Excuses...Excuses!

If anyone out there is still reading this blog than congrats!  I simply haven't made time for blogging.  I have pictures.  Tons of pictures to turn into bloggy fodder...and I am way late, still need to download them etc.  In all honesty I was gonna update the blog with Natalie's birthday last week.  We went to the coast for a long extended holiday weekend.  Tuesday we were catching up, cleaning up, grocery shopping and wouldn't ya know?!  I came down with the flu somewhere late in the afternoon right around 3:30-4pm.  The whole nine yards.  Okay, no fever...but everything else.  And it didn't leave in 24 hours.  It stuck around for the rest of the week.  Not all of it.  I got better each day, but I still can't eat much.  And my energy goes as quickly as it comes.  I think my stomach shrunk, which is kinda weird when you're pregnant and food looks so good.  So in case you were wondering, I spent my week sleeping, sipping gatorade and well...I'll leave the rest to your imaginations. 

Here's to a new week...and maybe, eventually some new blog entries!

In A Nutshell

So, it's been a while since I've blogged.  AGAIN.  Go figure!  This last week was one of those weeks that stands alone when you look back over the course of the year.  Not because it was fun and we had such an awesome and incredible week.  Because the kids were SICK!  Both of them.  All week.  Not together.  They took turns!  And then throw a sick husband into the mix too.  Whoo hoo. 

Monday Luke woke up from his nap looking red.  Not like he got a little too much sun, more like BEET red including his ears.  Sure enough his temp was 102.6!!!  We didn't get to have pizza and go swim and play with his cousins that night.  Total bummer.  Later that night . . . Baker got a temp.  He stayed home from work the following day, and he only does that when he's horribly sick.  Half the time he goes to work sick.  So . . . . BLEH!  The two of them ended up being up half the night.  Luke couldn't sleep and was up from 4am on.  The boys finally went back to bed mid-morning and girlie and I got outta the house as fast as our car could take us.  We got lots of errands done, spent some time with my sister-in-law and nephews and did a little shopping.  A great break which turned out was going to be much needed. 

By Tuesday night around midnight Luke broke his fever.  Whoo hoo!  Still couldn't do much for 24 hrs include go to the gym.  I was so excited to go to my class at the gym Thursday morning because it has honestly been a month since I've attended that class . . . but, alas it wasn't meant to be.  Girlie woke up from her nap Wednesday afternoon with . . . you guessed it!  A 100+ fever. 

The difference between my two children at this point . . . communication skills.  Luke can lay on the couch, drink fluids and watch a movie.  Natalie whines.  And she cries.  And she wants to be held.  ALL.  DAY.  LONG.  By the end of Thursday I just wanted out of the house with a pair of earplugs.  My mother-in-law was so gracious in treating me to a very relaxing pedicure and a smoothie.  Yum! 

And if having sick kids wasn't fulfilling enough, I decided to follow through with my original plans of having a garage sale with my sister-in-law on Friday.  It actually turned out with the best case scenario ever.  Natalie allowed me to sleep for six hours straight on Thursday night- where as on Wednesday night I saw every hour except 5am . . . and maybe 4 (can't remember fo sho).  The weather was cool in the morning, not too hot, not too cold.  Natalie was feeling a little better and we sold most of our stuff and made almost $900.  Not bad for a days work.  Not bad at all.  However, I'm ready to hit the gym again.  I would like to sleep through the night.  And good grief.  I have laundry that's multiplying like rabbits.  Thank the Lord for a new day and a new week!

Boring, Blowing Noses . . .

It's spring clean time around here, and among many other reasons . . . I've been too pre-occupied to blog much.  Boring, I know.  Today we are home while girlie is battling a fresh runny nose and my little guy has a fever and was up vomiting last night.  So, more laundry today and hopefully a few clean toilets too :)  Maybe I'll even have a few minutes to sit and pound out a few creative blog post.  That would be a miracle! Until then-

Sick Day

I'm so bummed. My computer isn't working. It freezes upon starting up. Not. Good. Therefore, this post is coming to you from Baker's work laptop. It may be awhile before I can post again.
Sick baby girl + sick computer = no fun for mommy. Ha ha!
Hope everyone had a marvelous thanksgiving. Hopefully, I'll be back in business soon with pictures to post, stories to tell, and quite possibly some giveaways.

Cold and Flu Freebies

A while back I saw a link on a blog for free samples from Boiron the company that makes Oscillococcinum. So, I signed up for the children's sample pack and pretty much forgot all about it. It arrived a couple weeks ago, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that I received three full sized packages of cough syrup, cold pellets, and children's oscillococcinum. They arrived just in time for me to try out the coldcalm and cough medicine. So far no complaints from the little guy. He drank the cough syrup without any protest and was more than happy to take his coldcalm pellets (5 at a time).

I was excited to share this offer with all the mommies out there, but unfortunately the free sample offer has expired. However, you can visit their blog and receive a coupon towards your purchase. This could come in handy this fall and winter. It could be a long one. I also noticed a $2 off coupon for the adult oscillococcinum. I may need to try that one myself.

Has anyone tried these homeopathic remedies before? I would love to hear your experience and what it is you use in your house to combat cold and flu bugs.

SO. WRONG.

I was wrong. So wrong. There was no end to the tunnel. No light. Just more vomit. LOTS of vomit. And poop. More poop. My poor baby was standing in the shower at 2:30 am shaking as I cleaned him up from head to toe. Not kidding. It was in his hair. I just wanted to cry. This is either the nastiest flu bug ever or there's something wrong. Either way . . . I'm tired of it. So, he's on his first dose of prevacid (to treat the acid or ulcer). Prevacid may not be right for everyone and has a low occurrence of side effects in adults including diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and constipation. Hmmmmm . . . what are the odds we don't see any change? A seven day supply for $30. EEK. That's with insurance. So he has his prevacid and I have wine. Cheers to a new day.

There's light at the end of the tunnel!

Finally! 48 hours without vomit! I am sooo excited!!! Yesterday I was so encouraged as Luke's appetite returned and he ate three solid meals and snacks. He enjoys his food and for him not to ask for food for 1-1/2 weeks was unusual. Baker & I were holding our breath and praying that the Lord would heal his stomach & give us wisdom in knowing what we needed to do for our guy. That said, I did know when feeding him that it could come back up. But, I took my chances and gave him as much non-processed foods as possible. Today he is still not 100% yet. This morning he had a massive blowout. When I say I'm cleaning up diarrhea it's up his shirt, down his pants and yes, I even pulled out my carpet cleaner to scrub up the mess in the carpet. I know you are all jealous of my life at this point. That you wish you were me. I know. I know. Not everyone can live a glamorous life like this. I hope you can all still love me even though I'm livin' the good life. He, he. I just wanna be moving on to a new blog topic. There's been enough dealing with poop around here for the next 10 years!

I've Lost Count

Seriously not sure what day this is. Nine? Ten? It's close to a week and a half of vomiting and diarrhea. I'm concerned. This isn't normal. So, I called the advice nurse. If Luke vomits again, we will be going to the doctors for the second time this week. Looking at a possible ulcer due to the only time that he vomits is early morning. Say a prayer. Or a bunch. Either will do.

Coffee Mommy!

We were driving to Luke's Dr. appointment today and stopped at a red light. To our right there was a little strip mall with a Starbucks on the corner. Luke spotted it from the left side of the car. "Mommy! Coffee! Mommy! Coffee!" They learn so fast. Ha, ha! He's such a smart boy. But hey! He must get it from his mommy who should apparently have her medical license. My diagnosis was correct. The flu. Although, if he is vomiting at 3-4am that could possibly be an acid vomit which basically means he has an ulcer. At two years old. If it runs in the family (and it does) there would be a higher probability of an ulcer. We will be praying he quits vomiting and there's no ulcer.

Day Seven

Today Luke reached the one week mark for the flu part II. He vomited (this time in the bathroom) this morning. Therefore we are headed to the doctors. Here's Dr. Baker's aka mommy's diagnosis. THE FLU. B.R.A.T. diet and clear fluids and let the virus run it's course. And please leave your $35 co-pay at the front desk. We shall see how close I am to attaining my medical degree. I've always wanted to be a doctor! LOL.

Day Six

Today marks day six of the flu round II. I thought maybe Luke was on the up and up. 48 hours without vomiting . . . so we would start re-introducing food. WRONG. We started the morning off with a cup of half soy half milk nice and warm . . . the way he likes it. And right away after finishing he touches his belly, squats down and says, "hurt." Oh no. And from there on out I changed 6 diapers of diarrhea today. Yay for mommy! On the plus side, he had a bath and a shower so the top half of him smelled yummy : ) Here's to a new day, a new week & new blog topics!

The Saga Continues

Woke up this morning to Baker saying goodbye. Then he came back and told me baby boy was on the couch sleeping. Uh oh. Yep, more puke. It was contained in his bed and he decided to move to the couch. Poor baby, he didn't even wake us. Anyhow. Enough posting about gross stuff. I find it ironic that this happened. I don't know of ANYONE who has ever gotten the flu twice in two weeks. I'm not mad, and I hope I don't sound like I'm complaining. I'm just letting you in to the irony of my little world that currently is just within the four walls of the flu house : )
So, that said, I need to find a new series to blog about - ha, ha!!!
I was reminded this morning that everyday, even the ones we didn't see coming or the days we thought we were through re-living are still the Lord's and he creates everyone.
Psalm 118:24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

'Tis the Season . . . (for flu)

2:00 AM Conversation With Baker

Groggily wake up to see it's the 2 am hour and wonder how long Luke has been in our bed.

Me to Baker: Are you putting him in bed? How long has he been in here?

Baker: Mummble, mummble . . .

Me: What?

Baker: He has a distinctive smell.

Me: What? What do you mean smell?

Baker: He just has a smell. Like vomit. Like he threw up.

(I'm now on my feet and out of bed). " HUH?"

Baker to Luke: Did you throw up?

Luke to Baker: I spit.

Baker to Luke: Did you throw up?

Luke to Baker: I spit.

(That was his story & he was stickin' to it.) I'm now down the hall and lookin' in Luke's bedroom. I start with the floor. You know the track record for this week. Nothin'. Mmmm. Look at the bed. Red puke. NOT AGAIN! I strip the bed, start the laundry. Brush Luke's teeth, wash his face & hands to help minimize the smell. Meanwhile Baker got him out of his jammies & into clean, fresh jammies. Back to bed we go. 'Course Luke's in our bed seeing as how his bed is naked. He keeps stirring. I notice he's rubbing his belly. Again. And again. And again. Several minutes go by. He's now sitting up and Baker tells him to lay down. I roll over & look at him. "Somethings not right. He's gonna throw up." Sure enough. Poor baby started dry heaving. He made it in the bowl. And then we went to the bathroom toilet. There's nothing like watching your two year old stand over the toilet with his head down dry heaving at 3am. So pitiful. I'd like to say that was the end of this story. But it's not. We awoke at 6:40am to Luke falling out of bed, hitting the bedside table, knocking over the lamp and crying. (disclaimer: we don't have a bed, we just have our mattresses on the floor. Therefore, Luke actually rolled out of bed). I picked him up and smelt something very foul. VERY foul. The other end. Great. It got on the bathroom rug. Change in jammies AGAIN. And more laundry to do today. Speaking of . . . I gotta go changed the loads in the washer.

An Affair to Remember

Yesterday was a good day. I did however use my carpet cleaner for the third day in a row. I have yet to put the thing away this week. I use it, tuck it aside upstairs & go about my day. Actually I had to leave in a hurry on Monday (see this post) and didn't have time to put it all away. But, that proved to be a good thing as Tuesday morning I had to use it again. Wednesday was lookin' good. All the way until the afternoon when after some unfortunate sippy cups dripped GRAPE juice upstairs in the carpet. Ick. I forgot to say in the infamous Monday post that the purple puke was GRAPE juice. I was about ready to ask for some good blogger friend help to get that stuff out of carpet, when it occured to me to use my favorite cleaner vs. Hoovers Carpet Stain Remover. My earth friendly, non-toxic cleaner in it's non-diluted form got the GRAPE juice out. PHEW!!! Hoover's spot cleaner - HUGE THUMBS DOWN. Unless you're looking to dye your carpet. Then use it. I guess you could say I'm extremely grateful for my carpet cleaner ESPECIALLY this week.

DISCLAIMER: The photo is just a representation of the actual carpet cleaner I use. Any similarities to my actual carpet cleaner is purely coincidental and the author does not accept responsibility for any mis-representation. LOL!

Just A Little Bit

If you didn't catch my post from yesterday. . . my long post, you might want to catch up. Today started out a little bit similar to yesterday. I again had to use the carpet cleaner in baby boy's room to clean up POOP. Yes, that's right. POOP. Diarrhea to be exact. So another bath, more carpet cleaning and wouldn't you know it, baby girl slept through it all. Right outside her door, her brother banging toys in the tub, yellin' and talkin' up a storm havin' a grand ole time. She slept until 9:30 am. And when she woke up she had crusty buggies under her nose. Poor baby. She slept a lot today and has a runny nose. I think her two front teeth are close to coming in. You can see them in the front and back of the gums. Just waiting for them to pop through the top. With baby girl sleeping a lot, I was able to get lots of laundry done. Even Mickey took a nice bath in the Whirlpool washer. It felt great to get so much done. However, I'm exhausted. We had our small group finance class tonight too. We need to complete an extensive budget. That should be interesting. But good. And I'm watching one of my fav shows - Biggest Loser. It was a great day. Even though it started out a little bit poopy.
Thanks a bunch to my new followers for the comments! I hope you have fun as you read about my little ventures as a mommy and in the journey to live a frugal life and become debt free!

Mon-Day, Mon-Day . . .

Today is the start of a new week. Let's re-cap the morning.

• Baby #1 woke us up at 5:30am gagging with that pre-puke sound. His nose was all stuffed up & he couldn't breath. He spit up in his beloved Binkie (blanket) & we had to quick find the other one. Put him in my bed, and after several minutes of squiggly two year old squirms . . . put him in his own bed. Not before giving him some juice to calm the dry throat.
• Awaken at 6:30(ish) to the sound of Baby #1 crying. But just for a moment. I hazily think that perhaps he heard daddy leaving for work downstairs & fall back asleep because the crying quit.
• Awaken shortly after 7am to get Baby #2 (who's fussing) up to feed her & start the day. On the way to her room I stop by Baby #1's room. Door is open, he's not in bed, and there appears to be something wet on the floor by the door. Look for Baby #1 and find him sleeping on the couch in the play room (right next to our room). Huh. Wonder what happen. Unplug vaporizer (that is suppose to be helping with the stuffy nose) and make a mental note to come back & clean up "wet mess."
• Get Baby #2 downstairs quickly before waking her brother, change diaper, prepare bottle & feed her. Lazily sitting in office chair with Baby girl watching the morning news. depressing. Here comes Baby #1. With purple stuff on his jammy shirt. Huh. Weird.
• Transfer laundry, start dryer. Start to load dishwasher. Notice foul smell coming from Baby #1. GROSS. Take him upstairs to put in bath because his diaper is THAT rotten. Run bath, get him in. Open his bedroom window to let in fresh air. Suddenly in the daylight notice that the "wet mess" is actually PURPLE PUKE. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
• Start by blotting purple spots with cleaner & dry cloth. Not working. Get spot remover. Treat & let sit for a while while I get carpet cleaner ready. Nothing worked. Check dryer. Clothes not dry. Restart.
• Get kids clothes. Wash baby boy's face & notice red dots covering his face. He broke blood vessels puking (just like his daddy does). Get baby boy out of tub. Baby girl is now pooping in her saucer. GROSS.
• Dress baby boy.
• Change baby girl's diaper. Dress baby girl.
• Put baby girl down for nap. Start folding towels. Fold 2 towels. Baby girl is crying too hard. Console her. Not working. Sit with her in rocker. Takes two minutes & she's out. Put her back in crib.
• Realize baby boy needs to eat breakfast. Or does he. Toast and warm apple juice. Toast for the tummy & warm juice for the throat. Besides clear juice is easier to clean up than curdled soymilk. Just in case. Make a quick protein shake for me.
• Shower. Dress. Baby boy comes wandering in to bathroom. STINKS.
• Change poopy diaper #3 (3 poopy diapers in under 3 hours).
• Load car.
• Answer phone call. Hairdresser calling to find out if I'm still coming to my appt. It's 10:10am. My appt is at 10:30. RIGHT? Oh, yeah. Sorry. See you then.
• Notice baby girl is sleeping on her tummy, sucking her thumb for the first time. Have to take pictures.
• Drop off kids at Grandma's. Baby boy crying.
• Late for appointment.

It's now Monday night. The towels still need to be folded & the dishes still need to be done. Sometimes that's just how it goes. There's always tomorrow.