FRED'S PLAY ROOM

I and probably all my cousins can remember grandpa's (Fred) play room. The play room is located in the basement of my grandparents house and is an amazing model railroad. It features all the houses my grandparents lived in while my mom was growing up, I think 7 in all. They are amazing replicas. It has mountains, tunnels, and even a long bridge.

My grandpa used to run the trains for us when we were kids, and I remember he spent a lot of time in the basement working on the model railroad. Since he passed away nearly 15 years ago, my Uncle Mike has taken it over and has completed more of it. It is a work in progress.

While we were at grandma's house for our weekly visit, Uncle Mike was working on the railroad so we took Zoe downstairs to see it for the first time. She was in love. Uncle Mike even ran the trains for her. It was great to see the smile on her face and ask "Where did it go?" when the train would go into the mountains.

The trains in grandpa's basement continues to bring joy and amazement not only to Zoe but also to me.

No longer my baby

Zoe started sleeping in her toddler bed this weekend. We assembled her toddler bed, which we have had for months. I bought it on Craigslist long before Sophie was born thinking we would move her out of the crib before Sophie was born. We realized a couple of months before my due date she was just not ready to move out of her crib. She LOVES her crib and sleeps so well in it.

On a whim John and I decided to put the bed together and she how she would do on Saturday for a nap. She did pretty well going to sleep in it, although we didn't think about the fact the bed is under two windows so she spent some of her time in bed opening and closing the shutters. I had to go up after about 10 minutes and remind her it was bedtime and not to get out of the bed. She wasn't getting out of bed to play with her toys -- oh no -- she wanted to get out on the side and climb in over the foot board, my little climber. She slept really well until she fell out. John and I were concerned about that because she moves so much when she sleeps still. She still does laps around her crib at night. So she got scared when she fell out and that was the end of her nap -- still about an hour, not bad for the first time. We ended up putting up a guard rail that is meant for a twin bed that we got from Jeanetta. It actually fits perfectly the entire length of the bed so she can't fall out. This also makes it feel a little more enclosed for her which I think is what she loved about her crib. In time, we will try to remove the guard rail in hopes she learns to not move as much when she sleeps.

Last night John and I were out and my dad put her to bed in her new bed and she went to sleep without a problem. Slept all night and woke up a little early this morning and again played with the shutters. My hope is the novelty will wear off after a while.

Again today she napped and is sleeping in her bed tonight. This afternoon I had to go in a remind her again it is nap time, not play time. But after that she settled down and went to sleep for her normal two hour nap.

This started because when Zoe was at Veronica's, her babysitter, on Friday she slept in a toddler bed rather than the normal pack-n-play. Veronica said she did great, so John and I figured maybe she is ready. John thought maybe now would be a good time to try it since she does nap and go to bed without any problems. She actually asks to go to bed occasionally.

I had a hard time with her sleeping in the "big girl" bed last night for two reasons. It made me realize she is growing up and no longer my baby. It was also uncomfortable know she can get out of bed and roam around her room and the house. Until we can gate her room we decided to lock her door tonight. I am sure in time I will get more comfortable with the idea she is up and possibly play in her room while I am sleeping.

Peach picking

Yesterday the kids and I along with Trenton, Kristen and Alexa, loaded up in the car for a trip to Schnepf Farms to pick peaches and apricots. We managed to fit three car seats across the back seat for the three girls and then Trenton climbed in through the back of the car to get in the seat in the 3rd row. We still even had room for the peaches and groceries on the way home. I am amazed how much fits in the car sometimes.

We had a great time. We went about 9am so that it wouldn't be too hot - it was about 90F. The mosquitoes were much worse than the heat. I think Zoe, Trenton and I walked away with who knows how many bites - we have red bumps all over our legs and arms.

Sophie wasn't too enthused about picking peaches since it was her nap time but she was a trooper and let us have fun picking the peaches. Zoe needed some direction to pick the ones on the tree, most of which weren't low enough for her, rather than picking them up off the ground. I think she had a pretty good time. Zoe has enjoyed helping me make things with the peaches. I am trying to figure out how I am going to use all of them. So far I have made peach puree (aka baby food) for Sophie and peach tarts tonight for dessert. We have also eaten several of them because they are so juicy and flavorful - way better than any peaches I have bought in the grocery store. I still need to come up with another idea to use the rest of them.


All in all, I deem peach picking as a successful adventure with the girls (and Trenton). I think both girls will enjoy it even more next year. We may even pick some apples and plums later this month although it may just be too hot by then.

To view all the peach picking photos visit our Flickr website. 

If you are interested in picking your own peaches, apples, plums, etc you can visit the website for Schnepf Farms.

Tennessee

At the end of April, we took a trip to Tennessee to visit John's mom, Linda, and his grandfather. It was Sophia's first plane trip. We left early in the morning and thankfully were able to get Sophie to take a short nap in the Moby wrap in the airport. The kids did pretty well on the plane ride. Sophie was a little fussy toward the end of the flight since she was tired. Zoe had a great time looking our the window, eating snacks, reading, and watching Finding Nemo.

After arriving in Nashville and a quick lunch, we were off in the car for the 2 1/2 hours drive to John's moms house. Thankfully, both kids slept most of the trip. John even got to take a nap.

After arranging and re-arranging Zoe ended up sleeping in a pack n' play in the office area of the house and Sophie ended up in a pack n' play in the laundry room. Zoe actually asked to go to bed the first night and did great all night. Sophie, on the other hand, had some trouble getting to sleep. John's mom slept on the pull out couch in the living area and John and I were in her bedroom. She is so nice to give up her queen-size bed when we come to visit.

The next day we spent some time outside playing with the kids. We played some baseball (toddler style), ran around, and played with pinwheels. Sophie hung out on the blanket most of the time playing with the edges of it and the grass while watching us. It was pretty windy that day, so thankfully the shop provided some shelter.

That evening we went to Jerome, Linda's cousin, to see all the animals and have dinner with them. We has some really good BBQ, yum. Zoe really enjoyed feeding the fish in the pond, petting the goats, and riding on the cow. Sophie looked around a lot but wasn't too impressed, still just a little too young. It was a great visit with them.

That night was the start of a couple of days of rain and lots of flooding. The kids slept through the crazy thunder and rain just fine but I didn't sleep much. We spent a  lot of time indoors playing, and when the rain would let up briefly we took a walk outside. We even got caught in the rain one evening when we walked down the street to James and Martha's house to visit. They ended up driving us home after it started pouring.

Sophie on the tractor at James and Martha's house

We took a trip later in the week to Maggie's farm, Linda's aunt. They own a lot of farmland and some really big farm equipment. Usually we get to take a look at the farm equipment and Zoe got to stand in the wheel well of one of the John Deere combines last time, but this year it was too wet. There was a lot of flooding all over TN. Mary Beth even tried to come up to visit one afternoon but wasn't able to make it because some roads were closed from the interstate up to Sharon, TN where we were.

Flooding from the storm. The river overflowed and covered the farm land.

Nashville got the storm after we did and had severe flooding. The interstate was closed for a couple of days, but thankfully it opened the morning we needed to drive to the airport in Nashville. We spent a lot of time trying to find out if we would even be able to make it to Nashville to make our flight back. Since they opened the interstate the morning we left, we were able to get to the airport without a problem.

The flight home was pretty good for John and Zoe. She went to sleep within 30 minutes of takeoff in John's arms since it was her bedtime. Sophie never did go to sleep which made for a very exhausting flight home for me trying to keep her happy in the back of the plane.

We made it home and all in all it was a great trip! We wish we could make the trip more often to visit Linda and granddaddy.

To view all the photos from our trip visit our Flickr website.

Sophia turns 6 months - half way to ONE!

Well, it is hard to believe it was 6 months ago that we were in the hospital delivering Sophie. I am continually amazed at how fast the time goes with the kids. Unfortunately this past month has been filled with quite a bit of sickness for Sophie and for Zoe. Sophie spent nearly the entire month sick with either complicated bumps or a double ear infection and fluid in her lungs.

Despite all the sickness she has learned to sit completely on her own, tasted her first solid foods, and is grabbing things including mommy's hair and Zoe's toys.  She also got her first taste of snow this month.  She's spending more time outside in the Arizona winter - enjoying that while we can before it gets >100F.  She's still sleeping (mostly) thru the night when she's not feeling too sick - for which we are both very grateful.

Sophie also got a surprise visit from her Auntie M in February - Mary Beth and Lee stayed the night with us on their adventures en route to Memphis.  We had a really good (albeit brief) visit with them, and they loved seeing both the kids- Zoe for the first time since she was 7 months old and Sophie for the first time.

To view all her 6 month photos click here.

Bumps and more bumps

I am writing this post as a log of the events that happened while Sophie was sick.

On Monday morning Jan. 25th I noticed 4 small red bumps on her right leg and 2 on her left leg. Didn't think too much of them but wanted to keep an eye on them throughout the day. By that evening they were still there and a little larger although didn't seem to be bothering her. Several more appeared over the next 2 days. By Wednesday the 27th she had probably at least ten on her legs and two on her arm and one on her face. I took her to the doctor that day. Three providers looked at her and determined it was most likely bug bites, but could possibly be folliculitis. They prescribed Amoxicillin as a precautionary measure in case it was folliculitis. John and I didn't agree with it being bug bites since Zoe didn't have any but weren't sure what was going on. She was running a low grade fever of 100 degrees F everyday. She was also pretty cranky and wanted to be held if when she was not asleep.  I took her back to the doctor on Friday the 29th because the bumps and spread more to her arms and hands. She als had many more on her legs now. Some were clustered together with the entire area very inflamed and red. There were other single bumps also. A couple on her legs were looking very angry and welt-like.

Photos taken 1/28 of right (top) and left leg (bottom) 

At the doctor visit on Friday we saw our normal PA we usually see. He asked the doctor to come in a look at Sophie because he was unsure what they were. Our doctor thought they were most likely a herpectic virus. He said it could be a staph infection but not likely. He changed the antibiotic in case it was a staph infection to Cephalexin and also prescribed an antiviral medication (Acyclovir) in case it was a herpetic virus. They told me she may get a few more bumps over the weekend but by Monday she shouldn't have anymore and should be getting better. They also wanted us to take her to the ER if her temp went up to 102 - 103 degrees F.


On Saturday she seemed to be feeling a little better and some of the bumps started to go away. We thought we finally were at the end of this but then on Sunday that changed. She slept a lot Sunday morning. I had to wake her up after nearly 4 hours. She was pretty warm so I took her temp and it was 102 degrees F. She had more bumps and a couple were getting pretty bad again. She also had one on her face now. Tylenol brought her temp down to 100 degrees F and we kept an eye on her the rest of the day.

Photos taken 2/1/2010

On Monday (2/1/2010) morning her temp was 99 degrees F so we decided to wait on calling the doctor again and see how the day went. By 2pm she was pretty cranky again and her temp was back up to 102 degrees F. I called the doctors office and talked with the nurse. She consulted with the doctor and they wanted us to take her to the ER. I called John to come home from work and my parents were able to come stay with Zoe.

We decided to take her to Phoenix Children's Urgent Care rather than the ER near our house in case she had to have any procedures done. We wanted people who deal with infants all the time to take care of her. So glad we did.... We were in and out of the urgent care within 2 hours. The doctor came in, talked with us, looked her over good and then left the room. When she came back she had a huge medical book with her. She showed us some pictures and then laid out her theories on what was going on. Her most likely guess was Gianotti-Crosti Syndrome which can be caused by many different viruses. It lasts between 2-6 weeks. Her next thought was in line with our pediatrician - a herpetic virus. Her final idea was a MRSA infection mainly because my mom has a MRSA infection in her foot. None of us could figure out how she would have been exposed to it from my mom but they wanted to treat her for it to be safe. They also drew blood to do a CBC and a blood culture. Her CBC numbers were good and we got the culture results back later that week - everything was fine. The doctor changed the antibiotic to Clindamycin to cover MRSA and left her on the antiviral medicine.

She already had diarrhea from the other anitbitoics so the pharmacist recommended giving her a probiotic supplement. We tried getting that in her with cereal but she really wasn't interested in eating cereal or nursing much. We had her on the Clindamycin only 2 days before we stopped it. It seemed like it was making her more sick. She didn't want to eat and had 5-6 diarrhea diapers a day. Her tummy was bothering her so much. We decided the danger of keeping her on it was more at this point then having her on it for something we all didn't think was very likely she had. After about two days - so by Friday the 5th of Feb - she finally started feeling better from being on the antibiotic. The bumps were noticeably starting to heal by Thursday the 4th.

Now about 3 weeks after the first bumps she still has discoloration where several of them on her legs were. She also still has some scabs. Her arms look really good and you can hardly even tell she had them. I am sure in a another week or two her legs will look back to normal.

She had about two days of feeling better before she started coughing and has another infection. Well, that is another story.

Oh the relaxation and snow - what a great weekend!

What a great weekend in Pinetop. We spent Friday night through Monday morning with several of our friends at one of their parents' cabin in Pinetop. There were 4 couples and 3 babies. The babies did great playing with each other, mostly looking at each other since only one of them is mobile. Sophie and Maddie are a day apart and Timothy is about 2 1/2 months older. He is getting around pretty well.

There was still quite a bit of snow up there from last weekend's storm and it snowed on Sunday morning. We introduced Sophie to snow for the first time. She did pretty well with it but didn't appreciate the cold. The weekend can be summed up as relaxation with great friends, LOTS of food, and Super Mario Bros.

Zoe and Lily spent the weekend with my brother and his family. She loves playing with her much older cousins. I hear she had a great time.

View more pictures on Flickr - click here.