A Lot to Be Thankful For

Tonight our family has a lot to be thankful for.  We had something of a close call this morning.  It was promotion Sunday and third Sunday at church, which meant that Stella would be going to the 2 and 3 year old Sunday School class for the first official time, and it was also my turn to serve as extended session coordinator.  Since Cille still hasn't had her immunizations, she and Daddy had to stay home.  When I dropped Stella off with her teachers, I forgot to remind them about her peanut allergy.  When I came back to the nursery area for extended session, she seemed fine.  She was having a great time in her class and seemed like she had really learned a lot.  Later I took some snacks into the room.  She was still great.  It wasn't until the next time that I went into the room that I noticed she had dark circles under her eyes.  I felt her to see if she was feverish, thinking to myself, "Great; she's getting sick and she'll infect all the other kids and their parents will be mad!"  There wasn't a lot I could really do at that point.  Jamie was there and told me that Stella had been scratching her eyes.  She had been doing that after her bath the night before so I assumed that she was allergic to the soap or shampoo she had used at Mawmaw's house.  When church was over I noticed that she was getting a little red rash under her armpits, and in the creases of her elbows and knees.  She was still running around playing and being her general rambunctious self, so I figured nothing too terrible was going on.  They were having a spaghetti lunch fundraiser so we finished up our extended session duties (with a little help from Jamie) and went to get a couple of plates to go.  On the way home I called Damon to ask him to get some Benedryl ready for Stella.  Literally as we were going home her condition started to go downhill fast.  Maybe it was the heat in the car.  I started to get a little scared.  By the time we made it home, both of her eyes were significantly swollen, and she had hives all over her body.  We decided to take her to the emergency room, and both got busy preparing for our trip.  I think Stella and I were in the house for a sum total of 5 minutes before we hit the road.  Missy came over to stay with Cille until Rosie could get there and watch her until Mawmaw and Pawpaw arrived.  Damon drove and Stella watched Mary Poppins and slept while I endured the most terrifying vehicular experience of my entire life.  I am pretty sure Mr. Sharbono would be a little proud of Damon's emergency driving display and also a little bit horrified at his general lack of regard for the speed limit/traffic laws/other motorists.  Somehow we arrived at Children's Hospital in one piece and were with a nurse taking large quantities of Benedryl in a matter of minutes. 

After her symptoms were under control and we had been reassured by the doctor that this allergic reaction had not turned life-threateningly serious yet, we began to try to retrace everything Stella had eaten since the type of reaction that she had indicated she had ingested an allergen.  I was sure it was the snack I had fed her during extended session since her symptoms seemed to show up after I gave her that snack.  We went back to church to investigate and eventually uncovered the mistake.  Remember when I forgot to tell Stella's new Sunday school teachers about her peanut allergy?  Well, the sweet ladies who were brave enough to take on 8 two-year-olds at the same time had given them one small snack.  It was a chocolate covered wafer cookie that was in a ziplock bag in the Sunday school pantry.  They assumed it was just a regular graham cracker cookie, which seemed logical.  One of the ladies remembered Stella having food allergies, but she thought that Stella had received an all clear after her two year old tests, which is partially correct.  Stella is allowed to have milk now but still no peanuts.  The teacher even asked Stella if she was allowed to have a church snack or if she had one in her bag, just to be sure.  (Stella of course had a bag full of snacks, but she's not one to pass up a chocolate covered anything, so she fudged a little.)  Through a well-meaning accident, Stella had in fact been given a chocolate covered PEANUT BUTTER cookie!

Reflecting back on the day, I know that it is totally my fault that my child's life was put in danger because I forgot to mention her food allergy.  This is a tough thing to admit and accept responsibility for, since as a parent you always try to protect your child.  Today I learned that what seems like a small mistake can have a big price tag attached to it, and I'm not talking about the bill from the emergency room.  I am so thankful that Stella's heavenly father was watching over her when her earthly mother screwed up.  I am so thankful that there were only enough cookies for each child to have one.  I am thankful that Stella's friend who also has a peanut allergy skipped Sunday school today and didn't get a cookie of his own.  I am thankful that Damon drove like a wild man to get Stella the medical attention that she needed, and I'm thankful that God put angels around our car and kept us safe during that perilous journey.  I'm thankful for the chain of friends and family who stepped in to care for Cille at a moment's notice.  Above all, I'm thankful that I have another day to love my sweet Stella and kiss her poor little swollen eyes.  Thank you, God, for protecting my baby when I couldn't.  Please help me to fully surrender her care and protection to You each day, and give me the faith to trust that You will meet all her needs. 

Cuddle Monkeys

Damon's #1 hobby is cuddling. He is down for a good cuddle anytime and anywhere, and his favorite cuddle buddies are Stella and Cille. That's why I was not surprised to find a very crowded twin-size bed during a recent naptime...

Happy Baby

I recently wrote on the blog that Cille has started to smile, but it took me a while to catch it on camera. Here is my sweet smiling baby...

That's not a treat...

I recently told Stella that we would go get a treat if she was a good girl. Since she was, I took her to Sonic where I got her this strawberry slush...

When I gave it to her, she told me, "That's not a treat; that is a drink."  Oops.  If you are curious, it seems that chocolate chip mini-muffins do qualify as a "treat." 

Granny's 80th Birthday

Mawmaw's side of the family gathered at T.J. Ribs this past Saturday to celebrate Granny's 80th birthday. Stella was super excited because the event combined two of her favorite things: birthdays and ribs.  Stella really loves ribs. Because our party was so large, the waiters brought out the side items first. Stella was happily eating her fries until Pawpaw handed her this bite. After her first taste of the ribs, she said, "I don't want this plate anymore," and pushed her fries aside so she could get down to business...

Seriously, Stella even gnawed a few right off the bone.  Later, Grannie got a kick out of how excited the sight of cake made Stella...



Grannie enjoyed her cake, too!

Although I'm not sure if she enjoyed it as much as Stella did...

Stella's first piece of cake wasn't nearly enough...



Mawmaw was eventually able to coax her down from the table, if not from her sugar high...

After enjoying the cake, most of the party goers gathered for a picture with Granny...

Granny with 3 of her children (Uncle Dub wasn't able to make it this year)...

Four generations of this family...and a french fry.  Hey, we do whatever we need to in order to get those sweet smiles from Stella.  We're not above a little food bribery.  If you could see Damon's hand, he's actually holding an entire rack of ribs...

Granny's 80th Birthday Celebration was a great time for the whole family!  Happy Birthday, Granny!

SEAlebration!

Wednesday night was SEAlebration at the Aquarium of the Americas.  We enjoyed ZOObilation so much that we knew this event would be tons of fun.  Stella started out her night outside at the portable zoo where she petted some kind of lizard...

Next it was Giselle's turn to pet the lizard...

Some of you may recognize "Giselle" as the doll formerly known as "Naked Baby."  Stella recently changed her name and I believe it has something to do with too many viewings of Enchanted.  Next, Stella touched a starfish...



Then it was Giselle's turn...



Giselle wanted to pet the sea turtle, too.  Stella and I didn't have the heart to tell her it was fake.  There were actually several booths set up in which they soaked fake sea turtles in cooking oil and then allowed the kids to scrub them clean with toothbrushes and Dawn dishwashing liquid.  It was neat, but pathetically sad at the same time because it really was a great illustration of how the oil spill is impacting not only our way of life, but our children's future and their entire frame of reference.  But, I digress.  Here's Giselle...
 


Next, we headed over to the Lowe's Little Crafter tent where Stella "constructed" her own kaleidoscope...



Here she is in action...



A creative camera angle, since I am standing beside her and holding that black bag in the picture...



Enjoying the finished product...

After all that hard work, it was time to relax a little by petting a millipede...



Giselle wanted to pet it, too...



Giselle liked it so much she demanded another turn...



Hugo the Hornet was there.  At first, Stella and Giselle were afraid of Hugo.   Here they are contemplating the wisdom of hanging out with giant stinging insects...

Giselle is very brave.  She overcame her fear and posed with Hugo...

Stella only warmed up enough for a handshake...

Inside the actual aquarium, Stella and Giselle had worked up quite an appetite, so they shared some brown cookies...



Friday when we visited the aquarium with Pop, Tab, Zach, and Spencer, the white alligator had his head stuck in the corner.  When we went back on Wednesday, he still hadn't moved. Talk about a sedentary lifestyle!  I guess Louisiana really is the laziest state...



There were divers hanging out inside the Caribbean reef exhibit...

And bands jazzing it up outside.  Video of Stella and Giselle cutting a rug will be coming soon to a blog near you...

Twinkies!

We had another matching outfit day recently.  Stella and Cille were given these matching dresses on accident...two separate families gifted us with coordinating outfits!  Aren't they sweet?