Where is Spring?

It is already March and there is no sign of spring coming.  We have no school today because the windchill is -10 or -14 and people could get frostbite in 10 minutes.  It is almost too cold to open the door and let the dog out.  I am so ready for nicer weather.  I need to get outside and do my trainings outside.  This indoor stuff is making me super depressed.

I am starting my 5th week of training.  Last week was considered a recovery week where we didn't do as much running basically.  I was hoping for a great start to the week and get my 18.5 mile bike ride in first thing in the morning, get the kids to school and then get my swim in.  Well, first school was canceled and then Simone started throwing up continuously from 12:30 until 4:45 when she finally fell asleep for an hour, then she woke up and has now puked three more times.  It's awesome.  I got about two hours of sleep and I am one cranky mama.  Through all the puking and laundry starting and Simone crying, Dave didn't hear anything.  He slept all night perfectly.  He got up at 5am, got ready to go to the gym and then realized I wasn't in bed with him.  Needless to say, he didn't go to the gym because I made him stay home to keep watch on Simone while I got about 30 minutes of sleep.

I find it so interesting how each of the kids are so different when they are sick.  Samuel is the best sick kid ever.  He lays on the couch, sleeps, pukes in trash cans and is perfect.  Joseph just now started puking in a trashcan, is cranky and demanding, won't relax, yells at everyone and just overall is a pain in the ass when he is sick.  This is really the first time Simone has been sick where she is throwing up continuously.  She is extremely afraid of throwing up in trashcan or in a big bowl.  She prefers to grab a towel, shove her face in it and then puke.  Luckily she has nothing in her system, so she is just throwing up water or pedialyte.  We have gone through I don't know how many towels this morning.  I am already on my third load with at least three more to do.  We are pretty much out of towels at the point.  After she throws up though she puts her face in her hands and just shakes her head.  She has done this every time.  It is kind of funny.  So far she is pretty easy.  I am hoping she will go back to bed soon because she got just as much sleep as I did.

I am finishing up my first cup of coffee and I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will not get this stomach bug that Simone has.  Yuck!

Here's hoping that the week just keeps getting better and better.

The Big 4!

Today is my favorite first born little boy's birthday.  He is 4 today and he is so excited.  He wants to sing happy birthday all the time.  I can't believe he is 4 already.  Time has really flown by.  I am hoping that four will be a little bit easier then three.  Three was quite a challenge.  Samuel is super independent, loving and stubborn.  He amazes me everyday.  He is so smart and funny and he makes me laugh all the time.  He drives me crazy too, but he wouldn't be a normal kid if he didn't do that.

He was so brave this morning.  We had his 4 year check up and he had to get four shots.  I normally do not give the kids more then 3 shots at a time, but Samuel is absolutely terrified of getting shots and I didn't want to have to come back in a month to give him the rest.  That would be way to stressful for him.   When he gets really scared he starts shaking like crazy.  His poor little hands, arms and fingers were shaking like crazy.  He got himself so worked up that he got a nose bleed.  He has never had a nose bleed before, but it just shows how much he is like me.  When I get super upset or stressed out I get nose bleeds too.  Anyway, he survived and was ready to go to school and take his big cookie cake that I got him.

He is such a big boy.  Here were his statistics:

Height - 43.9 inches (98%)
Weight - 46.40 pounds (97%)

Since I was going to the doctor for Samuel I made another appointment for Simone.  Last Wednesday when she finished her medication she broke out in a rash on her chest.  Over the weekend it spread all over her chest and back and looked pretty bad this morning.  I decided to get her in to have the doctor look at her too.  She still has fluid in the ear that had the ear infection, but he said it was looking better.  The doctor thinks that the rash is part of the sickness that she had and it might get much worse before it gets better.  If she still has it by the end of the week, I have to call him back and get her in.  If it isn't one thing it is another.  When is this going to be over!!!

And to round out the three kids, when we finally got home and started relaxing and I was feeding Simone I got a call from Joseph's school.  They wanted me to pick him up because he had a fever, runny nose and a little bit of a cough.  I swear if he gets super sick again I am going to be so pissed.  Right now I am trying to get him to take a nap and hopefully he will just sleep it off.  He didn't sleep well last night, so I think he may just be over tired.  We had a super busy weekend, so I think he may just be worn out.

Speaking of the weekend.  I need to post pictures later, but we had a wonderful weekend.  All the grandparents came in town to help Samuel celebrate.  We went to The Fresh Beat Band concert, which was so much fun and I am pretty sure the kids had a wonderful time.

February must end

I am so sick of this month.  Things just get worse and worse.  So since my last post I ended up taking Simone to the doctor again because her cough was getting worse.  Turns out she had/has RSV.  I thought having croup in the house was bad, but holy shit RSV is the worst.  She hasn't been sleeping at night for a week and a half.  I am getting about 4 hours of interrupted sleep each night on a good night.  I am absolutely exhausted.  There are moments when I feel like I am going to flip and just start screaming at everyone.  I am so tired and worn out.

I looked at the calendar yesterday and realized that Dave and I haven't slept one full night in the same bed since February 15th.  When Samuel and Joseph were super sick I slept with them because they were waking up too often and would only sleep when I was next to them.  Then Simone has been unbearable since the 18th.  It is terrible.  Last night Dave and I started out in bed together, but when Simone woke up at 2:15 she was a mess, so I told Dave to sleep in the other room so he could get some rest.

This month has got to end.  My mom came in town this past weekend and stayed until last night.  Of course the kids all slept better then they had for weeks while she was here.  Then she leaves last night and the boys were up several times in the middle of the night.  This is getting so ridiculous.

I have never experienced a sickness like RSV.  Simone can't breathe through her nose, she is coughing like crazy and she is just miserable.  For two days she wouldn't eat at all during the day and only at night when she was delirious and exhausted, so I was able to get her to nurse.  We tried bottles too, but she just screamed.  She is normally so easy and will let me put her down on the floor and she just chills out.  Last week she screamed non-stop.  I think I held her continuous on Wednesday and Thursday.  My only break was when Dave got home and he held her.  All my carriers got lots of use.

I am stressed about getting our taxes done, writing thank you cards for Joseph's birthday gifts and other gifts and just getting stuff around the house done.

In the mix of all this craziness I did sign Samuel up for summer camp, planned our summer through July, set up a pediatric dermatology appointment for Joseph and an appointment with the pediatric plastic surgeon (we have decided to remove Joseph's birth mark on his bottom).

This weekend all the family is coming in town to celebrate Samuel's 4th birthday.  I guess with kids things just never slow down.

It got worse

So from my last post until today the days have been a blur.  Here's a quick update.

Samuel got better by Wednesday night and still has a little cough, but overall is fine.

Joseph continued to have a terrible cough, very high fever and was absolutely miserable from Wednesday until yesterday afternoon.  I had to sleep with him (I think because I can't really remember) Wednesday and Thursday night, maybe even Friday night.  Like I said the days and nights kind of ran together.

By Saturday, Simone woke up and she had green junk coming out of her right eye and it drained all day long.  By mid-morning she started to get a low grade fever.  At 5 pm her fever was 100.3, so we called the exchange number for our doctor.  They didn't call back until 5:45, but by that time her fever was 101.7.  We were freaking out because it was so high.  She was absolutely miserable.  They told us to take her to the ER.  I packed everything up and spent the evening until 9:30 at the ER with her.  They tested her for the flu, took her temperature, listened to her chest.  The diagnosis was pink eye and an upper respiratory infection.  By the time we were about to leave, her fever was 102.8.  They gave her Tylenol and sent us home.  She was a mess all night.  Her fever spiked at one point to 103.9, which stressed me completely out.  We just kept giving her medicine and keeping her comfortable.

I slept with her Saturday and Sunday night on the couch.  By Monday morning, both Simone and Joseph were a mess so we took them to the doctor.  Turns out that they both had ear infections and the doctor said he was a little concerned that Joseph may have pneumonia.  We got medicine for the ear infections and we needed to watch Joseph and if he didn't get any better we would have to take him back in.

After the meds, Joseph started to sleep at night.  He still had a nasty cough until yesterday.  Today he has barely coughed and I know his ear feels better.  Joseph will not take the medicine.  He throws a huge fit and spits it out everywhere.  So we have now started slipping it into his morning juice.  He has no idea, drinks it right up and we don't have to fight with him.

Now for Simone.  Yesterday was the first day we could put her down without her screaming.  We literally held her from Saturday morning until Monday night non-stop.  Dave and I switched off holding her and we were exhausted.  I know her ear feels better because she is now taking naps and sleeping for a good period of time at night.  She nursed so much Saturday through Monday because she felt so terrible and now my boobs have quadrupled in size.  She is now coughing a lot and seems almost more miserable because it looks like her coughing hurts.  She still has a low grade fever, but nothing like Saturday and Sunday.

You don't want to come near our house.  We need to air it out and bleach everything.  Hopefully we will get no more sickness in this house.  We are staying away from anyone sick.  If you cough or sneeze we are high tailing it away.  It is pretty clear that my kids are prone to chest colds, which turn into ear infections.  It is crazy because I have never had an ear infection and Dave doesn't think he has had one either.  I know I can't control what they might pick up at school, but I am hoping we can avoid any more illnesses.

On a positive note.  Samuel is really curious about all of our names.  He knows all of our full names.  The other day I was sitting on the couch with Joseph and Samuel was asking me how to do something.  I was right in the middle of saying something to Dave, so I ignored him.  He was so frustrated and he said "Mommy Emerson Glasser, look at me."  It was hilarious.  The funniest part is that I have never ever gotten mad at him or tried to get his attention by saying "Samuel Emerson Glasser".  I don't know where he got that from.  He must have seen it on TV or something.

I am hoping for health, sleep and relaxation.