Sick of it!

Literally!!!!  Germs have invaded our house the past few months!  It started around Halloween when Julianne got pink eye.  Then the next week, I got pink eye.  I've never had pink eye before... and I sure don't want it again.  It was gross and 5 days later when I still had it - I was so over it!  This occurred right around Halloween and Julianne had to miss two days of school and her Halloween party!

Then in November, William's first week at daycare, he got his first cold.  It was a runny nose and a cough.  He ended up getting a little laryngitis with it, which was kinda a blessing in disguise since he was a screamer! But it didn't bother him too much; he still slept and ate like a champ!

Then the week before Christmas William got another cold.  This time it was worse.... a lot worse.  He had a terrible, loud, dry cough.  He wasn't sleeping well and was up 4-5 times a night!!!  Finally after 5 days of no sleep, I took him to the Pediatrician.  The RSV test was negative, but they gave me a nebulizer and some Albuterol to use when he got a coughing spell.  That seemed to do the trick as he was better in a few days.  Around the same time, Nick came down with a bug.  I think he even had a fever (but he's a guy and wouldn't let me take his temp... )  He was out of it for a couple days too.  We had to miss a couple Christmas parties since we were sick, but both boys recovered in time for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Then the **** hit the fan!  The middle of January, Julianne had a temp of 102 for three days.  She also had a cough and runny nose.  I thought - oh great, the flu!  But I knew there wasn't much they could do for her so I just kept her home and didn't bring her to the clinic.  She was better after three days, but had to miss a week of school again.  Every night when Julianne was sick, I got out the Lysol and sprayed EVERYTHING down - door knobs, light switches, refrigerator handles, remotes, EVERYTHING.  I also wiped down my entire office everyday.  My co-workers thought I was a little nuts - but I bet they are thanking me now when they're not sick!!  

But even though I did my best to keep the germs away, they got to William.  My poor baby Will... On Saturday, January 12, he came down with a cough.  Nothing major at this point.  I was praying it was just a cough.  But then Sunday night, he came down with a fever - 102.5, and then another fever on Monday night - 102.3.  Monday I brought him into the clinic and the RSV and flu swabs were negative.  They also did a chest xray to check for pneumonia and that was negative too.   His oxygen sats and heart rate were good, so they just sent us home with some antibiotics, a mild steroid  and instructions to continue with the nebulizer.  But then on Monday night and Tuesday, he started throwing up - everywhere - gross.  So, back to the clinic we went.  We got a different medication for the nebulizer to see if that helped.  Well, he stopped throwing up - so much - but his breathing got worse.  Thursday night he was really struggling to breathe so we brought him to the ER.  His oxygen level was at 93% and his heart rate was fast, so they admitted him.  That night he was hooked up to some oxygen to help him breathe.  He did pretty well in the hospital and we were discharged on Friday.  Today is Tuesday, and I think I can finally say he is doing better.  He is still wheezing and has a deep, dry cough, but he's not struggling for breaths anymore.  They diagnosed it as bronchiolitis.  We left the hospital with instructions to continue with the Albuterol in the nebulizer every 4 hours and a steroid in the nebulizer another 2 times per day.  He needs to continue the Albuterol until his cough is gone, but the Pediatrician stated we need to do the steroid for a couple months.  She believes he may have trouble again before the winter is over - oh great - and may be a "wheezer" for life.

My poor baby Will in the hospital... 

It was a scary and stressful time, but I knew he was in good hands!  I sure hope he's finally on the road to recovery and can get rid of this bug.   He still isn't sleeping well (I was up with him four times last night!) and he isn't eating well either.  But, he's breathing better, which is what really  matters.
I'm off to bed before William starts coughing, wakes up, and needs his mommy.............

Christmas 2012

I'm a little behind so am just going to do all the Christmas pictures in one post.  We had several parties to go to again this year so it was a busy month for us.  Hang on - here goes nothing!!!

LONCORICH CHRISTMAS - DECEMBER 2

We had Christmas for my dad's side early this year because our hosts were going to Hawaii for 2 weeks later in the month.  That was perfectly fine with me to have the parties spread out a little bit.  Like so many other families, we all live so far apart that we don't get to see each other too often.  So, christmas is always a fun time. Below is my Grandma Edna with all of her great-grandkids (minus one handsome 4 year old from Colorado - hi Corey!!) plus a few of the mom's thrown in... 

FRANK CHRISTMAS - DECEMBER 22

I'm sad to report there are no pictures from Nick's dad's side's party - because we didn't make it.  William ended up with a really bad chest cold the previous week and we thought it was best for him to stay home and continue to recover.  I am so bummed that we had to miss the party in Roseville.  I heard it was a blast and there were some nice "ugly sweaters!"  I'll save my special sweater for next year!  

STEF'S FAMILY CHRISTMAS - DECEMBER 23

On the 23rd we headed to my parent's house to celebrate with my parents, sisters' families and my grandma Florence.  We always have so much fun there and my mom is a fantastic host - food, wine, beer and presents for everyone!!!!  This year we added two little ones - William and Henry - to our family so it was extra special.

 Family pic in front of the tree

Grandma Florence with the boys 

Grandma and Grandpa with the kids 

Julianne handing out presents.  She's just not so sure about Josh yet - that's about as close as she would get to him. 

Julianne and her auntie handing out presents 

Julianne and all her's and William's presents from Grandma and Grandpa - can we say SPOILED!!!  Notice the huge smile on her face! 

Mommy and Jules 

NICK'S FAMILY CHRISTMAS - DECEMBER 24

We celebrated Nick's family christmas on Christmas Eve.  First we went to church, then headed to Steve and Sheri's for some good food (steak and shrimp on the grill) and more presents!!!  Santa Claus even made a stop at Grandma Sheri's.  Julianne got so excited when she heard the jingle bells and saw the presents that Santa left at the front door!!!

Julianne and William in front of Grandma Sheri's tree 

Julianne in her Christmas dress 

 Santa was here!

Even Will got in on the opening of presents 

SANTA PRESENTS - CHRISTMAS DAY

Santa came to our house and left presents for the kids to open on Christmas morning.  Julianne was pretty excited to see all the presents for her!  I think by this time though, she had been to so many parties and opened so many presents that she was a little burnt out on it.  After we opened presents, my parents, Nick's parents, Jessie and Tony and my Grandma Edna stopped over for brunch at my house and some more visiting.  It was a fun way to spend Christmas Day.

Julianne with her presents 

In front of our tree 

Opening her presents - I think she liked that one!

Barbies, Barbies, Barbies - was the theme this year for Julianne. She got two new Barbies, some barbie clothes, a miniature barbie, a 2 foot Barbie house and a pink remote control Barbie car.

 

Mr. Handsome on his first Christmas!!  It was a typical Christmas for a 4 month old - he didn't really care too much about anything except for the things he could grab and put in his mouth!

Well, there it is - our 2012 Christmas wrapped up in 17 pictures!  It was a fun (but busy!)  time.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful families that take such good care of us and spoil us on Christmas!  We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas too!