Addy took her first STEPS!!!!

Addy has come a long way so fast!  All of the sudden she started balancing and then took her first steps.  She was only walking along furniture before and would never balance.  It makes me wonder if it has something to do with getting her ears fixed that all of the sudden she can balance and walk!  So happy for her!  She is so cute cuz she gets so proud of herself!  

The girls continue to act and feel much better.  Again, we are SO thankful that everything went well!  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Here they are, back to their usual selves, getting into trouble.  :)  They LOVE the tupperware cupboard. :) 

Addy KNOWS she's getting into trouble. :)  Check out that face. :) 

Every day in the winter we see deer in our backyard or their tracks.  The most we've ever seen were 17.  The other day, there were 8 but I got a picture of 7 of them.  :)  
The girls must have seen the boogie man. :)  

Surgery

Addison
Emily
Hailey

Phew....we made it through.  It is a nice feeling to know that it's over.  The girls did very well though.  They couldn't eat after midnight last night and they were so good considering they were starving!  We got there at 11 and then Emily went in for surgery at 12:30.  They gave each of them medicine to make them relaxed at first which was kinda funny cuz they acted a little bit drunk. :)  Then they took Emily in, then Addy, then Hailey.  It is such a quick surgery - 15 minutes!  Emily did great - and only had fluid in one of her ears.... and for her recovery, she was kinda wild and crying but once she got a bottle, she did fine.  Then Addy had fluid in both of her ears and she did AMAZING in the recovery room.  She was just very quiet and calm and did great.  Then Hailey was the worst of them all because she had thick nasty fluid in both of her ears which means she was on her way to another ear infection (which doesn't surprise me because she was healthy for one week - so she was due for another round!)  But then in her recovery, I got a little scared because she broke out in a rash.  I was like "OOOOHHH no.. not this again!"  But it was a different kind of rash and it went away after we waited awhile.  So she must have just been allergic to the blankets or something that they put on her.  But she is better now.  So we were home by 2 and then we fed them a ton and put them down.  Emily and Addy are already up again and just more fussy than usual.  I guess they should be back to normal by tomorrow.  Thanks to everyone who has been caring and praying for us.  We can really feel your prayers.  Here's Addy, Emily, and Hailey in their little hospital gowns in the pre-op room.  

Surgery x 3 and Funeral today

We are headed to surgery in a little bit here.  We have to be there at 11, then Emily goes in at noon, Addison 15 minutes after that, and then Hailey 15 minutes after that.  Please pray that everything goes well and that their recovery is "okay."  As of right now that sounds like the worst part because they can hallucinate and throw temper tantrums cuz they don't know what's going on.  So please pray for everyone.  And the funeral for my Grandpa begins at the exact time that Emily goes in for surgery....my Uncle and my dad are even planning on speaking so please pray for everyone there too.  It is so hard to be away!  

I will keep you updated as best I can...

We appreciate your prayers SO much.  

THANK YOU!

Blessed be Your name!

Like the song says on this blog "You give and take away...Blessed be Your name" in good times and bad.  We are mourning the loss and celebrating the life of my Grandpa.....and we are praising God for the birth of my BRAND NEW NIECE at the same time!!!!!  Kamryn Lyn Peters was born yesterday!!!  I can't WAIT to meet her and I love the feeling of being called an "Auntie!!"  Congratulations Craig and Laura!  Welcome aboard the amazing journey of parenting!  We LOVE you and wish we could be there with you right now!  

The funeral for my grandpa is on Tuesday...and my girls are all also going to be having surgery to put tubes in their ears on Tuesday.  It is a big day all around.  We would love your prayers for everyone....  THANK YOU!

Things are looking up...

and we are saying THANKS.  Seriously.  I feel like hugging my doctor.  Those steroids are AMAZING.  I can't believe how fast they work.  Emily got a double dose yesterday cuz it looked like she was going to pop...and we put her down for her nap MISERABLE and red and purple and SWOLLEN and then we wake her up and the swelling had gone down a lot and the purple was gone and she was just pink everywhere.  She is feeling MUCH better already as she is "playing" with her sisters again.  PRAISE the Lord for healing her and thank YOU all for praying for us and for Emily!!  Now we just need to pray that in 4 days, when we stop the steroids, that the rash doesn't come back.  What a crazy week.  We are headed to the Dr. again to re-check her (can I just say that that will be EVERY day this week?!)  And then we're headed to the ENT to get her ears checked out for tubes.  Here is a picture of Emily BEFORE she started turning purple and when she was just a "teeny bit" swollen.  Sorry but I won't show you any pics of her when she was really bad.  

Heartache

Sigh.  

What a day.  Well, I woke Emily up from her nap and you should have seen her.  She got even MORE swollen than she already was.  It was very scary.  She was so swollen that her eyes were starting to close....and she was turning purple in places and red and yellow.  I had a Dr's appt at 11:15 and she woke up at 10:45.  i didn't know if I should rush her to the E.R. or what.  But I just went to the Dr. and saw the Dr. right away.  It was quite the scene.  All of the nurses came to see her and then my Dr. had all of her partners come in to look at her too.  Then they had a "meeting" about what to do for her.  Poor Emily!!!!!!!  I can't even tell you how much this hurts me too.  It is a rough day.  So, basically she has this really bad allergic reaction to the shot that only less than 5% of people get who are allergic to it.  She has it BAD.  So, now she's on steroids to help bring down the swelling and help with the rash.  i HOPE it works!  Ryan couldn't focus at work so he came home early so that is SO nice.  Emily is sleeping in his arms now as we don't want to put her in her crib cuz we want to watch her all the time.  She is a fighter though, she has been from day one...so we know she will get through this.  It's just hard seeing her be so miserable.  So, please keep praying for her...that these steroids work, and that when she stops taking the steroids (in 5 days), that the rash won't come back (because that can happen).  Thank  God that Hailey is feeling great and is giving us smiles to cheer us up.  Addy is feeling a little jealous that Emily is getting all of the attention but other than that, she is feeling okay too.  

And, on top of all of this going on....my wonderful Grandpa Peters (my dad's dad) passed away this morning.  That makes all of this so much harder because I can't be there with my family for the funeral since my "own" family is sick.  I'm so thankful that we got to be there in August for his birthday and I'm SOO glad that my girls got to meet him at least once.  Next time they see him will be in heaven and how cool of a reunion will that be! :)  My grandpa had been in the nursing home for a month and today was the day that my grandma was going to try to take him home.  Like my mom said, it was providential that God decided to take him home instead.  We will miss you so much Grandpa.  But every time I look at Emily, I will think of you.. because she is the one that looks so much like you (without her rash!) :) We love you Grandpa.  

Scary...

You wouldn't even RECOGNIZE Emily this morning.  She woke up at 5 a.m. with blood all over her face.  I freaked out!  Fortunately, it was just due to her nose bleeding...but still, scary!  The rash is 10 times worse then it already was yesterday.  It is so crazy how she is reacting to this!!!  The rash is COVERING her poor little body, and it's affecting her joints now so she is having trouble crawling and getting around.  And, she is completely swollen everywhere this morning.  Seriously, her face doesn't even look like her!  I feel SO bad!  It's like this hurts my heart or something.  She just looks miserable and acts like it's really itchy and uncomfortable too.  We are headed to the Dr. again today.  We will be at the Dr. every day of the week this means.  What a week!  If you could please continue to pray for my family, that would be great.  Please pray for peace for me...and that Emily would get over this rash and get through her pain okay.  I know God gave us His peace and was right by our side when the girls were in the NICU, so I know He will see us through again.   Thanks SO much for caring...

Any guesses?

Why do I have a feeling that EVERYONE is going to know who Emily is in this picture?  

I feel so bad for her!  I just thought I would let you get a glimpse of her rash - and all you can see is her head!  I think Addison and Hailey can tell that their sister isn't feeling well.  Emily just wants to be held and they just keep staring at her and wanting her attention.  So sweet. 

Poor Emily!

My poor little Emily.  She is COVERED in this nasty rash!  We went to the Dr. and found out that she had an allergic reaction to the shot that she had on Monday and Tuesday.  This rash isn't contagious, but it will last about a week and will probably make her joints hurt and be painful and itch and everything.  Poor girl!!!  Her ears did look better...so that is good.  But yea, now that she's allergic to this, she really can't get another ear infection because there are no "good" drugs left to give her!!!  She's allergic to all of them!  SOOO crazy!!  So....since she can't get another ear infection, we got her appt with the ENT doctor moved up so she will probably have the surgery next week for tubes.  Addy and Hailey don't go til Dec. 4.  I just really hope that these tubes help her and that she doesn't get another infection!!  She just looks miserable.....

Thanks for your prayers.....

I will keep you posted. :) 

3 days in a row...

Well, we're headed to the Dr. AGAIN.  3rd day in a row.  Emily went to bed last night with a rash now.  It looked like small mosquito bites - she hasn't had a rash like that before!  Then, this morning, she woke up looking HORRIBLE!  Poor girl!  The rash is all over the place and does NOT look good.  So we're headed to the Dr. again.  I just don't know what is going on with my babies!  If you could please say a prayer for the Dooyema household, that would be MUCH appreciated as I am sick too which makes everything a lot harder.  I can't believe it's only November.  I wish it was March.  Thanks so much for praying - I seriously believe that your prayers got us through last winter.....

Unbelievable!

My girls should win an award for ear infections.  Seriously.  Emily and Hailey have been on antibiotics since last Monday for ear infections....yesterday Emily came down with a bad fever and had a horrible night.  So this morning I took them all to the Dr. to get Emily checked out.  I thought it would be a quick in and out but noooo. I waited 45 minutes to see the Dr. and then found out that the antibiotics aren't working for Emily so she had to get a horrible shot!  And we have to go back tomorrow for another one!  Poor girl!!!  So after she got this shot, we had to wait around for 20 minutes to make sure she didn't have a reaction to it.  This WHOLE time that we were there, Addy was being so good.  She was just hanging out in the stroller so quiet the whole time.  After an hour and a half of her sitting there, (because my hands were full with the other two) I thought something must be up.  So I felt her head and sure enough, FEVER.  So while I was still there, we went back into the room and had the Dr. look at her.  SHE has an ear infection too now!  So she was only clear for one week.  Unbelievable!  I think tubes are really calling their names.  I hope they work!  

So, I was at the Dr. for over 2 hours today.  Quite a day.  You should have seen me try to go to the bathroom while I was there with all of them.  It was quite the site because Emily would NOT let me set her down.  I did get some extra help from the nurses....I just never thought we would be there that long or I would have called Grandma Kathy!  Oh well...got to go while they are napping.  I think I am going to disinfect my whole house right now.  I hope all of YOU are staying healthy!

Sweet girls :)

Emily - Hailey - Addison
Happy Addy
Happy Emily
Happy Hailey 

I LOVE it when they feel better!!! :) :) :) 

The Price of Children

What a difference a good night sleep, some prayer, and some antibiotics can do. :)  Things are going much better today.  The girls just look so much better and act so much better after getting some drugs. :)  We even ventured out to MOPS today which was so refreshing and soo great!  One of our MOPS mentors read us this (below) to get the day started.  It made me smile and made me remember how incredibly grateful I am for my babies....even on those triple-earache-kind-of days. :)  Hopefully it will help some other parents out there if you are having a rough day... :) 

Thanks for your prayers!!!

The Price of Children

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.

But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into $8,896.66 a year, $741.38 a month, or $171.08 a week. That's a mere $24.24 a day! Just over a dollar an hour. Still, you might think the best financial advice is don't have children if you want to be "rich." Actually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your $160,140?

• Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
• Glimpses of God every day.
• Giggles under the covers every night.
• More love than your heart can hold.
• Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
• Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
• A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
• A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, building sandcastles, and skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring rain.
• Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up.

• You get to finger-paint, carve pumpkins, play hide-and-seek, catch lightning bugs, and never stop believing in Santa Claus.
• You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.
For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck.
• You get to be a hero just for retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof, taking the training wheels off a bike, removing a splinter, filling a wading pool, coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.
• You get a front row seat to history to witness the first step, first word, first bra, first date, and first time behind the wheel.


You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match. In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so . . one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. We all know they grow up too soon.

Author Unknown

Ears!

Ahh!  I think I just need to vent.  I apologize ahead of time.  But I am so sick of my girls being sick!  Anytime they have gotten a cold, they get ear infections!  And it's not even the dead of winter yet!  I just took them into the Dr. to get a check up from ear infections that they all had a month ago (addy has had 2 separate sets of ear infections in the past month) and then I find out that Hailey has ear infections in both ears, emily has an ear infection in her right ear that popped, and Addy still has fluid in her ears even though she should be better since she is done with her antibiotics.  AHH!  Now they all need to see an Ear Nose and Throat doctor to see about getting tubes put in their ears.  I feel so bad for them!  Hailey had a high fever...and Addy has had a world record of poopy diapers because of the back to back meds that she was on...and they are allergic to penicillin drugs which means they are building up a resistance to the drug that they usually get....so now we have to go into the really weird less common drugs and then our pharmacy didn't carry it...and so yea, it just makes everything complicated when I have 3 babies in their winter coats with ear infections sitting in the car.  Thank the LORD for my mother in law!  She has a full time job of helping me!!  I just wish that everyone who had colds would always stay home....but I know that's impossible...so then I feel like WE should just get ready to stay home all winter again to avoid getting sick.  It's just NOT worth it for them to get colds...because they turn into so much more.  And last winter, they were healthy cuz we didn't go anywhere and everyone was so careful with germs around us!  It's just no fun having 3 sick babies at home and I feel so helpless! Sorry for venting....I just want my baby girls to be HEALTHY for more than one week!  And I would like to be able to get out of the house without having to worry that they are for sure going to get ANOTHER cold/ear ache combo!  Hopefully this winter goes by fast... 

and I know, I could have it soooo much worse.  I need a good dose of 'perspective' right now. 

Hailey Grace is walking too!!! :)

The first video is Emily walking again....and then a good glimpse of the "sharing" that goes on all the time in our house. :)  

And, Hailey is walking too!  She is still getting the hang of it...but is starting to take more steps and let go of the furniture as well.  I love watching babies take their first steps!  

It's Official! Our Baby Emily is WALKING!!

Monkey see, Monkey DO!  (This is going to keep our lives VERY exciting) :) 
Here we are with our friends and all of our kids, out trick or treating.  We went to a nearby nursing home which was so sweet.  The old people were sitting in their chairs, all dressed up, waiting with a basket of candy.  So sweet!

Three Little Pigs

Ahh!!! Our little Emily is WALKING!  I can't believe it!  Today was the big day.  She just all of the sudden figured it out and now she'll walk across the entire room.  It is soooooo cute watching her take those steps!  One month ago, she took her first steps...and now today she's WALKING.  I'm so excited for her but it's bittersweet as well.  My baby girl is growing up!!!!