Bathtime and sitting up!

Evan Wevan only wanted to sit up in his bathtub today! What a big boy! I tried to lay him down but he struggled with all of his might to be sure that he was sitting.. then he played and tried reaching for things that were outside of the tub.

On the mend

Evan's lungs are still yukky sounding but he is happy and sleeping well.. his cough sounds horrendous! No more fevers or crying fits. Dr. Glipin diagnosed him yesterday with RSV, (a virus that attacks the lungs in babies and young children), it seems he's most likely had it all along. About 3 weeks ago, she called it viral asthma but I knew it was worse than that.. he was MISERABLE.. (as you can see in previous blog entries). Yesterday she listened to his lungs again and said that his lungs don't sound any better (in 3 weeks!!), that it had to be RSV. No testing needed since the symptons all matched and since he seems to be acting better, she wasn't worried about him. No extra treatment nessessary, just his regular nebulizer treatments.

Now! On another note! We are getting crazy snow!!! It's been snowing all afternoon and it's supposed to snow all night, lots of blowing and possibly 10 inches. I think we'll get it, too.. I feel like we already have about 3 inches or more.. (I'm no expert on measuring the depth of snow but it's pretty deep already!)
School is cancelled for tomorrow so I'm hoping my work is too! We'll see!

My little man and me

I took this picture of Evan and I on my camera phone about a month ago at one of his doctors visits.. I found it in my phone today! Thought it was cute!

Are we gettin' better?

Well, he can at least smile at times. He's still very congested and the breathing treatments don't seem to do much, in my opinion... but life is better without the steroid.I've been home with him every moment since Monday afternoon without ever leaving the house.. Yeah.. I know.. boring, huh? Joe's been droppnig Evie off at school and today Joe's Mom is picking her up from school and bringing her home for me. It's WAY to cold to drag him out today anyway. I can't believe so many schools closed today due to cold! Evie's school closes for NOTHING! (Which I guess is great for working parents)

He's napping right now.. (and coughing during his nap) so I thought I'd upload a video I took of him in his Jumparoo today. (Thanks Heather for the Jumparoo!) I took it with my digital camera so there's no sound.. just wanted to show you how he coughed his way through the jumping.. and how I was able to manage a smile at the end.

>

Stay in where it's warm!! Hope to see all of our friends soon!

miserable

UUUGH!
Well.. since I took that picture yesterday of Evan smiling, (from the last blog entry, see below), he hasn't smiled since. I don't even recognize this baby from his demeanor.. totally a different kid, whiny, can barely breathe without huffing and puffing. He woke up every hour again last night crying and screaming uncontrolably. He was so tired but his arms couldn't stay still.. it seemed like he was jittery. Now that stuff all started about 3 hours after I gave him the oral steroid.. and his temperature dropped to very cold! I don't think I'm giving the steroid anymore unless it's absolutly crucial. I'll keep on with the antibiotics and the breathing treatments and see if the jittery-ness goes away. Then if he still can't breathe well in the next couple of days, I might have to go back to the steroid. YUK! I'm almost positive that's what's making him miserable.. (besides this awful sickness) Evie's at school.. it's snowing and freezing outside.. Evan and I will stay home and watch tv today. And I will pull all of my hair out trying to help and please him. :o( I'm telling you, I'm starting to meltdown over this.

Well.. I'll keep you updated on my little munchkin.. hope everyone is happy and healthy.

Poor Baby

You'd never know it by the cute little smile in this picture from today, but my Evan is sick.. it seems he has been since Christmas.. with one cold or another. Last week, he had a tummy bug for about 2 days.. but this new cold has struck him hard. His lungs are toast.. He gasps for breaths and feels miserable. Last night, he was up once an hour crying.. tonight he was whiny before bed.. crying himself to sleep, which he never does. We took him to see Dr. Gilpin today.. she gave him an antibiotic in case he has bronchitis, (she couldn't tell), and a steroid for his lungs since the nebulizer treatments (which he still needs 4 times a day) aren't doing the job. I feel so bad for him.. I hate that he is cursed with mine and his sister's lungs. It's so not fair. I'm majorly down in the dumps tonight. Work is pissed off at me because I need the day off to take care of him.. they say that everyone is out sick right now, but I don't know what to do.... I can't leave him with Grandma right now.. she's still dealing with the tail-end of pneumonia.. and Evan only wants to nurse right now when he is uncomfortable.. which is always.
(He's nursed so much today that I'm raw)

*sigh* Tomorrow is another day. Evie has school leaving me to focus just on Evan... she was super sweet and helpful today.. but I feel bad when I can't play with or entertain her while I am tending to him. A big "Thank you" to my friends Alyssa and Jen for watching Evie this morning while I took Evan to the doctor. At least Evie got to do something fun today.

Anyway... sorry for venting.. I just felt like I had to. and I think I'll look at Evan's smiling face in that picture a little more to remember why I am doing all of this!
Night all!

Banana Nut Muffins

My little chef, Evie made banana nut muffins with me tonight.. she did a fantastic job measuring ingredients, cracking the eggs and mixing with batter. The only thing that she didn't do herself was spoon them into the pans.. (I wanted that done a little more neatly).



They are delicious! Here is the origional recipe from Tyler Florence of The Food Network.. But be sure to see my altered version of it below!

Banana Nut Muffins
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 7 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 12 muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 overripe bananas
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly butter 2 muffin tins.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together like you mean it, for a good 3 minutes. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins to fill them about halfway. Give them a rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.

Bake until a toothpick stuck in the muffins comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before turning the muffins out. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Now.. I like mine to be mini bite-sized muffins.. so I use a 24 mini muffin pan.. and I alter the recipe like so;
TINA'S Banana Nut Muffins
Banana Nut Muffins
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 7 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 72 mini muffins (sounds like alot but they go fast being bite sized)

3 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
6 or 7 overripe bananas
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 sticks melted but cooled butter
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans.. ( I didn't alter that amount because I didn't want too many pecans in a mini muffin)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly butter 3 mini muffin tins. (I only have one 24 count muffin tin, so I clean it in between the 3 batches)
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Mash 3 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together for a good 3 minutes. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins to fill them about halfway.
Bake for 10 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the muffins comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes before turning the muffins out. They are fantastic warm!


So you can choose whichever recipe you want based on what size and quantity of muffins you desire. Ours turned out fantastic! We have over half of them already eaten! LOL I also made these last week for Evie's school and they were gobbled down in a hurry! They are fast and easy to make!

And one more tip that my mother gave me... Anytime that you have leftover bananas on your counter that are going brown, smash them up in a zip lock bag and freeze them until you are going to make your banana bread or muffins..
I'll never be throwing overripe bananas anymore!

Mmmmmm... think I'll go get another one...