Weeks in Review / Strickland's Come to Visit

A great weekend visit by Chattanooga friends sandwich between 2 weeks in review. 

Two weeks ago....

Jake is my little helper when it comes to Hollon. I plan to do a post soon that is just all about him. He has handled the transition with the new baby so well. He gets that he is the older brother to a baby and has been so helpful and understanding. (One of the perks of having your children almost 6 years apart!) And to say he adores Hollon is an understatement. (Except when she is screaming.)

Entertaining H while I change her
Hollon is pretty smitten with Jake as well

I made a doctor's appointment on Monday the 13th without realizing that was Columbus Day and therefore Jake would not be in school. No problem, I'd just take both kids to the doctor. I thought it was just a 6 week post op, just to make sure my incision was healing correctly. Wrong. It was my annual exam. I cringed when I found out. Jake is obsessed with doctors and wants to know everything they are doing. That is all well & good when watching them on TV. Not good when he's there in person and you are the patient. With your legs spread. We moved Jake's chair to make it harder for him to see the doctor and I tried making him read his book he brought. But he still watched the doctor the entire time. And Hollon was crying the entire time, because, well, that's just what she likes to do. Good times.

Before the doctor's appointment
Big brother Little sister

Crying during an entire doctor's appointment will wear you out

This picture of Hollon just makes me laugh for some reason. She had just eaten, her belly is hanging out, she is in her underwear and she is taking a nap. The good life of a 6 week old.

Tuesday, brother had a football game

This was Hollon after the game. Panther's lost. :(

Friday morning, we got a scare. Hollon had been crying and when I went to pick her up, she was burning hot. She gets hot when she screams, but this was a different hot. It was time for her to eat, so I undressed her to cool her off and fed her. I held her for a little bit and she cooled down some, but still felt hot. I took her temperature and it was 101. I knew it was bad for babies that young to have a temperature, so I called her pediatrician and asked if I could bring her in and have them take her temperature. When they took her temperature, it was 101.5. Their policy is if the temp is higher than 101.3, you go to Children's emergency room downtown. Thankfully before they sent us, they did a series of tests of their own. Everything seemed fine. Hollon was still eating and she wasn't inconsolable. They did a urine sample and that came back fine. The last thing they wanted to do was check some things in her blood. Evidently, getting blood from the vein of a 6 week old is not easy. They tried for an hour, sticking the needle in both arms and both legs, trying to find a vein. The more they stuck her, the madder Hollon got. By the end of the hour, they had 3 nurses in there trying and H had screamed and kicked the entire time. They had no luck. I'm pretty sure we are on the pediatric nurses' most hated list. It was horrible for all and we all left with a little loss of hearing. Because they couldn't take blood from a vein, they just pricked her foot and tested that blood. (Not sure how that blood is different, but I guess it is.) It came back fine as well, so they let us go home and we just had to take Hollon's temperature rectal (am I the only mom that is terrified to take my child's temperature that way?!?) every 6 hours and if it went higher than 101.5, we would need to go to the emergency room. Thankfully it never did.

Later that evening, we were having our best friends from Chattanooga over for the weekend. Thankfully Hollon was feeling better by the time they arrived Friday night. It was fun to introduce her to the Strickland family!

Tyler & Addie getting to know Hollon

Addie was a little mama. She loved holding Hollon.

Jake had fun showing Tyler all his boy toys

Addie (5), Hollon (7 weeks), Jake (5.5), Tyler (almost 2)

The Strickland's left Sunday and then we prepared for our craziest week to date. I had 2 extremely important audits that I had to be in Chattanooga for Monday-Wednesday. Then, we were going to be in New Orleans for Robbie to be in one of his best friends weddings Thursday-Sunday. In the past, this would have been no big deal. Jake would have just spent the week with my parents. But now that he is in kindergarten, he had to be in Birmingham and we had a 7 week old to figure out what to do with. We absolutely could not have survived without the help of our parents. They went above & beyond the expectations of a grandparent, and we are forever grateful to them.

I wasn't ready to leave Hollon for a week, plus I'm her source of food and I haven't pumped enough to last her a full week. So we decided that she would just travel with me. My mom took the first shift and came with Hollon & me to Chattanooga. She watched Hollon at the hotel during the day while I went into the office. She is a saint for sitting in a hotel room for 9 hours a day with an infant that likes to randomly scream her head off for no reason. Monday, Hollon was good and slept most of the day. Tuesday, she had a rough day. I would like to apologize to anyone staying at the Marriott in the rooms around room 205. I would also like to apologize to my mom for the loss of hearing she received. Even though, as you loose your hearing to Hollon's screams, on the bright side, it makes her screams not as loud. On Wednesday, Hollon was in a better mood and my mom sent me this sweet picture.

 While I was in Chattanooga, Jake's football team had their homecoming game. I couldn't believe I had to miss it. Each cheerleader made their escort a sign and presented it to them after the game. How cute are these two?!?

While I was in Chattanooga, Robbie would take Jake to school, but we needed help with someone picking him up after school and taking Jake to meet Robbie at football practice. Which is where Robbie's dad earned his badge. He picked Jake up each day, fed him supper and got him to football. On Wednesday evening, mom, Hollon & I left Chattanooga and headed home.

I got home, unpacked, quickly washed some clothes and then packed for New Orleans. Judy met us at our house Thursday morning to go with us to New Orleans. Judy had planned on going to the wedding already, but sweetly offered to help with Hollon so we could enjoy the evenings. Again, such a saint. Chuck had to be in Auburn to get the RV ready for the game and we were all in New Orleans for the wedding, so there was no one to watch Jake. That is where my dad stepped up to earn his badge! He stayed at our house with Jake Thursday & Friday. He took him & picked him up from school, got him to football and stayed with him during the evening. Then Friday after school, they headed to Prattville for the weekend. And my parents watched Jake over the weekend. 

Now do you see why we are so grateful to our parents? They were amazing last week and we owe them a million times over. Thank you so much Nana, Gran, Granddad & Mimi!!

New Orleans post & pictures coming soon!