There's no place like home....

We just made it home after a not so breif stop in Springdale to pick up Justin's truck from his parents. Traffic in NWA is just awful! This weekend was a lot of fun. Saturday after a short visit with my mamaw at the hospital, we went to Pigeon Forge and did a little shopping before it started raining. We then went and ate at a restaraunt called the Peddler. They have a fabulous salad bar with smoked oysters and wonderful other salad bar fixins. We were able to sit at a table that overlooks the river in Gatlinbug. It was beautiful and Katelyn was somewhat well behaved through the meal. Sunday we spent mostly with family. We ate lunch with my mamaw and my mom's twin Rita. We met my cousin's Angela's fiance, Billy and then went to see my dad's side of the family. They live on farm and it is always fun for Katelyn to experience these new and exciting things. This time they had two horses which she loved feeding. And she finally learned that riding four-wheelers is a fun thing instead of scary thing.

It's just amazing as a parent to see how in such a short amount of time this person who depends on you for everything learns their own independence. It is such an amazing thing to witness a personality spawn from nothing into something as fun and amazing as Katelyn's. I was telling Justin (as Katelyn slept) on the way home that this was the easiest trip we have made with Katelyn yet. Her burst of independence, while hard for mom to take at times, has really made her that much more fun to be around. She can eat dinner with us now instead of one of us feeding her. She slept on a pallet on the floor instead of the portable crib and she slept all night long. It just made things less stressful for us (though probably not for my mom!) and much more fun and relaxing. For those curious traveler's who may go East sometime in the near future: 1) In Knoxville there is a great used bookstore called McKays right off the interstate that has some great bargains. Not everything is cheaper than Hastings but I was able to find Goldenbooks for 55 cents. This is a great deal for a little girl who loves to read and be read books! 2) Gas is pretty much $3.09 to $3.19 every where from Fayetteville to Knoxville and a little farther East. However, we did see gas for $3.05 in Conway today. We had to stop there and let Katleyn play at the Burger King's indoor play ground. Those places are disgusting so you better believe we did some disinfecting. But it was nice for her.

Anyway, enough for now but here are a few pictures from this weekend's visit.

Over the River and through the woods....

To Nana's house we go. We made the long journey to Knoxville the past two days. The Mississippi River was still flooded. You could see roads that were completly flooded over by the signs. It was amazing the difference from the White River in NWA to the White River in Eastern Arkansas. We stayed in Jackson Thursday night and the hotel was twice what we expected to pay. It was really nice though. We had two double beds which aren't really large enough for all three of us to sleep in. So I slept in one with Katelyn. However, she can't lay still when she sleeps and at some point in the night she rolled off the bed and fell hard on the thinly carpeted floor. It took a while before she was able to go back to sleep in between Justin and I. This made for a long night! Luckily, Katelyn slept most of the way to Jackson and then most of the way from Jackson to Knoxville yesterday. But she was really glad to get out of the car when we got here. My mom took her for a walk while Justin and I went to get some lunch and Katelyn told her that she wanted to go swimming when she saw the swimming pool. It's too bad that it is way to cold to even be outside today (it is only 48 degrees right now). I guess visiting my mamaw and some shopping are in store for today. No plans for tomorrow. We should go to Maynardville to visit some of my dad's family. Will write more when we return home probably.

Not so good news....

My mom called yesterday and her mother, my mamaw, is in the hospital. They say she has congestive heart failure and some spots on her lungs that may be lung cancer. We were suppose to leave this afternoon to go and visit my mom for her birthday weekend. It looks as if this may not be the funest trip we've had. But I am glad that we were already supposed to go there so that we can visit her if things take a turn for the worse. It's hard to think about things like this for me. It brings back so many memories of my dad that are really hard to think about. It's amazing that six years later I still want to pick up the phone sometimes and call my dad to tell him something about Katelyn. But I just think that he is probably somewhere experiencing more joy than we can even imagine!



On the up side, Katelyn is doing much better. The only time she has any breathing problems now is when she cries for too long. She got hurt last night and after she cried for a while I could hear the rattle returning and she was really out of breath. Once she calmed down she was doing better and she sleep most of the night. I think she had a bad dream about 4 o'clock. I was able to enjoy her new bed for a while before she went back to sleep.

Happy Easter!!!

Look what I found mommy! Candy!

Now I have glasses just like mommy!

Isn't it funny how the simplest things can occupy a child?

What a princess!

Driver! Take me to Mimi and Poppi's House!

The Ledbetters

Happy Easter Everyone! Today was interesting with the hyperactivity that comes from her medicine and the added sugar from the candy. First thing this morning while we were getting ready Katelyn found the bag of eggs she received from her easter egg hunt yesterday and proceeded to eat as many jelly beans and chocolate coins as she could before we discovered her. Then we had to give her the Easter basket I had made which of course contained more candy. (I don't know what I was thinking when I bought all the candy! I must be insane!) Anyway, her easter basket contained blue hello kitty candy lipstick which tastes wonderful but doesn't look so good on a white princess dress. Mommy had to clean that up before doing anything else. But all in all we got some wonderful pictures and had a great time visiting with Justin's Nana and Papa. Oh by the way! Isn't Arkansas beautiful in the Spring time. I know that the weather out today doesn't feel like spring but look at our tulip tree!

What a Ham...

We went to Mimi and Poppi's house this afternoon to dye Easter eggs and hunt a few. We decided to do this because Katelyn was breathing well and it is supposed to be cooler tomorrow. She was such a ham! Every time she saw the camera she would pose and smile really big. She loved dyeing the eggs! And she did a good job not getting the colored water everywhere. We tried something new that Kim saw on Good Morning America or something where you put rubber bands on the eggs and then dye them. They turned out really neat! It leaves lines and then you can color them a different color and the lines show up. It was really pretty. We only hid the plastic eggs today and there were really too many of them. It was windy and a little chilly by then. By about half way through she was breathing really hard again and we had to rush through the rest. A few pictures are down below. She did enjoy opening the eggs and eating some candy after her breathing treatment though. But like every kid that eats too much candy she got a belly ache. I'm sure this will happen again tomorrow. We went and saw Margret and Helen after that and Katelyn got an Easter basket from her great aunt Karen and a big Easter bunny that is so soft from Margret. Helen also gave her a handful of change that went into the ducky bank as soon as we got home. It was nice to get out and see a few people since we have been pretty couped up the past week. It may have been a little too much too soon....

Me do it!

Oh! Here's anutter one!

Boy is it windy!

Back to work...

Well, I'm going back to work today. The shop is closed for Spring Break today so Justin gets to stay home with Katelyn. I think she is started to feel better but she doesn't really sound much better breathing wise. I am debating calling the doctor's office to see how long I should let it continue before they reevaluate the situation. However, Dr. Lovell and his nurses were yesterday and they are off today as well. I know that the clinic has other good doctors but none that are familiar with Katelyn's history. She ran a small fever yesterday but by the evening it was gone.

I got a break last night when Kim's parents stole Mike and Josh away to Pettigrew. She still had not found an Easter dress so we went to the Promenade in Rogers. That was the first time I was able to shop without Katelyn in a long time and only the second time that I got to shop at more than one store there. I was a good girl and only bought a new pair of slippers to wear to work that were on sale. I am trying to save my money to go see my mom next weekend. I hope that Katelyn is all better before leaving on that trip. Allergies always seem to bother us all when we get back from there.

Well we have made up our minds that she can't go to school definitely until Wednesday and probably not until we return from my moms. We don't want to run the risk of her catching something else before we leave on the trip Thursday. This also means that she will miss Easter Sunday church. Her beautiful dress will have to wait for another day. I think I will dress her up anyway and take some pictures with Mimi and Poppi when we go eat some wonderful food with them.

I'm off to deliver boo-boo bunnies to the daycare as promised. I hope they save Katelyn a treat bag at least since Kim and I went to all the trouble! Have a great day and probably a great weekend!

Long Week

Well it has been a long week. Today is my third day home with Katelyn but she still is wheezing and coughing a lot and I just don't want to leave her. I am also very tired and don't think I would be worth much at work. We are doing breathing treatments very regularly but they don't make the wheezes go away. We ventured out of the house last night and visited mimi and poppi. I was very lucky that they fixed dinner for us while Justin helped his dad with one of their vehicles. That appears to be a few days job because they weren't able to fix it last night. Katelyn did well at their house and then fell asleep shortly after we got home. She slept in her own bed all night. It was wonderful! She really has been such a trooper through this whole ordeal but I guess by now she is probably use to all the medications and the not feeling well. We knew yesterday that she was not feeling well because she said she didn't want donut holes she just wanted to go back to bed. For her to say that just broke my heart! Today was a different story. She NEEDED a hot dog! That is her new favorite food by the way. So what the heck...I gave her a hot dog. If she will eat anything on this medicine so be it. Here are some pictures her taking her meds. You would never know she was sick by that adorable smile!

Cough, Cough, wheeze, wheeze

Well I took Katelyn to the doctor yesterday because she was coughing way too much. She didn't sleep at all on Sunday night. Dr. Lovell said that she was having an asthma attack. He prescribed some medicine to help with the cough that had codeine in it and the pharmacist was concerened that this medicine would slow her breathing too much. So we didn't get the medicine and got her coughing under control with the asthma medication. However, during this time her asthma symptoms worsened and she was having fast labored breathing and the wheezing could be heard every time she breathed. She also started running a fever of 103. So we went back to the doctor today because the pulmonologist is on Spring Break. We love Dr. Menedez but she sure does have a strange schedule for a doctor (It must be nice!). They did a breathing treatment and then sent us for chest x-rays. All that these showed were viral asthmatic material in her lungs, not pneumonia. Whew! We were glad of this but they are treating the same as the pneumonia. She is on inhaled and oral steroids, a stronger antibiotic, and her normal medications. She is wired! We decided that since we both took the day off to rest we would do something to hopefully help her sleep tonight. We purchased a twin size bed from my friend Brittany and I picked it up over the weekend from Huntsville. We set the bed up today and she is in heaven. She actually wants to go to her room and to lay on her bed. We are hoping this will get her excited about going to bed. I guess we will just have to wait and see. Justin's mom has agreed to watch her tomorrow because she definitely can't go back to school until she doesn't wheeze. I don't trust the new school enough yet to take care of her the way that she needs right now. It's so sad because she has had to miss so many parties at school and she missed her St. Patrick's day one yesterday. And it is looking as if she might miss her Easter Friday as well. Justin was giving me a break to update this since it had been since Thursday but by the tugging on my leg and the whining for mommy that I hear I am assuming that my break is over. I will try to post pictures of her new bed as soon as I get a chance. Please pray for a speedy recovery and for some much needed sleep! Thanks!

Happy Birthday Josh!

Today is Justin's brothers birthday. Josh turned 17 today. We went to Chili's for dinner to celebrate and I tried something new that I have to share with everyone. I got the fajitas that are chicken with cheese and mushrooms! They are soooo good!!! And there was enough for me to have for lunch tomorrow too. It was delicious! We are waiting for Katelyn to put 17 candles on Uncle Josh's "dirtday" cake. I told her that we were going to celebrate Uncle Josh's birthday and she said, "Thank you. I need to make him a dirtday card!" It was so cute! She really is empathetic and caring!

Tomorrow we are having our first breakfast at the bank for MDA. Pray that all goes well. We have already sold $150 worth of raffle tickets since yesterday afternoon so that is good!

Jo Jo's Breakfast

We went to IHOP for dinner and Katelyn got the Jo Jo's breakfast. They are advertising for Whorton Hears a Who right now. Talk about sugar rush! This breakfast comes with green eggs (scrambled eggs with Spinach) and ham and three pancakes covered in blueberry and boysenberry glazes with candy sprinkled on top and a sucker sticking out the middle. The following video is entitled "Sugar High in the Tub" and demonstrates what happens when a two year old eats that much sugar!

What did this world do before Dr. Seuss?

The Raffle is on!!!

Brittany and I have put together a wonderful raffle for the Muscular Dystrophy Association! So far we have the following prizes: A Kingsford Grill, a $50 Shell Gas Card, A gift basket that contains four handpainted mugs and plates from Collier's on Dickson, a $25 Atlanta Bread Company Gift Card, a free 1 month membership to Powder Puff gym in Huntsville, five White Oak Station car washes, and we are adding more all the time. It's amazing how much people are willing to give! The tickets are $3.00 a piece or 5 for $10.00. We still have a long way to go if we are going to raise $2,000 each by April 16th. The raffle will be held on April 11th at noon at the Fayetteville First State Bank. Donations are also welcome! You can click on the link above to make a donation!

Sorry if I sound like a broken record trying to raise money but I really want to raise money for this great cause. Back to the reason for this blog. Katelyn has been in a really good mood today. I think that she is feeling better from the little cold we both had over the weekend. Justin is having to work late so we won't be attending church yet again! I feel so bad but look forward to the easter egg hunt this weekend. I will make sure to post those pictures this weekend. She gets so excited when we are at Target when she gets to look at the Easter decorations. Right now we are coloring tie die paper to make our own paper easter eggs. I imagine this weekend we will decorate eggs with mimi and poppi and are looking forward to a dinner with Dale and Cathy where she can show off her wonderful art work.

You know...I always wondered what people who had blogs found to write about all the time. But this is actually really therapeutic. I don't feel like I have to talk about Katelyn all the time at work now because I get most of it out right here. If people really want to know about us they can read it right here.

One last note for the night...Katelyn started singing her abc's all by herself today. She has sung them with us before but this time we were just driving down the road and out she bolted, "a-b-c-d-e-f-g" and then I didn't understand much until the end when she said, "Now I've said my abc's. Next time won't you sing with me!" Then she wanted me to sing with her. I thought it was so adorable! I love being a mom when my child isn't sick! :)

Just one day at a time

Nothing spectacular to report today. I still feel horrible from the head cold/sinus infection (whatever you want to call it) I was fighting over the weekend. I did manage to stay at work all day even though I didn't expect to when I started out the day. It seems to have moved into my lower throat/upper chest area and is making me cough now. Katelyn is so empathetic and loves giving mommy kisses and hugs to make me feel better. We all had appointments at the chiropractor today and she was doing so well that she didn't even need an adjustment. And neither did Justin's knee after the accupuncture two weeks ago. It is amazing! I guess I better go. I made chile rellenos for dinner and to take for food night tomorrow at school. I hope they are good.

Little Bunny Foo Foo

We didn't do a lot this weekend other than visit our friends and family because I was under the weather. However, Katelyn had been discussing the notion of visiting Little Bunny Foo Foo at the mall. This idea was put in her head by Mimi and me to entice her to sit on the Easter Bunnies lap. She was so excited until we got there and then she was scared to death. So yet again I was forced to sit with her so that she could visit Little Bunny Foo Foo. Here is a picture for your enjoyment.

I'm too Sexy for my boots!

As promised....Here is what goes on in the Ledbetter household when Mother is out! I think that she is going to grow up to be a shoe-a-holic. She already loves to buy new shoes and loves to wear mine and Justin's.

Today she threw a big fit when I took her to school. I guess it is because Dad, Mimi, and Poppie spoiled her all day yesterday during the snow day. She didn't want to stay there but she said she had fun playing outside on the playground when I picked her up. She told everyone that she made a shnowman yesterday but she never even touched the snow. We don't know where she picked that up.

Going to eat dinner now....

Back up and running....

We bought a new computer with our federal tax refund this year. It came just in time! Our laptop that was only five years old crashed over the weekend. I was trying to show Justin my new blog since everyone but him had seen it and the computer wouldn't even start. It wanted to start in Safe mode but then wouldn't do anything and neither one of us could figure out what was wrong. So anyway, with the new computer set up I am typing this entry before going to class.

Today was a snow day and the UofA actually closed. I don't even remember the last time the UofA closed. Katelyn's school was closed which is okay with me because her teacher was out having surgery today. So many things have happened since Saturday. I ACTUALLY GOT HER A PCP FOR MEDICAID!!! This is like the biggest news in I don't know how long. We went to the pulmonogist yesterday morning and she said that other than a little wheezing(asthma) Katelyn sounded great. She switched her off of the nebulizer and onto some inhalers which are more portable. She also said that she hopes to taker her off the long-term antibiotics at the end of April is she is still doing well then. She also set us up with a company that delivers Simply Thick (the thickener we use for her liquids) right to your door. I thought that they were only going to deliver one box a month but they actually delivered two today!

Anyway, things are looking up! I'll try to post some pictures in the next day or two. Justin took a few that demonstrate what goes on at the looney ledbetter's when mom is out! They are adorable!

Meyer Sold!

Kim and I were eating dinner at Jose's in Springdale last night and we heard that Meyer sold to a company out of Alma that specializes in therapy day cares. I'm even more glad that we are not going there anymore! I imagine that the take over of a daycare is just as bad as any other business. I imagine those kids will suffer some more before it ever gets better.

Our plans to go to Fort Smith today were put on hold by an emergency job at the shop. So I guess I have a little time to catch up things after all.

The Lord works in myseterious ways...