Hoppy Easter!

On Thursday I took the children to the mall for a picture with the Easter Bunny. By the time I had all of the kids dressed and we were walking out the door, Sid drove up. He was suppose to be completing his 12 hour clinical at our local Immediate Care, but was sent home due to illness. He complained about having a really bad headache on Wednesday, but it was so bad that it caused him to get sick. We left him to sleep in a quiet house while visiting with the Easter Bunny.

Even though the line was not very long, we had to wait FOREVER while the mother in front of us required at least 15 photos to be taken of her 1 child...his shirt was crooked, his hair was sticking up, his smile wasn't as big as she thought it should be, the bunny's bow was not formed properly, Blah, Blah, Blah! My kids were great even though we had to wait forever. When my kids were finally on the Easter Bunny's lap, Liam was not up for having his picture taken. Unlike the mother in front of me, I chose one of the first pictures taken and we were out of there!

Waiting in line to see the Easter Bunny.

The Smithson Children with the Easter Bunny 2009

At 3:30 am on Friday, Sid drove himself to the ER. My parents were out of town and I did not want to drag the kids to the ER at that time of day. I hated that he had to take himself, but I think Sid enjoyed the peace and quiet at the ER versus our house! After giving him a lot of fluids, a CT scan, morphine, and numerous other drugs, Sid was diagnosed with a "really bad" sinus infection! My friend Jenn came over to watch the children at 10:30 so that I could pick Sid up from the ER! We are glad to have him feeling better.......because when he is sick, it is like having 4 kids!

On Saturday Lainey began to sound very congested. You could feel the rattling by putting your hand over her chest. She was already on her second week of Bactrim and she sounded worse than before taking any additional medications. After calling Dr. Caplan, he called in another, much stronger prescription....Problem: too late to get the new medication because the pharmacy was closed! Needless to say, Lainey coughed ALL night! I barely slept because I was so worried about her. Lainey NEVER coughs and if she does, she is either faking (mocking my mom) or she is choking on food or formula. I caught myself checking her video baby monitor off and on every half an hour to an hour. After some intense chest physio therapy, she sounded much better.

Logan and Liam decided that their Easter Baskets should go on the rug in front of the door. This picture is after the Easter Bunny visited our house! The Easter Bunny knows that the boys do not need a bunch of candy and would rather have a few new toys! Lainey got some baby food and a movie...Logan decided the movie was really for the whole family, Lainey just had more room in her basket! Sid also got some goodies from Mrs. Bunny.....a huge jar of Gourmet Jelly Beans and some chocolate candies!

The boys were so excited about their Easter basket goodies! They played for a while before we got ready for church! We were actually on time for church! Getting three kids dressed and fed, myself dressed and fed, loaded into the car, and to church on time by myself is a HUGE deal! It felt great to sit down once I got settled into the pew....although we were practically sitting on top of each other! Lainey loved being in church with all of the music as well as sitting next to her Gigi and Papa! After church, my parents, my sister and her family, and the kids and I went to IHOP to eat. YUMMY!

Lilly Anne eying some sausage!


Lainey waiting on her food.

Logan sporting his shark necklace (no he did not wear a t-shirt to church, I made him change before going to eat strawberry syrup!)

Lainey scarfing up egg and pancake!

After eating a yummy brunch at IHOP we all went back to Gigi and Papa's house. The Easter Bunny brought a gift to their house.....another movie for the boys! The boys watched movies while the rest of us hung out and took a few pictures!

Brad, Dayna, and Lilly Anne

Lainey and Gigi

The Girls!

Lainey, me, Gigi, Lilly Anne, and Dayna

(This is a good DIET picture....it gives me even more motivation!)

Liam found Gigi's jelly beans!

We had a great day celebrating Jesus' life and his forgiving of our sins. Now it is back to work and school for the kids and I. Only 29 days left of school! Woo Hoo!!!

Lainey sporting her Baby Leg tights!

Well, That's ALL Folks! Have a good week! :)

DeAnn

Spring Fun!

It is that time of year again....Spring Break! Only, this kind of weather is not that of Spring! Yes, rain, 60 degree weather, pollen, and a week out of school is an indication that spring is here, but SNOW and freezing temperatures?

Our plan to camp at Stone Mountain park during part of our Spring Break was with hopes of good weather. When we left town on Thursday, we were far from having good weather! With thunderstorms, flooding, and tornado warnings, our vacation had an interesting start. Thanks to my dad, our camper was already set up in our camping spot when my parents, the kids, and I arrived at Stone Mountain around 9:00 Thursday evening. Sid was scheduled to work on Friday, therefore we left him at home!

It was rainy all day on Friday and I was stuck in the camper with 3 kids...one which was feeling less than par. Lainey looked as if she had pink eye and was running a low grade fever which caused her to be very sleepy. After a call to her CF doctor, Dr. Caplan, we had a prescription for eye drops and Bactrim. Sid finally made it to Stone Mountain around 8:45 and boy was I happy to see him!

On Saturday we had beautiful weather. Our friends Cindy and Sean, along with their kids Dawson and Kaylah joined us for a day of fun at Stone Mountain. We had a blast meeting Bob and Larry from the Veggietales, making bugs, riding the train, picnicing, shopping, watching the Back Yard Circus, grilling out, and viewing the Laser Show. The best part was when we tried to fit 11 people into my Ford Expedition EL! It is designed to seat 8 people...we managed to fit 11 and we could have fit more! We had about a 2 mile drive within the park to get from our camp site to the Laser Show lawn, so we were not cramped for long. Yes, we could have driven 2 cars, but it is VERY hard to park...plus my mother has a handicap pass, making parking a breeze! Sid and Sean sat in the front, Papa, Lainey, and Liam sat in the middle, Gigi, Dawson, Cindy, Kaylah, Logan, and I sat in the last row, and we filled the back with a wagon, double stroller, and a gazillion blankets! I think it took us loner to get in and out of the car than it did for the 30 minute Laser Show, but we had a ball!

Sunday was much colder, but the sun was out for most of the day. We took my parents over to Stone Mountain park and did a little shopping and playing. Everyone started breaking down around 1:00 because they were cold and hungry, so we went back to our campers. Shortly after we ate lunch Lainey began acting sick again. She started throwing up and was running a fever. Needless to say, she did not hold down much and was very lethargic. Sid watched Lainey and the boys during their nap time, while mom and I went to Target! We rarely get to go shopping without kids and it was so much fun to get out by ourselves!

Monday Lainey was still feeling crummy, but not throwing up. We had to call Eileen, our Littlest Heroes Project photographer, to cancel our session. I really wanted to have our pictures taken, but I wanted Lainey to feel up to it, plus it was super cold outside. The wind was blowing 45 miles per hour and it was 42 degrees! My sister and her husband had dropped Lilly Anne off at mom and dad's motor home around 9:00 while they went to Brad's pre-op. We all ate dinner together and I got some cute pictures of the girls, Gigi and Papa, and all the grandkids! I also managed to fit in a trip to Hobby Lobby, Marshalls, and T.J. Maxx(of course this was when the kids were taking a nap.)

Brad and Dayna left around 5:00 Tuesday morning for his surgery. Sid left for school shortly afterwards. The kids and I were in for the morning due to extremely cold weather and SNOW! Snow on Spring Break is wrong! I packed up the camper while the kids played, watched movies, and ate, and ate, and ate! Sid finally got back from school around 2:15. He worked on hitching the camper to the Expedition, putting away hoses, and preparing to leave while I took the boys to roast marshmallows and make smores. The boys had a bunch of firey, sticky, chocolaty, sugar high of a time! We hated to leave, but Sid had to be back for his 12 hour clinical on Wednesday and Thursday, and work again on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. BLAH!

Brad's surgery went well. The doctor pulled 4 teeth and removed a large portion of his lower jaw bone. He was lucky in that the tumor was contained to one area. For two weeks he will be out of work and they will begin looking into options for replacement teeth. Dayna and Brad are very glad to have this tumor removed and the surgery out of the way. He is doing well and hanging out at home while vegging on ice cream and pain meds!

Well, just a few more days left of my Spring Break and then back to the grind! I had so many pictures from our Stone Mountain trip, that I made a slide show. Enjoy the pictures!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

DeAnn

The pink eyed, slimy nosed, three eared monster

Well......there are sick children at our house again! Liam, our two year old, has a double ear infection and pink eye! Liam has already had 3 sets of tubes and adenoids removed then scraped because they grew back. He has also had his tonsils removed and a bilateral ear wax removal. With all this, one would think he would be semi-healthy.....not so much! This double ear infection is after having strep throat two weeks ago. On Friday had Liam just finished the antibiotic to treat strep throat. On Monday Liam's day care called suspecting he had pink eye. We were convinced it may be due to his sinuses draining. His eyes were getting worse and that is what prompted us to take him to the doctor. He is now on antibiotics for a double ear infection and pink eye!

Lainey is also having some issues with sinus drainage. She has had a slimy, green nose and the beginning of an ear infection in her right ear. She was running a fever on Monday, so I called her CF doctor. Of course Lainey is now on the old standby ~ Bactrim! With the combination of the Bactrim and the eye drops she was prescribed, Vigamox, her eyes are looking much better!

I am hoping everyone is well soon because this weekend the boys are going to hang out with their Papa Dan and I am going to my grandparent's house in South Georgia. I will be taking Lainey, but she is really easy to deal with even though she requires numerous meds and CPT. Maybe I will get to relax and actually hang out with adults! I always enjoy visiting with my grandparents. I am very lucky to still have both grandparents on my dad's side as well as my mother's side of the family!

Please pray that everyone is well soon, therefore I can keep my plans of relaxing and hanging out with my grandparents this weekend!

DeAnn