Kaitlyn's 8th Birthday in Chicago!

Pictures are here....also some added details of our fun trip!

Friday, December 21st
Kaitlyn had her follow-up appointment this morning. Doc said she still sounded great, shocking for as severe her pneumonia was. X-ray showed it was the same…this was good, we wanted it to look the same or better. She had a flu test and lots of bloodwork…all was normal considering her pneumonia. Doc felt it was fine to go to Chicago since we’d be near many hospitals. Since this was day 7 of her extremely high fever we added another antibiotic.
We left the clinic and went to get snowman donuts for her classmates (and her brother’s classmates), we delivered the donuts and said Merry Christmas to her teacher at school and then ran by the house to grab our suitcase and medicines.
So Kaitlyn and I went to Chicago for her 8th birthday. At check in at the Omni Hotel the man (Ben) asked if Kaitlyn was tired. I explained she was recovering from pneumonia and since it was her birthday trip we decided to not cancel the trip. He told us he had it in January and had been hospitalized.
We went up to our room and immediately the phone rang, it was Ben. He said to stay put and if we didn’t need the sofa bed he wanted to switch our room to a corner suite. He also asked how to spell Kaitlyn’s name and said he had a little something for her.
-Kaitlyn taking in the view (on ledge above bed headboard) of our room and watching the horse drawn carriages.




We decided to go down to Navy Pier to check out the Winter Wonderfest…we never found it! Instead we shopped in Build a Bear. We got a little something for Robby, Kimberlyn and Kaitlyn there. I was ready for dinner and expected Kaitlyn to want a bit to eat…she had only eaten half of her hot Krispy Kreme donut after the doctor appointment that morning. I know, how does anybody only eat half of a hot Krispy Kreme donut?!?!?!


Kaitlyn's private photo shoot with Sanat as the clerk told us he was doing his last sitting....this is after the Santa picture taking area was closed and he, Mrs Claus and their Elf were headed away.

We headed back to our room as Kaitlyn hit a low point and just needed motrin and sleep. She took her motrin there and by the time we arrived back it was kicking in to action. Kaitlyn found this huge platter decorated for her birthday with a slice of super yummy cake, a chocolate covered strawberry and a hand written card! She doesn’t like chocolate cake, but was so cheered up by this. She even wrote Ben a thank you note. I can’t find the words to express how touched we were over this extremely extraordinary surprise! We had a fabulous view of the horse-drawn carriage ride starting point. Kaitlyn watched and counted horses for what felt like all night. She even woke at 5 am to see if any horses were out!



-the cake and the thank you note!

She woke up seeming to be doing better, THANK GOD- I mean it was her birthday and I did NOT want her feeling so sick on her special day!

This is one of the pictures we took of our room from outside just before breakfast (our room was a few floors higher)-- breakfast was 2 special ordered pancakes, but after eating 1 1/2 small strawberries she was too full. She even puked as soon as we got back up to our hotel room. Our poor sick birthday girl!


We headed to American Girl Place and realized that Aunt Jess’ hotel was just a half a block up the street; they drove in late the night before. We went and waited for her to come down. Then we all headed to AGP just a few blocks up the street. We were one of the first ones there. Kaitlyn was the second girl to get her picture done with her doll. So cool they make the girl appear on a magazine cover. Then we browsed, browsed and finally shopped! Kaitlyn was very careful on picking out her purchase. I was proud. We strolled through the Disney Store and then headed for a quick break in our hotel room….oh, I forgot to mention- Ben extended our check-out time until 3pm. He also asked what our plans were for dining and I mentioned wanting to take Kaitlyn to dinner at The Rainforest Café…he asked what time and it was a done deal. We had a hand delivered reservation confirmation within about 10 minutes!

Kaitlyn and Aunt Jess before we went into American Girl Place.

Kaitlyn during her AG photo shoot!

Mom and Kaitlyn after the photo shoot!


Back to the break time in the hotel room…after this we headed to our lunch at AGP. It was marvelous. The girls brought their dolls and they provided a special doll seat for them. They also brought out a tiny tea cup for the doll! The food was very tasty…Kaitlyn ate about 3 bites of her macaroni and cheese. She just is unable to eat! For breakfast the special ordered her pancakes and she couldn’t eat them when they arrived. She had eaten one and a half strawberries and felt full. Unfortunately she puked as soon as we got back in our room. Later for dinner I think she took just one bite!

Lunch at American Girl Place Cafe!


After lunch we went to crash at the hotel again…still no crashing happening…this time she played with her doll and her new accessories. We checked out and they held our luggage. We went to the AGP Holiday Show….it was a fabulous musical. We both enjoyed it! After this we walked to dinner…it was a nice, slow walk. I promised to get a cab after dinner as Kaitlyn was beat.

--See, no crashing happening! Instead a wardrobe change?!?!?

We arrived home to her favorite coffee cake and a few presents. I’m extremely happy to report that she is making great progress at getting better. I think the new antibiotic is helping. She has gone 24+ hours since getting motrin and has woken in pain. She took some motrin and is back a sleep… She goes for another check up on the 26th.

Her little birthday party at home. Kimberlyn refused to get in the picture, so Dad hung her in real quick :)

Nicki and Katie (dolls) meeting for teh first time. They hit it off fabulously!!