Oh yeah, the blog

With all of you on facebook, it can be hard to remember to update this forum. Used to do it almost daily, now I'm busy with Chronicles and Kim doesn't really update this, does she. Neither do Eliza and Morgan for that matter, oh well.

"Eh-ri-ja," as she calls herself is growing up fast, but still a touch on the little side. She talks a lot now, having words for most things. She likes to tell us her food is hot when it is not and still chases Cleo around the house shouting "Mowe!" Although Cleo now often stops, rolls over and gets some nice attention from the little hands chasing her. She and Morgan can now occupy each other's attentions and play quietly together, mostly in Morgan's room.

Morgan is still in preschool and seems to like it very much. She tells us about all her friends and activities and has come home with new vocabulary and songs to sing. She's big enough to handle some household chores like letting Cleo in and out the back slider and clearing her own place when excused from the table. She just now instructed me that if she's still hungry after her cereal "You can make me a waffle if you want me to be fed more."

Love her logic sometimes.

Her manners are almost top notch. Eliza too. She says "ank ooo" when you give her somethign she wanted and we're working on please.

In a scene right out of It's a Wonderful Life, Morgan said "excuse me" half a dozen times in the paint isle of the Lowe's yesterday before I asked what she wanted and she says, decently loudly, "I farted."

Of course the dinner table conversation was about being inappropriate. Sometimes you are not wrong, but inappropriate. Great table talk, indeed.

Kim's knitting continues to impress, after the Christmas hats, she's making a sweater for herself now. Of course this prompts many a trip to the yarn store for this needle or that thing. She loves it, so what ever she needs.


We finished our taxes last night and will be getting a refund. We're with holding all we can, but the rate is still too much and the Gov got another no interest loan from us.

The premiere of the reality show I'm in is February 12th at 5 PM pacific on emsmedia.tv or at chroniclesofems.com

Hopefully I can update this blog before then, but Morgan just finished her cereal and is carrying her princesses about and by the sound of the spoon on he bowl, Eliza has finished as well.

See you soon.

The Sickleys

Yeah, we're all feeling sick.

Morgan, Eliza and kim all had sniffles and sneezes before Christmas, then Morgan developed a nasty case of Croup. The kind of nasty case that makes her Paramedic father seek help at the local ER.
For months we were told Morgan has a touch of bronchitis, asthma or some other quick shot diagnosis, but when I finally got the ER Doc's attention and made her understand the albuterol treatment didn't work a bit, even though they gave her an adult dose, she prescribed a steroid and diagnosed a severe croup cough.

Often caused by a bacteria, this Doc thinks there could be other irritants causing it, but the steroid will figure that out for us. If it helps, no big deal, if not, we need to start finding the real cause.

Got the scripts filled after they gave her some Tylenol 3 and finally fell asleep after close to 5 hours of non stop coughing and an exhausted day.

Back at the pediatricians office 2 days later we learn the dosage for the steroid was misread by the pharmacy and the dose of steroid was 1/3 rd what she should have been getting. That explains the last 2 nights of her being up every 30 minutes unable to breath coughing uncontrollably. The first night I got up with her at 4 AM and dosed her into unconsciousness, the next morning Kim tried the same thing.
The new steroid, properly dosed, seems to have done the trick and the once too common cough is now almost unheard of.

Kim and I are dragging ourselves around today, might have done better just to stay in bed and know we got nothing accomplished than to have tried so hard and done nothing. I was able to get a few of the Christmas boxes packed up and away and we did finally sell the entertainment center yesterday, it now lives in wine country with another young family who appreciates mission and craftsman style furniture.

Life is picking up in speed for us this year. I've got the Chronicles Show, Eliza turns 2, Mexico in May...busy busy busy.

That's all I can think of right now, the girls just went to bed and my nose hurts so I'll leave it at that for now with my usual empty promise to update more often.