the haps at our house

As previously mentioned, a last minute Reynolds rendezvous happened again. Friday afternoon I told Braden he should call his little brother Cody who is interning in Houston for the summer and get him to come over for the weekend. He chatted with him online. I walked by and read Cody's last message which was "see you in 10 hours". I got the rest of the story when Cody arrived. Apparently Braden promised that we would move to Washington if Cody would come for the weekend. Hmmmm. That's a pretty weird thing to promise without consulting the wife. Cody came bearing a contract to be signed. What is it with these nonsense bets and the notarized contracts that seal them that my dear Braden involves himself in? I used to think our marriage was the only binding document to which he was a party but oh contra ire. But, we got Uncle Cody for the weekend so we'll settle up with that other stuff later. We didn't do anything extravagant. Anabelle just loved playing with "my friend Cody". I went to pick her up from Nursery on Sunday and the teacher said she was already gone. I had passed Braden in the hall and he didn't have her so I had a small feeling of concern. The teacher told me that the door opened, a man came in, and Anabelle yelled that she was going with her friend, and left with him. Well that is pretty much what we fear about her so I was relieved to remember after a few seconds that Cody was there. Nothing too exciting but everything that a long holiday should include: grilling ribs, swimming, family, friends, and a trip to the emergency room. The day ended with a 4 hour trip to the ER for Lila with what turned out to be a UTI.

I returned her to the doctor today (a new stop in our doctor shopping...I think I'll keep this one though) because the antibiotics didn't seem to be helping. The doctor said it must be a very bad infection because this particular medication is supposed to work very well on this kind of infection. Truth be told I now think she's had it for the last few weeks. She has been a teensy bit fussy (fussy=less smiley, a bit less content) but I thought maybe she was finally getting a chomper. But then she had the unmistakable smell in her diaper and high fever which we've learned to recognize because Anabelle had about 5 of them as an infant as well. Apparently it is hereditary. Because it is so rare for infants to have these, she now has to go back to Children's and have an Angiogram and ultrasound to make sure there aren't big problems there. She may already have built up quite a tolerance for antibiotics because she basically lived with an IV of them for the first 5 weeks of life. The nurse today gave her a big shot of a more powerful antibiotic to see if we could break the fever. She said that this was a painful shot and was trying to brace me for it. Lila didn't make a peep. Not even a wince. I don't even know if she noticed. Given, there is a good amount of cushion in those thighs, but still, she is a champion.

We realize that Anabelle has spent way too much time in hospitals and doctors offices. Not that anyone makes her uncomfortable, but she feels the same ease talking with doctors as she does friends on the playground. When the doc walked out of the room at the ER the other night she climbed up on the chair and in a very serious voice looked at Braden and I and said, "Ok, so tell me what's been going on". The time before that she was dancing all around the room and singing loudly and she didn't skip a beat when the doctor walked in. As soon as doc entered the room Anabelle yells an invitation to join her, saying, "Shake your boodie Doctor! Shake your boodie!" And every time a new person comes in Anabelle proudly announces, "Dr, meet my baby Lila!" Then she's been saying, "She's a lil cutie pie. But she's a sickie. She has a fever. She doesn't feel berry good".

Anabelle has been all sorts of helpful this week with Lila. I've found her trying to take her temperature rectally or removing her diaper to check for diahhrea. And yesterday I stepped out of the shower to see that Anabelle had laid Lila down and filled up her belly button with lip gloss. 2 minutes. Is that too much to ask? Can a girl wash her hair for 2 minutes?

Other than that, I have girls camp coming up in a week and I am looking forward to that (being over) so I can have my life and my spare room back. Although Anabelle might be sad it's over because I will return to feeding them healthier meals and less movie time. Unless I don't...


Lila discovers her jolly belly

She seems okay with it


This is the morning I discovered the fever and smell. She looks fussy and miserable right?

You can see why I'm ecstatic when I get to share a bed with Anabelle. Braden had a good point though- if we teach all our kids to sleep this way we can pile them all in this very bed and never have to buy another. We could fit at least 8 or 9 (that is if I get pregnant with sextuplets on my next pregnancy)