Blog Redesign

So I just spent an hour trying to change my blog...uuughh...it did not turn out the way I had hoped, nothing like it in fact....as I was trying for a black and white color scheme. *Chuckle*
Anyway in the process I lost my music and all the 'blogs I follow'. But the new template is quite cheerful. Hopefully it will grow on me, because I don't want to venture back into the scary world of html, any time soon.

A dream realized....

I have a confession to make. A secret. It's totally dorky I'll admit that right up front. I have had this dream of owning a collection of 'feistaware' ever since I met someone when I was 15 years old with a collection. But since it is $50.00 for a mug, a soup bowl, a salad plate, and a dinner plate....Well, let's just say with three kids multicolored china dreams take a backseat to diapers, clothing, and food. AND I'm okay with that, but I still harbor the dream of someday owning something like this:Filled with this glorious fiestaware:It's a silly, kind of dorky but a girl can dream, right? Hey, some people collect dolls. I hardly have told anyone that I want to collect dishes. So, I was a little surprised when I got a package today with:
My very first set of Feistaware!!!! Sent by my mommy. I nearly cried! So I'd like to introduce my blog to by fourth child: Sunflower Feistaware Jensen. I love them so much. Now, I just need to collect 4 more sets and we can actually eat dinner! Thank you Mommy!!!!!

Home

I complain so much about my home, I wish it were bigger and nicer, cleaner and more organized. Nothing like a few weeks on a hospital cot to bring you some perspective. We spent another 3 days in the 'slammer' with our little Paisley, for another bout of bronchitis. Luckily though we caught it earlier and she was able to recover pretty rapidly. Thankfully they didn't even have to give her an IV. On a possibly related note, for those of you who weren't aware. I have developed a lightheaded-ness and dizziness that causes me to be unable to focus my vision. It's bizarre, and occasionally gives me head shattering migraines. I have no official diagnosis yet, but there are a few things that can cause this:
Meneire's Disease: which is caused by a body's inability to process salt, and turns the liquid in your inner ear to a syrup consistency therefor making it difficult to balance.The treatment is low salt diet, which I have already begun. (life is a little bland without salt)
Vertigo: in layman's terms, there are delicate structures in your middle ear that allow you to balance. A small piece or crystal may be 'floating' around in there where it shouldn't be and it's telling my brain that I am not balanced when I am. This means physical therapy.
Albuterol sensitivity/allergy/ overdose: As you may remember I have been giving Paisley albuterol breathing treatments for about 7 weeks, every few hours and on my lap. It's possible that all that albuterol has affected me manifest as lightheaded-ness. (this is relatively unheard of, but is my husband's favorite theory.)
And the last is optic migraines: just a theory, I know very little about it, but the symptoms fit.
I have an appointment with one of the only two specialists in Iowa tomorrow.

So, I'm sorry that my blog has seemingly become more of a medical history, but this is my life lately. Here is the non medical things that have happened since you last read.
I got a terrible haircut. I mean just bad. I asked for long angled bangs and I got huge bushy shaggy straight across bangs. (what can you do though? but rock it....it works if you work it right?) <-----I think that may be an AA slogan but it's applicable for fashion.
Paisley turned 8 months old!!! I can hardly believe it. And on the day she turned 8 months, she FINALLY popped out two adorable razor sharp little teeth. She is on the verge of crawling...as soon as she was unhooked from all the machines at the hospital she was ready to get down and give it a try. She is so close. She gets on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth. (adorable) I expect in two weeks to be writing about her crawling all over the place. Which I welcome but also fear because she puts EVERYTHING in her mouth! AND we finally got a doctor to take her eye problem seriously. For those of you who weren't aware, she looks completely normal most of the time but sometimes both of her eyes will get 'stuck' and look lazy for a few seconds. It's just weird, and worries me, and 'lovely' people comment on it all the time. She has an appointment with a specialist in Des Moines in three weeks. Hopeful we will have answers all around!
Brighton has developed an attitude, of which I am having trouble controlling. So sassy and bossy, and so good at the back talking. So if you have an ideas I am anxiously awaiting advice. Fairon is learning a few new words thank goodness, but is super clingy after having mom disappear to the hospital three times in two months.
I am positive and looking forward to the future, hopefully healthy...and with a better haircut.

Part 2

Finally some free time to tell you about the latter half of our super trip last week.
Let us begin where I left off shall we?
I was just told that my baby would have to be life-flighted to the Children's hospital and that the helicopter was already in the air. I hadn't showered in two days and I had a clear memory of our trip to that hospital two years before and that the facilities where... let's say limited. (not so easy to shower, it involves permission and keys)
So I hopped into the pediatric ward's shower/tub combo. They use it to bathe the kids on the floor; I had to push aside toy boats and rubber duckies. Not so unlike being at home.
Anywho, in the chaos I realized I had forgotten essential pieces of my clothing but when I got back to the room my husband had packed everything up and the sky paramedics had arrived. The nurses told me I wasn't allowed to go with Paisley. <-----ha. I go where my kids go.
So they loaded her onto a stretcher and got kissed goodbye by daddy and off we went. I don't remember too much about the flight except: The radio headsets are interesting, and everyone can hear what you are saying...everyone. (paramedics, flight crew, pilot, dispatch.) So, It was a little unnerving when they asked me for my weight. (yuck right?) Take off was a little rocky and I wasn't sure what to expect because I have never flown before. We got in the air and they told me Paisley was really stable and looked good, and I sat back to enjoy the flight. It was BEAUTIFUL! Helicopter ride at night: amazing. UNTIL, I realized I was having my very first flight with no underwear on.
What would have normally taken us over two hours to drive took about 20 minutes. I was immediately feeling at ease when we landed and went inside. Everyone was very nice and helpful and of course my mom and sister, and my....stepdad...met us there. (weird, will take some getting used too) We had excellent nurses. I just am so amazed by nurses. There is a place for doctors in the world, they diagnose but nurses heal. They administer all the treatment. I just would love to take a minute to acknowledge all the wonderful nurses we had, even though they will never read it...sometimes you just have to put those good thoughts out into the universe. Thank you: Jackie, Becky, Jennie, Dawn (who cried when she had to hold down Paisley for her IV), Carrie (who helped me get my first goodnight sleep in two weeks), Pam, Kari, and Niki. Also, the amazing respiratory guys Jamie, who had a daughter the same age as Paisley and sat and talked with me during the day when no one was there, and Josh the night shift, who regaled me with stories of his rambunctious 3 years old son Parker, and sat with me in the middle of the night. He made fun of me and just 'got' me.
At Blank Children's Hospital, they encouraged me to do whatever I needed to do for Paisley to feel comfortable, which meant I held her in an arm chair for 3 days straight. They took her blood on my lap, She slept on my lap, cried on my lap, they gave her shots on my lap, changed her diapers on my lap, and did her breathing treatments on my lap. Once in the middle of the night I woke up to the sound of a nebulizer, and looked up in the pitch black room to see Josh coming at me with an oxygen mask. I was drooling, there was some debate as to whether I was snoring. (I still maintain that I was not) Anyway for the next two nights he didn't let me live that down.
We had a couple really tense days but Paisley girl recovered relatively quickly the third day. I almost couldn't believe they were discharging us. Our doctor was amazing and knew an awful lot about our faith as he once dated an LDS girl, and we became fast friends.
There are so many people to thank for their love and support and prayers this past week. My parents, and siblings, my husband, my girls, my friends, and even a few strangers; including one of the bishops of the Ames ward who came to give Paisley a blessing. And you the reader of my blog...for letting me pretend my life is interesting enough to write about.

All in all I am thankful for the blessing of having so many caring and wonderful people in my life, and for my faith in a higher power which keeps me grounded....oh, and for underwear.

Paisley's Adventure Part 1

In order to tell this story I have to start at the beginning....
About three weeks ago Paisley developed a cough one morning and by mid-afternoon it became increasing apparent that she wouldn't be able to wait for her doctors appointment the next day. When we picked up Brighton from the bus stop, Paisley seemed fine but in the ten minutes to took us to get there and back she could barely breath. I called her doctor and they told me to rush her to the ER. We waited just 10 minutes for Dan to get home and give her a blessing. ( a special prayer given by a priesthood holder)
At the ER they gave her a chest x-ray and told us she had the beginning stages of a pneumonia. They gave us an antibiotic and medication for our nebulizer. (I think that is spelled correctly but my spell check is having a field day) They also gave me strict instructions that she may not sound better after her full course of treatment and I shouldn't worry because 'that is just how pneumonia is'.
For a time she seemed to be feeling better but after another few days her breathing and her coughing reached the point where I knew it was more then just residual illness. BUT, her pediatrician was SWAMPED! ('tis the season they said) Finally Wednesday I took to the ER, where we spent the entire day. They gave her a chest X-ray, gave us antibiotics and medication for the nebulizer. (sound familiar?) and sent us home.
I debated taking her back to the ER on Wednesday night. Because she was no longer coughing but her breathing was getting worse. So, I upped the breathing treatments to every two hours. By three in the morning however she was pulling in her tummy every time she breathed, and was moaning EVERY time she exhaled. Her exhale was twice as long as her inhale and she had stopped eating. I showered quick and grabbed a pair of sweats and ran her to the Emergency Room around 3:00 am. Where they gave her: a chest x-ray, antibiotics, and medication via nebulizer. (sensing a theme?)
When that didn't seem to have much of an effect (go figure) they finally admitted us to the hospital. We stayed in Fort Dodge with her for two days. When we first brought her in she was smiling and happy but they put her on oxygen and IV and made her stay in the crib.(heartbreaking) By the second day she was miserable had stopped smiling, refused to eat, was moaning every second she wasn't asleep. They finally made the choice to send her to Blank Children's Hospital via helicopter. We still hadn't seen an actual doctor. I was getting so frustrated, I would have taken her to an English professor if it meant she could see someone with a PHD. Finally our doctor made a rare appearance, but let's just say I was not impressed with his lack of concern. The air paramedics were literally there in 20 minutes from Des Moines.

Dahlia Girls

Our girls had the privilege of being the 'flower girls' at a very casual Farmers Market Wedding in Des Moines this weekend, for some very dear dear members of our family...
As it was an elopement of sorts I'm not going to tell you who the bride and groom were.

We had a great time. It was a wonderful and beautiful ceremony and feel very blessed to have been apart of something so perfect.

Our week in pictures

Our girls play nicely together for about 6 minutes every morning.

Potty training!

Another 6 minutes where no one was screaming or crying.
It's rare but it exists.
I finally captured photographic evidence.

Sugar and spice and everything nice.
That is what little girls are made of at other houses.
At our house it's koolaid mustaches and dirty hands!

I love to take pictures of the girls when they are naked and I didn't realize how much
until I grabbed a camera the other day to snap this photo and Brighton screamed,
"cover your vagina mom's got the camera!"