Not on the Thanksgiving menu

We were about 24 hours into our Thanksgiving vacation in the mountains of North Carolina when Reilly started acting funny--a certain combination of cuddly and cranky that only means one thing: she was getting sick.

A forehead check indicated fever, so we gave her Motrin to make her comfortable, and she dutifully fell to sleep.

The next morning she was acting normally and was her usual self throughout the day, but around 5:00 in the afternoon, the fever came back with a vengeance and with a new twist: an all body rash. And the rash, it was fiercely itchy.

Shawn did everything she could to soothe an over-tired, feverish, and itchy little girl, but it took two hours and quite a bit of crying before Reilly finally fell asleep.

The next morning, my dad found a pediatrician in Franklin, and they fit us in first thing in the morning. The diagnosis: strep.

We got our prescription, and took it to Kerr's (we actually had some trouble finding it, as the accent on the lady at the pediatrician's office made it sound like "Cars") got our pink liquid antibiotic, and happily gave Reilly her first dose.

The fever was gone the next day. Unfortunately for everyone, Reilly's rash worsened, the itch intensified, and then proceeded to last four more days.

I don't want to say that it ruined the vacation, but it kept a current of emotional stress running through our days and especially our nights. And I will say that when Reilly started to improve, it gave us yet another reason to be thankful.

I'm happy to say that Reilly is doing well now and the rash is finally gone, one week later. Also, we never have to worry about finding a doctor while we are at the cabin--we are now official registered patients at Pediatric Associates of Franklin.

A full heart

The other day, Reilly's grandmother pointed out something unusual to me. She told me to watch Reilly closely after I give her a kiss.

I did so, kissing her on the cheek, and was amused to see Reilly take her hand, rub the kiss off her cheek and onto her hand. Nothing too odd here, right?

But then Reilly licked her hand and swallowed.

When I asked her what she was doing, she said that she was swallowing my kisses so that they could get to her heart.

I don't know where she got this little ritual from--I think she might have come up with it herself--but I do know that it borders between extraordinarily cute and a little bit OCD because she does it with EVERY KISS she gets.

The things she carries

Reilly loves to pick up scraps and bits of things that she calls her "treasures." Once she has become connected to her treasures, she will not let them go. Here is a recent example:

This pile of sticks, leaves and palm fronds pictured below sat in the corner of our hotel room for three days, and lo! beware the housekeeper who dared to remove it from its location.

Most often I don't come across her collections until I empty out her pockets at the end of the day. Here is a recent stash of treasures after a day at school:

I like to wonder what it is that attracts her to these things; is it the weight, the texture, the color, or just the availability for her little hands to grasp them?

A word from the mother: Week 18

This entry brought to you by guest blogger: Shawn

This is my first entry since being pregnant. I vacillate between feeling incredibly guilty for not having documented a single thing about this pregnancy and just enjoying the moments as they come. The second time around has been a bit more difficult as far as morning sickness goes, and I'm only now starting to feel better. The nausea and food aversions lasted longer this time than it did with Reilly.

It is hard to compare this pregnancy to my first because for some reason I don't remember much about the first. I suppose that's a good thing, and my memory loss encourages me to take this one as it comes. I guess this is the first of a long list of lessons our new baby is sure to teach me.

About a week ago, as Brian was sleeping next to me, I began to panic about not having felt the baby kick. Though it was only 17 weeks, I woke him up and told him we had to look in the scrapbook his mom had made us from our pregnancy with Reilly, to see how far along I was when I first felt her kick. The book confirmed that I felt Reilly move for the first time at 17 weeks, so I relaxed and waited for Baby O2's first move.

I wouldn't have to wait long. The very next night, the baby kicked. I tried to show Reilly and Brian what this felt like by gently fluttering my fingers against their open palms.

I'll now borrow a line from Amalah's blog: "New This Time:"

I can't sleep. It takes me forever to fall asleep. I wake up at least twice to go to the bathroom, and can't fall back asleep. And I still get sick from time to time. But this time around is oh-so-much-sweeter to see through Reilly's eyes. She is so excited and loves her baby brother or sister so very much. Every morning she puts her ear up to my belly and then tells me what the baby is saying. She often tells me what it's saying by holding my hand out and tapping my hand.

What's next? The BIG ultrasound. Only 2 weeks away!

My buddies

Reilly and her three best friends:

School Picture Day

It's been a long month at work, so the old baby blog was pushed to the wayside. Work officially let up as of 7:00pm this evening, so let's catch up, shall we?

First up, the school picture. Shawn was out of town, so it was up to me to get Reilly in the correct outfit, brush her hair, and get the proper hair clip in place. Success?

You might remember that last year, Reilly's school photo came back with a little girl pictured who clearly didn't like the photographer. The expression on her face was 100% mistrust.

Shawn and I spent a lot of time prepping Reilly to smile for the photographer, so it will be interesting when her photos return to compare what we have here with their final result.