Happy Father's Day??

Here I am, on Father's Day.. killing time sitting in an empty NeuroScience ICU room while my dad is downstairs getting an MRI of his brain. He had a stroke last night and was taken to the emergency room via an ambulance.. had emergency surgery at 135 am to remove (part of) a blood clot from the right side of his brain, and has been in ICU since.
My little sister and I drove out here first thing this morning and have been by his side, talking to nurses, bothering doctors for answers, and just trying to stay positive for him.

I never imagined I would ever have to spend Father's Day gowned and gloved at my dad's bedside. Away from my husband and daughter. Unsure of what is really going on.

This totally sucks.

But, the doctors seem confident in my dad's condition. They say that is all goes exactly right, he'll be here for a week then sent home with home health care orders and with "rigorous rehab" he should hopefully regain function of his left side (which he does not currently have).

Prayers that his heart holds up to the stress of this situation (he was being treated for atrial fibrillation when he had the stroke), and that his recovery is smooth and swift. Please and thank you.

And Happy Father's Day.

Preschool. :sigh:

As mentioned in our update post, my little Cam-A-Lam-A started school March 1st.
I had toured this school very shortly after they opened last summer, and loved the facility.
The thought and investment that went into such an amazing building is astounding.
Its a green facility, with some sort of eco-something designation... and the biggest way that is obvious to me is the abundance of large windows and sky-lighting letting in loads of sunshine. Of course they had to meet much bigger criteria for their eco-whatever whatever.. but to me, the sunshine rocks!
The classrooms are huge, and divided in two (fully divided by glass walls) to give the children more variety throughout the day.. one side of the classroom is dramatic play, literacy, sensory based. The other is math and science based with a kitchen and art tables.
In addition to the classrooms, the school also has a computer lab and library, an art and animal science room (where they have a bird, a guinea pig, and various reptiles the children learn to care for), a "muscle" room that is essentially an indoor playground with an enclosed sand box, and an outdoor splash pad/water park in addition to age-appropriate playgrounds. The kitchen is all-organic and provides morning snack, lunch, and afternoon snack... all organic, y'all!
I love this place.
But we all know the building doesn't teach the kiddos.. the teachers do.
And so far, I love her teachers!
We had an issue with one teacher, but worked to have her removed from the program and were successful. The rest of the teachers... awesome! In fact, I have become quite close with two of them. They adore my sweet girl, they nurture her in my absence, and have taught her so, so much.

I had a really hard time coming to terms with the idea of putting Camy in preschool so young (she was 18 months old), but I knew that it needed to be done for our family. And I took great comfort in knowing that I would be on campus all day with her (teaching in another class). It was also very comforting knowing that there was a certified nurse on staff, and one who was well-versed in asthma and allergy care (after experiences with her own kids). I knew she would be safe, I knew after adjusting that she would be happy, and I knew it would benefit her to be in a classroom setting with kiddos her own age.
And so far, I have been able to see all those things ring true. Thank goodness!

The first few weeks were hard. Drop-offs always brought tears, usually from both us.
I knew that she calmed down quickly, though, because immediately after leaving her room, I always headed straight to the video monitors in the lobby to watch her.. and 9 times out of 10, she had calmed down by the time I made it out there.
After that initial adjustment period, it was like a switch flipped and she suddenly LOVED going to school. We would round the last corner before the parking lot of her school and she would start cheering from her carseat, "Yay!! 'Cool! Yay!! Classsssh!" :)
She has stolen the heart of everyone there. My co-teachers love her and look forward to her "hey babies!" every morning on the way to her classroom -- she likes to stop at my classroom door to greet all the babies already there. They look forward to her pressing her face against our playground window when her class is playing outside -- she likes to rush to my window, locate me in the room, wave, and kiss the window for me before running off to play with her friends. You know, just to make sure I am still where I should be. If one of my co-teachers happens to pass her in another part of the building, or go into her class for some reason, they always come back and share a quick story with me about what she was doing or what she said. Everyone comments on how motherly she is, concerned for her friends and patting backs at naptime. And I can't even count the number of dancing stories I've been told - the girl LOVES to dance.
I love how much love she is surrounded by each day.
I love to see her love other caregivers.. even though at first, it tugged at my heartstrings a bit.
I love to see her get excited when she sees a friend at school "Baaaaaylon! A hug? Baylon, hug?"
I love to see how much she is learning and growing thanks to her awesome teachers!
I am so content with the decision to enroll her there. Much more so than I expected to be 3 short months into it.

:)

Highlights via iPhone photos :)

Here is a sampling from my iPhone Camera Roll 

(and a couple from Facebook to fill in the gaps).

Hopefully this will get you up to speed on what's been happening Jan-May...

Brace yo'selves.

January

Started out pretty slow, pretty typical.

Playdates.

Birthdays.

Fun and Games.

Til Camy got hurt....

Note to Camy: When you fight a sidewalk, the sidewalk will win.

Then my poor girl got RSV. Again. 

And spent several days like this 24/7:

Poor babe.

February

A Texas Blizzard, Y'all!

:)

We're such snow-newbies. 

Snoob's, if you will.

We thought her reaction was hysterical.

Pretend that's not me talking obnoxiously loud and annoying-like.

Once we were able to convince her that the snow was not "a mesh" that needed to be cleaned up, she LOVED it! I wish we had more video of her romping around in it, but we were having too much fun to mess with the camera. :)

During Cam's snowday nap, the hubby happened to notice that we had an extra spigot outside that we had never used (or known about), and whaddyaknow... it was frozen.

He high-tailed to the hardware store to get supplies for hacking it up and capping it off... 

And, whaddayaknow.... it burst. 

While he was gone.

And I was home alone.

Awesome, eh?

But all was well.. he made it home super-quick-like and got 'er under control. 

Phew.

Just a few short days post-snow, Cam-a-Lam was helping me cook dinner. 

Sometimes I let her stand on a chair at the counter and "help" but that day, I wish I had distracted her with something else. Because, just like you always hear, in a split-second where my head was turned, she reached for a spatula next to the hot stove, lost her balance, and fell forward onto the stove, catching her thumb on a hot frying pan.

Biggest Mommy Fail Ever!

My uber-tough babe though? She only cried for the 9.5 seconds it took me to rush her to the sink and stick her hand in the water. Then, not another tear was shed. No tears when the pediatrician inspected the (3rd degree!) burn. No tears when I had to change the bandage several times a day. No tears when the blister popped. No tears when her Mommy cried every time she tended to it and apologized profusely for being so dumb. She most definitely did NOT get her pain tolerance from her mama! Her mama = biggest wimp in the history of ever.

What the burn looked like at the dr's office the next day.

How we had to keep it bandaged.

What it looked like when the blister popped. 

:shudder:

Enjoying some "coffee milk" (read: just plain ol' milk) with bandage and side pony.

And snoozin. This photo actually has nothing to do with the burn. I just think its hilarious because we were reading books before nap that day, she was sitting up across from me and out of nowhere just laid down and fell asleep. No warning, just zonk out. Goober. I thought she was playing at first, but nope -- she napped. 

Toddler pigtails. 

Cutest ever?

I think so!

MARCH

This is where our lives changed. 

In a huge huge way.

March 1 = Camy's first day of preschool and my first day of work.

ZOMG.

The husband and I finally agreed that our crazy work schedules were not the best thing for our family. We needed more time together, we needed more time to be with our extended families, we needed new jobs. On a whim, I called my top pick preschool to see if they were hiring because I wanted Cam to enroll where ever I was working. They were. They interviewed me that afternoon, and offered me a job on the spot. We got Cam enrolled later that week, and I gave my notice to my nanny-family the following Monday. I did my training, enjoyed every moment with my nanny-girls over the next 2 weeks, cried like a baby as I drove away from their house for the last time as a their nanny.. then the very next day, Camy and I started our new adventure.

More on that later... 

But in keeping with our iPhone Photo recaps...

here is the next in line....

That is my poor, sweet girl asleep in the ER. 

Again.

The morning of what would have been her 3rd day of school, her body-jolting breathing woke me up at 430 am. I took one look at her and freaked.. her chest was sinking in (dramatically) with every breath, her neck was sucking in with every breath, and she was making horrible grunty-wheezy sounds. We rushed her off and I swear our entrance into the ER was like a scene out of a movie. As soon as the registrar got a look at Cam, she paged someone, and within seconds 2 nurses came running up the hall towards us, grabbed Camy from me and instructed me to follow them. They immediately got a breathing mask on her and administered some steroid treatment and Cam was so out of it she didn't even object. That one treatment did help, but not enough, so they quickly gave her an oral steroid then started another breathing treatment. This one actually pissed Camy off, which seemed like a good sign. Once her breathing was under control, they ran some tests, did her THIRD chest xray (before 2 years old, sheesh!) and concluded that she has asthma.

Just like we always feared, but prayed would not happen.

We were eventually sent home with an aresenal of meds and machines, we followed up with her pediatrician who echoed everything the ER doc told us, then we made appts with her allergist to get more specialized info and plans in place. Sigh. 

More on that later, too.

Moving right along...

Mid-March, my younger sister did an amazing thing and signed up to have her head shaved for a local St. Baldrick's Event. 

It was an incredibly emotional day, seeing all these cancer babies at the event, and made me so so thankful for my sweet sweet girl. 

I hugged her tight all day!

A couple weeks later we made a trip to Houston to visit my older sister and her family, 

where Camy learned to use a big-girl swing!

And tried to blow bubbles all by herself.

Back home that week, Camy came in (very brief) contact with one of our dogs,

which sadly showed us that she is more allergic to them than we thought.

:(

And then, THEN, 

one evening we stumbled upon this little dude in her playroom.

No, thank you!

End of March brought us warmer temps, 

which also brought us water fun!

Her daddy was teaching her how to spray Mommy with the hose!

She thought that was just HI-larious!

In April, my older sister also did something amazing -- 

She completed the MS150, cycling 150 miles from Houston to Austin!

What's even more amazing than finishing, is that she had only been cycling for 4 short months!

We spent the first part of our Easter weekend in Houston again, 

where the kiddos decorated eggs with stickers and crayons.

We weren't brave enough for dye with 2 kids under 2. 

Oy.

And on the way home from Houston, 

Camy read us a story.

Anyone care to translate?

We spent the rest of our Easter weekend bouncing around other family functions,

pulling in a total of 3 Easter Egg Hunts this year!
Cam made out like a bandit!

Look -- she still crosses her ankles when she sits! :)

April doesn't have many photos, 

but we did come away with this gem:

That would be Cam-A-Lam getting ready for school with Mommy,

complete with mascara. 

Near the end of April, 

one of my favorite bloggers - Matt Logelin -

was at our local bookstore for a reading/signing.

My coteacher helped me get out the door early that day, and I went straight from work.

Hearing him talk about his experiences was touching and at times gut-wrenching,

but mostly, he was just a super-friendly, really funny guy.

Even though I already knew the story and had already his book,

I still cried when he read a chapter.

After the reading and Q&A time, I got in line for a signing and a photo.

It was so great to meet him.

Ha.

Don't mind her... just watchin' a little Sunday morning television.

Ready for a flood?

Hinting that she wants to go swimming?

Making a fashion statement?

You be the judge.

:)

May brought us lots of time with our family, 

and during the most recent visit from sister Vicky & brood, 

I caught Cam and Coop saying "cheers" during lunch.

With their sippy cups. 

I love them.

Cam - just a-rockin'. 

With one rockin' hat!

Aaaaand, this past Monday--

Girl gettin' after some Mac&Cheese with broccoli.

 Awesome.