Swimmer's Ear

Well, I am learning a lot about what swimmer's ear truly is. Katie has it, in both ears. Yikes. I almost thought she had a "regular" ear infection because she was acting like she was in so much pain. We went to the pediatrician today - and she has true swimmer's ear -- which is not water trapped in your ear - what people often call swimmer's ear. It is an infection in the skin that lines the ear canal. Basically when the ear canal gets exposed to water it reacts as the rest of our skin does by "opening" and becoming puffy or shriveled. When in this "state" it is more able to pick up bacteria -- and some bacteria that we normally carry on our skin can actually cause swimmer's ear. I felt very educated by the time I left the office. We now have some drops for her ears that act similar to how neosporin would act on a cut if it were on our skin. She isn't too fond of the drops, but I am hoping that it will do the trick -- and quickly. I am actually amazed with all the swimming she does that we haven't had to deal with swimmer's ear before....but to the best of my knowledge - this is the first time for either of the girls.

On a brighter note, Mary is having a splendid time at her first VBS of the summer. She is a big fan of vaction Bible school, just as I was as a kid. She has at least one more in July --possibly two. It's a great way to keep her busy. As I've said before, she gets bored far too easily in the summer.

Well, that's about it for now. Hope everyone is enjoying their summers. The heat here the past few days has been almost unbearable for Michigan...but it could snow tomorrow (just kidding), so I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

VBS Sure is Fun!!

As promised, here are the VBS pictures. Mary was song drill champion for the week and brought home this colorful caterpillar as the prize.

She had a great week..and spent 5 nights in a row at Grandma & Pa Pa's which is a record for her (and me, too.) I missed her.

A Little Bit of "Peace"

Good Morning. I've already had 3 cups of coffee with that awesome coffeemate that I love. I'm home alone. I know, shocker. Last week I started using respite care for Katie. Unfortunately the county we live in doesn't have any money available to help pay for the respite, but, we're making it work. A wonderful woman named Dorie who is also an aide at Katie's school and works with autistic children is now Katie's respite care provider. She also lives really close to our home, so that's an added bonus :) Respite care is intended to provide the primary caregiver (me) with a break. Time for myself, time to get things done --errands that are difficult to do when Katie is with me (groceries, the bank - Katie hates the bank, even the drive-thru), and time just to not have to watch her 24-7. I had planned on 4 hours today, and when I dropped her off at 9, Dorie said, do you want to pick her up at 5? I was like, "seriously????" how awesome. Don't get me wrong, for those of you who know me personally, you know that my girls are my life, and I love Katie more than words could ever express. But, I am human, and getting older , and she wears me out! I need a few hours to myself each week to help me be a better mom to her...and Mary..and a better wife, too. One of my friends who is a single parent to two boys with autism told me that I needed to set up respite, especially for the summer, to help me keep my sanity. I tend to get very emotionally crazed when I don't have a break from 24-7 "motherhood". I also am not working very much this summer, so I don't get that time away either...so this is going to be good.

As for Mary, she is at VBS this week. My parent's church is having their VBS program all week, so she is loving that. She is also spending several nights sleeping over at PaPa and Grand-moo's so that is fun for her, too! :)

Okay, sorry for the "rambling" nature of this post, but I think I'm going to get back to my list of "to-do's". Have a great Monday.