Are We Having Fun Yet?

We have had the craziest beginning to our stay here in Colorado Springs. Luke came down with a pretty nasty cold two days after we moved into our new house. He was acting pretty yucky, and I thought I heard a little wheeze in his breathing, so I took him to a doctor to make sure nothing was wrong. Josh had virally induced asthma for the first three winters of his life (probably brought on by an undiagnosed case of RSV as an infant), but he has grown out of it now. But knowing that made me extra worried about Luke. So we saw this doc and he said he didn't hear wheezing, there was just a lot of upper chest congestion. There was nothing to do but ride out this nasty chest cold.

So we took him home and he proceeded to get worse and worse. He was so exhausted, he would crawl a couple of inches and then just lay down on the floor. It was really sad! When he started a fever on Friday, I took him back to the doc (his P.A. this time since he was out of the office), and after checking him over she told me he had an ear and sinus infection, but she agreed with the doctor, and she didn't hear the wheeze that I could hear. So we started him on an antibiotic and thought that would do it. But it didn't.

By Monday I was 100 percent sure I was not going crazy and could definitely hear him struggling to breathe. He was falling asleep two minutes after waking up, he was limp and would hardly even cry. His fever wasn't going away, and I was starting to get scared. So I found a NEW pediatrician's office who would listen to me and not try to brush off my worries. The new pedi we found was awesome! He told me Luke was definitely wheezing and was more than likely not responding to the antibiotic. We had to go to the hospital for an RSV test, which was negative, and Luke was diagnosed with severe viral bronchitis! We started him on the nebulizer to help his breathing, and waited one more day to give the medicine a last chance to work.

To make this super long story a little less long, we had to switch his antibiotic. Luke dropped a pound in all of this, down to 16.5, because of course the coughing and sore throat made him gag, throw up and refuse to eat anything. Which also caused concern because he was getting dehydrated and not wetting his diapers. This new antibiotic seems to be working, but he still has a low fever, so there is still a chance we will have to take him to a hospital for IV antibiotics. But hopefully we are out of the woods. He is definitely acting like he feels better and his appetite is up. The bright side of all this horribleness is that we found an awesome pediatrician who has called us no less than twice a day since we first saw him on Monday, and has made Luke a big priority.

Also, I learned a big lesson in making myself heard when I know something is wrong. I was slightly feeling like I was going crazy, but I just knew Luke couldn't breathe easily. I felt like I was being blown off by these docs as a paranoid mom. I just wish I hadn't taken so long to get to someone who was listening. Mommies know best!

Settling In in Colorado Springs

First of all, sorry! No pictures yet! Our computer is now at the shop, but they said it could be two weeks before they will get to it since they have only one "laptop guy." So once again, I will post pictures as soon as I can! By then our carpets will be replaced and maybe some paint will be on the walls so it will all look nicer anyhow.

The family is settling into the new house nicely. The boys like this bigger house a lot; Josh keeps saying "I love our stairs." Zach loves having his own room and his big full-size bed, but his room right now has linoleum (who knows why!) so he is counting down the days 'til the carpet guys come; it is amazing how much warmer carpet can make a room! Zach is also patiently waiting for us to start on finishing our basement (around Memorial Day). Josh also loves sharing a room with Ben now, instead of being on his own, and surprisingly we haven't had any bedtime issues from those two whatsoever. Ben is in heaven in our rock-filled backyard (we do have grass, but much of the landscaping here also involves large amounts of river rock) and keeps breaking the bigger rocks into smaller ones using other larger rocks just like his friend Jonah showed him back home in WA. The boys have made a friend across the street named Graham, but he is no Ian or Evan! We miss those guys! And Josh has asked a few times "Where is our new Beth's house?" (or Jen's house, or Nana's house, or so on and so on). It's pretty sad. Luke developed a serious chest cold two days after moving in which has since developed into an ear infection and sinus infection, so he has been pretty miserable and we have been pretty sleepless. But he seems to be doing better now, so we are hoping this is almost over with.

Zach's new school is pretty cool. It is a school that is certified International Baccalaureate, which means it is geared towards kids who may have some schooling outside of the US (there is a lot of military here). Many times schools in Europe and elsewhere outside of the US require fluency in at least two languages for graduation or enrollment in University as well as a global awareness that kids from the US often don't have. Anyhow, the program is really enriching and on top of that Zach has four days a week where he gets half-hour French lessons! It's fun hearing the things he is already picking up!

We have unpacked all the basics, and the kitchen is completely done, but we are waiting for a lot of the unpacking until the new carpets are in, so there is less to move off the carpeted areas come installation day. Some neighbors told us that the people who lived here before us had five dogs so it is no wonder we thought the carpets needed immediate replacement! Ew!

Since I love lists, below is a list of things observed about living in Colorado Springs:

1. We need to invest in a lotion company! It is so dry that we are cracking and scaly! Yuck!
2. Colorado Springs calls itself "Tree City, USA" Um.... OK. The person who came up with that nickname must have only lived in Arizona, South Dakota and Nebraska.
3. Scooping the poop is easier since it dries out in about 2 seconds.
4. My (thick, moisture-filled) hair also dries much faster.
5. Josh's curls are still cute, but the static electricity in the air makes him look like he has been rubbing latex balloons on his head.
6. Ditto for Ruby's long lustrous locks.
7. The YMCA here rocks! The kids clubs (the place you drop your kids off to work-out) have rock climbing walls, pirate ships and swimming for kids over 6!
8. Brown is Colorado Springs' favorite color.
9. Uh, windy much? While Seattle has varying shades of grey, Colorado Springs has varying shades of wind.
10. It is really nice having Adam's work so close to home. He has picked Zach up from school twice in the last week so we could keep poor sick baby inside (out of the WIND) and it takes him all of 10 minutes from the time he leaves work until he has picked Zach up, dropped him off at home, and returned to work.
11. Driving out towards the prarie side of Colorado Springs (East) could make any mountain-loving, tree-needing girl feel like she is going to float off into the vast emptiness of it all. Yipes!
12. It can be a sunny 65 during the day, snow at night, and then be 65 the next day and no one here thinks that is weird.
13. There can be too many Walmarts in one town (we have counted 4 off of one main road, no kidding).

Don't give up, pictures and more regular blogging coming soon (two weeks at the most, laptop guy!).