Bad Reception

This morning Kilian pointed to his right ear and said "There is something wrong with this one. It isn't getting a very good signal or something".

PBJ

It's official. Our new puppy has been named Pippin Beethoven James.

Pippin is Brad's choice, because it is the name of a mischievous hobbit from Lord of the Rings.

Beethoven is Kilian's choice, because he likes the movie about a much bigger dog.

We'll throw in the last name, just so the initials are funny.

Also, rest in peace Sparkles and Freckles. We really enjoyed each and every one of our 46 hours with you. We also feel that since you were so special to us, you cannot be replaced. We will not be taking advantage of the 14 day goldfish guarantee that PetSmart offers.

Seriously

Could


he

be

any

cuter?

We found one. He shall remain nameless for now...

Change of plans

I think I made a mistake by talking all week about our plans to go find a dog today. I was a little disappointed in the selection at an adoption event in town. Is it too much to ask for a kid-friendly, housebroken, tiny little bitty, lab mix mutt, just like the one we found almost 9 years ago?? Maybe so. We miss you, Pandora.

We actually want a smaller one this time. No luck yet. So this is what we ooohed and aaaahed over tonight instead of a puppy.

Meet Sparkles and Freckles.




* please notice how arsty I can be with a crooked picture.

* please don't notice the dust on the furniture.

Equal Opportunity Snack

I said they had to agree on one kind to open after school, so after carefully studying the three boxes of Girl Scout cookies Kilian (seriously) asked me if boys can have them, too.

Art that even I can do...

Click here to create your own painting just by answering a few questions about yourself.

Conversation with Camille

Camille: "I did it!"

Me: "You did it?"

Camille: "Yeah"

Me: "What did you do?"

Camille: "I don know"

Weekend Update

Good thing: I was lucky enough to get a late evening trip to Target alone and I returned to find my sweet husband reading "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" to my older two kids beside a nice, warm fire.

Bad thing: Our next door neighbor came by to tell us that while we slept soundly on Friday night, there were about 6 cop cars in front of our house. They were chasing a criminal that jumped into our back yard while trying to hide!! Our neighbor's dog woke him up at 4 am (which never happens) and when he was letting the dog outside, he saw the man about 4 or 5 feet away from him. (creepy!). The guy asked him not to call the police and then jumped into our yard and ran away through our gate and got caught soon after. Apparently he was pulled over for a regular traffic violation, but jumped out and ran because it was a stolen car and he had several warrants out. I knew I was a heavy sleeper, but YIKES! We've been talking about getting a new dog and this just may be the week we do it.

Good thing: Camille is just about back to normal - "eat" and "want chocloc milk" are words I am so happy to hear.

Bad thing: Kilian had fever and stayed on the couch all day on Sunday.

Good thing: I saw the bottom of both sides of our kitchen sink for the first time in a long time! Unfortunately I stuck with my dishes strategy of "it can wait for the next load" (to avoid hand-washing anything) through the hospital mess, so it took a while to catch up!

RSV, Part II

Let me summarize the last few days for Camille:

11 hours in the ER

27 hours in another hospital room

4 IV bags

3 terrible ulcers/canker sores in her mouth

1 daddy with the stomach bug

93 (approximately) cups of various beverages, mostly turned down by her

1 ear infection

1 happy mama when she woke up saying "want food" this morning!

I knew she hadn't been eating or drinking enough, but I didn't realize she had such terrible sores in her mouth causing the problem. I took her into the ER because I though she was dehydrated, and when they first looked at her, they said she probably wasn't because she had lots of good, healthy tears. They said they would do a quick IV if I wanted. I thought that would make me feel better - and mayber perk her up a little. They just wanted to keep her on fluids until we got a wet diaper, which took WAY longer than we expected.

After hanging out in an ER room all night, they admitted us the next day when a room was available. She must have gotten the luxury room - it was huge with the separate "entry room". After several doses of the "magic mouthwash" concoction, her poor little mouth finally seemed to feel better. She was spoiled by the nurses, and her siblings were spoiled by my parents while Brad was miserable at home. I should also mention that my parents each took a shift at the hospital during the second night - so I could sleep on a bed for a few hours and get to take Kilian and Lucy to school.

She is doing better today, but my full time job is to offer her tons of various drinks and food. I have found myself making up songs and cheers about taking sips. I pretend to give teddy bears and dolls drinks, and act like the drinks are mine, and she can't have any - hoping she will steal it.

The worst part is that she has lost weight - so soon after I bragged about her reaching 20 lbs. and letting her face forward in the car (at 19 months!) The good thing is that the fever is long gone and her lungs never really sounded bad.

Here are some pictures of the little patient - I had quite a bit of time on my hands, and happened to have my camara in my purse. Thank you so much for all the well wishes and prayers!!

RSV

We've never had this in our house before. After Camille had high fever for a couple of days, I took her into the doctor on Saturday - fully expecting to hear she had the flu. Turns out it is RSV. I don't recommend it. I'm having a hard time getting her to drink/eat. So the 20 pound milestone that I was so proud of, is probably no longer the case. The only good part of this is that she's wanted nothing but "blankey" and "rock" for the last 4 days, so I've been able to hold the little girl that would otherwise be climbing onto the kitchen table.

I'll try to get around pictures soon - maybe tomorrow she'll be more like herself.