Prayers Needed

I'm hoping I can write this blog quickly as I need to "try" and go to sleep this evening. I am very worried about Annabelle, so we need all of the prayers that we can get! I'm hoping I am just being an overprotective and over worried Mommy.

Annabelle developed hives this weekend after visiting the Yellow River Game Ranch (a petting zoo). I originally thought the hives were mosquito bites or an allergic reaction to a lotion or something that her Nana Janet (a friend from Boston) was wearing.

On Saturday evening, she fell and skinned her knee. It was nothing serious. It was a short cry, and I cleaned it with Hydrogen Peroxide and then put some Polysporin on it after we got home (about 30 minutes later).

She woke up on Sunday, and the hives had spread. Her eye lid was swollen as well (not swollen shut though, and not swollen very badly). So, I gave her some Zyrtec at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday. Dr. Calk had recommended this with the last rash she had. The Zyrtec seemed to work as the hives diminished shortly after she had the Zyrtec.

This morning when she woke up, her hives were no longer, but she now had a rash that had spread all over her body, but mostly on her face, inside her ears (where you can see by just looking at her), and on her bottom area. So, I gave her another dose of Zyrtec. The rash began to diminish again, but it did not completely disappear.

So, this evening, I checked her out again, and I noticed that the rash seemed to be getting worse again, but it was slowly getting worse. So, I decided to get her ready for bed, and I decided I would check on her later this evening after she had fallen asleep.

I left her in her crib around 9:05 p.m. She was fussing, but I let her cry a little because it wasn't a bloody scream, and I seriously thought this child was learning how to manipulate me to allow her to sleep in our bed with me again (since hubby is out of town). She got to sleep with us on Saturday night because she had a very long day, and she would not let me lay her down without screaming. However, last night (Sunday night), she slept in her crib.

I checked on her again between 9:15 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. only to realize that I had forgotten to give her the water I normally give her at night in the crib. She was asking for "Juice Mama, Juice." So, I gave her the juice, but she started doing her swaying and singing, "da da da da da," to let me know that she wanted to be rocked. So, I picked her up and rocked her.

I laid her back down around 9:45 p.m., but when I left the room, she screamed bloody murder. I let her cry for 5 minutes until I heard her at the door crying, "Boo boo hurt, Mommy, boo boo hurt."

When I went in to check on her, she was burning up and sweating. It was as if she had broken a fever, but when I laid her down only 5 minutes before, she did not feel like she had a fever. I can only suspect it was from all of the screaming she had done when I left her for the 5 minutes.

So, I pulled her out of the crib and stood her on the floor. I told her she could pick out some books to put in her crib to read, so she walked from the crib to the book shelf on the other side of the room to pick out a book. She limped all the way. I thought once again that she was being manipulative. Sounds silly, right? Well, we were with her Nana Janet and Papa Bill this weekend, and Papa Bill has arthritis in his knees, so he sort of walks with a limp. They compared boo boos on Sunday and Monday because they both had band aids on their knees. So, I honestly thought she had decided to limp like Papa Bill.

Then, after she reached her crib and put her book in the crib, she would not walk anywhere else. She wanted me to get things for her. When I tried to persuade her to move, she just screamed.

She got a bowel movement, so I laid her down and changed her diaper. I took her temperature then too, and it was 98.7 degrees F. After I changed her diaper, she didn't want me to fasten the diaper back on. And, she would not move! She laid on the floor for an hour without moving. When I asked her what was hurting, she pointed to her knee and said "boo boo." At one point (before I laid her on the floor), she pointed to her tongue and head when I asked her what hurt. She also kept putting her fingers in her ears.

She tinkled while she was laying on the floor too, and she moved her legs as if it hurt to tinkle, so maybe she just has another bladder infection. This is one thought that crosses my mind.

I finally called the doctor's office at 10:36 p.m., and I waited 30 minutes for a nurse to call me back. She ran through her list of questions which included making sure that the rash disappeared when I stretched her skin (which it didn't on only one spot). However, the bump was raised so she said that as long as it was raised, I wouldn't need to see anyone on the rash issue tonight. However, she was concerned about the joint pain, so she wanted me to speak with a doctor.

By the way, it wasn't just Annabelle's scraped knee that was hurting her. If I moved or touched either knee, leg or foot, she would cry and say, "No, boo boo Mama, boo boo." Very strange. And, now that I'm thinking about it, I think she complained that her hands were hurting her too.

Shortly before the nurse called, I moved Annabelle to our bed to sleep. I asked her if she wanted to move to our bed to sleep, and this time, she did not jump all over the chance to move. She didn't want to move at all! She cried for a good 5 minutes after I moved her.

The nurse asked if I had given her anything. I told her I wanted to give her Tylenol, but I had waited because I wasn't sure if they were going to recommend Benadryl, and I wasn't sure if both could be given at the same time. Apparently, you can give them both Benadryl and Tylenol at the same time. She recommended I give her a teaspoon of the Motrin I had on hand though. So, I gave her a dose around 11:30 p.m. She was asleep within 10 minutes.

Candace with the doctor's office called back at 11:55 p.m. She said that she definitely needed to see someone, but she thought it could wait until the morning since Annabelle was sleeping and seemed comfortable. She asked if Annabelle was in daycare or had been around other children. I told her that we went to the library for story time last week, but she hasn't seen any other children since. She said it sounded like Strep. Then she said, "Let's hope it is Strep because that is an easy fix." She said that rashes and sore joints are common with Strep.

So, all that being said, I guess we should "hope it is Strep." However, my motherly instinct tells me that it is not Strep. I guess I hope I'm wrong since that is apparently the easy fix.

However, I pulled out my American Academy of Pediatrics book before I spoke with Candace and then started surfing the internet after I spoke with her, and the other diagnoses don't look too good nor do they look easy to diagnose (for sore joints and rashes). I am really worried that this is something more serious, so we really need all of the thoughts and prayers we can get.

I know Annabelle is a fighter, but I don't ever want to see her in a lot of pain again (or any pain for that matter).

Did I mention that hubby is out of town? He feels awful, and he offered to catch a plane home tonight. I told him that was silly because it could just be Strep as the nurse mentioned. He said he "feels awful because he cannot do anything to help her and make her feel better." He's doing his job supporting a family though so that I am able to be home with her, so he really should not be so hard on himself. He's a great Daddy, and I know he'd be here in a heartbeat (or a plane ride) if we seriously needed him. But, right now, we'll just take one day at a time.

Okay, it is 1:33 a.m., and I am off to bed! I started this blog entry at 1:00 am. (even though I changed the date and time to correspond with yesterday). I'm hoping I can actually get some rest. I just heard Annabelle cry out a little bit, so I hope she's not hurting.

She's Furious.

Those are the words we heard this morning at 11:30 a.m. as we walked down the Sunday school hall to pick up our screaming daughter. We had been paged during the church service. "Please come" the pager said.

We could hear Annabelle screaming as we turned the corner. I, of course, faulted myself for leaving her in the first place after I had seen her crying after we had signed her in. She didn't see us (that I know of), but we saw her screaming for "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" Hubby said, "She'll be fine. She'll calm down in just a few minutes, and they'll call us if they need us."

They must have been at their wits end to call us. As we turned down the hall to go and pick Annabelle up, I heard one of the young girls say, "I just paged her mother."

As we walked down the hall, we got looks from another Daddy. He looked in disbelief. It wasn't a rude look, but just a quite shocked look.

Of course, Annabelle isn't used to her Mommy and Daddy leaving her, and I made the mistake of giving her that last hug before I left her. I should have just walked away as she clinged to me before we walked out (since I had given her that last hug). She wasn't screaming when we actually walked out of the room, but when we realized that we had completely forgotten to sign her in and get a pager, I heard and saw her screaming as I signed her in. It is a good thing we remembered to sign her in or the preacher may have announced for Annabelle's parents to come to the nursery immediately. How embarrassing that would have been!

I still don't know her frustrations exactly. I, personally, don't think she wants to go to church as she finds some "excuse" every week. Last week, she woke up coughing, and she had a runny nose.

This week, I think she honestly still did not feel well. However, if you know me, you'll know that I am one of those parents who refuses to expose my sick child to other healthy children, even if she isn't running a fever. This morning, she woke up coughing again with a runny nose, but I had come to the conclusion that it is just allergies since she's had it for over a week, and the discharge from her nose has been completely clear. And, she hasn't been running a fever. However, she is obviously very miserable.

Let's just all pray that my "furious" child will allow us to go to church again. We really need to find a church home! And, today didn't help the situation!

Did I mention that hubby said that all of the other children in the nursery were staring at her like "What is wrong with her?" Since the one girl said that Annabelle was "furious," I can only suspect that she showed her attitude by pushing them away, while still screaming, and saying "NO!" I think that could only explain why she was standing in the corner of the nursery all by her lonesome self when I picked her up. She was holding "teddy," but she immediately asked for her paci. The poor girl said, "Oh, I didn't know her paci was in the bag." And, she wouldn't have either. I never told her because Annabelle normally doesn't need it when she's around other children.

She told us that she was fine for 10 to 15 minutes until another Mommy picked up their child, and then it was as if Annabelle realized there was something wrong with this situation since her Mommy wasn't picking her up. And, it was all down hill from there. However, I don't think it was truly 10 to 15 minutes, as we weren't even down the hall by 1 to 2 minutes (when we realized we had forgotten the pager) before Annabelle started screaming. Maybe she didn't realize it was only 1 to 2 minutes, or maybe she was trying to make me feel better.

My poor baby probably screamed for 30-40 minutes, and it was all my fault! I should have made sure she was alright before we walked away the first time.

Next time, Daddy is going to drop her off. Every time her Daddy drops her off, she does fine.

Big Girl Bed

I think Annabelle may be ready for the "big girl bed." Although, her Mommy sure isn't ready for Annabelle to be ready for the big girl bed.

We spent the night with Grandmama and Granddaddy this evening since hubby is out of town, and I need to go to the office to work tomorrow.

When it was time for me to go through the normal ritual of singing lullabies and rocking her this evening, Annabelle decided she didn't want to have anything to do with my lullabies. Instead, she threw herself out of my arms straight onto the bed where we were already sitting. We were "rocking" sitting still.

She had determined that she did not need to rock or sing lullabies because she was all ready for bed since she was sleeping in the big girl bed tonight, or so she thought.

When she first got very sick with her bladder infection while at Grandmama and Granddaddy's house a few weeks ago, I allowed her to sleep in the big girl bed right next to me. So, she had apparently got it into her head that she would continue to sleep in the big girl bed.

Fortunately, I was able to quickly persuade her otherwise. Actually, there was no persuasion involved. I told her otherwise, and this time, she didn't pitch a fit. She cried the first night I told her she could not sleep in our bed at home (after she had been sick with this bladder infection and once she was feeling much better). I knew allowing her to sleep in the big beds originally was sure to cause a struggle later, but isn't that one of the only good things about being sick? You get to sleep in the bed with Mommy and Daddy!

I suspect we don't have much longer before she is too big for her crib and Pack-n-Play. She looks so big sleeping in there now. My tiny baby is gone forever. Although, she will always be my baby in my eyes! I still call her "baby" sometimes when I'm talking to her, and she refers to herself as "baby" when she points to pictures of herself. Maybe that could also have something to do with the somewhat difficult and long name we picked out for her before she was born that she just does not know how to say yet?

Datty Hooome, Datty Hooome

This morning, while I was busy putting toys away in the back of the house, Annabelle came running from the dining room to the hallway as fast as her little legs would take her. Pitter patter, pitter patter. She was just smiling. When she found me, she said, "Datty Hooome, Datty Hooome!"

She had come to find me to tell me that her Daddy was home because she had spotted his ugly green truck in the driveway. It was so sweet to watch the excitement and joy in her eyes as she thought she had discovered something that her Mommy did not yet know.

I bent down and I told her, "Oh, sweetheart. No, Daddy is not home. He left his truck in the driveway when we took him to ride the choo choo train."

You could see the disappointment in her eyes, but she didn't miss a beat as she carried on with her day. I know she will be very excited to see her Daddy again on Friday.


Daddy,

We both love you and miss you very much! Thank you for working hard so that we can "pay" all day.

Love always and forever,

Mommy and Annabelle


Translation: Play

Dursing the Baby Doll

Yes, I know! Stop the madness, right?

I planned to nurse until 2 years of age, but I am really starting to get concerned on how to actually wean this child after 2 years, especially with hubby traveling full-time.

This morning, while I was making my bed, Annabelle sat down on the floor, and she then held her baby doll, which she has named "Baby Atty" (Adie), close to her chest. She said, "Durse baby." I said, "What?" She then proceeded to tell me again that she was dursing the baby, as she held the baby in her arms just as if she were nursing her.

Fortunately, she did not make the connection that the baby's mouth needed to touch her. But, she did know that the baby's paci needed to be removed first, before she could "durse" her.

It was very sweet. And, I know she is going to be a wonderful Mommy one day as she is already very loving and affectionate to her baby dolls.

Let's just hope I can get this child weaned before I confuse her too much!

Choo Choo Chain

We dropped hubby off at the Marta station on Sunday for another week away in Minneapolis, Minnesota for work. Well, for a fun day with his little girl a while back, I recommended they ride the Marta train for a few hours. So, they did, and Annabelle talked about it all day after that.

So, we pulled up to the Marta station on Sunday, and Annabelle immediately spotted the "Choo Choo Chain" as it pulled away. She was so excited!

Well, we left hubby at the Marta station, and we went home. She talked that evening about "Datty, Choo Choo Chain" over and over again. I kept telling her that "Yes, Daddy took a choo choo train to catch an airplane."

Well, I spoke with hubby this morning, and he wasn't feeling so hot. He sounded miserable, and he blamed Annabelle for this cold that he apparently has. Of course, she seems fine, and I now think it is just allergies for her.

So, when I went to get Annabelle up this morning after talking with her Daddy, one of the first things she said to me was, "Datty Hooome." I said, "No sweetheart. Daddy is not home. He's out of town for work." She then said, "Datty Choo Choo Chain," as she nodded her head yes. It was so sweet!

I called hubby, and I told him that I needed to tell him something "that would make him feel better" since he was obviously a little under the weather. I told him, and he just laughed and said, "Aawww." Then, he said, "That's supposed to make me feel better?"

I think hubby misses his little girl, and I think she misses him just as much! She has talked about him and the "choo choo chain" all day long.

Fisher Price Pull Along Puppy

Annabelle got a Fisher Price Pull Along Puppy for Christmas 2007 from her Uncle Ken, Aunt Katie, and Cousins Carter, Charlie and James. I think Charlie is actually the one who picked the toy out for Annabelle though, per Aunt Katie. I actually had put the toy aside with good intentions of pulling it out later because she had gotten so many toys for Christmas, and I had plans to rotate the toys.

Of course, the rotating never happened, and the Fisher Price Pull Along Puppy sat placed away in the dresser in our office ever since Christmas.

Until...Annabelle spotted him on Sunday. She started to bark in her own version of barking to let me know that she had spotted the toy dog, and that she wanted to play with him. Why on earth she had not spotted him sooner, I do not know. The toy was really in plain view all along.

So, I pulled him down and left him in the box. Daddy opened the box for her later after asking me why I gave her a toy still in the box. I don't know. Maybe because I was too lazy at the time to actually go through the 30 minute process of removing the toy dog from the box. Or, maybe because I thought I could pass this toy off on someone else for their child's 1st birthday later on. That's awful, I know. But, since I had forgotten to pull it out earlier, and it is a 12 month+ toy, I thought it was probably a little too young for her now.

Well, I was apparently wrong! She loves that puppy dog! Probably much more than she would have if I had opened it back at Christmas. She pulled it around on its leash all night. And, she just grinned from ear to ear.

I asked her what her puppy dog's name was. She didn't skip a beat, and she said, "Nonnie." Hubby said, "Yes, Nonnie has dogs." I told hubby that I had just asked Annabelle the puppy dog's name and that was why she responded with "Nonnie." We both just laughed. Of course, Nonnie, if you are reading this, I think she really named her dog "Nonnie" as a term of endearment! I am writing this post on Tuesday (after the Sunday this happened), and when I ask her the puppy dog's name, she still says, "Nonnie."

The sweetest part of all was when Annabelle and I were taking hubby to the Marta station so he could leave from Marta to catch his flight to Minneapolis. As we were coercing Annabelle out the door, she decided that she didn't want to leave "Nonnie" behind. Of course, we tried to persuade her otherwise. Hubby told Annabelle that the puppy dog needed to take a nap. So, that cute little stinker girl of mine ran back over to her puppy dog, after she had left him, and she laid him down on his side so that his head was resting on the floor. Is that not sweet? Of course, little does she know that puppy dogs don't sleep on their sides!

I love these sweet moments, and I am glad that hubby is the one who noticed it to point it out to me. He turned to me as I was walking out the door and said, "Mom, look."