Healin' in the Heartland

After the tornado on May 20, Blake Shelton and many other Oklahoma (and non-Oklahoman) country music artists got together to form a benefit concert: Healin' in the Heartland.

My friend, Karen, and I decided that we wanted to try and get tickets. Karen was on the computer all morning and when the tickets went on sale at 10 am. She was on there and snagged us four tickets! 

We were so pumped because we later found out that all of the tickets sold out in 30 seconds. 

We each got a ticket then both invited someone to go with us. I decided to take my mother in law. You see, she is OBSESSED with Reba. The last time Reba was in Tulsa she wasn't able to go. Well, Reba was at Healin' in the Heartland. I knew she would be thrilled to go so Lee and I decided to buy her ticket. 

It was a Wednesday night so we drove back into OKC that evening. 

The concert included: Blake Shelton, Reba, Miranda Lambert, Darius Rucker, Vince Gill, Usher, and one of the guys from One Republic. 

They filmed the concert live for television, but after that was over they had another concert just for us. It was AMAZING. 

People, I saw Usher. Live. 

Be still my heart. 

Karen and her friend

Me and Tracey (Please ignore that we are completely soaked!!! It was storming.)

The stage

The Queen of Country: Reba!!!

The Sickies

Because this blog is for me to remember stuff as Hadley grows older -- I'm playing catch up with some things that have happened around here, recently. Let's go back to May. 

 

In the middle of May (I believe the 17th?) Hadley girl began to run a slight fever. She was acting fussy, wasn't eating much, and was overall acting funny. I had a gut feeling that something was wrong. It was already five o'clock at night so I knew that there was no way I could get her in to see her personal doctor.

I slightly panicked. 

I've never taken Hadley to an Urgent Care before. Mostly because she really likes her doctor. She always has and still seems to now. I have never wanted to confuse her by taking her to anyone else. 

I had no choice. Like I said, "gut feeling." 

I took her to the Pediatric Urgent Care here in town. I was very impressed with them. Hadley thought it was a fun place because it was so colorful and "playful" for kids. 

When we were taken back to the examination room, we talked to the nurse and we decided that to go ahead and run a Strep test would be best. 

The doctor came in and she told me that the test came back "negative."

Say WHHHHAAAATTTTT? I thought for sure this is what she had. Luckily, so did the doctor. She decided that despite the test saying "negative," she was going to go ahead and treat it as if it was Strep.

Since Hadley had a fever she was obviously considered contagious. I took off work the rest of the week so we could stay home and rest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me and Hadley playing while she was recovering from "Strep."

 

 

 

 

 

Two days after Hadley started her antibiotic she seemed to be feeling so much better. Thank God! She was still running a slight fever, but we knew she was also teething (all four, 2 yr old molars coming in!!). We didn't think much of it. 

Saturday morning Hadley got up and around. She was extra cuddly. She wasn't feeling 100% yet, but acting much better. I was gone for most of the morning with Zumba. When I got home I put her down for a nap. She took a decent nap, but woke up incredibly hot. She had a fever of 102.3. 

Something was absolutely not right. Something was very wrong. 

...again, gut feeling. 

Lee kept insisting it was just her teething, but said we could take her back to Urgent Care if I felt necessary. 

I couldn't kick the feeling of something was wrong so we took her in, again. 

The doctor look in her throat and jumped back. She looked at me and asked "Did you see that?!!!" I said no so she showed me. Hadley's tonsils were literally so swollen they were touching. They were completely cover in white pus with infection. 

They ran a Strep test again. Negative, again!!

They ran even tested for mono. Negative! 

Lee holding Hadley while waiting at the Urgent Care. She was so sick she couldn't even sit up.

After being there for hours (literally! We were there from 6 - 10 pm) they just chalked it up as "exacerbated tonsillitis." They changed her antibiotic. We hunted down a 24 hr. Walgreens Pharmacy. Got her medicine and put her to bed. 

She woke up in the morning fever free. 

This different medication cured her sickness and she was fully better within about three days. Hadley's personal doctor contacted me for a follow up. He said that children under 3 yrs old generally do not have tonsil issues. He said that since this has happened that we will need to keep an eye on her tonsils.

Speaking of check ups... I think I need to schedule Hadley's 24 month check up. 

...I'll get on that tomorrow.

Anniversary trip

{This post is in relation to stuff that happened a month ago. Still wanted to update} 

A few months ago Lee got a new work schedule. This means that every other week he has 5 days in a row off work. 

During one of his 5 day weekends, we decided to go on a little anniversary trip to Moore/Norman. I know that doesn't seem exciting, but we went to college in Moore. All of our best friends live in Norman so we were excited to go. 

Then May 20, 2013 happened. 2 1/2 miles wide and about 17 miles on the ground happened. An EF-5 tornado happened. 

My heart broke and time stood still. As we sat in the living room and watched this happened, on tv, we panicked. We both have family that live in Moore. Our friends are in the area. 

After much debating, we decided to still go to Moore. When we got there we met up with our friend, Karen, and went into Moore to try and find her husband who was helping serve the city with their church. 

We eventually found him. And as we were leaving we stumbled upon ground zero and the Plaza Tours Elementary school. This is the school where most of the children were lost in the storm. 

 Ground zero - everything was gone

This was Plaza Towers. Someone placed 7 little crosses in memorial to the children lost there.

That night we met up with all of our friends for dinner. We had a great time, but naturally I didn't get a single picture :( 

They came early.

IHadley turned 2 years old a couple days ago. 

The sad part is not that she is getting bigger.
The sad part is not that she isn't my little tiny, baby, infant anymore.
The sad part is not that she is more independent and needs me less.
The sad part is that the terrible two's came.


.....they came EARLY.

Lord, help me.

I have things I want to write about and update y'all with. But someone needs to point me to the "needs more time" direction. 

The terrible two's are time consuming. 

I'll leave you with some self portraits.. By: Hadley 

Don't hold your breath.

I haven't written a blog post in so long, I don't know that I remember how to even write. My last post was in January and quite a bit has happened since January.

I intended to keep this blog as a journal to remember things that our Hadley girl does and says. To remember the things we do as a family. But I haven't kept up with it well, at all. I've just been living life and enjoying the memories. I just hope one day I don't forget ;)

Let's see. In February... (btw, I don't know how to spell February. I always misspell it. Spell check is always quick to remind me. Sad part is, my birthday is in February.)

*I got into a car wreck -- THE DAY AFTER MY BIRTHDAY, nonetheless. Don't worry: It was not my fault. The other people did have insurance. I was ok {minus the sprained ankle that still hurts}.

*Hadley wore her first pair of overalls. She calls overalls "papa's" because her Papa Ronnie wears them. Papa's are her favorite thing to wear if she has a choice.

*Hadley also rode a horse for the first time {the same day she wore her "papa's" for the first time}. She was supposed to be having "Daddy Day," but that quickly turned into a day trip to Locust Grove with her grandparents to go see her cousins and aunt and uncle. They have a few horse at their house. Hadley now loves riding horses. But when you ask her if she wants a horse she says, "No. Laun Laun." I guess she figures she doesn't need one because Aunt Laun Laun has a horse for her to ride.

*I started this thing called the L.O.V. {Lifestyle of Vitality} Challenge. It is a fitness/health challenge. It started Feb. 16 then I got into the car wreck Feb. 18. So The Challenge has been quite the challenge. From the car wreck, I got a sprained ankle with soft tissue tearing. It doesn't sound that bad, but it was horrible. So much so that I had to wear a walking cast {THE BOOT!} for almost two months. Then I have also been sick at least once a month since October. Long story short: I had pneumonia and no one knew. It was never properly diagnosed or treated. Doing The Challenge has been a real struggle for me. I wasn't able to start the way I wanted. I've been sick the entire time. I haven't gotten the results that I've wanted {which I do know is also because I haven't taken responsibility and changed my eating like I should have...Hello.}And quite honestly, I hate being as busy as it makes me. The Challenge involves: ZUMBA, Personal Training, working out on your own, food log conversations, cooking classes, guest speakers, styling sessions. I mean, really it's amazing. It really is. But I hate being busy. There have been many occasions that I want to quit. But I figure even if I haven't gotten the results I wanted or have had many set backs, the least I can do is finish.

In March...

*Hadley started sleeping on a pillow like a big girl.

*We had Easter. The Easter bunny brought Hadley a pretty nice basket of goodies. She got some: Bible story books, side walk chalk, a new Dora cup, stickers, a cookies&creme candy bunny, a stuffed bunny {who she thinks is the real Easter bunny}, a Dora hat, and a new pair of sandals for summer. Oh, and I can't forget, some caramel filled chocolate eggs. She had four of those stinkin' eggs before we even made it out of the door for church. I don't think she has ever eaten so much candy in her little life. After church we went to my grandparents house for lunch. She got to play outside with her cousin Grace and her new side walk chalk, which she loved!

In April...

*We had a Mommy/Hadley date and went to Chik-Fil-A, played, then went to Target. Baby girl loves Target :)

*April was also a pretty crazy month for our family. Lee's Great-Grandmother {91 years old} became very sick. She had a hernia on her side that was no longer operable. Periodically, the hernia would become infected and cause her problems. Daily it caused her physical pain because it was so large and heavy that it hurt her back. To make a long story short, her body became septic with toxins. She was in the hospital for about a week, but after a long battle with this hernia and Alzheimer's and dementia, we lost sweet Nanny Von. But because we know she had a relationship with the Lord, it was not hard to see her go. Of course, you never want to lose a family member or someone you love, but you don't want to see them suffer either. She went peacefully. I really feel like Hadley understood what happened. Maybe not to the full extent, but she understands. She tells me {almost daily} that Grandma {or as she says "Mom-Mom"} is with Jesus. She knows.

Now we are in May. So far...

*Hadley discovered that there is an ambulance truck at The Grand, in the Kids Club. She claims this truck to be her "Daddy truck!" She doesn't think anyone else should get to play with this truck. If they do she screams "HEY!! MINE!! Daddy truck!!!"

*Hadley and Helton had a popcorn party!

*We celebrated our 2nd {I guess, technically third?!} Mother's Day. "Hadley" got me a new iPhone. Bless her heart :) She made me a craft at church that she is very proud of, still today.

*Hadley experienced her first Zumba {or as she says, "MOOBA"} class. I was going to leave her in Kids Club, but she cried when I tried to leave her and I felt bad for the girl working because she was already supposed to be off work. I ended up taking Hadley with me to our meeting before Zumba. Then we went upstairs to Zumba. I'm not sure what she thought Zumba was because when we got there she kept asking for it. For the first two songs, she just sat on the mats in the corner. Then I told her that Zumba is a dance class. She said "ok" and got up and preceeded to dance the rest of the class. She was so hilarious. And so GOOD! She tried to do all the moves. When we left she was all sweaty and kept rubbing her legs saying "OW!" I guess she worked out pretty hard. She talked about Zumba the rest of the night and the next day.

*As of two days ago, I had to take Hadley to Urgent Care because she had been acting funny for two days. Then she started running fever. Then I saw white spots on her tongue. STREP! Now she is on antibiotics and is acting much better. I know strep is miserable so I feel bad for her :( We've been spending lots of time at home...playing and napping.

We are going on a weekend "vacation" next weekend to celebrate our anniversary. We aren't doing anything big or fancy. We are just heading to the city to visit some friends. We didn't do anything last year so we figured we could do a little something this year. Hopefully I'll update again soon. But don't hold your breath. You'll probably pass out before that happens ;)

Little precious moments: to remember

I love the way you:

*Shake your little head 'yes' or 'no'.

*Call your pacifier 'Bee'

*Say 'Bye-bye! See ya!' 

*I love the way you say "DORA! DORA!" 

*I love that when I ask you if your name is "Ruthie" you say yes. Not only do you say yes, but when I call you Ruthie, to get your attention, you actually respond to it. Love my little Ruthie girl. 

*I love that when we brush your hair you whisper "pretty, pretty!" 

*I love that you are very particular about what songs you like to listen to when we drive in the car. You're current favorite is the Pitch Perfect sound track. You love HEY MICKEY!

*I love the way you say "Banana." It's everybody's favorite.

*I love when you go down the slide you yell "weeeeeee!!!" 

*I love the way you hold your hands to pray. 

*I love the way you try and say "Love you," but most the time it just comes out as "YOUUUU!" 

...I love everything you do. 

18 months: little love letters

-Growth:
*You are 24 pounds.
*You are exactly 2 ft. tall. 
*You are wearing 18 or 24 month sized clothes.
*You are wearing size 4 or 5 shoes, depending on the shoe of course. 

-Eating: I hate to say this, but I feel like you're becoming a little bit of a picky eater, like Mommy.
*When we go to work, 3 times a week, you don't really eat "meals." You just like to snack all day.
*Some of your favorite snacks include: pretzels, popcorn, chips...anything crunchy really.
*Another one of your favorite snacks is mixed fruit. You're obsessed with eating a bowl of strawberries, grapes, and sliced banana.
*Your newest discovery is yogurt. You really enjoy it. I'm not sure if it's because you really like it or if it's because it has Dora on the package?
*You also recently discovered granola cereal. You love to snack on that as well.

-Sleeping:
*You still love to sleep.
*You usually take a nap from about 1:30 or 2 until 4. Sometimes, if you're really sleep, we have to wake you up at 5:30!
*You still like to start getting ready for bed around 8 pm.
*You still love to have Daddy give you a bath before bed.
*Something that we started when you turned one year old is: after Daddy give you a bath, he gets you in your jammies and ready for bed. Then we all sit in your room and we read a different Bible story every night. Then we pray. I taught you how to"open, shut them" before prayer. I think Bible and prayer have become your favorite part of the night. Sometimes you ask to do it in the middle of the day before nap time. Side note: We have already read through your Children's Bible one full time since we started. Now we started over and are almost half way, again! It's the only book you will sit still and actually let me read to you.

-Developments/Events: It's been about six months since I've done a little love letter, but most of your events have been documented in other posts:
*Started going to "Kidz Klub"
*Went to the pumpkin patch
*Thanksgiving at Grandma and Punkin's house
*First family trip to Branson, MO
*Christmas
*Experienced your first "real" illness. Sure, you've had a few ear infections, but that's no biggie. On 12/28/2012 you came down with a stomach virus. You had lots of vomiting and diarrhea (TMI!) Naturally, you so lovingly passed this virus along to Mommy and Daddy. WOW! It was killer. I felt even worse for you, after I knew how horrible it was to us. Luckily, it passed after a few days.
*You've gotten most of your teeth now. You're still getting your molars.
*You've started brushing your teeth. You like doing this. But you really like the spitting part at the end.
*You discovered how to stick your tongue out. You think that's pretty funny.

My sweet Hadley girl, it has been so fun grow and change. You've changed so much just since you turned one. You learn things so quickly and are so smart. You are so funny. You are usually easy to please and easy to get along with. We are best friends. You even say so :)

I'll love you forever and ever. I promise!

Love, 

Mommy