Tea with the Girls

Afton turns 4 on Sunday, so to celebrate we invited 8 of her girlfriends to join us at  "Let's Pretend Tea Parties"  for tea, dress-up, and cake on Friday morning. This is the same location that we had our "Big Sister Tea Party"- Afton loved it so much she was couldn't wait to have another party there.

The Party Girls

 

 

  

 

 

 

The girls dressed-up in the finest princess dresses, got their make-up done, drank tea (complete with sugar cubes and milk), ate fancy treats, participated in a fashion show, paraded through downtown Grapevine, and finally watched Afton open presents.

This was the first year that she has really, really enjoyed presents. She wanted to 'read' each card, carefully open each gift, and then oooh/ahh over what was inside (even clothes!)

Maisy seemed to enjoy the party too. She was happy to be held by Kristie, Jennifer and Daddy.

Afton had such a wonderful time and received so many lovely gifts. It was the perfect way to celebrate being a "Big Girl"!

My Girl is Doing Well!

I am happy to report that Maisy did well last night and is going to be okay! (Although she has a wicked case of diaper rash.) Apparently the fact that I mixed the medicine with formula helped. However I could smell the antibiotic on her today- it was like it was coming out of her pores and out through her urine.

CVS has called and apologized again. They said they will take care of this.

But, I am filing a complaint with the state, I want to make sure that this never happens to anyone else. If the medication had been given to her by itself or if she had been given two doses, her little body would not have been able to function.

It was definitely a "God Moment". Thank you for all the prayers, kind words and positive thoughts.

My Cautionary Tale

Today was a scary day for us.  Maisy's poor ear kept pussing. I mean really draining, to the point where it was on her pjs and sheets in the morning. On top of that she has not been sleeping well at night at all. She has been getting up 4-5 times each night and crying when I put her down. 

So today I took Maisy back to see Dr. Shori. (Whom we saw twice last week.) When she re-checked Maisy's ear, she was shocked to find that the hole in her ear drum had not healed at all. The infection was not all responding to the antibiotic. So she prescribed a new antibiotic to Maisy and said if it does not work, she will refer us to an ENT. (It is rare for an ear infection not to clear up after the first antibiotic. )

The new antibiotic is really strong. Dr. Shori prepared me for lot of diarrhea and told me to give Maisy an over the counter pro-biotic for children and lots of yo-baby yogurt. Then she electronically sent the new prescription over to CVS for me.  

I went right over to CVS off of Hall Johnson and picked it up. When I got back to my dad's I read the bottle- "Take 2.5 teaspoons by mouth twice a day. " ( So that is 2 and half of these syringes.)

Hmmmm that seemed like a lot of medicine to me at the time, but I measured it out and mixed it in her formula. Down it went at 1pm. 

But I couldn't stop thinking that it seemed like a lot of medicine. (The first antibiotic that I was giving her only called for 2 mL once a day.) So I called Dr. Shori and left a message, wanting to double-check the dosage. I felt a bit like an annoying mom that calls the doctor too much, but I just had to know. 

I put Maisy down for her nap and on we went with our day. But I couldn't get rid of that nagging feeling about the dose. I hadn't heard back from our doctor, so I called the pharmacy. 

I was immediately transferred to the lead pharmacist. Turns out he had written the wrong dose on the bottle, she was only supposed to be given 2.5 mL. Instead she had been given almost 6 times the prescribed amount! ( The correct dose is only half of one syringe. Remember I had given her 2 and half syringes full of medicine!)

He apologized, said it shouldn't be toxic and we hung up. I freaked out. Jeff called CVS corporate office and filed a complaint. I called her doctor and left another message. Then the pharmacist called back, wanting to know Maisy's weight and said that it could actually be toxic at her weight. 

When I got off the phone with him, the nurse from Dr.Shori's office recommended that I call poison control. I was on the phone with them for 15 minutes while they told me that she could have renal failure and kidney failure from that high dose. 

I was scared, because of a mistake by the pharmacist, my daughter had been poisoned. 

I was prepared to take Maisy up to Cooks Urgent Care. But then Dr. Shori called me herself and said, "watch her closely, luckily she was only given one dose, watch for blood in her diaper, and/or no urine output, or if she becomes lethargic." 

So that is where we are now. It has almost been 8 hours since the overdose and all appears to be well. I will talk to Dr. Shori again in the morning to double-check her. The pharmacist at CVS has been calling me non-stop trying to get me to come in and get a new label for the bottle. (Fat chance- I am NEVER going into a CVS again.) The head pharmacist at Corporate CVS has called us, promising a full investigation. 

But none of that matters. This is a lesson learned- listen to that little voice inside. If something seems wrong, it probably is. Check all your prescriptions. We are trusting these people with our health and they DO make mistakes. I am just thankful that my precious Maisy seems to be okay. If I had not questioned her prescription and had actually continued to dose her at the incorrect amount, she WOULD have had renal and kidney failure. Be an advocate for your child and your self. Ask questions and be cautious. 

I am so thankful that she is okay. I have a lot to be thankful for tonight. 

Vacation in Grapevine

Well for those of you who had asked me a few weeks ago how everyone was feeling, remember I said the girls were all healthy at the moment. That moment has since passed. We spent Spring Break fighting an ear infection in Maisy that got so bad, her ear drum burst. I was horrified! And Afton spent the weekend with stomach flu. No one in our house slept much Friday night. I am so frustrated at how many times my girls have been sick this year. One of the reasons I keep them home with me is because I have always felt they would be exposed to less illness. Now look at us- a regular germ factory. Is this just what happens to child #2?

But on the bright side- we are getting our house painted this week. Jeff and I spent Saturday afternoon cleaning out all of kitchen cupboards, taking everything off the walls, and moving most of the furniture into the center of the rooms. Starting Monday, the painting will begin.

I figured it might be a bit difficult keeping Afton out of the paint, so we have packed up and traveled to the other side of Grapevine to stay at my Dad's house. It is pretty good timing- he and Tricia will be in Utah skiing with my siblings- so we have the house to ourselves. It kinda feels like a vacation. No house cleaning or chores (of course laundry will need to be done). And for some reason it feels more relaxed over here. I didn't even bring a to-do list. When we get home on Friday, our newly painted house will be done.

I took a ton of 'before' pictures, so I will post those with the 'afters' next week, once I get everything back into place. :) 

Maisy at 5 months and More!

This post is filled with lots of random information and pictures....Enjoy!

I am a bit late with this, but Miss Maisy is already 5 months old!

We love our baby girl more and more. She has quite the personality now.

 She has a sense of humor and laughs when Afton sings funny songs or talks in a silly voice. She can roll from her tummy to her back. (Which makes me laugh because she hates being on her tummy and now she just flips over whenever we try and do tummy time.) She is almost able to sit up on her own too.

 Everything she gets in her hands, goes into her mouth. She continues to be my mellow girl- happy to be held and snuggled.

My mom's ten day trip sadly came to an end on Wednesday. But, we loved our time with Grammy. 

It was so nice to have my mom here. We played, talked and just enjoyed being together. Afton celebrated her birthday early with Grammy and got "The Swan Palace"- the perfect doll castle for my princess. Come back soon Grammy! 

And since Jeff is Irish, we had to pay homage to his heritage. So, we took Maisy with us out to Dallas for the St. Patty's celebrations. Our friends, Eric and Diana live on the M-Streets, the perfect location for celebrating without the craziness of Greenville.

And we have been been loving the warmer weather. Here are a few pics of us enjoying spring in Texas. 

(This picture makes me think we are going to be in trouble when Afton hits 16!)

Finally, my Crafty Texas Girls has picked up again. Now that the girls are napping well, I have time to make tutus and bows again. Here is my big order from Ella Bella for Easter tutus. I am finally attaching a label to my creations too- kinda fun seeing my business name in print :)