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!

it must have been a good nap

wisconsin dells

this past weekend we drove up to wisconsin dells with some friends to play at the water park capital of the world. and who would have thought that the water park capital would be in wisconsin? not i.

we have been wanting to plan a little trip up the dells for a while and jumped at the chance once school was out. we did a lot of research trying to find the best and cheapest place to stay, but we were a little overwhelmed by the number of resorts available. i ended up getting an email from one the resorts about a little deal they were having, and we grabbed it. it turned out to be a great place for katelyn to play.

as soon as we got to our hotel we put our suits on and headed outside. katelyn was so excited she could barely contain herself. so we thought she was going to jump in and love it. but that wasn't the case. she wanted to ease her way into the water and did not want any of it getting in her face. it's funny because we used to call her our "little fishie" because she loved having water all over her. not anymore. luckily her little friend, eliza, was the same way.

we didn't spend much time outside because the water was still pretty chilly for this time of year. plus, it rained all of saturday. our resort also had an indoor water park, so we spent the rest of our time inside.
katelyn stayed on the outskirts of the kiddie area where it was safe from the spraying water.

and wouldn't you know, she wanted to spend a lot of her time going up and down the stairs.

and of course the hot tub was a huge hit. she spent a lot of time with daddy in the warm water.

we had a great time hanging out as a family and hanging out with our friends. after spending all of the time we wanted to at the resort, we packed up and headed out to eat, then drove over the outlet malls to walk around and do some shopping. thanks for going with us odells and nances!

fun in the sun

when the sun is out, and it's warm outside, i just can't find any excuses to stay inside, so i head out. it's a perfect situation for both katelyn and i. she gets out to run around and play with her toys, and i get to sit and read. no wonder they call it the lazy days of summer.

this time around katelyn chose to play in the little sandbox that we have in our driveway. i was a little surprised by this choice because it was so warm outside. sand can get pretty hot in the sun, but she braved it and played away.

first the shoes come off. you can't play in sand properly without the removal of your shoes.

this is mainly what she does in the sandbox. shovel up the sand and watch it drop. maybe her second favorite thing is shoveling the sand up and throwing it out of the sandbox, although that is not my favorite thing for her to do.

an attempt at a sand castle?

we love being outside and can't wait until the weather stays consistenty warm to do this more often!

stick a fork in him, he's done...with his first year at least

tyler has officially finished his first year of medical college. i'm so proud of all of his hard work this past year, and know that he will continue to work just as hard these next three years. not only did he work hard studying, but he also worked hard at being a wonderful husband and father. i can honestly say that i never felt neglected or overwhelmed with my responsibilities as a wife and mother, and that's saying a lot when your husband is quite busy with his responsibilities. here's to the next three years!

we had a couple of fellow first years organize a little get together to celebrate the end of year one. i'm a picture person and made everyone get together for a couple of pictures. i realize not everyone is as enthusiastic about taking lots of pictures, and i definitely heard some grumbles from some husbands :), but hopefully one day, they'll appreciate these too.

the men, very happy to be done.

most of the first years were able to attend.

and of course katelyn was there stuffing her face full of cupcakes and enjoying the freedom of running around.

when katelyn won't nap...

we head outside. at least when it's warm anyway. we have some decent outside toys for katelyn to play with, so we have the perfect excuse to get out. if i even mention the word car she makes a mad dash for the door. nothing can beat her cozy coupy car. thank you rummages.

plus, i couldn't help making an excuse to get out as i finally saved up for and bought a dslr.

getting a good shot with a dslr, or any camera for that matter isn't as easy as some people make it look. there is quite a lot to think about when composing a shot, and a running toddler sure doesn't help that thought process. so i just might be spending a lot of time practicing trying to learn how to get it just right. and i have so much learn.

but we still had fun getting out. here's proof.

she really couldn't contain her excitement to be in her 'yellow and red car'.

she did stop playing for just a minute to find the airplane in the sky.

she was absolutely refusing to look at me. oh boy is she a two year old.

i love the determined look on her face.

until next time...

by the way, thanks kristen for helping me make the choice to get a d40!

.dos.tva.two.twee.doi.deux.zwei.

no matter how you say it, it doesn't change the fact that katelyn is no longer our little baby. she is now our big girl. on may 8th, we celebrated katelyn's second birthday. i'm pretty sure i said this last year too, but i can't believe she is growing up so fast. i've loved seeing her personality develop and grow these past two years, and i've loved seeing her understanding increase. she really does bring us so much happiness and keeps us laughing each and every day.

as i was purusing through all of our pictures of katelyn, i couldn't pick just one to share. so i decided to share many, in no particluar order.katelyn's first year.

she was always a very content baby. we had no problems putting her down for a while, holding her, getting her down for naps. as a newborn when she woke up to eat she never cried, only grunted very softly. she was a very happy baby. she did get quite attached to her mommy and daddy and only let us hold her for a while though.katelyn's second year.
her personality has popped! she's funny, wild and rambunctious, but can also be very calm, sweet and cuddly. she loves other people and especially her little friends and of course, as any two year old, loves attention.

some things i want to remember about katelyn at this point in time:

• is a talker...and repeats everything we say and more
• can finally jump. yea! two feet actually come off the floor
• knows all of her letters
• can count to 10 and does so often
• is sleeping in a toddler bed. the change went so much more smoothly than we planned
• knows circle, square, heart, star and triangle
• knows all of her colors
• loves to sing songs and do the actions. her personal favorites right now are the wiseman song, go bananas and itsy-bitsy spider.
• can throw a tantrum with the best of them
• gets so excited when her daddy comes home from school
• loves puzzles and play-doh and can play with both for a long time
• loves to be outside
• favorite phrase: it's mine
• loves to talk on the phone to "pampa"
• loves nursery. thank you nursery leaders!
• is still an extremely picky eater
• loves to help me clean whether it is putting away toys, sweeping, vacuuming or putting dishes away

to celebrate her birthday we invited katelyn's best little friends over to play some games and eat some cupcakes. her birthday party theme was all pink. we ate pink foods, decorated with pink paper and passed out pink favors. it was a great party. her friends, grandparents and parents all did a wonderful job of spoiling her. thanks everyone! happy birthday big girl!