Family Visit

After church today, when we received about 60 new active members to our ward from Apopka, and were told that we would meet in the Apopka building until our new building is complete, we went to Lakeland for a quick family visit.
Nana came down with Carolyn for the weekend so we were needing to see her, for sure!
Brennan and Lauklan relaxing.
Ricky and Carolyn
Mom and me
Carolyn and me
The kids. Look at Aislinn pouting.
Everyone, minus me.
The seven of us. Aislinn is screaming there. We went from sitting to screaming!
Chris and me
Nana and Chris

No news!

I am so frustrated!

We went for the ultrasound this morning.

We went for the IV antibiotics this afternoon and I fully expected to have the ultrasound results this afternoon, but no!

The nephrologist's nurse did say that it could be a good sign that they didn't get a call from the radiologist that was 'reading' the ultrasound because they usually call if they see something 'bad'. So maybe that is good. Right?

However, what is wrong then? How is her urine now?

I hope that Monday brings a bunch of answers.

On a positive note, Aislinn is feeling much better and is in good spirits.

Right now

We had the IV put in today and they ran IV antibiotics. That was not pretty, to say the least!

Dr. Montane came in and talked with me and checked Aislinn out. She got the ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow morning at Arnold Palmer hospital. I have to leave the house around 6:40 in the morning to be there for 7:30 registration and an 8:00 ultrasound.

Dr. Montane said that she would have her nurse call and check on the culture tomorrow, when it should be ready and talk to Dr. Rich, which is the urologist that performed Aislinn's surgery in December.

We have to go back tomorrow afternoon to have another round of the antibiotics done through the IV. Aislinn still has the IV in place so that we can hopefully avoid having to do another stick tomorrow.

We did not have a fever until about a hour or two ago. It has creeped up to 101.6 again. I know that it doing that is NOT a good sign. Especially that she is pumped full of antibiotics.

What is going on here? I really hope that the ultrasound gives the doctors some information that is greatly needed to address the issue at hand.

Please know that your prayers are felt and greatly appreciated.

Just as last time, great friends have stepped in without hesitation to offer support and shuttle kids. It brings me to tears just thinking about it. To say that I am humbled and grateful for their service to our family would be a great understatement!

Update

I have to have Aislinn in Orlando at the Nephrologist's office at 1 p.m. for them to run IV antibiotics.

They are going to have a renal ultrasound done too. Not likely today, but soon.

Say it isn't so!

I got a call, as you know from the pre-school yesterday morning. Aislinn came home and took a nap, I also gave her Motrin.

But... only 4 hours later, she was running a fever again of 101.6. This was about 3:30. Finally, around 4:15 it hit me. This is exactly how she would act when her kidney was acting up before the surgery, no symptoms, just a fever, out of nowhere, and that fever would be persistent and high.

I called her pediatrician, but they were closing and they told me that given her history, if I wanted I could take her to After Hours Pediatrics to get her seen last night because they couldn't see her until this morning.

I knew that I had to take her in. Thankfully, friends got Kerstyn and Brennan to their church activities, and Chris could stay home and watch Lauklan and Greyson while I took Aislinn to Sanford to the doctor.

Her fever was 101.6 again after only 3 hours since taking Tylenol and her urine showed a large amount of LEU (white blood cell) count. Apparently the number should be between 0 and 10 and her's was 500.

I texted Chris to call her nephrologist immediately. He did and she called him back within a few minutes. It made me tear up when Chris told me what he said to her. He said something to the effect of telling her his name and that she may not remember him, but she said, "Oh, I remember you, you're Aislinn's dad.". She proceeded to hear about her symptoms and urine results.

She told us that if Aislinn got worse through the night, to call her and she would admit her to the hospital. She said that if we could make it through the night, we could call her office this morning and schedule some tests. She did tell us to get the prescription filled and give it to Aislinn because she felt it should work and to run the Tylenol and Motrin as needed.

I stopped on the way home and filled the prescription and gave it to her immediately with some Motrin. Her fever was so high that she was shaking at the time, around 8:30 p.m. We went home and got her in bed.

I was shocked this morning to find that she did not have a fever again and was feeling better.

What a blessing! I know for a fact it is because of many prayers offered in her behalf!

I called the nephrologist's office this morning and had to leave a message. I told them in the message how she was currently doing and am waiting on a call back from them.

Wow! What is going on?

Happiness...

I felt like as soon as I sat down at work today that the world was caving in on me! I had too many things to do and most certainly, not enough time to get them done! Everything was the most important thing to do and I had too many of those 'most important' things on my list!

To top it off, I got a call around 10:45 this morning from the pre-school saying that Aislinn was under the weather.

So... not only do I have too much to do at the office, I now have to leave to go get my daughter. I believe that she is just really tired. She had nothing wrong with her this morning, or any time recently. A month or two ago, she did this, came home and took a nap and was fine. She's napping now, so we'll see...

Since I couldn't get all of my work stuff done, I came home and did some other 'work'.

Happiness is, for me of course...
a freshly vacuumed floor
and a freshly vacuumed pool!
My backyard oasis!
See, the leaves are gone! Outstanding! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my new vacuum, for the pool, that is!
I think that our plants might come back eventually...
Even without them, this is a great place to sit and relax and apparently I need to do that!

I feel better now. Odd, isn't it?

Asthma

I had a crazy busy day today. I worked until 12:15 and then hurried to pick up Aislinn and Greyson.

Aislinn had a 1:15 appointment with the asthma doctor. I believe he is called a pulmologist. It isn't a big deal except for the fact that his office is in Winter Park which is not a nice drive. Can be about an hour if the traffic is bad. But, it wasn't too bad and we made it there on time.

They always have her do some breathing machine where they can see how well she is doing.

The doctor said that she is showing great improvement.

I was glad.

But...

We had to hurry back into the car and rush home to pick up 5 more kids from school. Again, the traffic was manageable and we arrived back in town around 5 minutes before we had to, so I could breathe myself again. :)

I headed to the gym after I got the kids home and homework completed.

I rode like crazy in cycle class.

I needed that!

What lifts my spirit

The flowers, that I bought for myself and the sign. Both of which, lift my spirit.

I have decided over the last few weeks that I like to look at flowers. Kenney gave me the idea a year or so ago and since I am a slow learner, I just took it up. So, they last about 2 weeks and I have purchased the last 2 bouquets at Publix when I am there getting groceries.

I like it. I like it quite a lot!

Dragging

Why, oh why?

Why do my kids think it is a good idea to DRAG each other on the ground while they drive the four-wheeler?

Seriously?

Our neighbor called and told us that she saw the kids driving the four-wheeler while Lauklan and Greyson were dragging on the ground.

Nobody saw a problem with that.

Oh my!!!

On another subject, the bishop read today in sacrament meeting that we, the Eustis Ward, will be having Sacrament Meeting only next week at 10 a.m. with the Apopka Ward.

Hmmm...

I'm updated!

Make sure you go all the way back to Friday, April 10. I put the pictures there that I promised and then updated all through today!

Whew!

Let me know what you think. Please.

Busy Saturday

Mom and I at Cracker Barrel this morning.

Hmmm

Mom

We had a great time last night. So much fun, in fact, that we slept in until 9 this morning!

When we finally got going, we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast/lunch.

I then headed home and arrived around 2 to find Chris and the kids ready to go to Blizzard Beach.

We got to the park at 3 and stayed until it closed at 6.

On the way home, we stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner. Yes, I know that was 2 times for me today. However, I did only eat a salad for dinner. :)

I had a great day.

Tom Jones!

I got up this morning and had several errands to run before being able to head over to Mom's for the concert tonight.

We went to Publix, got a prescription and some lunch for Chris. Ended up buying some other things too because, that is just what I do...

Dropped both the prescription and lunch to Chris at the office.

Headed to the banks to make deposits for the firm.

Got gas.

Went to Wal-Mart.

Stopped at Pinch a Penny to have the pool water tested and purchased the chemicals needed to get the water right.

Headed home with groceries and chemicals.

Put the stuff away and the chemicals in the pool.

Got stuff packed to leave.

Debbie Clayton and Jensen arrived to babysit.

Gave them 'the spiel'.

Headed to Hudson.

Had a BLAST!!!

Mom and I outside the house ready to leave for the concert.

We drove to Clearwater and ate at TGI Friday's for dinner.

Dinner picture before we realized how full we really were.

She and I ate way too much!

Off the the concert.

He was great! I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least.

Blizzard Beach, FINALLY!

Well, I meant it!

When I said, "We need to get up and head out", I really do mean it.

We woke up this morning like we had to go to school.

I fed the kids breakfast.

Got them dressed and hit the road!

Blizzard Beach, here we come!

We pulled into the parking lot at Blizzard Beach at 9:10. It opened at 9 and we were in! How exciting!

All of the kids ready for fun.

Aislinn going down one of the slides in Tike's Peak. Where you have to be smaller than 48 inches or something like that to play there. Very cute.

Aislinn sliding again.

Lauklan practicing his balancing skills.

I would have gotten more pictures, but I couldn't keep the kids still long enough.

We had a great day. Getting there at 9:10 and staying until the park closed at 6 made it a long, but very fun day!

The kids and I ate dinner at Pizzeria Uno and really enjoyed that too. We didn't make it home until after 9 and we were all exhausted!

Nobody can ever say we didn't do anything this spring break!

Wonderful Wednesday

Brennan had an appointment with Dr. Ingalls to have his two new 12 year old molars sealed this morning at 11 so we went to that as a family. Let's talk about fun...

After the appointment, we stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch in Altamonte Springs.

With full tummies, we headed to Disney to go to Blizzard Beach, but it was at capacity and closed, so we went to Typhoon Lagoon again.

We got there around 1:30 and stayed until it closed at 7.

The kids were kind of bummed that Blizzard Beach was closed, but I told them we would get up early in the morning and head over to make sure we got in the park right about the time it opened.

I always have a great time with the kids at the water parks. We play and eat, and eat and play.

Brennan and Greyson

Brennan - I think he has grown about 3 inches in the last few months. Wow! Soon, he'll be taller than me.

Greyson

Oh my! I am making good progress on those crow's feet though!!!

Lauklan

Kerstyn

Aislinn

Aislinn again.

Typhoon Lagoon - Day 3!

Mount Dora with Mom

Mom came over to Mount Dora today with Mrs. Scarborough, a friend that she taught with for years, even before I was born and Roberta Rose, a mother to one of my mom's great friends that passed away several years ago.

It hasn't rained down here in Central Florida in months and this morning, it rained like the skies just opened up. We were under a tornado watch and then, even a warning.

However, Mom endured, and made it here safely!

I was very proud of her and quite happy to see her.

We ate at the Lakeside Inn restaurant then walked around downtown for several hours.

I always love to see my mom!

Spring Break Monday

I worked all day today.

The kids were babysat by Nashua and Nellie.

All was well when I got home and I loaded them all up and took Nashua and Nellie home then headed to the gym for the sauna and cycle class.

A very busy day. Good, but busy.

Happy Easter!

The kids got their baskets this morning, even though a little late, they were still quite happy with them.

Sacrament meeting was wonderful as we focused on the Savior and His life.

I believe that we had a nice Easter Sabbath Day!

Typhoon Lagoon, Day 2

We headed out as a complete family this morning to Typhoon Lagoon.

We stopped at Cracker Barrel first for a very nice breakfast.

The park was closed yesterday about 30 minutes after I got there because it reached capacity, so we knew that we needed to get there before 11.

We made it and the whole family had a great time.

Chris even commented that he felt like he was on vacation.

Objective achieved! :)

Typhoon Lagoon, Day 1

I loaded all the kids up this morning and took them to Typhoon Lagoon all by myself. Typhoon Lagoon is a Disney water park.

The kids and I had a great time.

I only lost one child while I was there. It was Greyson. The kids didn't apparently believe me that they really needed to keep track of their buddies. I found Greyson at the "Lost Children" area and he stayed real close to me the rest of the day.
Can't wait to go back with Chris tomorrow.

Day before Spring Break

Today was a crazy day. I worked until 2:50 and then rushed off to pick up all the kids.

Gym at 4.

I decided to try to get Nashua and Nellie to babysit so Chris and I could go out on our date since they would be unavailable tomorrow. They were available so I rushed off from the gym and picked them up.

Chris and I headed to the movies and watched Knowing. It was quite interesting. I had popcorn for dinner that wasn't as good as it should have been. :(

We had a nice date though and I was certainly tired when I finally made it to bed.

Confession

Did the subject heading scare you?

I ate too much Bold Flavor Chex Mix today.

I am not happy with myself. Not at all! There was enough sodium in there for me for a week and now I feel like a helium filled balloon!

What was I thinking?

Really!

I need to sit in the sauna tomorrow for 2 hours instead of one and maybe that will help.

Not very smart of me, not at all.

I even ate some vegetable beef soup that I made at 9 tonight! I broke every rule I have made for myself today.

Seriously, someone stop me!

Bumper Sticker

Kerstyn read a bumper sticker to me today as we left the gym. I have seen it and read it many times but it really struck me today. It reads,

"God isn't mad at you, no matter what."

It made me tear up today, not sure why.

Pictures from this weekend

This General Conference weekend, we had Ryck and Kenney here with Alyssa and her friend, Sarah. We used the pool as much as possible and I was really glad that we had it to use on this beautiful weekend.
Grandma Kenney got the kids motivated to get the leaves out of the pool by paying them money for each one. Here are Greyson and Kerstyn hard at work.
We of course, had to play too.
Chris even joined in with the kids. I really like this picture.
Alyssa did some sunning.
Pool fun.

What a fun weekend.

General Conference, Day 2

Just as good or better, if possible than day 1! I can't wait to read them!

I feel so blessed to be a member of the church. I am grateful for the friends and family that support me and always have. I am thankful to have a prophet lead and guide me. I know that families can be forever. I know that I have a Father in Heaven that loves me and that Jesus lives. What a blessing to know and have the gospel in my life!

General Conference

I went to the gym this morning for the 10 a.m. cycle class. It was just as good as the week before. I am very glad that I went. Now I feel like I didn't totally blow it last night with dinner.

I got home a few minutes before the first session of conference was to start. I plopped down, as well as I could with all the kids around and watched and listened.

I did it again for the second session. I made stroganoff and broccoli for dinner and Kenney made a salad. We fed the troops and then sent Chris, Ryck and Brennan to the Priesthood Session. It was Brennan's first time to go and I was happy to see the 3 generations leave together. Kinda cool, if I may say so myself.

Kenney and I then loaded up the kids left, all 6 of them and headed to Baskin Robbins to treat them to ice cream. They were very happy and full when we were done.

Following ice cream we picked Bay up from her dad and then came home and sent everyone to bed. Lauklan, Greyson and Aislinn fell asleep quickly, but the girls stayed up until after 11. I was tired just hearing them giggle. I am glad they were having fun though.

Chris, Ryck and Brennan arrived home around 10:45 so it was a very long day for them, but they came home spiritually fed and happy.

Date with Ryck and Kenney

We got our trusty, handy, dandy babysitters tonight and headed out on a double date with Ryck and Kenney. They arrived from Disney around 5:30. We ended up going to Winter Park to eat at The Cheesecake Factory, or so we thought. We saw that there was a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse there and we decided that we would see if we could eat there even without a reservation. We got in and it was DELICIOUS!

We didn't get home until around 10 or so, but the food was great and the company even better!

Some pictures

Kerstyn - 10 years 4 months

Greyson - 5 years 6 months

Lauklan - 7 years 8 months

Brennan - 12 years 2 months

Aislinn - 3 years 9 months

Me taken by Lauklan

Me compliments of Kerstyn
I won't put my age, but you all know it!

It flew by!

I had one of those days today where when I finally got all of the kids in bed I thought to myself, "where did the day go?" It was over before I knew it. I sure hope I got everything done that I wanted to accomplish.

On a interesting note. I saw a friend of mine at the gym this afternoon. She is a 'less active' member of the church and hasn't been coming very much lately. I really like her and am always glad to see her.

She commented to me how pretty the steeple was on the new church building. I agreed and told her that when we are in the new building that she has ABSOLUTELY no reason to not be at church. She lives less than a mile from the new building. I told her that if she's not there, I am going to come and drag her out of her living room. She laughed and told me that she has just been lazy. I then had the opportunity to remind her of General Conference this weekend. I told her the times and encouraged her to watch at least one session.

I hope she will. I can't wait to watch myself.