Activity Day Recognition Night

Tonight our ward had their Activity Day Recognition Night.  They did a talent show and each girl had to display or demonstrate one or two developing talents.

Ashlee was going to play her violin, but she was having some tuning issues with it, so she decided to do cooking as her developing talent.  She made some chocolate chip cookies and these suckers.  She gave each girl a sucker.

This was Mikayla's first activity day.  She was excited to finally be able to attend.  Mikayla displayed some pieces of art work that she made.

Ashlee received some charms and beads for the projects that she has completed in her Faith in God book.

The evening ended with cupcakes for refreshments.

Seriously...not turning out to be a good weekend

So far this weekend is off to a rough start.  It's been a rough week and I guess it's just going to continue on into the weekend.  Ashlee has had a cough for at least a month now.  The last two weeks it has gotten worse. Mikayla has had a rash since Tuesday that won't go away.  Thursday I decided I better call the doctor and get an appointment.  Today after school I took the girls to the doctor and ended up at the hospital.  The doctor thinks Ashlee could have pneumonia or whooping cough.  So they are running some tests.  They started her on antibiotics and will have some results in the morning and more results Monday or Tuesday. 
I am not thrilled about this.  I think she got sick from the doctors office.  A month ago I took her to the doctor.  From the waiting room I could see the doctor putting on a mask, gloves, etc before going into a room to see a patient.  I thought man,  whoever is in there has something bad.  I don't want my kids in that room.  When it was our turn to go into a room they told us to go into that same room.  I told them I didn't want to go in there because whoever just left there must have some disease if the doctor went through all that to go into a room. They said it was fine and explained that the doctor had to do a nasal swab and patients usually sneeze with that procedure so that's why he took the extra precautions.  I said: "so that kid must have H1N1".  The doctor said "no actually I think he has whooping cough."  This probably being the reason why Ashlee may have whooping cough!
Mikayla has had a rash since Tuesday.  Despite benadryl, zyrtec and hydrocortizone cream nothing is improving.  The doctor said this type of rash is associated with strep.  He did a rapid strep test.  Sure enough, she is positive.  No sore throat, no symptoms what so ever, besides a rash and she has strep.   Looks like we will be pretty much home bound this weekend trying to get the girls healthy again.  I guess I have lots of disinfecting to do tomorrow.....

4/13/11 Update:  The test results finally came back.   Ashlee does NOT have pnuemonia or whooping cough.  They think she either has a bad virus or something wrong with her airways like asthma.  The antibitoics are helping, and they are putting her on a couple inhalers as well.  Hopefully we are on the right track!

Swimming

The girls started practicing this week for swim team.  They both decided they wanted to do it again this year.  Swim practice in April is always a bit of challenge.  The weather is hot one day, cold one day, raining the next.  Practice is in the evenings too, making it even cooler and harder. It seems like we are always in a rush to get home from work, pick the girls up, get homework and dinner done and head out the door again.  Practice is supposed to be at 7pm, but Monday and Tuesday this week, the girls got to bed an hour to an hour and a half past their bedtime.  A recipe for a really rough morning.  Mikayla came home from school on Wednesday so tired she took a two hour nap.  Since starting swimming this week, Mikayla has had a rash all over her body.   Hopefully she isn't allergic to something in the pool. Their both liking it and doing well, hopefully we can all adjust to the schedule change.

GRRR

A few weeks ago my blog ran out storage space while I was trying to post, so I decided to delete some posts and make more space.  It seemed to have worked.  I was able to post more.  Saturday I was trying to upload photos and post about Mikayla's baptism and it said I ran out of space.  So, I deleted 90 more posts.  I still couldn't post anything.  Sunday, I tried to post again and was unable to, so I deleted another 100 posts.  I continue to try to post and blogger won't let me upload any more pictures without purchasing more space.  Today I gave in and decided to purchase more space for $5 a year.  I figure that is cheap and the memories will last forever.  Unfortunately, I have lost well over 200 posts and they can't be recovered.  Good thing they are already printed into a Blurb book.

Mikayla's Baptism & Birthday

This photo was used on her invitation.

(Special Thanks to Heidi for taking all the great photo's)

Yesterday Mikayla turned 8.  Today she was baptized.  I can not believe that she is already 8.  It seems like yesterday she was just born.  I remember going to the doctor the morning of the day she was born (thinking that I was going to be scheduled for a C-Section because she had been breech) only to find out that I was dialated and ready to have her.  I thought it was a joke.  It was April Fools Day afterall.  Everyone John called that day, didn't believe him.  They thought he was pulling a joke on them.  Well it was real.  At 4:02pm on April 1st, 2003 Mikayla was born.

Mikayla & Aunt Teresa



Mikayla, Ashlee and Carlee

The table outside the baptismal room.  Teresa brought a table cloth that was made by Mikayla's Grandma Neva who passed away in 2006.  A little special touch that made the day even more special.  Mikayla drew a picture on her baptimal program.  She loves to draw.  I seriously picture her writing and illustrating books some day.

Today Mikayla was baptized.  I have to say the last few weeks have been very stressful and I have had a lot of sleepless nights stressing about this day, but I am glad the day went smoothly and everything turned out fine.  John did a great job.  The speakers, piano player, chorister, and all those involved did a great job.  It was a very touching day.  I don't know if there was a dry eye in the room.  For both the girls baptisms, we put together a dvd slide show of them from birth through now and we play the video while they are changing from their baptismal clothes into their church clothes.  It brings back lot's of memories and adds a special touch to an already special day.  Mikayla had to be "dunked" twice.  The first time her knee floated up.  John gave a very touching blessing to Mikayla.  The conducter Brother Dan Blank sat down and gave a touching talk to Mikayla.  He said her smile has brightened his day on more than one occasion.  He mentioned a few times when he was having a bad day, and all she had to do was smile at him and it made his day a brighter.  After the baptism we had  lunch and a mini birthday party at our house.

After lunch and cake Mikayla opened gifts.

After gifts we attempted to do a pinata.  The wind was awful and half way through the line of kids the pinata broke.  The kids didn't seem to mind.  They still got candy!