Stinky

I've been sick all week, and it's NOT fun. Today my sore throat, which hasn't been good anyway, got worse. I woke up to it feeling sticky and then less than an hour later it felt like the muscle in the roof of my mouth went floppy. I really don't like this, but I'm dealing with it, because the alternative isn't for me.

Thankfully the boys haven't had ANY of what I have. I wonder if this is a flu, and I got it because I didn't get the vaccination, but all my guys did.

Either way, I'm out of commission for a little while longer (boo) and trying to survive. My coping method when I'm sick is to sleep it away. Jake just won't let me snore...it interferes with his TV shows. *eye roll*

And you may be happy to know that Jake informed me that he's feeling better. Better than good? Wow, at least someone's doing well!

I Need a Change

I've been stuck in a rut for a while. I've found myself getting more and more ornery and grumpy with my family and it's not fair to them. Saturday I had a complete break-down and lost my mind....and my poor children were there for it. Afterward, I felt HORRIBLE! I'd said things I didn't mean to say, and did things that I vowed I'd NEVER do (Cameron got the spanking of a lifetime....*blush*) I don't EVER want to lose it that bad, ever EVER again.

I need to do things that I don't normally do.

SO, I've made a few goals...

First off, I'm making the boys breakfast. I need to make sure that they're well-fed and happy in the mornings, that SHOULD help the day run smoother.

Secondly, I need to apologize to my boys for the upset that I've caused....it will be hard, but I HAVE to do it.

Third, I'm going to make up my mind to be happier and more calm with my rowdy boys. It's the least they deserve.

Wish me luck.

Jake's also been a bit under the weather lately, it's not fun, and he's just a miserable little poop. :( He fell asleep on Steve Saturday night, just burning up with a fever, but INSISTING on having his "bankie!"

Right now, he's up in my bed, cooling off with daddy....I should go and figure something out for the poor guy. Again, wish me luck!

Obsessive?

Hearing about the "swine flu" (aka H1N1....but I still like saying swine flu) I've worried a little about my kids getting it. Not so much if I get it, but if THEY get it. I pray constantly that we'll be spared until we can get the flu shot. I haven't gotten to the point where I make them wash their hands at every turn...but I might. Our turn for the vaccination is coming soon. YAY!

BUT, this past week, we had sick kids. As soon as we got home from Cameron's doctors visits, Jake threw up. I hoped it was a one-time thing, but I soon learned otherwise. The next day he puked and puked and puked until he was pale in the face. I tried getting him to drink so he wouldn't dehydrate, but the drinks didn't always stay down. After a miserable day, he seemed fine. Even in his sick-state, he was happy and playful.

Thursday was a whole new day, and both boys were happy and playful.

Friday, Jake was back to being sick. My living room did NOT smell pleasant at all. I cleaned up that child over and over. He had more baths this last week than there are days in the week. Poor boy.

Saturday looked promising until Cameron decided to join in the fun. I could tell it was bad, and declared that we'd stay home yet again. I heard a lot of whining, but tried to ignore it. Thankfully, Cam's sick stomach was just a one-time thing.

It's too hard to keep a clean house with kids awake and playing...that's my theory anyway. BUT add sickness to the mix, and you're not going to see a decent clean house for a LONG time. I've been waiting until the boys are in bed before cleaning, and finally, last night found the floor beneath my dining room table.

Yes, I'm obsessing over a clean downstairs (the upstairs is COMPLETELY trashed, but I'm working on getting that cleaned....eventually.) Why? Well, I've got the missionaries coming over for dinner this week on the same day that Jake is having dental surgery. Yeah, I don't have TIME to do the last minute cleaning that I usually do, so I'm trying to keep on top of it. Trying, but not always succeeding. Thanks boys.

Overall, I'm pretty calm...we're sick, but not THAT sick. We're clean, but not THAT clean....and we're doing just fine! :)

Summertime Sickies?

Seems that the summertime sickies are here. (Good thing they came BEFORE school started...) It started last night with Jacob. The poor baby did NOT want to sleep. Since he's been cutting his teeth lately, I thought maybe he was still in pain from getting his eye-teeth (which are out now....so it was a LITTLE suspect, but if he's in pain, what do I know?) So I took the poor boy downstairs (in an attempt to let Cameron and Steve sleep. Poor Steve had to work at 5:00 in the morning, and Cam's just a grump if HE doesn't get sleep....) I tried to give Jake some ibuprofen, but he turned away.

'That was odd,' I thought to myself. He LOVES his ibuprofen. Usually he CRIES when the medicine is gone. Often, he'll grab the bottle and whine for more. But he did NOT want it at all last night.

I finally got him to take some, but he still acted weird. He cuddled with me (okay, so my 'weird-ometer' should have been going crazy with THIS...he NEVER cuddles....except when he's sick.) I sat awake with the boy until 2:30 in the morning, finally falling asleep. When I went to lay him in his crib, he woke up a little, cried, then fell back to sleep.

This morning Cameron came into my room and said, "Jake pooped EVERYWHERE."

'EW!' I thought again, what is going on with that poor baby...

I go in to check on him, and it's not what Cam thought. Instead I discover that Jake has thrown up.

NICE! :P

I clean up both boys and realize in the process that I'm not feeling so hot myself. NICE....whatever icky thing Jake had, I now have.

So Jake and I have spent the day alone (Cam went with my family to a family reunion I was going to go to.....thank you, family...) I'm feeling a BIT better, but Jake is feeling MUCH better. He's already gone into my kitchen several times and found food that he wants to eat.

Do you know how happy chocolate chips make a baby??

So I'm HOPING that the ickies will go away soon. I'm not going to cancel anything else, but I am HOPING that things turn around soon.

Blah

There's no school today. It's a teacher work-day.

Cameron needs his medicine refilled. (He's taking some other meds.)

Jake AND I have a sore throat/barking cough.

Oh, JOY!

Sickies

Last night Cam kept coming in and out of bed to complain that his nose was stuffed up, his throat hurt, he was coughing, his tummy hurt....

When I woke up for the day, I heard a loud barking cough from the boy. That was enough to convince me it was time for a sick-day...whether he liked it or not. (Just for the record, he did NOT like it.) I called the bus to tell them he was sick and didn't need picked up. I called the school and left a message that we were having a sick-day, and then I settled in for the day. Cam wasn't really miserably sick, but just enough to be whiny. :P

Then later on, after Jake's nap, I realized that Thrush has reared it's ugly head AGAIN! I called the doctor's office to make sure he didn't need to go in, and found out that we can go through the purple cycle SEVERAL times before it gets cleared up. Uh, nice to KNOW! :P

So here I sit at home with two sick little boys...each in their own way! *sigh*

Thrush

Today I noticed some little white patches on the inside of Jake's mouth. Just on the corners by his lips. At first I thought it was paper, I mean, he HAS been putting everything that's been on the floor into his mouth, and we've been shredding paper like crazy people. But when I went to "pull it out" it didn't come, and I noticed it was more like a yeast infection or something else. So I called the doctor, and the nurse said it sounded like thrush. Um...yay?

So today we went to the pharmacy and got some purple stuff (yeah, don't remember the name of it off hand...) and some anti-fungal foot stuff for me, and we're treating it.

Isn't Jake's purple mouth just LOVERLY!? ;)

Hopefully this won't last long...and none of the rest of US will get it. *fingers crossed* Until then I have a purple-mouthed baby...

Well.....

Sometimes I should just keep my mouth shut!

Last night my little Jake was miserable. He wouldn't eat for very long, he'd sit straight up in my lap....and if you've read my nipple post, you know that isn't real conducive for nursing. I got fed up with him starting and then stopping so I just pumped....which is SO annoying, but I guess necessary sometimes.

All night long the boy was yanking something fierce on his ears, by the time I noticed his misery, the doctor's office was closed. I was pretty bummed. So I just gave the kid some pain relievers and hoped he'd be okay until morning.

He was up quite a bit last night just sobbing. I tried to cuddle him, but he just didn't want anything to do with me.

So early this morning (well, once the doctor's office opened) I called and got him an appointment. They ushered us back quickly in case the kid was contagious, and then we waited and waited. I was actually pretty excited to learn that I got my regular doctor (he's got 8 or 9 other doctors that he's in the office with, so you KNOW that's lucky!) We weighed the boy (he's now officially 20 pounds.) and waited for Dr. O to see us.

The doctor did his regular suspects, asking questions along the way and discovered that the boy didn't have an ear infection (*whew*) but a "moderate sore throat." He told me that *normally* they don't test infants under 1 for strep UNLESS they have older siblings. Guess who had to go to the lab for a strep swab? UGH!

Anyway, the fun part (if there is a *fun* part) was that I got to see a family friend and visit with her for while we waited for the results. The nurses even joked around with us.

After the wait we were relieved to find that we were negative for strep. It's just a typical sore throat. (Um, yay!?)

So the doctor urged me to push liquids on the kid in the form of juices, Popsicles, sherbet, and cold pudding. He's worried that since he's not eating normally, that he'll dehydrate...I'm worried I'll lose my milk.

Anyway, he's not completely healed, but we're on our way....I hope! *crossing fingers*

Fever? Just A Little One

Yesterday Little Jake woke up feeling a bit warmer than he usually does. I grabbed my trusty thermometer and took his temperature. (Now, I HATE checking him rectally, and I'm not about to try it orally, so I take temperatures in the kids armpits....yeah, not REAL accurate, but it works!) The thermometer told me that his temperature was PERFECT. 98.6

A few hours later, the kid was acting like he wanted to sleep and started feeling warm again. I checked and this time he was at 100.9. I began to worry. The first person I called was my mom. (She's the one I usually go to for advice anyway....) She told me that a temperature of 100 was okay, but if it got to 104 to take him to the doctor. She also made the disclaimer that it had been a while since she had kids and to double-check with the pediatrician's office.

As soon as I hung up with her I did check with Jake's doctor's office....just in case. They confirmed what my mom had said and added that if he had a fever for 3 days they should check him out as well.

All day I kept the kid undressed (just wearing a onsie) and gnawing on a cold washcloth. At one point he got SO cold that I had to do some of the opposite to get him warm.

Eventually, I had medicated the boy and thought all was well.

Today he woke up super warm. Last night I'd worried about covering him up with blankets, so I just put him to sleep in his blanket sleeper and on TOP of his blankets. His temperature was again 100.9. I took the boy, stripped him down and gave him a cool bath. After giving him a dose of Tylenol, I took his temperature again. This time it went down to 99.1.

I let him play in his onsie all morning, and eventually began to go stir crazy. (My crazy neighbors were blasting mariachi music and leaving their car running IN the garage....filling my apartment with exhaust. Um....I love my neighbors....I love my neighbors.....I love my neighbors....) So I dressed the boy, had Cam get ready and we left.

Now I sit at my parents' house, Jake is still wanting to just sleep his icky-ness away (a trait that comes from my side of the family) and is getting warm again.

*sigh*

I hope this ends soon! Poor boy.

I guess I'm really lucky though, he hasn't really fussed too much. Mainly, he wants to be held and snuggled (not really typical of him) and wants to sleep. He doesn't cry, just moans every once in a while.

Alive? Maybe, but then again....

So this last week was an off week for us. Usually I'm at my mom's house (where I do my online-ing....) but she's had strep throat!! So we kept the boys at home, hoping that they DON'T get what Grandma has.

Then we had some family dramas pop up. It's sad, but I think we're surviving.

I just wish my husband would be happier. He's pretty upset because his mom hasn't answered his phone calls since we went to Arizona at the beginning of August!! She's told someone else in the family that she's not mad at us, but that she thinks WE'RE mad at HER! Wha'!? Um....I've had Steve call his mom every night this week, we've yet to hear from her. In fact, we had to learn yesterday of his aunt's passing from his brother!
I just don't get this immature behavior.....why? JUST ANSWER YOUR DANG PHONE!!!

********

Vent over....I hope...

And as an added bonus, here's the boy's Halloween picture. I hope to get a picture of Jake with his new teeth, but we're still waiting for one to pop out. (When that one comes, he'll have 4!!)

Sickies Here and GONE!! (I hope!)

I've been a miserable mess all weekend long. But I didn't have time to wallow in my sickness....I had to do things, and it wasn't fun.

Sleeping wasn't easy either....I found that I was sweaty and literally STICKING to my sheets. I thought only menopausal women did that!! YIKES!! The thing that made it worse was that I was FREEZING with all that sweating going on, so I HAD to have the blankies covering me. Honestly, it was NOT something I hope to ever do again!

I ended up going to church on Sunday so I could bolster our ward choir's poor little alto section, there's a whole 2 of us, and I think we did pretty well for our small, sicky numbers.

Then I spent all day yesterday recovering, and it completely helped!! I was feeling MUCH better (although my lungs need to be hacked up occasionally....) and I was able to do the things that I'm SUPPOSED to do today.

Cam has been such a trooper. He's been entertaining himself rather well, considering that mommy AND daddy were both laid up with the flu. He even prayed for us many times! (Thanks, buddy!)

Last night, on a random whim, Steve picked up my little "foldy" pillow off of my side of the bed. (I MUST sleep with this little extra pillow....don't ask me why!) And promptly threw it back down pronouncing, "Peeeew!" upon my lovey!

I asked him what it smelled like (thinking he'd respond, sweat or sick smell...something that he could say was stinky and worthy of the pronouncement.)

Then he said, in a matter-of-fact way, "It smells like your head!"

Uh, thanks honey! Maybe I need some better smelling shampoo! :P

What do You do with a Sick Kid?

I try to keep him locked in my house so that he'll get feeling better soon....otherwise, *shrug* We usually nap and watch cartoons.

Thankfully, he's doing better, but he's still congested and dripping from his nose. I know he's doing better because he doesn't want to cuddle on my lap the way he did LAST night. Cuddling is NOT his thing, so I know something's up when he wants to be held by mama.

*Sigh* I just hope he's better tomorrow!

Sick...and TIRED

So I haven't been to visit my computer for days now, simply because I've been hacking, and whinning....I'm sick. I've got a sore throat, ear ache, stuffy nose and cough. Normally, being this sick wouldn't be SO bad, but on top of the sickies, I'm constantly tired. *sigh*

I just wish I had some cure-all medicine to fix myself, but sadly, I'm trying to get better drinking as much water and OJ as possible!!

Also, last week I ended up seeing my "normal" doctor. He's worried that I'll develop gestational diabetes (since I'm already severely insulin resistant and morbidly obese) so he's got me pricking my fingers and checking my blood sugars twice a day. My fingers are covered in mini scabs and I'm surviving. (As long as you don't count my fasting blood or after breakfast blood....) Thankfully, my sugars are close to being under control (usually half-way through the day) and I'm not TOO worried!! Otherwise, things are going well...how are you!? ;)

Blessings in Disguise

I feel blessed, but in a round-about way.

For the last week or so, Steve has had a NASTY cough. It sounds like he's going to hack up a lung or something. It's been bad, but we thought it was just another cold, and that eventually he'd get over it. Well, time went on and it just seemed to get worse. PLUS he would be fevered and get clammy and just not feel good.

So yesterday, after I got back from Cam's Primary activity (which I'll have to tell about another time...) he was still feeling pretty icky, and his shift at work had been moved. So we decided, it's time to bite the bullet and go see a doctor.

We took him to a local urgent care center, and waited...and waited....and waited. Finally, they took us back to a room where we waited some MORE! (We were there for about an hour and a half.) Anyway, in that time they did a test for flu, a chest x-ray, and a blood draw. In the end they determined that the man has pneumonia. That's NOT what we had expected!

Luckily, the Physician's Assistant that was there told us that there is a study that a local doctor is doing ON pneumonia, and if we were interested, they'd sign us up for it. The study would totally cover any doctors visits, medications, and would even PAY US! We were ALL for that, so we waited while the PA got a hold of the doctor in charge of the study.

He sent us on our way, x-rays in hand and a lighter heart! (The main reason we'd put off going to the doctor was the cost of it....but with this study, we didn't have that worry any more!)

The doctor greeted us and started everything going. Steve will be taking a drug (we don't know which one) either a new one being tested, or the old tried-and-true method. He'll be getting x-rays, blood draws, and some EKGs. It's all pretty interesting.

The only thing I'm REALLY worried about now is how he can keep his cool when he gets his blood drawn. The man CANNOT handle needles of ANY kind!! He literally sweats bullets!! (Well, not "bullet" bullets...but his sweating is pretty BAD!) And I had to hold him down for 2 of the draws yesterday. He needed me to lean on! I just hope he'll get used to these tests, and not worry about them so much! (Both I and the lady who took his blood commented on how it's a good thing HE'S not the one who has to have babies!!)

I had been worried about him all week. His coughing was keeping him awake at night, but since he's so thoughtful, he'd leave the room so I could sleep. But now, I'm so much happier!! I know he'll be getting better soon! And I know that if anything, Heavenly Father was watching out for my small family! I'm so blessed!