Sickness and such...

The booger is sick; and when I say sick I mean strep and an ear infection.  It has not been pretty at our house lately.  She is medicated and is on the mend but her decongestant and I are about to go to war.  Unfortunately my child is in the small percentage of those children who instead of being put to sleep by antihistamines she gets wired.  Thank you doctor.  For the past five nights McKenna has chosen to sleep in about thirty minute stretches sometimes fifteen and occasionally we get an hour.  When I say we, I mean McKenna and I, just to be clear. My wonderful mother-in-law took McKenna today so I could get some sleep and thanks to that I am starting to return to the human race.  Do not worry I have forged a plan of attack against the decongestant and I am hoping tonight will be much better for McKenna and myself.  All of this has not slowed the booger down very much, she still goes about 90 miles a minute and has now discovered new areas of our house thanks to her crawling capability.  I was quite comfortable with her thinking that the living room was the only fun room in our house, but those days are long gone.  I am beginning to think my child has a high pain tolerance when she chooses to.  When she started getting sick I thought it was allergies.  We live in pine pollen country, and everyone suffers during this season.  McKenna had watery eyes and a runny nose.  That was it.  No fever, no rash, no cough, no congestion, just runny nose and watery eyes.  That being said I thought it was no big deal that she was around other children, and a baby seeing as how it just had to be allergies.  The only reason I took her to the doctor was that she was not sleeping well at night and the allergies were not getting better with the baby Claritin I was giving her.  So imagine my reaction when the doctor told me it was strep and an ear infection. Great, not only had my baby had to suffer for about three days but I had allowed her to possibly contaminate other children.  I'm up for Mom of the Year.  So for future reference a baby can have strep without a fever, without a rash, without congestion, and without a cough.  A friend of mine had a similar experience and her child's only symptom was bad breathe, McKenna did not have that one either.  Of course after her diagnosis she then got all of the symptoms except fever and bad breathe.  Oh well at least she is feeling better.  
       On a lighter note McKenna is growing in leaps and bounds. It is amazing how she changes day to day.  Sometimes the way she looks at me it is like she is just waiting on me to understand what she is trying to tell me.  I love that she tries to communicate, except of course when her choice of communication is grunting angrily and screaming!  We are working on that attitude :)  It also amazes me how I see traces of others in her personality and her looks.  There is a picture on my wall of my mother when she was little and McKenna favors her in that picture so much.  McKenna also makes all of her dad's expressions, sometimes I get a look from her and it just screams Jeff Troyer.  Then there is that fiery personality, that determination to have her way, a strong dedication to whatever task she working on, and a stubborn streak that will run you ragged, in all of this I see my brother Clint.  There is also that way that she marches to the beat of her own drum and does things in her own time, in this I see her cousin Bailey. I will have to remember to thank Clint and Bailey when I am at my wits end with my child.  I am looking forward to seeing more people show up in her as she grows up.  I hope I see her Great-Grandmother Gaston (who she is named after) show up in her in the way that mamaw always wants to take care of everybody, and doesn't know how to be selfish.  I hope I see her Great Great Granddaddy Bryant show up in her in the way that he was as generous as the day is long and would rather lose money himself than to cheat anybody. I hope I see her Great Grandpa Sommers, (whom I never met, wish I had), who I heard loved people and never met a stranger. I hope I see her Great Grandpa Troyer in the way that he was strong and steadfast in his faith and did what was right and followed God's leading even though there were struggles.  I hope I see so many people from the past and many people from the present show up in her in different ways.  It is comforting to know that while death may take people that we love from us, we will not only see them in heaven, but we can have glimpses of them in our children. 


 
Here are some glimpses of McKenna in all her glory:

loves helping with the laundry, by putting her toys in the basket.

As if to say, "I did not eat a cookie!"

Uncle Clint giving her chocolate, forever endearing him in her heart.

I believe they are plotting against me.               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trying to understand the craziness of her aunt Lisa! (This is a Jeff look by the way, I have seen Jeff look at Lisa the same way)

Oh gotta love the booger!!!