Emmersyn's hospital visit

As far as sickness in our family goes, to say this winter was bad, would be a HUGE understatement!! We have literally had someone (or more than one) sick every single week since just before Christmas. I think a lot of it has to do with just moving (again) to the area and dealing with new germs and I also think a big part is having 4 little ones who like to share their germs.

We moved into our new home on Saturday, Feb. 16th. My dad and Jamie offered to take the three older kids so could get more done and not have to worry about what they were doing. We were so thankful because it's not easy moving with 4 little kids. Anyways, they had a GREAT time and a full-filled weekend with Papa and Nani. They took the kids (dad and Jamie also had my niece and nephew, Micah and Adelyn for the weekend! 5 kids, 6 and under!! They were brave!) to the fire department for a "tour", took them to the kids museum, went to the store and picked out new toys, took them to church and Micah's birthday party and much more!

We got them back on Monday and that evening Riley and Emmersyn came down with a fever. I talked to Kasey and she said Micah had a fever on Saturday night. So I knew whatever they had was probably what Micah had too. Anyways, my kids were SO sick. This was, by far, the worst virus we've ever had. That's saying a lot beacuse we've had a lot of viruses lately. By Wednesday morning Lincoln had come down with a fever and I knew it was going to be a LONG week.

 

Since Monday evening the kids had high fevers and complained of different things hurting. First it was their head (or brain, if you asked Riley), then their eyes, then their throat, then tummy, etc. I had been rotating between tylenol and ibuprofen all day on Wednesday and had just given Emmersyn a bath to get her fever down because the medicine didn't seem to be doing the trick. Around dinner time, on Wednesday, all three kids were laying on the floor (our new couches haven't been delivered yet!). Lincoln was playing the ipad and Emmersyn was playing on my phone. I had JUST gotten up from sitting with Emmersyn and nursing Anistyn to put bread in the oven for dinner when I heard a really weird noise. It honestly didn't register with me what it was until I heard Lincoln say "Emmersyn, can you stop doing that please...". I knew, at that instant, she was having a feberial seizure and that noise I was hearing was her teeth grinding. Talk about the scariest moment of my life. I ran to her, held her as Ty called 911. The seizure only lasted about a minute or minute and a half and the paramedics were here within 5 minutes.

They got Emmersyn's car seat out of our van, strapped her in on the stretcher and we took off to the children's hospital downtown Grand Rapids. (This was, however, AFTER they got the bunny out of the egress window. Riley was telling them how concerned she was about Emmersyn, just like she was concerned about her bunny freezing. Little did I know, the paramedics went into the window area and set the bunny free!) I was so thankful Ty had just gotten home from work when this happened because I was able to go in the ambulance with her. In the ambulance, they took her temperature and it was 104.8 and that was after they had ice packs on her! I had literally given her Tylenol 1.5 hrs before the seizure. It was the worst feeling as a mom and the worst thing I've ever witnessed. I am thankful, though, that it doesn't have any long term affects and she was totally back to herself within a couple of hours. She and I stayed at the hospital for about 6 or 7 hours. They did a urinalysis and chest x-ray to see what was causing the fever, if it was something more than a virus. The urinalysis came back negative but she did have bronchiolitis, but they didn't think that was causing the high fever.

 

We got home at about 1 am and I literally didn't let her out of my sight the next 7 days. She slept with us every night, if I did laundry I carried her with me, etc. I was so scared and paranoid it was going to happen again. All three kids ended up having a fever for 9 days straight, without it breaking. It was really scary because their fevers (especially Emmersyn's) were super high and nothing would take it down. It would be 104 then I'd give her medicine and it would go down to 102, but within 45 minutes it'd be back up to 104 or more. I don't know how many times I called our pediatrician's office, but I'm pretty sure they knew my number. I took them all back to the doctor on the following Monday (7 days after fever started) and was told, again, it's just a virus but they were starting to get concerned because of the duration of the fever. If it wasn't gone by Wednesday they (whoever still had a fever) would have to get blood work done. I was praying and hoping that wouldn't happen. Tuesday morning Emmersyn woke up without one and Wednesday morning the other two didn't have a fever either. Praise the Lord. I was SO glad. They all seem back to normal and we are praying and praying for NO MORE sickness. I seriously don't know if I can handle seeing another one of my children sick!!

This is how my little sickies spent 9 straight days!

Emmersyn's birthday party!

On Saturday, we celebrated Emmersyn's 2nd birthday with family at our house. We had a great time and it was so nice everyone could make it! I chose a rainbow theme and everything turned out pretty cute. E got lots of great gifts and we were thankful everyone made the trip.

 Fruit and dip

 Chocolate covered oreo pops (these were a big hit!)

 Balloon banner

 E turns 2!!

All of my sister!

 Rainbow cake!

 YUM!!

 Opening gifts!

 Riding on Papa's legs!

 R and R eating an oreo pop!

Baby Addie

Sisters!

Riley is such an amazing big sister, she really is. She's loving, kind and plays so nicely with Lincoln (and Emmersyn!). Riley and Lincoln hardly argue and Riley really loves taking care of Emmersyn. Lately they, she and Emmersyn, have been inseparable. Riley loves pushing Emmersyn in the stroller, reading her books, and anytime they are watching the tv, Emmersyn has to be sitting on her lap. Riley loves to help Emmersyn down the stairs (we call it booty-bouncing down the steps), even though Emmersyn is very capable. She helps her get dressed, get her shoes on, gets her sippys and sneaks her treats! I love watching them grow and play so well together, I am so grateful for the big sister Riley is!

E had fallen and gotten hurt. Riley ran right over there, set her on her lap, patted her back and kept saying "Oh, Emmersyn, it's okay...it's okay...."

Those were all the books they had gone through. My kids LOVE to read and Riley probably read to E for 30 minutes!

Emmersyn @ 18 months!

I have done such horrible job at keeping up with this blog, and even worse at updating about Emmersyn. Such is life as a third child! Emmersyn just turned 18 months this past week and I'm not quite sure how that happened! Where has my baby gone? She's definitely turned more into a toddler the past 6 months. She is seriously so. much. fun. She has the biggest grin and most contagious laugh. She is quite the Momma's girl and she loves her big sister and brother (and Daddy too!). Every day when Ty gets home from work she screams in her highest shrieking scream yelling DADA while running as fast as she can!! It's so cute!

As much as she loves playing with Lincoln, she adores her big sister. Riley takes such good care of her and just loves helping with her. When E gets fussy, Riley will say "Lets go up to my room and play". She often dresses her up in princess dresses or puts her on her bed to feed her "breakfast in bed". Emmersyn is so tolerable of all Riley does. She is at the stage where if you try to take something from her she freaks out and throws a fit, but Riley will calmly go over to her and say "Emmersyn, will you please hand that to me..." and Emmersyn puts it (whatever it is!) right in Riley's hand. I love watching their relationship flourish!

Lincoln loves wrestling with her and she seems to hold her own. That's probably because she only weighs 3 lbs. LESS than Lincoln. It's crazy how big this little girl of mine is (well, Lincoln is on the smaller side, for a boy, too!). At her 18 month appointment, she weighed 27.5 lbs and was 33 inches tall! That's the 85th percentile for both height and weight. I do realize she had a head start, but she really is a big girl. She's wearing all 2T clothes and will, probably by the end of winder, be in 3T shirts. Some days her and Lincoln are wearing the same size clothes!!

One of Emmersyn's favorite things to do are puzzles. She loves the chunky Melissa and Doug puzzles! She also LOVES Violet, the talking puppy that she got for Christmas. She loves patty-cake and singing "This Little Light of Mine" and always puts her light up when I'm changing her diaper. She also LOVES squinkies. OH. MY. WORD. The older kids got them for Christmas and I had a rule they couldn't play with them when she was awake, but somehow that rule didn't last and she discovered them. I'm not kidding, she has one in her hand at all times and is constantly getting them out of the closet and dumping them all over the floor. Good thing she doesn't put stuff in her mouth very often!

She isn't talking as much as I thought she might be, but considering she has two older siblings who don't stop talking she doesn't have time to get a word in. She says mama, dada, uh-oh, bye bye, hi, eyes and a few other words you probably wouldn't recognize :). She knows where her eyes, belly, head, nose and toes are. She knows most of the animal sounds and can't point out most animals in a book. She loves to give hugs and kisses and she loves to be held. I've learned to do just about everything with her on my hip. She really is my little sidekick. Ty takes the older kids out often, but usually taking three is a lot to handle so Emmersyn is literally never without me. She's with me 24/7 and has a lot of stranger anxiety. She doesn't like when I leave her anywhere. She's a clingy little thing. I love it and enjoy the time I have with her because I know soon enough she won't want to be on my hip anymore!

E is a big eater and isn't picky at all. She'll eat anything I put on her plate. She was recently (this week!) introduced to goldfish and I'm pretty sure she's in love. When she sees the bag she screams and points and gets really excited. I don't usually buy snacks for the kids, so goldfish were a big treat. Ha!

Although Emmersyn sounds and seems like the most perfect little angel, let me tell you, she can have a temper. Like a throw yourself on the ground temper. That's usually when I'm trying to take something from her that she's not suppose to have or getting her off of the counter. I've learned (thanks to Riley!!) to not take things out of her hand, but ask her instead and she responds so much better! Speaking of getting on the counter, all this girl does is climb. I'm not kidding she's always on top of something. The counter, the table, the beds, the closet shelves...if it can be climbed on, she's probably been on it! It can be quite tiring getting her off of the counter (especially) all day.

I am so thankful for such a sweet and fun-loving little girl! It's hard to believe how quickly the past 18 months have gone by and as much as I WISH she'd stay little forever I can't wait to see what's in store for her future!

LOVE that smile!

Big girl!

Dancing!

FOOD!

R dresses her up in her princess dresses!

Sisterly LOVE!

Breakfast in bed, anyone?

Lincoln took off all of his clothes, one day, and put them on Emmersyn! She would make a cute boy (AND she looks a lot like Lincoln here!)

Climber!

Emmersyn's new love is climbing on EVERYTHING! I'm telling you, this girl is fearless. She loves to climb and be adventurous! She's been walking for a long time, so even though she just turned 13 months I feel like she's had a head start! Yesterday morning I couldn't find her for a minute, then I walked upstairs to find her jumping on Riley's trampoline! She doesn't usually climb the stairs and definitely not without me right behind her, so I was surprised to find her up there. Time to keep the baby gate up.

Then later that same day I had the step stool out to get something out of a high cupboard, I turned around to make lunch and the next thing I knew Lincoln said "Mom, get Emery!!!". I turned around and found her here:

Talk about scaring me to death. I about had a heart attack, good thing I was right there. I won't be leaving the step stool out any more!

Emmersyn turns ONE!!

This year has flown by and it's hard to believe that my baby is no longer a baby, she's definitely more a toddler than a baby. I love the new things she's doing but I miss that baby stage already! At one year old she is walking (she started walking at 10 months), "talking", kissing, waving, clapping and trying to keep up with her older brother and sister! She has 8 teeth (top 2, bottom 2 and ALL four morals!). At her one year doctor appointment she weighed 21 lbs. 15 ounces and was 29.5 inches long. She's by far by chubbiest baby I've had, starting out just shy of 10 lbs., but she's also tall so I feel like she's starting to thin out a little bit.

Sleeping is an issue we're working on. Just after she turned one I started nursing once a day, and once a night if she woke up, but I have stopped feeding her at night and she seems to be sleeping through the night more often once she knew nursing wasn't an option.

If I were given one word to describe my little one year old it would be happy. It's just that simple. She is the most smiley, happy little thing you'll ever meet. She very rarely cries and if she does it's because she's hurt or tired. I cannot even begin to describe the joy and happiness she has brought into our lives. It's hard to remember life before her. I LOVE the fact that she's such a mommy's girl. I call her my little koala because she just wraps her arms and legs around me and clings. She is getting pretty bad stranger anxiety and doesn't let many people hold her until she's comfortable, I hope she's always a mommy's girl!

We can already see the relationship she is forming with her older siblings. It's really neat to watch. With Riley, she loves to sit on her lap and Riley will read books to her. She follows Riley around the house and is always playing with her dolls and Barbies. With Lincoln she LOVES to wrestle. Lincoln will be laying on the ground and Emmersyn will literally jump on top of him and crawl on him and Lincoln just laughs and wrestles back. The relationships they have are already so different and so special. I love watching our kids play together, it makes me so thankful we had them so close together!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!!

Emmersyn @ 11 months

We offically have a walker and I don't mean taking 1 or 2 steps. This girl is walking across the room and is rarely crawling anymore (she started walking, not just taking steps about 2 weeks ago). I am sad about it, but she is loving this new found freedom. All of her exploring also means new bruises, owies and frustrations!

She has also learned to open all the cupboards in the kitchen and especially likes banging the pots and pans together.

Emmersyn now has 8 teeth. 6 on top (4 in front and 2 morals) and 2 on bottom.

She is still waking up once a night. She goes to bed at 6:30 wakes up at about 3 then goes back to bed until 6:30.

She was really sick again with pneumonia and a double ear infection earlier this month but seems to be feeling better. I'm still giving her 3 breathing treatments a day to help with her weezing (R and L also have some weezing, double ear infections and pink eye!!-it's be a VERY long couple of weeks!!)

E says "dada", "mama", "hi" and her new favorite thing to do is take her pacifier out of her mouth, throw it to the ground and say "uh oh". She thinks it is SO funny and plays this game often.

She has been eating only table food for a couple of months now and I'm not kidding you there is nothing this child will not eat. She loves everything I've given to her and I can't say she has a favorite thing because she just loves everything. Speaking of eating, at her doc appt (1 week before she turned 11 months) she was 21 lbs. 2.5 oz. (Riley weighed 21 lbs. at 22 months).

I think I can officially say her eyes are brown (YEAH!) and I also think her hair is going to be brown too.

I love her to pieces and she is so much fun to have around. She loves playing with the other kids and I cannot imagine life without this sweet girl. I cannot wait to see what personality she'll bring to our family and where she'll fit in, all I do know is, is that whatever that is she will always be loved!

Emmersyn @ 10 Months!

Emmersyn is the happiest little thing at 10 months old! I cannot believe in 2 whole months she's going to be a year old! Currently, she has a whopping 5 teeth, including one molar that is still trying to pop through (isn't that really early for a molar?!) She's standing unsupported, although not long enough, yet for me to get a picture!

She weighes 21 lbs and has been to the doctor more in her little life than probably Riley has in her 4.5 years. She's been sick far too often, whether it was pneumonia, colds, or this past month, Roseola. She was SO sick with a fever of 104.5 for 4 straight days. We couldn't do anything until I took her to the Urgent Care because she wasn't having any wet diapers on that fourth day. I was extremely worried especially because the docs couldn't tell me what was going on. "Just a virus" is what they kept saying. Well, Monday morning I took her back to our regular pediatrician and as we were waiting in the room for him to check her out she started breaking out in this horrible rash. I was glad it happened when it did because he could diagnose it as Roseola. Scary stuff, I hate when the kids get sick but especially do when they're so little because they are so much harder to read! I am praying that since she always seems sick now that will mean she's going to be a very healthy, sick-free toddler!

Currently Emmersyn's favorite things to do are EAT, stand alone, pull things out of the kitchen drawers, pull things off shelves, splash in the toliet, eat some more, wrestle with Lincoln, put small objects in her mouth, scream while I change her diaper, wake up every night...usually once, give kisses, and, most importantly cuddle with Mommy. She is definitely becoming more indepentent and is really starting to voice her opinion, like screaming when she wants more food (not scream, as in crying, but scream as in give me more!!!). Soon enough I will be watching her walk across the room and planning her first birthday party...I am sad that she already seems so big, she's not a baby anymore and as much as I love the new things she's doing I wish she'd stay little forever!

Pouty face!

Roseola! (both pictures you can kind of see the rash over her entire body!)