Zachary's Weekly Progress Report

Zachary is getting much better in school with listening and behaving! Here is his progress report for this week...

18 Weeks Old!

William is 18 Weeks old today...



WILLIAM IS...

Sleeping at least 12 hrs a night...

Drinking a bottle four times a day...

Rolling over...

Puting weight on his own legs, especially in his Baby Einstein...

Loves sitting in the Bumbo seat...




Cooing & laughing...

Recognizing faces...

Sucking his thumb...

and especially LOVES HIS BROTHER...



I can not believe how fast he is growing up!

Brotherly Love

The boys had baths together tonight and then they laid together on the floor watching "Dora The Explorer." William loves for his Big Brother to lay down with him!!

Speech Evaluation & Family Visit

Zachary had his speech evaluation at Pre-school today since he is a little behind the other kids in the speech department. He scored excellent on speech understanding (we knew that). Articulation of words was our major concern which he scored 84 points. This is on the lower end of the normal range for a three year old. The school district's speech therapist said he is so inconsistent with his sounds that is does not seem to be a "disability" but only a "delay." He has really increased his language skills since starting pre-school and should continue to develop his language. They will re-evaluate him in the Fall if he does not continue to progress!!



After school, we had a wonderful visit from Grandma & Grandpa Easterling from Tennessee. Zachary played with Grandma while Grandma and I caught up on things. After everyone's naps, we met Mimi & Popi and Bryan & Leslie at Wild Wings for dinner! We had such a great time and wish Grandma & Grandpa lived closer!! Believe it or not, I only took ONE picture (horrible of me). Keeping up with two boys while having visitors causing me to forget some things!!

The Many Faces of Will...

Trip to the Creek

Today, Zachary and I wandered down to the creek with our new nets to see what we could find. No fish or tadpoles...just rocks. But Zachary had a great time splashing in the water with his new rain boots from Mimi & Popi!! And Francis, our cat, was right beside him the entire time!!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Today, Zachary, William and I had a very busy and exciting day. We started the morning at Chick-fil-a for "Mom & Me." This is a fellowship for moms offered every Tuesday morning where there are activity stations set up for the kids. There was coloring, playdough, story-time and, of course, the play ground. Zachary had a wonderful time and we plan to go each Tuesday morning. William also had a great time watching all the children!!

Then, Zachary went to get his haircut and did wonderful. I plan to continue cutting the boys hair myself because I believe that I did a better job today than the professional. After his haircut, I tried to get some pictures of just Zachary at home! He looks so grown up in his pictures!






After naps, we went to Haley & Hunter's house for a St. Patty's Day celebration. The leprocans left gold rocks all over the yard and the kids had a great time searching for them. They wore cute hats and had green clover jello gigglers. They all had a great time. We love having Haley & Hunter's family as neighbors...thanks for having us over today!

No More Scarlet Fever

Well, I worked Friday, Saturday and Sunday while David was left at home with both boys. Thank goodness, Zachary was finally feeling better. His rash is still visible in some places but no fever and no vomiting!! That makes me feel better!

Day Four of Scarlet Fever

Zachary is much better... just tired and cranky. William is the same...tired and cranky. I think Will is starting to get teeth! Yikes. I can not wait for everyone to be happy again!

Day Three

What a difference a day and an antibiotic make.

Zachary is feeling much better but did not sleep through the night without calling for mom. He ate breakfast, no lunch and is taking in some fluids. He is playing and talking today rather than lounging on the couch or floor. He tongue is still strawberry red with white spots and his body rash has spread. The soles of his feet and hands are now red. The doctor told us not to be surprised if his rash gets worse and his hands and feet start to peel. How exciting. He was upset today because he had to stay home from school and miss his spring pictures!! As long as he is feeling better and not vomiting all over the house, mom is a much happier person!

Day Two -- Diagnosis - He has what?

Scarlet Fever?? Strep Throat with a Rash??



Believe it or not, Zachary has Scarlet Fever...who would have guessed.
"Scarlet fever is basically strep throat with an accompanying rash. It starts as an upper respiratory infection caused by type A streptococcal bacteria — the same bacteria that cause strep throat and some skin infections. The bacteria then release a toxin that causes the rash. Scarlet fever generally starts off with a sore throat, headache, and fever of 101 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. Early in the infection, your toddler's tongue may have a white or yellowish coating. (Later, it may turn red.) The bumps on his tongue may appear larger than normal, a condition called strawberry tongue. The telltale rash commonly breaks out on the second day and typically lasts about two to five days. It usually begins as a mass of tiny red spots in the armpits, neck, chest, and groin area and rapidly spreads over the body. The bumps feel like fine sandpaper and may itch."

That describes Zachary exactly...especially the weird looking strawberry tongue and body rash. Funny thing is he never complained of a sore throat. His rapid stress test came back positive and the doctor diagnosed him by his signs and symptoms before seeing the results of the rapid strep test! I would have never guessed! Now, he is on antibiotics and hopefully will feel much better tomorrow! But right now he still has a fever of 102!! Ugghh!

House of Sickness

Yesterday morning at Preschool, Zachary was not behaving himself. The teacher said he walked around in a fog, would not play with other kids, did not want to play on the playground and just wanted to be held. This was not Zachary. Around 11am, he vomited and had a temperature of 102.0.

We picked him up from school at 11:30am and did not look himself. He continued to get sick about ten times yesterday, could not keep fluids down and kept a temp of 102 all night. We alternated Tylenol and Motrin all night and gave him three warm baths to try to get his fever down. I think it broke once.

This morning he continues to have a fever of 102. but is taking some juice. He has broken out in a full body rash and I spoke to the nurse who thinks he may have strep throat or some type of viral illness but we agreed that he needs to be seen today!! We have an appt at 2pm. I just hope I can get him there without having any vomiting in my car...yikes I feel for him and absolutely hate watching my child sick!





Needless to day, I worked Sunday night, did not sleep Monday during the day except three hours and was up all night last night. I look like a zombie!!

Wild at Walgreens

I am so excited to have started this couponing stuff. Here is what I got this morning at Walgreens...

* 6 Jumbo packs of Huggies Supreme Diapers

* 2 Jiant cans of Lipil Infant Formula

* 6 Pack of Orbit Gum

* 2 Large Red Barron Pizzas

* 2 Sense and Spray Air Fresheners

* 4 12-packs of Coke

* 2 Shampoos

Total: $160.66
Spent: $51.62

And Caregivers MarketPlace will reimburse me another $4.50 for buying diapers. So, end the end I spent $46.87! WOW! And it is everything our family uses!! I will be making another trip later for more diapers (with the sales and coupons they are $1.66 each minus the $0.75 each that Caregivers Marketplace will reimburse)!

Saturday Car Wash

It is only 10am and 66 degrees outside. I think we will have a beautiful and warm weekend!



Zachary is so excited that it is warm enough outside to turn on the hose and wash his cars!

15 Weeks!

Can you believe this time last year I was three weeks pregnant!!
Boy, how time flies.





Fun Facts about William:

* Half birthday is May 22

* Birthstone is Yellow Topaz (Fidelity)

* Astrological Sign is Scorpio

* Flower is Chrysanthemum or Chrysanthemum (Dark Blue, Red and Yellow)

* He will start kindergarten in 2013, be old enough to drive a car in 2024,
finish high school in 2026, and will graduate from college with the class of 2030, give or take a year. Can you imagine?






Fun Facts about Zachary:

* Birthstone is Diamond (Innocence)

* Astrological Sign is Aries

* Flower is Daisy or Sweet_Pea (Yellow, Red and colorless)

$5 off Huggies Diapers

If you have not already heard, Huggies has a $5 off coupon out and Walgreens is having a big diaper sale starting March 8. With the coupon and Register Rewards at Walgreens, each bag of diapers will cost $1.66! WOW!

The coupon is available at:

www.coupons.com

If you do not need the coupon (can be printed twice per computer), I would be more than happy to take them off your hands. I would like to stock pile diapers at this amazing price! Or print them and bless a friend who has young children. These particular coupons are very valuable and will not be available for long!!

Today's Pictures

Here are a few pictures from tonight. William is great at holding his head up and loves to sit up in his Bumbo Seat. He is also rolling over and cooing alot! I can not believe how fast he is growing!

Big Brother

Zachary loves feeding Will...and Will enjoys having a Big Brother look after him. we took a few pictures tonight!

Snow Day!

Two perfect and precious little boys!










Last night, we got several inches of pretty white snow. I worked all night and could not wait to take Zachary outside to play. We played without our friends Haley and Hunter and their mom and dad. He loved it and is ready to go back out this afternoon. Zachary tried to ride his voom-voom but kept getting stuck in the snow! Enjoy all the pictures. Happy Snow Day!








Zachary and his best friend Haley...