Fun times in FL (the real fun times and not the sick ones)

I'll skip Sunday night after we arrived and Monday (as they were blurred with illness).

The fun started yesterday (Tue) at lunch. We went to Fisherman's Wharf for lunch and the food was very yummy! Kenley and Sophia enjoyed watching the birds and people while we sat out on the patio to eat. The weather was warm with a very light breeze (definitely the kind of weather I will miss when we head home this weekend.)

Tuesday night we celebrated the girls' birthdays. Sophia turned 1 on Halloween and Kenley will be one in about a month (12/27) so on the years we get together for Thanksgiving, we decided we could do a joint birthday party. 

We played the "You say it's your birthday" Happy Birthday song that Grandma B used to play for Clay and Val on their birthdays.  The girls had some good dance moves (video to come- prob when I get home and I'm back on my own computer)

Then we did gifts...

and cupcakes!!!!

We also shared some birthday kisses with cousin Sophie to celebrate.  (Although Sophie may have been after the icing on Kenley's face too)

What a great way to celebrate!!!

Then today we had more fun with a big trip to the park.

You can tell that we had a lot of fun. Kenley LOVES the swings!! We also had some good laughs making the swings a big family affair ;o)

Then tonight we celebrated our Uncle Scott's birthday. Happy Birthday Uncle Scott!!!

The girls are in bed and the adults are preparing for Thanksgiving tomorrow. We will continue our week of celebrations and holidays tomorrow with Thanksgiving and then on Friday we are going to celebrate the Lokker/Brockman Christmas as Grandma and Grandpa B are going to be snow birds and stay down south for the winter. I'm hoping we all stay healthy the next few days and can enjoy the festivities.  Stay tuned for more pictures and stories!!!

Southbound and hitting speedbumps

Sometimes it's not Plan A but Plan B, Plan C or even in our case more like Plan D. We were supposed to leave for FL and our Thanksgiving holiday last Friday. But after Kenley's pink eye on Monday/Tuesday, I got sick and stayed home Wed afternoon/Thursday and then Clay got sick Thursday/Friday.  I stayed home Friday too since it was already off and the rest was nice. I went to Urgent care on Wed night but was sent home with the "it's just viral" diagnosis and told to let it run it's course. So Clay was on the same track.

So evenutally we loaded up and headed south on Saturday morn and it was a great day of travelling. We made it out of the house by 8:30 which was only 30 min later than anticipated. Kenley did great in the car and happily played, talked, sang, slept, and watched things zoom by. We stayed in a very nice Holiday Inn Express somewhere in Alabama and had a very restful night. Clay and I were feeling a little down still but doing better for the most part. However Sunday was a different story. Kenley ran a fever starting Sunday around lunch and it was a LONG drive the rest of the way to A. Val's. When we got there we took her temp officially and it was 104F. She was a burning bug! We called the dr on call (as it was a Sunday) and were advised to go to the ER to find the root cause of the temp. After a few hours at the local pediatric ER we were sent home with an ear infection and a round of amoxicillin. Pumping Tylenol and Ibprofren in every 3 hours we were able to break the fever in a little over 24 hours. LONG LONG 24 hours!!! She was so clingy and so fussy but aren't we all when we don't feel good?

Monday was a blur since Kenley was sick. Tuesday we went to a nice lunch at the Fisherman's Wharf (the fun post to come later with pictures) but I started feeling even worse. My throat was raw and swollen. It felt like cotton balls were blocking the way and my right ear was starting to hurt. I didn't want an ear infection so Tue afternoon after some searching online, I found an urgent care clinic considered to be "in-network" for our insurance and spent about 2 hours waiting and seeing the dr. They were nice and diagnosed me with an upper respiratory infection and pharyngitis (which is just a nice way to say a really PISSED OFF throat) They gave me a steroid shot to help the swelling and an antibiotic shot and instructions not to nurse for 24 hours (which worried me as the only thing we could get Kenley to drink when sick was to nurse but I was sick of being sick so I went for it).  I was feeling better within a few hours.  I felt good all day today but I'm starting to get that feeling again so I'm busting into my new antibiotic and thus not nursing for the next 5 days. (Sounds like a good time to quit in my book! Wish me luck.. I don't want any clogged pipes.)

Then to add to all of this nonsense, Clay started feeling worse yesterday and last night it got even worse too.  So today, he headed to the urgent care place and came home with antibiotics and cough syrup.  Boy aren't we a healthy bunch.

SO all in all, after a day delay, a trip to the ER, and two trips to an urgent care, the Brockmans have 4 prescriptions, had 2 shots, and I met my health care deductible for 2011 already. FUN FUN FUN!

Stay tuned for the "fun" post with the pictures and stories of the visit in FL thus far.

Another official first...

We've had our first official prescription filled. (I can't get the picture turned correctly and it's driving me nuts!)

That's right folks, we took another trip to the doctor (and all this time I was worried about not using all the Salary Stretcher Plus money and now that it's gone, I need more..ha!) and got a prescription for Erythromycin Ophth Ointment for (drumroll please....dum dum dum dummm) PINK EYE. We have bacterial pink eye in both of our eyes. (Did you know there were 3 kinds of pink eye and the most common that people think of is viral pink eye with red irritated eyes...) Well bacterial pink eye is a bit different. It just oozes a yellow gunk out of the corners of the eyes and can crust your eyes shut. Kenley's big long eyelashes are a foe at this point and impossible to keep clean. We actually sent her to the sitter yesterday since we didn't know what it was. I'm hoping no one else got it as it's highly contagious. We kept her home today and it's slowly improving. I can't decide if next time (cause I'm assuming there will always be a next time) we should go for the drops or the ointment. Either is terribly hard to get on the small eyes and specifically inside the bottom eyelid of a crying and kicking 10 (almost 11) month old.  At least we only have to use the medicine until symptoms clear and remain gone for 24 hours. The dr thought that would be about 3 days so we only have to pin her down 9 times. 2 down and 7 to go ;o)

Morningtime Storytime

Kenley loves to read her books. It's one of the first things she plays with when get home from work/the sitter and lately its one of the first things we play with in the mornings. With the time change this past week, she had been up much earlier than normal so we had some extra play time in the morning. Clay caught some cute pictures the other morning of Kenley reading in the morning while we got ready for work. Too cute!

 I hope that her love for books stays with her as she grows. I enjoy reading so much and I hope she will too.

Baby steps

Kenley has been walking along things for quite some time. She has also been pushing her little walker around, but over the past week or so she has started to actually take some solo baby steps. Last night we finally got a few on video to share. While it is super exciting it is also a little sad as our baby girl is just growing up so fast.

Catching up

WOW! I haven't posted in a week. Many times I have wanted to sit and post some random thoughts but everytime I tried, my mind went blank. Must have been a case of mild writer's block.

Since Halloween we have been very busy at the Hotel Brockman. After a lovely weekend with Grandma Coleman last weekend, Kenley has gotten even more Grandma and Grandpa time. Grandma and Grandpa Brockman came to town on Monday to stay for a few weeks before they fly south for their first winter as retirees. Kenley skipped the sitter to stay home and play with them on Tuesday and had a wonderful time.

Wednesday, Grandma B headed out west to AZ but Grandpa B stayed behind. We have enjoyed having Grandpa B around in the evenings after work for dinner and playtime. Here are some pictures of Kenley and Grandpa B hanging out before bedtime.

Grandpa B left yesterday for a quick trip to Indiana to get their home fixed (the 5th wheel they live in needed some minor repairs). He will be back tomorrow night for some more Kenley time and Grandma B comes back Wed so they can have a few more days with Kenley before they leave. She will probably play hookie from the babysitter's again to enjoy the time.

Yesterday we got another boo boo and this one was BIG. She was playing in the hall with a big box of wipes from Sam's. (Side bar: some of her favorite toys to play with aren't even toys. I wonder why that is so with every kid..hmmm...) I was sitting there with her but decided to get up and get scissors to open the box. Clay was watching from down the hall (playing peek-a-boo from Kenley's room). Just as I rounded the corner to get the scissors I heard a big CLUNK and immediate screaming. She cried so hard and what felt like so long. I know it is just the first of many many many bumps and bruises but it's hard on this momma to have her baby crying.

You can sorta see it in this picture. She got a nice bruise and it was definitely a big bump from the side. This morning it looks much better though so I feel better.
Yesterday was also a bit of a challenge with the time change. Kenley has been waking up at 5am (since she thinks its later). We were able to keep her awake longer last night to readjust to bedtime but she was still up a few times early this morning and up for good at 5. Guess this momma will have to go to bed early tonight until we all readjust.
Finally, in my random thought post for today I thought I would share a picture I like to call "Why we need a new (and bigger) house" Although I guess with a bigger house comes the potential for more toys but our living room looks like a tornado hit it by the end of the day. Here's my proof...

And this was on a mild day ;o) Oh well, at least she is having fun!!!

I guess that's about all I have swimming in my head right now. My mind has been a little cluttered of late so I apologize if I just babble endless in no direction. Stay tuned as we will have more posts soon about our big road trip to FL over Thanksgiving to see Aunt Val, Uncle Scott, and cousin Sophia. We can't wait!!