February Happenings

Another busy busy month for the Hillins household.  Although we are busy we are all having fun!  Starting with Toby's annual exam - fatty needs to go on a diet!!!

We started putting little heart affirmations on the kids doors on 2/1.  Later that day we found surprise heart affirmations on our door from the kiddos!!  Made our day!

Bowling with soccer buds!

Superbowl party for The First Tee.  

It was fun but it was snowing out so the kids just wanted to get home and play in the snow so we stayed from about 3:30-5:15.  

Miss Sandy at Mommy's gym surprised Ashley with a beautiful quilt that she made to keep her warm as she waits for Mommy.  If you ask Ashley her favorite color right now, it's 'rainbow' and she colors everything in a rainbow pattern so this quilt is beyond perfect for our princess.  Such a thoughtful gesture.  Ashley even wrote Miss Sandy the sweetest thank you note :)

Ashley's favorite toys these days - baby Lulu and Toby!

Hard to see but we've been having a lot of boys stop by wanting to play and allowing Trevor to bring friends home on the bus for afternoon play dates.  Gotta get them in before activities start back up!

Burrito Toby!

Toby getting all the love!

One day was declared a snow day here because some sidewalks around some of the Bentonville schools had ice.   Ashley's preschool follows the Rogers school calendar so she still had school so Trevor and Mommy had a special day.  His request?  He wanted Mommy to get a pedicure so that he could sit in the massage chair!  OK!

On this snow day Sophia's parents needed Sara to watch her in the afternoon because of work.  She was excited to get a little time with just Trevor before we went to get Ashley from school.  Sophia surprised Ashley with a special valentine!

Later that night we finally got around to building our Trader Joe's special gingerbread house!

Then on Tuesday Sophia's nanny got in a car accident so Sara rushed over to her bus stop to get her off the bus and play until her Daddy got home from work!  

Play date with Mayah!

And some of the neighborhood boys!

Trevor spent his Toys r Us gift card on a giant teddy bear that he dressed in his jammies!

School pic day!  Stinker took off his shirt though for the actual picture and just wore his polo shirt.  ARGH!!!  Boys!!!  Can't wait to see the official pic!

Ashley requested a slushie to help her throat stop hurting!

Trevor had a sleepover at his friend Cooper's house! 

Ashley had been saying for a few days that she had a Cheez It stuck in her teeth.  Turns out it is a new back molar, not a Cheez It!

Sporting soccer started back up and because of all of the rain they have to use the indoor facility for practices!  No complaints from Mommy :)

Daddy and Trevor worked hard on his First Communion banner!

Another playdate means a special treat!

Cheers!  Trevor and Mabry!

More hockey!  He gets better and more confident every week!  

Plus he loves it!  He asked Daddy to take him to open skate one Sunday!

While Mommy used the bathroom, Ashley wrote her name in the floor!

We took a drive after church one day to find where Sam Walton was buried and to thank him for everything he did for Walmart and retail and Northwest Arkansas!

Guess what?  Sam and Mommy were both born on March 29!!

Decorated for Valentine's Day!

Got out the Easter decorations and saw that Ashley's feet have grown quite a bit in 2 years from when she was a mini-3 at La Casa!

Easter decorations!  Really need to fill in the built-ins!

For our neighbor Mark's birthday present, Trevor came up with the idea of gifting him a memory of 2 hours of jump time at High Rise plus treats!  Not sure who loved it more - Mommy, Trevor or Mark!

Always want to remember how Trevor loves to play the games at the Allergist while getting his allergy shots.  He usually finds a new friend to play with too!!!

Ashley February School Pics

Considering Ashley was only in school 2 of the weeks of February it was amazing that she still made some of the FB pics her teacher posted from school!  

Pajama day and BFF Bria - it's a good day!

Jitterbug class trial - of course she loved and wants to add that to her list of activities!  

Ashley has Mono (!!) and Strep :(

Ashley had been saying that her throat hurt for a bit and wanted to nap one day which isn't too unusual.  The girl is super busy with pre-school and activities and with her sleep apnea bc of her enlarged tonsils she doesn't always sleep the best.  

Then on Thursday night 2/15 Ashley's cheeks looked bright red.  Nana Jeanne and Sara's friend Jen thought it looked like Fifth Disease so Mommy knew we'd be visiting the pediatrician the next day.

Well the next day the red cheeks were gone (so definitely not Fifth Disease) but she had a little fever and said her ears hurt when she yawned so Mommy brought her in expecting to hear she had an ear infection.  Dr. Youngblood checked out her ears and they were great.  After feeling her lymph nodes though he said she should be checked for mono.  WHAT?  She is 5 years old.  And he also wanted her swabbed for strep.  Well that swab she handled like a champ (came up bloody) but the blood draw for mono was another story.  Luckily she has great veins but one of the guys moved a little slow wanting to explain everything that was happening.  She was NOT happy.

But she did pretty well considering so the older blood drawer chased her down the hall (who was now in Dr. Olyami's arms) to give her a dollar.  Ashley was treated like royalty there.  Still in disbelief how we ended up at this peds office where Dr. O lives down the street and always is loving on the kids, illness and all!

Back to smiles!

So we learned right away that she was positive for strep and mono from the Epstein Barr Virus.  Apparently when kids get mono they really don't exhibit any symptoms so it's best if you get it when you are little.  Who was she kissing you ask?  Ha!  It could be from anywhere.  Dr. Youngblood said that most kids have been exposed to EBV and thus carry it so she could have gotten it anywhere.  Daddy and Mommy suspect a drinking fountain at dance or cheer!  

So Ashley slept a lot on Friday and Saturday.

Then after that she was as good as new!  Hard to keep this cutie down but Mommy did manage to keep her occupied with play dough for 5 hours on Sunday.  

She was cleared to go back to school after she was fever-free for 24 hours so she could have gone on Monday but we decided to keep her home all week to rest.  HA!  As if!  She did have some moments of calm...

....but mostly craziness.  If anything though we felt good about keeping her home from school and activities because when you have mono your spleen is enlarged so is at risk of rupturing if hit in that area.  

Mommy diffused a lot of Oregano to help kill the virus and luckily Ashley would lay there watching a show taking it in.  

We also brought the iPad back out for our sickie.  

We spent a lot of time playing Minnie and 'Daisy' :)

And played checkers against Trevor.  (He usually won!)

We baked a donut cake, as the kids call bundt cakes!

And we practiced 'school' - look at what she surprised Mama with one night!!!

Then today Mommy took her back to Dr. O to see how her spleen was and he gave her the all clear because it was no longer enlarged!  Hallelujah!  We agreed to do 1/2 day on Wednesday to see how she handled it and if well then full day Friday!  Although Mommy has really enjoyed all this special time with her #1 sidekick, pretty sure it will be good for everyone to get back to our routine!  Next up is a visit to the ENT to see when those darn tonsils can come out.  Not sure how the mono may interfere with that.