesport vidoes or some of Abi singing Primary songs (so cute) you can check out my youtube channel here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/danzeclaire