The Michaels Family: March 2014

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Happy 3rd Birthday Hayden!

Yesterday we went to Berryville for our nephew's 3rd birthday. For one whole week, Hayden and Sara Kate are the same age. His actual birthday is tomorrow, but we enjoyed celebrating with him early.

This child was once the boy who I dubbed the most serious child on the planet!

He's also the child I dubbed the giant man baby.

He's still a big guy, but he has the biggest personality, and I can honestly say, he is no longer the most serious child on the planet!

He had a cute little baseball themed birthday party with these cute little baseball cupcakes.

And he got some cute little presents...

Including $2.00 from his sister. So sweet!

The girls sat together so patiently while Hayden opened his presents! Sara Kate was beyond thrilled to spend the day with her cousins!

After Hayden opened his presents, everyone headed outside for a little game of baseball with some of his presents, a new bat, some new balls, and a base set! They got the tee out, but someone ended up pitching to the kids instead.

Hannah has played tee ball for 2 years. She can hit pretty well.

Sara Kate, on the other hand, is little miss girly girl, who wanted everyone to see her pretty pink fingernails and who has never held a bat before in her life. But she wanted a turn because her cousins were doing it!

AJ showed her how.

Then she did it on her own. And she actually hit the ball!! This picture is the first time she hit it and Hayden's other cousin, Tinley, walked in front of the camera at the same time. But you can still kind of see it. I was pretty proud of her.

And here's another hit!

The kids had a great time 'playing ball,' even Sara Kate, who eventually did what I expected her to do all along...sit down on the base and pick at the grass. HA!!

And in the final exciting news of the day, our little city girl went to the country to visit her cousins and she held a chicken! And ever since then she's been asking for me to buy her some chickens and for the chickens to come visit her at her house. HAHA!

Obviously, it was a big day for Sara Kate....birthday party, baseball, and chickens! Haha. But most of all, we loved celebrating Mr. Hayden Paul. Happy 3rd birthday sweet boy!! We love you!

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

When it Rains, it Pours!

We are fortunate in that we have a very healthy kid. Always have. And I'm so so thankful for that. The last time she went to the doctor was this time last year and it was for an ear infection. But the last month has been a different story. About a month and a half ago she got a bump on her bottom. Then there were 3. Then there were 5. Sara Kate told us they itched, she called them her 'bug bites.' We were kind of at a loss as to what it was (when it was just 1 bump, then 3), but when there were more I made an appointment for her to go to the doctor.

Turns out she has a staph infection. WHAT?!? How did I not think of that?! My bachelors degree is in microbiology, we studied that bacteria extensively (granted that was 10+ years ago...ouch!!), and I freaked when Chris told me what the doctor said. But thankfully it wasn't the 'bad staph,' the antibiotic resistant kind. We got a prescription of antibiotics and went on our way. After the 10 days, the spots looked much better but then she developed a yeast infection from the antibiotics. So back to the doctor she went, on President's Day. The doctor gave me a prescription for a fungal powder, but said the infection should go away now that she was off antibiotics (and he also said the original staph spots looked really good, better than he expected them to after 10 days). 5 days later she was still red and irritated so I filled the prescription and started using it. The next day she had more spots and immediately I knew the staph infection was back. We still had oral antibiotics in the fridge so we started her back on that. But more spots showed up, and yesterday some popped up on her face. NO!! Back to the doctor she went today.

Yes, she still has staph, but again, thankfully it's not the bad staph. She said Chris and I were probably carriers, even though we don't have any spots, and she gave us a nasal ointment antibiotic for all 3 of us to use. She also gave Sara Kate an antibiotic ointment for us to put on any spot, cut, scrape, bump that is on her body. Oh yes, and to top that off she has a stye on her right eye...caused by what?? Oh of course, STAPH! So we have nasal ointment, antibiotic ointment for the spots, and an antibiotic ointment to go ahead and put in both eyes so it doesn't spread to her left eye. And lets throw one more thing in there. Yesterday Sara Kate's head filled with snot and she was sneezing snot green snot clumps everywhere, all day long (sorry, I know that's gross but it's true). The doctor checked her out, chest, ears, throat, and nose, and said it looks like allergies.

Again, I am very thankful it's nothing major, but lets throw some Children's Benadryl in with the rest of the medical regime poor Sara Kate is now on!

She did great at the doctor so she got a special treat on the way home...an ice cream cone! She's been asking for one for a while now and she was super excited to get one!

After her bath, we did everything we had to do. She did great taking everything. The Benadryl is pink, which she says is yummy because it's her favorite color. She knows the medicine helps her 'bug bites,' she said I tickled her nose when I rubbed the ointment inside her nostrils with a q-tip, and she was a PRO when she had to sit with her eyes closed for 2 minutes.
To me, this is a pathetic looking picture. Poor baby.

Hopefully we can get this nasty bug wiped out...gotta get this thing knocked out before SOMEBODY celebrates a birthday next month!!

I'll end this by saying I am not complaining, PLEASE don't take it that way! I know there are many many children that suffer way more than they should and that is heart breaking. But this is what we are going through right now and I document our life on the blog. I'll keep ya'll posted!