The Weekend of January 15 - 17

Beckett & Monroe had been sick for a couple of days/weeks/months with a horrible cough and wheezing. I  took them to the doctor on Wednesday and she put them on some antibiotics after a day or so Beckett was doing better but Monroe wasn't. Friday morning Scott and I went to greet her and wish her a Happy Birthday but she was not well. She couldn't even lift her head to look at us. She just laid there and when she wasn't just lying there she would scream inconsolably. I called the doctor's office and the nurse told me that she needed to be on the antibiotics for 72 hours before they could really tell if they were working. I told her that I didn't mean to be rude but that I had a hard time accepting that answer and that I would like to speak with our doctor. A few hours passed , filled with screaming from one little girl who will remain nameless (in this sentence)and finally our doc called us back. She was concerned with how upset Monroe seemed to be in the background and asked that I bring her in immediately. They gave her a breathing treatment because she was wheezing, some tylenol, oral steroids and then gave her a pretty powerful shot of antibiotics (to fight a wide array of possible infections) and then she asked that I have her x-rayed so that they could see what was going on in her lungs. I had left my insurance card at home so we had to make a quick pit stop, I grabbed the mail and my card and were off to the to some imaging place for her to have a little photoshoot. I immedciately noticed a odd envelope in the stack of mail. On our way there there was a hawk that dove down and captured a little creature in some nearby shrubbery and I was concerned with this envelope.  There was no return address, it was addressed to Scott in giant handwriting that looked as though it was written by a first or second grader. I think maybe my nerves were shot becasue I was scared....We went in to have Ruby's picture taken and then we waited. The X-ray tech said that he was going to give my doctor a call and let her know what we found...3 spots of pneumonia. Dr. Powers said that the shot she gave her was for pneumonia and that she wanted us to come in the next morning so that they could check on her.
I think it is safe to say that I was at a breaking point. I was extremely stressed out, today was Monroe's 1st birthday and we were not doing anything fun, instead we were running around to doctors and what not and she was sick. We were supposed to have family pictures taken the next morning with Shannon and Nayeli's babyshower following. Everyone was going to be in town, except Dustin, Aunt MaryAnn and Greg were flying in also. Sunday was Addie's blessing, with a lunch to follow and then a day of much needed family time. I was angry. So many things were planned and now we weren't going to be able to do any of it. All of that planning...Not to mention I had a weird envelope that I was convinced was a something bad, in my possession. I cried a lot and felt really sorry for myself.
I ended up taking the envelope to the police department and asked if they would open it for me. The officer looked at me a little funny at first, but that changed once he opened the envelope; he then looked at me like I was a naive, frail, ignorant little girl who was scared of a tiny envelope that had nothing but an offer to reduce our student loan interest rate. I was relieved and then saw how silly I was.
The next morning I took Ruby back to the dr's and they gave her another shot on the other side of her bottom and said that she wasn't contagious but that we should keep her comfortable. She gave us the go ahead to spend time with our family.
We didn't get to do everything (really we just cancelled the pictures). My dad watched Monroe and I was able to go to the baby shower. Thanks to Arinda it turned out BEAUTIFULLY. Then we were able to come home and Uncle Greg made us his Hawiian fast food (pork and cabbage) It was so YUMMY. He is a great cook. We were able to have a wonderful evening, inclusive of gifts for Monroe to open. She was super cute. The next day we headed back down to GC and went to Addie's baptism and then to Ravenelli's for lunch. It was a great time with the Malone's.
It ended up being a wonderful weekend, maybe a few things I would have changed but I am really glad to have been able to spend time with the "Whole Famn Damily". :)

My cute little girl in my favorite dress!!

The OTHERS, trying to find a gang sign.

Uncle BJ & B, posing for the camera.

My beautiful Aunt MaryAnn.