Out of the depths

So last night, at work, my fever finally broke. Thank god! I think everyone thought i was going to keel over and die any minute in my nineteen thousand layers of clothes, while it was 60 outside.

Of course now i can finally come to terms with the fact that we are the only house left in our neighborhood that didn’t run out immediately after stuffing ourselves Thanksgiving and put up all of our Christmas stuff. So i hauled out the holly and lights and put some up on the outside. At least i took down the Autumn Leaves. I still need to add to the outside, but at least now i don’t need to bow my head in sham when a neighborhood mother comes by and tsk tsk’s my lack of holiday cheer. I swear i will never judge a person by their seasonal decor again.

I am getting together my Christmas Card list, which in terms of scary numbers, is SUPER scary. We send to a lot of people. DH’s family is about 40+ people and then my 20+ family members and then so many friends. I get faint thinking about all the writing. I like to put personal notes in all of my cards, because sometimes i don’t get the time during the year to reach out to these people. Let’s face it, i am lucky to get dressed and out of the house much less have an intelligent conversation. So a personal note is just my way of thanking them for understanding that i am a sucky communicator.

For my friends that read me here. See it isn’t just you.

School, i think i love you

I am ever so happy that J had school today.  REALLY happy. Happy fever flu ridden mother skipping down the hall with child happy.

Oh yeah, i still have to more children. *sigh*

School though still makes me happy

Inevitable

That’s right. I have the flu. The boys are well, of course and full of energy. I on the other hand want to die. I have the fever, fatigue, muscle aches and sore throat, but oh i should be thankful nothing else the doctor said.

Really, thankful? Yes i am thankful. So thankful i am going to crawl into this corner and pray for my children to run each other tired. Mommy hasn’t got the strength for it.

Side note: nursing while one has a feve, is a mind numbing pain.

Dear Lord did i eat all of that?

Truth be told, no i did not. I was so busy running around trying to keep the serving dishes filled or the ice bucket full (seriously, it was 75 outside, we had to run the AIR CONDITIONER!) and make sure that my kids actually ate to eat anything myself. But it was crazy and fun. Everyone came and we all had a really good time together. No one fought, cried or threatened anyone, totally unprecedented for my family. All in all a great day. I hope yours was the same.

Happy Turkey Day

I hope everyone has a wonderful day with family and friends.

Pie Day is here!

That’s right folks every year the day before Thanksgiving is Pie Day at our house.

I start out early in the morning and bake through the day. I make tons of pies, cookies and desserts for the feast and for friends and family who want to come by today and take something home. I started this years ago at the request of several friends who wanted pies because they didn’t bake. They would come over and hang out hoping i would take pity and give them one. So pie day was born.

Let the turkey countdown begin

Now with all these people coming and J having the flu, but most likely being better I am wondering about the two babies that will be coming to the feast. My sister’s 1 month old and my cousin’s 3 month old? Anyone have advise for this? Are they in danger? I can guarantee that J will be nowhere near the baby’s as he doesn’t like them at all, he won’t even come into the same room with them. Also he isn’t coughing or sneezing, just a fever and fatigue. I currently have towels on the couches (after one stomach flu that last a week, i got tired of washing the couch cushions) and blankets on the floor (reflux babies, clean carpet or clean blanket? blanket is WAY easier) and these things will be cleaned and put away for the feast. Also i am the queen of clorox and the house will be sanitized an hour before everyone gets there while the boys nap.

I am calling the pediatrician today to make sure that the babies will be alright, I would never put anyone in harms way and i have called people and told them. Maybe i will keep J upstairs, he would probably be happier there anyways.

Since i have the largest house, all the food and cooking ability, no one else will take on turkey day.  SO it is ALL me.

Today i will be cleaning up Weeble Village and the Little People hell that occupies the front part of my dining room. Polishing the wood floors, washing the blankets and towels to make sure J doesn’t spread the flu to the other two and cleaning the bathroom.

M has really stepped up and helped out, cleaning a room a night really thoroughly. Thank god!

Can I please catch a Break?

Today J’s preschool class was doing a little musical act in front of the parents and then we were having a Thanksgiving feast. The day already had not begun well as Ian was just not feeling a nap this morning and wasn’t his normal self. This happens on days that M and I have to switch vehicles in the lot at work. Waking the boys up early really messes with them.

D is feeling much better and only has a cough to show for everything. Thank goodness.

Well I get to the school and drop my contribution to the feast (Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars – OMG GOOD!) and find our places at the table before the songs. J’s teacher came out to deal with some of the parents that were moving the places around to sit with the people they liked and whatnot. Whatever Preschool Mom cliques, I am just not in one. J’s teacher stated that she had taken something away that J was working on and now he was upset and wouldn’t get in the costume or walk with the class. (this may be the reason i am not in the mommy cliques) So i asked if she needed me to come and talk to him and she said no she would get him there. No sooner than that was out of her mouth and the kids come lining in, very adorable and at the end you can hear someone screaming and crying.

Any guesses as to whose child this was?

Yup *sigh* My kid.

I swear I always feel like everyone is judging me and my children and think that i am some incompetent idiot when it comes to being a mother. “Oh look at the mother whose kid won’t go up front and sing” “Look at the mother with the boy that is shy”

High school ALL OVER AGAIN! Sucks, really sucks. I hate that he is shy, but i hate that these parents feel that their kids are better than mine. I feel like no one ever gets to see what they are really like. I can’t help the shyness, I do what i can and get them out with others and in multi-tudes of situations, but I cannot MAKE them enjoy doing these things.

So after the rest of the kids go up front and start singing we leave (I feel like in shame and again feel like i am not a part of the group), no real point in staying. I can tell J is upset over something and Ian is just not himself, so I just call it a day. We go home, i finish putting away the mountain of food living on my kitchen floor and then we all go to take a nap.

D wakes me up before M gets home so i get up with the boys until M can take over. I notice though that J is not himself and is warm. Then i get Ian and he is smoking hot. I take temps and they are high in the two of them and Ian is just fussy. SO M gets home, I make him take the boys to our doctor who is staying over to see them.

Result: J has the flu and Ian has a double ear infection.

Again, seriously who hates me up there?

So the doctor has prescribed meds for both, this is the first day of the flu for J and he has had a flu shot so the dr is confident he will be well by Wed (I am too as we did the same thing last year a month after getting the flu shot, he got it, mild case and was well two days later) and Ian is on antibiotics and should be feeling better by Wed too.

I feel like for some strange reason we are always getting sick and it makes no sense. We are all religious about hand washing and whatnot. But i know that all it takes is one to get sick, then a trip to the dr and whatever people have had there will come home with us. It always takes one dr trip to turn into 15 all with different issues until we can stop going to the dr and then everyone is well for a long time.

Food

The holidays are looming and i cannot believe how soon Christmas will be here. With Thanksgiving around the corner, I have simply bought the ENTIRE grocery store and filled my pantry to the point that you cannot open the door. We have about 30 people coming for dinner. That is mainly my family and M’s parents. Now the number will be higher with the friends that we always invite. Friends that don’t have family here or family at all. So that number could be closer to 40. We do this every year though. Every year M looks at me and asks me why i want to be crazy. It is fun though. I love having every one around. We go all year talking to these people and hardly seeing them, it shouldn’t take a holiday to get together, but i am happy that it they at least take the time to come.

So this year we are doing:

3 fried turkeys, 1 ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, dressing, corn pudding, steamed corn (my dad will not eat corn pudding nor will i), green beans, rolls, sausage balls, bacon pinwheels, spinach dip (maybe), cookies, pumpkin pie, coconut cream pie, apple pie, pecan pie, cherry coconut bars, pumpkin cheese cake bars and a pumpkin ooey gooey cake. A lot of food for a lot of people.

I swear our next house we are building and it will have two freezers and refrigerators in it because right now my frig and deep freezer are being held together by prayer and child proof locks.

The Worst Luck?

I think possibly we have it. Or maybe it is just D that has the worst luck. After getting over the stomach fun, everything went back to normal for about a week. We got a call from the ENT and the tests that they ran on the fluid trapped in D’s middle ear, tested positive for bacteria so he was put on Omnicef. Ok fine. Then last friday (day 2 of the antibiotic) he started acting sick and just not himself. Now the antibiotic tends to kill his intestines, literally. It doesn’t normally make him sick though. By Monday he was starting to run high fevers, so i took him to the doctor on Tuesday. Well he tested positive for strep. Yep while on antibiotics he caught strep, there should be an award for that. Since he had just gone through a round of pretty strong antibiotics and still managed to get this, they only had one option, to give him a shot of bi-cillin, in the butt. So we get that (oh and for kicks because my pediatrician felt sorry for the fact i look like i had been run over by a bus, she tested me. You guessed it, Mommy has strep as well and being allergic to the penicillin family and nursing Ian still, my options are slightly limited) and go home. Wednesday afternoon, D starts coughing and continues to do so through the night, getting no sleep at all. So Thursday morning he is wheezing noticeably, back to the doctor we go. So we get a breathing treatment (while we have a nebulizer at home, the Xophenex that they gave us initially gives D severe migraines and he cannot take it, we hadn’t had a chance to get different medication for the nebulizer yet) and new medicine and sent home again. A half hour after the treatment he is still having problems, in fact after 3 treatments, one every 4 hours as directed he is still having problems. So off to the ER we go since it is now 10pm and my doctor has closed for the day. So we get another treatment there and a chest X-ray for precautionary measures. Well now he has Pneumonia. Seriously, is he trying to get through the ENTIRE medical journal before he is old enough to drive! So the ER doctors give us more antibiotics and tell us we can repeat the breathing treatments every 3 hours, sooner if really needed, just monitor his heart. Which after one treatment is about to jump out of his chest, i cannot imagine giving him one back to back.

Today he is better.

Oh and too add to the fun, Ian has a cold and is developing a nasty cough due to the mucous. Damn slab houses and their cold floors!