two little monkeys

jumping on the bed!

the infection

We got a call about a week and half ago from Reagan's CF nurse. Reagan's throat culture came back positive for Pseudomonas. She said we would immediately put her on some hardcore antibiotics, and it would probably get rid of it. She also said that when Reagan gets it a second time in the future, antibiotics should work again. However, generally when she gets it a third time the antibiotics no longer work and she will have to go on medicine for the rest of her life to manage it. So I asked, how did she get it? How do I prevent her from getting it again? Well apparently she can get it from just about anywhere because it is in the environment. Yay. Just what I wanted to hear. I hate it when I can't control her disease, when things are out of my hands. So, back to the story. We started her on two antibiotics, one oral and one inhaled. Adding 40-50 minutes to her already hour of breathing treatments daily. Fun. Now she doesn't even want to watch any shows anymore. Plus the oral one came with tons of restrictions, like no dairy or things with calcium for 2 hours before and after taking it. Yeah, that makes mealtimes very hard, especially when she needs tons of calories. But that wasn't all. Then she started having diarrhea, then she stopped sleeping, then she started freaking out. I mean FREAKING OUT! She is generally a calm child, but she would get hysterical for no reason and could not be calmed down. And this happened approximately every 20-30 minutes. So I called the doctor and she said to stop the oral antibiotic immediately. Within about 12 hours she was doing much better. However, Pseudomonas has to be taken care of right away, because after about 6 months it can develop a biofilm making it virtually impossible to get rid of. So the next day the CF nurse called me back and said we had only one other antibiotic we could try, and if she has a reaction to it or it doesn't work then she will have to be hospitalized. So Rick gave her a blessing, I fasted and we started the new antibiotic on wednesday. She seems to be tolerating it better, but she is walking the line. She is still having mood swings, but not nearly as severe. And she cannot fall asleep! Last night I laid her down at 7:45 and she was not asleep till 9:45. She is averaging about 8-9 hours of sleep a night, which is not enough for a 3 year old. She has dark circles under her eyes, but she just can't sleep. I did finally get her to sleep for a nap today, after about 1.5 hours and then she only stayed asleep for 40 minutes. I feel so bad for her. She is such a good girl about it, but it is definitely hard on her. Only 23 more days... Hopefully.

the wedding

Becky and Brock were married on Saturday. The weather was gorgeous and the happy couple were too! I didn't take a lot of good pictures, mainly because Dorothy was there taking the good ones. So most of my pictures are the bloopers, with a couple good ones interspersed.

Reagan dancing with Daddy for the last slow song. She danced for approximately 2-2.5 hours straight! So she was tired.

Even when none of us were on the dance floor, Reagan participated. She never left the dance floor.

A good shot of Reagan and Sunshine. Laura had to hold Reagan to keep her off the dance floor during the Bride/Groom, Groom/Mom, etc... dances.

I like this shot of Becky and Dennis, they look so happy!

Kennedy was happier for the first part of the evening, but once it hit bedtime she just wanted to stay in my arms. She was a little under the weather, but still happy.

Dennis and Reagan practicing before the reception actually started.

I told Rick to spit out his gum before pictures. He didn't want to spit it on the Temple grounds, so he put it on his finger... Gross.

Dallas and Amber imitating Becky's hand pose from our family portraits a year ago. She'll never live it down.

We tried to get a Brooks siblings shot... But I forgot to tell David to focus the camera. And this is before I told Rick to spit out his gum, so he is chewing it in the picture...

There's Dorothy. The one who is rarely in pictures because she takes them all. So I had to snap a couple action shots of her.

Rick doing a strut in front of the Temple. I told everyone to smile, apparently only David heard me.

Jeni and Amber giving me the evil eye.

The happy couple. They were so busy smiling at each other, I don't have one of them looking at me.

The siblings waiting for Becky to come out of the Temple.

The only shot I have of Reagan and Kennedy in their matching dresses that I made. They matched my skirt, but did I think to get a picture of us together? No. Oops.

It was a very special day. And we always love seeing the family.

Congratulations Becky and Brock!

this is why

This is why we play in our basement even though it is not finished. It makes a nice indoor playground.

This is why I miss her so much. She was always involved and always happy.

This is why I coupon. This is what $200 worth of groceries/toiletries/diapers/wipes looks like, but I only spent $100.

This is why I hate puzzles. It took us a week to complete, and 1.5 minutes to destroy.

This is why I buy stuff from the Children's Place for myself. I thought it was awesome that we had matching leggings for Valentine's day.

This is why I want to be like my mom and dad. They were creative enough to think of giving the girls balloons with super long ribbons so they could reach them even with our high ceilings.

This is why I emptied the girls' piggy banks while they were awake. They played with the money for 30 minutes while Rick and I rolled all of the change.

This is why Toddler Valentines are so cute. Reagan drew this heart and wrote love all by herself.

This is why I love mealtime with Kennedy. She cleans her plate spotless and then likes to play with it.

This is why I have artwork everywhere in my house. Reagan loves to make art and is getting pretty creative.

This is why I love my girls. Because they make me smile.

interviews

Here are interviews with the girls. Rick and I love watching old clips of us talking when we were little. Rick has an infamous interview when he was asked if he had lots of friends, to which he answered "Two!" It is a family joke that everyone laughs about. So I decided to do little interviews with the girls periodically to see what they are into.

Kennedy. I love the way she talks. Especially when she sticks her lips out.

Reagan. She loves to watch herself on video. That is why she is constantly waving at the camera.

fun with friends

We have been so fortunate that we haven't been sick and have been able to spend time with a lot of our friends recently. We went out to dinner for Uncle Ron's birthday and got to have fun with Madison and Marissa (and Mike). Reagan cannot wait to have them over for a playdate.

Maddy cut her own bangs, and they look awesome!

Aunt Alice and Rick

Uncle Jack and Uncle Ron

Reagan and Grandpa

Then Skyler got to come over to play while her parents went to a funeral. The girls had a blast (even though they didn't want to stop dancing for a picture).

Skyler laughing at Reagan being silly.

All three girls played together really well.

We also got to watch Baby Dylan while Cindy had to go to the hospital.

He was an angel, and the girls loved having him over.

They sang him songs and danced for him.

And finally we got to go to Playworld for Hayden and Mason's birthday.

There were places to explore...

And balls to jump in...

And houses to play in...

And Mommies to watch...

And places to jump...

And friends to play with...

And fun to be had...

Can we go to Playworld again tomorrow??

Now every morning I have to answer the question, "who are we going to play with today?" They don't get excited when I say, "Just Mommy."

re-purposed

I love finding simple crafty ideas that are cheap! Reagan had this old shirt that was too short and had a little stain. So I bought a womans skirt at goodwill for $2 and made them into a dress for Reagan. She loves it, and it only took me about 1-1.5 hours to do...

The back

The front