My Molly

I haven't written anything in awhile so I thought it was time! I am having a love hate relationship with Molly Grace's newfound personality right now! Ha! She is such a strongwilled, determined little thing. When she wants something, she wants it right then and she wants it her way...she does not give an inch. I try not to be too hard on her because she is exactly like me!! If you cross her or don't give in to her way, watch out! It becomes melt down city! She can go from laughing to screaming and back to laughing again in 2 seconds flat! Sometimes I'm almost positive her head will start spinning! Ha!

But Oh how I love that little sassy britches! She is as sweet as she is rotten! We are working really hard on our manners. We try really hard to stop her fits and remind her that she doesn't get what she wants by crying and screaming at us. She dries it up pretty fast and gives us an overly sweet "pleeeease"! She's good. I have to hand it to her. She can turn it on and off as fast as she needs to!

MG is really into princesses right now. She went through a Peter Pan and Tinkerbell obsession for awhile, but now she's so into Little Mermaid. She is going to be Little Mermaid for Halloween and insists that she is having a Little Mermaid "Happy Day" party. She isn't giving in at all on that! I ordered Cinderella and it came today so we watched it for the first time tonight. She was pretty fascinated with it, too. When the step mom was being so mean to Cinderella, MG looked over with the most pitiful face and said "awww, poor Cinderella"! I love that she feels such empathy for her princesses! She's so tenderhearted.

We are still struggling with her being so painfully shy. She hates people. I don't use the word "hate" often. But she really hates people! It takes her forever to warm up to any family that we visit with. And as often as she sees the ladies at my work, she still won't even look at them. If someone says hi to her, she grunts and turns her head away! I feel so bad because she misses out on a lot of fun things because she's so shy. I see these other kids playing games at the fair and different places and participating in different things and she just refuses to have anything to do with anything or anyone. I pray that she grows out of it. I grew out of it when I hit about 25! Hopefully she learns a little quicker than I did!

ACH ENT Appt.

MG's appt. at ACH's ENT clinic finally came on Monday. After 40 days on antibiotics, 40 days on 3 different drops and a positive test for MRSA, I was ready! I had all her medical records; a nice, typed, organized list of her ear infections and medications for the past 2 years; and a list of questions. I have to say that I am NOT a fan of ACH's ENT clinic. I think the hospital is amazing, but I will never make the drive again just to see their doctors. I guess maybe I had set my hopes too high. I expected answers and solutions and we got none of that.

First of all, we didn't even see the doctor we had to wait 3 weeks to see! We saw a resident, not even a "real" doctor! The resident came in a checked her out and MG was not happy. He had no idea how to relate to children. I'm thinking a children's hospital is NOT the place for him! Then his attending physician came in. The thing I hate about that is that she asked the resident questions about MG, instead of asking her parents who are sitting right there! I felt like my poor child was a health class for these residents (as 3 more stood at the open door observing!).

The totally miraculous thing is that her MRSA ear was 100% dry and clear! She said that is very rare. Oral antibiotics alone rarely clear up MRSA. It usually has to be suctioned out every day for a couple weeks. GOD IS SO GOOD!! He heard our prayers and He healed her! So it was a good appt in that sense. We also had her hearing checked and she (sort of) passed with flying colors! She flat-out refused to participate in the hearing test. She acted like she knew nothing and wouldn't even say a word or play that "games" that the audiologist tried to play with her. She did do the hearing screener though where she sticks something in her ears and measures something or other and she passed that! She said it's almost impossible for her to have any hearing loss after passing the screening. PTL!

The tube in her left ear (the one that the infection originally started in on August 9th)still has some fluid behind the ear drum and her tube is out - just floating around in there! But they don't want to replace the tube until she it gets infected again...which it will! And her tonsils are huge and have an odor, which means they need to come out. But they don't want to do that until they do the tube surgery. Grrr! All of this needs to be done, but they want to wait.

So...that's what we're doing! We're waiting! I feel 120% blessed that the MRSA cleared up on its own. I never want to make it seem like I'm not thankful for that. God is good and he answered our cries for healing. I guess I was really just wanting some longterm solutions to my poor baby's ear troubles. I know as her mom, I probably overreact and it's a lot more important to me than to others. So we will wait and trust in the Lord! Afterall, He loves her even more than I do!

Sweet Prayers

"Thank you God for Jesus, thank you for my family, thank you for this day. Thank you for Momma, Daddy, Daisy, Bandit and Cooper. Amen!"

Thank you Lord for my precious baby and her sweet, innocent heart! Hearing her precious little voice lifted up to Him fills my heart to the brim!

Lab Results

The results are in and it's definitely MRSA :( Part of me really hoped that it was a mistake! The good news is that the strain she has is sensitive to the Sulfa drug she's currently on. The bad news is that she was on this same drug the first round. Which means it temporarily contained it. We're still trying to get into the ENT sooner, but worst case, our appt is only 2 weeks away. We will keep her on antibiotics until she goes. There's a little bit of a smell back today, but still NO draining! Praise the LORD!!

Yucky Ears

Wednesday we went back to the pediatrician for a re-check after her 2nd round of antibiotics. I knew the news wouldn't be good because her ear was still draining like crazy and smelled horrible. Sure enough, it was still so full of puss and gross stuff that she couldn't even see the tube or ear drum. The ped. took a culture of her ear goop to see why antibiotics wasn't clearing it up. She put her back on an antibiotic (round 3) and a different (steroid) ear drop. I got a call Friday with the results of her ear culture...MRSA, the really bad staph. Great! Seriously?! When I heard the letters "MRSA", my heart stopped and I thought I would throw up! All I could think of was the terrible, horrible staph stories you hear of in hospitals. The pediatrician said she wasn't overly concerned at the moment, though, and that calmed me a little. They are only preliminary results, the full report won't be back until tomorrow so we'll know a lot more then. I immediately started emailing our life group leader and she forwarded on my prayer request. I really can't explain the immediate feeling of peace I had! It's was nothing short of a God thing! I'm a panicker by nature, so the fact that I was calm couldn't have come from anywhere else! It's an amazing thing to know that so many people are praying for your baby! Our life group leader also forwarded on this email she had gotten eariler with pencil sketches someone had done of Jesus with children. She reminded me that as hard as it is to imagine, He loves MG even more than I do and He always has his watchful eye and protective hand on her! Wow! What a reminder! And what an amazing thought! The even better news is that over the weekend, we have seen AMAZING improvements in MG's ears. For the first time in SIX WEEKS, her ear is not draining and it doesn't stink!!! Our prayers were heard and they were answered! God is good! I'm anxious to hear back from the pediatrician tomorrow, but I'm really excited about her progress. We still have our appt at Arkansas Children's Hospital ENT clinic next month. I'm anxious to hear what they have to say!

Update on the Ears

Tuesday MG complained of her ears at naptime and again at bedtime. So Wednesday I took her to the pediatrician. Her left ear (the one that was already infected that we've been trying to clear up for 2 weeks) was still a little infected. Her right was was horribly infected. The doc couldn't see her eardrum at all and couldn't tell if the tube was still in - it's that pussy and yucky! So...she's back on an oral antibiotic for 10 more days plus we're continuing the drops. Today's Sunday and her ear is still smelly and draining, but she hasn't been complaining as much.
I hate that her ears are so horrible. It breaks my heart to think of the pain she's in all the time. She can't hear and her speech is suffering because of it, too. It's awful!
We're considering taking her to a specialist in Little Rock. Someone my in-laws know took their daughter there for the same kind of issues and she hasn't had trouble since. Our ENT is nice, but he's very old-school and I don't have much confidence in him. I love our pediatrician, but she can only do so much. I just want my baby to be all better!
Luckily, it hasn't put a damper on her spirit at all! Ha! She's still as spunky as ever!

What's Going On?

I haven't updated in awhile so here goes... I'm back at work. We are slowly and painfully adjusting to our new routine! MG doesn't like going to bed early. Most nights it's still 9 or 10 before she finally gives in and falls asleep! Getting her up in the morning is a chore! I miss her like crazy, but love being back in a routine and not home all day. She's always so happy when I get there to pick her up and I love it!

MG promoted up to the next SS class at church. They do lessons and an art every Sunday. She's cried when we dropped her off the last 2 weeks, but is always smiling and playing when we pick her up! She tells us what fun she had and has even asked to go to Church on several occasions throughout the week! Huge step for us!

MG also moved up to a new class at mother's day out. Of course her Granny moved up with her! Mom is an awesome teacher though and I know mg will learn so much. There's finally another little girl in her class to play with! Yay!

We went back to the ENT Monday after 10 days of antibiotics to check on her ear. Good news...the tube is still in! Bad news...it's still infected! She's back on ear drops twice a day (not so fun!) and hopefully it will get cleared up. That poor baby and her ears! I hate it for her!

Daisy has adjusted well to the daily torture my toddler inflicts on her! MG just loved her so much and considers her her very own living, furry baby! Her 4 little feet rarely touch the floor!

MG is potty trained other than at night. She wears her cute little panties, tells us when she needs to go and does it all by herself! I never dreamed such a strong willed child would be so easily potty trained! She really loves to peeped in the yard! That must come from her daddy's side!

Speaking of strong willed... ! She still has such a strong personality. She is sweet, love able, kindhearted and funny. But she wants her way, when she wants it and isn't shy to let you know! She has a little bit of a mouth on her (apple doesn't fall far from the tree unfortunately!), but is quick to apologize when corrected. I have never seen a 2 year old with such an imagination. She is always pretending and acting things out. She is creative and imaginative.

This week, she has referred to her daddy and me as "the girl" and "the boy". Yes, I'm serious!

I know I'm leaving so much out. There's just no way to put it all down. I really wish I could bottle up her sweet little voice and personality and keep it forever!