A lot has been going on here the past couple of weeks. Namely, ear drops, antibiotics, Tylenol suppositories, humidifiers, and nebulizer treatments, lots of coughing, whimpering and not a lot of sleeping.
It all started last Monday when the school called me to tell me Owen was starring off into space during lunch time (he is usually chatty and a wonderful eater) so they took his temperature and it was 101. At first we wrote it off as effects from his molars, because he is getting all FOUR of his 2-year molars as well. And then the awful cough developed. He is a sad sight to see sick and such a contrast from his usual goofy, crazy, never-sit-still self.
On Wednesday Eli came home sick with a fever, and a cough and his entire lunch still intact. On Thursday Cash followed suit with the worst cough I have ever heard come from a baby coupled with non-stop whimpering and waking up every single hour.
By Friday Blaine and I were both maxed out and exhausted. It was musical beds around here for a few nights...Owen in bed with me, Eli out on the couch with Blaine, Cash back in our room, Blaine sleeping on the floor with Eli, Cash not sleeping at all.
Owen had been working on a fever for a good six days by Friday and Cash seemed miserable, waking up every hour crying, so I took the two of them to the doctor. We were given some breathing treatments and a diagnosis of an ear infection for Owen.
Since Eli has a history of asthma and allergies, and his last cough turned into Walking Pnemonia, and Owen's cough had gone on for so long with crackling sounds in his chest, we were sent home with a nebulizer for all of the boys.
To add to the madness, I had planned on having a garage sale on Saturday for the last month or so. I struggled with the idea of postponing it, but I already had help in place for the boys, posted an ad, and Cash's room was filled with things for the sale and I was sick of having to move boxes and bags to get him a clean outfit. I decided to go ahead and do it. I have never had a garage sale before and was really stressed about it. I woke up bright and early Saturday morning, after maybe three hours of broken up sleep, and headed outside to set up shop. I had posted that it would start at 8, but by 7:45, all of the really good, big stuff had already been sold. Do you know what people will buy? Anything. I was shocked!!!! Some of the things that I thought no one would be interested were the first things to go, and some things I thought were awesome, most people werent interested. Had I known how it would all go down, I would have done a better job cleaning out our house! It was really fun, and super successful. I am already looking forward to doing it again.
Cash did me the favor of sleeping the entire four hours of the garage sale, poor baby was so sick! And since Eli and Owen were both under the weather, Eli sat on the couch in the same corner playing games on the ipad the whole time while Owen would occasionally come out to check out the garage sale before heading back inside to stare out into space.
Sunday morning I woke up, well, never really went to sleep for much longer than 30 minutes at a time, but when the sun came up and I got out of bed for the day Cash woke up with a 102 fever. Blaine was at work, so I rushed around the house to get everyone out the door, dropped Eli and Owen off with my mom and headed back to the doctor. This time,
he was diagnosed with an ear infection! We now had our first two ear infections ever in our house at the same time!
Just look at this sad, sad baby.
I was forced to find some positive aspects of this last week to keep myself sane, this is what I realized: 1. Having sick kids makes for some extra cuddle time, they are so sweet, and quiet when they are sick and just want to be close to you. I couldnt tell you the last time Eli wanted to just sit in my lap for longer than 1 minute, it was wonderful having that sweet time with them as they rested their hot, hot bodies on me.
2. Our house stayed a little bit cleaner. And quieter.
3. Since no one had an appetite, I didnt have to make any meals for anyone. After two days of making meals, only to throw them in the trash, I decided it was a waste of time and I enjoyed the break!
4. Getting them to go to sleep was a cinch because they were so pooped. Eli actually
asked to go to bed, a first!
So as much as I hated having sick kids, they were so sweet and quiet and kept the house clean! Now that everyone is getting better, our house is a total wreck, I should probably go to the grocery store since everyone is demanding meals again, and I guess its time to get out of my pajamas and put on real clothes since we can actually leave the house again.
Somewhere in the midst of all the sickness, I had the honor of going to my friend Sara and her partner Nicole's wedding. They got married in New York and came back to Austin to celebrate with their family and friends. I wish so badly I had some pictures from this truly amazing and beautiful event. I was in tears while they were reading their vows, and had goose bumps as the ceremony wrapped up just thinking about how even though there is still a long way to go, we have come so far in terms of equality. I believe everyone should have equal rights, and to see them be able to get married was amazing.
Owen also made the move into his new room with Eli. There was definately some resistance at first, but now they boys are settled in and enjoying each other as roommates. The first couple of days they insisted on sleeping on the floor together.
And Cash made the move into his room!
He also started solids right before the sickness hit our house. We have taken a break until he feels all better because he has not had much of an appetite, he wasnt so sure about it, so he probably doesnt miss it anyway!
Even though up until today it has still felt like summer, we have been enjoying the "holiday season." We decorated gingerbread houses with some friends a few weeks back. The great thing about this group of friends is that I have been known these families since I was a baby. My parents were friends with the Gottesman, Shapiro and Haegelin Families every since I can remember. I am friends with their children, and now my kids are friends with their kids...do you follow? We invited the grandmothers to come to this particular playgroup and I think it was a full-circle moment for a lot of us to see three generations of friends together. Pretty cool, right?!?!
We love the daily ritual of walking to the mailbox every day in general, but to get there and see whose card we get everyday is exciting! The we find the perfect place for them on our wreath. We are running out of room! Next year I guess I need to make it a little bigger!
We went to opening night of The Trail of Lights. Kruger's Jewelers donated so we got VIP passes for opening night. It basically meant we got special parking and entry into the park before it officially started. We felt like we had it all to ourselves!!! It was really fun to walk around with the boys and see how spectacular everything seemed from their perspective. They walked around with huge grins and pointed at everything they saw. It was a beautiful night!!!!
Cash was still feeling pretty crummy and slept through the whole thing.
The boys school had its holiday performance on Monday. It is always fun to be up at their school to see how they are when they are there. I would love to be a little fly on the wall for a day! What I have learned about going to these performances is that Eli and Owen act like they dont know what is going on around them and just stand there like deer in the headlights.
Do you see Eli in the front row, third from the left....so small! He is sandwiched between Ty, his very best friend in his class, they are obsessed with each other and this adorable girl named Faye who he sits next to for lunch every day and she greets him every morning by putting her arm around him and hugging him and saying hi. Eli still isnt so sure what to think about her.
This is one of Owen's awesome teachers Mrs. Erica. We love her!
We also celebrated Hanukah! I will try and post soon! I realized though that by the end of the day one or two of the boys were either naked or almost naked by the time we lit the candles. Owen is semi-potty training so we let him run around either in just undies or naked at home, and Eli just likes to be as bare as possible, whenever possible! Finding appropriate pictures will be a challenge.
