Quickie Update

Sophie is feeling much better, but she sounds really hoarse today, and she just looks a little peaked and skinny to me. But she's most definitely on the upswing. Tonight, she ran in and crawled in her bed and pulled her covers up to her chin, while I was cleaning out her closet. Izzy went over and bent down to her and said, "I know, baby. I'm sorry you're so sick." Then he gently patted her. Izzy really is an awesome big brother. Sophie think so too:

My sick little pookie.

Quick update: took her back to her pediatrician today, as per his orders if she wasn't better yet. Final diagnosis: a tiny touch of pnuemonia and a doozy of a virus. And a viral ear infection. And a rash on her chest and midriff. And swollen tonsils. And...well, you get the picture.

If you don't, here's some help:





She was feeling a bit better tonight after a long nap and a prescription cough syrup that set us back $35, so I feel sure that tomorrow she'll be on her way back to her normal perky self.

Sick baby update.

Doctor called tonight and it's pnuemonia. *SUPER BIG SIGH* What really sucks is that this really supports the asthma diagnosis, because every cold and virus ending up as pnuemonia in a toddler is the number one symptom. She's feeling pretty crappy tonight, so here's to a better tomorrow, right?

A quick funny about Izzy: I'd already brushed his teeth the other night when he wanted a drink of juice. I told him fine, but he'd have to brush his teeth again. He drank his juice then asked me, while I was getting Sophie in bed, "Mommy, can I go brush my teeth now?" Sure, I told him, knowing full well that his toothbrush has been moved to the top of the medicine cabinet to protect it from Sophie. I meet him in the hallway a few minutes later and I ask him, "Did you brush your teeth?" Yes, he told me, stretching his smile tight to show me all of his teeth. That's the first time he'd done that, so I obligingly laughed. Then I said, "I know you didn't brush your teeth yet, because your toothbrush is too high for you to get." Without missing a beat, he says, "Oh yeah, I used my finger," and he pantomines brushing his teeth with his finger. I crack up laughing, and as I walk him back to the bathroom with me, I ask him if he's lying. He smiles and says, "No!" Then I ask him, "Was that the truth or a lie?" "Lie," he says, smiling. Little turd.

Sophie is feeling a little better today.

She slept until about 9:30 after a very long night of coughing every few seconds and throwing up twice from coughing so hard. She was parched, so after she drank about 6 ounces of water, I went into the bathroom to get the medicine dropper for her Tylenol. She followed me and started tugging at her diaper, so I took it off and she pointed at the toilet and demanded, "Up! Up!" I sat her up there and she peed! I just opened her first box of size four diapers and it's going to be the last. Next we'll move to pull-ups, and hopefully not many of them. Izzy was really fairly easy to train, so maybe she'll be even easier.

Anyhow, then I took her temp and it was 102.8. We went and laid back down on my bed and she brought the blankets off her bed and cuddled underneath them, against me for about a half hour, which is about the time it took for the Tylenol to start bringing her fever down again.

When she was feeling better, I took her and dressed her in some comfy clothes and asked her if she wanted to eat. She said no, but I fixed her a small bowl of cereal just in case. She played around the kitchen for a while, then she climbed up in her highchair and gobbled up her cereal, then at Izzy's whole bowl of cereal as well.

After breakfast, she wanted to sit on the potty again, but this time nothing happened. Then she took off all of her clothes and brought me her brother's swim trunks. At this very moment, she's playing under the over turned clothes basket with Izzy, wearing only bright orange swim trunks and with her little tuft of hair standing straight up. It's good to see her almost normal again!!!

I am EXHAUSTED.

First, my apologies for my unusual absence from blogging. We decided to really put our hearts and money into some minor renovations that will hopefully get this house FINALLY sold. We started this last weekend, because Chris was off Monday and Tuesday. We finished it late last night, and we're thrilled. There's still some trim to paint and what-not, but the major stuff is all complete. We started with ripping off the crappy old wallpaper in the dining room (well, painting it first with Kilz, and then ripping it off once it bubbled):


Then we painted it what I thought would be a medium grayish brown and ended up pewter (but I still love it!):


Then we moved on to the master bathroom. Here's the before:

And the after, which included a pale whitish purple paint on the walls, a new sinktop, painting the cabinet bright white and putting new hardware on it, and installing a new medicine cabinet and light fixtures:

Before I show you my next project, let me tell you what happened yesterday. Izzy was going to the bathroom while Chris was in the shower and as he tried to get the toilet paper out of the wicker tube (which I'd wedged in behind the etarge to keep Sophie from dragging it and the plunger all over the house) he accidentally pulled the whole thing over on himself. He was fine, but about $150-$200 worth of nick-knacks that I'd stored up on top of the etarge to keep safe *sigh* were not. Including the commemorative Blenko vase we'd bought when Sophie was born. *SIGH* Such is life.

On to the final room of our grand makeover week - the living room. Before:

And after:


The color for the living room is called Scroll Beige and it's a shade lighter than the "Fauna" in the dining room. Were I to do it over, I'd use it in the dining room, and get a shade lighter for the living room, only to make it appeal to more buyers. What REALLY sucks, is that is what I'd originally had the guy mix up, then I looked at the samples he'd rubbed on top of the can and decided they were too light. If I ever choose the perfect color, I might have a heart attack.

Anyhow, it looks so much better in here, and far more sophisticated. The darker, more formal colors help to ground our modern furnishings (i.e. green and purple sofa) so that they don't jump out at you quite as much. I really do think we'll sell much more easily now. I hope.

So let's flash to today now, why don't we? WHAT??? I don't blog for a week, then you go getting all huffy because I post a long one?? Just save the rest for later, then. Sheesh.

Anyhow, Sophie threw up twice last night (first time event for us) and then was lethargic today and wouldn't eat. Her body kept feeling hot, but our stupid piece of crap ear thermometer wasn't going above 99.9. After her nap, Chris got her and they just laid in a chair together for another hour. He told me she was a little hot, so I felt her, and she was burning up. Used the ear thermometer again - 102.8. I went and got the rectal thermometer and it was 104.1. I got pretty frantic, because she was so listless too, and her eyes looked terrible. By the time we got to the ER/Care Center 24 it was 104.4, and they took her straight back.

They gave her some more ibuprofen (it had been right over six hours since we'd given it to her, and three since she'd had Tylenol), put in an IV, took blood to culture, did a nasal swab for RSV and the flu, took chest x-rays (she has a horrible raspy cough) and CATHETERIZED her for a urine sample. After all of those horrible nasty tests and many, many hours, the doctor tells us she's negative for everything and her lungs look fine. By this point, her temp, which had dropped to 100, is back to 101.5 and climbing and she's listless again. He was leaning towards admitting her, but they called our ped. and he said to switch her antibiotic from amoxicillan to biaxin and take her on home. The asthma doctor put her on amoxicillan for a sinus infection, and she's been on it for about 10 days now.

By the time we get home, an hour and a half later, her temp is back to 103.8. Doc said as long as she's not out of it, not to bring her back. After today, I'm not looking to bring her back anytime soon anyways, thanks.

It's now 12:30 and she's due her next dose of Tylenol, so I'm off to try to grab a little shut eye with my hot little sweetie. The one who curled up on her own bed at midnight after coughing so hard in bed with Chris that she threw up a little bit. I gave her some cough syrup, but I hear her coughing as I type this. With any luck, she'll be feeling much better tomorrow, and I'll be able to finish the touch-ups on my projects. Cross your fingers for us!!

Asthma.

Asthma. A.S.T.H.M.A. Assssstttthhhhmmmmmaaaa. Nope, I don't like the way that sounds, no matter how I say it. But the asthma/allergy doctor today had no problem at all saying it when he told me Izzy and Sophie probably have it. This sucks.

I'm not trying to make a mountain out of a molehill here. I KNOW there are a million different diseases out there that would be far more devastating, and far harder to control. But no mom wants to hear that her kids are likely facing a lifetime of uneasy breathing. Of daily medications. Of doctors, and breathing treatments, and worry. Oh, the worry. It makes me sick just thinking about it.

Yep, this sucks. That about sums it all up.

Poor Chris!

He just got up searching for the Chloraseptic spray. Whatever this bug is, it created the most insanely sore throat I've ever had. I got up at 4:00 a.m. and went down to the Florida room and went through the moving boxes because I had packed up our medicines and I knew that I had Chloraseptic spray in there somewhere! For the past five days, until today, I've rotated between three Tylenol's and three ibuprofen tablets every two hours, and still I was in pain. I just gave Chris three ibuprofen's and the spray and he's back in bed now. I feel so bad for him. This bug knocked me flat on my back for days, so it might be near-fatal for a man. :-)

He just got in the shower - it's 12:30 a.m. I guess he thinks the steam is going to help. Hope it does, but I doubt it will.

We're going to have to put a quarantine around this house.

The Weekend Update

Today is the first day in over a week that I feel slightly like myself. I still have a sore throat, head & chest congestion, yada, yada, yada, but now it feels like a regular cold. My sense of taste is probably about 50% back, which the fat girl in me loves, but the skinny girl kind of wishes hadn't come back at all.

But now poor Chris is getting sick. He still managed to go to work today, but he felt pretty crappy the whole time. I hope he gets over it much quicker than I did. When I'm sick, I just curl up and agree with anything so that I can be left alone. Chris....does not. No matter what, I've yet to be able to do enough to keep him from getting insanely grumpy. Not to mention, this bug has sucked and I would only wish it on my worst enemies.

Going to be a big weekend. Our first realtor, a guy we really like, is going to relist us with his brokerage again Saturday afternoon. We've made a lot of improvements since we were listed with him, so we're hopeful. I spent today working on moving stuff around all over the house, especially in the living room, to minimize our personal taste. Yep, we're trying to make our giant purple and green leather sofa blend in. Wish us luck.

Hope everyone has a great weekend, and be sure to take your Vitamin C.

Happy 2007!!!

I'm off to an auspicious start for the new year - I woke up with pink eye.

Here's hoping you have a better first day of 2007!

Plague and Christmas Updates

I feel like crap. I feel 10 times worse than yesterday, but better than the day before. I hope I completely kick this stupid bug tonight. It's wiping me out.

Izzy seems to be much better today - he didn't complain too much until it was bedtime and he wanted to sleep in my bed again. (Didn't work.) Sophie is definitely getting pink-eye in at least one eye and her cough has become much worse. What a weekend. Guess we're lucky to have made it through Christmas healthy, at least.

Speaking of which, we had a wonderful Christmas. Every Santa Izzy saw over the holidays, he’s asked for socks for Christmas. That’s it, just socks. He modified it to flowered socks for the last Santa. When Santa asked why, Izzy said, “Because I like socks.” Chris and I were afraid one of them might call CPS on us for not buying the kid his basic necessities.

Flash forward to Chris’s aunt’s house on Saturday night, the 23rd, where they have a Santa who brings a sack with a gift in it for each child (that Chris’s aunt and uncle have bought). Santa handed Izzy his gift and as he unwrapped it, he saw purple flowered SpongeBob socks. Izzy clutched the package tightly to his chest and said, “Santa, thank you! It’s exactly what I wanted!”
He looked at them again, then threw his arms around Santa and gave him a huge hug. He took them out of the package and held them in his hands for a second, and looked so sincere and said, “Thank you, Santa. I really like them.” He was so sweet and earnest that I couldn’t help but get all teary. Izzy then sat down and took his shoes off and put on his cool new socks.

We’ll never again be able to make him so completely and utterly thrilled with a Christmas present. It was truly magical. It was all-around a magical Christmas.

Pretty much everything was lost on Sophie, but she along with the flow and had a great time playing with all of her presents. Even better, both of the kids were really good probably 95% of the time, which is AMAZING for these two. Izzy remembered to thank people as well, although Santa got most of the credit.

Today he was laying on the bed with me and he told me he had a secret to tell me, about Santa. What was it, I inquired. "Santa bring me flowered socks and a robot and it made me so happy. It was just what I wanted." He's a great kid. Sophie is a great kid too. I am beyond blessed to have two such groovy kids.

We've been hit with the plague.

I feel like crap, Izzy feels even worse and has pink-eye to boot, and now Sophie is getting pink-eye as well. Luckily for us, Chris was on vacation yesterday and today. Not so luckily for Chris, of course. I'm feeling a bit better today than yesterday, but worse right now than I did all day.

Poor Izzy is suffering mightily. He has his first sore throat, and the doctor said (via phone, no appointment available today) that it had settled in his eye and turned into conjunctivitis (pink eye). He also woke up last night crying with his ear hurting, which has turned into a bad ear infection judging from the amount of pain he's in. He lay in bed sobbing his heart out for an hour after we tucked him in. We kept going in there and checking on him, but he doesn't want us. The doctor called in eye drops, ear drops to numb the pain, amoxicillan, and he's on Triaminic for chest and cold congestion AND Tylenol for the pain. All that and the poor kid is still crying. He's breaking my heart.

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of the saddest boy on earth (and my excuse for intermittent posting over the past couple, and next couple, of days):

Wanted: Common Sense

For the last several weeks, we have all had a chest cold that just has seemed to hang on. I haven’t worried much about it because neither kid has had a fever or acted like they felt very bad.

Yesterday, I went to pick Izzy up at preschool, and the teacher keeps him till last, which means he’s been the worst kid again. I try to ask her why, and all she tells me is that he was spitting on other kids. I’m shocked, then she modifies it to tell me that he was blowing raspberries, and well, she has to call me later because her nerves are so frazzled. Give me a freaking break - he’s three. Anyhow, we’re moving, so it will all end soon anyways. But he was also soaking wet. I asked her why and she said they’d been running around in the gym. I became very concerned because his cheeks were bright red and his hair was completely wet.

I got to worrying that maybe this cough he’s had has caused an infection/problems with his heart (I know, I am indeed insane) so I called the doctor and they told me to come on in.

Ends up, the sweating was nothing to worry about but the poor kid has a sinus infection, “reactive lung disease” (may be asthma, but he’s not ready to go there yet), and he’s pretty sure he has pneumonia too! We had x-rays done, so we’ll know for sure today, but the treatment won’t change since it’s not a bad case of it. No wonder he was a problem in school. I feel terrible for not even realizing he was sick.

I went ahead and had them pull Sophie’s chart since she’s had the same cough for so long too, but her’s is caused from drainage from a sinus infection, and she has an ear infection too. And I wasn’t even going to have her checked!

Izzy is on steroids, antibiotic, cough syrup and breathing treatments every 4-6 hours. Sophie is on antibiotic and cough syrup. AND I DIDN’T EVEN REALIZE THEY NEEDED TO GO TO THE DOCTOR. I only took Izzy because of my overactive imagination.

When does that “mommy sense” develop anyhow??? Heck, I'd be happy if I even had a little common sense to fall back on.