Happy Fall!

The kids and I went out to play in the leaves today! It was pretty chilly, but we got bundled up and headed out to the backyard. Ben didn't seem to mind laying in the leaves too much. Madi had fun raking and going down her slide.

Things have been pretty busy here lately. It just seems like we are always running running running. Madi and Ben are both doing well. Madi is talking up a storm and is putting a lot of sentences together. It's really cute. I can really see how her mind is working. When I say something, she sits and thinks about it, and then asks a question. It's so awesome to see her growing up! And she is about 75% potty trained. She has been doing great with it! She has an accident every now and then, but during the day she almost always goes on the potty every time. What a big girl!

I also have some exciting news! My brother, Nathan, and his wife, Mary had a baby on Thursday! Madi and Ben have a new cousin, Elliot! This baby is a true miracle. They tried for over 10 years to have a baby, and didn't think they would be able to. We are all so excited to meet him! They came home yesterday and are trying to settle in to their new "normal"! Congrats, Nate and Mary!!! We love you!

My most terrifying moment

What was your most terrifying moment in your life? I have had some scary experiences but nothing compares to this...

When Madelyn was 17 months old, we were on vacation in Cape Vincent, NY. We were staying in a house right along the St. Lawrence River. I knew that Madi was cutting her molars, all 4 of them. On June 26, she woke up from her nap with a fever of 102. I gave her some Tylenol, and checked her temp again around 5:30, about an hour before her next dose of Tylenol would be due. About a half hour after that, she was asleep in her daddy's arms when she started having a seizure. Gregg jumped up right away screaming and ran her into the shower. He stood there with her limp convulsing body in his arms trying to get her fever down. My parents and sister and her family were there with us, and we all just started screaming and crying. At some point I screamed, "Call 9-1-1!!!" Madelyn was turning blue, and all that was going through my mind was "How am I going to go home without her?" I honestly thought she was dying before my eyes. I was throwing my arms in the air reaching up to God screaming for Him to help us. She continued to seize for about a minute and a half, at which point she was very blue and not breathing effectively. Gregg laid her down on the floor in the bathroom and I just said "I have to do CPR!" In my mind I knew she had a pulse, but I was thinking about all the steps you have to take when doing CPR, and I put my hand on her arm to feel for her pulse, and she stopped seizing. Her breathing was still not good, she was definitely working hard to take in each breath.

While Gregg and I were in the bathroom with her, my mom was on the phone calling for the ambulance. Since we were on vacation, none of us knew the exact address of the place we were staying. My sister ran from one house to the next screaming trying to find out the address. Eventually, somehow the crew figured out where we were. It took about 35 minutes from the beginning of the seizure for them to get there. It took us another 30 minutes to get to the hospital.

To make this a little shorter, the doctor came and checked her out and explained febrile seizures to us. They happen to 1 in 20 kids. Supposedly they are harmless, do not cause brain damage or learning disabilities, and do not mean the child has epilepsy. They don't treat the child with medications or admit the child to the hospital. The only thing they do is find the source or reason for the fever. In this case, it was from teething. Hard to believe a child can get a high temp from teething. Madi always got a temp from teething. If the child has one febrile seizure, the chance is 50% that they will have another one, and is usually in the year after the first one. I thought we were in the clear after a year had passed...but then we basically replayed all of this again on Oct. 1 of this year.

She was at my mom's for the day while I was at home. I called my mom at 10:45am and she said that Madi had a fever and that she had just given her Motrin. Madi had cold symptoms the day before with a runny nose and cough. Well, my dad called at 11:10 and cried, "Lisa, come quick, she's having another seizure!" -- They told us the same thing this time too. Basically just made sure she didn't have an ear infection or strep, and sent her home. Their only instructions were if she gets a fever again, immediately alternate Tylenol and Motrin every 4 hours.

On Oct. 22, I was at work when someone came to me and said, "Lisa, they just paged you overhead. You have to call the emergency room." No one ever wants to hear that. Madi had another seizure when she was home with Gregg. This time, she had no cold symptoms, and no reason for us to believe she was sick or had a fever. Regardless, her temperature spiked, and she had another seizure. It was 101.9 when she came to the ER. They gave her Tylenol and as soon as her fever broke, she was back to normal running around, being a 2 year-old. They checked her for strep, did a chest x-ray, and urine sample and everything came back fine.

Our family doc said now that she has had 3, there is a chance that every time she gets a fever, she might have a seizure. That makes for two paranoid parents! We just have to alternate Tylenol and Motrin every time she gets a cold or anything, and even with doing that, she may still have a seizure.

Now that we are experienced with this, it's not quite as terrifying as the first time. But nothing compares to seeing your child convulsing on the floor and turning blue. Madelyn is such a precious gift to us, and a fun, beautiful little girl, and I couldn't imagine my life without her!

More updates to come!

Just pictures for now

Here are some long overdue pictures for all my faithful blog readers. I am hoping to write a long update in the next couple of days.

Two cute kids

A couple weeks ago, I walked away from Madelyn for one minute while she was drawing with markers. This is what I found when I came back in the room!
Here's the little cutie pie. He'll be 4 months tomorrow!

Happenings

Ok, I admit it. I am a terrible blogger. I keep telling myself that I am going to start posting more often, and I never do! I am sorry to all of my faithful readers that I don't give updates more often.

Things are going great for us! The kids are getting so big! Madelyn has been doing AWESOME with potty training. A couple weeks ago I decided to do all out potty training, and it is going better than I could have imagined. She has had 3 accidents in 2 weeks, and never pees in her diaper except naptime and bedtime. When we go somewhere, we put her in a diaper just because we don't trust her yet in the car and stuff...but as soon as we get to our destination, she goes on the potty! She is really doing well, and I am so excited about it! We have saved so much money on diapers, just in the last 2 weeks! And Madi loves the idea of wearing panties. She picked out Little Mermaid panties. :) She is also starting to talk a lot more. She's not quite making sentences yet, which frustrates me. But she is starting to say more words and trying to repeat what I say. It's so cute! She is really becoming a little girl.

Benjamin is doing great too! He is still really on the small side. I wish he would get some rolls! But it's kinda fun having him little too though because he isn't growing up too fast. He will be 4 months in 3 days! I can't believe how fast these last 4 months have gone. He continues to be a very content, happy baby. He is sleeping good for me during the day now too. We are no longer swaddling him and that makes things a lot easier. He wanted to be swaddled up until about 2 weeks ago. He's sleeping between 8-10 hours at night. Nursing is going well, but I worry about my milk supply when I work. I've been working 12-16 hours a week and am having trouble pumping enough when at work. I hope I can keep up with pumping on the days I have off so my supply doesn't drop, and so I don't have to give him any formula. So far he has had none! It feels great!

Ben is really beginning to become a social little guy! We have conversations with each other, and his little voice is so precious. He loves to be included in the family activity. Sometimes if I think it is naptime (like around dinner time for us), he cries in his crib, so I bring him out to the dining room with us and he acts as though he just didn't want to be back in his room by himself. He wants to be where the action is! And he loves his big sister, and smiles at her all the time. Madi sometimes gets too excited about her baby brother and gets too close for comfort and he lets us know!

A couple weeks ago we went to Knoebels. My friend's 15 year old sister, Tiffany, came with us. She's been helping me this summer with playing with Madelyn during the day so I can do housework. She also comes with me when we go shopping. Taking two kids to the store by myself is nearly impossible. Madi's not crazy about shopping. Just give her a year or two! :) I hope! She likes to take the Nuk out of Ben's mouth when he's in the bottom of the shopping cart in his car seat, and she likes to stand up in the cart. So Tiffany comes with us. She takes a cart and I take a cart and it makes things a whole lot easier. I will be so lonely when she goes back to school in a couple weeks.

Ok, so back to Knoebels. We went on a Friday. Gregg took a vacation day and we all piled in our new minivan. Madi loved the rides! She even went on the big rides with us. She got a little nervous when her belly fell out on the big ship, and she didn't like the big wet ride. But she loved the kiddy rides and the tilt-a-whirl and rides like that. I got free tickets to Dutch Wonderland and am planning on going either on Friday or some day next week with my mom and the kids. I can't wait!

Oh yeah, by the way, we got a new minivan. We decided it was time to trade in the Saturn. It was too small for getting the kids in and out, and when the kids were in the car, there was no room for anything else. And forget trying to fit the double stroller in the trunk. Plus the Saturn sounded like it was going to die any day. Neither Gregg nor I wanted to be driving around with a 2 year old and a baby with an unreliable car. We did our research and decided on a Toyota Sienna. It's so nice! We have so much more cargo space, and Madelyn loves it too! I will post pictures sometime this week. A lot of young moms I know say, "I will never drive a minivan!" But I kinda like being a "Minivan Mom" :)

Gregg and I are doing well too. It's hard to find time for the two of us now that we have a busy life with two little ones. But we wouldn't trade our lives for the world! We love being parents to the two cutest kids in the world!

3 month photo shoot

These are pictures of Ben last week on his 3 month birthday. He had his checkup yesterday and he is 10 lbs 6 oz. He's in the 5% for weight! I guess I make small babies. I like him small. :) He is doing great with naps! Today he took two 2 hour naps. YAY! No crying when I put him down, no demanding the Nuk. No waking up screaming after a half hour. And he is so happy when he is awake! Laughing and smiling and talking. It's been a good couple of days.

Thanks for the lesson, Sarah!

Things have calmed down here a little bit. We were on vacation last week, up in New York along the St. Lawrence River. It was a wonderful getaway. We went with my parents, and my brother, Evan, and his wife, Sarah. The kids were great the whole time. Ben is becoming an easy baby again, and he has been sleeping through the night! No more bassinet! He's sleeping in his crib for all naps and nighttime!

Our fresh catch of the day. If you've never had perch, you have to try it! It's so good fried. And nothing beats free meat for dinners!

These are pictures my sister-in-law, Sarah took and edited. Aren't they great!? She used picnik.com, a free photo editing website. It's so cool all what you can do for free! I am so excited to try it myself.