Monica's Musings #10

Time for another one of my musings. I have a lot of little things to say, but nothing really hugely related to make one big post. So here's a mosh posh of my thoughts.

*I do not know why, but ever since CJ's birthday if you ask him how old he is he'll tell you he's 40. I always tell him he looks good for 40. He refuses to say he's 3. Doesn't matter who asks him either. He will tell anyone that he's 40. Recently we began asking him how old everyone else is too though. And well apparently everyone is 40. So those of you who are older than 40 would surely love CJ's answer. For those of us who haven't reached 40 yet well we aren't liking this answer much.

*I was recently looking on the Board of Education website and noticed their mission statement for their Food Services is to: “Provide students with healthy, nutritious and appealing foods in a timely manner and in a pleasant environment every day”.

Now what they actually serve children is every Monday they can get chicken nuggets or something else equally full of fat, Tuesday they can get a long dog or something else equally full of fat, Wednesday they can get a cheeseburger or something else equally full of fat, Thursday is a chicken patty or something else equally full of fat, and Friday is either cheese pizza or pepperoni pizza (they switch off every week) or something else equally full of fat. So it sure does lead me to wonder where are those healthy nutritious foods. I was speaking to the pediatrician about it because there is some concern about Kaitlyn's weight and she thinks I can get the menu changed. Hmmm, not sure how to go about doing that actually. I have emailed the Board of Ed about this, but haven't heard back yet. I'm thinking of setting up a meeting with the principal.

*Our health insurance won't pay for a 2nd inhaler for Kaitlyn to have at school. Well, they will, but I have to wait until tomorrow to pick it up. Thankfully it's not longer and I'm concerned about what will happen if I ever have to refill both prescriptions in the same month. I could end up without an inhaler somewhere. She has to have one that stays at school and I can't send it in with her or anything. So she has been without her inhaler at school until I can pick this one up. I'm relieved she doesn't have severe asthma.

*I failed my one hour glucose test. The doctor told me I needed to go for the 3 hour. I asked if I could skip that and she said if I prick my finger 4 times a day. Shockingly I opted for that. I've been through this before so I know what to do. I have to send her my results from the next week so she can decide how she wants to proceed. I'm thinking like last time it will just be to avoid really sugary foods.

*Kaitlyn has lost 2 art smocks now since the beginning of the year. I'm getting really frustrated with this. You see, she has never lost a smock before. Now I'm not naive to think that she's not one to lose or misplace things. She does it all the time here. However, to lose 2 smocks in a matter of months has me wondering. You see she has to share her locker at school with another student in class. I am concerned that maybe by accident this other child is taking it. I emailed her teacher today who assures me her locker buddy is a sweet boy. They checked lost and found and all of the lockers today, but it has not been found. They are going to check the art room tomorrow, but honestly I'm thinking her locker buddy got ahold of them and brought them home.

*Most of our Christmas decorations are up. We ended up rearranging our living room to put up the tree. We didn't have to, but you know I think I like it the new way.

*I got my ornament exchange partner. I'm so excited to get started on ornaments. Not sure what to make yet, but we'll find something fun for the kids to do.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! Let us not forget that today is not all about the turkey. Although it is a very important part of the day we must remember to be thankful today. I have a lot to be thankful for. I'm of course thankful for my family and friends. I am thankful that we have a roof over our heads and enough food to eat. I'm thankful that we have family to celebrate this day with. I am thankful that we have great health care and are able to get a plan to fix any health problems we have. I am thankful that all of my children get to have a great education. I am especially thankful for great teachers like Kaitlyn's who take the time to see the potential in a bright girl like her. I am thankful for CJ's teachers who deal with 15 3 year olds everyday. I am thankful for all of Natalie's teachers who give her the opportunity to improve grades that she is not all that happy with and do whatever they can to help her to succeed to her full potential. I am thankful that my husband has a job, even if it does mean he has to work on a holiday and his schedule isn't always the most convenient for me. I have so many blessings in my life, but mostly I'm thankful that I am here to share my blessings with others!

9 Families will have Thanksgiving this year because of 20 3rd Graders

This year Kaitlyn's teacher had all of the kids in his class do a penny drive to raise money to buy turkey dinners for needy families. Starting on November 1st and going until November 19th they were to bring in pennies only. They did not want parents donating money. It was to come from the kids. We did end up helping Kaitlyn by placing pennies around the house and giving her free reign to "find" them to donate to this worth while cause. I was not expecting the amount of money they had collected though. As a class of 20 3rd graders they collected $125. At the end a few school donations to their cause including some inspired lunch ladies by their hard work they managed to have $200 to spend and the ability to feed 9 families! So they took a walking field trip to a local grocery store where all of this stuff was purchased. I was lucky enough to be able to join them for the walk. The kids were all so great going through the store too.

Our group arrived and ready to shop

We got two of the turkeys

Kaitlyn got the pumpkin pie

Lets not forget the apple pie

The whole class outside the store

I couldn't stay to help decorate the boxes as I had to go pick CJ up from school. So I left my camera behind with the teacher to take some shots of the kids decorating the boxes for the 9 families.
Kaitlyn's group

Kaitlyn and Mr. T

Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn got to do another box

The kids all had such a great time and I think were feeling really good about their efforts. Kaitlyn told the doctor all about it at the doctor's office yesterday. She called Kaitlyn a hero and said her picture needs to be up in the "hero" room. I'm very impressed with the whole group and love that Kaitlyn got to be a part of this by having this teacher this year. I couldn't have imagined a more perfect way for her first year at a new school to go and am so happy she's getting these experiences. There were times she wasn't sure she wanted to give up her pennies, but it gave us a chance to talk about how important it is to help those in need. After thinking about it she decided that it was better to help out and share her pennies. I'm very proud of her and all of those 3rd graders for doing such a great thing.

Asthma and Allergies

So last week when we had Kaitlyn's physical we weren't anticipating anything big with her. Just routine stuff. However, after doing a breathing survey which they asked me to do the doctor said I think she has asthma. So she starts going into this whirl wind of information for me completely unexpected and asking okay so steroid inhaler, or once daily non steroid pill. I must have had this deer caught in the headlights look on my face because the doctor says to me would you like to go home and research this and discuss it with your husband. Ummm, yes please.

So what she did in the meantime was order an albuterol treatment for her to try at night to see if it helped her coughing at night. Told us to get some blood work done so we could try to find her triggers and come back in a week. So we left with a plan to come back in a week.

Well, the week is up. I used my time wisely and researched everything. Even had gotten the results of her blood test which showed she's allergic to dust, mold, and several different kinds of trees all of which are very common around here. Okay, allergies, good I can handle that because that's what I assumed was her problem all along. So I decided we'll start by trying the Singulair once daily non steroid pill as our course of treatment for Kaitlyn. I mean after all it's an allergy medicine that's supposed to help with all of these allergies Kaitlyn apparently has so it will be the perfect choice for her. Joe was in agreement. I am prepared though that if this does not help her that we might have to go to the steroid, but I want to at least give this a try.

So we went back today to discuss the plan with the doctor. She asked how she was coughing at night and I told her it's getting much better. She even has told me that she's sleeping better. Good to hear. She listened to her breathing and she does hear a slight wheeze. So looks like it's definitely asthma. Now it also turns out that she's not just kind of allergic to dust, but she's very allergic to dust. Can't totally eliminate dust of course, but she told me what we need to do to help her especially with sleeping at night. First of all her bedding (including her pillow if we can) must be washed every week or two in hot hot water. We should get mattress and pillow covers to repel the dust. And her stuffed animals will either need to be stuck in the freezer or washed in hot hot water frequently. Especially the ones she sleeps with. Okay, I can deal with that. We're actually pretty fortunate I think to not have carpeting here so I don't have to worry about dealing with dust in the carpet.

Now, our asthma plan. We will use the Singulair once a day at night before bed. The Albuterol treatment will now be used whenever she's going to be doing any strenuous physical activity. So the doctor has written a prescription for a 2nd pump and spacer to be used at school. We will mark her coughing on the calendar to see if she has improvement and this is helping. We will go back in a month to say how everything is going and figure out if the Singulair is working for her or we need to go to the steroid inhaler. I have all sorts of paperwork for the school so they can administer all of this to her. She will have to do it 30 minutes before gym or recess while at school.

So the next few weeks will be interesting. This is a whole new journey for me. Just when I think I've got all the kids on the right track. Next month I will be spending lots of time at the doctor's office actually with two more physicals to go. Lots of doctor's appointments coming up. I will likely be going to my own doctor much more frequently very soon too so gotta keep all of these dates in line.

Farm Adventures with Grandma and Grandpa

On Saturday Grandma and Grandpa came over and took CJ and Natalie out for a farm adventure. They got to see a bunch of animals and feed them. They were going to do a pony ride, but I guess it was too cold for the ponies. Judging by the over 100 pictures they came back with though I don't think that dampened their spirits at all.

Grandpa and CJ at the farm

Oooh a kitty

Hi horsie!

Time to feed the Donkeys. CJ needed a little help to not get his fingers nibbled on.




CJ made a friend. Apparently he named this guy Buddy.

Feeding some more animals

CJ chatting it up with "Buddy" again

CJ figuring out how to fix the old wagon

Back to feeding the animals.




CJ was trying to feed the birds. They wouldn't stay still like the rest of the animals though.





Petting the kitty

Feeding the horse

What does that say?

Got my shades on and now it's time to go

I think CJ had a really great time, but he sure was tired when he got home. I do believe he was out before his head even hit the pillow Saturday night.

You know what they say about curiosity...

it killed the cat!

CJ is a very curious little boy. This is a good thing most of the time, I think. At least that's what I keep telling myself. He is forever asking, "What's that?" "What's that noise?" "Why?" And when I reply "Why not?" to that questions he'll repeat me, "Why not?" He stopped mid sentence at dinner last night to ask, "What's that noise?" because a firetruck was going by the street. He wasn't satisfied either until he saw it and knew exactly what it was.

This morning while waiting for what seemed like forever for Kaitlyn's bus he heard a helicopter. Now my dad inspects helicopters. CJ knows this about Grandpa. He had to know where that helicopter was coming from. He was looking all around. Although, not up. I told him CJ you have to look in the sky. So he looks up and spots it and says, "Grandpa give me one of those in my hand!" He thinks he can hold a helicopter in his hand! Then he wanted it in his pocket.

I'm thinking it's time we find helicopters that are not up in the sky because he seems to think they are small enough to carry. And really if he does try to hold a real helicopter in his hand, then curiosity might just actually kill a CJ.

8 Year Well Child Visit

Only 7 months after Kaitlyn turned 8 I was able to get her in for her well child visit. I had to pick her up early from school today to go. I was anticipating the only issue we would really have to discuss about her were her possible broken fingers. That turned out to be much more minor though.

You see when I got there they asked me to do this breathing study for her. I figured okay no big deal not much could come of this. I gave it back to them and they looked it over and the doctor said I think she has asthma. Uhhh, what? Asthma? That wasn't what I was expecting. She coughs a lot at night, but I thought it was dry air or allergies or something because it has always been a dry cough. She does it often enough at night and occasionally during the day enough that it has them thinking a mild case of asthma.

So now I have to make a choice. Does she get an inhaled steroid to treat this or a chewable pill? Both have side effects. Both have side effects that are very rare. Sounds like the doctor thinks generally the steroids work better. It's such a small amount of actual steroid she would get too.

I have to take her for some lab work tomorrow to check out how everything else is working in her and find out if she has any allergies. And then next week we go back with my decision on steroids or not and we make our plan of action for her.

In the mean time the doctor wants to see if a nebulizer type treatment helps her to sleep better at night. Looks like even though I usually say no to the flu shot for my kids I will have to get one for Kaitlyn though.

If Kaitlyn's fingers aren't better in a few days (when we go back for her appointment next week) then the doctor will send us to a hand doctor. Her fingers look better to me though. And we have permission to buddy tape her fingers too so she's not completely immobile.

Other than all that she's doing well. She weighs 79 pounds and was 52 inches tall. She got her Hep A shot. Her ear test went well. I do need to take her to the eye doctor though. She'll probably need glasses. This was when Natalie got glasses. The doctor was happy to hear she's getting the help that she needs in school for her reading finally too. Also happy to hear how much she loves math :). She said she always likes to hear when girls like math. Future doctor maybe?

Now I'm off to research. Steroid inhaler or Singulair to treat asthma.