A trip to Chocolate World

Saturday was a perfect day to make an early morning trip to Chocolate World. It has been many years since I have gone and I always enjoyed the ride. So, Gammie, Pop, Mommy and Audrey packed up the car and headed out to Hershey Park to enjoy their winter opening, the famous Chocolate World. We learned all about how they make the chocolate that we liked to eat.

Audrey got to meet a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup and we got to enjoy life through the eyes of our favorite kiddo. There is so many things we hope to do with Audrey and this was just one way to rediscover what life felt like when I was a kid. And, it was all free.:)

The Snow is coming

And we already have enough bread, eggs and milk.
So we got ready in our own little way today.
We made snowflakes.
I cut. Audrey colored.
We did visits to the door to look for the snow that is coming.
We hung the snowflakes on our front windows.
we checked to see if there were any birds at our homemade and regular feeders.
simple is nice.

Too Many Sick Days

We have been out of daycare for 1 month now.
Our main purpose of this big change was to improve Audrey's health and build up her ever-wavering immunity.
On Friday, she woke up out-of-sorts, lets say. She wasnt hungry. She was testy.
I checked her temperature. It was 99.8. Not too high, but higher than her typical 97 something.
As the day progressed, it rose to 100 and 101 and seemed to hover there.
We dosed her with tylenol and ibruprofen, but it didnt seem to go down.
And then, it went up.
Ugh, I start to get that sick worried feeling every time that thermometer reads anything over 101.5. It's like my internal mommy clock knows that it means I will see bigger numbers as the day progresses.
And we did. At around 8 pm, it went up to 103.3 in her ear, which means near 105 rectally.
We dosed her and I headed to bed. At 10 pm, I took the ear temp....104.5 OH DEAR GOD!
In mere minutes, after 2 calls to our dr, she vomited and we headed to the Holy Spirit ER...this time we drove, and skipped the ambulance.
We headed to room #2 after a few minutes wait. When they took her temp, it was 103.8 rectally.
They checked her out and 3 hours later, they sent us home with a dose of tylenol and oxicillin for whatever she is fighting, as we don't know.
So, the last 2 days have been spent cooped up here at home battling an unknown illness, with a fever that seems to want to dwindle about a little while.
Today, it is down. She still has no symptoms other than the fever and loss of appetite.
I realize that fevers are necessary, but jesus, please make my kid well.
I am a nervous wreck when she gets sick because we end up at the ER every time.
I just want these stupid seizures to go away and the fevers to go away and the sickness that seems to always get to her to go away.
I am frustrated.

Our first two days of Mommy daycare

Since Audrey will be spending her time with mommy at home now, with the occasional sitter, i decided to make a more structured day for her.
Yesterday, was our first day at home with mommy on a regular schedule.
Here are some of the things that we did:
We learned about the letter B, so we did things that started with B.
We focused on BIRDS.
We painted a Birdhouse. Much of the paint ended up on the painters. LOL!

We went for a fun walk outside in the winter air.

We made pinecone birdfeeders and found 2 great spots to hang them.


Today, we woke up late after snuggling together and sleeping in...mommy seldom gets to enjoy it.
We went to the grocery store together.
We made bottles filled with beads to shake and colored water and a blown up balloon to admire.
Then, we made cottonball lambs.
What a wonderful gig mama has!

Christmas

What a magical Christmas we had. My parents arrived on the 23rd. A short while after going to bed, we receibved a text message and a voicemail etting us know that my cousins Justin and Karen welcomed their new twins, Seth and Lucia into the world a bit earlier than we had expected. They are healthy and set to come home in a few days. What a blessing!
We woke up on Christmas Eve and I did an early morning photoshoot, while my mom headed out for a massage ( her bday present from us).
We put Audrey down for bed and began assembling her toys and setting up the living room for her christmas morning.
When she awoke, my parents brought her downstairs to enjoy all her new toys.
Many of her gifts were wonderful garage sale finds that we found during the summer months: a baby play station, a grocery store. Our friend Steve gave her a kitche that his kids had grown out of.
We did buy her a barbie ATV. She is still trying to get the hang of pressing the button and steering. The morning was long, but fun, filled with a fire interruption, which is no longer a surprise for any of us.
We then headed to Jim's family's house at 1 pm ( after naps) to enjoy a meal and more gift giving.
Although it was a wonderful christmas, spent with family, we were missing Harry.He spent the holiday in the hospital with numerous health issues.
It was the first Christmas that i can remember that he was not sitting in my driveway at 6 am ready to drink coffee, eat bagels and open gifts.
We are praying for his recovery.
We are thankful for this wonderful time of year and all that God has blessed us with.

A change of plans

Last week, Audrey spiked an incredibly high fever.
We visited the ER via the ambulance and a 100 mph ride prior in her dad's emergency vehicle, with our nephew Parker in tow.
The diagnosis: febrile seizure.
This is now Audrey's 3rd febrile seizure, a seizure that happens when the body's temperature elevates or decreases at a rapid pace.
Needless to say, Jim and I were feeling helpless and not so hopeful.
Nobody wants their child to go through such a scary endeavor.

My sister in law and BIL picked up their son, who I think we traumatized for life, at the ER. And, Jim and I headed home with a kiddo that had a fever still hovering at 103.5 degrees.

The following morning, we woke to find hives on our little girl's body.
I immediately got dressed and we took her to the emergent care at our pediatricians office.
There, we found that she had quite a red and pussy throat. She was swabbed for strep. It came back negative.
They sent us for blood work. It came back with elevated levels of her monocytes, or what looked to be MONO.
I know what you are thinking, what 16 month old gets mono. Right then, our 16 month year old was the only one.
SO, we went home and worked to keep her fever down. We called all of our close friends and family to be sure to share the news, as they may have contracted the illness. We had the whole world surrounding Audrey Joy Salter on its hinges.
AND THEN, the fever broke. But, a strange speckly rash appeared on her back.
We had an appointment scheduled with our primary care Pediatrician...and man oh man, are we glad that we kept it.
at first glance, he assured me that Audrey did not have mono, but that the fever and rash were due to a viral infection called Roseola. febrile Seizure is a common side effect of this virus. Our dear friends the Natales son, Lathan, was now sporting signs of the very same illness.
This was Jim and Stacy Salter's last straw...the one that broke the camels back.
The only way we are going to work to ward off any more illness and ER visits and febrile seizures and ear infections and whatever else comes with getting sick, is to make a life change FOR Audrey.
So, today, after putting it off for 2 days, I called the daycare and let them know that the best decision for Aud is to pull her out of the program and allow her some time to build her immune system to where it should be. We have had a sick kid for 9 months, since the 2nd week of daycare. They can't help it. It is the nature of caring for little kids in a daycare setting. Sickness happens.
I am scared to be a full-time mom. I wonder to myself, am I too selfish for this.
Am I good enough to be the one to teach her how to sing her ABC's, and go on the potty and can I really make those handprint wreaths and turkeys. The answer is: Yes.
God is giving me an opportunity in all of this. An opportunity to watch my little girl grow up more closely than I was before.
It might seem like a change of plans for me, but it is exactly what the plan was from the beginning for him.

ahh how fast life goes

Life in the Salter house seems to speed up and sometimes never slow down. that can be a good thing...sometimes not!
Our blog obviously comes last...although getting it out for me in therapy.
Audrey is no longer a baby anymore it seems.
She is making her move to Tods at Kindercare! She LOVES her friends there!
She is learning something new everyday...and we are often surprised with a snip-it of a song or a new word!
Her favorite word right now seems to be NO! She is also kissing everything!
When we say, give me a kiss...she loudly obliges with a MUAH! She kisses her friends at school too!
What was a tool of discipline as counting to 3 has taught Aud how to count to 3! PS: this form of discipline doesnt work for our girl!
She is certainly a dare devil, afraid of nothing! I think that comes from Jimmy.
She has 18 teeth! I have no idea how she gets them so fast! She occasionally gets herself in trouble by practicing using her little choppers. We think we are over the hump with biting, but sometimes we get a surprise!
We opted to have tubes put into her ears 3 weeks ago. The surgery was quick and she seems to be doing well. Audrey has had a constant ear infection since 7 months and this was our best alternative...especially since they seem to be the fever culprint.
she loves to sing and dance...taht is all me! That is my kid...and when she does it, I get choked up sometimes...lol! I have no idea why!
she watched herself in her mirror in the car and sings whatever is on the radio.
She is loving Dora the explorer lately. We like Dora too!
We are excited to have 2 new playmates in January.
My cousins are expecting twins, 1 boy, one girl...so Audrey will have family kids close to her age.
she loves to play outside.
we found an incredible dumpster deal! Our neighbor decided to set his princess trike to the curb, which has a handle for me to push...what a find! she loves it!
She also loves her pup-pup ( molli). Thank God Molli seems to at least tolerate her.
As for Jim and I.
Jim is busy with work. Busy is good. He has had a great year and I am so proud of him. He is always busy with the fire station. But, lately I have seen what he does in a clearer light and it make me admire him more than just sometimes feel like I am competing for the station's time. LOl! What he does is wonderful and I thank God for people like him who get up free of charge and put out fires, help with accidents, and so many other unnoticed events.
My photography business is going well! It seems I am busy at least 2-3 days a week.
AND, I am teaching at Yellow Breeches Middle School usually 2 days a week. That and my Thursday DeHart days are keeping me busy.
The best parts of my day are right now. Audrey is sleeping closely on the couch next to me, where she just fell asleep and I can reflect on the glory of it all.
I wouldnt change a thing!