Baby Ellie

2.11.2010

Remember Hallie's elephant she got at the Oregon Zoo last year? She still loves it, we call her Ellie Elephant. We got it for her because she loved the elephants so much! This one, and the real ones.

Her new thing is she wants Ellie to be all wrapped up like a baby. Too cute. Why have dolls when you have a perfectly good elephant? :)

Too cute

Nursery Time

2.7.2010

Here is our little Hallie-bug, looking so grown up, on her first day of nursery. She LOVES it, I was kind of worried because every one tells you not to expect them to stay the first few times, but she stayed the whole time both of the weeks she has gone. I took her in and she turned around and said "bye," and she was off, and we didn't hear from her until church was over. She loves to go play with the other kids. Which I am glad for, I can actually get something out of church. :)

Everyone keeps telling us that it must be time to have another one now that Hallie is in nursery, to which we say "not just yet." Our one little monkey keeps us plenty busy. :)

Answers

So we have been asked many questions about our little miss, and we too have questions that we are still working on getting answered. So I will answer them the best I can. (and also just for our records)

What is RSV?
RSV is a lower respiratory virus, essentially it has cold-like symptoms. Most kids have it at least once in their life, but it normally acts like a bad cold, unless it's in babies when it can get very serious.

How did Hallie get RSV?
The simple answer is we don't know. We know that most kids her age do not respond to RSV like she does. Normal kids her age wouldn't have the major respiratory issues and trouble breathing, and it would be far more mild. So the asthma aggravates it much further. But we have no idea where she picked it up.

What do you do about it?
Right now through the RSV she is having breathing treatments, and is taking an oral steroid and anti-nausea medication.

How bad is her asthma?
Really the only time it ever bothers her is when she is sick. But our doctor said she may have more issues than normal when spring comes when all the pollens come out, so we'll see. For now we'll just take it as it comes.

Will she outgrow the asthma?
Again, we don't know. We really hope so, Eric and I had asthma issues when we were little, as well as my brother, and we all outgrew it for the most part. My best guess would be that she will outgrow it, but you never know. We know that 75% of kids with food allergies have asthma too, so it shouldn't be too surprising I guess.

What can you do for asthma at her age?
For now we'll just keep a close eye on her, and at the slightest sign of any sickness we'll do breathing treatments for a few days. Also, if needs be our doctor will prescribe some preventative medications.

Is it the same problem as when she was hospitalized in August?
We are assuming so, just without the RSV. But we are not positive.

Anyway that's what we know for now. :)

Sick...still

The last few nights have been the longest nights ever, and that's including when Hallie was a newborn. Hallie has been coughing, throwing up, had a weird rash, has been wheezy, and had a fever. Last night I was up with her til 3 am (and cleaned up throw up about 5 times), when I woke Eric up and told him I had to get some sleep (that's what time he normally wakes up). Then Eric was up with her until about 7 am, he obviously didn't go to work today.

But we decided to take her to the doctor today and she has RSV which we are hoping doesn't turn into pneumonia. The doctor officially diagnosed her with asthma too. Luckily we already have a nebulizer, but Hallie absolutely hates sitting there and having it done. But it's good to know, and be able to take some action in her breathing issues.

I'm sure our insurance agency is hating us this year. Since the first of the year, we have been to InstaCare twice, the doctors office three times, had two splints made, and filled four prescriptions. We recently changed Hallie's pediatrician, and he has seen us every Wednesday for the last three weeks, so we know him well now. We're glad we do though, he's one of the best pediatricians for respiratory problems in the area, and we are so happy with him.

Hopefully now that Hallie is on three different medicines she will finally start feeling better...and we'll all get some sleep.

Such is life I guess. There could be far worse things I'm sure.

Big Girl Piggies

2.11.2010

I am not one that was blessed with hair-doing genes. Hallie's hair is getting so long in the back but not quite so long in the front, so I have no idea what to do with it. But we decided to try some big girl pig tails, as they have come to be called. Real inventive I know. :) She looks so grown up with her hair like that.

Abby!

2.10.2010

Because of our crazy schedules we don't get to have play dates too often. But the other day Abby got to come play at our house, and Hallie loved it. She loves Abby. Last Sunday during sacrament meeting Hallie would yell her name, quite loudly I may add, because she could see her, and their clothes even matched that day. :) These two have the same birthday, except Abby is a year older, so it's fun to see the age differences.

We played in the kitchen And peeked faces out of the tepee

And played in the kitchen some more. Abby made us pink soup. Yum! :)
And crawled through the tunnel

And talked on the phone.

Thanks for playing Abby! We're so glad you came to play with us.

TROUBLE

2.5.2010

Do you notice something wrong with this picture? Yes, Hallie is indeed supposed to have that wrap around her arm.
I went in to get her after her nap and this is how I found her, with her wrap being used as a beautiful necklace and her splint on her floor, and her looking oh so proud. Not to mention this is about two days after she broke her wrist. Unfortunately this happens quite frequently, especially when we put her in bed. She is trouble. :)

18 Months!

Who knew that a year and a half could fly by so fast. Today we went for Hallie's 18 month well baby visit, and everything is looking good.

She is 33 inches tall (86th percentile), 25.95 pounds ( 74th percentile), and her head is 19.75 inches around. So basically she is getting tall and thinning out, and still has a big head. :)

At 18 months Hallie is...

-saying all sorts of words
-is in complete LOVE with Elmo
-running all over and we're trying to keep up with her
-going to nursery and loving it
-not sleeping as well as she once was
-is a such a busy body
-can climb up onto the couch by herself
-can't open doors, thank goodness
-is such a polite little miss, saying please, thank you and bless you
-is still the love of our lives!

Mega Blocks

2.3.2010

Hallie has recently started to enjoy playing with her big legos, but she still needs some help. So this day we built a tower using every last one! Then of course Hallie promptly made it go "crash!", one of her favorite words.

Compare

Two pictures, one year apart. Kind of really crazy. :) Though we still think that she is a cute as ever!

Valentines Day 2009

Valentine's Day 2010

Happy Valentines Day!

2.14.2010

We love you all!

Wrist Update

We went to the doctor today thinking they were going to cast Hallie's arm, but they didn't. The doctor said that it is looking great, so he just made a splint for the top of her arm too. She now has a splint on top and bottom. After another week and a half we will take it off. I was happy that it will be easier to give her a bath, but now her little arm is so big that she can only wear short sleeve shirts so she plays with it more. Oh well.

Hallie Homemaker

1.18.2010

A couple months ago we inherited Whitney & Audrey's play kitchen that they had outgrown. It had been in storage, but with the move of our office, we finally had room for it. Hallie cracks me up with it, it's amazing how she knew exactly what to do. They really do watch everything you do. We have a lot of fun with it. Thanks again Peterson Family!

This is what gets me everytime! She knows exactly how the microwave works, she pushes some buttons, opens the door, sometimes puts things in, closes the door and pushes some more buttons. She's a nut!
Just us.

Popsicles

1.1.2010

When Hallie was sick Grandma brought her her very most favorite treat. Popsicles! It helped her feel much better.

One Little Indian Girl

1.18.2010

A few years ago, I made teepees for my parents to give each family for Christmas. We finally went and picked ours up a month or so ago when we moved our office into our room. Hallie love it! She thinks its the greatest hideout ever.

This is how she comes out everytime

She is getting too big! She is losing her baby face, and "starting to look like a little person" as Eric would say

Other times, she exits the hard way. :)

One little indian girl

Nursery Time!

Hallie starts Nursery at church tomorrow! We are definitely looking forward to it, but it is still kind of sad. Wish us luck! :)

Snowy Family Pictures

1.23.2010

We had family pictures done again a couple weeks ago. We lucked out and got a beautiful snow storm the night before. Hallie was having a rough time, but we think we got some great pictures. Thanks Amy!

Of course there are a ton that I love :)