Nervous Stomach

A few weeks ago we took the boys bowling.  They both loved it.  We played two games which was a little too much for them.  Next time we will only play one.  Samuel has been asking everyday when we can go back.  It is so much fun to see them experience new things.

Speaking of new things...yesterday Samuel started his first day of camp at Burr-Oak.  It is a two week camp where they have swimming, art, play time, sports, etc.  Lots of stuff to do.  I was so nervous yesterday morning.  My stomach was killing me and my heart was literally racing all day.  We are supposed to drop off and pick up in the car pool line.  So we drive up in the morning, Counselors in Training open the door to the car, get the kids out and take them inside.  Then after camp they bring the kids out and put them in the car.  I was so nervous about just dropping him off and not walking him in. Samuel is normally a shy boy at first and doesn't talk much when he first meets people, so I was having a hard time seeing him leave to go up the stairs to the camp without me.  When I pulled away I had an overwhelming feeling to just start crying.  He ended up loving every minute of camp and couldn't wait to go back today.  He woke up this morning asking every five minutes when we were going to go.  I still felt extremely nervous when I dropped him off again today.  I just get so emotional when I think about how big he is getting.  

On a not so happy note, Stomach flu or something is going around our house.  Both Joseph and Samuel  have spent one night continuously vomiting.  Dave and I are really hoping that neither one of us gets it and especially not Simone.  My stomach has been hurting me for two days straight, but I am hoping that it is just my nerves about Samuel.  Only time will tell.

Lastly, Simone turned 8 months yesterday.  She is saying "Mama" all the time and actually calls me "Mama" and Dave "Dada".  She is waving to everyone, has one tooth on the bottom and the second is probably going to cut through today.  She is eating lots of different foods and just started eating puffs.  As we speak, she is eating pureed Kale, Apple and Mango.  The only thing she absolutely hates is peas.  It doesn't matter if we mix it with other stuff including fruit, she hates it.  She is working her way to normal crawling.  Right now she is pretty fast at military crawling.  She is so much fun.  I am so happy everyday that our "accident" has been the biggest joy.  

Here are some pictures:

Simone's 8 month picture!

Sometimes life just gets in the way

I have had a very busy and rough February and March so far.  The kids were passing sickness back and forth for 6 weeks.  I have been exhausted.  Dave and I are in serious need of time alone and with each other.  We are hoping to get that this weekend.

Samuel is almost done with his Spring Break.  We have been having absolutely beautiful weather around here, so we have been spending a lot of time outside.  Today is the first day it really started raining.  It isn't bad out, but we can't play outside.

In the last few weeks since I posted last, Simone has gone from being swaddled at nap time and bedtime to just sleeping in a sleep sack.  She is getting used to having more freedom and it is disrupting her sleep, but now that she is rolling around like a crazy girl and works her arms out of the swaddle we figured it was time to make the change.  I am getting so sick of her waking up in the middle of the night.  She really has enjoyed the last 6 weeks of sleeping right next to me in bed when she was sick, so she is also adjusting to that as well.  Last night I let her cry it out around 12:30 because I am so sick of her waking up then.  She ended up rolling to her stomach, crying for about 10 minutes and then slept for another three and a half hours.  Hopefully she will just sleep through that 12:30 time now.  We will see.  I am not getting her anymore, so she better make the quick adjustment.

So not only has her sleep been changing, but last week we started rice cereal.  She LOVES it.  She is an eating machine.  We give her cereal at night when we are all eating dinner.  We have actually had a few nights were we are all sitting down at the same time, which is a big change.  I have also incorporated applesauce a few nights with the cereal and she loves that too.

I will post more pictures when I download them.

Here's to wonderful weekend.  We need it around here.

Week Two

There must be something about Tuesdays lately that means, throw up day.  You know the story from last week, well this week both boys have vomited.

Last night Samuel started coughing a ton and he didn't stop.  All of the sudden I knew that the cough was so bad that puke was coming next.  I ran into his room (this was around 12:30 am) and he had thrown up all over his everything.  I know I have said in the past and I will say it again, I really hate puke.

Anyway, in the middle of the night I changed all the bedding, including the comforters and started a load of laundry.  I changed all of Samuel's sheets, cleaned him up, got him redressed, cleaned up the floor (yes it was there too), got him water and got him tucked into bed.  I laid down with him for a little bit and he finally fell asleep.  Everything took about a hour total.  Then I got back in my bed and I think it was about an hour or so later when he started coughing again.  I sent Dave in this time to lay with him.  I fell back asleep and Dave fell asleep in Samuel's room for a while.  I have no idea when he got back in bed because I was exhausted.

Then around 6:30 or so, Joseph started coughing.  He was basically up at that point, so I rolled out of bed to start the day.

The boys have been coughing like crazy all day.  I obviously didn't send Samuel to school, which broke my heart because today they were having a big Valentine's Day party and exchanging valentines.  We dropped of Samuel's valentines at school and his teacher is going to collect all of his for him and give it to him tomorrow, if he goes.

Then to my afternoon.  I made the boys heart shaped turkey sandwiches.  Joseph inhaled his and Samuel took two bites.  Joseph was acting really tired around 12:30, so I decided to put him down for a nap.  When I laid him down he started coughing too, but I thought he would eventually fall asleep.  I took Simone into her room to get her to take a nap.  She was eating and was basically asleep when I heard Joseph doing the same ridiculous coughing that Samuel did last night and I knew he was about to throw up.  I quickly put Simone in her bed (which she wasn't happy about at all) and ran into Joseph's room just in time to hear him throw up all over his bed.  Are you freaking kidding me?!

I stripped him and the bed down, cleaned him up and got him dressed again.  Then I started my fourth load of sheets and bedding for the day.  It has been awesome.  Now both boys are sitting on the couches, watching TV, covered with blankets and coughing their heads off.  Samuel just told me his bones were hurting, which scares me because I really don't want flu in this house.

Tonight we are ordering heart shaped pizza in honor of Valentine's Day.  The boys are really showing me some serious love today.

I have always hated Valentine's Day and this is just another reason not to like it.  However, because today is the day to celebrate love I do want to say how much I love my wonderful husband.  I couldn't function without you!  I am also extremely grateful for my beautiful kids.  They drive me crazy sometimes, okay a lot of the time, but my life would not be complete without them.  I celebrate this day because of them.

I can't leave out my amazing parents.  Now that I am a parent, I really appreciate everything they did for me growing up.  Parenting is one of the most difficult jobs EVER.  I think they did a pretty good job with me!  I love you guys.

There are other people in my life that I appreciate and love so much.  I am so grateful for my in-laws, my brother, sister-in law, niece, nephew, aunts, uncles, my beloved Zayde and my friends.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Updates

Wow.  The days just fly by.  This is the first time I have had a moment to myself all week.  I am writing this blog and watching the finale of X-Factor, which by the way has turned out to be a great show.  

We have been so busy the past few weeks. We had Oma and Opa in town this past weekend and celebrated an early Christmas.  The boys got lots of wonderful gifts, which I have tons of pictures below.  We also went to breakfast with Santa at the Missouri Athletic Club.  It was our first experience and it was clear that this is a big traditional breakfast with a lot of families.  I know we will go back for many years because it was a lot of fun, but  I was a little stressed out because I never know how long the boys will behave themselves.  This year Samuel was so excited to see Santa and tell him what he wanted.  Joseph on the other hand, freak the f-out.  He screamed so much and would not let go of me.  We weren't planning on having a family picture, but that is what we got.  There was no way Joseph was letting me put him down, plus Simone was fast asleep.  Oh well, maybe next year.  

Not only did we have a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with Oma and Opa, but they were also so amazingly helpful in watching the kids that I got to go to Bikrum Yoga twice and Dave went with me one time.  I think I am obsessed.  I love the way it makes me feel.  I sweat like crazy and I smell so absolutely disgusting afterwards, but it is such an awesome workout.  Since I started last Wednesday night, I have lost 3 pounds.  I thought at first it was water weight, but it hasn't come back.  I am just feeling great and Dave loves it too.  

Simone is getting so big.  She is smiling all the time and is such a happy baby.  Today when we went over to Justin and Charisa's new house we were walking down into their basement and Simone laughed out loud for the first time.  I have no idea what she found funny, but it was so cute to hear.  Then I put her down on the floor to change her diaper and she started to roll over from her back to her stomach.  She almost made it completely over, but her left arm got stuck underneath her and she couldn't figure out how to kick herself over.  Anyway, I could not believe it.  She must love the McFarland's new house because she had two huge milestones over there.  

On Tuesday morning Samuel woke up and his eyes were super red and crusty.  I thought for sure he had pink eye in both of his eyes, so I put drops in them and kept him home from school.  In the afternoon, I put Joseph in the tub and Samuel in the shower.  After Samuel got out of the shower he started complaining that his ear was killing him.  He got a really high fever and was grabbing his right ear.  I called the doctor and luckily they had late office hours that night, so Dave was able to take him in.  It turns out, he had a double ear infection and his right ear was super infected.  The infection caused his red blood shot eyes.  As soon as he had one dose of the medicine his eyes completely cleared up.  I have never heard of such a thing, but thank goodness he didn't have pink eye.  I hate having to hold him down to put the drops in.  

This morning Samuel woke up and had splotches all over his body.  I thought for sure he had an allergic reaction to the medicine, but within 30 minutes the spots went away, so then I thought it was just a heat rash or something.  It was gone all day until about 2:30 in the afternoon and then all of the sudden it came back again.  I called the doctor and he wanted to see us right away to see what was going one.  Turns out he really is allergic to the medication.  His ears had completely cleared up, so the doctor said to not give him anymore medicine and see what happens.  Samuel has never had a reaction to any medicine so this was a whole new experience for me.  He is feeling fine now and hopefully our house is done with sickness.

Tuesday night was the beginning of Hanukkah.  Since Samuel felt terrible he wasn't in a great mood.  We lit the candles and didn't do much else.  On Wednesday night we lit the candles and the boys got rain boots.  Samuel was so excited about his Batman boots, but Joseph was freaking out about putting on his Thomas the Train boots.  He wants nothing to do with them and screams anytime we try to put them on his feet.  I hope he gets over that soon, but that will be a waste of money if he won't wear them.  Tonight I made a nice dinner and the boys each got a dollar.  It has been such a nice holiday season so far.  I am looking forward to having a nice family weekend with all the kids and Dave.  

More pictures to come, but for now here you go:

Making the gingerbread house.  Joseph wasn't too happy that he wasn't able to help out with the frosting.

Simone starting to smile

Another smiling picture

The other night the boys put their shirts over their heads and ran around, they were having so much fun.  I love to hear their laughter together.

Just look at the Samuel's face, pure joy.  I love it!

Another funny picture

Oma holding Simone in the back in her cute dress.  She is looking at her big brother.  

My handsome Joseph.  Such a cutie pie.

This is such a great picture of Oma and Opa with the kids.  The kids did such a great job of sitting for the picture.  

Here we are with Santa.  You can see how absolutely crazy it was.  Simone sleeping, Samuel smiling and so happy and Joseph screaming.  It was quite a scene. 

Samuel enjoying the cool airplane that Opa made for him.  That plane is made completely by hand out of wood.  It is really cool.  Obviously you can tell, Samuel loved it.  

Whatever Samuel has, Joseph has to have too.  Luckily Oma and Opa were smart enough to get Joseph a plane too.  

The boys got flashlights to play in their new tents.  Joseph is imitating the Statue of Liberty here.

Opa made Joseph handmade block to build with.  

Here is Samuel playing in his new tent. 

A rare photo of me with Oma and Simone.  

Simone in her holiday dress with Opa.

I just love this picture because every time I look at it I laugh because Simone's face just cracks me up.  Hilarious.

This is a much better picture of them all.  Love it.

Fist night of Hanukkah.  

Although Samuel felt terrible, he still smiled for the camera.

And it just keeps getting better

On Monday I took Samuel and Simone to the doctor.  Samuel wasn't getting any better and I was worried that Simone was getting sick too.  It turns out that Samuel has/had croup.  He has been on Steroids since Monday evening and it has helped tremendously.  He actually slept all night last night with no coughing.  He is on the mend.  Hopefully tomorrow he will go back to school.  I don't want to send him back too early because I know he is just getting better.  If he doesn't have a fever today and if he doesn't cough at night tonight I think I will send him tomorrow.

Simone is just really congested.  Her nose is super running and snotty, but she hasn't gotten any sicker.  The doctor thinks that since I am breastfeeding her she probably won't get any sicker, but I am supposed to keep her away from the boys as much as possible which is difficult because they want to get close to her.  I am doing my best.

On Monday in the middle of the night I heard Joseph cough and it was just one cough but it sounded exactly like Samuel's so I knew what was coming.  He has croup too.  Last night was not great, but I know it will get worse before it gets better.  He woke up at midnight last night and I rocked him for about 20 minutes and he went right back to bed.  Then he woke up around 5 coughing and screaming.  He had a fever of 102.5 and sounds miserable.  Luckily after getting Advil his fever broke within an hour.  He is acting fine, but is sounding horrible.  Tonight I think Dave will be sleeping in the guest bedroom, so he can prepare to sleep with Joseph.  I have a feeling tonight is going to be a sleepless night.

Of course on a night where Joseph wakes up and we have to deal with a sick child, Simone slept from 8:30 pm to 6 am.  She is sleeping great, if only we could be getting sleep as well.

Our house has been a  hand washing pajama party for the last four days, lots of building blocks, fort building, juice drinking, popsicle eating, movie watching, coughing and crying.  I am worn out.  I have barely had any minute to myself.  I am completely worn out.  I have had two breakdowns, which have been great actually. Once I cry myself I feel so much better.  Crying is such a release sometimes.  Dave has had a break from the kids when he goes to work, but then he gets home and it is total kids time.  He is normally holding Simone from the minute he gets home until she starts eating again at night.  She LOVES sleeping on and being held by her Daddy.  Dave and I are both exhausted.  Things can't be easy.  We can't just have a newborn and be exhausted, we have to have two other really sick kids that require a lot of attention and TLC.  Once we get through this it will be smooth sailing.

Anniversary

Yesterday Dave and I celebrated our 7th Anniversary.  Actually I can't really say that we celebrated much at all.  Samuel has been sick all weekend and still is today.  He had a terrible cough, lost his voice and had a fever.  Today he has all the same symptoms, so we are heading to the doctor.  Not only am I going to have Samuel looked at but also Simone.  She has been congested and has had a super running nose for at least a week now.  Yesterday she started wheezing, but today I haven't heard her have any problems so hopefully she is getting better.

Anyway, yesterday Dave got us coffee for breakfast at Starbucks and that was basically our treat for the day.  Oh how much our life has changed in 7 years.  On Friday Dave brought me home 7 beautiful red roses, dark chocolate caramel and a bottle of rose champagne (We haven't had an opportunity to drink the champagne, but hopefully soon).  I got him a nice bottle of wine that we ended up drinking on Friday night too.  Thank goodness we celebrated a little on Friday because the rest of the weekend was a mess.

Hopefully all the kids will start feeling better and hopefully they didn't get us sick.  That would be terrible.

Simone has continued to sleep pretty well at night.  Nothing like her all nighter, but she has been sleeping between 5 and 6 hours straight when we put her down at night.  The good thing is that she is going to be between 8:30 and 9:30 pm, so we are able to go to bed around that time too and get a good chunk of sleep.

Even though we had a rough weekend, I feel so lucky to share all the good days and bad days with my amazing partner and husband.

Now let's hope this week gets better and better.

And the sickness continues

Joseph is feeling much better, but still has a little bit of a cough left.  It is really loose and he is so much happier and sleeping all night again.

Now, Samuel has been home yesterday and I am keeping him home today from school because he has a fever ranging from 100 to 101.8.  He has a nasty cough, but still nothing like Joseph's.  He just feels terrible.  He has been sleeping pretty well at night, but has been waking up around 4am about an hour after the Advil has worn off.  He is miserable when he first wakes up, but then is fine most of the day.  Luckily for me he took a great nap yesterday and so did Joseph.  I was able to get on the treadmill and shower all while they were asleep.

I am so tired at night that I pass out and Dave says that I am snoring like crazy as soon as I fall asleep.  I know I must be because my throat is killing me.  I have a little bit of the sniffles too.  Dave is fighting this cold too.  Basically out house is a mess.

We need to get healthy and quick because Samuel's birthday is next weekend.  I think we are going to take it easy this weekend and everyone will hopefully be better soon.

Joseph cut another tooth yesterday.  He has a total of 8 right now.  Again I think his ear infection was caused by him about to cut a tooth.  For the past couple of months every time he is about to cut a tooth he gets an ear infection.  He has many more teeth to go, so I hope this pattern doesn't continue.

I am off to deal with sick kids and try to relax today myself.

Another Snow Day

They are expecting this storm to be one of the biggest seen in St. Louis.  So far it hasn't really hit.  Last night the trees were accumulating ice, which made me a little nervous for what the night would bring.  We woke up this morning to the sound of sleet and raining hitting our bedroom window.  However, the news said that the roads are not too bad right now and Dave made it to work safely.  He said the roads were still very drivable (at this point).  The precipitation is supposed to change to snow sooner then the weatherman had originally expected, which is good because we will get more snow and less ice.  We are still going to be stuck in the house for a few days though.  School is closed today and I can't imagine that it will be open tomorrow with what is in store the rest of the day.

Having school closed is okay though because I have another sick child in the house.  On Sunday Samuel was complaining that his ear was hurting.  He actually asked to get out of the tub because his ear hurt so much.  So on Sunday night, Dave headed to the Urgent Care with Samuel.  We had anticipated that he would have an ear infection and get medication.  However, the doctor heard Samuel coughing and saw that he had a runny nose too and said she wanted to test him to see if he had the flu.  They swabbed his nose and sure enough he has the flu too.  He had a fever for a few days, but never really acted very sick.  He only complained about his ear, so I hadn't even considered the possibility that he would have more then an ear infection.  So we have been hanging out and hoping that he gets better soon.

I am just hoping that Joseph doesn't get anything at this point.  I don't want him to bring in his 1 year birthday with a cold!!!  He turns 1 next Monday.  The time has really flown by.  He is so much fun.  He is developing quite a funny personality.  He tries to make us all laugh and is very ornery.  He is starting to bug Samuel by sticking his face in Samuel's face and making annoying faces.  Samuel is starting to get annoyed and I don't blame him, but I find it hilarious at the same time.  I think we are going to have a lot of wrestling matches as the boys get older.

I am off to drink my morning coffee.  I am going to need it today!

Running on Fumes

The weekend and week has not been ideal. We have been living a life with no sleep for the past 4 days. I think from Saturday night to last night I have gotten approximately 15 hours of sleep total. I prefer to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night, but our kids have other plans.

So Friday night Samuel decided he was going to develop a cough and runny nose. He was up all night long having trouble sleeping. He still had a cough and runny nose all weekend, but luckily he went back to sleeping through the night with no problems on Saturday. Yesterday we were driving around in the car during the day and Samuel just started screaming that his ear hurt. He started grabbing his right ear and kept telling me to call the doctor. His exact words "Ear hurt lots, call doctor, doctor look." I love that he is able to talk now and tell me when things are bothering him. It is such a relief to not have to guess. Although this was actually the first time he really told me something was hurting him. I called the doctor and we got in late yesterday afternoon and Samuel in fact had an ear infection. Because his ear hurt so badly he didn't take a nap yesterday, which made for a very long day.

Then to Joseph. Saturday night he started coughing and had a running nose too. Since he can't blow his nose, I was trying to suck out all the snot with those bulb things. Anyway, nothing helped. He was up from 11 pm until 2 am, fell asleep and then woke up at 5, then wouldn't go back to sleep. Dave went out on Saturday night to a baseball game and then stayed out until midnight. That left me dealing with Joseph all night long. So that night I only got 3 hours of sleep. Sunday night it was the same with no sleeping, but at least Dave took over a few times of getting up with Joseph. Last night was a tiny bit better, he slept from 11:45 until 3:30 and then again from 4 to 7. As you can see, we haven't been getting much sleep around here, which makes me a huge BITCH. I don't function well on little sleep.

This is going to be a rough week because not only am I getting no sleep, but when the boys are sick I can't go to the gym. I have found the release of exercise does wonders for my attitude and well being. Oh well, one week off won't kill me. It just might kill the kids!

On a positive note, Samuel loves his big boy bed and has had no problems sleeping in it at night. He has actually been sleeping in the past few days until at least 7:30. Yesterday morning when he woke up, he told me "Mommy, I love my new bed." Makes me so happy.

Well, Samuel is now up and Joseph is now screaming, so I am off to start my very long day.

Nice Weather, where are you?

This rainy yucky cold weather has really zapped all my energy. We had a very busy weekend and I wasn't quite ready for the week to start.

We had our 10th year college reunion this past weekend. I surprisingly didn't get out my camera one time, so I have no pictures to share. I am really sad about that. My camera is so big and I just didn't feel like lugging it around, but I am sad that I didn't because now I have no pictures. Anyway, Oma and Opa came in town on Friday morning so that they could be here to help and watch the boys since we were planning to go out all weekend.

We did indeed go out both weekend nights. I am OLD. I can't go out like that anymore. Both Dave and I feel like we are getting sick because we are so damn tired from staying out until 12:30/1 am both nights. It was really nice to see some people from college. I thought it would be more awkward seeing and talking to people, but we are all grown up now and it was nice to hear what people were doing in their life. I recognized lots of people at the events, but I am not really someone that just goes up to people. I have to admit that I waited until people came up to me before I said anything to them. Now it is over and who knows the next time I will see some of these people.

In other news, Samuel woke up on Saturday morning and was super cranky. He was watching a movie and he started to stick his finger in his ear again. He wasn't really complaining about his ears hurting, but since he stuck his fingers in his ears the last time he had an ear infection we decided to see if we could get him into the doctor on Saturday. Luckily they had an immediate opening and Dave took him to see the doctor. Well, he had a double ear infection. He is acting 100% better now, but thank goodness we got him in when we did. We would have had an even more painful weekend.

I need help... Joseph will not take a bottle. He has taken two bottles in the past but it has been a while. When Dave's parents were here for the weekend he woke up at night and we weren't home and he wouldn't take his bottle at all. I have an event I have to go to next Thursday and I will be gone all evening long, so Dave will have to give him a bottle. What can I do? Yesterday and today we have been trying to give him a bottle. Yesterday he went ape-shit when Dave was trying to get him to drink it. I ended up breastfeeding him to calm him down and he worked himself up so much that he fell asleep for the night at 7:15. Today I have been trying all day to get him to drink out of the bottle. He did suck for a little bit. It is like he can't figure out how to use his tongue when he is drinking from a bottle. I also tried to pull a fast one and breastfeed him a little bit and then slip the bottle in. I think if I continue to try everyday he will figure out how to do it, but I am a little stressed. I can't have him not take a bottle. Dave and I need to have a life and he is going to have to learn to drink out of a bottle so we can get out of the house. Any advice would be so welcome!!!

I am going to relax a bit while Samuel is napping. I am still so worn out.

One Video

Hopefully this video will come up. I got Joseph really smiling yesterday. He found his thumb on Friday for the first time, but he hasn't sucked on it since then. He also started laughing on Saturday morning. He really is starting to focus. He gets really excited when he sees Samuel coming up to him. It is really cute. I can't wait for them to really start interacting.

We bought a new running stroller on Friday. We bought the BOB Revolution. Dave said that it was awesome to push. We did a 5K race on Saturday morning. It was cold but a lot of fun. We did it with Jonathan and Laura and it was to benefit Colon Cancer research, the Undy Race. It was actually a really great race because there were lots of strollers and people brought their dogs. Some people had their dogs in undies and people ran in their underwear.

Joseph is taking his first really good nap in his crib this morning and I have to get him up in about 30 minutes to leave and take Samuel to school. I don't know if he will even last 30 minutes in his crib, but if he does it will be amazing. I had been planning to transition him from the cradle in our room to his crib at night about a week ago, but one night he woke me up because he was gagging and it sounded like he was choking and I totally freaked out. I called the pediatrician because I was worried about him choking to death in the middle of the night. They wanted me to bring him in, they wanted to check him out and make sure that there wasn't really anything wrong. They thought it was probably just acid reflux. Since we were going into the doctor I decided to also have them take a look at Samuel because he had been putting his finger in his ear and he wasn't sleeping great at night. There wasn't anything else wrong with him, but I thought it was strange that he kept putting his finger in his ear. I kept asking him if his ear hurt and he said no, but I figured I would get it checked out anyway. Turns out his ear was full of puss. I know that sounds gross, but I can't believe he had a terrible ear infection and didn't even really act sick.

So Samuel had a ear infection and they said Joseph probably just has acid reflux and he will be fine. Well, it turns out that night Joseph started to get a really stuffed up nose and is just full of snot. He has had lots of snot since last week and has been breathing with difficulty at night and I just haven't felt comfortable putting him in his crib. Hopefully by the end of this week he will clear up and I can move him into his crib. He is actually sleeping pretty well and I don't hear his noises at night, so it doesn't bother me that he is in our room.

Have a great Monday!

Most Difficult Parent Day

I have never experienced a more difficult day as a parent. This would have been a hard day even if I only had Samuel, but having Joseph pushed me over the edge. So here is my day in a nutshell:

Dave left for work around 7 am. Samuel started to stir in his bed, so I knew he would be getting up soon.

Joseph hadn't really eaten much throughout the night (he slept a lot, so I am not complaining about the lack of eating), but my boobs were huge so I decided I would pump while everyone was still sleeping.

As I was pumping (only about 5 minutes in) Samuel started to wake up and was super cranky. Normally this means that he goes back to bed for a little bit because he isn't really a morning person. As I was finishing pumping Samuel coughed a few times and then I heard a huge hacking sound, then he started to call for me. I ran downstairs to put the milk on the counter so I wouldn't forget about it, then I ran back upstairs to Samuel's room. At this point, Joseph is started to wake up and is crying in our room, but I figured I would just get him about I dealt with Samuel.

As I entered Samuel's room I was bombarded by the foulest smell. It wasn't poopy smell it was a hundred times worse. Entering his room was like hitting a wall of just vulgarness. Anyway, I turned on the light and Samuel had thrown up everywhere in his bed. It was all over his pillow, all the blankets, his sheets, his clothes, his entire body. I realized at that moment that I do not handle throw up well at all. I wanted to hurl all over everything myself.

So I striped Samuel down and took all the sheets and blankets and threw it all in the washing machine. Then I started the bath, grabbed Joseph out of our room, put Samuel in the bath, washed Samuel off completely and then fed Joseph while Samuel was playing in the bathtub. I got everyone dressed and we headed downstairs for breakfast.

I thought for sure that it was just a fluke that Samuel puked this morning, because he has never done that before (when he had croup cough he threw up all over Dave, but that was because Dave was playing really hard with him and he started coughing and just upchucked all over Dave).

So, I made Samuel breakfast and he was eating fine, he ate about half of his food and then told me he was done. After I cleaned off his plate he said, "Mooooooooooom!" and then he threw up all over the table. As I was cleaning it off he threw up again all over the towel and everything.

All of this happened before 8 am this morning.

I called the doctor and the nurse said that there is a virus going around and kids and just throwing up non-stop for about 4 hours and then it starts to slow down. She said I just need to try to give him liquids and make him comfortable because it wasn't going to stop. Great! Also she said this was highly contagious and that I needed to keep Joseph away from him. That is so much easier said then done. I had to go back and forth between the two of them all morning. I feel like I am a surgeon about to go into surgery because I have been washing my hands, arms and chest after I go from Samuel to Joseph.

Anyway from 8 to about 11, Samuel threw up about 3 more times. We went through all the blankets on the couch, about 6 or 7 shirts and three pairs of pants. He threw up all over the floor in the living room, on the couch and one couch cushion. I am now on my third load of laundry.

Around 11:30 Dave came home to drop off some Pedialite (not exactly sure how you spell it) and some food for me, which I inhaled in about 2 seconds. Samuel gulped down some pedialite and ate about one and half pieces of toast and was fine with no throwing up from 11 to about 12:15.

(By the way, I haven't mentioned that Joseph has been screaming all morning long and I have been wearing him in my Ergo carrier to try to keep him quiet. I was either trying to feed him or carrying him in my carrier).

Then the best part of my whole day came around 12:15. Joseph had been sleeping for about 45 minutes and Samuel was doing great. We were reading a book and relaxing. Then all of the sudden Samuel looks at me and his eyes get really red and glassy and we run to the bathroom. I put him over the toilet and he just spits. I rubbed his back and asked him if he was feeling okay and he said yes. I asked him if he wanted to go take a nap and he said yes. He started crying like he wasn't feeling well, so I picked him up and we headed upstairs for me to rock him. As we were heading up the second flight of stairs, Samuel unleashed the most disgusting, smelliest (and I could go on with adjectives) throw up all over me, all of him, all over the stairs, all over the walls, all over the hallway. When I say it was all over I mean ALL OVER. Everything was covered. Other then wanting to die myself, I got us all undressed, threw towels all over everything, wiped down the walls and then I started the shower for us to jump in. At the same time Joseph started screaming. Poor second baby, I had to just let him cry while we jumped in the shower.

Again, once we were all clean I ran downstairs turned on cartoons for Samuel, fed Joseph and relaxed for a little bit. Now it is 2 pm, Samuel is finally sleeping and Joseph is still screaming.

I am going to now relax on the couch with Joseph and watch some soap operas. I think I deserve that.

It is a beautiful day outside today. I hope that people are enjoying it. I would love to be outside myself.

Hopefully this evening will be better. Keep your fingers crossed.

Back to being sick

I don't know what the deal is, but Samuel is sick again. Yesterday I picked him up from Mother's Day Out and they said he was great yesterday, but not acting like himself. They said he was really quiet. They said he helped them clean up all day and took a great nap. As soon as I saw him I could tell he wasn't feeling great. When he got home I felt his head and it was really hot. I took out the thermometer and he freaked out. We used to take his temperature rectally (when he was a baby) and he totally remembered. I could also use the same one for under his arm but he wouldn't let me come near him. So I called Dave and told him to pick up an ear thermometer on his way home.

Samuel was a mess. He eyes were glassy and he was so lethargic. He wouldn't walk down the stairs so I had to carry him and Joseph downstairs. Finally when Dave came home we took his temperature and it was 101 something. Later in the evening it was 102.8. Samuel wouldn't eat anything for dinner and actually put his head down on the table which he has never done. When Dave gave him a bath he started shivering. We got him all dressed for bed and he fell asleep in Dave's arms a little before 7 pm. Poor baby.

This morning his fever is down and he is acting better, but he won't get out of his pj's. We have been just hanging out and watching videos all morning. He is drinking juice now and eating goldfish, so I know he is feeling better.

Joseph on the other hand is taking a great nap in his crib right now. I laid him down while I was changing Samuel's diaper and he stayed asleep, so I figured I would leave him there and see how long he lasted. It has been about 30 minutes so far. He is a great sleeper thank goodness. I don't think Samuel took a nap at all until he was 6 months old. Let's hope Joseph's sleeping behavior continues.

I can't wait for Samuel's nap time, so I can actually shower. I am feeling pretty nasty right now.

Busy Sleepless Weekend

This past weekend we were really busy. Friday night we had Dave's work Christmas party. It was at Kemoll's downtown. The room had a great view of downtown St. Louis, but the actual room was super small for the amount of people. The food wasn't very tasty and overall I wasn't very impressed. However, they served Tiramisu for dessert. I normally hate Tiramisu because it is normally mushy and the texture is gross, but they served the best Tiramisu I have ever had. The lady fingers were still normal texture (spongy and firm) and the chocolate and whip cream toppings were light and delicious. That was the best part of the evening.

Then Saturday, we went shopping most of the day and got tons of baby stuff. We still have a few more bigger things to get, but we got the most important things, like the crib mattress and changing table mattress. I ended up finding bedding that wasn't at Restoration Hardware, even though I LOVE their stuff. I got a plush cream bedding set by American Baby. I think it will look great and it is very neutral.

Saturday evening Samuel started to really cough a lot. He was cranky all day and just never snapped out of his bad mood. He didn't sleep at all on Saturday night and then Sunday the coughing continued. My Dad was in town visiting with my brother and Laura, so we met them for brunch on Sunday. Samuel did fine then and it just went downhill. He coughed the entire time he was trying to take a nap and he really didn't sleep at all and then Sunday night he also didn't sleep.

I was to get a babysitter yesterday morning because I had a doctor's appointment and I didn't want to drag Samuel along. My OB appointment was in the morning. I have gained 28 pounds so far, which is great considering at this point in my pregnancy with Samuel I had gained 40 pounds (12 pound difference at this point). I asked the nurse practitioner for all my numbers because I am just curious. The baby was active and head down already. The heartbeat was in the 140s. The nurse practitioner thinks I am having a girl. She doesn't have any information about my ultrasound, but she is guessing girl. I am still completely unsure. I think we have settled on names for the baby. The boy name is still libel to change, if we hear something that changes our mind from what we picked.

So after my doctor's appointment yesterday, I took Samuel to the doctor. He has just a virus. He gets a lot of chest colds (which is what I got a lot of when I was a kid too). When he gets his chest colds he develops asthma. The doctor gave him a breathing treatment in his office, but it didn't work well at all. I had to fight Samuel for 10 minutes to keep the stupid mask on his face. He probably got a total of 3 minutes of stuff. It helped a little bit, but not enough for the doctor to feel convinced that he needed to prescribe him the medication and the breathing treatments. Since Samuel hasn't had a fever or anything, the doctor said to just let the virus run its course. Luckily Samuel slept all night last night and is still sleeping. He coughed a bit, but slept right through it. We all got a good night sleep last night.

We will probably be staying in today because the high is only 30 degrees. Burr.

Here are some pictures from the past few weekends (I have been bad at posting):

Samuel and Uncle Jonathan playing peek-a-boo and reading:

Samuel getting ready to go to the Woman's Place Christmas Party:

Trying to wear his dad's shoes:

His new thing is to put his hands in his pocket:

First night of Hanukkah, he was pretty excited about the candles and still gets really excited when we light them:

First Hanukkah gift, a vacuum cleaner. He LOVED it:

He vacuumed the upstairs and downstairs as soon as he got this:

Thank goodness it is Friday

I know I have been really bad about posting, but I do have a good excuse.  Samuel has had a fever for two days straight.  He didn't sleep at all on Wednesday and Thursday night and was up both days at 5:30 am.  I am so exhausted.  It is now 8:30 am and he is still asleep.  I think his lack of sleep has caught up with him.  If he isn't up by 9 though, I am going in to check on him because he has never slept in that late.  It is kind of overcast here and still kind of dark out, so that might be a reason why he is sleeping in.  

Even though I have been exhausted, I still have found time to bake another delicious dessert.  I was watching the food network on Tuesday and Giada made this delicious looking Chocolate Chip Walnut Cupcakes.   They were very good.  I didn't put walnuts in them, because I am really not into cookies or cupcakes with nuts.  So being as tired as I have been, the cupcakes have really helped with my motivation to do things; like walking from the couch to the kitchen and back again.   

Jonathan and Laura came over for dinner last night.  We made Marinated Flank Steak (thanks for the recipe Amiee):

You marinade 1.5 to 2 pounds of flank steak for at least one day or more in this marinade:

1/4 cup soy sauce (I use low sodium)

3 TBS honey

2 TBS white vinegar

1 1/2 TSP Garlic powder

1 1/2 TSP Powdered Ginger

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 bunch green onions, chopped.  

We used Bison Flank Steak last night and it was delicious.  

I also made an Oriental Sesame Coleslaw to go with it and it was so good.

Even though I was out of control full after dinner, Laura made a homemade apple pie for dessert.  Like I said earlier, I have been craving fruit desserts lately and this was the best homemade apple pie I have ever tasted.  I am trying to decide if I should allow myself to eat today considering how much I ate yesterday.  Who am I kidding, I will probably eat just as much today too.  

Another sleepless night

Samuel's cough got worse last night.  He finally fell asleep around 8 last night after I rocked him for about 30 minutes.  He screamed if I put him down before.  He normally goes down so easily, so we knew he wasn't feeling well.  At midnight he woke up and screamed for about 15 minutes and was just getting louder and showed no signs of going back to sleep.  I went in his room and rocked him until he was sound asleep and put him down, then he woke up screaming louder then before.  We weren't sure what to do because we knew he was sick and I didn't want to spend my night rocking him, so we brought him into bed again.  This will end tonight.  His cough loosened up in the middle of the night and this morning he isn't acting sick at all.  Actually sine he got up at 5:45 he hasn't coughed at all, his nose isn't running and he ate like a champ for breakfast.  

I on the other hand am so exhausted.  I want to take care of Samuel and make him feel better, but at the same time I want to lock him in his room, so I can sleep all afternoon.  I am pooped.  Plus, my body is so sore from exercising.  I realize how out of shape I am now.  So sad.  

I am off to drink more coffee.  

Super Bowl Sunday

You know, I really don't care that it is Super Bowl Sunday (other then the commercials).  I only care that Dave and I win the super bowl squares that he picked for us in the work pool.  When I was at the grocery store this morning I picked up some of the 3D glasses.  Hopefully we will see something cool on the commercials after the 2nd quarter.  Samuel thought I looked hilarious in the glasses.  

Samuel is feeling much better.  He still has a cough, but his nose isn't running and he hasn't had a fever in a couple of days.  The only disgusting thing about his sickness is that the medication that they gave him makes his poops RED.  I mean really red, it is disgusting.  I thought you all might want to know that detail :)

This morning I finally took George for a walk.  It was a little difficult because there were lots of black ice and the sidewalks were sheets of ice.  I was slipping all over the place.  It wasn't much of a workout for me, but George loved it.  

Since we can't go anywhere for Super Bowl Sunday, I have decided that I will try to make a few things myself.  I am going to make chicken wings, queso, french onion dip and lots of veggies.  I bought stuff to make a pizza too, but I think we may have enough food.

Oma and Opa are coming in town this coming up weekend.  Since Samuel has been so sick, I am in desperate need to get out of the house and have some alone time.  Oma is coming in a day early (Thursday night), so tomorrow when the salon and spa I go to opens, I am calling to see if I can get in for a wax and facial.  I'll let you all know the status.  

  

What a bummer

I took Samuel to the doctor this afternoon.  He really is pretty sick.  He has RSV and bronchiolitis. Also, both of his ears look red.  They aren't ear infections yet, but he was working on it.  Anyway, RSV is very contagious and is very easy to get.  I am sure with the fact that I have taken him out a lot, he easily got exposed to it.  I have to be really careful that I don't get it or Dave doesn't get it.  The doctor prescribed some medication, but he might not be feeling better for another week or up to a month.  Are you kidding me?  This really sucks big time.  I almost started crying in the doctor's office.  I just don't know why he seems to be getting sick so often.  Plus, I know this is very selfish to say, but I am pissed that I am going to be stuck in this house all day with him.  I really look forward to going to the gym during the day, or going out to lunch or just hanging out with my friends.  It breaks up the day and I get a little break.  By the end of the day, I am just pooped.
I guess we won't be going to story time with Charisa, Vance and Vaughn this week or next week for that matter.  Boo Hoo.  

I also signed Samuel up for swimming lessons that start on Monday.  We won't be doing that either.  At least not next week.

Oh well, it isn't the end of the world, I just wanted to bitch a little bit.

I am off to relax while he is sleeping.   

Still sick

I don't know what Samuel's deal is, but he is still pretty sick.  He is coughing and he has had a fever for now 4 days.  I think it might be even a little longer.  Haven't gotten out of the house much this week, but today we have to go out so I can take him to the doctor.  I thought his fever wouldn't have reduced by now, but it hasn't.  He is screaming at me all day long.  If I leave the room, he screams if I do anything that isn't right next to him he screams.  Basically he just wants me to hold him all the time, which is a sure sign that he is not getting any better.  

Dave tried to take us out to dinner last night.  (Luckily I already made the enchiladas yesterday, so dinner is already done for today.  All I have to do is pop it in the oven later).  Anyway, we got to the restaurant and order all of our food.  We ordered Samuel's meal first so he could start eating (I thought he would be hungry because he hadn't eaten all day).  We got his meal and our salads and he refused to eat anything.  He started to completely lose it, so we asked the waiter to box all of our food up and we left.  I think we were there for maybe 30-45 minutes total.  It was awesome.  

Well, I better go duty calls.  I will try to write more later.

Are you kidding me?

I don't know what I am doing as a stay at home mother, but Samuel is sick again.  He had the highest fever he has ever had tonight 102.8.  He is coughing pretty badly.  If he doesn't sleep well tonight, I will take him to the doctor.  I just think he has a bad cold.  Maybe it was the fact that last week I took him out almost everyday last week and he was exposed to lots of children, then we flew and it was really cold in Minnesota.  I don't know what it is, but I am starting to wonder if I am doing something wrong.  

Poor kid.  

I am so worn out too.  When he is sick, he is very needy.  I completely understand because when I am sick all I want is for someone to take care of me, but my goodness I am tired.  

I am done for the night.