a new plan

We never did make it to our follow-up with the pediatrician last Thursday.  Wednesday morning around 3:45am I woke up to go the bathroom.  Shortly after while I was trying to fall back asleep, I noticed Elsie was moving around and coughing.  After about 15 minutes I went in and gave her a drink.  I left her for another 5 or so, and Chris suggested I give her some albuterol.  By this point it was 4:30am, and after the treatment she fell asleep in like 10 minutes.

Elsie woke up again around 7:15am, with a bit of a cough.  When I went in to her room I knew I wouldn't be dropping her off at MDO.  Her breathing was incredibly rapid and she wasn't able to talk to me without coughing.  I gave her another breathing treatment.  It didn't really help.  Chris told me to get her to urgent care after I dropped Ryann off at school, so I got to work getting us all ready to get out the door.  By 8:10am when I was getting us in the car, Elsie was sounding much worse.  She started coughing on the way to school and I could hear her breathing very heavily.  I definitely got a sense of urgency, and called the school to ask someone to come out and meet Ryann.  Thank goodness for that.

As I pulled out and headed toward the doctor the coughing just got worse and worse.  Elsie didn't have a moment to catch her breath.  I texted Chris (at a red light for the record) and he said if she really sounded awful just go straight to the ER.  That was all the push I needed, plus we were closer to the ER than the pedi and I wanted to get her help right then and there.

Honestly this was the first time I truly thought my child might stop breathing.  I wasn't sure we could make it before something really bad happened.  I was terrified.  She continued to cough continuously as we checked in with the security guard.  I fumbled for my liscense.  It took me forever to find the damn thing.  I was almost in tears at this point.  The nurse(?) at the desk quickly waved us over, got our information and told us it would only be a minute.  She leaned back in her chair and said someone needed to take us to triage, NOW.  I was so thankful that they were acting quickly, but again, it is even more scary when the nurses and doctors are worried.

these were supposed to be our pouty faces

I think I texted Chris at 8:50am to let him know we were at the ER, and by 9am we were in a room with a doctor.  I am so incredibly grateful to the doctor's and nurses at Children's Mercy.  They took such good care of us.  Elsie immediately wanted to know where her iPad was, which I hadn't grabbed.  Without saying a word the nurse called the child life representative and in a matter of minutes she had an iPad.  They were doing anything they could to keep her happy.

When all was said and done in the ER, I think Elsie had 10+ puffs of albuterol, a dose of prednisolone, and did an hour long breathing treatment.  The breathing treatment was hard to watch.  Her body was being pounded by the steroids, and while she did relatively good, she was getting so shaky and pulling at her ears, scratching at her face, it was making her crazy.  I hated it.  But it helped.  Her breathing improved.  When they first started the treatment she sounded like a full on squeak toy, and by the end of it wheeze was gone.  But she couldn't last more than two hours without some sort of breathing treatment, and her oxygen levels didn't want to come above 91-92%.  So we were admitted.

The rest of the afternoon and in to the evening was filled with more breathing treatments, more prednisolone, a whole lot of movies and snacks, and a bit of a nap.

Chris had to leave shortly after we were admitted to pick up Ryann from school and take her to dance, but he came back around 8:30 when some friends were able to come hang out with Ry.  He brought us some cheese and crackers, and some Ben and Jerry's :).  After he left again I attempted to get Elsie to go to bed, but she just wasn't having it.  Thankfully she wasn't against sleeping in the crib this time, but she just kept talking to me and rolling around and pulling her monitor off.  All that fun stuff.  Finally around 11:30pm I got her calmed down, and rubbed her back until she fell asleep.  In a matter of minutes E's oxygen level dropped to the mid 80's.  The nurse came in and tried to put a nasal cannula on her, but Elsie was absolutely NOT having it, at all.  She just wouldn't let her put the thing in her nose.  I can't say I could really blame her.

We settled on blow by oxygen.  I got her back to sleep and we set up the tube next to her face.  All seemed to be going well so I tried to get some sleep myself.  But 30 minutes later the alarms were going off and the nurse was back in our room.  Elsie had rolled over, naturally.  The nurse repositioned the tube and her numbers came back up.  I sat back down, but two minutes later she flipped over and the alarms went off again.  I spent the next 45 minutes or so playing move the oxygen tube, but at that point it wasn't doing the job to keep her levels above 90%.  The nurse suggested maybe I hold her in the recliner so that we could keep everything positioned better.  That worked for a little bit, but by 3am even that couldn't keep her levels up.  Our last ditch effort was an oxygen mask.  Why E was less opposed to that than the nasal cannula, I'm not sure, but she let me hold it on her face.  Which I did for the next 3-4 hours.  I dozed on and off a bit, but if I wasn't holding the mask it slipped and her oxygen levels dropped.

Shortly after 6am I was fidgety and uncomfortable, and I think Elsie felt the same way.  She was up by 6:30am.  She pulled the oxygen mask off, but her numbers were still only in the upper 80's, so I convinced her to keep it on while she watched a movie.  Cars for the second time I believe.  After her next breathing treatment her levels stayed in the 91-92% range, so we were able to keep the mask off and get her some toys to play with.  Poor kid was getting antsy with really maybe a five foot radius of space to hang out in.

Slowly but surely, Elsie began to improve more and more throughout the day.  My mom came in to town, so Christopher was able to come hang out with us a bit.  During which time I got to go to an asthma class.  That was certainly eye opening.  Obviously I've heard of asthma.  But my impression was more on the sometimes the kids have a tough time breathing well.  They can't do quite as well in sports because they run out of breath.  But after the last month, and learning more and more about asthma, it was terrifying.  I left the class more knowledgable and confident in what we were doing, but also so incredibly scared that everything in our home, in our environment, etc, was going to cause Elsie to have another flare up or attack.

Naturally the doctor made her rounds while I was in the class.  Which reminds me, crazy thing about the doctor?  She had been my pediatrician.  The day before I thought she looked so familiar, so I texted her name to my mom.  Sure enough.  The world can be such a small crazy place.  Anyway, while she was pleased with how much Elsie was improving over the course of the morning (her oxygen level was now between 93-95%), she really didn't feel comfortable sending her home until we saw what her levels would do while she napped, and also that she could make it 4+ hours without needing any albuterol.  It took a lot of coaxing, rocking, and hair rubbing, but eventually I conned Elsie into falling asleep on me.  It ended up being quite the epic 3+ hour super sweaty nap.  My mom stopped by for a bit and we tried to wake Elsie because I was so uncomfortable, but she had zero interest in waking up.

Her oxygen level slowly started dropping while she was sleeping, but for the most part it stayed around 92%.  Occasionally it would hit 90, but she never set off the alarms.  Woot woot!  When she woke up you could tell she was feeling much much better, and was very anxious to play and move and do anything but sit and watch TV.  A volunteer brought her a mat and some new toys and she was a happy camper.

We hung around for a while longer.  The doctor made her evening rounds and told us if Elsie could make it to 6pm without needing a breathing treatment she would sign the discharge papers.  Score!  Elsie did great and after her 6pm breathing treatment we got to work getting ready to go.  All of the steroids were really starting to add up in her little body though, and my oh my she was quite the character.  Somehow while we were in the hospital she perfected her sass and grumpy face.  She also became a little less compliant to what everyone was wanting her to do, but again.  I just can't really blame her.  She's two.

That night at home was kind of scary and stressful.  Elsie was getting worked up and running around which in turn made her out of breath.  Part of me was wishing we had just stayed in the hospital one more night.  But we survived.

This week we met with an asthma allergist.  She went over the allergy testing the pediatrician had ordered and confirmed that Elsie does have a cat and dog allergy, but pollens, trees, dust, mold, etc, were all negative.  That was good to hear.  She also gave us a new asthma action plan, which includes a daily inhaled steroid.  It should keep Elsie from needing albuterol so much, and hopefully almost eliminate any flare ups.  We've made it three days without the rescue inhaler without any wheezing.  If we get through another three days or so I'll feel so much better.  We've had our carpets and air ducts cleaned.  My fingers are crossed that we've gotten enough pet dander out of our house to allow her lungs to heal.

Thank you so much to everyone who has thought of Elsie or prayed for her and our family in the last month.  I truly appreciate the support, and am so thankful for this little community I'm a part of via blogging and instagram.  Life and parenting can be so scary, but it is less so when you feel like we're all in it together.  I'm sure this isn't the end of our asthma journey, but hopefully with the new plan in place we can make it quite a while without issue.

ry's birthday weekend

Yet again, I'm going to attempt to get caught up on all the things I feel like I need to blog for my family, so that maybe I can throw in a few of those random things I want to blog about.  Not that I don't want to blog about our family happenings.  That truly is 90% of the purpose of why I write.  To keep a record of our life for my kids.  But sometimes I just want to talk about random stuff and not feel the need to edit a bunch of pictures.

Anyway!

A week and a half ago was Ryann's actual birthday weekend.  Since we had already done her party with all her friends, we opted to go to my parents house so we could celebrate with them.  Christopher and I had a couple of meetings with various people about home reno things (lighting and bathrooms and other fun stuff!) and we also needed to pick a few more paint colors, so the majority of Saturday was spent on that.

Trying to decide what else to do on Saturday was a little tough.  Ryann just isn't a foodie per say, like the rest of us.  She doesn't like very many things.  She isn't a huge sweets fan.  I mean just give the kid a dum dum or some other form of a sucker and she is a happy kid.  But we still wanted her to have a 'special' birthday dinner.  Eventually we settled on Texas Roadhouse, thinking she would at least like the bread (who doesn't?) and would enjoy when the wait staff line danced.

Turns out the best parts for her were smashing peanuts for Papa to eat, dancing to the music outside while we were waiting, and sitting on the saddle while they 'announced' her birthday to the rest of the restaurant.  She barely touched the bread or any other food for that matter, and didn't seem the least bit phased when everyone started dancing.  But hey, we tried, and she wasn't miserable, so we'll go with it!  Seriously though, the look on her face was absolutely priceless when our waiter yelled out across the restaurant to tell everyone she was turning five.  It was pretty cute.

After dinner we came home for a little dessert.  My mom generally bakes the birthday person a cake, but Ryann just isn't a cake person.  At some point she settled on having ice cream and brownies (which she helped Grammy make).  So we made her a brownie cake of sorts to stick some candles in.  She didn't end up finishing her brownie, but a little bowl of ice cream with sprinkles and she was good to go.

Sunday morning little miss antsy pants was up bright and early (when isn't she?) anxious to open presents.  Naturally I made her wait until her sister was awake, AND it was light enough for me to take some semi decent pictures.  :o)  Mamarazzi for life!  When we finally let her at them she was a pretty happy camper.  I can't get over how old she is looking in some of these pictures.  How is my baby five?!?!  Oh, and she had a bloody nose at some point, hence the blood on her pajamas.

After she was done with presents Grammy set to work on Ry's favorite, chocolate chip pancakes and bacon.  I mean she pretty much makes those every time we're in town, but hey, Ry still loves them.  Then we all took some time to get ready for the day, and set off on our birthday adventure.  Going Bonkers!  Basically a place with a giant play structure/jungle gym and arcade games.  I attempted to crawl through the structure with the fam for a little bit, but being slightly bent over for long periods of time while pregnant just wasn't happening.  So I snapped a pic and hung out with my mom instead.  Thanks for entertaining them Christopher :o).

Unfortunately the day ended with us back home, watching one of Christopher's co-workers drive away with our cats.  Both the pediatrician and the asthma allergist (which I'm due for another update on Elsie) agreed that E has a significant cat allergy, and keeping her away from them as much as possible is the best option.  But Ry was a trooper about it (after I quickly threw out we could get a fish when we move to the new house) and was a wonderful big sister comforting Elsie, who was notably more upset about the cats leaving.

Miss Ryann I hope you enjoyed your birthday weekend!

twenty-one weeks

written April 3rd

how far along:  21 weeks (compare to 21 weeks with Ryann, 21 weeks with Elsie)

size of baby:  Supposedly the size of a banana.  These fruit analogies are entertaining, especially to Ryann, but man they can be confusing.  Supposedly somewhere around 7 inches and 11 ounces, although I feel like our little girl is a bit bigger since she measured 13 ounces at the ultrasound a week ago.  Yes I'm well aware those measurements can be wrong.

weight gain:  12 pounds.  I've almost stopped caring.

maternity clothes:  I hate all clothes.  But yes, maternity clothes.

symptoms:  Between sleep deprivation and hormones I'm a complete emotional nut.  I also would like to eat everything.  But I think the latter is more related to stress than the pregnancy.

exercise: I managed to run a mile in .15 mile increments on Tuesday.  And then I spent two days sitting in the hospital with Miss Elsie and didn't do a whole lot at all.  I only got in 62,983 steps this week.

cravings/aversions: Nothing in particular.  I just like eating.

movement: It isn't super strong but I feel her moving a lot.  A few times it has been very strong though.  One night Christopher had his hand on my stomach and she nailed him a few good times.  We were both surprised at how distinct it was.  I was surprised by how high I was feeling movement already, but looking back on my post with Elsie I had the same thoughts.  I did see my belly move twice one night.

sleep:  The night before we went to the hospital I slept horribly.  And then I spent a night in the hospital playing keep Elsie's oxygen level up.  So sleep this week was miserable.  And the amount I've cried today shows it.  But whatever.

gender: Girl.

looking forward to:  I don't know right now.  I just want to survive the next few days and hopefully feel a little more 'normal' mentally.  I'm just drained and I don't want to do anything.  Yet I want to accomplish so much.

worries:  Pretty much right now I'm only worried about Elsie.  I feel like she is a little bomb waiting to go off and I'm terrified of dealing with her asthma long term.  I know it will become more second nature and less scary as we go on, but right now I'm just overwhelmed.

what's different this time:  The two major differences from my pregnancy with Elsie are the amount of weight gained and lack of ability to run.

best moment this week:  Not sure this is the best moment, but I did enjoy that when Elsie was taking a nap on my lap (and by lap I mean sprawled across my whole body), baby sister was kicking her over and over again.  Elsie didn't notice, but it was funny to me.

the saga continues

Was it just two weeks ago that I wrote about Elsie's ER visit?  And that I hoped we could keep our pediatrician adventures to well checks?  Haha.  Yeah right.

I'm pretty sure it was the day after I wrote that post that we noticed Elsie started wheezing again.  Not terrible, but she ended up needing a little albuterol to calm it down.  And as the week progressed she began to need the inhaler two to three times a day to keep the wheezing to a minimum.  She never seemed in real distress, no retractions or anything, but it was obvious that something wasn't quite right.  Our next best guess was that if she did have asthma, she was allergic to something and it wasn't allowing her lungs to heal and function properly.

I sent off a message to the pediatrician who agreed that allergy testing was a good next step, and she called in the orders.  Last Tuesday we had her blood drawn.  Let me just say Elsie has become a serious champ at this whole doctor thing.  She didn't really even bat an eye when we were getting her blood drawn, not a tear, didn't fight it at all.  And at every check-up we've gone to she has complied with all the doctor's requests without any issue.  So proud of her.

waiting for the blood draw

We thought we'd just wait for the allergy report, but by Thursday afternoon her breathing was the worst I'd heard it in over a week.  Again her attitude was great, she hadn't had any fevers or anything, she continued to eat and drink as normal, there was just this continuous wheeze and you could tell she was short of breath.  After I left Elsie in her crib for nap I called her doctor's office and asked if we should just continue with the albuterol as needed, or if there was something else I should be doing.  They said if she was truly wheezing they were concerned and I needed to bring her in.  And the only available appointment was in 35 minutes, naturally.  So I got Elsie back out of her crib, tried to calm a crying Ryann (she was pissed because her 'mommy Ryann time' was being interrupted, I can't blame her) and off we went.

We got all checked in and such, and taken back to a room in a relatively reasonable amount of time.  They check her oxygen level, and while it wasn't terrible, it was at 94%.  Definitely could be better.  We then waited quite a bit to see the doctor (not our regular pedi, she wasn't available that day).  But the next person who popped their head in was a med student.  I feel as though I can never say no when the request to do the exam, because Christopher has been there and how rude would I be if I said no?  She did her thing, was very nice, and then we waited again to see the doctor.

In the meantime I handed Ryann my phone and Elsie laid on the table and watched her play games.  E was facing away from me, but she turned her head just a bit and I noticed something on her face.  Then I realized it was blood.  Lovely, just lovely.  I sat her up and started dealing with the nose bleed.  I got it mostly calmed down just as the pedi came in, though Elsie was still freaking out a bit because there was blood on her hand and shirt.  The doctor began discussing all Elsie symptoms and issues with me, and naturally Elsie sneezed sending blood flying everywhere.  I'm not sure we could be having any more fun!

They had Elsie lab reports back, and while she didn't appear to have any seasonal allergies, she has a class three allergy to cats and a class two allergy to dogs.  Well, that could explain why the poor girl couldn't get better.  But the doctor wasn't convinced the allergies were the only issue and sent us off for a chest x-ray.  By this point it was like ten till 4.  I hadn't had the chance to eat lunch because my ultrasound had been in the morning and I planned to eat during nap time.  We were all tired and a little hungry, but the imaging center closed at 4:30 so no rest for the weary.

Again Elsie was a champ, walked straight back for her x-ray without me and didn't bat an eye.  When they came back out the ladies complimented how amazing she was and adorable and just kept gushing over her.  It was funny.  E managed to walk away with like 10 giant stickers, but the lack of a nap was getting to her and she became quite emotional.  Christopher had met us there, and I was hoping he could take Elsie home while I took Ryann to dance but E just wasn't having it.  She needed her mommy, so the three of us went to dance while Chris took on dinner duties.

For the record I hadn't planned on needing to drive straight to dance from all this, so poor Ryann wound up in class in a dress and leggings and her hair all in her face.  But at least I leave her shoes in the car so we had those.  Anyway, the doctor called me while we were there and said that Elsie appeared to have atypical pneumonia.  I certainly wasn't expecting that.  She called in a prescription to the pharmacy.  Chris wasn't 100% convinced by that diagnosis, but picked up the meds anyway.

Over the weekend we were at my parents house, and Elsie didn't need the albuterol at all.  She seemed to be doing much better, so we took that as the antibiotics were working and she was on the mend.  However just two hours after we got home Sunday afternoon Elsie was back to wheezing.  Not nearly as bad as she had been, but it was still there.  Well shoot.  After finding out she was allergic to cats we found ours a new home to live with, so they left Sunday night.  My mom and I spent the majority of the day yesterday vacuuming everything and running any curtains and blankets through the wash that we could.  I'm trying to schedule to have our carpets and upholstery cleaned.

I hope that getting all the pet dander out of the house will allow her to breathe better.  But in the mean time, we have yet another follow-up on Thursday with our regular pediatrician.  Woot woot.  Funny that at Elsie's two year appointment I said something to the affect that we wouldn't be seeing her anymore (because we're moving) and now we'll have been there four or five times.  I hope we've got all these issues figured out soon!

dear ryann

Miss Ryann Elizabeth,

How on Earth are you FIVE?!?!?  I can't seem to wrap my head around it.  You are five.  In the fall you'll go to kindergarten.  You will spend almost more time away from me than you will with me.

... and now I'm crying.  Sorry, the hormones are raging.

Watching you learn and grow every day has been such a wonderful blessing.  You challenge me in so many ways, but I wouldn't change staying home with you for the world.  One of the most exciting things I've been able to watch you learn recently, is how to read.  Suddenly you can decode lines of text, and it is just fascinating to watch.  And you love to practice writing things too now.  Not really letters per say, no, you just have to write sentences and stories.  The things you ask me to spell for you are getting more and more complicated.  One of my favorites was one morning you were frustrated with Elsie, and you came to me and asked me to spell "Friends who are not nice don't get to ride an animal."  We were heading to the mall and going to ride the carosuel, and you wanted to make certain she knew that if she didn't start being nice, she wouldn't get to participated.  I had to hide my giggles while said each letter.

Some days you have the kindest heart.  Especially towards your sister.  (Some days not so much at all but hey, you're just five now.  I suppose I can cut you some slack.)  You hate when she is in trouble and won't get something special, or if she asks me for something and I tell her no, you want to give that item (generally food) to her.  You regularly feel the need to smother her in hugs out of the blue.  It always catches her off guard and she freaks out, which in turn upsets you, but the gesture is so sweet.  I know you mean well, and one day she'll understand.  You guys crack me up when you play nicely together too.  Usually you'll get her to pretend to be some sort of animal, and you guys crawl all over the family room doing who knows what.  She looks up to you so much, always trying to mimic you.  I know as you get older you'll be a wonderful role model for both of your sisters.  And I think you'll be their protector too.

Ry you've always been my buddy.  We have a good time together.  But with each day I see you truly becoming my friend.  One who understands my hopes and wishes, who wants to hear my thoughts, and who wants to share back with me too.  With each year I've watch your heart grow, and to see you care about my feelings and the things I want, I just can't even describe it.

I know our relationship will always have it's ups and downs.  You're going to eventually turn in to a moody teenager and you'll hate me because I'm over protective and annoying.  But I love you so much, and while I will forever be your mom first, I hope you'll want to be my friend too.

You're amazing, my little unicorn.  I hope all your dreams come true.

twenty weeks

Halfway there!  Or, if history repeats itself, only 18 weeks to go.  This pregnancy is pretty much flying by and I can't do a damn thing about it.

We had our anatomy scan this week and it was so wonderful to see our little baby again.  Chris hasn't brought the ultrasound machine home since 13 weeks so I was anxious to check on her.  We saw all her fingers and toes (I think), all the chambers of her heart, her kidneys, her stomach, her liver, it was so interesting.  I don't recall the tech really going in to depth during the ultrasound or taking so many measurments with the last two, so it was fun.  My doctor said she looks very healthy, and the tech said she probably weighed 13 ounces, measuring 20 weeks 3 days (at 19 weeks 6 days).

As for me, everything looked good as well.  My belly was measuring a couple centimeters ahead, but I'm not all that surprised.  Blood pressure was still in the 120's over 80's so we're good there too.  I talked to my doctor a bit because I wasn't sure if I was already have braxton hicks contractions here and there.  Based on my description of them she said it was more likely irregular cramping, and went on to tell me that the majority of her patients who are pregnant with their third say it is much more painful than they recall the first two pregnancies being.  Yay.

how far along:  20 weeks (compare to 20 weeks with Ryann, 20 weeks with Elsie)

size of baby:  according to the bump a banana, about 6.5 inches long and weighing 10.2 ounces.  I have no idea what she is doing in there right now, lets just go with growing.

weight gain:  10.6 pounds.  I could say 11 pounds.  But the fact that I gained less than a pound this week deserves some sort of victory dance.  Haha.

maternity clothes:  Yes.  Just say no to real pants.

symptoms:  Sore ligaments and pelvic region.  If my entire pelvic area didn't hurt so much I would barely feel pregnant.

exercise:  Running is seriously a joke.  I have no clue how I ran that half when I was pregnant with Elsie because my right side hurts from the waist down every time I try to run.  I can't fathom not running again until like September.  I'll live, but Christopher and I agree, I'm a much happier person when I get to go for a run.  Walking just doesn't do it for me.  But I got in 83,230 steps.  Making it my goal to add in either a day of strength or yoga or something this week.

cravings/aversions:  Ben & Jerry's peanut butter half baked ice cream.  I may have bought four of the little containers at once for fear of running out.  SO GOOD.  No real aversions this time.  Can't decide if that is a good or a bad thing.

movement: I'm feeling more and more movement every day!  It is definitely getting stronger.  I love it.  I think she has even woken me up in the middle of the night a few times.

sleep:  Again a couple of nights of not sleeping well, but mostly I'm just fine.

gender: Sugar and spice and hopefully extra super nice...

looking forward to:  Miss Ryann's birthday weekend.  I hope she is a happy camper, and at least a little bit grateful for how we celebrate her.  Also walls have started to get painted in the new house and they are moving towards staining the floors and I'm just giddy.  I can't wait to see how everything turns out.

worries:  After seeing our sweet girl on the ultrasound and everything looking good, I don't really have much I'm worrying about.  She's healthy.  I'm still healthy.  The home reno is going well.  Elsie is a hot mess (I'll get to that at some point), and that does occasionally stir up my mind, but ultimately I'm pretty content right now.

what's different this time:  The painful ligaments and groin area.  And not being able to run or walk too fast.  So annoying.

best moment this week:  Seeing our baby girl on the ultrasound.  She's got a cute profile!  And looks just like her sisters.  I think... :o)

ryann's rockstar fifth birthday party

Ryann doesn't turn five until Sunday, but because of when the space we wanted to use for her party was available, we celebrated this past Friday.  For the first time we held a birthday party outside of our house.  It was an experience, a little crazy for sure, but the kids had a blast and going somewhere else was definitely a good choice!

It took me a while to settle on where to have Ry's party.  She wanted to invite friends from school, and friends from dance, and friends we just hang out with.  I wasn't really sure where to draw the line, and knew it would be difficult to entertain all those kids in our house, especially if it ended up being a cold day, so going elsewhere was the thing to do.  So many places had so many rules on the amount of people, or what you can and can't do, or it just wouldn't function for kids ranging in age from 1-5.  We ended up at Rainbow Play Systems of Olathe.  My friends might smack me for sharing this little gem, but it is a business that sells swing sets and play systems, and during the week you can pay to play in their showroom.  It has been awesome during the winter, and not too busy.  Lucky for us you can also rent the space for birthday parties.  These pictures don't do it justice, the play structures are awesome and there are quite a few different structures in the showroom.

There is also a trampoline, a few more play structures and a party room.  One of the semi stressful (but not really) parts of the party, was having to make sure I brought everything with me and getting it all set-up in about 20 minutes.  Which in reality didn't happen at all.  Thank goodness for my mother.  By the time we had everything carried in and started setting up the party room guests began arriving.  So my mom took the reigns and set up all the food and decorations.  I couldn't have put on the party without her, as usual.  Knowing we wouldn't have long to set up, and that the kids honestly don't care, we kept the decorations simple.  Balloons, plastic table cloths and cute desserts.  We kept the rest of the food simple with fruit, veggies and pizza.  We ended up having tons of leftovers because the kids were more interested in playing than eating, but they all seemed happy with the options.

My friend Jenny made the cake and cookies and they were just so cute.  I can't believe I didn't get a good picture of the cake when we cut it, she made the inside tie dyed.  You can get a little glimpse of it if you check out the cupcakes she made with the leftover batter.  I made the cake topper using my silhouette, and bedazzled a candle I picked up at Target.  For the record Hobby Lobby and Wal-Mart were completely out of 5 candles.  I have no idea.  All the kiddos that came got to take home an inflatable guitar and microphone that I purchased on amazon, as well as some tattoos and beads that I picked up at Party City.

Overall the party was pretty low key, but the kids still had a blast.  They were all red cheeked and sweaty and didn't want to sit still for anything.  We had about five kiddos who were dropped off, which is another situation I haven't really dealt with before.  It wasn't a big deal, and I had said it was perfectly fine in the invitation, it just got a little hectic trying to take care of Ryann and Elsie and make sure all the other kids weren't breaking their necks.  In the end though, like I said, fun.  The whole party was fun and relatively easy.

Oh, and the rock star theme?  Ryann just randomly decided that, and it seemed easy enough, so I went with it.  There are tons of cute ideas for a rock star theme on pinterest, but the would be much more easily executed in a house.  And Party City just so happened to have those napkins and balloons that were pretty much what I was thinking in terms of color scheme.  #winning

Can't believe my girl is going to be five!!