Happy Birthday Ainsley Mae!!!

WOW! I can not believe that 2 years have passed since Ainsley was born. The entire time that I was pregnant seemed to take FOREVER. I was so excited for her to be here. Now that she is here, the time is passing so incredibly fast! I feel like if I blink I will miss it all.

She has gone from a tiny, perfect little 7 pound 6 ounce bundle of wonderfulness to an incredibly smart, funny and beautiful little girl, all right before my eyes. It's amazing!

While it is hard to see my baby getting so big, so fast, I really do enjoy watching her grow and learn new things.

Not Broken After All........

I went to see my regular doctor yesterday for the follow up on my knee. She was very concerned that my leg had been straight and immobilized for almost a week. My leg and foot were very swollen. This led her to believe that I may have a blood clot due to having been immobilized for so long.

She sent me right over to the ER. I called Steven and he met me there. My doctor had called ahead and told them that I was coming, that she suspected a blood clot and what all she wanted done when I got there. I have never been taken straight back at the ER without having to wait. That scared me a little bit.

I had barely gotten my fashionable hospital gown on when the x-ray tech came by with her portable machine. She took a bunch of x-rays and while she was doing that the ultrasound tech came by to get me for an ultrasound of the deep veins in my leg, since that is where clots hide. So within 30 minutes of getting there, I had had x-rays and been taken for an ultrasound.

I was taken back to my room and then we waited. About 45 minutes or so later, the doctor came in and said that from the films that had been taken of my knee, the radiologist couldn't find a break. So she was ordering some other views of my knee to be taken to try and find the fracture.

5 minutes later, the x-ray tech was back to expose me to another round of radiation. These x-rays HURT and the way they were done was odd. The doctor came back about 30 minutes later with the news that my new WAS NOT BROKEN AT ALL AND HAD NOT BEEN BROKEN!!!!!!!!!!!

I was in an immobilizer and on crutches all week for NOTHING!!!! I pinched nerves in my arms with the crutches for NOTHING!!!!! The swelling in my leg and foot was from the immobilizer, which did put me at risk for a blood clot.

I am so relieved that my knee is not broken and that there was no blood clot. But I am very upset that I was in misery all week for a SPRAINED KNEE!!!! There was never any reason for crutches, just an Ace bandage and ice.

When I got out of the car at home, Ainsley came out to the garage to greet me. She grinned ear to ear and said, "Mommy knee all bedda". And I was finally able to pick up my baby girl for the first time in DAYS. It was good to be home........

And I Thought Chasing a Toddler was Hard Before.......

Steven and I went out to dinner this past Saturday night. As we were leaving the restaurant, I managed to fall off the curb and land on my knee. Scraped it up pretty bad, but I figured it would be fine. Woke up Sunday morning and I was not able to bear much weight on my left leg. Didn't think much about it other than it was probably because of the location of the scrape and how new it was. Monday morning brought much of the same, except that there was a bit more bruising.

I woke up Tuesday morning and every step I took was agony. There was a weird knot on my knee and it was crunching when I walked. I finally caved in and went to the doctor. I got some x-rays done and SURPRISE!!!! The kneecap is broken. And the crunching sound is from the damaged cartilage under the kneecap.

My knee is now in an immobilizer and I am on crutches, as I am not to bear weight on that leg for at least 7 to 10 days. My leg is kept completely straightened out by the immobilizer, which is a very painful and uncomfortable position. I think they want it to hurt as much as possible to remind you to watch where you are going.

Today is Day 3 on the crutches. I've been on crutches before, but never for such a long period of time. 2 or 3 days has always been the prescription. How I am going to make it 7 to 10 days is a mystery to me. I can barely walk. EVERY muscle from the neck down is being used and abused right now. My shoulders feel like that are being pulled out of their sockets with every step that I take. My left foot is swollen and puffy looking because of the immobilizer, it restricts blood flow to the lower portion of my leg. I have to take it off at least once a day to prevent blood clots from forming and to get blood flowing full force again.

Chasing after Ainsley has become impossible. I can not do ANYTHING. Can't catch her to change he diaper. Can't change her diaper. Can't pick her up. Can't get her dressed. My mom is having to be on Toddler Duty right now. And Ainsley is LOVING it. She knows that Mommy can't do anything and that NaNa is slow moving and can't see well, so she is getting away with just about everything but murder right now. I know it's bad, but I just don't have it in me right now to discipline her.

I am going to see my regular doctor on Friday. Going to see if she will refer me to an Orthopedic doctor to reassure me that broken kneecaps CAN heal in 7 to 10 days. That just seems so quick and I would hate to do more damage by walking on it too soon. The doc I saw Tuesday did say that if I can't take 4 or 5 steps by the time the 10 days is up, and not have any pain, then I will need to get an MRI to make sure that there aren't any torn tendons and/or ligaments.

Ainsley's Newest Word......

Ainsley has been saying "Mama" for several months now. She just the other day started saying "Mommy". It really is the best thing to hear come out of her little mouth. Melts my heart every time. And she knows it, too! She uses it when she knows that is doing something she shouldn't be doing. Here are some sentences that I have heard the last few days:

"Make me , Mommy."

"Hole me, Mommy" (hole=hold)

"I wub you Mommy"'

"Mommy eat it"

"Mommy go pee pee"

Mommy, Ansee need more"

Today's Adventures So Far......

It's only 10:30 in the morning and here are the things that Ainsley has managed to do so far today.......Keep in mind that each time I left the room, I was gone no longer than 2 minutes either time.

Episode #1

I left the room to go to the restroom. Ainsley was left watching PBS and drinking some water. I cam back into the room to find a naked from the waist down toddler running around the living room! In the time I was gone, she managed to strip off her pj shorts, take off her diaper, wrap said diaper around her creepy doll, and pee on the floor! She was clutching the creepy doll that was wrapped in the pee soaked diaper to her chest and saying, "Baby go pee pee!" I managed to catch her (she is surprisingly much faster when half naked) and get a new diaper on her along with her shorts. The doll was wiped down with disinfectant and given a new diaper to be wrapped up in.

Episode #2

I went into the kitchen to refill my coffee. When I came back to the living room, Ainsley was missing. I found her in my bathroom. She had taken an entire almost brand new box of Q-tips and spilt them on the floor. She was also trying to get the cap off the toothpaste. I made her help me pick up the mess she had made and took her back to the living room. I decided that it would be a good idea to put the baby gate up in the doorway to the hall to avoid anymore messes in the bathroom. I turned around to walk away and she SCALED herself over the baby gate! I picked her up and sat her down on her couch and got out the second baby gate that we have. I put it in the doorway, on TOP of the other one! She is very perplexed as to how she can get over it now.

A Late Father's Day Entry

As per Short Family tradition, we had dinner at Longhorn's Steak House with Steven's dad for Father's Day. We used to go to Steak and Ale, but alas, they have closed their doors and are no longer available.

Ainsley's buddy Zavi was there with her Mommy and Daddy. She and Ainsley were able to sit side by side in their high chairs and have a grand time. Stealing each others crayons and eating ice. They really are way too stinkin' cute together.

We made it almost through the whole meal before Ainsley discovered the stuffed and mounted longhorn steer hanging on the wall. Here is how the conversation went when she saw it.....

AINSLEY: MOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

STEER: *silence*

AINSLEY: MOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! *pointing at the steer*

STEER: *silence*

AINSLEY: MAMA! COW NO MOO! *shaking her head frantically*

ME: No baby, that cow doesn't moo.

AINSLEY: WHY COW NO MOO? *getting very concerned and upset*

AINSLEY: MAMA! COW SEEPY, GO NIGH NIGH? *pointing and flapping her hands in the direction of the steer*

ME: Yes sweetheart, the cow went night night. *I couldn't bring myself to tell her that the cow was DEAD!!!*

AINSLEY: SEEPY COW!!! NIGH NIGH MOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! *blowing a kiss to the steer*

Notice that Ainsley's portion of the conversation is in ALL CAPS, this is due to the fact that she was YELLING! LOL. She was so very concerned about the cow that wouldn't moo. She even talked about it the whole way home. "Seepy cow mama. Nigh nigh."

She really is just the cutest thing.

Ainsley is Sick

Poor little Ainsley is sick with a horrible summer cold. It started out of the blue yesterday afternoon around 4:00. She had been feeling fine all day and BOOM! All of a sudden her nose was running, her eyes were watering and she was sneezing up a storm.

I assumed that it was allergies. I put a call in to her doctor to see what I could safely give her. But I couldn't wait to hear back from them, so I went ahead to the drugstore. I conferred with the Pharmacist about what to give her and at what dose (Children's Benadryl and 1/2 tsp). I bought the medicine and went back home.

I walked in the door and found her sound asleep in my friend Kristin's lap. She was burning up! I check ed her temp and it was almost 102. I knew then that this was not allergies, but a cold. The same thing that kept making her so sick and suffer from double ear infections for the first 4 months of the year.

I gave her some Motrin and some Triamenic and got her to sleep, though that was short lived. She was very restless through the night and finally woke up about 11:30 or so and wouldn't go back to sleep on her own. It was time for more medicine anyway, so I brought her out to the living room and gave her some Tylenol. Her fever was still around 101.

I got her back to sleep and took her into bed with me, where she slept through the night, all be it restlessly.

She woke up this morning running a fever of 102. The snot pouring out of her nose had turned from clear to yellow overnight and she sounded like it was trying to settle in her chest.

Poor baby walked around all day saying, "Nose. Nose." when she wanted her nose wiped. Her eyes are all puffy and red and watery. Her nose is getting sore from wiping it so much.

But the good news is this......I have been constantly checking her ears with the Ear Check monitor that checks for fluid in the ear canal, and there is none to be found yet. Hopefully it stays that way and she doesn't need antibiotics.

Her fever hovered all day between 101 and 102. The Tylenol and Motrin were not bringing it down, but they were helping to keep it from going higher. At least until late this afternoon. It got up to between 102 and 103 for a while.

She's sleeping pretty soundly right now. I can hear her breathing, which is a little raspy and congested sounding, but otherwise pretty good. We did put a pillow under the head of her mattress so that it is slightly elevated, so maybe that is helping.

I do know that if her fever is still above 101 tomorrow, I am going to call the doctor and see if he wants me to bring her in. Keep your fingers crossed.