So. . .

We have had a crazy couple of days. Two days ago I put Maren down for a nap and when she woke up she felt really hot to me. I took her temp and it was 105.4. I took off all of her clothes, gave her some Motrin and some water. All she wanted to do was snuggle so we sat chest to chest in the loft while Addi played. All of a sudden Maren started twitching in this really odd way. I held her up and immediately saw that she was having a seizure -- her eyes were open but not moving, she started to drool, her torso was really rigid and her limbs were twitching. I have seen kids have a seizure before, so I tried to tell myself to be calm and wait for it to end, but then she stopped breathing. I called 911 right away and as I gave the woman on the phone our address and phone # I started to lose it a little. I carried Mare around the house, putting her down on various surfaces to look at her while I said over and over,"Oh my God, she's not breathing!" Then I remembered that I do know what to do and sort of mentally bitch slapped myself into action. I laid her down on the couch and by now she was pale and her lips were blue. I rubbed her chest, and when nothing happened I listened for a heartbeat. It was strong and quick but fairly normal. Then I gave her rescue breaths/mouth to mouth. After about 3 or 4 breaths she started to breath on her own and she came out of the seizure. She was listless, but definitely not seizing anymore. Then the cops showed up -- happy to see that she was breathing again, soon the firefighter EMTs came and started to examine her, and finally the paramedics came and we got loaded on to the ambulance. The whole seizure only lasted about a minute, but felt like forever.

Brian met me at the hospital and they kept her there for observation for a couple of hours. After a few tests to rule out various bacterial causes of a high fever (UTI, ear infection, etc.) -- and some constant nursing to keep her calm (thank God you can't forget your boobs at home in all the commotion) -- the doctor determined that she had a febrile seizure (fever seizure) and the fever was caused by a virus. We were told to put her on a strict regimen of fever reducers to keep the fever as low as possible until it goes away completely. Maren ended up walking out of the ER waving goodbye enthusiastically to everyone she saw.

After last night we now know that Maren has croup. She had the croup cough all night and a few bouts of stridor (wheezing and difficulty catching her breath), and the pediatrician gave us some emergency meds in case her symptoms get worse tonight. Hopefully this will all be over soon and we can get back to normal. Maren, however, seems to feel like she can already run around like a little squealing crazy person.

Ps Addi was there and handled everything like a champ. We have talked at length about how she felt about what she saw and what it means to have a seizure and how it's a good thing we can call the "good guys" to come and help us in an emergency. She was by my side the whole time and when I asked her to get me Maren's blanket as we left she promptly did it and said,"but don't leave me, ok?" -- we all (me and the 6 emergency personnel in our house) reassured her we wouldn't go anywhere without her. Then she got to hang out at our good friend Laura's house while I took the trip with Mare in the ambulance.

We are so lucky to have such amazing and healthy little girls and I am so proud to be their Mommy. We are also so extremely lucky to have such thoughtful and helpful neighbors and good friends that are always there to help when we need them.

Here are some pics of life at home and getting back to normal:

The Graduate

Addi recently wrapped up another fantastic year of preschool. She has been socializing in a class room setting very well. She has made lots of friends and is continuing to excel at her academic skills. Addi is still in group speech, where she has done very well with learning to make all of her sounds correctly and is now working on her sequencing skills. She is great at knowing the sequence of events and how they occur, but she needs some help to learn how to verbalize those sequences. This summer she will be taking an art/music/gym class at Romp'n'Roll, and either swimming lessons or soccer (she hasn't decided yet).

Addi started to cry when she was called up to get her "diploma" because she couldn't find me in the crowd (I had to move so I could get a better picture angle and she didn't see me).
Maren wanted to be one of the "big" kids and sit in a chair and eat some celebratory ice cream too!
Here is the latest in Addi art. Here is a pic of Addi, Maren, Auntie Ash, Henri and she says the little thing in the bottom right corner is a fur ball. Go figure.
The girls continue to play amazingly well together. Sure, they get in their little tiffs, but for the most part they interact in a way that is positive and fun for both of them. They love having squealing matches (Maren wins), playing with their babies -- Addi will put hers down for naps and nurse them and Maren likes to pat hers on the back and lick their faces. I have also recently learned that I need to buy two of everything otherwise the competition is on (ie. they recently wanted new camping chairs and were fighting in the store over who could sit in the green alligator one -- needless to say, we went home with two green alligator chairs) .
The latest game of choice around our house is hide and seek. Addi will only hide if someone hides with her -- she can't handle the suspense, and Maren is the best seeker out there -- seriously, she's like a little Navajo tracker. Brian and I will switch hiding with Addi and Maren and the other one of us will seek. Maren loves to find the hiders and say her version of "boo" which sounds like "buh" -- she will walk around for the longest time even after we are done playing just popping out from around random corners saying "buh" and then laughing! Maren is also trying to say a ton of words -- they are basically just sounds but the effort is there -- basically anything that starts with a "b" is "buh" (bird, boo, etc) except for baby and book which she can say pretty well. Likewise, when she tries to mimic other words she will make a noise with the same number of syllable sounds and the first letter the work starts with. It is super cute.

We have a climber on our hands.

Some of the many things that are above her age level that Maren loves to attempt include: coloring, reading cook books and planning weekly dinner menus and pretending to drink coffee.

What, like you guys don't lounge naked on pillows?

Maren continues to eat a wide variety of foods in alarming quantity. Especially watermelon -- she will eat it until she is so full that she belches and is on the verge of vomiting -- it is pretty gross. Here she is loving some pasta puttanesca and strawberries.
She has not quite acquired a love for capers yet however.
Maren also loves to dance! The video is short b/c my camera ran out of batteries :(

Baby Ferg!

This weekend we co-hosted a baby shower for the Fergs with my Mom! It was so much fun to get to see so many friends and celebrate the future arrival of the fantastic little Baby Girl Ferg. Over two years ago when my friend Jenny had a baby shower with a henna artist to decorate her belly I knew that I would love to do that for my friend Karen someday. The artist was awesome! We all had so much fun watching Karen get her belly decorated and getting little tattoos ourselves (thanks for the idea Jenny)! We also had some fun activities for guests to partake in while Karen got henna'd. We had people write parenting advice and baby name suggestions on pieces of paper for the parents-to-be, and decorate onesies of various sizes for the baby. Let's just say that although some of the onesies were super cute, others should probably not be worn in public.
We even talked the boys into getting tats too! Is a dragon still manly even if it is covered in sparkly glitter? Or is it manly simply because it is on the hairy arm of one Stephen Fergason?
I got a flower, my mom got a heart and Linda got a fish!
Karen's sister Christine brought a gorgeous cake from Mulberries Cake Shop.
Our good friends Matt and Laura and their new baby Eleanor/Nora were able to come -- even though the baby is only two weeks old! They are old pros already. Addi loved gazing at the baby and softly stroking her hair.
Addi somehow made her way into most of the group pics the Fergs took with friends. Overall the day was incredibly fun! We are so lucky to have such amazing friends and all of these new little babies to cherish. We can't wait to Meet you Baby Ferg, we love you guys!

On the Mend

So hopefully this will be the last of four consecutive weeks that sickness has plagued The House of Ickler. The poor girls had colds, then a violent and nasty tummy bug, and as Brian mentioned, Addi is now recovering from pneumonia. Here are some pics of our sad and needy little babies while they were sick.
Everyone seems to be doing very well now. Addi has so much energy that I can't even get her to go down for a nap, but her cough is still persistent and annoying to her. Maren seems fully recovered from her tummy virus. She kept throwing up in the night so we made her sleep with us -- she was not happy, but eventually would settle down and snuggle to sleep. It was so nice to be able to keep her close while she was sick, and I think after a while she was comforted by having us close by as well. Maybe we can get healthy in time for summer!
Maren has discovered watermelon. Verdict -- loves it!
Here are some pics of our new gardens in progress. Note how each one has its own sprinkler line for a customizable drip system. Brian is a hydro-genius! Hopefully we will get the soil in the gardens in a few days and then we can transplant our organic seedlings that are now growing inside: cucumber, eggplant, basil, beets, jalapeno and bell pepper. We also hope to plant some tomatoes, radishes, potatoes, peas, lettuce and strawberries as well! We can start our own little farmer's market!

Too busy to blog, sort of

Sorry for the lack of blogging and pictures lately -- things here are crazy and exhausting. Kara is in the final week of school for this semester, and is studying 'round the clock. I'm building raised garden beds that need to be finished so that we can transplant the rapidly growing seedlings that are enjoying the inside of our house (spoiled little plants). And most important, Addi has pneumonia and a mild case of bronchitis :-( She has been sick off and on for weeks, but never had combined or severe symptoms that would have us rush to the doctor. On Monday of this week however, her cough had gotten very bad and she was quite lethargic, so Kara took her in to the pediatrician. Addi received a chest x-ray to confirm the pneumonia, and she started antibiotics that night. She's already showing much improvement and has a lot of energy, so it looks like our Addi will be back to good health soon.

Stay tuned, we'll post pictures of the new gardens soon.