blogging overload

sorry for the lack of updates for so long. and now, sorry about the overload of updates. we've had an extremely busy, extremely fun summer, so blogging really hasn't been at the top of my list lately. you know how it is when summer only lasts two months, right?

anyway, there is more to come! don't give up on me yet.

splash pool

we have found one of our new favorite places to visit this summer, and it is just around the corner from our house. it is the enderis park splash pool. it is perfect for both katelyn and me. perfect for katelyn because she gets to run around and splash in the water and perfect for me because it is shallow enough that i can sit on the edge and watch. plus, it's free. ahh, the joys of summer.

katelyn playing with her friend natalie. don't you just love the chunky legs?

she couldn't get enough of it.

these two kiddos decided that part of the fun of coming to the splash pools was throwing the keys outside of the fence. katelyn is already teaching the younger kids some bad habits!

too bad the splash pool is only open until mid-august. couldn't the warm weather just stick around a little longer?

fourth of july festivities

i love celebrating the fourth of july. this is a holiday where we get to celebrate the wonderful country that we live in, plus it is a great excuse to dress katelyn in as much red, white and blue as possible.

we began our day by watching the cities annual fourth of july parade. the only other fourth of july parade we've attended as a family is the very large, very crowded parade in provo city. to prepare for that parade you have to put your blanket out days in advance and leave hours ahead of time to find a parking spot, and it's all worth it. so when we heard there was a parade in our hometown, we prepared just as thoroughly. it turns out that isn't really necessary. sure, there were lots of people and sure, it was still a great parade, but not nearly as crowded, but still worth it. we had plenty of space to stretch out and enjoy the show.

later on that afternoon our ward had prepared a fun bbq for all of the families in our ward. it was so fun to see all of the kids and adults dressed up patriotically.

i did this to the picture just to emphasize her red, white and blue. she ate it all up and loved it just as much as me.

playing with daddy at the bbq

enjoying an icee

after our ward activity we headed over to our manager's house. he was having a fourth of july party too. one bonus to this party was that he had a heated pool, so it was warm enough for katelyn to swim. she loved getting in the water and it wore her out just enough to take a long nap when we get home.

last year, tyler and i ditched out on fireworks to let katelyn sleep. this year, we were determined to go. since katelyn took a great nap, we headed out, found a great spot to sit with some friends and waited for the show to begin.

we weren't sure if sparklers were legal in wisconsin, so before we lit up, we found some police officers and asked if it was okay to play with them. we were told that technically they were not legal, but if they didn't see them, then no one would get in trouble. we felt okay with that since we asked them directly.

katelyn was a little nervous at first, but eventually was brave enough to hold one.

before the firework show began.

it turned out to be a chilly night! thank goodness we brought some blankets. who knew we would need blankets in july?

katelyn was pretty scared during the firework show. she kept trying to sink further and further into tyler as she could possibly get, and she kept her eyes sealed shut in the beginning. about half way through the show she started watching the fireworks but made sure that tyler kept her ears plugged. we've obviously brain washed her about the fireworks because now, if you ask her about them, she'll say, "fireworks are loud, but fun and pretty too."

all better

katelyn has never really been a kid to get sick very often. we've been pretty lucky that way. tyler would say it was because of the hedin genes. he's always saying that his immune system is like a rock. so i was a little surprised when i went to get katelyn out of bed one morning, brushed the back of her neck, and it was hot! we took her temperature and sure enough, she had a slight fever. we didn't really think much of it. i grabbed some tylenol, gave her some and let her rest in front of a movie that morning. her fever went down quickly, and she seemed to be feeling better. i put her down for a nap that afternoon, and when she woke up, her fever had crept back up. i made sure to give her some more medicine and kept waiting for the fever to go down again, but it never did. by that evening she was looking and feeling pretty miserable. she didn't want much to eat. all she wanted to do was lay around and have her daddy hold her while watching a movie. every time we felt her forehead, she was hotter and hotter, and the medicine was doing nothing to relieve her from the discomfort.

this was the look on katelyn's face throughout the whole week

tyler and i were definitely concerned about katelyn that evening. we just weren't sure what to do to help her. we tried getting her in the bath, but she just cried. we tried a damp cloth on her forehead, but she cringed when we set it down on her head. we tried cooler drinks, but she wasn't interested. finally, we just had to put her to bed. we were constantly checking on her. at about 10:00 that night, we heard katelyn cry out and went into her room to see what was the matter. we immedietly noticed that she was regularly twitching her body and was quite stiff. i had read on the internet that young children can have febrile seizures from fevers that spike too quickly, and knew that she was having one of these. she snapped out of it very quickly, so we weren't too concerened about it. we got her a cold drink of water and i layed with her for a little bit longer. while i was laying with her i noticed that every minute or so she continued to involuntarily twitch. i thought that was a little strange but brushed it off thinking she was sleeping unfitfully from the fever. eventually i left the room, but felt that i really needed to leave the door open that night just in case katelyn needed us. i also left our bedroom door open too for the same reason.

as soon as my head hit the pillow, i was out. we had gone to bed much later than normal out of our concern for little katelyn. tyler, on the other hand, could not get to sleep and lay awake in bed. 45 minutes later, katelyn let out a small cry from her bedroom. it was such a tiny cry that i didn't even hear it. tyler happened to hear it because he was awake, and he hurried into katelyn's room. he came to our bedroom carrying katelyn telling me to get up because we needed to take katelyn to the hospital. i got up and took a look at katelyn and realized that something was wrong. she was having another febrile seizure, but this time, it was much stronger. tyler gently layed katelyn on the ground as i watched. this time the seizure was far more severe. katelyn's head was cocked to one side, and we could hear her swallowing rhythmically. she had her left arm bent at the elbow with her hand in a fist, and she was twitching more violently this time. and her body was extremely stiff. it was definitely the scariest thing both tyler and i have ever witnessed. we both kept saying her name in hopes that she would respond, but her seizure continued. you'd think after reading about febrile seizures and knowing that they aren't harmful, that you would be prepared to experience one. but as you are watching your child, who isn't responding, experience something like that, you can't help but feel a sense of fear. especially because the seizure seemed to go on and on. finally, out of desperation, we woke up our downstairs neighbors for help. they held katelyn while tyler called 911 and while i gathered up every last thing that we might need. katelyn kept seizing that whole time.

finally, the ambulance arrived and katelyn's seizure stopped. i guess it is pretty typical for kids to black out for a bit after a febrile seizure because katelyn was quite still and lifeless. tyler and i were just relieved that her body was relaxed again. the ambulance took us to the hospital where they filled katelyn up with more medicine. they spent quite a bit of time talking about febrile seizures and how to respond if it were to happen again. katelyn's fever managed to go down after more medicine at the hospital, and katelyn even woke up and was able to respond to the doctor, so they sent us home at about 4:00 a.m. when we got home we were all pretty beat. we decided to have katelyn sleep in our bed with us the rest of the morning so we could keep an eye on her. thankfully, she didn't have any more seizures. her fever stayed pretty high for the 3-4 days and eventually broke, which was such a relief. the day after the fever broke, she started to develop some bumps on her face and body. it turns out that she had roseola. it really isn't anything serious at all, but febril seizures are known to be common with roseola because the fever will usually spike quickly.

in the end, we were just so grateful to see katelyn playing and acting normal again. we felt truly blessed through the whole thing. we feel as if Heavenly Father was with us that evening as we felt the need to keep our doors open and the fact that tyler could not get to sleep that night. it made it possible for him to hear katelyn's tiny cry. otherwise, she would have experienced that seizure on her own and we would have been unaware that anything was wrong. it really made us think more about how things don't happen out of coincidence. things happen for a reason and a purpose, no matter how small they may seem!