We're just not normal!!

My kids don't seem to catch just the common cold. Some examples are here, here, and here. So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when Hailey woke up this morning and she looked like this.

 So I got the boys out the door and headed to the doctor's office. He looked at her for a couple minutes and then told me that she would need to go to the hospital. He suspected it might be a type of abcess and may require surgery. I was totally shocked by that. ( I kind of forgot that sometimes my doctor tends to jump to the worse case scenario, he really likes to be cautious). He said that she would need a cat scan to get a better look at it.

I called Corey to meet us and headed to the ER. She did have to get some blood work and a IV, but she hardly complained. Of all the kids, she is by far the toughest. The other kids would have probably come unglued. She was even excited by the cat scan and told me how cool it was.

In the end, she has acute parotitus. Basically she has a infection, probably from a virus or possibly a staph infection, in the gland just below her ear. She had to have a course of IV antibiotics and will be on a pretty strong antibiotic for awhile. We will have to watch her, but I am sure she will bounce back quickly.

I am beginning to wonder what I am doing to my kids that brings on these weird things. Maybe we are just weird in general, who knows?!!

( looking a little tired after our long, eventful day)

Big 10

*Emery at 10 months*

*Is desperately trying to figure out how to crawl*

*she rolls to her destination and then sits up*

*gets into everything even without crawling*

*begs to eat whatever we are eating*

*is stil toothless*

*is a little lost when the other kids aren't around*

*has learned to throw her binkey out of the crib*

*loves to be outside, but doesn't like the grass*

*is so good natured and happy*

*is still smothered daily and totally spoiled*

BIrthday Wishes

Today our Grandpa Barlow celebrates his birthday.

We really hope he enjoys his day. We love you!!

Happy Birthday

The Party

The invitation

Excited guest of honor

The guests

Having cake and eating it too

Games, playing, and presents

When we decided to build our house, I loved that we would have our own neighborhood park. I envinsioned how fun it would be to have parties and family events there. That has not really happened. Since three of my kids have birthdays in June and one in January, it has not really worked to use the park. I told Hailey we were going to have a party for her awhile ago just so I could use the park. I let her invite a bunch of kids and we had a lot of fun. We played horse,horse pony, did a hat toss, and played a little bingo. She got a lot of great presents and I spent two hours getting all those presents out of their packaging. She is still talking about it and has started planning her next party.

A day to celebrate ( not for tax purposes though)

*Hailey's 4*

I always thought that I would have been perfectly happy just having boys. Little did I know how much I would enjoy this little girl. She is so much fun. She adds a little more drama to our household, but I think she's worth it.

{*Happy Birthday*}

(She is having his first friend party on Saturday. It's all the talk around our house.)