A Visit to the ER

I'm a few weeks behind in my posts, but instead of trying to catch up, I've decided to blog on the most current happenings with the Simon Family...mainly Mia being sick.

Last Wednesday morning, I noticed that Mia had a fever so I stayed home from work with her that day. She had no other symptoms, so I just assumed she was fighting off a virus. Mia still had a fever on Thursday morning, so Grandma Randa came over to stay with Mia so I could go into work. Jake is in the middle of a super duper busy time right now (working 7 days a week and averaging 12 hour days) so he didn't have the ability to stay home. Thursday night Mia was still sick so I called the Nurse Exchange. She suggested that I take Mia to the doctor in the morning. So on Friday, Mia's pediatrician diagnosed her with a Urinary Tract Infection, which apparently aren't that uncommon in little girls. Mia started antibiotics right away, but she was still feverish. Saturday morning, Mia's temperature was hovering between 104 and 105. I called Mia's doctor and she suggested that we go to the ER since it seemed like Mia's medicine wasn't working. Luckily Jake hadn't left for work yet, so he called in and told them he wouldn't be in until later.

Off we went to the ER at Children's Hospital. After explaining Mia's situation to several people (I felt like a broken record; no she doesn't have a runny nose, a cough nor diarrhea, etc...) and then doing a urine culture, they confirmed that Mia did have a UTI. Then they decided to give her an IV filled with antibiotics to basically kick-start the medicine.

I think one of the hardest things of being a parent is seeing your child sick and suffering. It was a heart-wrenching experience. Mia screamed while they were inserting the IV, but after the nurse's left the room, she calmed down and all she wanted to do was snuggle. She definitely was a trooper through all of this. Here's our darling daughter in the ER hooked up to the IV.



Thankfully, we were able to go back home after the IV had run its course. Now Mia is now feeling much better and seems to be back to her normal stuff. The only problem - while she was sick and basically only wanted to be held for 5 days, we watched A LOT of Elmo on TV. Now Mia is addicted! She points to the TV and says "Mel-mo, Mel-mo" and pitches a fit when I won't let her watch it.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

I think Mia just looks adorable when she is all bundled up in her puffy coat and fun hat. Here's Mia before we left for Chuck E Cheese's on New Year's Eve. Isn't she just the cutest?

Merry Christmas!

We started a new Christmas tradition this year for our little family. After the festivities in Mascoutah with the Twenhafels, we headed back to good ole 527 Atalanta. We wanted to be able to celebrate Christmas morning at our own house. Mia must have been a good girl this year, because she got lots of fun stuff from Santa. Her 2 big gifts were a Dora the Explorer kitchen and the Little People Nativity Set. These were both set up in front of the tree so as soon as Mia made her way downstairs in the morning, she saw them and immediately started playing. So fun!!



After Mia's morning nap, we headed back to Mascoutah to celebrate Christmas with the Simon Family at Papa Art and Grandma Randa's. Grandma & Papa gave Mia a baby bed for her Bitty Baby. However, Mia thinks its for her.



Mia had a great time playing with her cousins Christian and Aubree.



Christmas Cheers! (And a delicious Christmas Dinner prepared by Grandma Randa!)


After dinner, we headed over to Lockwood's to continue our Christmas fun with the extended family. It was a busy day, but one that was full of the best things in life - family...and lots of good food. :)

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Our Christmas Eve tradition is to go to the Christmas Eve church service and then head over to my mom's house for egg nog, gift opening and lots of snacks! The added fun this year was getting to see Mia open her presents. Since the Twenhafel clan celebrated early at Thanksmas, the adults had a mini-exchange. Mia had a blast and wasn't shy about tearing off the wrapping paper. She received wonderful toys, books and clothes from everyone! And this was just the beginning of our Christmas celebrations!



Grandma, Grandpa and the Grandkids


Mia looking at her presents

Mia & Max

Mia and Max have become pretty good friends lately. Max is awesome with Mia. He lets her pet him and hug on him and never seems bothered by it. Mia's allergy test indicated that she is allergic to cats, so we had been trying to keep Mia and Max separated, but as you can see...that doesn't work very well. How can you deny these two? Thankfully Mia's eczema is doing much better lately. Just in time for Mia and Max to become pals. Here's a couple pics from last week of the two of them.

Flashback!

It is so hard to believe how fast time goes by! Since I wasn't blogging until Mia was 11 months old, we have lots & lots of photos that I haven't shared. I thought it would be fun to post Mia's Christmas photos from last year. Mia was 1 month old when we took these pictures. Its hard to remember Mia being so small, but I definitely remember her being a cutie!

Ho Ho Ho = Wah Wah Wah

Last night we went to a Christmas party hosted by our neighbors. This is an annual party and practically one of the only times we visit with our neighbors. This is the 3rd year that we've attended and we've always enjoyed it. However, now that we have Mia, its even more fun because Santa makes a visit. We eagerly anticipated Santa's arrival and Mia had been practicing saying "Santa" and "Ho ho ho". We weren't sure how Mia would react to Santa. Once he arrived, we sat and watched about 10 kids sit on Santa's lap and then finally we decided it was Mia's turn. Luckily Jake was quick with the camera because Mia's time with Santa was cut pretty short. Just one look at the picture and you'll know why.



A much happier Mia, before Santa's arrival: