She did it!! She WON!!

My Budding Champion!!

HOORAY FOR KRISTA! The rhythmic gymnastics season is off to a great start! This evening Krista won her first competition....scoring 117 points! I'm so happy for her. She REALLY wanted to win and worked her hardest to make that happen. She even set a few "personal bests" tonight. In one activity they have to do a back bend and then the judges measure the distance between the hands and feet. The heels have to be FULLY down and the arms have to be straight. The judges have tape measures and measure the distance from hand to toes on the mat. Well to my GREAT surprise Krista walked her hands and feet ALL THE WAY in TO ZERO. She had no distance between her hands and feet!! The team's president said that we could fit Krista into a matchbox! I'll have to take a picture of her doing that, it is really something---although a little painful to imagine doing. I was getting it on video so I missed the photo op, but at least I have it on video. In the picture of her doing the back bend below, she has at least 30 cm there....so imagine a ZERO! I was so happy for her. She did SO well. Next up after the club test is the city compeition and then the regional. The points of this compeition go towards the final score which will be calculated by adding up the club, city and regional competitions.

Krista's Award Ceremony

(** Double click to see Krista on stage!!)

Last week Krista was recognized at an award ceremory evening for her success last year in Rhythmic Gymnastics. This was an evening presented by the mayor of the village in the town activity center. Other teams and athletes from the town were also recognized for their achievements (several soccer teams, rhythmic gymnastics, table tennis etc) and the awards were followed by a reception with drinks, music and some wonderful food!

Krista was thrilled to receive a SECOND medal for this honor. She received her 1st back in May after the victory and was so happy to see yet another award for her success. TOMORROW will be her first competition for this season and she is really excited and nervous! She really wants to win again!! I'm rooting for her--GO KRISTA!!! I'll post with a full update tomorrow.

THE Box!

"The box" finally arrived!! The Christmas box that my Dad, Tommy and Jan sent WAY BACK in early December has arrived. Somehow the box got routed to England and then just SAT THERE for weeks and weeks!!! It should have come to FRANCE directly!

The kids enjoyed their belated Christmas very much!! Krista's new American Girl mini-doll, clothes for her big doll, My Sims DS game, books etc etc. Erik loved his penguin, fireman and policeman books, ND warm-up, and all the little penguin toys!!! He also got a NERF basketball hoop for his room! VERY FUN! Kaitlyn loved her little taggie book, and most especially her new purse to put the doggie inside and brings him everywhere! It was a very fun belated Christmas. The kids loved opening their beautifully wrapped treasures!! Thank you guys!

Winter Fun and Well Child Visits

Here is my Siberian Husky winter baby out on the swing. She points and sreams to go outside YEAR ROUND no matter the temp! She LOVES her swing and luckily it hasn't been too cold lately.

Kaitlyn and Erik both had their "well child" visits last week with our pediatrician. We haven't seen him in awhile because lately if the kids are just mildly sick and need to see a doctor, we just see our local village doctor (generalist). It was nice to touch base with the Pediatrician though. Both kids were scheduled for shots this time. Erik got his MMR booster and did GREAT. I did not tell him he was getting a shot prior to going. I wanted the Dr. to handle the explaination. He did great and talked to Erik about the children all over the world who don't have the money to get this shot and how helpful it is!! Erik was really convinced and gladly took the jab. Luckily NO reactions post shot either.

Erik weighed in at 21 kg even (46 lbs) and 117 cm tall (46 ins). The doctor commented on how 117 cm is the average age for a SEVEN year old and Erik is only FIVE! Erik was feeling pretty proud (and tall) after that :) Those stats put him with a BMI of 15.3--so he's looking good!

Kaitlyn got her 2 vaccines (DTP, polio and HiB combo, plus Priorix) and did wonderfully! She didn't fuss or cry at all during the physical exam. I thought for sure she would protest getting her ears examined, but not a peep. She willingly turned her head when asked, and acted like such a big girl. She was weighed and measured. She was 10.9 kg (23 3/4 pounds) and was 82 cm tall (32.5 inches). This gives her a BMI of 16.1 and the doc said she looks PERFECT and has steadily gained and remained constant on the growth chart.

Poor Kaitlyn does have some swelling at the site of each injection. She seems to get these allergic reactions with each shot. Hopefully it will soon fade because it does seem to bother her.

So that is the report on our 2 smallest memebers of the family!

Kaitlyn is Back in Shape!

Here's a little bit of evidence that Kaitlyn is back to her old self... Picture perfect siblings in their matching Santa pj's!! Nothing could be cuter than that (or should I say those) cute little grins!!! Also a fun little clip taken last night in her room where she was "singing" and dancing along to one of her classic favorites "Old MacDonalds' Farm".

Hospitalization

Well unfortunately the New Year has had a rough start for our family. Kaitlyn woke up on Wednesday night with an ENORMOUS fever (106 F/ 41 C), which put her into a febrile seizure. It was a terrifying experience to witness. I am sure I will always have the image of that night in my head.

I put her down normally on Wednesday night, although I suspected she might be coming down with something because she was a bit overly clingy. She did feel slightly warm but not really 'feverish' so we put her to bed as usual....she made a few sounds in the night, but quickly went back to sleep so I just thought she was having a rough night. She had also been a bit restless for her nap that day, just tossing and turning so in hindsight, I should have suspected something.

Finally upon hearing her barely cry for a 3rd time at around 2 a.m., I went into her room...seconds later she was in a febrile seizure (convulsion) that lasted about 2 minutes. She was on her stomach, so I let her stay there because I know there is a risk of choking and during the convulsion and that is a safe position. I quickly striped her of her warm pajamas as I figured she must have a high fever--I was right. After the convulsions stopped (2 mintues) was the SCARIEST part. I knew about febrile seizures in young children so although I was terrified, I was armed with knowledge about what was happening. The post-seizure period was the scariest shocker for me by far!! It was awful. I did not know what to expect after a seizure so that is why it was so terrifying. According to the staff at the hospital, there is a post-seizure phase where the child will appear paralyzed. This is what I wished I had known about. Kaitlyn was lifeless. She had absolutely NO TONE whatsoever in her arms or legs. I was sure she was paralyzed. It was awful to witness...she could not move, she was limp and completely without any muscle tone. She seemed to weigh twice her weight when holding her....she was just totally flabby. This was where I was really scared. I knew that she had had a febrile seizure and that she must have a high fever, but not that she would be left without movement. It seemed like an eternity, but FINALLY after about 5 to 10 minutes SHE MOVED!!! I was so relieved!!!

As soon as she moved, Toomas ran to get the thermometer and I got the tylenol (paracetemol). I took her temperature and it was UNBELIEVABLE. She had a 105.9 F!! This is 41.05 C!! I thought I was under control until I saw the temperature, but then I flipped out again. I called an ambulance and they had the nerve to tell me to DRIVE to the hospital. Luckily I was feeling a bit more under control at that point and decided it would be fine for me to drive. We rushed off to the hospital and by the time we got there and got into the examination room her temperature was down to 101.5 (38.5) after about 1 hour on the tylenol. THANK GOODNESS!! They examined her, blood was drawn, a strep culture was taken and a urine sample bag was put in place. They stated that they would admit us for observation so within the hour we were taken to the 8th floor (Pediatric Care Unit).

In the PCU she was hooked up to a heart-rate monitor. They gave her a dose of Advil to get the fever totally down and she was put to bed. It was a rough night of temperature taking and giving tylenol and advil. I didn't sleep at all. The next morning we saw the doctor who examined her and said she had a throat infection, although the strep test was negative, he thought it was either viral or due to a different bacteria than strep. He sugested a second culture which was also negative. He said that they wanted to observe the fever for another day and would then decide about antibiotics.

Her fever was still strong at 102 (39.1) with advil and tylenol, so finally mid-day on Thursday she was given an antibiotic. After about 12 hours on the antibiotic her fever started dropping, and by 24 hours it was almost normal! Praise GOD that she is alright.

All in all we were there Wednesday night, all day Thursday and were finally released on Friday evening. They were a LONG few days and 2 nights in the hospital. I slept terribly and so did Kaitlyn. The doc said he would release us, but wanted us to keep her on advil and tylenol rotation for Friday and Saturday night which I WILLINGLY agreed to so that we could GET HOME.

Today, Sunday, is her first day "fever reducer" free and she is doing wonderfully! Thank God all is fine.. She is doing great on the antibiotic, so whatever she had appeared to be bacterial. We are thankful to be home and that Kaitlyn is alright! What a scare!!!