Friday, June 27, 2008

I had written up a post earlier this week but lost it somewhere. That is about par for the course this week as it has been an up and down rollercoaster. We had a great weekend last weekend. Mike made it back into town on Friday evening after being on a business trip to Atlanta since Wednesday. The kids were very excited to see him and sat with him the entire night. We had pizza and movie night and I don't think they moved from his lap except to eat a little popcorn. The rest of the weekend was filled with visits from friends and family. Landon had a slight episode of vomitting on Sunday afternoon but we figured it was just something he ate because he was fine without complaint of any other symptom and no fever. My dad came in for the night and we enjoyed dinner and cake for his birthday.

Monday showed up with VBS for Landon and he enjoyed going back to his "preschool" and seeing many of his friends. Ella headed to the allergist to have a follow up since we found out she is allergic to peanuts several years ago. That was a tough hour and a half. She wanted nothing to do with them running a prick test on her back, she wanted to scratch it the entire 15 minutes as I held a "very tired" Eli and her hands at the same time to keep her from touching her back. I was freaking out because they said if she scratched then we would have to repeat the test - which was basically like saying you are going to have to eat a bowl full of maynnaise (my worst food enemy) and if you drop one teeny teeny little bit on the floor then you will have to eat another bowl. So we struggled through the 15 minutes and then she spit out both tries of giving her an antihistamine that would stop the itchiness. Eli still fussing to go to sleep and I was trying to hear what the doctor was saying about everything she was allergic to. I think what he said was that she is allergic to Oak, Maple, tree mites(sounds weird to me - is there such a thing), eggs, dogs, cats and the peanuts showed very little reaction (praise) but "tree nuts" showed a huge reaction. Due to this they want to take a couple of viles of blood to do some further testing but not necessarily today. Think about allergy shots and come back soon! Arghhhh! A bit overwhelming but we made it through.

Tuesday up and at them earlier than usual due to VBS but Landon is enjoying it. Eli, Ella and I make our way to playgroup and I am not feeling 100% but brush it off to needing more sleep. By noon when I am leaving playgroup to go get Landon I am feeling pretty bad. I call Mike to let him know that I am declining rapidly and really need some help. By the time he makes it home he finds me laying in the garage while Ella and Landon ride their big wheels around and Eli climbs on me for fun. I am nauseas and achy and cold (in 95 degree heat). I crawl into bed and Mike takes over. By 3:00 Mike is starting to feel bad and the kids are waking up from naps. I take my temperature and it is 103.8 and I am freaking out. Mike loads up all of the kids and me to go to the doctor where I wait for 30 minutes to be seen and Mike makes laps around the parking lot to keep the kids entertained. Finally they call me back and check everything all the while Mike is declining rapidly. They all end up in the waiting room (of course one had to go potty) and I hear them from whatever room I am laying down in waiting for some kind of instruction or medicine. I feel for Mike but can't speed up the process. Luckily I don't have west nile virus, salmonella, or rocky mountain spotted fever but just a stomach virus that seems to be going around. Not only did Mike and I catch it from Landon but back in Portland my dad was coming down at the exact same time with it. I am thankful that it wasn't as brutal on Landon as it was on us. By the time we make it home I can barely crawl back to bed and Mike is trying to pack up the kids so his wonderful brother Chuck and sister-in-law Caroline (our heroes) can keep our kids since we are in no way able to take care of them. By the time that all happens Mike comes crawling to bed at 6:30 with a fever, body aches and nausea. Around 1:00 AM I am feeling much better and am up and fixing chicken noodle soup to eat a couple of bites and return to bed. Mike was home the next day recovering most all day.

Wednesday I am up and at them to go and get the kids, weak because I hadn't eaten anything but a few bites of chicken soup in 24 hours but feeling good. Landon went to VBS and the rest of us stayed home and tried to regroup. Later I took Landon for his allergy shots which he is still taking like a champ. He watches each shot and even says he likes them. By the late afternoon I took all of the kids out to buy a sprinkler because I don't have the energy to go to the pool but the kids could use some outside cool entertainment and our yard sure could use some water. I bought what I thought was a cool sprinkler and it broke as we put it on the hose. Back to the standard old sprinkler which is probably where I should have started and Landon had a blast running around and fighting the water. Ella - not so much. I think the clicking of the sprinkler scared her or the speed at which it was coming out and hitting her in the face, not sure which. It was amazing the difference 12 hours can make.

Thursday - this getting up early thing hasn't been so bad, but I still don't mind when my kids choose to sleep until 9. After dropping Landon off (Ella has missed him and has wanted to go to VBS every day as well but luckily I have had things for her to do) we headed out to get Ella's blood drawn. I have been dreading this all week so after we find the place I just tell her that the doctor is going to giver her a pinch and then we will be done. Eli isn't as tired this morning but I forgot the stroller so I am carrying him everywhere. They call Ella back and she has to sit in the big chair and lay her arms out. They inform me that for small kids they usually have them sit in their mother's lap so I offer to set Eli in the floor (yuck - it is a doctor's office) but she refuses and says she doesn't want to sit in my lap. So then I try to keep her attention on me so she doesn't see the needle and blood but instead she insisted on watching them. They tied off one arm with no success of finding any veins so on to the next one. This one they think they have one worth trying. In goes the needle - Ella doesn't even make a sound but she watches intently. Her vein rolled and so they are digging around to try to find it. She says "ow" and then a fleeting expression of fear but not a sound. They hit oil - or blood - she watched as they filled 2 big viles full of her blood and not liking the sight of her blood coming out started to tell her how proud I was of her. I am so amazed at how well she did through this that I could just jump up and down. They put some purple guaze tape on her arm and then give her two stickers. By the time she is done she is loudly proclaiming how beautiful she is and how she is "decorated". As I strap her in the van she tells me "one day when you are a little girl like me mommy, then you can be decorated too". I can't wait! We wrapped up the morning with a trip to the grocery store where Ella got to have her own shopping cart and helped do everything from the picking out, putting in the basket, checking out, bagging and even loading in the van - what a helper. The evening was spent with friends and family.

Everyone out there, keep purel on hand and lots of lysol. I don't know where this bug started but I don't want it to come your way. Here's hoping everyone has a good weekend and stay healthy for a holiday week coming up. Pictures are from late last week and also little Eva Boyte celebrating her 1st birthday - we were thrilled to be a part of that special moment!