Visitors & Strep

Paul has been gone a lot lately with work.  He is trying to learn the product line and has gone to several trainings to learn more, thus leaving Hayden and I.  Well, this time we were lucky enough to have some company from Susannah and Payton Sanders.  They came on Monday and stayed until Wednesday.  It was so nice to have company, someone to talk to, and someone for Hayden to play with.  We didn't do anything grand, but we had a good visit with them.  Sadly, and much to my dismay Hayden got Strep Throat, almost guaranteeing that poor Payton will get it.  I felt horrible that we probably infected them too!

Last Monday at Hayden's 18 month appointment she had a little runny nose that the Dr. concluded was from teething and nothing to worry about.  Tuesday I got a soar throat and headache which I attributed to allergies (tons of pollen here right now).  But Hayden and I then got nasty coughs that kept us up at night on Tuesday of the following week.  Hayden kept waking up and crying so I brought her in bed with me and that is when I noticed that she was barely breathing and then would stop breathing altogether for about 10 seconds and then gasp for air and cry.   That worried me and it seemed like she had sleep apnea.  I didn't sleep most of the night because I kept listening to her breathing.  So the next day I was talking to my mother-in-law who said that 3 of her boys had their adenoids removed for similar problems and that I should talk to her doctor.  I called and they told me to bring her in right away.

While at the appointment they discovered her tonsils were almost swollen shut and she was barely getting air in, the doctor seemed shocked and was glad that the results for strep came back positive.  They put her on steroids and an antibiotic.  They set us up for a referral to get x-rays and see an ENT doctor next week.  So we'll see what they say about her adenoids.

At this point I realized that my throat was still hurting and it was now past a week since it started so I wondered if I too might have strep.  I went to the doctor and my results were negative but the results are only 85% accurate, so they put me on an antibiotic that will treat strep and a sinus infection which I probably have. 

So after all that and about $350 (it's days like today when I really miss military insurance!) hopefully we are on the mend.  I can only imagine how much the surgery and all that will end up costing....Oh the joys of life.  It is crazy that Hayden was so sick and hardly acted sick. If she hadn't kept waking up coughing I would have not even thought to take her in, I figured it was a virus that would work it's way through her system.  I felt terrible that her throat was so swollen.

  Payton and Hayden eating Ebelskivers (although Hayden didn't really eat them :( )

 They had so much fun playing with stickers!

Beauty Queen

Tonight we took Hayden on a walk in her little car (that has a handle that we push) and she was so hilarious.  She waved just like a beauty queen to each house and alternated hands.  It was like she was in a parade car.  I have never seen her do anything quite like it.  She even experimented with a few new hand waves.  We tried to get it on video, but it was too dark to see.  Maybe next time...

She also loved going fast down all the hills, I think she is going to love roller coasters once she gets a little older. 

Confidence

So I have almost everything completed in order to start my private practice:

• license transferred to GA 
• professional liability insurance
• LLC paperwork in and waiting approval
• my private practice paperwork is written and ready to be used
• have business cards and brochures 
• met with the stake president and got permission to contact the bishops and send my information
• getting set up to be a referral for LDS Family Services (the nearest location is an hour from our house)

Now all I need in the confidence to do it!  I remember feeling similar after moving to Cheyenne.  After graduation Paul and I had 2 months off (AF paid his salary too) and then we went to Alabama and then to California for only 8 months.  Needless to say, I never got a job in therapy and so by the time we got to Cheyenne it had been a year since I had done any therapy.  I was so nervous to start again.

Now I find myself in the same situation, almost a year since I have worked and now I am trying to start a private practice and have people pay me.  In Cheyenne most of my clients paid between $1-$20 per hour because it was a non-profit organization that based the fee off of income.  I knew I was worth at least that much, but am I worth paying more???  I guess we'll find out.   I hate having insecurities, I just need to believe in myself.  

Here is my professional photo I had taken at Target awhile back.  I felt so silly having pictures taken of myself.  Much more fun when Hayden is the subject! 

Cousins

We had a great weekend with our Mississippi cousins again!  It was their spring break, so they drove out on Thursday and stayed until Saturday night.  They have 4 boys with tons of energy.  Hayden just loved playing with her cousins.  This is the first time she has ever had cousins come to her house.  Every time she woke up she was so excited to go round everyone up.  One morning she waited by the door until Garrett woke up and then came downstairs with him.  She would not budge until he was with her! 

Friday we took them to Champion Kids, the open gymnastics place. They all had a great time jumping on trampolines, going to down slides, but I believe their most favorite activity was jumping with a rope into the foam pit!  That night my sister-in-law Heidi and I went to IKEA.  It's only the second time I've been so it was fun to have a night out just the girls. 

Saturday we headed out to the zoo and it was a really hot day, I think it got to the upper 80s.  But before we got to the zoo we went to The Varsity which is kind of a famous restaurant in Atlanta.  If you ask me, the food was way to greasy and I probably wouldn't chose to go again!  But the story is that a student was told by a professor at Georgia Tech that he was so dumb he couldn't even run a hot dog stand, and so he dropped out of school and opened his own restaurant which is now famous.  Quincy has a true love for the zoo and was so excited to see each and every animal.  Just like our last trip to the zoo, Hayden cried every time we left an animal for about the first 10 minutes until she caught on that each time we left an animal we would get to see another. 

We had a great, fun packed weekend and we are just so glad to have some family to keep us company out here in the south.

 Hayden only rode in the stroller with her cousin Garrett

 Garrett sharing his necklace with Hayden

 So thirsty!

 We didn't manage to get Quincy in the picture, he was much too busy to bother with a picture

Cooper (in the red) made me laugh the whole weekend!

New Worries

Last night I was thinking about what I used to worry me...

homework, tests, swim meets, friends, my thesis, doing therapy...Now most of my worries are Hayden: is she eating enough good foods, learning to play well with others, handling temper tantrums, going to nursery successfully (bad nursery day yesterday).

My how my worries have changed.  I know worrying doesn't do much to change anything, but I just want Hayden to be a happy, healthy, well adjusted kid!

She is over 18 months old today and went to her check-up.  I really like the pediatric group we are with.  Both doctors we have seen have been so friendly and warm towards Hayden.  They did an assessment of her development and autism.  She did great and for now there are no concerns. She also got 2 shots today which definitely made her sad.

The only thing I didn't like is they didn't give a paper with her stats so here's what I remember:

Weight about 24 lbs 50th percentile
Height about 32 inches (same as last time) 50th percentile
Head 19 inches (which converted into 48.26 cm)

So her major growth spurt happened last appointment and now she seems to be leveling out.

Just in the past 2 days she has started repeating my words so much more.  Here are a list of the words I have heard her say: mama, dada, papa, up, thank you, "chee" for cheek, eye, no, push it, bye-bye, hi, go, baby, hot, ouch, "ah oh"...I'm sure I'm missing a few but that's most of them.  I'm so excited to figure out what's going on in that little head of hers!

She is also really into doing the hand actions to the following songs: Patty-Cake, Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Old House in the Middle of the Woods.  If you stop singing the song, she will do the next hand action to help you out!

Sunday

Last Sunday was a special day for 2 reasons:

1)  Hayden went to nursery for the 1st time (one week early).  We decided to take her because I had to teach the lesson in Young Womens and she is basically 18 months old.  Is it weird that I have been counting down the days for this to finally happen, only to feel sad that it actually did?  I missed her during Sunday School and Young Womens and I couldn't help wondering if she was okay and what she was doing.  I think she feels kind of betrayed by us right now.  We drop her off at the gym everyday and now we are doing it at church too!!!  She seemed so sad when we picked her up from nursery.  But I know it's good for her to be on her own and making new friends.

2)  We got to see our great friends the Sanders!!!  Jason sadly has to do 4 months of training in California, so Susannah decided to come out to Atlanta and stay with family while he is gone.  Ironically enough, Jason's grandpa lives right by us, so we got to catch up for a bit which was just awesome.  I'm so glad I'll get to see Susannah and Payton this Spring and early summer!

p.s.  I wish I had pictures for both 1 & 2 but totally spaced it!

Ode to my gray shirt

I knew from the moment I saw you on the sale rack at Anne Taylor Loft that you would be one of my favorites
And once I put you on I realized I also needed you in black
You were the perfect shirt that could be used with dress pants & pretty necklaces or plain old jeans
I wore you in the summer and winter, seasons did not matter
Even after a pesky moth ate some holes in you I still continued to love you
You made me feel good even when I felt bloated or had weight left to lose from Hayden
You were always my go to shirt and I always got compliments about you
Well today an unfortunate accident happened and I will sadly have to retire you
I knew I should have left the bathrooms a mess and focused on keeping you clean
But unfortunately I spilled toilet cleaner "with bleach" on you and you are now ruined
How I will miss you and the way you made me feel...

Goodbye my favorite gray shirt, goodbye :(

Miss Independent!

Hayden is most definitely now at that age where she wants to do everything by herself and the most troubling one is eating on her own.  She will not eat ANYTHING unless she is feeding it to herself.  This makes for very messy meals, which makes me very uncomfortable.  I need to learn to embrace the mess, but it is so very hard for me to do!!!  She also refuses to wear her bib now, so at night she usually eats topless!  I miss the days when I could carefully spoon food into her mouth...

Here is a funny video we took on Saturday, we're still not sure why she is doing this, but she only does it when she is by her kitchen sink!

MFT001194

That's right!  I finally got my license transferred to GA and discovered the good news a few minutes ago!  Now I really have to get to work...I need to set up my LLC, get my forms and paperwork in order and start advertising a bit.  I already have some clients lined up so we'll see how it all goes from here...

Ear Infection

Hayden has been sick off and on since January and it is really frustrating!  But this cold was accompanied by a fever that would come and go and some ear sensitivity.  So today I took her to our new pediatric clinic and yep, she got her first ear infection.  It's days like today when I really miss the Air Force and free doctor visits and prescriptions. 

Hayden really liked the doctor and didn't cry at all, she was great with Hayden.  Walgreens on the other hand was not so great.  I went and they said it would be $30 and about 10 minutes.  I waited what seemed like forever and now the price had gone up to $50!!!  I asked why and they said they had run out of small bottles, so they had to put it in a bigger bottle which apparently was $20 more.  I said that was a little ridiculous, so they transferred the prescription to another Walgreens where I drove to, waited, and finally got the prescription.  They asked if I wanted it flavored for her and not thinking it would cost extra I said, "sure, make it raspberry."  Don't worry, flavoring costs $5!  Sorry, I know this is petty and I am so grateful the pediatric office got her right in, but I am just not used to the out of pocket medical expenses!!! 

Any of you who know Hayden know that she is a loud breather and I also discussed this with the doctor.  She was surprised to hear me say that she usually sounds about the same even when she is not sick.  This is a result of large adenoids which continue to grow until they are about 4 years old.  The doctor was concerned because hers are already probably very large and they continue to grow which can result in problems sleeping, lots of ear infections and colds.  If it becomes a big problem by age 4 they would surgically remove them.  So I guess we'll see what happens there...

I will still love you Hayden, even if you are a loud breather for life!

Cute as a button

Here are a few pictures that I thought were cute:

 Today was purple day in honor of my last supervisor at Peak Wellness Center.  She gave Hayden all purple 18 month clothes and she is just starting to fit into them!

 Cute hand-me-downs from her twin cousins Morgan & Marly

And this I thought was hilarious.  I was making Minestra soup and it has you make your own croutons from a baguette and Hayden found some.  I love the little hand on her hip.