Eleanor's health

I was trying to give this post a clever or witty title, but it's hard to do with such a serious topic. Since a few people in the family (families) know about the health issues we've been having with Eleanor I thought I'd do a post about what's going on so everyone is updated with the same info. E's diagnosis isn't dire, but it isn't something to be taken lightly either.  

December to February 

December Eleanor got sick. We though it was just a virus like the one she'd had in September, which we assumed she got from the kids at school, but this one lasted longer. (She started preschool in Sept; 2 days/wk for 2 hours/day.) January was when we first noticed the symptoms return, and thought there might be a pattern/cycle to whenever it was. Eleanor had fought a few viruses in her 2.5 years but December and January were different. It seemed different, it looked different, it felt different. 

In January/early February her preschool teacher mentioned to me a few times that Eleanor's energy levels were low. She usually runs at the head of the pack and instead she was chillin on the sidelines, interactive but not super involved. Bless her teacher for saying something to us because that's when we started keeping track of her symptoms. 

They came back early February. (Sorry if the following is TMI.) It starts with diarrhea that lasts at least a few days but sometimes longer, then she gets lethargic and pale, followed by a day or two of vomiting, ending with possibly more diarrhea. Normally her temperature is elevated but not feverish. She also looses her appetite for a few days or so. 

February and Blood Work

Mid-February we took Eleanor to the doctor for what seemed like the 100th time. She'd seen them 3 months in a row, not to mention a ton of phone calls between me and the awesome nurses. This time was different. She had lost over 2lbs since December, and when one only weighs 31lbs to begin with, two is a lot. The doctor ordered some basic blood work done to make sure we weren't missing anything. The blood work showed she had a low white cell count, specifically lymphocytes. 

Note: I did not know what low white count meant and I made the terrible mistake of googling "what does low white cell count mean". I don't recommend it. 

We ran a second test two weeks later, and while her white cell count had improved it was still low. The doctor ordered another test for June. In the mean time Eleanor started to get back to normal, though she was still not as energetic as usual, didn't have a huge appetite, and was kinda pale. It's like a new normal I guess. 

Where We Are Now

We made it almost all the way through March without anything. Then a week before her birthday she got diarrhea again. It lasted almost 2 full weeks. The day after her birthday party the vomiting and lethargy started again as well. Gavin and I took her to the dr concerned and scared and needed more answers. Our dr referred us to an allergist (just to be sure it wasn't an allergy) and the hematology-oncology department at Children's Hospital. 

The allergist appointment was quick. We determined a food allergy was most obvious so Eleanor was tested for wheat, egg, chicken, dairy, apple, and grape. All came back negative. The allergist doesn't think more testing is necessary. 

A week after the dr appt I called Children's and learned Hematology had referred us to Immunology (which can be taken as a good sign I guess). Eleanor's chart/file is currently under review by the immunology department and well hopefully hear back from them soon for an appointment.  

So yeah ... This is what's been going on with us. I'll try to keep everyone updated when an update is necessary. This post contains all the info we have at the moment. If you have questions you can ask, but there may not be an answer. We do ask that you don't offer medical advise or opinions or anything -let's leave that part to the professionals. Encouragement, blessing, prayers, mojo, etc is always welcome. 

Xx Karie

Chaos and Crazy makes a Lazy Blogger

It has been 5 months since I last posted! Oops. The Gill-Smith household was a bit chaotic for a few months, with the wedding, Easter, Eleanor's birthday, then the slew of other April birthdays. I'm just now realizing I haven't posted in a long time. My bad. 

Since the wedding was the biggest event of late I'll give it its own post in a few days -with pictures, I promise. But since then we've had many other celebrations as well. 

Easter was the first big family event. Eleanor got to hunt for eggs and open a pretty cool Easter basket (excuse the laundry pile ...)

I also tried my best to get a family photo without a tripod or a selfie stick. 

Professional photos are definitely the way to go for us. Haha! 

The family also enjoyed a few other outings: the Bruce Springsteen concert, Seattle Aquarium, Tulip Festival,and the Seattle Children's Museum. 

The whole family got together this last Monday for the Tacoma Rainiers v. Omaha Storm Chasers baseball game at Cheney Stadium. It was to celebrate Gavin and Jennie's birthdays. We all had a ton of fun and a ton of food -even Eleanor lasted all nine innings. (The Rainiers won 7-5!)

Like I said, an eventful few months. I'll post again soon. Cross my heart. Needle in my eye. 

Snow day. Snow play.

I remember when winter meant snow. A lot of it. We always had a few snow days from school where we'd run around with our friends, building snowmen and igloos, and tiring ourselves out while seemingly never getting cold. I miss those days. 

It doesn't snow in the low-lands like it used to, and living a few blocks from the water means it snows even less. But at least this year the Cascades have seen a lot of snow. So Gavin and I did what any cool parent does and bundled Eleanor up and went to play in the snow. A few times actually. 

We took Dad with us once, and then Dad and I took Michelle and Jason on MLK day. Enjoy our awesome Snow Day pictures (and eventually, if I can figure out how, video). 

First snow day was in late December with Gavin, Eleanor and Lucky. 

The tiny bit of snow the low-lands actually had:

And then our Snow Days with Dad and the kids: 

Needless to say, Eleanor loved the snow and sledding and we're hoping to go up a few more times before spring. 

Because snow ... duh

2 months off isn't so bad ... right? Don't judge, I'm a busy woman. Juggling the holidays, wedding planning, and a toddler (literally st times) is tiring and I tend to forget the little things. Like blog posts.

I'll add "Do better blogging" to my New Years Resolution list.

I'll start with a current picture post about Eleanor having fun in the snow. She got to experience it for the first time last Wednesday up in the Cascades mountains above Enumclaw. Then today we were suprised with some snow at home. Right now I'm hoping and praying the snow sticks around long enough for Eleanor to wake from her nap and have a little more fun in it.

Eleanor hanging out with Papa Jim after her first snow trip.

Eleanor trying to catch the snow flakes.

Lions, Tigers, and Beers! Oh My!

Woodland Park Zoo is one of my favorite places, and so far it seems it be one of Eleanor's too. A year ago we took the plunge and bought a membership that we shared with Jennie and the kids. Then we moved to California. Oops. But since we've been back I've made sure to get every penny out of that membership I can.

Gavin and I took our friends and their little girl for their first Woodland park experience. I also took advantage of a free member only night with my mom and Brad, where we got to enjoy an animal encounter with a possum and see the zoo a bit less crowded and the animals were more active at dusk. These excursions unfortunately don't have photo documentation, but our other zoo adventures do and I've included plenty of photos for your enjoyment below.

When Michelle and Jason were little I used to take them to Woodland Park at least a few times a year. Its fun to see them try to show Eleanor everything they loved, while experiencing all the new things the zoo has to offer now. One of my favorite zoo memories is when Michelle was little and I took just her; we were looking at the Tapirs when she suddenly got super excited. I thought it was because the beast was right against the window until she exclaimed "Look Karie! A squirrel!" Good to know the local park would have been just as entertaining. Haha!

Eleanor, Michelle, and Jason loved their zoo trip a few weeks ago. Eleanor's favorite animals are the otters and penguins, probably because they are very active and very easy to see. It makes me smile every time she gets excited about the otters, since my own Significant Otter is so very far away in Scotland. Miss you Tiffany!

Eleanor and I also had our very first "play date" with two moms and their kiddos from the mom bible study group I participate in. I was nervous at first, not having hung out with these ladies outside of Bible study, but it was a ton of fun and nice to talk with other women outside of the usual day-to-day. Definitely something Eleanor and I look forward to doing again.

Another AWESOME zoo event was the Brews at the Zoo fundraiser Woodland Park Zoo hosted. Gavin and I had a great date night (thanks for babysitting Jennie!) trying different beers and ciders, and enjoying the entertainment and atmosphere. There were over 40 breweries that participated, free snack samples, animal encounters, and custom button-pin making form Seattle Magazine -which was really exciting after a few tastes. I even had a beer float with a porter and vanilla ice cream that was so delicious! Great night and a fun way for the zoo to fund raise.

A weekend without the offspring

"What bears? I don't see any bears ..." -Gavin

We had forgotten what it was like to spend a whole 48 hours together without the baby. It had been almost a year since the last opportunity, which was also for a football game, and we were looking forward to our weekend in Pullman for the Coug game. The anticipation leading up to the weekend was killer too. Did I pack enough for the baby? Are the hotel reservations secured? Are you SURE you have the time off???

But alas, we left around noon on Friday with nothing but open road and each other for a whole 48 hours. And it was awesome!

"Well that's one weird looking rock ..." -Karie

After a five hours drive I couldn't think of what to show Gavin first. He'd never been to WSU's campus and suddenly it seemed like everything, yet nothing, was important . So I took him to see the bears.

Gavin didn't believe me at first that we had bears, and then didn't realize that they were so close. The bear on the left was trying to melt the ice off a giant piece of salmon. The bear above was enjoying a salt lick. We also saw some cute baby bears but they didnt seem to be in the best of moods.

Bowling's not his game.

Of course we visited Basilios too. disappointment struck when they informed me they didn't have the pesto chicken pizza, but I tried to make up for it with some sun pasta and Parmesan bread twists. Delicious as I remebered -Gavin thought it lived up to my hype too, which was good since I couldn't' stop talking about it.

Later we went to Zeppos for some cosmic bowling. I'd actually never been to Zeppos and was kinda surprised it wasn't crazy busy for a Friday night. (Remember I was the girl who didn't party her way through college, so it didn't occur to me why no one was there ...)

A little bar hopping and a quick stop for some cold meds (damn allergies) and our first night in Pullman was a success.

I was a bit better ... with a few drinks.

The second day was so much more eventful and entertaining. I drug Gav outta bed early so we could beat the rush at The Old European, then get on campus for a good parking spot. Breakfast was super good and we had a ton of leftovers. parking on the other hand ... well we definitely didn't need to be on campus at 10am. I don't think another car entered our lot until almost 1pm. And since it was a Saturday, not much was goign down on campus ... oops.

So we did what any good alumni (and supportive significant other) would do -we bought all the gear we could find. A few shirts, a water bottle, earrings, a jersey, a hat, and a few other random things later we were dressed head-to-toe in Crimson and Gray. There was no way anyone could mistake us for a Wyoming fan -and I don't think we were mistaken as college students, being on campus at 10am and all.

Small line at Ferdinand's ... only 20 minutes.

The rest of the day consisted of wondering around, showing Gavin where I had classes and the library where I spent most of my time (book nerd, I am). We did hit up the visitor center for a wine tasting and enjoyed some great Coug wines out of Coeur d'Alene. I also found a wine that I'd tried during a mom's weekend wine tasting a few years ago, which was pretty cool so of course we bought that too. A quick trip to Ferdinand's, some lunch in the CUB, and a lot of walking later we were ready for a nap before the big game. Of course now actual people were on campus so leaving our parking spot to go back to the hotel (which was in the next town over) was NOT an option. I think we dozed standing up for the last hour or so before the game.

Game Time Selfie

Finally it was game time! We had good seats, and since I was no longer in the student section, I didn't have to go in 90 minutes before kick off to get a good view. Having been away for almost 5 years I noticed a lot had changed in Martin Stadium. The jumbotron had moved to the Stadium Way side, a whole new building had gone up where the screen used to be, and the box seats looked awesome. It was like being in a whole new stadium.

New addition looks so good!

Since I'm sure many of you don't really care how the football game turned out I won't go into too much detail there. A game is a game is game. I will tell you the Cougs beat Wyoming, which was great to see. My last game as a student in Martin Stadium we won, and I felt it was only fitting they win my first game back as an Alum. the win also helped cement Gavin as a Coug fan -at least enough to talk about going back next year for a game. Successful weekend!

It's so early ...

The next morning was a tough one. We didn't get back to the hotel until 10ish and were exhausted. Unfortunately the hotel didn't have very comfortable beds and the room temperature kept fluctuating all night, so no sleep was really had. Our 5:45am alarm came a bit too early, but Gavin had work at noon, so we hit the road for the long 5-hour drive back to the west side. We really missed our little munchkin.