Last Week

Last week felt like a bit of a doozie. It started off with both Isla and Callum getting sick. Isla only had it for two days. Callum had it all dang week long. It made for a long week. A tired week. A week full of a lot of crying. For the first time in my almost eight years of being a parent, Ian offered to come home one afternoon and let me nap. THAT is what kind of week it was. One night Callum was literally up the whole night. Another, he woke in 15 minute cycles. Then he kept falling asleep during the day and crying inconsolably when I would have to wake him to go get Connor or Isla from school. So many people commented about how they had never seen him cry before. Which he normally doesn't, but he was just that miserable.

I took to bribing Callum with suckers when I would go get the kids from school. But, as soon as the sucker was gone, the crying was back. I also learned that Callum does not like the center of a tootsie pop. I guess tootsie rolls aren't his thing. One particularly desperate day, I went through five tootsie pops picking Connor up from school...in my defense, they are mini tootsie pops. Also, I don't care about defending myself because I think all parents have had days, weeks even, when it is strictly about survival.

But I made it. We made it. We are all still alive. We are all healthy. Mostly. Those coughs that kids get seem to stay around for weeks and weeks and weeks. Isla even asked me why everyone tells her that she has a cold. Haha! As hard and exhausting as it was of a week on me, it is also so hard to watch your baby be sick and miserable, trying everything you can do to help, but knowing they are still miserable. That just sucks.

Here's to hoping we got that out of our systems and don't have anymore sickness in our house for a good long while.

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When Mama's Sick

This picture was taken literally hours before I got the sickest I have been in years. Years. It was awful. Had I known I was going to get so sick, I probably wouldn't have been smiling so big. And I probably wouldn't have eaten as large a lunch...because that all came back up. 

We started this past week off with Connor getting the stomach flu. Nothing too bad. It was going around his school. He got it and it quickly left. A day later, I either got the worst stomach flu ever or food poisoning. I was completely out of commision for 36 hours. For about 10 of those hours, I was throwing up every 15-30 minutes. It was awful...besides all that throwing up, I realized we don't have a low flush toilet in our bathroom. A toilet full of water, my face close, throw up hitting it and splashing ALL OVER ME. Which, this happened five years ago at our old house and we quickly changed that toilet out. Talk about deja vu.  Anyway, I was in so much pain because I was so dehydrated. Which, side note, I found out later from my nurse friend that you need to drink something with electrolytes to replace them within your body to help. Once I started doing that, I started feeling much better. Anyway, Ian had to take off work. I couldn't even get out of bed, or even hold a couple line conversation, let alone take care of three children. 

Most of that day and a half I don't even remember because I was sleeping so much. Even after all that sleep, I still felt so weak. It took another two days before I started eating again. I went three days without eating. It was all crazy and I am oh so glad it is behind me. Now here's to hoping that never happens again! 

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A Doozy of a Dozy

^^ I'm told by a certain almost six year old that pirates don't smile 

It's been quite a week. A very long week. Connor got pink eye. This is the first time it has ever hit our house. The eye drops from the doctor did nothing to stop it and it lasted a full week. He missed four days of school before his doctor wrote a note saying he could be back at school with his eyes still pink…which funnily enough, he woke that morning for school and his eyes were no longer pink. She seemed just as stumped as I that his eyes were pink, yet he had no discharge. And, sure enough, on the morning that Connor got to go back to school, Isla woke up with it. I literally wanted to stand in the corner and scream. It's so hard when your kids are sick, but not really sick. They don't feel like they are sick. Yet, they feel like I am torturing them by not allowing them to go to school or play with their friends. And let's not even talk about the eye drops. Four times a day I am literally doing the absolute worst thing to my child. And just when I was done doing it with one, I got to start it with the other. It sucks trying to do something to your child that they hate so much.

A trip to Target by myself and some eggnog creamer to go in my coffee cheered me up and kept me from actually standing in the corner and screaming. But seriously, sometimes this parenting gig is hard work. And I keep being haunted by the thought that just as Isla gets better, I will come down with pink eye.


P.S. Please tell me I am not the only one who gets lines from their kids books stuck in their head? The Pout-Pout Fish in the Big-Big Dark talks about "a doozy of a..." and now I say it. 

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Loooong Week

It's been a rough week around here. Isla has had a bad cough for about a week and hasn't slept well since. She gets these coughing fits that literally last minutes and obviously wake her up. They happen numerous times a night. It's been exhausting. If she is sitting up, she doesn't get them, but she isn't a fan of sleeping sitting up. Then, because she isn't sleeping well, she has been sleeping in and I have had to wake her every single day and I feel like it is torture to wake a sleeping kid…especially one that needs the sleep!

Then on Tuesday Isla got a small filling and ended up biting her lip while still numb. She woke up Wednesday with the biggest, nastiest fat lip ever. Between that and the coughing, she wasn't a happy camper.

Here's to hoping she heals up quickly and we all get some sleep again around here…and that that sleep puts Isla in a better mood!

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A Doozy of a Dozy

^^ This popsicle was the only thing I could get Isla to eat yesterday…and it came up about 15 minutes after she ate it. 

The last couple days have been rough, to say the least. I am usually pretty good at keeping it together, no matter what comes my way. But when it just wouldn't stop, there came a time yesterday that I just wanted to put my face in a pillow and scream. 

It all started on Tuesday night. I thought we were in for a nice relaxing night. The kids were in bed asleep early. Then Ian discovered our water heater flooded our garage. So, we got to spend our evening, moving stuff around and cleaning a bunch of water. Then there was the gas leak. Then Isla started puking. And my MIL got sick so cancelled watching my kids for me while I went and registered Connor for kindergarden. Then there was the disaster that was kindergarden registration…that was actually what pushed me to the edge. I hate chaotic situations and the unknown and it was very, very poorly executed. It left me running around like a chicken with my head cut off, and convinced Connor will end up in afternoon kindergarden…which I keep reminding myself really doesn't matter in the scheme of life. Did I mention the puke? So much of it. And Isla is refusing to eat or drink. And Connor, he is acting like a 5 year old that doesn't want to be quiet when his mom wants him to so his sick sister can sleep. 

But there have been good moments too. Connor's parent teacher conference was on Wednesday and he is doing great. Isla has been a champ about being sick and has made it to the toilet almost every single stinking time. The kids dentist printed up his dental records for me immediately so I could register Connor for kindergarden…yeah, dental records. Weird, right? And Connor and I spent some time basking in the sun on the front porch eating popsicles…I figured if Isla wouldn't eat them, someone should ;)

I just keep reminding myself that it's Friday. Sure, Ian has to work Saturday (it is busy season, after all), but it won't be a full day. And hopefully this sickness, and chaos, will pass our house quickly. 

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Um, Yeah

I'm pretty sure when I went into this weekend I was thinking it was going to be a relaxing one. We have had so much going on lately and I was just looking forward to some downtime. Apparently life had other plans. Those other plans started somewhere around midnight Friday night (or Saturday morning, depending how technical you want me to get). Connor came in the living room and broke up our party by throwing up. He continued to throw up through the night and well into Saturday. 

On Saturday, Isla went down for a nap, like always. After a couple hours she woke up. I went to walk in her room and discovered the door locked. Now we live in an old house, with original door handles. And we discovered that the little screw that needs to be turned to unlock the door no longer had a head on it. Awesome. Isla was crying and we were plotting how to get in her room, doing the least damage as possible. In the end we broke off her door handle. Of course, it took a few more minutes to figure out how to get the door open. And Ian was not too happy with me taking pictures of the whole thing. But hey, it was my way of coping. After all, there was no way for me to comfort my crying child.

With Connor seemingly on the mend (though he still is on the mend...or still a little sickly...it's all about how you look at it!) we sent the kids to my in law's house while we went out as planned. And it was a fun night. No drama there. 

Of course, Sunday morning was a little different. When Isla woke up, she was covered in diarrhea. As I was cleaning it up, Ian walks in the room. I was thinking "great, now you can help". He walked in to inform me that Connor had just done the same thing all over himself. Awesome. Into the bath the kids went. Poor Connor just can't seem to catch a break! 

Thankfully the rest of Sunday wasn't bad. Sure, Connor still isn't eating. And we broke a tool and the bathroom drain while doing our diy. But no throw up, so I'll take what I can get. Now I am hoping for a restful and boring week. 

- Insert a day break. I wrote the above on Sunday night and below Monday night - 

My restful and boring week is laughing at my face. I came down with the stomach flu. Have been in my bed (and with my face in the toilet) all day. Why no picture? Well that one is simple. I don't look anywhere at cute as Connor does when he is sick. 

Here's to hoping the flu doesn't spread any further in our house. And that I have enough energy and patience to get through the day alone with the kids. It's times like this that I really miss my mama! 

Desperate Times

Call for desperate measures.

Remember the sickness that I mentioned in my last post? Yeah, its still here. Hopefully, we are on the tail end of it though. Connor powered through it a lot better than Isla has. Which really means, Connor only woke once a night while sick. And lets just say, the same can't be said for our adorable little Isla. After Ian and I both sleeping upright to keep Isla from hacking up a lung asleep, I realized she slept much better in her swing than in her bed. So, I drug that swing into her bedroom where it would be close to a humidifier and closer to us so we could hear her if anything went awry in the night. Still things aren't perfect, but she is sleeping a heck of a lot better upright in her swing than she was in her bed. And hopefully this bug will be behind us before we know it so we can concentrate on spring again. Aww, the great outdoors, hanging with friends, BBQs...I love me some good weather!

In the mean time, its things like the smiles I get from our adorable kids at bath time that keep me going. Bath time has always been a hit in our house. In sickness and in health and for both kids. Its purse bliss, I tell you...until I go to take them out. But it's those faces when they are in the bath that keep me going...

And Connor gets to splash around like a crazy man, once his sister is done bathing. He loves it...as you can see.

Punked

Please be forewarned, you are about to read the longest sob story of your life. But you were warned. So no complaining. 

Lately I have felt like my life is being filmed for multiple episodes an episode of punked, but Ashton Kutcher and the cameras never reveal themselves. Let me tell you about the latest saga...

I really had high hopes for this weekend. After all, it was Connor's first 4th of July. And we had plans to get stuff done around the house. The weekend started off great. We started Saturday off with a bang, installing a mister system on our patio and hanging some stuff in Connor's room. Then Saturday night rolled around and I started to not feel well. I went to bed super early because I felt so awful. Then the throw up came.

Now let me pause the story to tell you a little thing I learned this weekend. We have old school toilets in our new house (i.e. not the water saving kind, but the full bowl of water kind of toilet). I quickly learned why people got rid of these old school toilets. It has nothing to do with saving water. Oh no, it has to do with throwing up. You see, when you throw up in one of these old school toilets, it all splashes right back in your face and on your shirt. Not a pretty sight. But, I was already throwing up, so it didn't affect me that much. Though I am thinking we will definitely need to put some of those new, fancy low flush toilets on our list of upgrades to our house! But back to the real story...

So I was up all night throwing up. And sick all day Sunday. We had plans for a barbecue at a friend's for Sunday night. Ian and Connor went. I stayed at home, in bed, feeling sorry for myself and praying that I would be okay on Monday. Monday rolled around. The sun was shining, I was keeping food down and was ready to go. So go we did. We went to go pick up a new dining room table. On the way home from picking up said table, Connor threw up. Twice. And on the 4th of July. So not cool. Once again, we found ourselves calling some friends, informing them we would not be joining them for a barbecue and fireworks as our kid was now sick. So, we hunkered down for a night at home. We did try taking Connor out to watch our neighbor's fireworks, but he didn't like the noise. So instead, we put him to bed and enjoyed a quiet evening in.

Last night, I made a list of all the things I needed to do today. After sickness and activities, our house was a mess and there were errands to be run. And dang it, I was going to get it done! So this morning, I began loading the car with our stuff and while carrying Connor's car seat from the house to the car I noticed something moving on it. So I set it down and began to investigate. Connor's car seat was covered in ants (think hundreds, not just a few). Ants that came in our house to feast on the crumbs of his car seat. So I took the seat apart and brought it back in the house to clean. When I got into the living room, I discovered the ants had also attacked his stroller and were now all over the living room. I was devastated. At this point I really wanted the cameras to come out with people laughing at the joke...or at least someone to come over and help me clean my life the ants up. At this point in the story, I may or may not of had a slight breakdown. Okay, it happened. And it may not have been so slight. But I'm pregnant, so give me a break.

But, I am good now. Ian ran home from work and gave me a hug. And I called my mother in law and had her bring over some Taco Bell. Taco Bell makes everything better. The car seat and stroller covers have been washed and are drying outside. And the ants in the living room, well I have killed those bastards. I will not let them win.

After all that, there still were smiles to be had this weekend. Just look at that adorable face.

Playing Catch Up

Its been a while. I know. We moved last weekend and don't have internet at our house. Hopefully we will have it up sometime soon. Very, very soon. I realize now that I really like the internet. Okay, so I knew this before, but still.

Anyway, where did we leave off? Oh yes, Connor was sick. For two days straight. Of course I decided to make him a doctor's appointment and when I took him in, he seemed perfectly fine. Like seriously fine. Except for the diarrhea. (Too much information?) But the doctor said that could last for weeks. Weeks?!? So we decided we would make the most of this new found health and get out of town.

On Saturday we packed up and headed to San Francisco. Destination? A children's museum...and Ikea on the way home. The morning went well, except for the fact that I now felt sick. But we soldered on. Connor seemed to have a great time playing and exploring at the museum.

Then we went to grab lunch in the museum cafe. And that's when it happened. Connor threw up all over himself...and the ground. And what did I do? Cover him up with a blanket so people wouldn't notice, told Ian to wait for our food and took him outside. There I proceeded to change him and try to clean his stroller, which was covered in said throw up. After a little while in the sun, the stroller dried, Connor had clean clothes on and everything seemed right with the world again. Ian decided we should stay a bit longer. With trepidation, I agreed. 

That lasted about a half an hour. Said child diarrheaed through his diaper and all over himself. So, once again we cleaned him up. This time we left. Connor fell asleep in the car. I still wasn't feeling well. But, we decided to stop at Ikea because there were a couple things we needed. So, I stayed in the car with Connor while Ian went in. Connor slept for a while, then woke up, so I moved him to the front seat with me. All seemed to be going well. Until he threw up. I was smart enough/quick enough to aim Connor where it only went on the floor mat (well, and some on my leg). About that time, Ian emerged with our stuff. We were able to get things loaded and cleaned up and back on the road.

Once again, Connor fell asleep. About a mile or so before we got home, Connor woke up and threw up. A lot. Thankfully his car seat contained it. We rushed home, got Connor in the bath and I disassembled the car seat and cleaned it. While in the bath Connor had diarrhea...

And the flu saga continued for another day and a half. It lasted a total of 5 days. Those may have been the longest 5 days of my life. Thankfully it is now over. And we are still alive.

Sick Boy

The last two days have been filled with a lot of sickness in our house. My little man has it coming out both ends...poor baby. Just yesterday we went through:

8 outfits for Connor

7 towels

4 outfits for me

3 blankets

3 sheets

I have done a LOT of laundry. We have gone through a lot of pedialyte and ottor pops. This afternoon, I finally broke down and made a doctor's appointment for tomorrow. You see, I never want to be the person who runs to the doctor for every single little thing. Yet, it is almost the weekend and I would rather see the doctor tomorrow then end up in the er over the weekend. Hopefully this sickness will be gone soon.

The Week

We don't seem to have many sick days (or weeks) in our household, but this week we have been hit. I picked up Ian's coughing attacks (not quite a cold, just crazy amounts of uncontrollable coughing). But on the bright side, today is the last day of Connor's exile! That means we will finally get to start hanging out with people next week. Such a welcome relief! Of course, everyone will probably still be afraid of us due to my crazy coughing fits. Oh well.

For Christmas I bought Ian an at home brewing kit. After one batch, we hit up a local brew supply store to get more ingredients. While there, Ian was easily convinced to upgrade from our 1 gallon kit to a 5 gallon kit. Thankfully pretty much everything switched over, so we spent very little to upgrade. Making your own beer is a lot more time consuming than I thought. It takes about 4 hours to cook it. Then it has to sit for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, you bottle it. Then it has to sit 2 more weeks to carbonate. A couple days ago we bottled the last batch Ian made. We bottled about 50 bottles...go us!

And for the icing on the cake...



I woke up this morning to gray skies!!! It is supposed to rain all weekend! I am SO EXCITED about this. We just haven't had enough rain and I have been missing it. Yeah for gray skies and rain boots!

Sunny (& Sick) Days

I was just complaining to someone the other day about how there is just too much winter sun in Modesto. Now, its not like I don't want to see the sun at all in the winter, but I would like to have to bundle up every once in a while. Seriously. I haven't had to use my winter coats once since getting here, except for our visit to the snow. The sun gets kind of old. The grass is always greener, right? I just want some more rain. And more fires in the fireplace. Then I would be happy. Of course, I am already pretty dang happy from all the serotonin I am getting.

Connor, on the other hand, is enjoying all the sun. He gets to play outside on a daily hourly basis. This is something he didn't have the pleasure of doing in Scotland. He gets to play with rocks, run around in the grass, play in the mud. It is all great fun for him.

Waving at me from the yard

Showing me a rock

And all this outdoor play is a good thing for us/Connor right now. You see, someone knowingly* infected Connor with a highly contagious virus which means he can't be around other kids for 10 days. 10 days. That is a long time to not be around other kids. I have to admit, I still take him in public, just not around other kids.



*And about this knowing infection...

Some mother brought her kid to the nursery at church with this virus and knew her kid had it. So, Connor got it. Of course, I found this out after the fact. It kind of pisses me off. Now, we are stuck at home (well, not able to socialize with others), Connor has a fever and gets really grumpy and tired. All this because some mom didn't think through what she was doing. Uh, thanks lady.

One Sick Week

It's been a rough week in our little household. First Ian was home sick for 3 days. And when I mean sick, I mean practically bedridden for 3 days. As soon as Ian was starting to recover, Connor got sick. It started with him waking up constantly throughout the night and has turned into a sick little baby with a rash all over his body. Makes me so sad.

I realize you can't really see the rash in the pictures...but trust me, it is there!

And it frustrated me to take Connor to the doctor and have them act as if it was no big deal. They told me if the rash was still there on Monday, to bring him back in. Didn't help with my fears about the rash at all. But thankfully, we went to the pharmacy and spoke with a pharmacist who was much more helpful. She gave Connor as prescription to help with the rash. I am so thankful for the uber cool program over here where you can see a pharmacist for minor sickness and they can prescribe medicine on the spot...and even if they are prescribing something over the counter for Connor, because he is under 16, they give it to us for free!

Our one little glimmer in the week came yesterday. Connor got a package from home! He was so excited about it!

The funny part was, he was looking at the stuff and clapping.


Thankfully there were 2 large bags of peanut butter m&m's in there for Ian and I. We won't be sharing our bags with each other as that never works out well!

When Sickness Strikes

It started with Connor and soon followed to me. We both have some sort of cold/flu bug and it isn't fun. Connor is about two days ahead of me in the process. At first, I didn't understand why he was so cranky over a little cold. He stopped sleeping through the night and wanted to be held constantly during the day...and even then was cranky.

My understanding changed on Friday. I was in so much pain. My head and sinuses were throbbing in pain. I finally had to call Ian and have him come home from work to take care of Connor. And I proceeded to spend the rest of the day in bed. It was awful. I then started feeling bad for my little snot-faced boy and all he must have gone through, cold medicine free.

The worst of the pain may be over, but the sickness is now moving down into our throats and chest. Enter the coughing and the ever present snot has not given up. And, Connor loves it when we try to wipe his nose. Just coming at him with a cloth, he freaks out.

Given that I didn't want to be judged, we skipped church today. I was afraid people would say something about me turning up at the nursery with a totally sick kid.

So instead, our sick little boy gets another day of mommy and daddy all to himself...it still counts even if mommy is doped up on cold meds, right?