Update of sorts

I have lots of stuff in my head so I am gonna just put one big update out there and hopefully cover all of it!!!!

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Harlan will be 5 months old tomorrow. He recently achieved another "first", although this one is one that I was dreading.... his first cold. Well this cold is extra special, it is actually croup. Croup is common in children and causes swelling in the throat, voicebox and upper airways into the lungs. Usually the child has a "barking" cough and a raspy hoarse voice. It can get serious because their airways are so tiny. It is nothing to mess around with at all. In fact when Mason had Croup at around 18 months we actually ended up in the ER and he was admitted overnight for steriod treatments because his oxygenation was declining due to Croup. It was very scary and not something I ever want to go through again. Last Wednesday I took Harlan to the Dr. because I suspected he had Croup and a possible Ear Infection (EI). He did have croup but no EI. They gave him an oral steroid and sent us home. On Friday he was worse. He lost his voice completely. It is really scary to see him crying but no sound comes out. So back to the Dr we went. The Dr agreed that he was worse and decided that he needed breathing treatments to help open up his airways. They gave us a nebulizer and a prescription for Albuterol with a treatment schedule for the next 2 weeks. Wow the treatments have made a HUGE improvement in his croup. He still has no voice when he coos or cries but he can breath so much better and therefore can eat better and is just a happier little guy!
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We are making a bedroom downstairs for the kids. We have a big rec room downstairs that accounts for about 1/4 of our house's square footage. Up until this point is has served as storage and a place for my crafts. But mostly it is a place to put stuff when we don't know what else to do with it! Our Rec room had become our WRECK room! The other reason we had never used it for a bedroom is that the window in the room did not open, nor was it big enough for a rescue person to climb through in the case of a fire, nor was it low enough for the kids to reach to climb out. Clearly something needed to be done with the window before we could put a child's bedroom down there. We had checked into having an Egress window put in a few years back and it was quite expensive. But due to the economic downturn, contractors are pricing things a bit more reasonable to get work. We were able to hire a contractor to do the work with money we received from our income tax return. The window should be in next week.

We also needed to empty that room of all its junk and get my craft stuff out of the room. :ast weekend Tim removed the utility shelves from the room and moved them to another area of our basement and then I moved all my stuff out of the (w)Rec(k) room. Stuff is kinda spread around the house in a holding pattern until the room is done and we move the kids downstairs. Once the kids move downstairs it will free up a bedroom upstairs for my craft room.

Now that the room is empty and the window will be in next week we can start the rest of the project which includes painting, new flooring, new trim, and a new door. Also some drywall needed to be patched and our water main in in the wall in that room so we have to install a locking cabinet door over the main to keep little fingers from messing with it. So yesterday we went to Home Depot and picked out an interior door, paint colors and some other odds and ends. Tim and Dave are going to work on the drywall patching today and Tim has actually already installed the new door. I am going to try to get some before pictures taken so we can see the huge difference all of Tim's work made in making this room for the kids.

And when I say "kids" at this point I mean Kaleb Jasmyn & Mason. Ever since forever Kaleb & Jasmyn have shared a room. They just feel safer and more comfortable sharing a room. And I understand this because Dave and I shared a room for a lot of years when we were the same age. So for now the 3 older kids will share the basement room. But eventually that room is for just the boys and Jasmyn will get a girlie princess type room upstairs. Right now Harlan is too little to be that far away from me at night, and the 3 older kids are still enjoying sharing a room. And I can't have my whole house torn up with room remodels. So we will wait until summer of 2011 to do Jasmyn's princess room upstairs.
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I am also just overjoyed to have my craft room upstairs! I will be able to start a project and leave it out to work on when I have time. Currently I have to drag everything out and put it away when I am done working on it. It just isn't convenient, and thus my projects never get worked on, which is why Kaleb is the only child with a semi completed baby book! And his is only done up to like his 6 month of life! I have lots of work to do it get these done and I will soon have the space to make it happen!!!!!
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Today Harlan is 5 moths old. We are getting close to starting solid foods. He thinks he is ready! Well lets just say he watches us eat with lots of intense staring and plenty of drooling! But I am really wanting to wait for a few more weeks. Mostly because he has been slow to gain weight and starting solids will replace some of his feedings of breastmilk or formula. And nothing I can mash up or thin down is as nutritionally dense as breastmilk or formula. I am concerned that solids will slow his weight gain down even further. But I know that developmentally he needs to start experimenting with textures and flavors. I also need to make a new cover for his high chair. Sigh. I wish I had my craft room set up already!
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At the end of the month is Spring Break. Dave and I decided we should take a family vacation the likes of which have never before been attempted by our family! We are taking both our families and all our kids and Grandma to Seattle for 3 nights 4 days of site seeing and touristy stuff. We are buying "city passes" for everyone that allows us access into 6 attractions around Seattle. We are gonna go to Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle Aquarium, Space Needle, and Pacific Science center for sure. The kids are overjoyed with anticipation and I have to say.... so am I!
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So I realize that I need to post some more pictures and I will try to get to that later. But right now Harlan is crying, though not making noise, and I need to get breakfast made for the troops!