February

In comparison to last year, we had a very different winter.  Much less snow and much less germs!  But, February came through for us.

February break started with a sick Gavin.  He woke up the first Sunday of break, complaining of feeling so tired and was really emotional.  Through the day, he started saying his head hurt, took a nap but couldn't quite quick the grogginess, etc.  I knew he wasn't feeling well because of the tears...he's a really emotional sick person.  I took him to the doctor on Monday afternoon, and sure enough, strep throat.  What a way to kick off February break!  But...within just a couple days, he was back to 100% and we enjoyed a nice week off from school. 

And then, surprise!  The snow finally found it's way to Arkansas.  We ended up with an extra long February break because of the bonus of two snow days.  Once Daddy got home that Monday (because Mommy wasn't feeling the best that day), the kids got to go out and enjoy a little snow time.  I love playing in the snow!

That same night, Gavin went to bed saying his belly was hurting, and we were awaken around 10 that night to him getting sick.  Fun stuff.  But, it was a one time thing and he seemed fine the next day. 

Fast forward to this week, and this time our Monday morning started off bright and early with little miss saying her tummy didn't feel good.  That was the start of 12 hours of constant vomiting.  First stomach bug for our baby girl.  She was pathetic!  And while she's still not back to her normal self, she did eat about 1/4 of a bagel this morning and has kept it down.  The sweet girl is napping right now and I am keeping my fingers crossed that she may wake up wanting to eat a little more.  We sure have spent a lot of time on the couch with Disney Jr. over the last 24 hours!

Of course, the snow and germs has thrown my training schedule for a bit of a loop and I'm behind on my miles for February, but I'll get there.  Just 4.5 weeks until the race!  I did my longest run to date last weekend...7.8 miles. :)  Shooting for 8.5 this weekend.

Sick Days

We've had a rough couple of weeks around here.  Almost two weeks ago, Gavin came home from school one afternoon with a fever.  Of course, because all kids seem to get sick right before a big event, the timing sucked and he had to miss his very first school field trip.  They were headed to the pumpkin patch and Daddy even took the day off to chaperone.  I felt so very bad for him.  Well, his fever just kept coming and going, and after we thought he was ok to go back to school, I got a call that his fever was back and I had to do my first mid-day pick up from the nurses' office.  He spent a lot of time sleeping...

When we finally got him better (well mostly...he still has the cough!), we were able to head to Costume Carnival at school.  It's events like this that make me love my life even more...I got to spend that Thursday afternoon at school decorating the classroom's booth for the event.  Mrs. R always has the 'Boo-tique Nail Salon' and it was a lot of fun to work my time slot that evening painting little girls' nails.

And, gosh...aren't these little ones so adorable!

Now, we've spent the last couple of days taking care of a sick Jarrod!  Seriously, he rarely gets sick...so when he's down, you know it's bad.  

On a positive note, I've officially earned the trip to Cancun with Tastefully Simple!!

I'll be honest...when I first started with Tastefully Simple, I didn't think earning trips was really attainable.  I assumed only the consultants that were partying 4-5 nights a week earned these trips.  But, I put my mind to it, and work my butt off...and by only partying about once a week, I did it!  Jarrod and I don't even do 'date nights' and now we're getting to go to this amazing resort for three nights, all expenses paid.  I'm so thankful for this awesome company.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd love what I'm doing so much.

Now...if we can just get everyone healthy, we're looking forward to spending a couple days in Kansas City with the kids later this week (thank you, October break!) and we're counting down the days til we drive back to Ohio for Thanksgiving.  So much to look forward to!  October, November, and December are definitely my favorite months of the year. :)

Stomach Bug and Grandma

Oh, what a weekend we've had.  Riley woke up Friday morning covered in puke.  We have no idea how long she laid in it, because she never woke up through the night.  Jarrod just went in to get her when she woke up for the day and found her.  We got her in the bath and started her laundry and she was acting totally fine.  I load the kids into the car to get Gavin to school and half way there she throws up again.  It was disgusting.  I realize I'm pretty lucky that I've been a mom for 4.5 years and I'm just now having my first experience with cleaning vomit from a car seat.  Yuck.  I hope I never have to do that again!

So we stayed home the rest of the day and she seemed to be doing ok.  Saturday was filled with nasty diapers, though.  Still...we didn't think much of it.  Then around 1am, I was awakened by Jarrod jumping out of bed.  He heard Gavin scream before I did and went rushing into him and found him covered in vomit.  Oh, joy!  We were up from 1-2:30 cleaning Gavin's room, giving him a bath, and comforting him while he was continuously threw up.  He was up again at 3:30 and then, thanks to the time change, Riley woke up at 5.  Fun times.  I am so thankful for a husband that heads out at 5am to get necessities and Pedialyte at 5 in the morning!

Both kids were back to sleep by 9 so we made ourselves some breakfast.  Jarrod had to go into work to get some last minute things done before his trip to Puerto Rico.  By the time he got home, I wasn't feeling well and got hit with the lovely stomach bug.  Sadly, Gavin had to miss his best buddy's birthday party, too.  :( Gavin was asleep for the night by 5, Riley was in bed at 7, and Jarrod and I both crawled into bed right after.  He definitely isn't as sick as the rest of us, but didn't exactly leave for Puerto Rico feeling great today. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed it doesn't hit him on the plane or once he's there.

So far, things look to be on the upswing.  Riley's diapers are still gross.  Gavin and I both ate some toast this morning and are so far keeping it down.  He's enjoying watching Cinderella for the second time since Daddy brought it home for him yesterday.  Jarrod always knows how to make him feel better!  Luckily, Riley's starting to enjoy Sesame Street, so we've watched a lot of Sesame Street On Demand. The kids are getting spoiled with tv, but as long as I get to lay down, I'm ok with that right now!

It's funny to me how certain things will spark a memory that seem so random.  All this sickness going through the house brings back so many memories of my grandma.  As I laid next to Gavin Saturday night rubbing his belly, I remembered how she used to do the same thing for me and it always made me feel so much better.  Memories of how she used to make me lay on my belly on top of a pillow with my knees pulled up came back to me and I had Gavin do the same thing.  Then I started remembering how she would make me toast with melted cheese on it...so random but I can recall how much I loved it.  And tea!  Grandma was a huge tea fanatic, and she would make me tea when I wasn't feeling well.  In fact, last night I randomly remembered the little microwavable tea pot I had so that I could make my own tea through the summer when my parents were at work without having to use the stove.  All these random memories that all came back to me thanks to this pest of a stomach bug.

 

A sick little one

I didn't get to upload more pictures yesterday to finish playing catch up. Poor Gavin isn't feeling well. He took an extra long nap yesterday, then didn't want lunch. About an hour later he was running a fever. I gave him Tylenol, but about 45 minutes later he was screaming and crying for 2 hours straight. I took him into the doctor because he was exposed to strep last weekend. The nurse did a strep test while I was holding him on my lap - his lovely gag reflex kicked in and he started throwing up all over the both of us. :( The strep test actually came back negative, and the doctor said that there is a virus going around with high temps but no other symptoms. I think that's what he has. So, we're alternating Tylenol and Motrin around the clock. We had plans for the weekend but I think we're going to be stuck inside. I hope he feels better soon!

On another note, I just saw a picture Sara snapped of Gavin and me while we were at Shaw and thought I'd share. I feel like I don't have many recent pictures of the two of us. Thanks for sharing this one, Sara. I love it! :)

Ready for this to be over...

I'm so ready for Gavin to feel better....ready for me to feel better....ready for Jarrod to be done in Syracuse and actually be home! Ugh!

Gavin's croup has turned into a bad cold and of course, he's passed it to me. We're both a snotty mess this morning. And for whatever reason, he thinks it is fun to wake up an hour earlier than normal. I didn't find it funny... :)

Jarrod's in Syracuse again this week. Since January 6th, he's slept here 8 nights. The only upside to this whole situation is he's really racking up the rewards points for us to get a hotel stay for our New York City vacation! I think he said he gets 4,000 points per night. Hopefully we'll actually get to go to NYC this spring and not have to pay for the hotel stay. Wouldn't that be nice?

Croup update

I took Gavin to the doctor yesterday, and the croup diagnosis was confirmed. She gave him prednisone to help prevent him from getting to the can't-catch-his-breath point when coughing. He didn't like it one bit....for the first time ever, I had to hold him down to get him to take medicine. The rest of the day was a typical sick-kid day. Lots of whining and cuddling. The doctor had warned me that night #2 was going to be worse, but she also made the comment that perhaps that was night #2 for him. I didn't think it was since he slept fine the night before....was up earlier than normal, but wasn't coughing and didn't seem sick. Well, apparently it may have been his night #2 with croup because last night he slept through the night and slept great! He's still hoarse, and a bit cranky, but he is doing a lot better today.

Oh what a night!

Gavin and I went to The Sandbox yesterday and played with our friends. We had a great time...Gavin was acting totally normal! We came home and played some more, chasing each other around the house, laughing....you know, typical toddler boy stuff. He took a nap and Daddy came home while he was sleeping! Yay :) When he woke up, Jarrod surprised him and went in to get him and he immediately sounded hoarse. His lips were really chapped, too. He was still acting fine, though. He played with Daddy, ate a great dinner....just an occasional cough.

I had a party last night so it was 'Guy Time.' Ice cream and Sesame Street....the typical night together when Mama is working. Jarrod said he went down fine. I came home around 10 and he said he still sounded bad when he'd cough. About a half hour later, he was standing in his crib crying. I went in to get him and he sounded awful. It was like he couldn't catch his breath....like he was gasping for air. We tried hot steam in the bathroom, and tried to get him to drink some juice. Of course, nothing calmed him down except Sesame Street. We called the doctor on call to see if we should take him to the hospital and she said it sounded like croup.

She told us to do the hot steam for 10 minutes or so, and then to bundle him up and walk around outside. The hot steam in the bathroom just made him cry more, cough more, and gasp more, so I just took him for a walk and it helped a lot. We watch more Nick Jr. On Demand until after midnight when he finally fell asleep on me. We were up and down all night...I'm guessing maybe a total of 3 hours of sleep. I took him outside two more times and spent a lot of time just walking around the house. I'm waiting for the doctor to call me back to see if I should bring him in today or not. The doctor on call did say night 2 is the worst, so I'm not looking forward to tonight at all! At least Jarrod will be home from Syracuse for the whole weekend. Our poor little bug!