The 'Ei's Have It: Pneu

HAPPY SUMMER! I looked and realized it's almost been a month since our last blog post and in the hopes of avoiding any withdraw shakes, I'm on the job this weekend! These past weeks have been a bit of a blur and we are definitely ready for summer at the Eicholtz home. Right before Memorial Day, Allie started getting sick with a cough and congestion. I took her in to the doctor's just to be sure she didn't have strep and she didn't, which was great news. But she did have a viral infection in the lungs, which was not great news. They sent us home with a flight mask (a.k.a. a nebulizer) and well-wishes. Two days later, she wasn't getting better and we took her in again (we have a punch card, so I think our next visit is free...not really, but wouldn't that be great?) and on top of the nebulizer treatments they added steroids...which should come with a big red warning label and a padded room. That was Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. On Tuesday, after waking up each morning with a fever and in misery (I say morning, being polite, it was more like 1am each time, which is SO not morning as all of you moms out there know), I took her into the doctor's office along with everyone else along the Atlantic Coast and they told us she had pneumonia. We completed the tri-fecta treatment with antibiotics and went back the next day. Fortunately, that did it and she started turning a corner. She was able to get off the steroids and return to daycare and life was SO much better for all of us.

I, of course, have editorial rights to the pictures I post on the blog, so naturally, I typically choose ones where our girl is full of smiles, but (and I'll whisper this because we know how lucky we've been) Allie really, truly is a very happy girl. After our brief bout of having a toddler with roid rage, hyped up on nebulizer mountain dew, and then finally getting our girl back, I promise to do my very best in the future to not take for granted having a happy, healthy child. Welcome back, Al! We missed you!!!

Fortunately, before Allie started downhill, we snuck in a visit from our very favorite Swedes, the Montys, at our very favorite local hangout, the Unger abode.

Brendan and Allie bonding over 'Bubbles,' the universal language of toddlers.

FREEZE Dance! (Seriously, she stayed like this for a solid 2 minutes. She gets her drama and her dance moves from her Daddy.)

A little tag-team strolling with Brendan, who's clearly the one holding this duo together to get the job done.

All was going well...until...it wasn't...

She was NOT a fan of the nebulizer at the doctor's. Fortunately, we figured out quickly that if we let her hold it and added a snuggle session and Veggie Tales, things went much more smoothly.

All rules went out the window as far as napping for our little fever-child, and dress code apparently went right out the window with it.

We had already bought tickets to go to the strawberry festival for a belated Mother's Day celebration on Saturday and even though she wasn't 100%, she was WAY happier outside of the house than in it (which means we were too!). So, we packed up the car charger for the nebulizer and headed out to beautiful Delaplane, VA for some mountain therapy
.

Still not 100%, but a trooper.

But who can stay unhappy with hayrides and farm animals close by?

Not this girl! Even gave the fans a wave.

And SOMEONE's got to feed the lambs!

On Memorial Day, Grammy and Grandpop came over to watch Allie while Christopher and I participated in different race/workout events in honor of the men and women of the military. My race couldn't have been more convenient since it started a block away and passed by our street twice. Allie had fresh entertainment to help her through the day and she even made it to the corner to wave me on. We were super thankful for the reinforcements.

Being sick is no excuse for losing your cool...

Allie and Grammy snapped an action photo from the wagon-viewing station. (I promise I ran the whole thing, even though this looks like I'm strolling casually.)

Post-race Pic. You get to stay in your PJs as long as you want when you're not feeling well. House rules.

We saw a lot of this face that weekend...

But we still put on our Memorial Day best!

And we went to our 'happy place' more than once. The best $11.99 I ever spent was for the bubble maker in the background that bought us 15 minutes of a happy girl.