Balch Family Blog

Camden starts Kindergarten this Fall and we have been unsure of where to send him. We had settled on our neighborhood school, where he attends preschool currently. In January we heard about another school. This is a charter school that looks like it has a great focus on children and education. Last night they had the lottery. There were 86 students that wanted Kindergarten and 50 spots available. Camden was drawn as number 84. That means he is 34th on the wait list. So we will wait and see what happens. If he doesn’t get picked before August then he will attend San Tan. When you begin this parenting roll you don’t realize all the decisions you are going to need to make that will affect your child. I will keep you posted.

On a side note, Nathan was also on the lottery and I don’t know if he got in or not. I am hoping he did, because Carrie didn’t really know where to send him if he didn’t.

…Knock on wood! We all seem to be doing better now. Carsten really seems much better and Camden has been doing well since starting the antibiotic. Mark and I still have some sinus issues which are either left over cold symptoms or possibly allergies.

We are getting back into our routine. We have a birthday party to go to on Sunday. We are planning Carsten’s party, which is next Saturday.

Last night we went to the new mall and ate at Johnny Rockets. That is a great restaurant to bring kids to. It is so loud in there that nobody could hear Carsten screaming for his dad. Then we all went to Cold Stone for some ice cream. Mark works today and has softball tonight, so we are going to hang out this afternoon as a family. Things are good.

On Thursday, Carsten woke up with a high fever. I thought it was probably viral so I played the wait and see game. Then, by the afternoon he was tugging at his ear. I got him an appointment in the after hours clinic. I was expecting a copay and prescription and then home. Well, the doctor did not like the sound of his lungs. He had 2 breathing treatments and his pulse-ox was between 88-91. She was not comfortable sending him home like that, not to mention the 104 temp. She made arrangements for him to be admitted into Gilbert Mercy Hospital. He was to be observed overnight to make sure he didn’t go into respiratory distress.

It was a long night. I really didn’t sleep. Carsten pulse-ox was 90-92 most of the night and would dip down to 87-88. About 8:30 his morning nurse came in and suggested trying to get the stuff out of his nose and see how that works. I cleaned his nose with a warm washcloth, and his numbers shot straight to 97, and stayed there! We were thrilled!

After several long hours we saw the doctor. He was not overly concerned about pneumonia, but did say say he had double ear infections. He also could hear “crackles” in his lung which indicates a little wetness. He ordered an injection of antibiotics and sent him home on Augmentin. We got home shortly after 5:00pm last night.

He seems to be doing well today. He wants his mommy but he is also playing with his brother and around the house.

Was anything but romantic! My sweet hubby did surprise me with tulips, my favorite flower, but this after a night of throwing up. Mark’s hit at 1:30am, and mine hit around 8:30am. Camden wasn’t feeling well either, but nothing like what Mark and I went through. We all spent the day at home. Carsten went to Ms. Angela’s for a few hours so he could play and have some attention. He was sick Monday night, so I guess he got it first.

We are feeling better today, and I hope even better tomorrow!

We are back a day early, but it is ok because we all got the most sleep we have had in a week! We left about 10:30 am on Friday morning. (I took Carsten to the ER Friday morning at 1:30am because I suspected an ear infection, I was right!) Got there about lunch time. I went to a presentation for work that lasted about 90 min.

Then we hit the town to find snow. There wasn’t much but we did find some. I had forgotten the camera, so we just got a couple of pictures on our phones. We went to the Prescott Mall and then to Peter Piper Pizza for dinner. The kids had a blast. Then it was back to the Resort (where Mark and I got married) for a swim. We were all in bed by 9:00pm. Then at 11:45 Camden threw up! Housekeeping came and changed the bed. I checked my temp and it was low at 99.5, but I was still feeling it in my lips. Mark and I talked and decided to try and get as much sleep as we could and head home in the morning. I had heard the flu was bad and expected 2 days of vomiting from Camden.

Well he slept the rest of the night and said he was so hungry the next morning. After breakfast he was feeling good and wanted to go to the snow. We changed our plans and decided to spend the day and then go home in the evening. We went to the Zoo, the Square, and played in the snow some more. Carsten slept through the snow playing this time. Mark made a family of snowmen under the supervision of Camden. Overall, it was a nice trip. We were all glad to be in our own beds last night!

Here is our snowman family!

I would say they are about 10-15 inches tall, but here is a picture with Mark so you can tell what size they are.

Carsten woke up in the middle of Saturday night with a horrible cough, a fever, and difficulty breathing. I took him to the ER. His pulse-ox was low at 92 and his temp was high at 104.1. They gave him an oral steroid and a special breathing treatment for croup. We came home and he had a great Sunday and Monday until the late afternoon. Then the fever hit again. I called his doctor and she was concerned about an ear infection or pneumonia. Mark took him in Tuesday morning, and it had settled in his chest but his ears were clear. After an x-ray confirmed no pneumonia we were relieved. We are using ibuprofen every 6 hours to keep his fever down and he gets breathing treatments every 4 hours.

That is what we have been up to. Hope everyone else is doing well. I can’t wait to see more pictures of Baby Liam!

Jocelyn called me tonight to tell me that Liam had arrived. She sounded overjoyed and exhausted! I am very happy for her and Eric! Congratulations!

Liam William
5:32 pm
8lbs 7oz
21″

And a full head of dark hair!

A picture of Seveta in his original home:

A picture in his new home!

I have created a few new sub albums in our gallery and added pictures from Thanksgiving, Christmas and some random ones of the boys.

Enjoy!!

We took our first official family bike ride this morning. Gamma Tucson and Papa Ken got Camden a bike for Christmas, and Mark and I picked up a couple of gently used beach cruisers from Craig’s List. The men’s bike came with a baby seat. We all have helmets and after replacing a tire on Mark’s bike we were ready! It was fun, and short, but with Camden’s pedaling it is slow going. I haven’t ridden a bike in ages so it took me a few minutes to get the hang out it. We really enjoyed it and I anticipate many more to come!