E is a binky-a-holic. Seriously can't get enough of it and will stuff it in his mouth if he can ever get his hands on one....and it is ALWAYS upside down!

Livi has had "chronic" UTI's (Chronic in her case is 2!!) But the Doctor was concerned and wanted some further testing done so we could be sure everything was ok. The day before we went to the hospital for her procedures I was supposed to get a urine sample and bring it in. What a joke!! She wore this bag for 5 hours without so much as a drop. And don't think I wasn't giving her all the liquids I could stuff down her. I called my mom in desperation and even used all her tricks such as standing her in warm water..NOTHING!

She had to eat nothing after midnight and drink nothing after 10 am. Her procedure wasn't until 11 so I tried to keep her busy all morning and act like all the different drinks I had gotten were the coolest breakfast EVER. She actually did great and we were off to the hospital.


A lady met us and let Livi draw a face on this little doll to explain some of the procedures they would be doing. What a blessing she was. She had a box full of goodies and showed Olivia how they were going to look in her tummy. First they did an ultrasound and she was a little weirded out, but did great.

The next procedure was not so great. They had to do a catheter into her bladder and fill it up as full as it could go and then empty it to make sure everything went smoothly. Because of the pain/discomfort associated with this procedure they sedated her so she would be quite out of it. The prep work was great. They re-measured her 3 times because they couldn't believe how tall she was.



The lady with the goody box had fake IV's and showed her on her doll how the procedure would go. She seriously saved me. She had bubbles and books and all sorts of distraction methods so it was not so horrible when they inserted all the IV's. They brought her into the procedure room and inserted all the drugs. They told me they would work within the minute so while Olivia continued to scream I looked at them like...hello??Kick in already!! I cannot even describe the feelings I had as she laid there and I was helpless, all I could do was hold her hand and kiss her forehead. She kept saying mommy, mommy over and over again and I was trying so hard to be strong for her. Finally the Dr. said something is not right and they undid the bandage on her arm to show a golf ball sized lump. The whole time the medication had been going into her tissue instead of her vein. NO WONDER SHE WAS SCREAMING!!! Apparently her vein had collapsed and they felt so horrible and moved quickly to get it going in her other arm. They called in a life flight nurse with 17 years of experience. The same thing happened until finally they had to do it in her leg directly into the muscle. By this time I had lost it!! I was bawling and the nurses were rubbing my back. The only thing that got me through it was knowing their was an amnesia effect in the drug and she would not remember, only I would. The doctors and nurses kept apologizing over and over again for how things were going. It was just a fluke and it's not like they were beginners. They were very experienced Doctors who had just started this sedation team from Children's Hospital. Finally things kicked in and the procedure went well.

Here is my baby knocked OUT!
VERDICT: She has the biggest bladder they have ever seen in someone her age. (HENCE THE FIVE HOUR HOLD!!) The nurses kept saying they could not believe it. The Dr. came in and told me the good news was I have a championship road tripper on my hands. Every thing was ok and all was working well. We stayed at the hospital until she woke up (about 2 hours) and then she had some juice and the sweet nurses carried her to the car and were just as sweet as could be. She walked like she had a few to many drinks and slurred her speech, but after another hour on the couch she was good to go and didn't remember a thing! I was very thankful that night for good health, sweet doctors and nurses, and not having to go through things like this all the time.

This is going to be a new regular series on my blog entitled "Don't ask". I seem to have several of these types of shots.

"Look mom, no hands" (Ethan is ALWAYS showing off new tricks which Livi promptly follows up with her version. Yes, Livi..so impressed you can stand up with no hands!)

"Come on bud, let's make a fort. Come on in."

"Just kidding, you can't come in"

Water break..this is HARD work playing all day.

"What now boss??"





"I have some good ideas. How about I tackle you, choke you, smother you?? Sound like fun??

"How about my ideas? I'll pull your hair or scratch your face. Which do you prefer??"
She seriously is going to get it when he gets a little bigger. I'm a tad concerned.



Ok, Ok, break it up. "But mom, we were having fun!" Does this look like the face of someone having fun??? Ok, so maybe he was.

Onto the next activity...can you just imagine what happened next?

She can do the "pedal bike"

For all those who missed Albertson's last fabulous sale it starts again today and ends on the 11th. I just saw my ad in the paper. Please see previous post for details.

10 items for $15 with Albertson's Preferred Card. I love them!

Olivia was oh so kind to document our visit to the Dr's office this morning. E weighed in at a whopping 19 lbs. 2 oz. (25th percentile) and was inches long ( percentile). Dr. says he's on his way to be tall and thin. He did not like his toe prick for blood or shots, but let's be honest who does? The dumb nurse also made the mistake of giving Livi her flu shot AFTER Ethan. I mean come on.....come up here and you can scream in pain while I jab this needle in your leg just like your brother did. She's no dummy. But she was brave and got a sucker right after.

Not funny

Each day I try to do at least one educational type activity with Olivia during Ethan's morning nap. Today's activity......candy sorting. It was fun and educational. Plus I got to sneak away the good stuff. The Mickey hat was from Omniture. They gave them out in the Disney section plus Mickey shaped sugar cookies...I'm telling you, it was AMAZING! Next year, I'm going even if I know no one! Ethan got in on the action during lunch time.

Livi and I headed over to Ann's for some Halloween festivities. Mike and Ethan stayed home since Ethan was already in bed and Livi should have been, but it was a special occasion. Isaac, Estee, and Liv all went trick or treating and were so cute. Afterwards I put Livi in her pj's and she crashed on the way home. She understood the trick-or-treat concept this year.

After naps it was off to our day Halloween party. We went to Omniture where my neighbors work and they go all out for Halloween. The place was AMAZING. Each department was a different theme and Livi was in heaven. Her favorite was the Disney theme complete with Disney princesses, lots of characters and most importantly Snow White and the 7 dwarfs. You read that correctly...7 real life dwarfs. Apparently they rented them for the day and they were a hit. Never knew you could rent little people, but somewhere, somehow you can. I wish I could have taken pictures of the whole place, it was that amazing. It was like being at Disneyland for a kid. Ethan was a trooper through it all.