A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

It was a beautiful Fall weekend.  Saturday started out rainy, so we spent our morning just hanging out and getting some house things done...laundry, a little baking, and a little cleaning (very little).  Since Gracie can't have donuts due to her food allergies (pretty much every commercial donut is made in a facility that uses tree nuts), we bought a Babycakes mini donut maker.  We tried that out on Saturday morning.  She was so excited about it!  She was right there helping me every step of the way.  But when it came time to actually eat the donuts, I don't think she was all that impressed.  Jeff and I thought they were pretty good though. 

On Sunday we went to the pumpkin patch and apple orchard.  Gracie had a great time.  I think the highlight for her was the tractor pulled wagon ride.  She didn't want to sit down.  She stood for the whole ride, holding on for dear life and the bumpier the ride, the happier she was.  At one point she said to me:  "It's a party!"  She also said "This is fun!" 

We also ran into some former daycare friends at the pumpkin patch, so it was fun to see them.  Although Gracie seemed a little reserved, even though I know she loved hanging out with these kids. 

We got three pumpkins...one for dad, one for mom, and a smaller one for Gracie.  She especially likes that one because she can carry it around.  She found it hilarious when she accidentally dropped it and it rolled all the way down our driveway and into the street and I had to go rescue it.  She giggled the whole time it rolled.

The rest of our afternoon was spent outside enjoying the day.  Gracie slept so well last night.  I think all of the fresh air was so good for her.

Have a great week!

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie-the pumpkin roller

A Crazy Month

It's been a crazy month, here are a few hightlights:

• Gracie had yet another ambulance ride to the E.R.  I went to an apple tasting party with her at daycare.  She was very snuggly with another mother there who had beautiful long black hair.  Gracie kept touching it.  I didn't think to wash her hands (why I didn't think to, I don't know - because I know so many shampoos have nut oils in them).  On the way home I could tell something was not right.  By the time we got in the house, she was having problems breathing and had the hacky cough that comes with an allergic reaction.  So I injected her with epinephrine and called 911.  So Gracie and mommy headed in the ambulance to the hospital.  Daddy followed a few minutes later.  
• While at the hospital for her allergic reaction, she spiked a fever.  A fever that lasted 10 days.  We are not sure what caused it, we believe it was viral, but she had us worried, because her only other symptoms were loose stools, no appetite, and no energy.  
• Gracie has started with the Special Olympics Young Athlete's Program.  I think Jeff described it as organized chaos.  We all love it.  There is unconditional acceptance of all levels of abilities and everyone is so positive and enthusiastic.  
• Gracie is really enjoying the Halloween decorations in our neighborhood.  The house directly across the street has gone all out with decorations and Gracie gets excited with each new thing that is put out.  They do have a lit up spiderweb on their house that Gracie insists is a stingray.  It is sort of shaped like one, so I can see where she is coming from.  They also have tombstones all over their yard and Gracie informed me they were "rip".  I have no clue how she knows "rip".  
• Gracie helped Jeff and I celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary this week.  In the morning she insisted on a group hug.  Gracie and daddy made some flowers and a vase out of foam for mommy.  They are so cute.  (We are finding that Gracie is allergic to alot of flowers, so don't feel comfortable having fresh flowers in our house.)  We also had take out from Olive Garden...you should have seen her eat!!!!  I don't know where she put it all.  Then we had a dance party in our living room.  It was a great way to celebrate.

We are hoping to make it to the pumpkin patch this weekend.  We need some pumpkins to make our house look festive.

Have a great weekend!

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Another Ambulance Ride

Has it really been two weeks since I've posted.  I guess that means we've been busy!  Gracie has been learning so much and has been using the word "yes" alot.  I love that.   Jeff traveled to Chicago for work for 4 days earlier this week and Gracie definitely misses him when he is gone.  Her favorite phrase when he is away is "I want to see Daddy!"  On the final day of him being gone, she was asking for him alot.  Very nicely I said to her "Can I have a different word?"  And very sweetly she looked up at me and said "Please!" 

On Sunday, I took Gracie to her school for a fundraising event for a new playground.  They had inflatables and a big bounce house.  Much to my amazement, Gracie ran right up to it and wanted to go in.  She has always been scared of them.  I was so proud of her bravery, but it about broke my heart to see her in it.  She never could gain enough strength and balance to stand up.  Every time she would just about get up, another child would bounce and she would lose her balance and fall.   Then we headed to the Zumba dance instructors who were awesome with Gracie.  So she danced for quite a while.  Then she got to meet Chuck E. Cheese.  Another great highlight for her.

On Monday, Gracie had helped out in the daycare garden and when I picked her up her cheeks were blaze red with a definite allergic reaction and some blistery welty type marks on her cheeks.  They were definitely swollen too.  We suspect her allergy to mold might be the culprit.  I took her home, washed her up and gave her some Claritin.  By morning, she was looking much better. 

On Tuesday, I took her to daycare and she got on the bus as usual, by the end of her bus ride she started going into an anaphylaxis allergic reaction.  Gracie's emergency plan was followed, an epi pen was administered, the ambulance called, and by the time she made it to the E.R. she was cool and calm and doing well.  We'll never know for sure what caused the anaphylaxis, but we suspect it was a delayed reaction from the garden mold the day before.  Or she could be sensitive to a plant that she touched too...she breaks out from both dandelions and mums, so it would stand to reason that there are more plants that cause problems for her.

So Gracie and spent the next 6 hours in the E.R. - which is standard practice as allergic reactions many times go in waves.  She was given some steroids that help with that and we actually got to leave a little bit earlier because she needed seizure meds and they didn't have what she needed.  I stayed home with Gracie on Wednesday just to monitor for any allergy returns.  We still see a little bit in her cheeks, but have a prescription for another dose of steroids should we need it.

Gracie was thrilled that daddy returned home on Wednesday.  He brought her a stuffed Goofy from Mickey Mouse.  I wish I would have had the video camera handy...I've never seen her so excited.  She LOVES Goofy!!!!

Gracie had a great day at school yesterday and was in the best of moods this morning.  I'm looking forward to the weekend.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

To Vaccinate...Or Not to Vaccinate?

Gracie had her 5 year old well child visit with her pediatrician yesterday.  She is a healthy girl and was sooooo cooperative!!!!  The two questions on our mind:

• A referral to see the Speech Pathologist.  She wanted to see us back before the school year started, but we can't just call and make an appointment.  Each time there needs to be a referral from pediatrics.  So we'll be meeting with her on October 30th.
• Vaccinations:  Gracie is currently up-to-date and compliant with her vaccinations.  I'm very pro-vaccination, however prior to age 6 we need to have quite a few vaccinations take place.  One of them being the Dtap vaccination....part of this vaccination is for pertussis (whooping cough).  There is currently a large number of cases of whooping cough in our community and surrounding communities.  Our hesitation for having her vaccinated goes back to her last Dtap vaccination at age 15 months old.  We had just found out that Gracie had epilepsy, we had just started her on anti-epileptic meds, seizures were not well controlled at that point and she had her 15 month vaccinations, and then came the on-set of INFANTILE SPASMS...an intractable seizure disorder that changed our world.  3 months later we finally beat the I.S. monster using large doses of steroids and a non-FDA approved medication that we had to have sent in from Canada.  Gracie's weight ballooned, she became constantly irritable, and she experienced many milestone delays...you don't learn very easily when your having 60+ seizures a day.  Did the vaccination cause the seizure disorder???  Gracie was probably pre-disposed to I.S., but it is believed the vaccination set the I.S. in motion.  So what happens if we vaccinate her with this again???  We've had conversations with Gracie's neurologist who we trust immensely.  She feels that she would much rather treat the seizures than possible brain bleeds that could be the result of having whooping cough.  That certainly makes sense, but I'm not quite ready to go that route yet.  So I asked if we could have a consultation with the Department Chair for Pediatrics, who also specializes in Infectious Disease and is known as the resident expert regarding vaccinations.  Our pediatrician supported our request 100% and we are scheduled for an appointment in early December.  We would appreciate any prayers for guidance.

It was a cool evening last night and Gracie was having a blast playing outside on her playset and with her pretend lawn mower...can you really cut grass while mowing the deck?  Hmmmm.  This cool weather agrees with her.  She was so happy outside.  I just love to see it.

School and daycare continue to go great for Gracie this year.  She is really at a great age and I'm so incredibly amazed at how awesome her daycare friends are with her.  Just this morning we were surrounded by a group of young girls (3 & 4) that were giving her little letters and were chatting up a storm.  I seriously considered skipping work and playing with all of the sweet children at daycare.  I wonder if my boss would have noticed I was missing?  Mitch - Can I stay at daycare and play one of these days?  :)

Have a great weekend!

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie Good Girl

The School Year Has Begun

Gracie has had a fantastic couple of weeks!  She still has a bit of a cough from her pneumonia, but it has subsided greatly.  It's amazing what feeling healthy does for her mood.  She has been the happiest kid lately and so verbal too.  I accused Jeff of increasing her meds again, but he assures me he hasn't.  The other night she said a seven word sentence....she was laying on the floor and didn't want to go to bed.  I told it was time to go read books in bed (our nightly routine) and she told me "I don't want to read any books."  I think she was surprised by the big smile that came to my face as I counted out the words she spoke. 

Gracie's good buddy at daycare left to go to school.  That last day was pretty sad!  Maddie just kept wanting to give Gracie hugs.  The realization for Gracie came later when Maddie wasn't there.  Now she tells me that "Maddie is bye, bye."  The she tells me and signs "sad".   A new little girl named Dana has started in Gracie's daycare room and they are making fast friends.  Dana is the same coloring and has the same type of hair Gracie does, although Dana is much smaller in build.  The similarities are not lost on Gracie, she picked up on this immediately and has gravitated to Dana.  I'm told they get along very well. 

Gracie started her third year of ECSE Preschool last week.  Last year was a pretty stressful year at school for her, it was turning around toward the end with the change of teachers and classroom settings.  This year it has gone remarkably smoothly.  I love her teachers and paras and Gracie really seems to love it.  The bus driver and para are the same as last year and I love, love, love both of them too.  So does Gracie. 

Jeff's busy season of working alot of weekends, long days, and travel out of town have begun.  This does not sit well with daddy's girl.  The first words out of her mouth each morning are "Go see daddy!"  When she finds out that he has already left for the day, she gets sad.  There are some nights when she goes to bed without seeing him too.  We'll just have to make sure the time they do have together is quality time. 

We are looking forward to the cooler fall temps.  That means more outside time for us.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie the school girl

Pneumonia

We've had a crazy couple of days.  Gracie was running a fever when Jeff picked her up at daycare on Thursday.  He stayed home from work with her on Friday and her fever would come and go.  On Friday night her temp spiked to 105.  I was quickly on the phone with the nurses line.  They told me everything we were doing was right.  I didn't feel terribly comfortable with that knowing our little pumpkin.  She was burning up and shaking uncontrollably from the chills.  She also had very labored breathing.  We finally got her temp down a bit, but she was so restless.  She finally fell asleep about 11:00 p.m.   On Saturday morning at 6:00 a.m., it started all over again.  Jeff had to work, so I packed a quick bag and headed to the E.R. with her. 

At the E.R. there were so many trauma patients, that they put us in the intensive care area...not because we needed to be there, but so the doctors could be close to us and their emergent patients.  I was relieved when 8:00 a.m. came and the pediatrician (who I really liked came in)...that's when things started to happen for us.  She sent us for a chest x-ray and sure enough it came back positive for pneumonia.  She also gave Gracie a red popsicle for being such a good girl.  Gracie ate it like a big girl, but you just can't help the drips, there was red popsicle everywhere...including the floor of the x-ray area. 

So they gave us some antibiotics and sent us home.  Our weekend was pretty low key.  Gracie didn't have a lot of energy and her fever continued to spike and then come down with ibuprofen through Monday.  By Tuesday we had the fever under control, but the coughing is pretty nasty.  She's been a trooper though.  Since Jeff had to work on Saturday, went to a family event on Sunday (Happy 50th Anniversary Ann & Denny - so sorry we missed your special day), and I stayed home with her on Monday and Tuesday, she has been missing daddy and constantly tells me that she wants to see daddy.  On Monday after her bath, she took her medical alert bracelet and pretended she was reading it.  Here is her interpretation of what it says:

"Dear Mommy, I love you.  Love, Gracie.  Dear Daddy, STAY HOME!" 

And I thought it said "seizure disorder and allergic to tree nuts".   She is a little comedian sometimes...and of course since I laughed, she's been going around the house saying that alot!!!!

Gracie is back at daycare today.  She was a little hesitant at first, but was definitely ready to see her friends.  It was so sweet, after she settled in there was a three girl hug with Gracie in the middle.  It was priceless. 

She's still a bit tired and has coughing fits if she does too much of anything, but is happy and fever free.  Now if we can only keep her cool in the heat today.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie the germ fighter

Healthy Again!!!!

After 14 days with the diarrhea, I am happy (overjoyed actually) to say that Gracie is healthy again.  She went back to daycare on Monday.  Her friends were very excited to see her and she was pretty happy to see them too!

Here are a few updates:

• Every 4 months Gracie has an appointment with her pediatric neurologist to keep an eye on seizures, as well as neuro development.  We recently had this appointment and Gracie was incredibly verbal and her neurologist was thrilled to see all of her new verbal skills, as well as listening and attending skills.  Seizures are well controlled, but due to growth (Gracie is now 4 feet tall and 62 pounds) we did increase her seizure med dosage.
• Gracie knows all of the capital letters of the alphabet excluding three letters.  We are also working on being able to sign those letters and she is doing great with that too.  She doesn't always get perfect hand formation, but she tries very hard.  
•  Yesterday at daycare, Gracie approached a little boy who was playing trains.  She asked him "Gracie play?"  Then she sat down on the floor and began trying to put some wooden tracks together, she didn't quite get that, but kind of stacked them and then ran her train over them.  Gracie doesn't usually engage in too much actual play with toys, she moves them from one place to another, so we were pretty excited about this.
• Today at daycare a sea life exhibit will be there.  I'm told there will be fish, starfish, sea horses, baby stingrays, and much more.  I'll be anxious to hear what she has to say about her day.
• Gracie has been having very restless nights lately.  She's been talking in her sleep a bit too, so I suspect she is dreaming.  I did ask her this morning if she had lots of dreams last night and she said she did.  I asked her if they were good dreams or bad dreams and she said "bad dreams".  What do five year olds dream about?  Hmmmm.  I do know that when she does seem to be having a bad dream and I rub her back and tell her that mommy is right here, it does seem to calm her.
• Gracie undressed herself for the first time the other day and was quite proud of herself.  I was putting some clothes away in her room when I came out to the living room to find a very proud girl with only a pull-up on and her dress in her hand.  
• Gracie has a great love of Bill Cosby and has started doing impressions of him, much to our amusement.
• I registered Gracie for the Young Athletes Program through the Special Olympics for October and November.  It's a neat program where occupational students volunteer their time to work with 2 to 7 year olds with intellectual disabilities to learn to enjoy sports.  I'm anxious to see what Gracie thinks of it. 

We are loving the cooler weather!

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Gracie is 5!!!!!

Gracie is officially five years old and that age seems to agree with her.  Gracie had a great birthday....we extended the fun to have a few celebrations.  We took cupcakes and Mickey and Minnie Mouse treat bags to daycare for all of Gracie's classmates there.  That was a big hit. 

On the Sunday just before Gracie's birthday.  Gracie's Godparents and family came over to help us celebrate.  Gracie had so much fun and was loving all of the attention. 

On Gracie's actual birthday, Jeff and I took the day off of work to spend it with her.  We took her to the swimming pool and she got so excited to see it and had a great time swimming and playing.  That night Grandma & Grandpa D. came over for pizza and cake to help celebrate. 

It was a great birthday...so many awesome cards, gifts, and good wishes.  Gracie definitely knows she is "5".  She shows us a whole handful.

The evening of Gracie's birthday she began having the diarrhea...and here we are over a week later and she still has it.  No fever, no vomiting, she's eating and drinking, but we can't get rid of the nasty stuff.  Jeff and I have been swapping back and forth staying home with her.  I suspect a bug of some sort from the pool.  I talked with a pediatric nurse today and we'll plan to take her to the doctor tomorrow. 

Since Gracie is sitting on my lap....and wants attention.  I'll keep this short...but will add some pictures to help tell her birthday story.

Who knew 5 years could go by so fast and one little girl could wrap herself around our hearts as Gracie has.  WE ARE BLESSED!

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, & Gracie the 5 yr old

Hot! Hot! Hot!

The theme this week is how to keep Gracie cool.  Thanks heavens daycare is air conditioned!  I wish it were a little cooler so the kids could have more outdoor playtime. 

Some of the highlights of the last week are:

• Aunt Arlene & Uncle Dave stopped by on Sunday to drop off an old-fashioned Radio Flyer tricycle for Gracie to use.  It was one their kids had used and is much bigger than the tricycles you can find today.  Gracie was very excited.  Now it needs to cool off so Gracie can do a little riding on it and strengthen her legs.  
• Grandma & Grandpa D, Aunt Kathy, and cousin Maria hung out with us on Sunday afternoon.  Gracie had fun splashing everyone with the water from her pool.  They all deserved it though because they are the ones who taught her to do it.  They also encouraged her to go into the pool with all of her clothes on...which she did.  Who knew a pull-up could retain that much fluid...I swear it weighed 10 lbs. or more.
• On Monday, Gracie had fun at daycare.  Their theme right now is fairytales and they read the story of Billy Goat gruff.  Then the kids all made bridges out of their bodies and they rolled balls underneath to help them learn the concept of over and under.  Gracie loved this.   She was a tired girl that night.
• On Tuesday, Gracie had the best day at daycare EVER!  A fairy tale story teller came to daycare with his pet dragon "Spit".  That was a huge hit.  Gracie talked about "Spit" all evening long.  They also had a fire drill at daycare and they said that Gracie recovered from that much more quickly than they anticipated.  She told me "It was too loud!"  Gracie participated in all of the group activities.  Gracie usually listens and watches, but is too shy or unwilling to participate. Well on Tuesday all the kids got a turn to name an animal and then say what sound it makes.  When they asked Gracie if she wanted a turn, much to her teachers amazement she jumped right up, but had a hard time thinking of an animal.  So they helped her think of the animal "mouse", then she very confidently said "Squeak!  Squeak!"  They said it was so cute and they were so proud of her.  Mom and Dad are pretty proud too.  
• On Wednesday, Gracie had a very rough day at daycare.  Her teachers said they are just sure it had to do with the impending storms, as all the kids were on their worst behavior.  When Jeff went to pick her up, he watched her on the monitor in the lobby for awhile.  She kept knocking toys over.  Needless to say when daddy arrived, she was made to pick them all up.  She settled down a bit after that and had a great evening.  Last night we had a lazy night and watched some old Cosby show episodes.  Gracie loves these and does a great imitation of Bill Cosby.  
• This morning, Jeff went to lay down with a sleeping Gracie while I went to take a shower.  She rolled over, saw him, said "mean guy" and then went back to sleep.  That is Gracie's new joke, she calls Jeff a mean guy because she knows he reacts to it.  One day earlier in the week, we were at home and Jeff was coming home from work, I told Gracie "Look out the window, see who's home."  Without skipping a beat she said "mean guy".  For all those of you who know Jeff well, he doesn't have a mean bone in his body, which makes this extra comical to me.

Tomorrow at daycare they have a fire truck visit.  That ought to be fun...it's also water day...maybe the firetruck will hose the kids down.  Ha!

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie 

The Week So Far

Gracie had a very rough day at daycare on Monday.  She was very overwhelmed as many of the kids were back from vacation and there was a very full room.  Add to that she was tired as she had trouble falling asleep the night before.  The lead teacher took her out of the room a couple of times to sit in the teachers lounge and listen to music to calm her.  That would help for a little while.  At one point she knocked over all the hats in the dramatic play area and when she was picking them up, she hit herself in the eye with one, so the area around her eye was swollen and the eyeball itself was red.  When I picked her up and asked her how her day was, she told me it was a "sad day".  We gave her extra TLC that night and tucked her into bed nice and early.  She fell asleep immediately. 

Tuesday was a much better day...and it was WATER DAY at daycare.  All the kids get to bring their swimsuits and play outdoors in the sprinklers.  Gracie loves this!

Today Jeff and Gracie are spending the day together.  She was so sweet this morning when I left the house.  "Momma hug!"  "Momma kiss!"  She was so loving I didn't want to leave.  I think Gracie and daddy had a busy day planned.  I'm sure she will have stories for me tonight. 

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Busy, Busy, Busy

We've had a busy and fun two weeks:

Thursday, June 28, 2012:
A petting zoo came to daycare and Gracie loved every minute of it and was very up close and personal with the animals. They had a camel, a donkey, a talking parrot, chickens, baby ostriches, a turtle, a potbelly pig, some goats, a snake, bunnies, and a few more fun animals. Gracie got to hold a bunny and thought that was GREAT!!!

Friday, June 29, 2012:
We all went to pick up my sister at the airport. Gracie was thrilled to have Aunt Norma from Texas spend some time with us. She was a little cautious at first, but warmed up fairly quickly.

Saturday, June 30, 2012:
This was a Gracie and daddy bonding day. They had a great time playing and just hanging out. Rumor has it she even got McDonald's chicken nuggets for supper. Mommy snuck away for an all day "shop til you drop" day with her four sisters.

Sunday, July 1, 2012:
Lots of errands with mom and then some outdoor time in the pool and sprinklers while daddy started a landscaping project. This way Gracie could be by daddy, but still busy and not too much in his way.

Monday, July 2 & Tuesday, July 3, 2012:
It was back to daycare for Gracie. It was too hot to do much...so they played inside most of the time. She has been such a good girl at daycare the last couple of weeks. I think she is finally feeling comfortable and understanding the expectations. They had red, white, and blue day on July 3rd...we made sure she looked very patriotic.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012:
We had a big family picnic, complete with delicious food, lots of family, and lots of fun. A small inflatable swimming pool and a sprinkler helped keep Gracie and others cool. There were some water fights and a good day was had by all. Gracie loves family time. She was so tired by the time we left, but she stayed awake the whole way home and was very chatty.

Thursday, July 5, 2012:
A representative from "Bikes for Everybody" was supposed to come to our house, but a family emergency came up for her, so this was postponed til Sunday. Gracie was tired and kind of needy this day. We just let her play and spend some time in the pool again.

Friday, July 6, 2012:
Back to daycare. She had a great day and even took an hour nap. She rarely naps at daycare.

Saturday, July 7, 2012:
We drove to Grandma and Grandpa B's house for the afternoon. There was lots of family around and Gracie enjoyed herself immensely.

Sunday, July 8, 2012:
The representative for "Bikes for Everybody" came to our house and we tryed a few models out for Gracie. Gracie loved it...we're still not sure what we are going with...they are going to drop off a bigger model at our home for Gracie to try for a few days. The options range anywhere from about $250.00 to $1600.00, and of course the one that Gracie loved and felt the most secure on was the $1600.00 model. I think some of the smaller models will actually help Gracie work on her skills. Still trying to decide what to do. Gracie was VERY sad when the bikes got packed up to go...she thought she was getting one that day. Grandma & Grandpa D came over for supper. Gracie was pretty tired though and occupied her time by removing all the box and canned goods from my pantry...one box or can at a time.

Monday, July 9, 2012:
Gracie had a bloody nose through the night. When I went to take a shower I wondered why I had blood all over my arm (she had been sleeping on my arm). Her pillows were full of blood, her blankie, her pj's, and her face. We had to quick wash her blankie so it could travel to daycare for rest time with her. She wasn't too sure she wanted to stay at daycare today and was looking kind of sad when I left.

Hoping the cooler temps this week will make for a more comfortable girl.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Great Mood!!!

Gracie has been in a great mood all week and she has been so well behaved at daycare. Everyone at daycare has been commenting on it. She's been helpful, cooperative, and a good friend.

Yesterday it was water day at daycare and Gracie got to bring her swimsuit along and run through the sprinklers. She loves this. I'm told she had a ton of energy. When I picked her up last night, she was in the middle of storytime, so I let her sit on my lap while the teacher finished the book. I noticed she had quite a cough, but she still seemed happy enough. Her cheeks were a bit flushed too. We got her a drink on the way out. The hacking cough continued and became quite severe all the way home. She was breathing, she was able to swallow, but she was definitely having an allergic reaction to something. I think I watched her more closely on the way home than I did the road. When we got home I gave her some antihistamines, some food (as she was starving), and a bath to make sure any allergen that might be on her skin was removed. It took about an hour and a half...and lots of prayers and the coughing finally subsided. I slept with one eye open all night, but she fine and was in a fantastic mood this morning.

I talked with everyone at daycare this morning and we have no idea what may have caused her allergic reaction. I have asked them to only use our sunscreen, as I have been noticing that her skin reacts to theirs a bit...even though there are no nut products in it. They were happy to comply with my request.

I'm hoping there will be no more weird reactions today. I also hope Gracie stays cool today...it's supposed to get to 95 degrees today. A real scorcher!

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Great Mood Gracie

Healthy, Happy, and Having Fun!

I am happy to report that Gracie is healthy again!!!! We had a pretty low key weekend. On Saturday we hung out at home, played outside and enjoyed a visit from Grandma & Grandpa D. On Sunday we hung out at home most of the day. We brought out the sprinklers to keep Gracie cool and she had a great time playing outside. Jeff discovered a nest of baby bunnies so Gracie was super excited about that. Gracie has been so much fun lately. She gets so excited about things. On Saturday she found a video of a whale swimming on her iPad and kept showing this to Jeff and I excitedly. Then we put sprinkles on her ice cream cone. That was major excitement as well. It makes me smile to hear and see her expressions. Yesterday when Jeff picked up Gracie at daycare, he was told she got the gold star for being the best behaved kid in her classroom. She had a great day! They had a dance instructor come in and teach the kids zumbatomic dancing. I'm told Gracie LOVED it!!!! Today at daycare it's water day, so the kids will get to dress into their swimsuits and run through the sprinklers...another favorite of Gracies. It does my heart good to see her healthy and happy again. Last night she kept eating and eating and eating!! Then she woke me up this morning at 4:00 a.m. and told me she wanted chicken, boop (her word for ketchup), and french fries. I told her to go back to sleep! YAWN!!!! Stay cool...I hear we are headed into the 90's for the rest of the week. UGH! Love, Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie Good Girl

The Stomach Flu....EWWWW!

So last Wednesday, the very day I posted about what an awesome week Gracie was having, I got a call early afternoon from daycare...she had the diarrhea and had vomited. I picked her up and she seemed happy enough...then as we were driving home, she threw up again...all over herself and the car. That was the theme for the rest of the afternoon. By Thursday the vomiting had stopped, but the diarrhea continued. We thought we had it under control over the weekend, when it began again later on Sunday. I stayed home from work with her on Monday...and at midnight on Monday night/Tuesday morning, it all began again. She was vomiting and had the diarrhea constantly from midnight through til 4:30 a.m. when she finally was able to fall asleep. The poor little munchkin just moaned through it all and was so restless. She never moans unless she is REALLY sick. I stayed home with her again yesterday and it was a pretty quiet day. She would drink Gatorade, but nothing else. She would eat just enough applesauce to get her seizure meds in her. In the evening she started to perk up a bit and wanted some crackers and did have a piece of toast. Gracie slept great last night and was still sleeping when I left the house. She is at home with daddy today. She is eating a bit more today, but I'm told the diarrhea continues...not as frequently however. She has asked to go "bye, bye" so that is a good sign. We're hoping that she is feeling better and soon! Love, Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie Gurgly Guts

Awesome Week

Gracie has had an awesome week at daycare.  We've been very good about getting her into bed for story time at about 7:45 p.m., so she is asleep by 8:00 p.m. and this has done wonders for her mood and ability to cope at daycare.  She loves daycare and asks every morning about going "bye bye daycare". 

I think I've mentioned in previous posts that when Gracie is feeling overwhelmed or kids get in her personal space, she doesn't have the words to communicate, so she will hit or scratch them.  We've been working with her on calm down techniques and behavior modifications.  It's working!  Her teachers at daycare have told us that they see her make the hand motion as if to hit, but catches herself midway and puts her hand down and stops herself.  They've also indicated that they have a "calm down corner" both indoors and outdoors and have found Gracie going to these spots on her own when she is feeling a little overwhelmed or just needs some time away from everyone else.  YAY GRACIE!!!!

Gracie was in such an awesome mood last night.  She was happy, silly, smiley, just in fantastic mood.  She brought home a project she made in daycare last night for Jeff for Father's Day.  I just love it...she made him a trophy that says #1 Dad.  It is so cool. 

Gracie was in bed and sleeping by 8:00 p.m. last night, but awoke at 2:00 a.m. and try as she might she couldn't fall back asleep.  I "bounced" her (me holding her and bouncing) for a while, but I can only bounce a 60 pound child for so long before my back feels like it is going to break.  We snuggled, we rocked, and at 3:30 a.m., she finally fell back asleep, but it was a restless sleep.  She awoke at 6:30 a.m. and was a happy girl this morning, so I hope she's having a good day at daycare. 

It's water day at daycare today...this happens once a week.  The kids all bring their swimsuits and they get to play in the sprinklers.  It was so much fun hearing all the kids ask each other if they brought their swimsuit.  I even told Gracie to ask her friend Maddie if she brought her swimsuit and she did.  "Maddie, did you bring swimsuit?"  Then Maddie's dad asked Gracie if she brought hers (she had just heard me tell someone else it was pink) and she said "yes, pink!"   I hope it's warm enough out for water day...it's looking kind of cloudy and cool out there.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie in the pink swimsuit!

School's Out for Summer!!!!

Gracie has officially graduated from year two of preschool.  The last day of school was a lot of fun for her.  The school had a DJ playing music on the playground and Gracie LOVES music and LOVES to dance.  Parents were invited to join the class for the last hour of school for a party and a little graduation ceremony.  It was a lot of fun to see Gracie with her classmates.  Many of them will go on to kindergarten next year, but since Gracie will be a very young five, we decided another year of pre-school would be the best thing for her.  We've met her teacher for next year and we are very pleased.  We've also found out that the director at Gracie's daycare (who is going to school for her early childhood special education degree) will be student teaching in Gracie's class.  Gracie loves Sara, so that is very exciting too. 

So Gracie will be officially hanging out at daycare for the summer.  They are bringing in alot of fun things for the kids.  They also have "water day" once a week.  We've found that if Gracie is in bed by 8:00 p.m. or before she usually has a good day at daycare.  Later than that...and she has a really rough day.  She really is a kid who needs her sleep. 

This morning she was very happy to be there...I'm hoping she has a great day.

Our weekend was spent trying to keep cool..Gracie got to hang out in her inflatable pool in the backyard and loved every minute of it.

Have a great week!

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Gracie and Mommy Weekend

Jeff worked all weekend, so Gracie and I had a great, yet mellow weekend together.  We had a playdate planned for Saturday morning, but a g.i. bug hit the home of our play buddies, so we took a raincheck.  We hope you are all feeling better playmates. 

On Saturday morning we did a little shopping.  First stop...the shoe store where I was assured she still had enough room in her sneakers.  Next stop...the mall.  We got Gracie some shorts that were on sale in a size bigger than what she wears...just in case a growth spurt hits before the summer is over.  Then we stopped at McDonalds for some chicken mcnuggets and french fries.  We took it home and added some healthy fruit to the lunch menu.  We played outside after nap and into the evening.  Jeff made it home at supper time and we grilled hamburgers and ate out on the deck. 

In the evening Gracie was having a great time climbing up the slide and going down all by herself with no one catching her.  She then thought it was great fun to play puppy by crawling on all fours on the grass with her tongue hanging out of her mouth while she pretended to pant.  I made sure to wash her hands well after that in case any squirrels had left any nut debris in the grass.  Unfortunately, this didn't help her seasonal allergies at all and her eyes were bright red before bed.  When she awoke in the morning, her right eye was so swollen she could barely get it open.  We used prescription eye drops and nasal spray, and gave her the daily Claritin and they were looking a lot better by noon, but they were definitely swollen all day. 

On Sunday, at Gracie's request, we went to Target "to buy chicken".  Gracie LOVES going to the store.  We also stopped at Old Navy where she is in love with the little kid and dog mannequins.  She was holding their hands and hugging them.  There is one just a little bigger than her that has the cutest piggy tails and she was sporting piggy tails too.  I wish I would have had a camera to take a picture of the two of them together. 

Other than that our day was pretty lazy.  Gracie pepped up when daddy got home about 7:30 p.m.  She was definitely missing him.  Unfortunately bedtime came way too soon for her liking.  We try to get her in bed by 8:00 p.m. on school nights...but she needed some daddy time, so it was more like 8:30 p.m.

Gracie had a great day at school today and was very verbal.  She kept telling her classmates "good job" on the playground.  She did accidentally ingest a small amount of ice cream that was manufactured in a facility with tree nuts before staff realized it.  So school monitored her for about 45 minutes and the bus staff and daycare are now on monitoring alert as well.  I'm pretty sure that if there was going to be an allergic reaction we would have seen it by now.  I'm hoping and praying that all is fine. 

It looks like it is going to be a beautiful week.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Healthy, Happy, and Having Fun

Gracie is healthy again which makes for a much happier girl. 

Here are a few highlights of Gracie's life since I last posted:

• Gracie had a dentist appointment and even let the dentist clean her teeth and apply a little flouride!!! (A little history:  At her first appointment she wouldn't open her mouth or sit in the dental chair.  At her second one she sat in the chair but wouldn't let them clean her teeth.)  So I felt that she made some major strides.  We practiced opening our mouth and saying "AHHHH" the whole way to the appointment.
• Gracie met with her allergist.  We postponed having her tested for a possible penicillin allergy, as her seasonal allergies are still quite bothersome and we knew she would be miserable if we took her off antihistamines for the required 5 days prior to the test.  We are now adding a prescription eye drop and a nasal spray to her list of allergy meds to see if we can get her seasonal allergies under control.  
• Gracie attended the graduation parties for two of her cousins.   She loved taking all of her cousins for walks and was not ready to go home when it was finally time to leave.  She has become a very good car rider.  I didn't think I would ever say that.  
• On Memorial Day, we set up a sprinkler ring and Gracie had a blast playing with it and in the puddle of water that pooled at the sidewalk.  She is definitely an outdoor girl.
• Gracie went bowling for a school class trip.  A big thank you to her teacher who washed down the bowling alley surfaces that Gracie would come into contact with and to the district school nurse who went along.  We so appreciate all of the extra efforts that were put forth to keep our precious little girl safe from allergens.  
• Gracie has been so tired lately.  Jeff and I are just sure that she is gearing up for a growth spurt.  I've already noticed that her shoes are starting to get small.  I think we'll be going to the shoe store this weekend for some new shoes.  
• Gracie only has two more days of school left.  After next week, she'll be on summer vacation and her daycare has a ton of fun summer activities planned.
• Last night after her bath Gracie stood in front of the mirror flexing her muscles and told me she was strong!  She cracks me up!
• Life is good and we are blessed!

Hope you're having a great Spring!

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Healthy Heart!!!

On Thursday of last week, Gracie had her annual echocardiogram and visit with her Pediatric Cardiologist.  We got great news.  In the past Gracie has had two valves that showed some thickening (that's not a good sign) and a ductis that was leaky.  This has been pretty consistent each year...no changes, but all still of some concern.  This year the results were different...there was no thickening of the valves and the ductis has grown closed on it's own and there is no longer any leakage.  Gracie's cardiologist said that had he not seen Gracie's previous echos, he would not have known this was anything but a healthy heart!  YAY!!!!!  We still need to check in annually to semi-annually to keep an eye on things, specifically the valves.  Our cardiologist told us to keep on doing what we're doing.  So I guess we'll just keep on feeding her french fries and chicken nuggets!  ;)

On Friday, Gracie started coming down with a cold.  I knew there was something wrong when I wanted her to go outside with me on Thursday night for a walk and she didn't want to.  I finally convinced her to go in the stroller and halfway home, I asked her how she was doing and she told me she wanted to go home.  On Saturday, it was much of the same -- runny nose, quite a cough, not too much energy.  Although we did play outside a bit.

On Sunday morning, her fever spiked to 102 and she had uncontrollable chills and very labored, wheezie breathing.  I gave her some ibuprofen, wrapped her in a blanket, and held for 90 minutes until she started to feel a bit better.  So we gave her lots of TLC yesterday and today she is at home with daddy getting even more!  The last I checked in, her temp is normal.  So I'm hoping she is on the mend.

Stay well!

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Time with Family

Gracie had a good weekend.  She got to see Grandma & Grandpa D on Saturday.  Gracie is still pretty shy around them since their return for the summer.  I know she'll warm up soon.  On Sunday, we went to Grandma & Grandpa B's house.  Gracie was good as gold for the drive to and from.  We sang and did hand motions for most of the trip and that is great fun for Gracie.  She was super excited to see cousin Jason...and Aunt Sheila and Uncle Chris.  There were lots of hugs for everyone. 

Monday was a rough day for Gracie.  She didn't get enough sleep, she didn't have school, and she was a major grump with strong behaviors for our beloved daycare team.  The morning was extremely rough and she was very unhappy and nothing consoled her.  Finally they had her lay on her cot and listen to music and that seemed to be the ticket.  The afternoon was much better.  Gracie's day yesterday was better, but she still had some strong behaviors.  She was so upset at lunchtime, she didn't eat.  She seemed very tired last night, so instead of a bath, I just stuck her in bed early and decided she would just have to stink for a day.  :(

That seemed to be the ticket...more sleep.  I just talked with her teacher and she had the best day yet.  There were no tantrums, she cooperated and joined in on all activities.  She had a great time with friends at school and had very little transition issues when getting on and off the bus.  Maybe this was because she was wearing her batman shirt to school today at her request.  She was feeling like a super hero. 

Tomorrow we have her annual echocardiogram and visit with her cardiologist.  Hopefully we'll get good results! 

Have a great rest of the week.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie