Adventures in Tallahassee, Part I

As many of you have noticed, I am very behind on my blog!  I hate falling behind, but sometimes life just doesn't allow for the extra time needed to keep it perfectly up-to-date.  So, I will gradually try to get caught up, in the form of several individual posts.

A few weeks ago after my parents came to visit us in Jackson, Kyndall and I rode back with them to spend two whole weeks in Tallahassee!  It was my first trip back since we moved in January and I had some pretty exciting plans already in the making!  For once, it seemed that I would actually have enough time to see everybody that I wanted to and that made me SO happy!!  (When we're in Tallahassee, we do NOT sit around and waste time---every day is accounted for and we stay on the GO the entire time, in order to fit as many friends and social activities into our visit as possible!) 

We left Jackson on Wednesday morning and didn't arrive in Tallahassee until late that night.  I took us about 11 hours, which is a LONG time for a toddler (well anyone, really!) to be in the backseat of a car.  All things considered, she did great, partly thanks to an hour long stop at Chick-Fil-A in Birmingham.  It gave all of us a chance to stretch our legs and it allowed Kyndall to get some of her energy out.  I was armed and prepared with books, DVDs, toys, games, snacks and candy so anytime she got a little fussy I'd just pull out my bag of tricks and for the most part it worked great!

Thursday was a gorgeous day in TLH, so after having lunch with my Mom and my sister, I took Kyndall to Tom Brown park for some outdoor fun.  I forgot it was Spring Break, so we had to share the playground with all of Leon County it seemed!

(Most of the pictures in this post are from my phone---sorry, you know how much I hate crappy cell phone pics!)

That night, Kyndall got to try on her flower girl dress for Aunt Kelly's wedding for the first time.  It looks ADORABLE and she's doing great with her petal dropping practice!  (I can't give away any secrets so this is all you're allowed to see of the dress for now!)

On Friday, I met up with Matthew's Mom and handed Kyndall off for the weekend so that she and Poppie could spend a few days with her.  I had a wedding to attend, a hair appointment, a photo shoot to do for a friend and a few other things that weren't exactly kid friendly, so it worked out great that they were willing and able to take her for the weekend!  Plus, as much as I love and adore my girl, sometimes it's nice to have some time to myself! 

Here are a few pictures that Matthew's Mom sent me throughout the course of the weekend......

Apparently, my picky girl ate her body weight in Nonie's home made broccoli and cheddar soup!!  I was shocked!!!

 

Having fun in the play area at the mall

 

At lunch after church on Sunday

 

Sunday afternoon I drove up to Thomasville and picked Kyndall up and she was soooo excited to see me!  It warmed my heart to know that although she had a great time with Nonie and Poppie, she had obviously missed her Mama just a little bit!  Here she is just after I picked her up!

Monday we met my Mom for lunch at Tropical Smoothie---One of my must-haves when I come to town!!  As picky as she is, Kyndall will almost always go for a smoothie!

After lunch my Mom wanted me and Kyndall to go back to her office for a little while and say hello to a few people.  When we walked in, Kyndall saw this huge mountain of copy paper boxes and thought it would be super fun to climb all over it.

That night, we met up with Aunt Kelly at the bridal shop to try on flower girl shoes for Kyndall.  As we were checking out, her eyes lit up as she pointed to this rack of prom dresses and said "pwetty dwesses, Mommy!!"  She's my girly girl for sure!  =)

"Dis one, Mommy" she kept saying.....

 

On Tuesday morning, things suddenly took a turn for the worse and we ended up at Urgent Care.  Kyndall had been fighting a slight cold for a few weeks (first case of day care germs is my guess??) and she just wasn't getting any better.  Her cough had turned into this horrible barking sound and being the paranoid Mama that I am, I wanted her seen ASAP.  

Trying to keep her entertained while we waited.........

 

They gave her a breathing treatment..........

............And did a chest x-ray.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well she cooperated for the x-ray!  I didn't even have to stay in the room with her.  She sat still and did exactly what they told her to do.  I had prefaced the experience by telling her "this is what Aunt Kelly does everyday at work.  She takes pictures of peoples' bones".  Maybe that helped her to cooperate???  Who knows, but I was very proud of her and very thankful that I didn't have to get zapped along with her!  =)

Her new favorite phrase is "whassat??"  (what's that?)  You can imagine how many times I heard this as she explored the x-ray room!

Here she is pointing the the lead shield and asking "whassat??"  

Then it was time to wait...........

 

............And wait some more............

 

As it turned out, she had a slight case of bronchitis and the early stages of an ear infection.  They sent us home with medication, which she absolutely refused to take.  Naturally, things only got worse from there and by that afternoon, I had one very sick and very pitiful toddler on my hands.  Here she is wrapped in a towel (because she couldn't quit puking up the meds after I forced them down her throat) and laying on my chest---something she NEVER does!  

 

I had been looking so forward to my girls' night out with all of my very best friends that night, but sadly that did not happen for me.  When I realized how much worse things had gotten, I called Urgent Care back and they told me to take her to the ER right away.  So, off to the hospital we went.  Instead of eating a yummy dinner and enjoying lots of girl talk with my friends, I sat covered in puke, snot and tears for EIGHT solid hours in the hospital..........

On our way, looking pretty pitiful

 

Waiting in triage

We sat in the waiting room from 6:30 p.m. until 10:30 p.m., when we were FINALLY taken back to a room!  What a nightmare.

 

She was not a happy camper when they put this oxygen monitor on her finger, but that tantrum PALED in comparison to the one that was yet to come when they attempted to start her IV......

 

Looking so teeny tiny and so helpless in the big ole hospital bed

 

The IV experience was one that I can hardly even talk about without getting teary eyed.  I had to hold her down while she screamed for her life as they stuck her THREE times, two of which resulted in a blown vein in both arms.  It was AWFUL.  It's never easy to see your child in pain, but having to hold them down WHILE the pain is inflicted on them is a whole other level of heartache.  I hope we NEVER have to do this again!

Post IV, and I have no idea why I'm smiling.  We had BOTH been crying just minutes earlier.

 

Horrible!

 

Finally, at around midnight she gave up the fight and fell fast asleep.  They gave her a bag of fluids and anitbiotics through the IV while she slept. 

 

I forgot to mention that my Mom was there with us the entire time.  I'm so glad I didn't have to do this on my own!  It was a rough night and I can't imagine trying to do it on my own.  She took this picture while we both slept.  We were all beyond exhausted by this point.

 

Finally, at 2:30 a.m. they released us to go home.  

 

As Mom and I were unloading the car, I came into the kitchen to find this pitiful sight.....

We all got in bed around 3:00 a.m. and Kyndall and I slept until almost noon the next day!  We spent Wednesday recovering and taking it easy at my parents' house.  Sadly, I had to cancel my plans for the remainder of the week, all of which I was really looking forward to!  It killed me to sit around and do nothing for the next few days, but I knew it's what was best for Kyndall in order to get her well.

This picture was taken Wednesday just after we emerged from bed around 11:30 a.m.  After refusing to eat for two days, I was happy to see her enjoying a smoothie and some dry cereal!

We played "doctor" with this mask that I got at the hospital, but as you can see she still wasn't feeling like herself.  Poor girl.

 

Aunt Kelly came over that night to check on Kyndall and to bring her a very special prize for being so brave at the hospital............

A Doc McStuffins doctor kit!!!  Kyndall loves this show, so it was perfect, especially considering what she had experienced the night before!

 

Dr. Hughes!

 

Checking Aunt Kelly's heart

 

That's a pretty concerned look!

 

After a few days of rest, we returned to the land of the living and slowly started getting out of the house and resuming our busy social schedule.  My Dad had been out of town on a business trip to Orlando when the whole hospital fiasco occurred, so he brought Kyndall back a few special prizes.  How can you go to Orlando and NOT get Minnie's biggest fan a prize?!

New sippy cup and shirt from G-Daddy!

Showing Uncle Michael some love and finally feeling like herself again!

 

As soon as my Dad got back, the first thing she asked of him was to "wide da gador" (ride the Gator)......So, we did!

 

Slowly getting back into our social life, having lunch with Grammy and a friend

 

Helping me shop for an Easter dress......she pointed to this black and white one and said very matter-of-factly....."Looks like Minnie Mouse".  Sure does, smart girl....thank you for pointing that out!  I will no longer consider this one as an option!  Haha!

 

Once I knew she was completely germ-free, I felt like it was safe to have a little mini play-date with my friend Betsy and her boys.  Here's Kyndall and Elijah having a "date" in Betsy's back yard.  Betsy says it wasn't very romantic of Elijah to bring a bat on their date, but I think it's cute!  =)

 

So, that's how we spent the first part of our time in Tallahassee.  Not exactly what I had pictured, but such is the life of a Mommy!  No matter what, Kyndall's needs will always come before anything I have planned and I wouldn't have it any other way!  Thankfully, I make pretty frequent trips to Tallahassee so I'm hoping to make up some of the get-togethers that we had to back out on.  Up next, pictures from our EGG-citing Easter weekend!!