Another RA Update

I went to the doctor today. I am supposed to have blood work done a few days before going, but honestly, I didn't feel like it with all the traveling we've been doing. I love my doctor, she said no big deal, just do it in the next few days. When I left the office I went to the lab and had both arms poked and prodded because I have tiny veins, didn't drink enough water and one vein collapsed when the stuck the needle in it. Oh well, they took the blood they needed. While I was talking to the doctor, I told her I've been having dull pains the last month or so. It just feels like I slept wrong and I'm just kinda stiff throughout the day. She said it's time to change meds again. This time we are adding an injection I have to give myself. There are several different ones out there that vary from weekly, bi-weekly and monthly injections. I chose the monthly injections...the less I have to stick myself the better. Anyway, I dropped off the prescription and the pharmacist said they didn't have it and would have to order it. I said no biggie, just tell me when it's in and I'll get it. He asked if I knew if my insurance would cover it, I had no idea so he said he'd call and find out and let me know before he ordered it because 1 injection is...$1900! WTH, I almost choked. So, of course, insurance doesn't cover it so now tomorrow morning I get to see if my doctor will call my insurance company and talk to them about covering it or see if there is one they will cover. Ugh!

On a good note, Nomi came to visit us yesterday. Josh had a work thing so after Abby left, we went to Sam's and had dinner. Alex ADORES Nomi. She stayed the night and stayed with the girls while I went to the doctor. Alex decided she didn't want to take her morning nap and played with Nomi instead. She finally took a quick little nap around 11. When it was time for Nomi to leave and was not happy about it. I took her from Nomi and she cried and tried to reach back for her. We watched her out the window and Alex just smiled and laughed until she couldn't see Nomi's car then she fussed for a few minutes. That girl loves her Nomi!

Tooth #6

Tooth # 6 broke through the gums the day we left for California. It came through fast and about half of it is showing now! It is left upper lateral incisor. It looks like her first molars are going to be next, there doesn't seem to be much progress on the bottom.

While we were in California Alex slept great at night. Since we have been back, we've had more sleep issues. We spent one night (Thursday) at home and Alex did great. Her 2 naps on Friday didn't go so well. She cried and fussed herself to sleep and only slept about an hour each time. Friday night, we got to Josh's parents around 10. Alex was soooo excited to see Cooper. She was a total ball of energy. We finally got her to bed around 11, but she was in bed with us. I guess at one point she sat up and flopped back down and landed on my head. It woke her up and hurt like heck. I put her back in the pack and play in the office and she slept until 7ish when Cooper nosed the door open and woke her up. Saturday night was just as bad. Twice we put her down and she screamed and cried so we got her back up for a bit. She woke up 2 more times, but we left her to CIO and eventually she went back to sleep but was up at 6:15. Last night she went down around 8:30 without much of a fuss, but woke up screaming around 11. I rocked her for about 10 minutes and she went back to sleep. She was up again a little after 2, we let her CIO and she went back to sleep. I am looking forward to 2 weeks at home so we can hopefully get back to a decent sleeping schedule.

The last week or so, Alex's eating habits have also become horrible. She will barely eat. The things she has always loved, she will hardly eat now. Friday, she ate 1/4 of a waffle and 2 bites of applesauce for breakfast. We went to Dickey's for lunch and she ate a pickle slice and a few bites of mashed potatoes. For dinner we stopped at Cracker Barrel and she ate half a corn muffin. She will eat a bite or 2 of something, then either turn her head or take the food out of her mouth. It's very frustrating. I know she should be eating more and stuff that is better for her than mashed potatoes and lots of bread, but she just won't eat it. Every 2 days or so she will have one meal where she just eats and eats, so I let her eat as much as she wants. Finally on Saturday night after 2 days of barely eating she ate spaghetti and meat sauce...2 helpings of it. The only thing she will eat anytime is Morningstar veggie "chicken" nuggets, but I feel horrible giving those to her every meal so we keep trying new things but keep a stock of nuggets just in case. I'm hoping the eating problems were just from being in a new place where there was so much going on and it will get better now that we are home.

California!

We had sooo much fun in California. After a long long afternoon/evening we finally got there around 10pm on Saturday.

Watching the airplanes at the airport

Sunday we went to Malibu so the kids could boogie board and we could hang out. It was 20 degrees cooler at the beach then it was at my sisters, so I'm glad I decided to wear jeans!

Hudson and Izzy looking soo cute in their wetsuits!

Alex and her Izzy
Sweet Hud kisses

Alex and Uncle Laith

When we got home from the beach we decided to hop in the pool. The kids loved climbing all over Josh. After about 20 minutes, Alex was over it so I got her out and Josh and the kids stayed in for another hour or so. My sister made a yummy dinner so after everyone showered we ate and hung out.

The kids hanging all over Josh in the pool!

Monday Jodi wanted to take Alex to Disneyland. Josh and I opted out and decided to stay at the house and relax a little! We spent most of the day on the back patio reading. It was so relaxing to be able to just sit there and not have to worry about the little one getting into stuff!

The beautiful back patio.

Alex got her first Mickey ears!

Meeting Mickey Mouse

Playing in the dirt at Disneyland

When they got back, we played with Alex in the front yard. She loved running around and splashing in the fountain! Hudson, Josh and I walked Alex to the park for a while while Izzy went to dance classes that night.

playing in the front yard

Alex doing her favorite thing, playing in the fountain!

Tuesday we all got ready so we could go into Los Angeles. Izzy had a class with her acting coach to get ready for an audition that afternoon. When it was over, we went to The Grove. I loved it! It's an outdoor shopping center with a ton of stores. Alex got to go to the American Girl store for the first time. There is an market area where there are a ton of places to eat so we had lunch, walked around a bit then headed back to Glendale to get Hudson from school. After we picked him up we went to a cute little soda shop called Rocket Fizz. It's not like an old school soda shop, but they have hundreds of different sodas in bottles and lots of candy. We all picked out a soda and some candy. Alex got to try PopRocks! She loved them! Laith made dinner that night and it was delish!

Wednesday was out last full day there. Josh and I had plans to take the Murad's out to dinner so we decided to stay in so Alex could relax and get 2 decent naps in. Our family is very competitive when it comes to games. My sister, who is sooo creative, made shirts them to wear before we went to dinner. They came out with Alex as their mascot and did a little dance routine. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen!!

silly Aunt JoJo, Alex and Izzy

That night we went to The Americana, a shopping area in Glendale for dinner. We ate at Granville...the food was soooo good! After dinner we went to Crumbs Bake Shop to pick up cupcakes for later. Since the stores were still open, we decided to do a little shopping. We went to Izzy's favorite store, Peek Aren't You Curious and got a few little things for Alex.

Overall we had a blast and I can't wait to go back. I miss everyone already. Alex did surprisingly well with the time change. We were on the go so much some days she only got to nap for about 30 minutes total. She loved all the attention she got from Hud and Izzy. Each morning, the minute she started stirring, one or both of the kids were in our room ready to get her up. They would then run down stairs and get her milk and climb into bed with us and snuggle and play with Alex. I still remember when they were both babies and love seeing them with my sweet baby now!

The Murads

Oh what a night!

What a night! We left Houston at 4:45, landed at dfw around 5, ate and headed to our next flight. When we got there they were already boarding so we were one of the last people on the plane. We timed it to be around alex's bedtime. We sat on the plane for a little bit then saw a man in a suit walk by, then 2 police officers walk down the aisle. Several minutes later, they all escorted man, with his pants unbottoned off the plane. We then waited for them to see if he had any carry ons, which he didn't. Then the pilot decided for everyones safety, they would have everyone get off the plane so they could so a security sweep of the plane. We finally took off and instead of landing in Burbank at 9:05, we landed a little after 10. thankfully Alex slept most of the way. When we got my sisters, Alex was wide awake. She ended up staying up until midnight...two am our time! She slept with us, tossed and turned just as I expected. She was up at 6am (8 Texas time), I took her downstairs and the dog started barking so everyone woke up around 6:30. Alex is getting so much attention so of course she doesn't want to sleep. I have taken so many pictures and don't have the energy to upload them now. I will have a TON of pics to share when we get home! (and sorry for any misspellings or things that don't make sense, I'm updating from my phone and I've taken several breaks and had a few glasses of wine!)

Stress

We are leaving for California this afternoon. I haven't been stressed at all...until last night. Last week we shipped Alex's pack and play to my sisters so she would have a place to sleep. It was supposed to be there Wednesday. I called Thursday and the lady told me there was a delay and it would be there Friday. I called last night when I noticed there was no update on FedEx's site. The package was lost! It was supposed to be there Wednesday and the rep told me she had no idea why I was told it would be there Friday. They started a trace but we won't know anything until Monday. Had the lady told me the correct info they could have started the trace Friday and I'd already have an update. So, Alex will be sleeping with us. Lately she doesn't do well sleeping with us so we'll see how it goes. If it is just horrible, we'll be renting a pack and play from a company I found in LA.

Collie Love

Alex adores her Cooper dog. He is the only one she will give kisses to anytime we ask. Poor Coop has had his fur pulled one too many times. He usually gets up if she comes near him. We have a stuffed collie we call Baby Cooper and Alex loves giving him kisses! It gives our real Cooper boy a little break! Josh is taking Cooper to meet his Dad at the lakehouse tomorrow. Cooper is staying with Grandma and Grandpa while we are in California. I know we are going to have a blast and Cooper is going to love being the center of attention but I sure am going to miss that boy!

boo boo bunny

My poor little tinks busted her lip today. What's even worse, I don't know how she did it. I was cleaning up the lunch dishes and she was playing with Abby. Alex started crying and Abby came around the corner with the toy Alex had been playing with, so I assumed Alex was upset Abby took the toy. I went to check on her and there was blood in her mouth! She was kneeling by the bar stool so I can only assume she lost her balance and hit her mouth on the stool. I looked in her mouth and the blood was coming from her gums. I gave her a little water to wash the blood out. After a few sips, she wiggled away to go play. I gave her a few minutes then got her toothbrush because it's the only way she will willingly open her mouth to let me take a look. There was still a little blood but no cuts or anything on her gums. It looked like it was coming from the gum line. She wasn't fussing so I let her play. Within a few minutes, her lip started swelling. Since she was more interested in playing than me holding her I gave her a mesh feeder with an ice cube in it to help the swelling. The swelling went down some, but you can see a bruise on her lip. My poor little pumpkin. I do have to say, for as clumsy as this kid is, I am shocked this is the first boo boo she has had!

her poor little fat lip

a better view