Yep, I had to take the kids back to the doctor's on Wedneday. Luke was feeling worse on day 4 of his meds then he had been when I took him in for the throat culture. Eileen and Liz were complaining of stomach pains and along their diaphram hurting. Having had kids with pneumonia that I would've sworn was appendicitis I decided it was best to get checked out.
Luke had me a bit scared the night before I took him in that I considered a trip to the ER. He was snoring very loudly and then he'd suddenly stop. I realized it was because he'd stopped breathing. His tonsils were HUGE , ugly and red. The original thought was that he also had something viral ontop of the strep. They decided to be on the safe side though and prescribe another med incase the original med wasn't effective against the strep.
I was starting to feel like an overreacting mother when it came to Eileen and Liz. I mean come on...stomach pains? She was examined and had her urine tested. It was decided that her meds were probably causing cramps (a side effect) so they put her on a different one. As of this morning she's still feeling achy. I'm starting to wonder if it's viral. Liz said a couple of girls at school were complaining of a similar pain (but not as intense).
I knew most of Eileen's pains were probably muscle related (hurt her when she coughed...which wasn't often...or moved her arms) but I didn't feel it explained the lower ab pains she was having. After her exam it was decided her urine should probably be tested too. It came back chock full of white cells. So now we're waiting for the cultures to tell us what it is so they know how to treat it.
I've had so many kids home so much lately that I'm afraid the school is going to think I'm being negligent and report us to CPS. Besides Monday I haven't had everyone go to school in forever. It makes me wish I homeschooled so I wouldn't have that dilemma/fight every morning. It also makes me seriously consider whether homeschooling should be in our future. I hate sending my kids out the door every morning! The things holding me back are...I rarely complete anything and am a major procrastinator. This state is so highly regulated that I'd be on probation before I knew it. (Carrie's standardized test scores alone would cause me to be put on probation) Tom' s not in the homeschooling mindset although I don't know if he's against it either. They'd miss being with their church friends and cousins. (some moreso then others)
I'm so glad it's the weekend! Now to get these kids well and keep them there!
Friday, March 07, 2008
Monday, March 03, 2008
Quick Post
I'm exhausted and headed to bed as soon as I'm done here. I've been wanting to get a post up all weekend but something kept calling me away.
It's the start of birthday week here. Luke turned 15 on Sunday. We didn't do much since most of his friends were out of town this weekend. He wanted meatball subs and stuffing for his dinner and he got it. He picked a devil's food cake (had the mix) with canned chocolate frosting. I didn't have any oil so melted a stick of margarine in the micro. I then proceeded to FORGET to add it into the batter. So Luke's cake was the nonfat version. I thought it would flop something awful but came out not too shabby. We gave him the Zelda DS game, not knowing that Pat already had it and Luke could use it. (Luke didn't know either). I decided that I'd splurge and buy him something else too. Originally I was thinking a big bag of peanut m&m's and a mylar balloon from the dollar store. I ended up getting him a Zelda collection tin with a DS lite starter set, plus some extras inside. He seemed to like it and brought it with him when he left. Yes, he left to go hang out with church friends after dinner and before cake. So Luke's birthday night was kinda quiet around here. He on the otherhand had fun with his friends. Olivia's next with her 8th birthday on Thurs. Then Val hits the big milestone of 18 on Sunday the 9th. Another adult in the house.
Saturday I found out that everyone I took to the dr's on Friday tested positive for Strep AGAIN! This time though I only had 5 of them tested. Liz on down to and including Eileen. Liz and Luke tested positive for Group B strep (body can fight off itself) the rest all had Group A (need an antibiotic to treat). I asked for Luke and Liz to be treated also since they've been sick on and off with this for a few weeks now. Even today Luke's not feeling so hot. I am SO sick of having a houseful of sick people. I think I'm coming down with something now too. My chest is heavy, I'm coughing and like I said in the beginning..I'm exhausted. At least Sean and Danielle seem to be healthy.
Today was the first day since I can't remember when that EVERYONE went to school. It wasn't easy. I had to practically push Eileen out the door. She was oh so sore from falling off the top bunk this on Fri night (has a few bruises, but you know how the make it impossible to do school work! lol) Got her out the door and thought she was headed back in after she slipped at the bottom of the porch stairs. Then she tried to use it again...showing me her wet pants and "bruised" knee. Unfortunately for her I was a meany and wasn't buying. Then I was sure Olivia was headed in after she slipped on a patch of ice and landed squarely on her bum. Luckily she got up without falling again and then the bus was coming down the street. I slammed the front door shut and literally said PHEW as they climbed on the bus.
Sean is getting to be quite sharp. He seems to be picking up new "tricks" everyday. This week he learned to clap. Early in the week he kept running his thumb under the first few fingers of his hand. I couldn't figure out where he'd seen someone try to snap their fingers. A few hours later while seeing him do it again and again I realized.....he was trying to count!!!
Tom had been using his fingers to count to five. Sean was trying to copy him. Then Sunday Val and I were in Walmart waiting for the pharmacy to open. I was perusing the toy section, looking for a trinket to buy Luke for his birthday. Sean was in teh cart behind me with Val standing next to him. All of a sudden Sean yells BAAAAAL! Val shouts...did you just say BALL!?! Mom, did he just say ball? I admitted it sounded like he did. When I turned around the little stinker was reaching out toward the opposite side of aisle....toward the huge ball bin. We grabbed out a small ball for him to play with. I have yet to hear him say it again. And today.....he was trying to pull himself up into a standing position on SIL, D's coffee table and then her son's big box of hotwheels. D and I were laughing at how different we viewed that step now that we know what's ahead of us once they get mobile. Drew by now was standing on his own, taking steps and would be walking in 2wks time. Of course being first time parents we were so proud and excited. Now I'm like...someone push him down! Put a rock in his diaper! I'm not ready for him to be getting into everything yet! LOL Funny though I feel like every new trick he learns, I'm seeing it for the first time and it's just as amazing as it was when the first kid learned it.
OOOPS....Sean just woke up. Going to run in and jump into bed with the guy. Tom's on call and has gone into work for midnight. He's gearing up to deal with a storm that's headed here in a few hours.
It's the start of birthday week here. Luke turned 15 on Sunday. We didn't do much since most of his friends were out of town this weekend. He wanted meatball subs and stuffing for his dinner and he got it. He picked a devil's food cake (had the mix) with canned chocolate frosting. I didn't have any oil so melted a stick of margarine in the micro. I then proceeded to FORGET to add it into the batter. So Luke's cake was the nonfat version. I thought it would flop something awful but came out not too shabby. We gave him the Zelda DS game, not knowing that Pat already had it and Luke could use it. (Luke didn't know either). I decided that I'd splurge and buy him something else too. Originally I was thinking a big bag of peanut m&m's and a mylar balloon from the dollar store. I ended up getting him a Zelda collection tin with a DS lite starter set, plus some extras inside. He seemed to like it and brought it with him when he left. Yes, he left to go hang out with church friends after dinner and before cake. So Luke's birthday night was kinda quiet around here. He on the otherhand had fun with his friends. Olivia's next with her 8th birthday on Thurs. Then Val hits the big milestone of 18 on Sunday the 9th. Another adult in the house.
Saturday I found out that everyone I took to the dr's on Friday tested positive for Strep AGAIN! This time though I only had 5 of them tested. Liz on down to and including Eileen. Liz and Luke tested positive for Group B strep (body can fight off itself) the rest all had Group A (need an antibiotic to treat). I asked for Luke and Liz to be treated also since they've been sick on and off with this for a few weeks now. Even today Luke's not feeling so hot. I am SO sick of having a houseful of sick people. I think I'm coming down with something now too. My chest is heavy, I'm coughing and like I said in the beginning..I'm exhausted. At least Sean and Danielle seem to be healthy.
Today was the first day since I can't remember when that EVERYONE went to school. It wasn't easy. I had to practically push Eileen out the door. She was oh so sore from falling off the top bunk this on Fri night (has a few bruises, but you know how the make it impossible to do school work! lol) Got her out the door and thought she was headed back in after she slipped at the bottom of the porch stairs. Then she tried to use it again...showing me her wet pants and "bruised" knee. Unfortunately for her I was a meany and wasn't buying. Then I was sure Olivia was headed in after she slipped on a patch of ice and landed squarely on her bum. Luckily she got up without falling again and then the bus was coming down the street. I slammed the front door shut and literally said PHEW as they climbed on the bus.
Sean is getting to be quite sharp. He seems to be picking up new "tricks" everyday. This week he learned to clap. Early in the week he kept running his thumb under the first few fingers of his hand. I couldn't figure out where he'd seen someone try to snap their fingers. A few hours later while seeing him do it again and again I realized.....he was trying to count!!!
Tom had been using his fingers to count to five. Sean was trying to copy him. Then Sunday Val and I were in Walmart waiting for the pharmacy to open. I was perusing the toy section, looking for a trinket to buy Luke for his birthday. Sean was in teh cart behind me with Val standing next to him. All of a sudden Sean yells BAAAAAL! Val shouts...did you just say BALL!?! Mom, did he just say ball? I admitted it sounded like he did. When I turned around the little stinker was reaching out toward the opposite side of aisle....toward the huge ball bin. We grabbed out a small ball for him to play with. I have yet to hear him say it again. And today.....he was trying to pull himself up into a standing position on SIL, D's coffee table and then her son's big box of hotwheels. D and I were laughing at how different we viewed that step now that we know what's ahead of us once they get mobile. Drew by now was standing on his own, taking steps and would be walking in 2wks time. Of course being first time parents we were so proud and excited. Now I'm like...someone push him down! Put a rock in his diaper! I'm not ready for him to be getting into everything yet! LOL Funny though I feel like every new trick he learns, I'm seeing it for the first time and it's just as amazing as it was when the first kid learned it.
OOOPS....Sean just woke up. Going to run in and jump into bed with the guy. Tom's on call and has gone into work for midnight. He's gearing up to deal with a storm that's headed here in a few hours.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Nightlife and Last Day.... #3
We bundled everyone up and headed out to view the town. Our hotel was in the Clifton Hill area which is very touristy with tons of lights and attractions. This is a picture Carrie took of the Skywheel and some shops.
We walked down to the bottom of the hill. This brought us to the Niagara River facing the American falls in it's lit up splendor.
Walking back UP the hill was a killer. Sean weighs a ton! I had him wrapped inside my coat with me to keep him warm (I was wishing I had a sling about then). Danielle rode in the stroller. After buying some fudge Tom and I decided to take the little kids back to the hotel and take them swimming before bed. The older kids decided to explore a bit more. One of the places they visited was the Hershey store. The storefront is a huge Hershey bar. Here's Carl and Val fooling around with a Hershey Kiss...
And Michelle getting a pet from him....
The last morning we checked out at 11. Drew had to give the van a jumpstart since the back door hadn't shut all the way (latch is touchy). The inside lights being on for 2 days killed the battery. We got the van going and headed down the Horseshoe Falls parking area. Here's the beauty before it was shattered...
The river/rapids above the falls...
The brink of the falls...
Everything gets covered in ice because of the mist....
The only picture I could find of Jake (includes Eileen and half of Tom lol)...
Here's a picture of both falls on the way out of town (American side to the left, Canadian side in the center)...
And everyone exhausted on the way home...
Since we didn't end up spending any money (besides buying the fudge) we decided we'd order Pizza and wings and pick them up on the way through the village. It was GREAT not having to make dinner! When we pulled into the driveway we found something attached to our storm door. It was a HUGE green and gold ALOHA sign. We're not sure where it came from but was hilarious to come home to.
The really neat thing....on the way home from dropping Carl off Val says to me...that was the BEST vacation I've ever had. Considering what she'd been through that day and she'd been on Carrie's Make a Wish trip to Florida/Orlando for 10 days....that's an awesome statement. Money well spent IMO.
For those accessing my blog from this post directly...check out my other Niagara Falls posts and pictures...
Fallsview Waterpark...#2
Now Onto the Fun Stuff...#1
Thanks for linking to me Access Niagara
We walked down to the bottom of the hill. This brought us to the Niagara River facing the American falls in it's lit up splendor.
Walking back UP the hill was a killer. Sean weighs a ton! I had him wrapped inside my coat with me to keep him warm (I was wishing I had a sling about then). Danielle rode in the stroller. After buying some fudge Tom and I decided to take the little kids back to the hotel and take them swimming before bed. The older kids decided to explore a bit more. One of the places they visited was the Hershey store. The storefront is a huge Hershey bar. Here's Carl and Val fooling around with a Hershey Kiss...
And Michelle getting a pet from him....
The last morning we checked out at 11. Drew had to give the van a jumpstart since the back door hadn't shut all the way (latch is touchy). The inside lights being on for 2 days killed the battery. We got the van going and headed down the Horseshoe Falls parking area. Here's the beauty before it was shattered...
The river/rapids above the falls...
The brink of the falls...
Everything gets covered in ice because of the mist....
The only picture I could find of Jake (includes Eileen and half of Tom lol)...
Here's a picture of both falls on the way out of town (American side to the left, Canadian side in the center)...
And everyone exhausted on the way home...
Since we didn't end up spending any money (besides buying the fudge) we decided we'd order Pizza and wings and pick them up on the way through the village. It was GREAT not having to make dinner! When we pulled into the driveway we found something attached to our storm door. It was a HUGE green and gold ALOHA sign. We're not sure where it came from but was hilarious to come home to.
The really neat thing....on the way home from dropping Carl off Val says to me...that was the BEST vacation I've ever had. Considering what she'd been through that day and she'd been on Carrie's Make a Wish trip to Florida/Orlando for 10 days....that's an awesome statement. Money well spent IMO.
For those accessing my blog from this post directly...check out my other Niagara Falls posts and pictures...
Fallsview Waterpark...#2
Now Onto the Fun Stuff...#1
Thanks for linking to me Access Niagara
Fallsview Waterpark...#2
Walking into the place was suffocating at first. The temperature was a very humid 86 degrees (fahrenheit). We went to the front desk and had our bracelets put on. It allowed us entry to the park all that day and until 3pm the following day. We rented a family size locker (yeah right! we could've used 3 of them) and went to change our clothes.
The place is AWESOME!!!! There are 4 main areas...
The Tot splash area...
Interesting tidbit but probably TMI...Danielle ended up causing the tot area to be closed down on the first night. She'd gone down the little yellow slide shown on the right with a poopy swim diaper. They had to sanitize it and keep it closed for so long.
The Beach clubhouse...
The wave pool and slide area...
Everyone had a great time although Danielle needed a bit of encouragement at first. Here's Liz and Allison trying to psych Danielle up to go play...
Her favorite spot was sitting on the end of mom's lounge chair. Usually she was people watching (just like her mom)
Eileen and Olivia were going nonstop. Here they are in the wave pool...
The clubhouse had a huge bucket on the roof. As it got full of water it would start clanging. Then this would happen...
Resulting in this...
That's Michelle, Allison and Liz getting drenched.
Here's Luke and Drew relaxing for a bit...
Jake was almost impossible to get a picture of because he was on the go constantly.
Liz and Carrie showing just how much fun they are having....
I know I already showed off Sean in the water but he's just too cute to not share again. Here's him and Olivia in the tot section....
We stayed at the park until 3 the 2nd day. As we were leaving it was announced that the wave pool and slides were closed. Seems someone either got sick or pooped in the wave pool. Both sections share the same water supply. I'm not sure how long they were closed down for. It made me glad that Danielle only affected the little tot section. LOL We headed back to our hotel room and ate dinner which was cooked shrimp with cocktail sauce, seafood salad on pita bread, veggies and dip and cheez-its. (so solved the lent/meat dilemma)
The next post will be our night and the last day of our vacation.
The place is AWESOME!!!! There are 4 main areas...
The Tot splash area...
Interesting tidbit but probably TMI...Danielle ended up causing the tot area to be closed down on the first night. She'd gone down the little yellow slide shown on the right with a poopy swim diaper. They had to sanitize it and keep it closed for so long.
The Beach clubhouse...
The wave pool and slide area...
Everyone had a great time although Danielle needed a bit of encouragement at first. Here's Liz and Allison trying to psych Danielle up to go play...
Her favorite spot was sitting on the end of mom's lounge chair. Usually she was people watching (just like her mom)
Eileen and Olivia were going nonstop. Here they are in the wave pool...
The clubhouse had a huge bucket on the roof. As it got full of water it would start clanging. Then this would happen...
Resulting in this...
That's Michelle, Allison and Liz getting drenched.
Here's Luke and Drew relaxing for a bit...
Jake was almost impossible to get a picture of because he was on the go constantly.
Liz and Carrie showing just how much fun they are having....
I know I already showed off Sean in the water but he's just too cute to not share again. Here's him and Olivia in the tot section....
We stayed at the park until 3 the 2nd day. As we were leaving it was announced that the wave pool and slides were closed. Seems someone either got sick or pooped in the wave pool. Both sections share the same water supply. I'm not sure how long they were closed down for. It made me glad that Danielle only affected the little tot section. LOL We headed back to our hotel room and ate dinner which was cooked shrimp with cocktail sauce, seafood salad on pita bread, veggies and dip and cheez-its. (so solved the lent/meat dilemma)
The next post will be our night and the last day of our vacation.
Now onto the fun stuff.... #1
I have over 20 pictures to share so I'm breaking the trip up into a few posts.
As it usually goes I left too much to do until the end. I was forced into bed at 4am when Sean started crying for me. There was lots of discussion about what time to leave. Opinions ran anywhere from 6 - 10am. Knowing that people would want to shower before we left I thought getting out the door at 10 would be doing well. We rolled out of bed somewhere between 7:30 and 8 and we were pulling out of the driveway by 10:30...not too shabby.
On our way....
We got to our hotel about 1:40. Our hotel rooms (we had 3 of them) were ready. We went up, settled in and had lunch. Here's the view from our rooms...
The pool wasn't too big but with the waterpark package it didn't matter so much. On the 2nd night a little boy walking along the hot tub seats knocked Danielle into the tub and underwater. When I realized that she wasn't suppose to be underwater I grabbed her arm and pulled her out, sputtering and crying. She was ok but scared. I took her into the sauna to keep warm while I dried her off for the night.
After everyone had enough lunch we headed across the street to the waterpark. This picture was taken on the way OUT of the park, but oh well. The park's built on the roof of the casino's hotel. That hooded figure is Allison.
Next post is the waterpark.
As it usually goes I left too much to do until the end. I was forced into bed at 4am when Sean started crying for me. There was lots of discussion about what time to leave. Opinions ran anywhere from 6 - 10am. Knowing that people would want to shower before we left I thought getting out the door at 10 would be doing well. We rolled out of bed somewhere between 7:30 and 8 and we were pulling out of the driveway by 10:30...not too shabby.
On our way....
We got to our hotel about 1:40. Our hotel rooms (we had 3 of them) were ready. We went up, settled in and had lunch. Here's the view from our rooms...
The pool wasn't too big but with the waterpark package it didn't matter so much. On the 2nd night a little boy walking along the hot tub seats knocked Danielle into the tub and underwater. When I realized that she wasn't suppose to be underwater I grabbed her arm and pulled her out, sputtering and crying. She was ok but scared. I took her into the sauna to keep warm while I dried her off for the night.
After everyone had enough lunch we headed across the street to the waterpark. This picture was taken on the way OUT of the park, but oh well. The park's built on the roof of the casino's hotel. That hooded figure is Allison.
Next post is the waterpark.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
I couldn't leave things as they were
I just couldn't leave the last post as a first post on my blog....it's too sad. So I'm showing off my waterbaby. Sean LOVED the waterpark. He's always liked water but I never realized how much until yesterday. I put him in the tot section of the park and he played and played. We finally took him out after he was in there for an hour and a half. He splashed, he tried to catch bubbles, he laid on his belly and put his face in the water. The rocking you see him do is what he does when he's really happy. (it's also how he dances). I apologize to my friends on dial-up. I know videos are a PIYA for you. I promise not post them very often.
Tragedy mars our GREAT vacation
First let me say that everyone arrived home safe and sound. Secondly let me warn...the next story is disturbing. I have to start at the end of our vacation for a few reasons. I need to get it off my chest and stop thinking about it. I also want to get it over and done with since it really does distract me from the rest of what was a wonderful vacation for everyone.
We checked out of our hotel at 11 and headed to see the falls. We had visited it the night before and saw it lit up but the kids wanted to see it upclose during the day. Here's a pic I took with Olivia's camera to show just how close we got to it. The blob on the left is the ice covered railing.
When we first got there we debated on whether to get some hot cocoa at Tim Horton's or to wait until we were ready to leave. The line was pretty long so we decided to go outside first. Michelle, Val, Carl (Val's boyfriend) and Carrie were already in line so opted for the hot cocoa first.
We went out and enjoyed the beautiful view. It was a pretty nice day but still cold. As Michelle, Val, Carl and Carrie came out Danielle started complaining her finger was ouchie. Checking it out I realized that it was FREEZING! So I asked Tom if we could go in and get the hot cocoa now...he agreed so in we went. Tom, Drew, Luke and Jake went into Tim Horton's while the rest of us waited in the center of the "mall".
Tom was about to order when the other kids came into the mall. Val walks up to me and says...MOM! We just saw a man go over the falls!!! WHAT!?!?!? You're kidding right? No mom really! Looking at her face I realized she wasn't kidding me. She was shaking like a leaf. I ran into TH and told Tom then I went outside to see if they were mistaken. The police were pulling up and walked with me to where the crowd was gathered. The officer asked if anyone had any pictures. I went inside to ask the girls and check the cameras. We didn't have anything that would interest the police.
Val said she was standing near the brink of the falls (about where I took the picture) and saw a man in a leather coat swimming underwater with the current. Everyone was shouting NO! NO! He came up and then went back down again to swim some more. When he came up again he shouted something. Val thinks it was something along the lines of....Don't worry and I'm ok (I think). He then went over the edge of the falls. Val said at that moment EVERYONE went silent. Older ladies next to her started crying.
I found a newspaper report about it on Sun the 24th.
At first I was upset that someone would do that. Then I was angry! How dare he ruin this experience for all those people!!! How dare he be so selfish as to mess up a huge group of people. I'm just so thankful we decided to go inside when we did. The little kids are having a hard enough time understanding this (not that anyone really can understand it). I couldn't imagine if they'd actually seen it. Val said she looked around after it happened and noticed that there were no little kids around. Thank God for that. On the way home everyone was pretty somber. I found myself starting to cry on and off. I cried for my kids. To have to live with that scene in their head for the rest of their life. To not be able to look at or talk about Niagara Falls without thinking of that horrible instant.
I keep looking at the 4 kids, wondering if they are ok. Wondering if/how this will effect them. Carrie has me worried. She hasn't really said anything about this. I did tell her I'd call school on Mon and tell Ms S what happened. She seemed to like that idea. I reminded her that if she wanted to talk about it she could talk to me or to Ms S.
We really did have a good vacation otherwise. I took quite a few pics of the waterpark including an adorable video of Sean the waterbaby. :o) Everyone wants to get on the computer to update their various pages. I hope to have a more upbeat and picture heavy post up by tomorrow night.
We checked out of our hotel at 11 and headed to see the falls. We had visited it the night before and saw it lit up but the kids wanted to see it upclose during the day. Here's a pic I took with Olivia's camera to show just how close we got to it. The blob on the left is the ice covered railing.
When we first got there we debated on whether to get some hot cocoa at Tim Horton's or to wait until we were ready to leave. The line was pretty long so we decided to go outside first. Michelle, Val, Carl (Val's boyfriend) and Carrie were already in line so opted for the hot cocoa first.
We went out and enjoyed the beautiful view. It was a pretty nice day but still cold. As Michelle, Val, Carl and Carrie came out Danielle started complaining her finger was ouchie. Checking it out I realized that it was FREEZING! So I asked Tom if we could go in and get the hot cocoa now...he agreed so in we went. Tom, Drew, Luke and Jake went into Tim Horton's while the rest of us waited in the center of the "mall".
Tom was about to order when the other kids came into the mall. Val walks up to me and says...MOM! We just saw a man go over the falls!!! WHAT!?!?!? You're kidding right? No mom really! Looking at her face I realized she wasn't kidding me. She was shaking like a leaf. I ran into TH and told Tom then I went outside to see if they were mistaken. The police were pulling up and walked with me to where the crowd was gathered. The officer asked if anyone had any pictures. I went inside to ask the girls and check the cameras. We didn't have anything that would interest the police.
Val said she was standing near the brink of the falls (about where I took the picture) and saw a man in a leather coat swimming underwater with the current. Everyone was shouting NO! NO! He came up and then went back down again to swim some more. When he came up again he shouted something. Val thinks it was something along the lines of....Don't worry and I'm ok (I think). He then went over the edge of the falls. Val said at that moment EVERYONE went silent. Older ladies next to her started crying.
I found a newspaper report about it on Sun the 24th.
At first I was upset that someone would do that. Then I was angry! How dare he ruin this experience for all those people!!! How dare he be so selfish as to mess up a huge group of people. I'm just so thankful we decided to go inside when we did. The little kids are having a hard enough time understanding this (not that anyone really can understand it). I couldn't imagine if they'd actually seen it. Val said she looked around after it happened and noticed that there were no little kids around. Thank God for that. On the way home everyone was pretty somber. I found myself starting to cry on and off. I cried for my kids. To have to live with that scene in their head for the rest of their life. To not be able to look at or talk about Niagara Falls without thinking of that horrible instant.
I keep looking at the 4 kids, wondering if they are ok. Wondering if/how this will effect them. Carrie has me worried. She hasn't really said anything about this. I did tell her I'd call school on Mon and tell Ms S what happened. She seemed to like that idea. I reminded her that if she wanted to talk about it she could talk to me or to Ms S.
We really did have a good vacation otherwise. I took quite a few pics of the waterpark including an adorable video of Sean the waterbaby. :o) Everyone wants to get on the computer to update their various pages. I hope to have a more upbeat and picture heavy post up by tomorrow night.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
A little housekeeping
I've been wanting to update my blog for some time now. It's nice to get it done and off my mind. It's amazing how much energy a thought can suck out of you. Makes me want to dust off and revamp my food blog now. It's always something.
The girls have recouperated well from the flu. I know my sister's youngest ended up with it too. I'm not sure how her other two girls fared. Sean seems to have avoided getting it (unless this is what he had while admitted to the hospital...but he tested neg for influenza). I've been fighting something in my chest. While it's irritating it hasn't gone into something that slows me down. Unfortunately Luke and Jake are not feeling well now (as of last night). Nothing like being sick during vacation. What makes it worse is that it's Island Week. What makes it doubly worse is that we reserved 3 hotel rooms in Niagara Falls, Canada for 2 nights, starting on Thurs...including admission into an indoor waterpark. We have my BIL to thank for the trip, he's paying for most of the bill.
This week is our school's mid-winter break. Those of you who've been around here a while will realize what that means....ISLAND WEEK!!! Yep, it's our 4th annual Island week. This year hasn't been as packed full of plans as past years. I figure actually hanging out in 84degree temperatures in the middle of February is more island like then chicken kabobs (and I might get to making those still. We've been going like gangbusters on decorations though. There's talk of some of them following us to our hotel rooms. lol I'm hoping to have pictures up soon.
We're probably going to bring most of our food (hotel has breakfast covered). I'm thinking we'll probably buy lunch on Thurs and dinner on Fri. I'm a little stuck on what to bring/make (nothing to cook with) for lunch on Friday. It's lent and someone who's going with us is Catholic so that excludes most subs. If anyone has any ideas before tomorrow night when I'll be grocery shopping....leave me a comment and let me know!!!
On Friday I had Val back into the dr's. She'd been nauseated/vomiting and having constant headaches for about 3wks. The dr put her on blood pressure medicine. (listed also as preventing migraines) My first thought was...that's ridiculous!!!! But then thinking back, it makes sense. Her pressure has been high for a while now. We've always given excuses why it was up....she was in pain, she was sick, etc. There's no excuse now and it's still the same. Monday she had a GYN visit and they just as shocked to hear what meds she was taking. They looked back at her July visit though and yep, her pressure was up even then. Amazingly she hasn't had a headache since the day after starting her med. So she's happy. She'd due back to the dr on March 11th when I bring Sean in for his next well child check. By then Val will be a legal adult since her birthday is the 9th. :o)
Sean is growing so quickly. His first tooth made an appearance last week. (Can I just say...OUCH!!!) His newest trick happens while he's sitting on the floor, which he loves to do. He takes both his hands, puts them betweens his legs and pushes himself backwards across the floor. It's adorable! He hasn't figured out that he can get places by doing it but it's still helping him get into things. Might not be what he intended to get into (aiming for somewhere in front of him) but it works nonetheless. I'm still not finding much time with my hands free. Seems he loves sleeping in my arms or on my lap. Not so in our bed. As soon as I try to lay him down he's done! My typing skills don't fare too well with him awake since nothing is safe if it's within an arm or leg's distance from him. (hard to type on a flying keyboard lol) As a matter of fact, he just woke up and is "telling" me to wrap up my time here.
I hope to have lots of good and fun things to share about our trip over the border when I get back...including pictures.
The girls have recouperated well from the flu. I know my sister's youngest ended up with it too. I'm not sure how her other two girls fared. Sean seems to have avoided getting it (unless this is what he had while admitted to the hospital...but he tested neg for influenza). I've been fighting something in my chest. While it's irritating it hasn't gone into something that slows me down. Unfortunately Luke and Jake are not feeling well now (as of last night). Nothing like being sick during vacation. What makes it worse is that it's Island Week. What makes it doubly worse is that we reserved 3 hotel rooms in Niagara Falls, Canada for 2 nights, starting on Thurs...including admission into an indoor waterpark. We have my BIL to thank for the trip, he's paying for most of the bill.
This week is our school's mid-winter break. Those of you who've been around here a while will realize what that means....ISLAND WEEK!!! Yep, it's our 4th annual Island week. This year hasn't been as packed full of plans as past years. I figure actually hanging out in 84degree temperatures in the middle of February is more island like then chicken kabobs (and I might get to making those still. We've been going like gangbusters on decorations though. There's talk of some of them following us to our hotel rooms. lol I'm hoping to have pictures up soon.
We're probably going to bring most of our food (hotel has breakfast covered). I'm thinking we'll probably buy lunch on Thurs and dinner on Fri. I'm a little stuck on what to bring/make (nothing to cook with) for lunch on Friday. It's lent and someone who's going with us is Catholic so that excludes most subs. If anyone has any ideas before tomorrow night when I'll be grocery shopping....leave me a comment and let me know!!!
On Friday I had Val back into the dr's. She'd been nauseated/vomiting and having constant headaches for about 3wks. The dr put her on blood pressure medicine. (listed also as preventing migraines) My first thought was...that's ridiculous!!!! But then thinking back, it makes sense. Her pressure has been high for a while now. We've always given excuses why it was up....she was in pain, she was sick, etc. There's no excuse now and it's still the same. Monday she had a GYN visit and they just as shocked to hear what meds she was taking. They looked back at her July visit though and yep, her pressure was up even then. Amazingly she hasn't had a headache since the day after starting her med. So she's happy. She'd due back to the dr on March 11th when I bring Sean in for his next well child check. By then Val will be a legal adult since her birthday is the 9th. :o)
Sean is growing so quickly. His first tooth made an appearance last week. (Can I just say...OUCH!!!) His newest trick happens while he's sitting on the floor, which he loves to do. He takes both his hands, puts them betweens his legs and pushes himself backwards across the floor. It's adorable! He hasn't figured out that he can get places by doing it but it's still helping him get into things. Might not be what he intended to get into (aiming for somewhere in front of him) but it works nonetheless. I'm still not finding much time with my hands free. Seems he loves sleeping in my arms or on my lap. Not so in our bed. As soon as I try to lay him down he's done! My typing skills don't fare too well with him awake since nothing is safe if it's within an arm or leg's distance from him. (hard to type on a flying keyboard lol) As a matter of fact, he just woke up and is "telling" me to wrap up my time here.
I hope to have lots of good and fun things to share about our trip over the border when I get back...including pictures.
Friday, February 08, 2008
I spoke too soon
Last post I mentioned "Nothing huge like the flu (yet) but there's always something going around to keep these guys feeling off." Well guess what....we have the flu going around. Olivia's been sick since Sunday, Eileen since Monday and Danielle since Tuesday. That's why I'm up at this horrendous hour...Danielle was having a fever induced tantrum. She wanted to be held, but not held. She wanted covers but not her princess covers. She wanted to lay down but not like that! The commotion woke up Sean who also started crying. Tom decided to let us have the bed and went out onto the couch. Danielle decided she wanted to be on the couch so Sean, Danielle and I kicked Tom off and sent him back to bed. After an hour of being juggled around Danielle eventually started snoring again and Sean nursed himself back to sleep. Yet here I sit...exhausted but unable to find the Land of Nod. It's going to be a loooong day tomorrow. Luckily I had already decided to keep Olivia and Eileen home from school this morning, even if they felt well. Why send them back for one day and let them get exhausted and exposed to something else. This way they'll have the weekend to recoup even more. (They're still complaining on and off that they don't feel good)
I'm hoping that Sean and I can avoid coming down with this. I have to call my sister and see how her girls are doing. Yes, her girls were here when Olivia came down sick on Sunday. I'd feel guilty except there is NO way I could know this was coming on. I may regret saying this but generally it's a fairly easy flu to be dealing with. Pretty much just high fevers, a headache along with a few muscle aches and a cough for some. (Danielle hasn't started that part yet). The sick ones spend most of the time on the couch or on my lap. It's also done the classic flu thing where they feel well for a day or two and then get hit with it all again.
Hopefully everyone will be done with this by the time midwinter break and our annual Island Week comes around. I'm not sure exactly which day we'll start but the break is from the 16th to the 24th. Tom's already making lists and planning the decorations. I have a few ideas for food in my head. Danielle and Tom were making a guest list. I guess the whole universe is going to be here according to them. lol
I probably should cut this short and climb onto the couch with the little ones. Val will be getting up for school shortly. (she gets up earliest so she can shower without a hassle) I'm thinking Luke and Jake may try to stay home today since they were complaining they didn't feel good last night already. Maybe I'll call Drew and see if he'll drive Michelle to work for me (needs to be there by 10am). With only an hour or two of sleep under my belt I'm not a safe candidate for the job.
I'm hoping that Sean and I can avoid coming down with this. I have to call my sister and see how her girls are doing. Yes, her girls were here when Olivia came down sick on Sunday. I'd feel guilty except there is NO way I could know this was coming on. I may regret saying this but generally it's a fairly easy flu to be dealing with. Pretty much just high fevers, a headache along with a few muscle aches and a cough for some. (Danielle hasn't started that part yet). The sick ones spend most of the time on the couch or on my lap. It's also done the classic flu thing where they feel well for a day or two and then get hit with it all again.
Hopefully everyone will be done with this by the time midwinter break and our annual Island Week comes around. I'm not sure exactly which day we'll start but the break is from the 16th to the 24th. Tom's already making lists and planning the decorations. I have a few ideas for food in my head. Danielle and Tom were making a guest list. I guess the whole universe is going to be here according to them. lol
I probably should cut this short and climb onto the couch with the little ones. Val will be getting up for school shortly. (she gets up earliest so she can shower without a hassle) I'm thinking Luke and Jake may try to stay home today since they were complaining they didn't feel good last night already. Maybe I'll call Drew and see if he'll drive Michelle to work for me (needs to be there by 10am). With only an hour or two of sleep under my belt I'm not a safe candidate for the job.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Ramblings
My mind is going in a million directions at once. Instead of letting a lack of specific direction prevent me from posting, I'm going with the flow. So excuse me if this gets a little disjointed. Just consider it a little peek into my brain. lol
First an update on Sean. He's greatly improved over last weekend. Although he's a bit hoarse sounding now, I'm not sure why. It does leave me a bit on edge though. I just keep remembering how Carrie was before her cancer dx. One illness after another at the end of her antibiotic treatment or as soon as it was over. I hate having that always in the back of my brain! I wanna know who to see to get my innocence back.
Generally this has been a weird illness season all around. Nothing huge like the flu (yet) but there's always something going around to keep these guys feeling off. Just this morning I was thinking...ahhh, everyone is feeling well and back at school. Yeah right! I was almost home from dropping Michelle off this morning when my cell phone rings. Olivia's in the nurse's office. She's not feeling well and has a slight temp. Luckily I had just gotten to the village and was only a few blocks from school. She was home, in bed, and napping in no time.
My sister's going to love it when I call her tonight and tell her. We switched kids for the night Saturday night. This was after I assured her that everyone was well...not even a runny nose in the lot! UGH!!!
Talking to my sister this weekend was a bit enlightening. I complained to her that it had gotten so I couldn't mention anything about my life without my mom getting all atwitter. It had gotten so bad that I just stopped talking about what was going on with me altogether. My sister let me know that my mom "had a reason" why she was acting like she was. Seems she had a dream a few months back that my house caught on fire. No one was able to get out or into the house to help us because it was so messy and cluttered. Yes, my house was in such bad shape that it was giving other people nightmares! Things made a bit more sense to me. I know how upsetting those dreams can be, I've had them quite a bit since I was teen. Actually my first one was as a teen. Seems I died in a fire after trying to get my sister awake (she was horrible to wake up in the morning) and then subsequently trying to rescue her when she didn't awaken. Anyways, I wish my mom had TOLD me about this instead of letting it come out like it did.
I'm sure my mom is happy to hear that things are improving here. Tom has really taken an interest in getting this place back in shape now that his mom's place is done. It's been great! Working with him I've realized that I was a quite a bit more depressed then I thought I was lately. Dealing with a demanding newborn, on the go constantly with Tom barely around and working himself to death....it got to me. Thankfully I feel that I'm on the otherside of that now. I'm motivated to get things done, Sean can entertain himself for a bit longer now so I'm able to do some things, and I'm not putting things off until they are unbearable things I HAVE to deal with...or else.
This weekend was productive although I'm not sure anyone would notice except us. Tom and I were busy pulling things apart, cleaning and reorganizing. I actually have cupboards with NOTHING in them!! I haven't seen my small linen closet as empty as it is in a looooong time. I was putting a really good dent in the laundry until this morning. I think I jammed up my dryer this morning. Waaaah! I turned the dryer on and heard the signal that my lint filter was full. (usually empty it every other load, must have forgotten with the last load) I pulled the lint filter out, emptied it and jammed it back into it's slot. Then I heard a horrible noise and smelled hot rubber. My guess is that something got caught on the end of the filter screen and I jammed it into the drum area when I tried to put the lint filter back into the slot. Hopefully that's all it is and Tom can unjam it tonight after he gets home from work. I REALLY want to get the laundry taken care of! I only have about 13 loads waiting for me downstairs. lol
Our community has been hard hit this last week. Midweek NV was killed in a car accident. He was 23 and had graduated with Drew. I haven't seen or talked to Drew since the accident so not sure how he's dealing with it. On Sat morning AM was killed in a headon collision. He had graduated last year and was the boyfriend of one of Liz's friends. His younger brother is in Luke's class. AM's aunt was one of Sean's nurses last week. I had asked her how he and his family were doing. You see AM had a brother C who was in Pat's grade. When C was 16 (AM was 13 or 14) he was killed in a snowmobiling accident. AM was involved with the accident and I knew he had had a hard time dealing with that fact. I feel so bad for the M family. No family should have to go through such a tragic loss once, much less twice. :o(
Well, kids are due off the bus any second now, Sean is sleeping in my arms and Danielle is a bit odorous and needs some attention.
First an update on Sean. He's greatly improved over last weekend. Although he's a bit hoarse sounding now, I'm not sure why. It does leave me a bit on edge though. I just keep remembering how Carrie was before her cancer dx. One illness after another at the end of her antibiotic treatment or as soon as it was over. I hate having that always in the back of my brain! I wanna know who to see to get my innocence back.
Generally this has been a weird illness season all around. Nothing huge like the flu (yet) but there's always something going around to keep these guys feeling off. Just this morning I was thinking...ahhh, everyone is feeling well and back at school. Yeah right! I was almost home from dropping Michelle off this morning when my cell phone rings. Olivia's in the nurse's office. She's not feeling well and has a slight temp. Luckily I had just gotten to the village and was only a few blocks from school. She was home, in bed, and napping in no time.
My sister's going to love it when I call her tonight and tell her. We switched kids for the night Saturday night. This was after I assured her that everyone was well...not even a runny nose in the lot! UGH!!!
Talking to my sister this weekend was a bit enlightening. I complained to her that it had gotten so I couldn't mention anything about my life without my mom getting all atwitter. It had gotten so bad that I just stopped talking about what was going on with me altogether. My sister let me know that my mom "had a reason" why she was acting like she was. Seems she had a dream a few months back that my house caught on fire. No one was able to get out or into the house to help us because it was so messy and cluttered. Yes, my house was in such bad shape that it was giving other people nightmares! Things made a bit more sense to me. I know how upsetting those dreams can be, I've had them quite a bit since I was teen. Actually my first one was as a teen. Seems I died in a fire after trying to get my sister awake (she was horrible to wake up in the morning) and then subsequently trying to rescue her when she didn't awaken. Anyways, I wish my mom had TOLD me about this instead of letting it come out like it did.
I'm sure my mom is happy to hear that things are improving here. Tom has really taken an interest in getting this place back in shape now that his mom's place is done. It's been great! Working with him I've realized that I was a quite a bit more depressed then I thought I was lately. Dealing with a demanding newborn, on the go constantly with Tom barely around and working himself to death....it got to me. Thankfully I feel that I'm on the otherside of that now. I'm motivated to get things done, Sean can entertain himself for a bit longer now so I'm able to do some things, and I'm not putting things off until they are unbearable things I HAVE to deal with...or else.
This weekend was productive although I'm not sure anyone would notice except us. Tom and I were busy pulling things apart, cleaning and reorganizing. I actually have cupboards with NOTHING in them!! I haven't seen my small linen closet as empty as it is in a looooong time. I was putting a really good dent in the laundry until this morning. I think I jammed up my dryer this morning. Waaaah! I turned the dryer on and heard the signal that my lint filter was full. (usually empty it every other load, must have forgotten with the last load) I pulled the lint filter out, emptied it and jammed it back into it's slot. Then I heard a horrible noise and smelled hot rubber. My guess is that something got caught on the end of the filter screen and I jammed it into the drum area when I tried to put the lint filter back into the slot. Hopefully that's all it is and Tom can unjam it tonight after he gets home from work. I REALLY want to get the laundry taken care of! I only have about 13 loads waiting for me downstairs. lol
Our community has been hard hit this last week. Midweek NV was killed in a car accident. He was 23 and had graduated with Drew. I haven't seen or talked to Drew since the accident so not sure how he's dealing with it. On Sat morning AM was killed in a headon collision. He had graduated last year and was the boyfriend of one of Liz's friends. His younger brother is in Luke's class. AM's aunt was one of Sean's nurses last week. I had asked her how he and his family were doing. You see AM had a brother C who was in Pat's grade. When C was 16 (AM was 13 or 14) he was killed in a snowmobiling accident. AM was involved with the accident and I knew he had had a hard time dealing with that fact. I feel so bad for the M family. No family should have to go through such a tragic loss once, much less twice. :o(
Well, kids are due off the bus any second now, Sean is sleeping in my arms and Danielle is a bit odorous and needs some attention.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Loooong Weekend ~ The end
So now it's Sunday afternoon, Sean and I are home from the hospital (story in the entry before this). Everyone is clamoring to hold Sean. All I want is to get out of the gross clothes I've been wearing since Friday afternoon and take a shower. Oh and go to the bathroom. Do you realize how hard it is to have to use a public restroom constantly? I'd do terrible in a dorm setting. lol
I get out of the shower and decide...since Sean is still happy with all the kids...I'll clean the tub. It's needed it for a while and it bugs me everytime I go in there. Problem is, I'm usually just running in while Sean is occupied for 2mins. I managed to clean the whole tub and surround, it felt so good to get it done. I then attacked the sink and started on the walls. Before I knew it I had worked my way out and down the hall walls. Yeeehaw! By the time the hall walls were done Sean and the rest of the kids were ready for me to have Sean for a while. So we sat down and had a good long nurse session. Eventually Sean fell asleep and I stuck him in bed.
I then attacked the laundry. I'm embarrassed to admit I've been behind in laundry for a looong time. It literally thickly carpeted my whole hallway. So the washer and dryer were going (Tom had done laundry when I was gone). The dishwasher was going (Luke had filled and started it before we got home) I started cleaning up the pile of pans. It felt good to get something accomplished. It also was nice to actually care what the house looked like (hasn't happened in a while I'm sad to admit).
Sean was still pretty needy for attention and his fever was really low grade. His rash wasn't too bad but tended to bother him on and off (it itches). Tom made me a margarita or two and we just relaxed. Having only had 5hrs of sleep while we were in the hospital I relaxed a little too much. Before I knew it I was headed to bed with Sean and Danielle.
Everyone was home Monday morning as it was Martin Luther King Jr Day. That hadn't happened in a long time. I was up bright and early thanks to going to bed at a decent time. Everywhere I looked I saw things I wanted to tear apart, declutter, clean, and organize. I jumped around from one area to another doing a bit here and there. I hate when I do that as it never accomplishes anything great. I decided if nothing else we would get the hallway cleared of clothes.
We had a good incentive to work and get things done since my parents said they'd be out later in the afternoon. Olivia took care of Sean while everyone got to work. Poor Michelle and Eileen worked for TWO hours sorting clothes. THAT is too many clothes!!! (and that's not all of it) All together we worked for 4 hours around here and got a LOT done. I was spot cleaning the kitchen floor when my parents got here. It's looking a lot better here now. Hopefully we can keep it up and deep clean even more.
We had a great visit with my parents. They brought us a treat of Pizza Hut pizzas. The perfect thing after having done all that work. We had a deep and heated discussion about retirement, pensions, social security and life insurance. lol Pat and Jess were here and stayed until after 10. It was great having them here, they haven't been around too much lately.
By the time my parents were leaving I was a bit concerned about Sean. He was starting to feel warm, his rash was really bad and he sounded hoarse. It didn't amount to anything thankfully. He's still off a bit but improving more everyday.
Michelle's first day of school went well today. Her night class was dropped due to low enrollment so no 12 hour school day for her. She's done by 3:20 now. Tomorrow is only one class for 1.5 hrs. Tomorrow I don't have to wait for her because she has to work afterwards, so she'll walk. This week is Regents week (NY state testing). That means the high school kids only need to go to school on Thurs and Fri if they have to take one of the tests. Luke has a test on Thurs morning, Val on Friday morning. Hopefully we can all stay healthy.
I get out of the shower and decide...since Sean is still happy with all the kids...I'll clean the tub. It's needed it for a while and it bugs me everytime I go in there. Problem is, I'm usually just running in while Sean is occupied for 2mins. I managed to clean the whole tub and surround, it felt so good to get it done. I then attacked the sink and started on the walls. Before I knew it I had worked my way out and down the hall walls. Yeeehaw! By the time the hall walls were done Sean and the rest of the kids were ready for me to have Sean for a while. So we sat down and had a good long nurse session. Eventually Sean fell asleep and I stuck him in bed.
I then attacked the laundry. I'm embarrassed to admit I've been behind in laundry for a looong time. It literally thickly carpeted my whole hallway. So the washer and dryer were going (Tom had done laundry when I was gone). The dishwasher was going (Luke had filled and started it before we got home) I started cleaning up the pile of pans. It felt good to get something accomplished. It also was nice to actually care what the house looked like (hasn't happened in a while I'm sad to admit).
Sean was still pretty needy for attention and his fever was really low grade. His rash wasn't too bad but tended to bother him on and off (it itches). Tom made me a margarita or two and we just relaxed. Having only had 5hrs of sleep while we were in the hospital I relaxed a little too much. Before I knew it I was headed to bed with Sean and Danielle.
Everyone was home Monday morning as it was Martin Luther King Jr Day. That hadn't happened in a long time. I was up bright and early thanks to going to bed at a decent time. Everywhere I looked I saw things I wanted to tear apart, declutter, clean, and organize. I jumped around from one area to another doing a bit here and there. I hate when I do that as it never accomplishes anything great. I decided if nothing else we would get the hallway cleared of clothes.
We had a good incentive to work and get things done since my parents said they'd be out later in the afternoon. Olivia took care of Sean while everyone got to work. Poor Michelle and Eileen worked for TWO hours sorting clothes. THAT is too many clothes!!! (and that's not all of it) All together we worked for 4 hours around here and got a LOT done. I was spot cleaning the kitchen floor when my parents got here. It's looking a lot better here now. Hopefully we can keep it up and deep clean even more.
We had a great visit with my parents. They brought us a treat of Pizza Hut pizzas. The perfect thing after having done all that work. We had a deep and heated discussion about retirement, pensions, social security and life insurance. lol Pat and Jess were here and stayed until after 10. It was great having them here, they haven't been around too much lately.
By the time my parents were leaving I was a bit concerned about Sean. He was starting to feel warm, his rash was really bad and he sounded hoarse. It didn't amount to anything thankfully. He's still off a bit but improving more everyday.
Michelle's first day of school went well today. Her night class was dropped due to low enrollment so no 12 hour school day for her. She's done by 3:20 now. Tomorrow is only one class for 1.5 hrs. Tomorrow I don't have to wait for her because she has to work afterwards, so she'll walk. This week is Regents week (NY state testing). That means the high school kids only need to go to school on Thurs and Fri if they have to take one of the tests. Luke has a test on Thurs morning, Val on Friday morning. Hopefully we can all stay healthy.
Loooong Weekend ~ The beginning
As I said in the update below this weekend's story is long and needs it's own entry.
I already mentioned that all the kids had been sick and on antibiotics. Val was put on zithromax that she finished up on the 10th. Sean was on amoxicillin which he finished on Mon, the 14th. On Mon (the 14th) Val had body aches and a really bad headache. By Thurs she still had the headache and her glands were swollen. Sean started a fever on Thurs which ran pretty high at night (as fevers usually do). Fri morning I decided to get Val back into the dr's. I figured since I was already going in it wouldn't hurt to make Sean an appt to have his ears and throat looked at. They were scheduled to be seen at 4:15 that afternoon.
Having to pick up Michelle from work at 3:45 we headed to the city a bit early. I stopped by Walmart, picked up some photos I had developed and ordered a 50pc box of chicken to be picked up at 5:30. My thinking was that we'd go to the dr's, go back to Walmart, pick up a few things that we needed (BIL asked me to pick him up some things, we were out of toilet paper, milk and bread). We'd grab our box of chicken and have dinner taken care of, allowing us a relaxed night. WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By the time we got to the dr's office Sean was miserable! He was obviously feverish, moaning and crying. While doing his vitals they took his temp which was 102.9. They were surprised when I told them he'd had ibuprofen 3hrs ago. His heartrate was 203 and his O2 rate was 92%. They were all a bit on edge about how inconsolable he was.
The dr walked into the room while reading Sean's chart. He took one look at him and asked him how he'd like to spend some time at the hospital. OH NO! He did a quick exam and throat culture on Val and then turned his attention back to Sean. He did a throat culture on Sean too and then told me he thought it was best to admit Sean. That babies as young as him don't show typical symptoms to many serious diseases like meningitis. He wasn't too comfortable with how agitated Sean was and he wanted to run tests to make sure he wasn't dealing with something really serious. It also would help him from becoming dehydrated which he was heading toward.
So now I'm stuck with a few dilemmas....what do I do about the preordered box of chicken? What about the serious need for toilet paper (down to a few tissues in the house lol)? And of course...what am I going to do with Danielle, Val and Michelle? I make a few calls and we figure out how and who will be picking up the girls from the hospital later. Wonderful mother that I am, I decide to do a Walmart run on the way to the hospital. We literally ran through the store, practically knocking people over as we did. I felt so rude. I felt very deserving of the mother of the year award in the checkout line. It was quite obvious that Sean was pretty sick. He was wimpering in his carseat, his cheeks blazing red from the fever. The cashier kept sneaking looks at him as she scanned my groceries. I kept thinking she's going to stop scanning and call social services any second now. I wanted to blurt out my sob story and defend myself but refrained.
When we arrived in the ER they tell my our dr had called to see if we'd arrived yet making me feel even more deserving of that MOTY award. They have someone come get us and bring us to Sean's room. Everyone scurries to get him admitted. His temp is now 104.5. His diaper change involved a urine collection bag being stuck on.
Tom gets there and Seans calms a tiny bit when Daddy takes him (he LOVES his daddy). The dr arrives, Tom and the girls leave and the fun begins. During the spinal tap we started getting worried because they couldn't get any samples. The poor thing needed to be poked 3 times. According to my untrained eyes (although I have seen samples from spinal taps before) it looked pretty clear to me so I was hopeful for good results. After getting Sean cleaned up they then had to put in his IV and draw blood for tests. I have NO idea how the dr managed to get an IV in those teeny tiny veins but he did. They got their blood, hooked up the tubes and dosed him up on tylenol. The dr explained that we'd probably be staying until at least Monday. If tests showed anything we could looking at a one or two week stay. If it was serious then we'd be transfered to the hospital in Syracuse. So we waited for test results.
Late into the night the dr reported that his bloodwork was what was to be expected for someone fighting an illness and there were no cancer worries. He found the spinal fluid to be clear and free of white blood cells...YEAH! Quite a few of the other tests would take a day to produce results. In the meantime the dr prescribed an IV antibiotic started. Respiratory therapy came in to do a nasal wash. They needed a sample to test for croup, rsv and influenza A. The tylenol had taken the fever down. Sean relaxed a bit and dozed. I decided it was too close to midnight to risk falling asleep. I didn't want to fall into a deep sleep only to be woken by the nurses taking Sean's vitals. So I stayed awake. They finally got to his vitals at 1:30 (fever was still down). I feel asleep at 2 and slept (if that's what you want to call it) until the nurses came in at 4 for vitals again. (fever still down)
Sean woke up Saturday morning with a temp of 99.6. Unfortunately it didn't stay down there for very long and before we knew it he was over 104 again. Tylenol knocked it down into the 102 range. He got another dose of IV antibiotics and they added eye drops after he woke up with gunky eyes. As the day went on we learned that tests for the scary things came back negative. They sent us to radiology for a chest xray. We came back to find out he tested positive for Group A strep again. The dr added zithromax to his meds. Xray showed that he had pneumonia which totally shocked me.
He had the greatest set of nurse/patient care assistant (PCA) there could be. They both were in love with Sean and came in to talk and play with him whenever they got a chance. Just before their sift was due to end Sean got inconsolable again. He was crying really hard and I had NO idea what was wrong. His nurse came in and said...something's wrong for him to be acting like this suddenly. She unwrapped his IV (was covered with gauze so he wouldn't chew on it) and I gasped. His hand was HUGE. His IV had blown and all the fluid was going into the hand instead of his vein. I felt bad since I figured it probably blew when I was holding his hands up and and away from his chest during his chest xray.
The nurse called the dr and reported it. Since his fever wasn't out of control he opted to let him go for the night and reevaluate him in the morning. (dr or someone from the ER has to start anyone under 2yo's IV). Thankfully his body cooperated and his temp stayed down all night.
Not to make things too easy though he decided Sun morning with the potential to be discharged on the horizon would be the perfect time to break out in a fine full body rash. After the dr examined him and said it wasn't a reaction to the zithromax, the diagnosis of roseola was added to the list of things he had. We were prescribed liquid zithromax and discharged. By 1pm on Sun we were in the van and heading home. It was a frigid but beautiful sunny day. The kids were standing in the doorway, jumping up and down cheering as we got out of the van. Tom acted jealous that no one cheered that Dad was home, only Mom and Sean. I told him too bad, so sad he gets to hear it almost every night when he walks in the door.
Sorry this was so long. I actually fell asleep mid post last night. I have more to talk about but will do it in part 2. Of course I couldn't talk about Sean and not share a picture of the cutie. This was taken early last week just before he got sick.
I already mentioned that all the kids had been sick and on antibiotics. Val was put on zithromax that she finished up on the 10th. Sean was on amoxicillin which he finished on Mon, the 14th. On Mon (the 14th) Val had body aches and a really bad headache. By Thurs she still had the headache and her glands were swollen. Sean started a fever on Thurs which ran pretty high at night (as fevers usually do). Fri morning I decided to get Val back into the dr's. I figured since I was already going in it wouldn't hurt to make Sean an appt to have his ears and throat looked at. They were scheduled to be seen at 4:15 that afternoon.
Having to pick up Michelle from work at 3:45 we headed to the city a bit early. I stopped by Walmart, picked up some photos I had developed and ordered a 50pc box of chicken to be picked up at 5:30. My thinking was that we'd go to the dr's, go back to Walmart, pick up a few things that we needed (BIL asked me to pick him up some things, we were out of toilet paper, milk and bread). We'd grab our box of chicken and have dinner taken care of, allowing us a relaxed night. WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By the time we got to the dr's office Sean was miserable! He was obviously feverish, moaning and crying. While doing his vitals they took his temp which was 102.9. They were surprised when I told them he'd had ibuprofen 3hrs ago. His heartrate was 203 and his O2 rate was 92%. They were all a bit on edge about how inconsolable he was.
The dr walked into the room while reading Sean's chart. He took one look at him and asked him how he'd like to spend some time at the hospital. OH NO! He did a quick exam and throat culture on Val and then turned his attention back to Sean. He did a throat culture on Sean too and then told me he thought it was best to admit Sean. That babies as young as him don't show typical symptoms to many serious diseases like meningitis. He wasn't too comfortable with how agitated Sean was and he wanted to run tests to make sure he wasn't dealing with something really serious. It also would help him from becoming dehydrated which he was heading toward.
So now I'm stuck with a few dilemmas....what do I do about the preordered box of chicken? What about the serious need for toilet paper (down to a few tissues in the house lol)? And of course...what am I going to do with Danielle, Val and Michelle? I make a few calls and we figure out how and who will be picking up the girls from the hospital later. Wonderful mother that I am, I decide to do a Walmart run on the way to the hospital. We literally ran through the store, practically knocking people over as we did. I felt so rude. I felt very deserving of the mother of the year award in the checkout line. It was quite obvious that Sean was pretty sick. He was wimpering in his carseat, his cheeks blazing red from the fever. The cashier kept sneaking looks at him as she scanned my groceries. I kept thinking she's going to stop scanning and call social services any second now. I wanted to blurt out my sob story and defend myself but refrained.
When we arrived in the ER they tell my our dr had called to see if we'd arrived yet making me feel even more deserving of that MOTY award. They have someone come get us and bring us to Sean's room. Everyone scurries to get him admitted. His temp is now 104.5. His diaper change involved a urine collection bag being stuck on.
Tom gets there and Seans calms a tiny bit when Daddy takes him (he LOVES his daddy). The dr arrives, Tom and the girls leave and the fun begins. During the spinal tap we started getting worried because they couldn't get any samples. The poor thing needed to be poked 3 times. According to my untrained eyes (although I have seen samples from spinal taps before) it looked pretty clear to me so I was hopeful for good results. After getting Sean cleaned up they then had to put in his IV and draw blood for tests. I have NO idea how the dr managed to get an IV in those teeny tiny veins but he did. They got their blood, hooked up the tubes and dosed him up on tylenol. The dr explained that we'd probably be staying until at least Monday. If tests showed anything we could looking at a one or two week stay. If it was serious then we'd be transfered to the hospital in Syracuse. So we waited for test results.
Late into the night the dr reported that his bloodwork was what was to be expected for someone fighting an illness and there were no cancer worries. He found the spinal fluid to be clear and free of white blood cells...YEAH! Quite a few of the other tests would take a day to produce results. In the meantime the dr prescribed an IV antibiotic started. Respiratory therapy came in to do a nasal wash. They needed a sample to test for croup, rsv and influenza A. The tylenol had taken the fever down. Sean relaxed a bit and dozed. I decided it was too close to midnight to risk falling asleep. I didn't want to fall into a deep sleep only to be woken by the nurses taking Sean's vitals. So I stayed awake. They finally got to his vitals at 1:30 (fever was still down). I feel asleep at 2 and slept (if that's what you want to call it) until the nurses came in at 4 for vitals again. (fever still down)
Sean woke up Saturday morning with a temp of 99.6. Unfortunately it didn't stay down there for very long and before we knew it he was over 104 again. Tylenol knocked it down into the 102 range. He got another dose of IV antibiotics and they added eye drops after he woke up with gunky eyes. As the day went on we learned that tests for the scary things came back negative. They sent us to radiology for a chest xray. We came back to find out he tested positive for Group A strep again. The dr added zithromax to his meds. Xray showed that he had pneumonia which totally shocked me.
He had the greatest set of nurse/patient care assistant (PCA) there could be. They both were in love with Sean and came in to talk and play with him whenever they got a chance. Just before their sift was due to end Sean got inconsolable again. He was crying really hard and I had NO idea what was wrong. His nurse came in and said...something's wrong for him to be acting like this suddenly. She unwrapped his IV (was covered with gauze so he wouldn't chew on it) and I gasped. His hand was HUGE. His IV had blown and all the fluid was going into the hand instead of his vein. I felt bad since I figured it probably blew when I was holding his hands up and and away from his chest during his chest xray.
The nurse called the dr and reported it. Since his fever wasn't out of control he opted to let him go for the night and reevaluate him in the morning. (dr or someone from the ER has to start anyone under 2yo's IV). Thankfully his body cooperated and his temp stayed down all night.
Not to make things too easy though he decided Sun morning with the potential to be discharged on the horizon would be the perfect time to break out in a fine full body rash. After the dr examined him and said it wasn't a reaction to the zithromax, the diagnosis of roseola was added to the list of things he had. We were prescribed liquid zithromax and discharged. By 1pm on Sun we were in the van and heading home. It was a frigid but beautiful sunny day. The kids were standing in the doorway, jumping up and down cheering as we got out of the van. Tom acted jealous that no one cheered that Dad was home, only Mom and Sean. I told him too bad, so sad he gets to hear it almost every night when he walks in the door.
Sorry this was so long. I actually fell asleep mid post last night. I have more to talk about but will do it in part 2. Of course I couldn't talk about Sean and not share a picture of the cutie. This was taken early last week just before he got sick.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Missed time report
I've been MIA but not quite as much as it looks here. While I haven't been writing, I've been looking and playing with a fresh look for here. (and this tan and blue template is NOT the look I want...so expect to see a change again sometimes soon) I don't know why it takes me so long to figure out graphics. It used to be the most time consuming and frustrating part of making webpages too.
We all had a great Christmas even though some of us were sick. Jake was dx with strep the Fri before Christmas. Carrie and Luke had to miss Christmas eve because they had it also but weren't covered with antibiotics by then. We didn't want to risk exposing SIL's newborn and all those kids, so Sean, Carrie, Luke and I stayed home for the night.
I worked hard and stayed up late the week before Christmas to make sure I had most things done. I still ended up not going to bed until 3am Christmas day. I can thank my older kids for that. I actually had to tell them....go to bed NOW! I have work to do so I can go to bed! For the first time ever I took a nap after presents were unwrapped and Tom did the assembling and unfastening. ahhhhh!
All week after Christmas the kids didn't feel good on and off. After our New Year's Eve celebration at church they were all complaining and were exhausted. The next day I made an apt for everyone (Michelle on down) that weren't being treated already to get a throat culture. The next day it was reported that 6 tested positive for Group A strep (that requires antibiotics), the other 2 tested positive for Group B strep (that the body is able to fight off itself but can be helped by antibiotics). One also tested positive for haemophilus. Needless to say I opted to treat everyone. To make things even better some of us also dealt with a stomach bug. Luckily it wasn't that bad in terms of accidents. It seems most people made it to where they needed to be, when they needed to be there. Poor Val still doesn't feel well. This has been going on since the beginning of November for her (when she was hospitalized). She's feeling pretty broken right now.
I've been enjoying Michelle being off from school. Because kids were home from college she was given less hours at work (they allowed college kids to come back and work while they were home on break). This meant I had days at a time when I stayed home. You'd think that my house would benefit from this, but it didn't.
Michelle starts classes tomorrow and the madness starts. We'll need to be out the door by 8:45am on Tues and Thurs. (as soon as the little kids get on the bus) I am NOT looking forward to dragging Sean and Danielle out of bed and into the cold. The poor girl has to stay at school until 9pm!! Oh well, it's her LAST semester! After this she will have her 2yr degree.
Tom and his brother are done working on their parents' house. Woohoooo! It is now on the market. It was so weird to have Tom get home before nightfall and be home all weekend. We had a bit of an adjustment period for the first few days. I was used to doing everything by myself. We actually ended up arguing over who was going to make mashed potatoes one night. lol Thankfully we're all adjusted and things are going well.
With Tom home I find I'm feeling a lot better. Just before they finished the house I realized that I was barely making meals and totally avoiding the housework. This place was a disaster area!!! With him home and being gungho about getting things in order/fixed up around here my attitude has changed. Until this weekend things were improving but very slowly. I'll talk about this weekend in a separate entry since it's a long story and this entry is already long enough.
We all had a great Christmas even though some of us were sick. Jake was dx with strep the Fri before Christmas. Carrie and Luke had to miss Christmas eve because they had it also but weren't covered with antibiotics by then. We didn't want to risk exposing SIL's newborn and all those kids, so Sean, Carrie, Luke and I stayed home for the night.
I worked hard and stayed up late the week before Christmas to make sure I had most things done. I still ended up not going to bed until 3am Christmas day. I can thank my older kids for that. I actually had to tell them....go to bed NOW! I have work to do so I can go to bed! For the first time ever I took a nap after presents were unwrapped and Tom did the assembling and unfastening. ahhhhh!
All week after Christmas the kids didn't feel good on and off. After our New Year's Eve celebration at church they were all complaining and were exhausted. The next day I made an apt for everyone (Michelle on down) that weren't being treated already to get a throat culture. The next day it was reported that 6 tested positive for Group A strep (that requires antibiotics), the other 2 tested positive for Group B strep (that the body is able to fight off itself but can be helped by antibiotics). One also tested positive for haemophilus. Needless to say I opted to treat everyone. To make things even better some of us also dealt with a stomach bug. Luckily it wasn't that bad in terms of accidents. It seems most people made it to where they needed to be, when they needed to be there. Poor Val still doesn't feel well. This has been going on since the beginning of November for her (when she was hospitalized). She's feeling pretty broken right now.
I've been enjoying Michelle being off from school. Because kids were home from college she was given less hours at work (they allowed college kids to come back and work while they were home on break). This meant I had days at a time when I stayed home. You'd think that my house would benefit from this, but it didn't.
Michelle starts classes tomorrow and the madness starts. We'll need to be out the door by 8:45am on Tues and Thurs. (as soon as the little kids get on the bus) I am NOT looking forward to dragging Sean and Danielle out of bed and into the cold. The poor girl has to stay at school until 9pm!! Oh well, it's her LAST semester! After this she will have her 2yr degree.
Tom and his brother are done working on their parents' house. Woohoooo! It is now on the market. It was so weird to have Tom get home before nightfall and be home all weekend. We had a bit of an adjustment period for the first few days. I was used to doing everything by myself. We actually ended up arguing over who was going to make mashed potatoes one night. lol Thankfully we're all adjusted and things are going well.
With Tom home I find I'm feeling a lot better. Just before they finished the house I realized that I was barely making meals and totally avoiding the housework. This place was a disaster area!!! With him home and being gungho about getting things in order/fixed up around here my attitude has changed. Until this weekend things were improving but very slowly. I'll talk about this weekend in a separate entry since it's a long story and this entry is already long enough.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Getting closer to Christmas
We're getting down to the nitty gritty here. Only a few more days until Christmas. I did most of my shopping online but have been hitting the stores for the little things this week. Between that and trying to get some wrapping done I've haven't been seeing my pillow until 2 or 3 AM. I'm TIRED! It's amazing to think that until I became pregnant with Danielle that used to be my regular bedtime. I'm getting old. lol
A week ago Thursday found Val and I in the ER at 11pm. She was complaining that her back really bothered her after physical therapy, then she had a headache. This led to throwing up, the shakes, chest pain, her arm and leg on the left side hurt and then became numb. I wasn't about to take chances with the chest and left side pain. That type of thing scares me senseless, especially with our family history. Her blood pressure was 167/99 and her pulse was 135 when they triaged her. She saw the dr before they hooked her up to the heart monitor. He did a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia which was clear so she was diagnosed with a viral infection and we were sent on our way. I was a bit scared to agree with him. What if it wasn't? What if he was assuming things based on her age and whatnot. (meaning it can't be cardiac because she's too young) Needless to say he was right. By the time the weekend was over she was feeling quite a bit better. :o)
Poor Jake woke up Thursday morning burning up and with a sore throat. He missed his Christmas party at school. I took him into the dr's on Friday. He saw the most conservative dr in the group. (meaning you don't treat until the culture says you should) Imagine my surprise when she tells me she'll do a throat culture but she's also giving him antibiotics now. I thought for sure I was going to have to fight her to get him some meds NOW. It might've been the huge swollen glands he had that made her do it. Or that Tom's sisters also use these drs so she knew we'd be exposing a bunch of kids if he wasn't properly covered by the end of the weekend. Whatever reason...woohooo! I have to call on Monday to get the results (they don't call if it's negative and won't call if it's positive since he's already being treated). If it's negative we'll just stop the medicine.
Sean is changing so much these days. He's gotten less studious and more outgoing. The smiles and laughs are coming more often and easier. He's babbling up a storm and is happy to sit in his exersaucer for longer. I bought him a bumbo seat yesterday and he seems to like it.
Today I don't have to go ANYWHERE!!! Michelle has both Saturday and Sunday off for the first time since she started working in August. So today (after I get off here) we'll be doing our Saturday cleaning and then relaxing with a bunch of snacks and homemade pizza. Who knows, me might even get some baking done. :o)
I'm hoping to get my wrapping done before Monday. It's so much more relaxing to spend Christmas Eve at Tom's brother's house without the stress of having work todo when I get home. (last year was the first and only year I've had everything done early) That means I'll have to do most of what's left today since tomorrow we have our Christmas feast at church.
Below is a video of one of my favorite Christmas songs. There's a really interesting story behind it as well.
Bowie and Crosby singing Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy
If I don't get back here before then...Merry Christmas to everyone!
A week ago Thursday found Val and I in the ER at 11pm. She was complaining that her back really bothered her after physical therapy, then she had a headache. This led to throwing up, the shakes, chest pain, her arm and leg on the left side hurt and then became numb. I wasn't about to take chances with the chest and left side pain. That type of thing scares me senseless, especially with our family history. Her blood pressure was 167/99 and her pulse was 135 when they triaged her. She saw the dr before they hooked her up to the heart monitor. He did a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia which was clear so she was diagnosed with a viral infection and we were sent on our way. I was a bit scared to agree with him. What if it wasn't? What if he was assuming things based on her age and whatnot. (meaning it can't be cardiac because she's too young) Needless to say he was right. By the time the weekend was over she was feeling quite a bit better. :o)
Poor Jake woke up Thursday morning burning up and with a sore throat. He missed his Christmas party at school. I took him into the dr's on Friday. He saw the most conservative dr in the group. (meaning you don't treat until the culture says you should) Imagine my surprise when she tells me she'll do a throat culture but she's also giving him antibiotics now. I thought for sure I was going to have to fight her to get him some meds NOW. It might've been the huge swollen glands he had that made her do it. Or that Tom's sisters also use these drs so she knew we'd be exposing a bunch of kids if he wasn't properly covered by the end of the weekend. Whatever reason...woohooo! I have to call on Monday to get the results (they don't call if it's negative and won't call if it's positive since he's already being treated). If it's negative we'll just stop the medicine.
Sean is changing so much these days. He's gotten less studious and more outgoing. The smiles and laughs are coming more often and easier. He's babbling up a storm and is happy to sit in his exersaucer for longer. I bought him a bumbo seat yesterday and he seems to like it.
Today I don't have to go ANYWHERE!!! Michelle has both Saturday and Sunday off for the first time since she started working in August. So today (after I get off here) we'll be doing our Saturday cleaning and then relaxing with a bunch of snacks and homemade pizza. Who knows, me might even get some baking done. :o)
I'm hoping to get my wrapping done before Monday. It's so much more relaxing to spend Christmas Eve at Tom's brother's house without the stress of having work todo when I get home. (last year was the first and only year I've had everything done early) That means I'll have to do most of what's left today since tomorrow we have our Christmas feast at church.
Below is a video of one of my favorite Christmas songs. There's a really interesting story behind it as well.
Bowie and Crosby singing Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy
If I don't get back here before then...Merry Christmas to everyone!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
I'm still around....barely
OK Holly, you've got me making an appearance. I WILL get this out if nothing else. lol Sorry to make everyone wait and wonder what was going on. Things have been cRaZy around here the last six weeks or so.
At the beginning of November Val and I spent 4 or 5 days in the hospital. They thought she was passing kidney stones again but her scans all came out clear. After the intense pain failed to go away we're thinking she's having problems with her back instead. So now she's doing physical therapy a few times a week. She got a bit down on herself during this time. Thinking she couldn't become a gym teacher like she's been planning on doing since 6th grade. Luckily she didn't listen to herself and applied to the colleges that she needs to. We're on pins and needles waiting for responses which should come soon.
While we were at the hospital Pat called to tell me he was on his way to the hospital. Not to visit us but the ER! Turns out he broke his hand at work. While doing something with the dumpster a gust of wind came along. It slammed the dumpster door closed, pushing his hand backwards to his wrist. So he's dealing with a spiral fracture to the 4th metacarpal of his left hand (luckily since he's right handed). From the looks of things he'll probably need surgery on it but as of right now they are waiting to see a few more weeks.
Luke's been dealing with another major ingrown toenail and required surgery on it also. Luckily that was done in the office.
While not at the hospital I'm in the car. Sometimes driving back and forth to the city 3 times a day. The day usually goes something like this...
Sometime between 10:00 and 11:30 (depending on day and what needs to be done) leave the house to drive Michelle to her classes and return home...takes an hour.
12:30-2:00...go to school, pick up Val and/or any other kid that needs to go to the doctor's and head back into the city.
Do what needs to be done in the city. Luckily for Michelle it's allowed me to pick her up from school and drive her to work for 4:00. Letting her avoid walking the mile to work in the cold, rain and/or snow.
Head home and do the nighttime gig...dinner, homework, pay attention to the kids, etc.
8:30 (now moved to 9:30 for holiday hours) drive back to the city and pick Michelle up from work. Get home in time to either yell at kids who are suppose to be in bed already and send the rest of the kids off to bed.
We're celebrating today! Yesterday was Michelle's last day of classes until mid January. I'm hoping that my driving will ease up quite a bit. We're not sure how her work schedule will run while she's on vacation. Guess we'll see, it should still be easier then what we've been doing lately.
Tom and his brother are still working almost every night and weekend day at his mom's house. I've heard it's almost done for WAAAAAY too long. Just that other day I heard....we still have a LOT to do. Although there is talk of speaking wtih a realtor now. So that's encouraging. Fortunately for me, especially, lately Tom has been trying to get home so he can pick up Michelle at 10:00.
Why lately you ask? Because it seems late last week I managed to either pull a muscle or pinch a nerve in my neck, making driving EXTREMELY difficult. At the height of it, swallowing was even difficult. Not because my throat hurt but because swallowing uses the muscles along the back of your neck...I never realized that until this week. lol I seem to be doing better the last day or so. (why I'm able to sit and type for more then 5 minutes now). It's nice not to have my head stuck to my shoulder, or my shoulders up around my ears anymore.
I was feeling quite guilty on Saturday. I ended up being home alone with Danielle and Sean and couldn't really do much with them. Poor Sean spent WAY more time then he wanted in his seat. He's such a good baby. And he's growing like a weed!!! On Halloween I stepped on the scale with him and he was 20lbs! He's caught on to what food is thanks to some kind people who've snuck him tastes of things. So eating while holding him has gotten quite difficult. If you're not holding him, you're feeling guilty eating in front of him as he watches the food go from plate to mouth. He's just started giving big huge wet "I'm gonna eat your face" kisses to everyone. And he LOVES his fingers and thumbs to gnaw on. I think he's starting to teethe since he's chomping down while nursing. Makes for a not so enjoyable nursing session.
I'm seriously thinking of moving my blog. If no other reason then to update my account. Since kmomof12 is permanent, I feel comfy making it my permanent home. Just not sure WHERE I'm moving to or when. I'm hoping to get it done SOON. I'll post a note here about it if/when I do move.
I'm looking forward to catching up with all my friends in blogland (since I haven't even been able to read too much until now). Hope everything is going well in your corner of the world.
Oops! Forgot I wanted to share some newer pictures with everyone.
This is one of the latest ones of Sean...taken a few weeks ago the day before he turned 4mos.
And here's our latest family picture, taken on Thanksgiving Day
At the beginning of November Val and I spent 4 or 5 days in the hospital. They thought she was passing kidney stones again but her scans all came out clear. After the intense pain failed to go away we're thinking she's having problems with her back instead. So now she's doing physical therapy a few times a week. She got a bit down on herself during this time. Thinking she couldn't become a gym teacher like she's been planning on doing since 6th grade. Luckily she didn't listen to herself and applied to the colleges that she needs to. We're on pins and needles waiting for responses which should come soon.
While we were at the hospital Pat called to tell me he was on his way to the hospital. Not to visit us but the ER! Turns out he broke his hand at work. While doing something with the dumpster a gust of wind came along. It slammed the dumpster door closed, pushing his hand backwards to his wrist. So he's dealing with a spiral fracture to the 4th metacarpal of his left hand (luckily since he's right handed). From the looks of things he'll probably need surgery on it but as of right now they are waiting to see a few more weeks.
Luke's been dealing with another major ingrown toenail and required surgery on it also. Luckily that was done in the office.
While not at the hospital I'm in the car. Sometimes driving back and forth to the city 3 times a day. The day usually goes something like this...
Sometime between 10:00 and 11:30 (depending on day and what needs to be done) leave the house to drive Michelle to her classes and return home...takes an hour.
12:30-2:00...go to school, pick up Val and/or any other kid that needs to go to the doctor's and head back into the city.
Do what needs to be done in the city. Luckily for Michelle it's allowed me to pick her up from school and drive her to work for 4:00. Letting her avoid walking the mile to work in the cold, rain and/or snow.
Head home and do the nighttime gig...dinner, homework, pay attention to the kids, etc.
8:30 (now moved to 9:30 for holiday hours) drive back to the city and pick Michelle up from work. Get home in time to either yell at kids who are suppose to be in bed already and send the rest of the kids off to bed.
We're celebrating today! Yesterday was Michelle's last day of classes until mid January. I'm hoping that my driving will ease up quite a bit. We're not sure how her work schedule will run while she's on vacation. Guess we'll see, it should still be easier then what we've been doing lately.
Tom and his brother are still working almost every night and weekend day at his mom's house. I've heard it's almost done for WAAAAAY too long. Just that other day I heard....we still have a LOT to do. Although there is talk of speaking wtih a realtor now. So that's encouraging. Fortunately for me, especially, lately Tom has been trying to get home so he can pick up Michelle at 10:00.
Why lately you ask? Because it seems late last week I managed to either pull a muscle or pinch a nerve in my neck, making driving EXTREMELY difficult. At the height of it, swallowing was even difficult. Not because my throat hurt but because swallowing uses the muscles along the back of your neck...I never realized that until this week. lol I seem to be doing better the last day or so. (why I'm able to sit and type for more then 5 minutes now). It's nice not to have my head stuck to my shoulder, or my shoulders up around my ears anymore.
I was feeling quite guilty on Saturday. I ended up being home alone with Danielle and Sean and couldn't really do much with them. Poor Sean spent WAY more time then he wanted in his seat. He's such a good baby. And he's growing like a weed!!! On Halloween I stepped on the scale with him and he was 20lbs! He's caught on to what food is thanks to some kind people who've snuck him tastes of things. So eating while holding him has gotten quite difficult. If you're not holding him, you're feeling guilty eating in front of him as he watches the food go from plate to mouth. He's just started giving big huge wet "I'm gonna eat your face" kisses to everyone. And he LOVES his fingers and thumbs to gnaw on. I think he's starting to teethe since he's chomping down while nursing. Makes for a not so enjoyable nursing session.
I'm seriously thinking of moving my blog. If no other reason then to update my account. Since kmomof12 is permanent, I feel comfy making it my permanent home. Just not sure WHERE I'm moving to or when. I'm hoping to get it done SOON. I'll post a note here about it if/when I do move.
I'm looking forward to catching up with all my friends in blogland (since I haven't even been able to read too much until now). Hope everything is going well in your corner of the world.
Oops! Forgot I wanted to share some newer pictures with everyone.
This is one of the latest ones of Sean...taken a few weeks ago the day before he turned 4mos.
And here's our latest family picture, taken on Thanksgiving Day
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
A few firsts around here
They haven't been TOO exciting but they are firsts nonetheless. Monday was Drew's first day at his new job. He's a driver's assistant (delivery guy), which means he doesn't have to do the driving, just rides along until it's time to deliver whatever they delivery. They broke him in good on his first day, having him drive to Lake George (which is 200+ miles one way). He started work at 4am and clocked out at 9:45. He said 9hrs was driving, 8.5hrs was physical labor. And he gets to start the fun all over again at 7am this morning lol (not a long run like yesterday though). On Saturday his band played at a private party. They have a gig lined up for Oct 22nd. It's good to see them out playing again.
Monday was also the first day that Michelle didn't have to go to work and school. A true day off. She'd asked for my nephew's wedding date off on Sept 15th. Besides that though she's been either attending classes and/or working every day. I'm not sure how long she can keep this pace up. Or maybe it's that I don't know how long I would be able to. So what does she decide we need to do on her day off....get up EARLY and go surprise Grandma and Grandpa with breakfast. Early is defined as 7am! They were up that early, we didn't leave that early though. I informed Michelle that if she showed up to Grandma's house at 8am, she'd have had her fanny kicked by Grandma! lol By the time we got out the door and went shopping it was just before noon when we walked into their house. Still Michelle and Liz were up between 6 and 7am anyways. Nutcases!
Sean has slept through the night for 4 nights in a row. I'm talking 8+ hrs without a peep from him. He woke up wanting to nurse last night but overall he's doing great at night. This makes it a bit easier to handle his demands during the day. He still wants to be paid attention to or held ever waking second of the day. And he's awake a LOT of the day. Right now his longest nap is about 20mins. Not tons of time to allow me to start anything major around here. Sometimes not even long enough to allow me to grab a cup of coffee and go to the bathroom. We figured out a place to set up the baby swing. He's undecided about it. At least it allows me time to make and scarf down a sandwich quick.
Val's home from school for the first time this year. She has been hit with the stomach bug going around everywhere. She didn't seem to be hit too hard and seems to be on the mend already.
The rest of the kids don't have any firsts that I can think of. They are taking advantage of this unseasonable weather (in the 80s!) and riding their bikes a lot. They are keeping up with their homework well, although we are slacking in studying their spelling lists. It's showing on Olivia's tests :o(.
Tom hasn't really been home much. He's going right to his mom's after work and working on the house. Last night he walked in the door after 11pm. He's mostly painting right now. They are hoping to get it finished and on the market soon.
Oh yeah! My first...Today was the first day of the Mega-mom blog for the Lotsofkids (LOK) site. It's for moms who have 8 or more kids. Right now some of us have put up an intro. We should get into the nitty gritty of blogging and discussing things in the next week or so. Hope you visit over there and visit us often. You can also visit me over at the new TALK board at LOK. It's just started up but some decent topics have already started going.
Monday was also the first day that Michelle didn't have to go to work and school. A true day off. She'd asked for my nephew's wedding date off on Sept 15th. Besides that though she's been either attending classes and/or working every day. I'm not sure how long she can keep this pace up. Or maybe it's that I don't know how long I would be able to. So what does she decide we need to do on her day off....get up EARLY and go surprise Grandma and Grandpa with breakfast. Early is defined as 7am! They were up that early, we didn't leave that early though. I informed Michelle that if she showed up to Grandma's house at 8am, she'd have had her fanny kicked by Grandma! lol By the time we got out the door and went shopping it was just before noon when we walked into their house. Still Michelle and Liz were up between 6 and 7am anyways. Nutcases!
Sean has slept through the night for 4 nights in a row. I'm talking 8+ hrs without a peep from him. He woke up wanting to nurse last night but overall he's doing great at night. This makes it a bit easier to handle his demands during the day. He still wants to be paid attention to or held ever waking second of the day. And he's awake a LOT of the day. Right now his longest nap is about 20mins. Not tons of time to allow me to start anything major around here. Sometimes not even long enough to allow me to grab a cup of coffee and go to the bathroom. We figured out a place to set up the baby swing. He's undecided about it. At least it allows me time to make and scarf down a sandwich quick.
Val's home from school for the first time this year. She has been hit with the stomach bug going around everywhere. She didn't seem to be hit too hard and seems to be on the mend already.
The rest of the kids don't have any firsts that I can think of. They are taking advantage of this unseasonable weather (in the 80s!) and riding their bikes a lot. They are keeping up with their homework well, although we are slacking in studying their spelling lists. It's showing on Olivia's tests :o(.
Tom hasn't really been home much. He's going right to his mom's after work and working on the house. Last night he walked in the door after 11pm. He's mostly painting right now. They are hoping to get it finished and on the market soon.
Oh yeah! My first...Today was the first day of the Mega-mom blog for the Lotsofkids (LOK) site. It's for moms who have 8 or more kids. Right now some of us have put up an intro. We should get into the nitty gritty of blogging and discussing things in the next week or so. Hope you visit over there and visit us often. You can also visit me over at the new TALK board at LOK. It's just started up but some decent topics have already started going.
Friday, September 28, 2007
When can I get my permit?
It's a question I've been hearing a lot lately with Val being 17 and Liz 16. For the boys we didn't allow them to get their permit until they were 18. Out of all the kids Liz is the one that I wouldn't mind driving right now. I'm finding it hard to go against the 18yo "stance" we've had so far though. I had other reasons besides age to put off the previous kids from getting their permit. Drew can be hotheaded and reacts on it. Pat when he was their age wasn't doing what he needed to (or could do) and didn't deserve the opportunity. Michelle until recently just hasn't had a strong desire to get behind the wheel, she's also not the quickest decision maker. Val is so much on the go I really don't want her having the ability to go at her disposal (not that she'd have a vehicle to do it with). Liz, I'd love if she could drive and take the kids with her to church activities. It would save me or Tom from running out there. Not only would it make things easier for ME, she's also one of the most level headed of the kids. While she has a temper she doesn't act on it quickly or easily.
I had to rethink my thinking on Liz the other day though. I was telling the kids about how I was stopped by the campus police in the college parking lot. Seems I didn't come to a complete stop at the stop sign. I was talking to Michelle about where to drop her off and wasn't paying total attention to the signs. Besides no one was trying to cross the crosswalk (kidding, really). I apologized and promised to stop next time. The officer let me off with a stern warning. Liz had been in the van with me at the time and decided to chime into the story with..."But it's ok because the sign didn't say stop all the way."
I looked at her puzzled and let out an audible HUH? Val's friend B who had just finished up her driver's ed course totally got where Liz was coming from and burst out laughing. Between roars of laughter she tells Liz..The sign doesn't say Stop all THE way....it says...Stop all WAYS. She then went on to tell Liz what it truly meant. Poor Liz. By the time B had finished correcting her we were all ROFL, including Liz. Eventually it became too great an embarrassment though and she started crying.
I thought for sure Liz was fooling around and had made a joke. After she started crying though I realized she really did think that's what the signs said. A few days later in the car I asked her if she REALLY thought that's what the signs said and meant. She admitted to me that she really did. I then told her...I think we're going to wait on you getting your permit. I then suggested she read the driver's manual from the DMV! Guess my no permit until 18 stance is upheld for now.
I had to rethink my thinking on Liz the other day though. I was telling the kids about how I was stopped by the campus police in the college parking lot. Seems I didn't come to a complete stop at the stop sign. I was talking to Michelle about where to drop her off and wasn't paying total attention to the signs. Besides no one was trying to cross the crosswalk (kidding, really). I apologized and promised to stop next time. The officer let me off with a stern warning. Liz had been in the van with me at the time and decided to chime into the story with..."But it's ok because the sign didn't say stop all the way."
I looked at her puzzled and let out an audible HUH? Val's friend B who had just finished up her driver's ed course totally got where Liz was coming from and burst out laughing. Between roars of laughter she tells Liz..The sign doesn't say Stop all THE way....it says...Stop all WAYS. She then went on to tell Liz what it truly meant. Poor Liz. By the time B had finished correcting her we were all ROFL, including Liz. Eventually it became too great an embarrassment though and she started crying.
I thought for sure Liz was fooling around and had made a joke. After she started crying though I realized she really did think that's what the signs said. A few days later in the car I asked her if she REALLY thought that's what the signs said and meant. She admitted to me that she really did. I then told her...I think we're going to wait on you getting your permit. I then suggested she read the driver's manual from the DMV! Guess my no permit until 18 stance is upheld for now.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
The Great Carcapade
I mentioned telling the story of the car breaking down during my last post. Thing is, it wasn't only MY car. On Mondays Michelle isn't due to class until noon, requiring us out door by 11:30. I consider it one of my easier days. We'd made a note to leave a bit early so we could run an errand, so leaving at 11:20. The phone rang about 10:45 and it was Drew, he was on his way to an 11:00 interview and he ran out of gas. I told him I'd stop by with some gas (it was on the way to the college) but he'd have to wait. He changed his interview time to 1 and waited for me. I changed our departure time to 11:10.
Thinking things through in my head I realized...I have a few extra kids home sick with a bad cold and sore throat. Including one who had a 1:45 dr appt. This means I have to drive the van instead of the Prism. So now I have to leave EARLIER (11:00) because the van's on E and I have to switch car seats over. (found out later...the gas can was empty and I'd have had to stop at the gas station anyways.) Michelle wasn't too happy since she wasn't ready. We managed to get out the door, get to the gas station, do our errand and rescue Drew. Silly me offered to pour the gas for Drew because he was in his dress clothes. Then I realized we were pressed for time and I had to GO! Here he's a grown man and I'm feeling like a sap for leaving him stranded on the side of the road (won't know he's not stranded until the car starts). I really am pathetic.
As I'm attempting to pull away from Drew my cell phone rings, it's Pat. Moooooom, I lost the key to the Toyota. WHAT!?!? How do you do that? Seems he is at the campus, went to leave for work (due there at noon) and can't find his keys. He searched the Toyota, his classroom, the hallways he walked and Jess's car...nothing. I inform him I'll be at the campus in about 20mins, so he'll have to wait.
I get there around noon, drop off Michelle for her class and find Pat in the parking lot searching the Toyota. He asks me to drive him to a deli so he can search the parking lot and where they sat for lunch. (traveled there in Jess's car) We go and he has no luck. He'd called into work and told them he'd be late. I decide I'll take him to work, head back to do a search for the keys. If they're still lost we'll probably have to call a locksmith to come out and make us a new set. Drew and I keep touching base on our cells while figuring out what to do. I'm also keeping Tom up to speed on the situation. What did we do before cell phones?
Driving back to campus I realize I'd just passed a Toyota dealership. So after searching around the car and campus with no luck I head over to the dealership. They direct me to the parts department and the manager tries to find me the right key. As is my luck it's not a clear cut case of which key I need and it takes a loong time. Meanwhile I have Carrie in the parking lot watching Olivia, Danielle and Sean in the van (Sean is being good and sleeping like I mentioned in my last post). The parts guy asks me to drive up to the car and test the blank key he thinks I need. If it fits in the ignition then he's cut it so it'll start the car for me.
I drive back to the car, get out and smell something....uhoh...it's burning rubber. The van brakes are starting to act up again? I decide to deal with the Toyota first and ignore the brakes. Unfortunately the blank is too fat to fit in the ignition switch...it's the wrong one. I head back to the dealer and the parts department. I can smell the brakes even more. He takes forever again (and Sean is still sleeping!) and hands me another key to try. Repeat the above scenario again, including the smellier brakes and key that won't fit into the ignition. Back to the dealer. Wait, wait, wait. (Sean's stillll sleeping...see what I meant?) This time he hands me a key he's cut, this should work, it's a temporary ignition key to use until the keys we're ordering get here. So I head back to campus for what I hope is the LAST time!
The key doesn't work. I don't have time to deal with the key anymore because Carrie's due at the dr's in 10mins. I call Tom and let him know that my brakes are really really stinky now and I'm not sure I'm going to make it home. Then we head to the dr's. I barely pulled out of the campus parking lot when I realize the van is pulling REALLY hard to the right and is too unsafe to drive. So I do a U-turn and head back to where Pat is parked. I get out and look, my brakes are now smoking.
I call the dr's and inform them we won't make the 1:45 appt. They give me an appt for 2:15. If I don't make that one they'll leave me on the schedule for a nurse's visit to get a throat culture. I need to at least get Carrie a throat culture. Michelle had seen us drive by, calls to see what's up and comes visit us in the van during her lunch. Tom calls to let me know he's leaving work, going home and getting the Prism and switching cars with me. Drew calls, he's done with his interview. I BEG him to come pick up Carrie and take her to her dr appt...he says ok. One problem solved! Michelle heads back to class and we head out to take a stroll on the nature trail and sit under the trees to wait for Tom.
As Drew is pulling into the parking lot to pick up Carrie, Jess is pulling out. She decides to turn around and come say Hi to Drew and pulls up next to him. While talking we wondered if the key was in her car. She said Pat searched it earlier and didn't find it. Drew opens the passenger door and starts searching in the seat anyways. I wonder aloud if maybe it was between the seat and the seatbelt. Jess pulls the seat cushion away from the center hump of the car and looks down. TADAAAAA! She found the key! Second problem solved!
Drew and Carrie finish up with her appt and stop by Wendy's to get us some lunch (we're STARVING!). Midway through our lunch Tom pulls up with the Prism (had lunch for him too). He's happy to hear the key's been found. Now we need to get the car to Pat so no one will have to pick him up after work. It's decided that Tom will drive the Toyota to the mall with Drew following him. They'll then come back and get the van, problem is it's 3:35 and Drew needs to be somewhere at 4. They'll be cutting it really close. I in the meantime buckle in car seats, load in the kids, pick up Michelle and drop her off at work (since we're heading that way anyways lol) head to the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions, then head home. Tom and I pull into the driveway within minutes of each other.
So much for one of my easier days. So much for parenting being easier once they grow up and become adults. I'd take a fight for a Barbie and a skinned knee over that day ANYDAY!
Thinking things through in my head I realized...I have a few extra kids home sick with a bad cold and sore throat. Including one who had a 1:45 dr appt. This means I have to drive the van instead of the Prism. So now I have to leave EARLIER (11:00) because the van's on E and I have to switch car seats over. (found out later...the gas can was empty and I'd have had to stop at the gas station anyways.) Michelle wasn't too happy since she wasn't ready. We managed to get out the door, get to the gas station, do our errand and rescue Drew. Silly me offered to pour the gas for Drew because he was in his dress clothes. Then I realized we were pressed for time and I had to GO! Here he's a grown man and I'm feeling like a sap for leaving him stranded on the side of the road (won't know he's not stranded until the car starts). I really am pathetic.
As I'm attempting to pull away from Drew my cell phone rings, it's Pat. Moooooom, I lost the key to the Toyota. WHAT!?!? How do you do that? Seems he is at the campus, went to leave for work (due there at noon) and can't find his keys. He searched the Toyota, his classroom, the hallways he walked and Jess's car...nothing. I inform him I'll be at the campus in about 20mins, so he'll have to wait.
I get there around noon, drop off Michelle for her class and find Pat in the parking lot searching the Toyota. He asks me to drive him to a deli so he can search the parking lot and where they sat for lunch. (traveled there in Jess's car) We go and he has no luck. He'd called into work and told them he'd be late. I decide I'll take him to work, head back to do a search for the keys. If they're still lost we'll probably have to call a locksmith to come out and make us a new set. Drew and I keep touching base on our cells while figuring out what to do. I'm also keeping Tom up to speed on the situation. What did we do before cell phones?
Driving back to campus I realize I'd just passed a Toyota dealership. So after searching around the car and campus with no luck I head over to the dealership. They direct me to the parts department and the manager tries to find me the right key. As is my luck it's not a clear cut case of which key I need and it takes a loong time. Meanwhile I have Carrie in the parking lot watching Olivia, Danielle and Sean in the van (Sean is being good and sleeping like I mentioned in my last post). The parts guy asks me to drive up to the car and test the blank key he thinks I need. If it fits in the ignition then he's cut it so it'll start the car for me.
I drive back to the car, get out and smell something....uhoh...it's burning rubber. The van brakes are starting to act up again? I decide to deal with the Toyota first and ignore the brakes. Unfortunately the blank is too fat to fit in the ignition switch...it's the wrong one. I head back to the dealer and the parts department. I can smell the brakes even more. He takes forever again (and Sean is still sleeping!) and hands me another key to try. Repeat the above scenario again, including the smellier brakes and key that won't fit into the ignition. Back to the dealer. Wait, wait, wait. (Sean's stillll sleeping...see what I meant?) This time he hands me a key he's cut, this should work, it's a temporary ignition key to use until the keys we're ordering get here. So I head back to campus for what I hope is the LAST time!
The key doesn't work. I don't have time to deal with the key anymore because Carrie's due at the dr's in 10mins. I call Tom and let him know that my brakes are really really stinky now and I'm not sure I'm going to make it home. Then we head to the dr's. I barely pulled out of the campus parking lot when I realize the van is pulling REALLY hard to the right and is too unsafe to drive. So I do a U-turn and head back to where Pat is parked. I get out and look, my brakes are now smoking.
I call the dr's and inform them we won't make the 1:45 appt. They give me an appt for 2:15. If I don't make that one they'll leave me on the schedule for a nurse's visit to get a throat culture. I need to at least get Carrie a throat culture. Michelle had seen us drive by, calls to see what's up and comes visit us in the van during her lunch. Tom calls to let me know he's leaving work, going home and getting the Prism and switching cars with me. Drew calls, he's done with his interview. I BEG him to come pick up Carrie and take her to her dr appt...he says ok. One problem solved! Michelle heads back to class and we head out to take a stroll on the nature trail and sit under the trees to wait for Tom.
As Drew is pulling into the parking lot to pick up Carrie, Jess is pulling out. She decides to turn around and come say Hi to Drew and pulls up next to him. While talking we wondered if the key was in her car. She said Pat searched it earlier and didn't find it. Drew opens the passenger door and starts searching in the seat anyways. I wonder aloud if maybe it was between the seat and the seatbelt. Jess pulls the seat cushion away from the center hump of the car and looks down. TADAAAAA! She found the key! Second problem solved!
Drew and Carrie finish up with her appt and stop by Wendy's to get us some lunch (we're STARVING!). Midway through our lunch Tom pulls up with the Prism (had lunch for him too). He's happy to hear the key's been found. Now we need to get the car to Pat so no one will have to pick him up after work. It's decided that Tom will drive the Toyota to the mall with Drew following him. They'll then come back and get the van, problem is it's 3:35 and Drew needs to be somewhere at 4. They'll be cutting it really close. I in the meantime buckle in car seats, load in the kids, pick up Michelle and drop her off at work (since we're heading that way anyways lol) head to the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions, then head home. Tom and I pull into the driveway within minutes of each other.
So much for one of my easier days. So much for parenting being easier once they grow up and become adults. I'd take a fight for a Barbie and a skinned knee over that day ANYDAY!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Almost 2 months old
Time is flying by and my little man isn't so little anymore. He is such a pudge with sweet rolls all over the place. It's the one time when having a second (and third) chin isn't a bad thing. :o)
Here are the newest pics of Sean taken last week....
The quilt Sean is cuddled in is the beautiful quilt Jill/jeeps made me that I mentioned a few weeks ago. (it's light blue train top, backed with red bandana )
Here he is showing off his new trick....big toothless grins that melt your heart
He likes to be held. So much so that I'm not getting ANYTHING done. I'll get him to sleep, put him in his seat and head to the bathroom. He's awake before I'm finished. Or head to the kitchen to make coffee (hate drinking hot coffee while holding a baby). Get to my chair with the coffee and he's awake. I'm in the habit of telling Sean....it's a good thing you're CUTE!!
The amazing thing is, he's slept at all times that I NEEDED him to. I was a birthing coach for someone when he was 5wks old. He was NO problem and slept most of the time (from 1am to 12:20pm). Went to a wedding this weekend, he nursed during the ceremony and slept all through dinner. Then woke up for the rest of the fun and enjoyed all the people. Dealing with broken down cars (next blog post) and slept until I couldn't do anything more and had time to nurse him.
While it's occassionally frustrating to not get much done around here. I really am enjoying snuggling, smooching on him and eating up those delicious cheeks. Sometimes I feel like I want to hug him so tight that I might break him. When the frustratin starts to creep in I try to remind myself...this only lasts but a short time. ENJOY IT! It's the last time I'll have this opportunity again. (won't be the same with the grandkids but I am looking forward to that stage eventually).
Time seems to speed up each year. I look at Sean and he's so tiny and helpless. I know that in a blink of an eye 2mos have passed already. Next thing I know it'll be a year and he'll be trying to run off. *sniff sniff* Then it'll be 5 and he'll be heading to kindergarten. I look at each of my older kids and think...you were once that little and I couldn't imagine what you'd turn out to be like. Yet here they are, growing up, working their fannies off, planning their own futures and families. Next thing I know I'll be hearing one of them say....Look how big my baby is! It seems like they were just born....
Here are the newest pics of Sean taken last week....
The quilt Sean is cuddled in is the beautiful quilt Jill/jeeps made me that I mentioned a few weeks ago. (it's light blue train top, backed with red bandana )
Here he is showing off his new trick....big toothless grins that melt your heart
He likes to be held. So much so that I'm not getting ANYTHING done. I'll get him to sleep, put him in his seat and head to the bathroom. He's awake before I'm finished. Or head to the kitchen to make coffee (hate drinking hot coffee while holding a baby). Get to my chair with the coffee and he's awake. I'm in the habit of telling Sean....it's a good thing you're CUTE!!
The amazing thing is, he's slept at all times that I NEEDED him to. I was a birthing coach for someone when he was 5wks old. He was NO problem and slept most of the time (from 1am to 12:20pm). Went to a wedding this weekend, he nursed during the ceremony and slept all through dinner. Then woke up for the rest of the fun and enjoyed all the people. Dealing with broken down cars (next blog post) and slept until I couldn't do anything more and had time to nurse him.
While it's occassionally frustrating to not get much done around here. I really am enjoying snuggling, smooching on him and eating up those delicious cheeks. Sometimes I feel like I want to hug him so tight that I might break him. When the frustratin starts to creep in I try to remind myself...this only lasts but a short time. ENJOY IT! It's the last time I'll have this opportunity again. (won't be the same with the grandkids but I am looking forward to that stage eventually).
Time seems to speed up each year. I look at Sean and he's so tiny and helpless. I know that in a blink of an eye 2mos have passed already. Next thing I know it'll be a year and he'll be trying to run off. *sniff sniff* Then it'll be 5 and he'll be heading to kindergarten. I look at each of my older kids and think...you were once that little and I couldn't imagine what you'd turn out to be like. Yet here they are, growing up, working their fannies off, planning their own futures and families. Next thing I know I'll be hearing one of them say....Look how big my baby is! It seems like they were just born....
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Viewing my life as through
a camera lens. That's what I find myself doing at times. Thinking...hmmmm now how would THIS look on tv? Or...I'm glad I don't have a camera crew following me NOW! LOL
Earlier this year the Mega family community was approached by some tv producers looking for families with 12 or more children. Some of us were emailed privately and asked to be interviewed for the show. Tom said no WAY! He was not going to be put on tv for all to judge and criticize. 2 of my online friends met with them, one of them was picked for the show.
Since then I often find myself trying to image how the workings of my family would look to the public. Like yesterday...driving to my mom's house with a van full of kids, one with an extreme case of poison ivy. Stop at my sister's house to pick up something and she's not there. Go to the bread store (discount place) and watch me fill up a cart, spending $30+ in about 5 minutes. Then hear all the remarks from the clerk and other shoppers about running a daycare, having a party, and how THAT'S a LOT of bread! Watch me pause at the door because I realize I forgot to get bagels...but not go back in since the kids were in the hot car. Drive down the street toward my parents' house only to find at the next traffic light...smoke coming from the right side of my van! Yep, the brakes on my van decided they didn't want to work properly and were smoking (and stinking). We made it to my mom's and I'm on the phone trying to figure out what to do with the van and find someone to pick up Michelle from work at 8. I get ahold of Pat and tell him we need the car, he volunteers to pick up Michelle. Finally after allowing it to rest and taking it for a test drive we deem it's ok to try to drive it home. I'm happy to report we arrived home ok, no smoke. Although there was a slight burning rubber smell.
Then there's this morning. The first time in quite a while that people had to be out the door early. Tom's no problem...he has to be gone by 6:30. Luke had to catch the bus for freshman orientation at 7:30. Pat had to leave by 7:30 to make an 8:00 class. Michelle had to be ready too since she was catching a ride with Pat (going into class 1.5hrs early) since I don't trust the van to make the 42 mile round trip without a problem. There were quite a few banging of doors, pleas of HURRY UP! Get out of the bathroom NOW! I have to get in there too! At least they got out when they were suppose to. Although I'm sure next week will be even more interesting since we'll be adding in 4 (possibly 5) more kids who need to be out the door at that time too. Did I mention I'm dreading the start of school with all my heart? I thought so.
We can't forget the comedy of all of comedies...school shopping! 8+ hours at the outlet mall...the wheeling and dealing, the cajoling. I swear my kids will grow up to be world class negotiators. There's me telling someone I refuse to pay $7 for a shirt. Only to turn around and have another kid try to convince me they NEED a $17 long sleeve black shirt. How they can't live without this shirt.
Watch us as we enter the food court. Gather at the table while trying to decide what to do for dinner. Decide to get 2 pizzas Last stop is into the shoe store where we're ignored by all the unoccupied salespeople. Probably because they've pegged me for a...head straight to the clearance rack...type shopper, and they'd be right. I try to keep ahold of Danielle while fighting the urge to choke on the $60+ price tags we pass. Breathe a little more freely as I see the color coded clearance tags. Smile as I find 2 pairs of $15 sneaks. Smile gets even broader as I discover the girls like them and THEY FIT! :o) Then I start to doubt whether I should pay $15 for their sneaks. Can I find some cheaper someplace else? Will I get to that someplace else? Push aside the doubt and whip out the plastic (which makes me sick to my stomach to have to do). It ends with me limping to the van (my tailbone was killing me!), driving home knowing I'll have to do this again Friday! Maybe THEN I can be done. lol (BTW...Danielle and Sean were PERFECT the whole day)
Sitting here I'm wondering how tonight will turn out. The parent's portion of freshmen orientation is tonight (note to self...find and fill out papers that need to be returned at the meeting...stop at library to make a copy of Luke's birth certificate). I THINK it starts at 7...have to check and I'm assuming it goes until 8. Michelle gets out of work at 8, meaning someone has to leave the house to pick her up by 7:30. That is IF we have 2 cars to drive, otherwise someone is going to have to wait for a while until their ride can get to them. At least Pat has today off so that we have ONE car that's driving ok to use. I'm thinking that I'll probably go to school with the van (and cross my fingers), Tom can take the Tercel and pick up Michelle.
Speaking of Tom, there's the relationship aspect that would be portrayed. It's not pretty right now. Not because we're fighting or angry at each other. We'd have to see each other and have more then a few minute phone conversation to do that. No it's that it seems to be sorely lacking at the moment. I haven't seen Tom's actual face since at least Sunday evening. He's been in bed by the time I got home the last few nights. Before that he's pulled a few late nights outside and I've been asleep by the time he comes in. Just goes to show that my view is correct....sleeping is just a waste of time. Now if only my post partum body would agree with my brain!
And last but not least there's how my housekeeping mixed with baby and toddler juggling ability...or lack of would be perceived. ROFL!!! But maybe that's a post for another time.
Earlier this year the Mega family community was approached by some tv producers looking for families with 12 or more children. Some of us were emailed privately and asked to be interviewed for the show. Tom said no WAY! He was not going to be put on tv for all to judge and criticize. 2 of my online friends met with them, one of them was picked for the show.
Since then I often find myself trying to image how the workings of my family would look to the public. Like yesterday...driving to my mom's house with a van full of kids, one with an extreme case of poison ivy. Stop at my sister's house to pick up something and she's not there. Go to the bread store (discount place) and watch me fill up a cart, spending $30+ in about 5 minutes. Then hear all the remarks from the clerk and other shoppers about running a daycare, having a party, and how THAT'S a LOT of bread! Watch me pause at the door because I realize I forgot to get bagels...but not go back in since the kids were in the hot car. Drive down the street toward my parents' house only to find at the next traffic light...smoke coming from the right side of my van! Yep, the brakes on my van decided they didn't want to work properly and were smoking (and stinking). We made it to my mom's and I'm on the phone trying to figure out what to do with the van and find someone to pick up Michelle from work at 8. I get ahold of Pat and tell him we need the car, he volunteers to pick up Michelle. Finally after allowing it to rest and taking it for a test drive we deem it's ok to try to drive it home. I'm happy to report we arrived home ok, no smoke. Although there was a slight burning rubber smell.
Then there's this morning. The first time in quite a while that people had to be out the door early. Tom's no problem...he has to be gone by 6:30. Luke had to catch the bus for freshman orientation at 7:30. Pat had to leave by 7:30 to make an 8:00 class. Michelle had to be ready too since she was catching a ride with Pat (going into class 1.5hrs early) since I don't trust the van to make the 42 mile round trip without a problem. There were quite a few banging of doors, pleas of HURRY UP! Get out of the bathroom NOW! I have to get in there too! At least they got out when they were suppose to. Although I'm sure next week will be even more interesting since we'll be adding in 4 (possibly 5) more kids who need to be out the door at that time too. Did I mention I'm dreading the start of school with all my heart? I thought so.
We can't forget the comedy of all of comedies...school shopping! 8+ hours at the outlet mall...the wheeling and dealing, the cajoling. I swear my kids will grow up to be world class negotiators. There's me telling someone I refuse to pay $7 for a shirt. Only to turn around and have another kid try to convince me they NEED a $17 long sleeve black shirt. How they can't live without this shirt.
Watch us as we enter the food court. Gather at the table while trying to decide what to do for dinner. Decide to get 2 pizzas Last stop is into the shoe store where we're ignored by all the unoccupied salespeople. Probably because they've pegged me for a...head straight to the clearance rack...type shopper, and they'd be right. I try to keep ahold of Danielle while fighting the urge to choke on the $60+ price tags we pass. Breathe a little more freely as I see the color coded clearance tags. Smile as I find 2 pairs of $15 sneaks. Smile gets even broader as I discover the girls like them and THEY FIT! :o) Then I start to doubt whether I should pay $15 for their sneaks. Can I find some cheaper someplace else? Will I get to that someplace else? Push aside the doubt and whip out the plastic (which makes me sick to my stomach to have to do). It ends with me limping to the van (my tailbone was killing me!), driving home knowing I'll have to do this again Friday! Maybe THEN I can be done. lol (BTW...Danielle and Sean were PERFECT the whole day)
Sitting here I'm wondering how tonight will turn out. The parent's portion of freshmen orientation is tonight (note to self...find and fill out papers that need to be returned at the meeting...stop at library to make a copy of Luke's birth certificate). I THINK it starts at 7...have to check and I'm assuming it goes until 8. Michelle gets out of work at 8, meaning someone has to leave the house to pick her up by 7:30. That is IF we have 2 cars to drive, otherwise someone is going to have to wait for a while until their ride can get to them. At least Pat has today off so that we have ONE car that's driving ok to use. I'm thinking that I'll probably go to school with the van (and cross my fingers), Tom can take the Tercel and pick up Michelle.
Speaking of Tom, there's the relationship aspect that would be portrayed. It's not pretty right now. Not because we're fighting or angry at each other. We'd have to see each other and have more then a few minute phone conversation to do that. No it's that it seems to be sorely lacking at the moment. I haven't seen Tom's actual face since at least Sunday evening. He's been in bed by the time I got home the last few nights. Before that he's pulled a few late nights outside and I've been asleep by the time he comes in. Just goes to show that my view is correct....sleeping is just a waste of time. Now if only my post partum body would agree with my brain!
And last but not least there's how my housekeeping mixed with baby and toddler juggling ability...or lack of would be perceived. ROFL!!! But maybe that's a post for another time.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Vacation is over
Thanks everyone for the well wishes. It took me almost a week until I felt like I had before I got sick. This last week I've really been bugged by my sloooow recovery. Also that at times I'd feel pain when I moved certain ways still and my stamina was sorely lacking. I usually jump right back into things once I'm discharged from the hospital. So taking 4wks to recover seemed WAY too long. Although I should've known better since it took me about this long to feel well after my gallbladder surgery. I'm happy to say though that week has been a good week. I still can't do too much but that's because I've got Sean glued to me, not because I'm in pain or have no energy.
Tom did end up taking the kids camping during the first week of his vacation. It was too cold and rainy for Sean so I opted to stay home. Liz had to back out of going at the last second so I offered to keep Danielle. (Liz would've been Tom's major helper with her) I got a glimpse of what life once school is back in session will be like since I was alone with Sean and Danielle quite a few days. Oh my goodness!!! I missed my big kids. I've gotten so spoiled that I'm a wuss now. lol I'm happy to report that EVERYONE survived.
Sean is growing like a big fat weed. The kids seems to aquire rolls overnight! At his 1wk checkup he weighed 8lbs. At his 3wk checkup he weighed 10lbs (same as Luke when he was born lol) I'm sure he weighs even more now that he's almost 5wks old. Here's a picture my mom took when he was 23 days old. (will try to get a newer picture when Liz gets home tomorrow)
He's a very alert baby that likes to be held by mom a lot. :o) Nursing is his favorite activity. He does really well at night though. The last few nights he's only woken up ONCE although his morning starts before 6am. He seems to have had a twinkle in his eye for at least a week now. We're starting to get glimpses of an almost smile. I even got an adorable crinkled up nose face yesterday.
Tom's second week of vacation ended up being hot and humid. It sent us to the beach in the evenings 2 days this week. Sean isn't beach friendly at this time though...so I wasn't a happy camper. It ended on both an emotional high and a low.
The high was Danielle's 2nd birthday which she THOROUGHLY enjoyed. She blew her candles out like a pro. When I asked if she wanted to do it again she say 'Es. I relit the candles thinking she would blow them right back out. She had other ideas and sat back down into her seat, expecting everyone to sing Happy Birthday to her again. THEN she blew out the candles. She loved her new Zapf babydoll and I'm reminded why you don't leave a newborn alone with a 2yo. lol That poor doll!
The low happened yesterday morning after dropping Michelle off at work. (yes, she now has a job) On the way home I pulled in front of a Tacoma pickup while attempting to turn left at a T intersection. (I was facing the top of the T....truck was coming from the left of the top) I looked left, waited until an SUV passed infront of me, looked right to see if it was clear and never looked left again. I didn't see the truck until it had smashed into me. I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID IT! I've always thought people that that happens to have to be morons to not see a huge vehicle bearing down on them. Now I'm one of them. Here's a not so great picture of the damage...
So now our 1mo new to us Volvo that I told you about here has a VERY smashed up front end. Sean and I were in the car and we're both fine. I was a bit sore last night and will probably end up with bruises on my shoulder, neck and jaw from the seatbelt. I don't think Sean moved at all. :o) I'm SO thankful I wasn't lazy in buckling him into the car like I was tempted to be. (had second thoughts about having to climb IN the car so I could reach the middle seatbelt. Also about climbing on his seat to make sure it was secured into the belt tightly)
I shocked myself and fell apart at the scene. I'm usually the one that stays composed during these types of things. Mostly I was mad at myself for being so careless. Then I thought of all the ramifications of accident like...losing out on the $1500+ we just spent to buy, register and tune-up the car, Drew not being able to start his new job this week (he was going to borrow the car until his Saturn was fixed), I was issued a ticket and now will have points on my license which means higher insurance for a few years, and higher insurance premiums based on an accident alone. I was a basketcase all day and I think I scared the kids just a bit. They aren't used to seeing their mom randomly break into hysterics. They've been walking on eggshells around me since I got home yesterday.
Jake keeps saying...mommy's scared! I told him no, I'm mad. Then on the way to taking Michelle to work t his morning I broke down as we got closer to the dreaded corner. So maybe there's a little bit of truth to what he's claiming. It's been a vicious circle. I start crying, get mad at myself for falling apart, then get embarrassed because I fell apart and start crying even more. This afternoon I've been fine. I guess the final test will be in an hour when I go to pick Michelle up from work again.
Michelle and Pat start back to college on Wed. Unfortunately they can't coordinate rides to ease my driving time. Pat will have to head to work after classes and can't wait around for Michelle and vice versa. I'm just glad Pat decided to go back to school NOW instead of "next semester" like he'd planned on a few weeks ago.
The other school kids start back to school in 9 days (on the 5th). I'm dreading it with all my heart! Especially since Jake has the 5th grade teacher from hell. The one teacher who's managed to make EVERY kid I know that's had her HATE school/5th grade. Including socially minded Val and academically minded Liz. How can you turn off 2 kids who enjoyed school for 2 totally different reasons? I know...be a lousy teacher! I've already put Tom on notice that I will pull and homeschool Jake if I think he's being negatively affected. Who knows...maybe they'll love each other...stranger things have happened. We have quite a bit of school shopping to do. Everyone is still wearing last years sneakers and they are falling apart. At least I'm set on backpacks...I think. I also bought a ton of basic supplies before Sean was born. So we're not totally unprepared. The plan right now is to go out shopping tomorrow (Michelle's only day off this week). Hopefully we'll get everything we need in one trip (hey! a girl can dream!)
OK...off to get some lunch. Then it'll be time to be brave and conquer the evil intersection. Voya con Dios!
Tom did end up taking the kids camping during the first week of his vacation. It was too cold and rainy for Sean so I opted to stay home. Liz had to back out of going at the last second so I offered to keep Danielle. (Liz would've been Tom's major helper with her) I got a glimpse of what life once school is back in session will be like since I was alone with Sean and Danielle quite a few days. Oh my goodness!!! I missed my big kids. I've gotten so spoiled that I'm a wuss now. lol I'm happy to report that EVERYONE survived.
Sean is growing like a big fat weed. The kids seems to aquire rolls overnight! At his 1wk checkup he weighed 8lbs. At his 3wk checkup he weighed 10lbs (same as Luke when he was born lol) I'm sure he weighs even more now that he's almost 5wks old. Here's a picture my mom took when he was 23 days old. (will try to get a newer picture when Liz gets home tomorrow)
He's a very alert baby that likes to be held by mom a lot. :o) Nursing is his favorite activity. He does really well at night though. The last few nights he's only woken up ONCE although his morning starts before 6am. He seems to have had a twinkle in his eye for at least a week now. We're starting to get glimpses of an almost smile. I even got an adorable crinkled up nose face yesterday.
Tom's second week of vacation ended up being hot and humid. It sent us to the beach in the evenings 2 days this week. Sean isn't beach friendly at this time though...so I wasn't a happy camper. It ended on both an emotional high and a low.
The high was Danielle's 2nd birthday which she THOROUGHLY enjoyed. She blew her candles out like a pro. When I asked if she wanted to do it again she say 'Es. I relit the candles thinking she would blow them right back out. She had other ideas and sat back down into her seat, expecting everyone to sing Happy Birthday to her again. THEN she blew out the candles. She loved her new Zapf babydoll and I'm reminded why you don't leave a newborn alone with a 2yo. lol That poor doll!
The low happened yesterday morning after dropping Michelle off at work. (yes, she now has a job) On the way home I pulled in front of a Tacoma pickup while attempting to turn left at a T intersection. (I was facing the top of the T....truck was coming from the left of the top) I looked left, waited until an SUV passed infront of me, looked right to see if it was clear and never looked left again. I didn't see the truck until it had smashed into me. I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID IT! I've always thought people that that happens to have to be morons to not see a huge vehicle bearing down on them. Now I'm one of them. Here's a not so great picture of the damage...
So now our 1mo new to us Volvo that I told you about here has a VERY smashed up front end. Sean and I were in the car and we're both fine. I was a bit sore last night and will probably end up with bruises on my shoulder, neck and jaw from the seatbelt. I don't think Sean moved at all. :o) I'm SO thankful I wasn't lazy in buckling him into the car like I was tempted to be. (had second thoughts about having to climb IN the car so I could reach the middle seatbelt. Also about climbing on his seat to make sure it was secured into the belt tightly)
I shocked myself and fell apart at the scene. I'm usually the one that stays composed during these types of things. Mostly I was mad at myself for being so careless. Then I thought of all the ramifications of accident like...losing out on the $1500+ we just spent to buy, register and tune-up the car, Drew not being able to start his new job this week (he was going to borrow the car until his Saturn was fixed), I was issued a ticket and now will have points on my license which means higher insurance for a few years, and higher insurance premiums based on an accident alone. I was a basketcase all day and I think I scared the kids just a bit. They aren't used to seeing their mom randomly break into hysterics. They've been walking on eggshells around me since I got home yesterday.
Jake keeps saying...mommy's scared! I told him no, I'm mad. Then on the way to taking Michelle to work t his morning I broke down as we got closer to the dreaded corner. So maybe there's a little bit of truth to what he's claiming. It's been a vicious circle. I start crying, get mad at myself for falling apart, then get embarrassed because I fell apart and start crying even more. This afternoon I've been fine. I guess the final test will be in an hour when I go to pick Michelle up from work again.
Michelle and Pat start back to college on Wed. Unfortunately they can't coordinate rides to ease my driving time. Pat will have to head to work after classes and can't wait around for Michelle and vice versa. I'm just glad Pat decided to go back to school NOW instead of "next semester" like he'd planned on a few weeks ago.
The other school kids start back to school in 9 days (on the 5th). I'm dreading it with all my heart! Especially since Jake has the 5th grade teacher from hell. The one teacher who's managed to make EVERY kid I know that's had her HATE school/5th grade. Including socially minded Val and academically minded Liz. How can you turn off 2 kids who enjoyed school for 2 totally different reasons? I know...be a lousy teacher! I've already put Tom on notice that I will pull and homeschool Jake if I think he's being negatively affected. Who knows...maybe they'll love each other...stranger things have happened. We have quite a bit of school shopping to do. Everyone is still wearing last years sneakers and they are falling apart. At least I'm set on backpacks...I think. I also bought a ton of basic supplies before Sean was born. So we're not totally unprepared. The plan right now is to go out shopping tomorrow (Michelle's only day off this week). Hopefully we'll get everything we need in one trip (hey! a girl can dream!)
OK...off to get some lunch. Then it'll be time to be brave and conquer the evil intersection. Voya con Dios!
Monday, August 13, 2007
UGH! Two steps forward, 3 steps back
I posted about how great everything was going on Thursday and then I wake up Friday morning. MISTAKE! I was soooo sick. I think I've only been that sick two other times in my life...once with strep and another with the flu. I was on the toilet all morning and didn't know what to do. I had to take Michelle and Liz to the dentist for appts at 1pm...I'd already confirmed them the day before! I called Tom and asked if he could get out of work early and take them. He was going to at first but then said that he was super busy trying to get ready for his vacation (taking 2wks off starting Monday!). Besides it was only cleanings...so call and cancel. I broke into tears, realized there was NO way I was going out the door and called the dentist.
I then grabbed Sean and headed back to bed. By then I was shivering and burning up under my blankets. As the kids got up and would pass my room, I'd call them in and have them take Sean for a little while. They'd carry him out into the livingroom, pass him around for a bit and then send him back in with me to be nursed. I'd hook him up and fall back to sleep. Someone would hear or see him moving (my door stayed open), come grab him until he was rooting like a madman on everyone's arm....then back into bed with me. I felt guilty for not "taking care" of my newborn. Although the guilt wasn't too bad since I slept until well after 5pm.
I tried to get up but my head and back were screaming. It was almost like a spinal headache and was just about as bad painwise. (had one after Danielle's delivery) I kept calling Tom asking where he was in his errand run, that I needed some pepsi. Everytime I'd talk to Tom he'd ask if I needed to go to the dr or the hospital. I'd tell him I'm pretty sure it wasn't pregnancy/c-section related (normally having the runs isn't one of the symptoms...otherwise I'd have been worried too). He finally got home, (asking again if I wanted to go to the ER...I guess the tears made him nervous) I slowly drank down 2 pepsi's and took a few tylenol and started to feel a bit better. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to go to sleep after sleeping all day (Sean too, he was napping a lot more then normal with me in bed all day). We both slept fine.
I woke up Saturday still feeling so hot. I could barely stand for more then a minute and still needed frequent trips to the bathroom. It was about 6 at night when I realized....I have a bridal shower tomorrow at 1pm and haven't bought anything for it! What am I going to do? I decided I'd get up early Sunday and go out shopping. Weeeeeeell, I couldn't get to sleep Saturday night. I saw the wee hours of the morning creep in before I convinced myself I might fall asleep if I tried. Needless to say, I didn't wake up Sunday morning until well past 10 and that wasn't enough time to shop properly. I also still felt weak and not particularly well. So wasn't a stellar idea in my book to be out all morning/day. So I asked Michelle for a blank card and gave the couple cash. I know it will be appreciated and I have a legitimate excuse for not having a gift. I still feel like a cad for not having anything for her to open today. It was a nice shower despite how I felt about my gift. She seemed to really be appreciative of it and that's all that matters. :o)
Tomorrow Tom gets our van inspected and hopfefully will make it legal to drive again! Fingers crossed that the state doesn't find a reason to deny it and give Tom a hard time. We really can't provide a lot of the information they want from us since we just BOUGHT the van, not rebuilt it. I can't wait until all this red tape is behind us! There is talk of going camping if the van passes. I was originally going to go but now I don't think I'd be good enough to go to the mailbox much less the Adirondacks. Besides it's suppose to be pretty chilly and rainy this week. Not something I want to deal with with a newborn and almost 2yo. I'm trying to convince him to wait until next week but he's not having any of it. I don't really mind staying home alone (although some big kids would probably be here since they have to work and whatnot). NOt sure I can handle Danielle and Sean at the same time. I'm getting nervous about that come September. But that's something for another blog post at a later time.
My plan to stay up until Sean woke up for his midnight'ish feeding is backfiring. He hasn't woken up and my head keeps snapping back while I sit here trying to concentrate. I was trying to avoid Sean waking me up 30-45mins after I fell asleep (HATE when that happens cause I have the hardest time getting fully awake then). Guess everything is pointing for me to go to bed even if my head says to wait a FEW more minutes.
I then grabbed Sean and headed back to bed. By then I was shivering and burning up under my blankets. As the kids got up and would pass my room, I'd call them in and have them take Sean for a little while. They'd carry him out into the livingroom, pass him around for a bit and then send him back in with me to be nursed. I'd hook him up and fall back to sleep. Someone would hear or see him moving (my door stayed open), come grab him until he was rooting like a madman on everyone's arm....then back into bed with me. I felt guilty for not "taking care" of my newborn. Although the guilt wasn't too bad since I slept until well after 5pm.
I tried to get up but my head and back were screaming. It was almost like a spinal headache and was just about as bad painwise. (had one after Danielle's delivery) I kept calling Tom asking where he was in his errand run, that I needed some pepsi. Everytime I'd talk to Tom he'd ask if I needed to go to the dr or the hospital. I'd tell him I'm pretty sure it wasn't pregnancy/c-section related (normally having the runs isn't one of the symptoms...otherwise I'd have been worried too). He finally got home, (asking again if I wanted to go to the ER...I guess the tears made him nervous) I slowly drank down 2 pepsi's and took a few tylenol and started to feel a bit better. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to go to sleep after sleeping all day (Sean too, he was napping a lot more then normal with me in bed all day). We both slept fine.
I woke up Saturday still feeling so hot. I could barely stand for more then a minute and still needed frequent trips to the bathroom. It was about 6 at night when I realized....I have a bridal shower tomorrow at 1pm and haven't bought anything for it! What am I going to do? I decided I'd get up early Sunday and go out shopping. Weeeeeeell, I couldn't get to sleep Saturday night. I saw the wee hours of the morning creep in before I convinced myself I might fall asleep if I tried. Needless to say, I didn't wake up Sunday morning until well past 10 and that wasn't enough time to shop properly. I also still felt weak and not particularly well. So wasn't a stellar idea in my book to be out all morning/day. So I asked Michelle for a blank card and gave the couple cash. I know it will be appreciated and I have a legitimate excuse for not having a gift. I still feel like a cad for not having anything for her to open today. It was a nice shower despite how I felt about my gift. She seemed to really be appreciative of it and that's all that matters. :o)
Tomorrow Tom gets our van inspected and hopfefully will make it legal to drive again! Fingers crossed that the state doesn't find a reason to deny it and give Tom a hard time. We really can't provide a lot of the information they want from us since we just BOUGHT the van, not rebuilt it. I can't wait until all this red tape is behind us! There is talk of going camping if the van passes. I was originally going to go but now I don't think I'd be good enough to go to the mailbox much less the Adirondacks. Besides it's suppose to be pretty chilly and rainy this week. Not something I want to deal with with a newborn and almost 2yo. I'm trying to convince him to wait until next week but he's not having any of it. I don't really mind staying home alone (although some big kids would probably be here since they have to work and whatnot). NOt sure I can handle Danielle and Sean at the same time. I'm getting nervous about that come September. But that's something for another blog post at a later time.
My plan to stay up until Sean woke up for his midnight'ish feeding is backfiring. He hasn't woken up and my head keeps snapping back while I sit here trying to concentrate. I was trying to avoid Sean waking me up 30-45mins after I fell asleep (HATE when that happens cause I have the hardest time getting fully awake then). Guess everything is pointing for me to go to bed even if my head says to wait a FEW more minutes.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
2wks home with my new little man
First here's a picture of Sean, taken when he was 6 days old.
I want to get a newer picture soon (need to borrow one of the girls' cameras). I also want to get a pic of the BEAUTIFUL quilt that came in the mail last week from one of my chat friends Jeeps/Jill. It's light blue with train cars on the top, backed with red bandana material on the reverse. Jill's son, M picked it out for us and they go together perfectly. It's snuggly too (yes, mom's been using it)
Secondly, thank you for all the great wishes, comments, emails, gifts, etc. They are all truly appreciated and mean a lot to me.
Sean has been doing great. I still haven't gotten the knack of NAK (nursing at the keyboard) with him yet. Part of me would rather pay attention to him instead of the monitor, part of me was letting the kids veg in front of the computer...leaving me alone, part of me hasn't bothered to even try very hard to get the knack. So online time is spent lurking/reading mostly. Throwing in a slow chat with one hand here or there. Although I missed Tues night chat. I went to bed by 10:30 and also forgot it was Tues night until I woke up on Wed morning. *blush* I've been wanting to update here so please forgive me if this gets lengthy. I'm afraid I won't get back on to add more if I keep it short.
Sean has been doing really well with the nights. He's giving me about 3hrs at a time with nursings between them. Usually his nights start between 10 and midnight. I'm trying on occassion to hit the bed as soon as he does, but with all these older kids it's not so easy. The other night Tom and I both went to bed around 10ish. Liz and Carrie were still over at church watching transmissions from Norway. They called about 10:45 for a ride which Eileen or Olivia (who were sleeping on the livingroom couch) answered. They woke me and told me the girls were needing a ride and I answered..."tell them I'll be there in a few minutes". Then promptly fell back to sleep!!!! As did Eileen and Olivia. I woke up about 1.5 hrs later and thought...oh they must have gotten a ride home from SOMEONE. Started to go back to sleep and then decided to make sure they were home. They weren't in their room, nor on the computer. (girls didn't have my cell phone with them) I jumped in the car and drove to the meeting hall, they weren't there. I started panicing but decided to drive into the back of the property and see if they were at the rec center. Suddenly they came out from between a few bushes on the patio. PHEW! I felt so bad for leaving them to wait all alone (they'd told everyone I was on my way and it was ok to leave...afterall we only live 2miles from the place!). They didn't quite know what to do. They didn't want to leave the rec center since they'd already told the little girls that's where they'd be waiting (but I wasn't informed). They didn't want to walk home because the country streets were so dark. They thought about heading back to the meeting hall and sleeping in the mother's room until morning. Which I'm glad they didn't do because I did NOT want to have to start searching buildings and dorms for them! Needless to say I was living with a bit of guilt for a while. Luckily it was mostly through the night so the girls couldn't play off of it too much. lol
I never mentioned in my birth story about how Danielle reacted to Sean at the hospital. She surprised me and was.....SCARED of him! She reacted to him like she does a dog. Tolerant until he comes too close or crosses into her uncomfortable range. Then she just wants him gone! At the hospital she was sitting on the bed between my knees when someone tried to put Sean into her lap. She straight armed/pushed him right away from her. I pulled her up closer to me, put my arms under her arms and asked someone to give me the baby...figuring I'd hold the baby with Danielle between us. NO WAY! She wouldn't have any of it. She scurried out of and across my arms, across the bed and jumped into Olivia's (7yo) arms. We were all ROFL'ing. We did manage to get her to "pet" the baby once and then kiss the top of his head before she left. Even now...over 2wks later she really doesn't want too much to do with him. If she does she's ok with him as long as he doesn't move too much or cry. (she will show everyone how he cries though...walking around saying...baby says...waaah, waaah waaah) I guess for Danielle's sake it's a good thing he's not a frequent or prolonged crier.
It's amazing how quickly Sean's changing/growing. He's filling out more and more, I actually had to give him some slack in his carseat straps already. He's always had an alert time in the early morning when he was bright eyed and bushy tailed. Now though it happens more often and for longer periods. He's constantly pushing his head off my shoulder and starting to look around more purposefully. The kids still get freaked out when he looks at them crosseyed though. lol Today he was up for almost the whole day with only a few 10-15min catnaps thrown in. Oh I think he finally had one nap in the evening for about an hour. He's probably heading for a growth spurt and will be nursing nonstop in the next few days.
Tom is taking the next 2 weeks off starting on Monday. We're hoping to go camping. Well Tom will most likelyl go, I'm the one hoping to make it. As of right now I'm leaning toward going. I guess I'll have to wait to see the forecast and how I feel though. I've been doing pretty well until yesterday. Then I forgot that I was mending and did a situp while holding Sean inorder to get out of bed. I think I pulled something because I've felt a burning sensation deep on my right side since then. Hopefully it'll go away soon cause it's getting irritating! I want to be normal again!
Quite a few people have asked me how I feel about my tubal now that it's over. I can say that I'm still ok with it. I have bouts of sadness over it, like when I realized I can now dispose of all my baby girl things that Danielle outgrew. Or today when I talked myself into tears telling Sean he was the last baby. It's not overwhelming though and I can deal with it. I know that for myself I would want to have babies FOREVER...even after menopause came crashing into me head on and in full force. I'm glad that my childbearing has ended on a good note with a healthy baby and me healthy. I'd have hated it to have ended with multiple miscarriages or something of the sort. I know there will be times when the idea of no babies is a bit more overwhelming. (like when Sean is 10-12mos old and I'd normally be getting pg again, or in Nov when SIL, D, has her baby) I'm hoping that with the support I have it won't be too devastating. I have already gotten to the no diapers phase before and was quite enjoying it until I became blissfully pg with Danielle. So I know it's not a terrible thing that I have infront of me. Besides Drew and Allison are planning on a wedding in less then a year so maybe in 2yrs I'll be holding a grandchild which I can then send home because they are cranky. LOL Knowing me I'll probably have the grandkids at my house all the time!
In a few weeks I've got something exciting going on. Val's bestfriend, J, is going to have her baby. Her and her mom have asked me (and Val) to come to the hospital with them when she's in labor. I've already ok'ed it with the midwife and she assures me Dr B will be ok with it. (J goes to the same practice that delivered Sean) The family originally had a Doula but they decided if I was going to be there they'd let the doula go. J's mom wants to be there as a mom, not a coach so that would be my role. I'm nervous about it too. It's one thing when you're dealing with yourself. You know how your body is reacting and what it wants/doesn't want to do. It's another when you have to guide someone else. I feel like I have NO knowledge in the area. Afterall, I've never actually seen a birth! It will be nice to be there though. It'll give me a sense if going through the doula certification would be a good thing for me or not. I think I'd enjoy being a doula. Some people seem to think I'd make a good one. I guess getting through someone else's birth might be a good first step. LOL
Ok...now I need to shower and try to get into bed before Sean wakes up again. I promise more pictures will be coming SOON. I'll also try not to let 2wks go by before updating again.
I want to get a newer picture soon (need to borrow one of the girls' cameras). I also want to get a pic of the BEAUTIFUL quilt that came in the mail last week from one of my chat friends Jeeps/Jill. It's light blue with train cars on the top, backed with red bandana material on the reverse. Jill's son, M picked it out for us and they go together perfectly. It's snuggly too (yes, mom's been using it)
Secondly, thank you for all the great wishes, comments, emails, gifts, etc. They are all truly appreciated and mean a lot to me.
Sean has been doing great. I still haven't gotten the knack of NAK (nursing at the keyboard) with him yet. Part of me would rather pay attention to him instead of the monitor, part of me was letting the kids veg in front of the computer...leaving me alone, part of me hasn't bothered to even try very hard to get the knack. So online time is spent lurking/reading mostly. Throwing in a slow chat with one hand here or there. Although I missed Tues night chat. I went to bed by 10:30 and also forgot it was Tues night until I woke up on Wed morning. *blush* I've been wanting to update here so please forgive me if this gets lengthy. I'm afraid I won't get back on to add more if I keep it short.
Sean has been doing really well with the nights. He's giving me about 3hrs at a time with nursings between them. Usually his nights start between 10 and midnight. I'm trying on occassion to hit the bed as soon as he does, but with all these older kids it's not so easy. The other night Tom and I both went to bed around 10ish. Liz and Carrie were still over at church watching transmissions from Norway. They called about 10:45 for a ride which Eileen or Olivia (who were sleeping on the livingroom couch) answered. They woke me and told me the girls were needing a ride and I answered..."tell them I'll be there in a few minutes". Then promptly fell back to sleep!!!! As did Eileen and Olivia. I woke up about 1.5 hrs later and thought...oh they must have gotten a ride home from SOMEONE. Started to go back to sleep and then decided to make sure they were home. They weren't in their room, nor on the computer. (girls didn't have my cell phone with them) I jumped in the car and drove to the meeting hall, they weren't there. I started panicing but decided to drive into the back of the property and see if they were at the rec center. Suddenly they came out from between a few bushes on the patio. PHEW! I felt so bad for leaving them to wait all alone (they'd told everyone I was on my way and it was ok to leave...afterall we only live 2miles from the place!). They didn't quite know what to do. They didn't want to leave the rec center since they'd already told the little girls that's where they'd be waiting (but I wasn't informed). They didn't want to walk home because the country streets were so dark. They thought about heading back to the meeting hall and sleeping in the mother's room until morning. Which I'm glad they didn't do because I did NOT want to have to start searching buildings and dorms for them! Needless to say I was living with a bit of guilt for a while. Luckily it was mostly through the night so the girls couldn't play off of it too much. lol
I never mentioned in my birth story about how Danielle reacted to Sean at the hospital. She surprised me and was.....SCARED of him! She reacted to him like she does a dog. Tolerant until he comes too close or crosses into her uncomfortable range. Then she just wants him gone! At the hospital she was sitting on the bed between my knees when someone tried to put Sean into her lap. She straight armed/pushed him right away from her. I pulled her up closer to me, put my arms under her arms and asked someone to give me the baby...figuring I'd hold the baby with Danielle between us. NO WAY! She wouldn't have any of it. She scurried out of and across my arms, across the bed and jumped into Olivia's (7yo) arms. We were all ROFL'ing. We did manage to get her to "pet" the baby once and then kiss the top of his head before she left. Even now...over 2wks later she really doesn't want too much to do with him. If she does she's ok with him as long as he doesn't move too much or cry. (she will show everyone how he cries though...walking around saying...baby says...waaah, waaah waaah) I guess for Danielle's sake it's a good thing he's not a frequent or prolonged crier.
It's amazing how quickly Sean's changing/growing. He's filling out more and more, I actually had to give him some slack in his carseat straps already. He's always had an alert time in the early morning when he was bright eyed and bushy tailed. Now though it happens more often and for longer periods. He's constantly pushing his head off my shoulder and starting to look around more purposefully. The kids still get freaked out when he looks at them crosseyed though. lol Today he was up for almost the whole day with only a few 10-15min catnaps thrown in. Oh I think he finally had one nap in the evening for about an hour. He's probably heading for a growth spurt and will be nursing nonstop in the next few days.
Tom is taking the next 2 weeks off starting on Monday. We're hoping to go camping. Well Tom will most likelyl go, I'm the one hoping to make it. As of right now I'm leaning toward going. I guess I'll have to wait to see the forecast and how I feel though. I've been doing pretty well until yesterday. Then I forgot that I was mending and did a situp while holding Sean inorder to get out of bed. I think I pulled something because I've felt a burning sensation deep on my right side since then. Hopefully it'll go away soon cause it's getting irritating! I want to be normal again!
Quite a few people have asked me how I feel about my tubal now that it's over. I can say that I'm still ok with it. I have bouts of sadness over it, like when I realized I can now dispose of all my baby girl things that Danielle outgrew. Or today when I talked myself into tears telling Sean he was the last baby. It's not overwhelming though and I can deal with it. I know that for myself I would want to have babies FOREVER...even after menopause came crashing into me head on and in full force. I'm glad that my childbearing has ended on a good note with a healthy baby and me healthy. I'd have hated it to have ended with multiple miscarriages or something of the sort. I know there will be times when the idea of no babies is a bit more overwhelming. (like when Sean is 10-12mos old and I'd normally be getting pg again, or in Nov when SIL, D, has her baby) I'm hoping that with the support I have it won't be too devastating. I have already gotten to the no diapers phase before and was quite enjoying it until I became blissfully pg with Danielle. So I know it's not a terrible thing that I have infront of me. Besides Drew and Allison are planning on a wedding in less then a year so maybe in 2yrs I'll be holding a grandchild which I can then send home because they are cranky. LOL Knowing me I'll probably have the grandkids at my house all the time!
In a few weeks I've got something exciting going on. Val's bestfriend, J, is going to have her baby. Her and her mom have asked me (and Val) to come to the hospital with them when she's in labor. I've already ok'ed it with the midwife and she assures me Dr B will be ok with it. (J goes to the same practice that delivered Sean) The family originally had a Doula but they decided if I was going to be there they'd let the doula go. J's mom wants to be there as a mom, not a coach so that would be my role. I'm nervous about it too. It's one thing when you're dealing with yourself. You know how your body is reacting and what it wants/doesn't want to do. It's another when you have to guide someone else. I feel like I have NO knowledge in the area. Afterall, I've never actually seen a birth! It will be nice to be there though. It'll give me a sense if going through the doula certification would be a good thing for me or not. I think I'd enjoy being a doula. Some people seem to think I'd make a good one. I guess getting through someone else's birth might be a good first step. LOL
Ok...now I need to shower and try to get into bed before Sean wakes up again. I promise more pictures will be coming SOON. I'll also try not to let 2wks go by before updating again.
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