Where Oh Where To Sleep?

The girls' are so tired that Ellie fell asleep on the way home this evening. We returned home from being out and about at 7:45. I open the side door to find Ellie asleep.

Unfortunately the transition to bed didn't result in her staying asleep. In the end, they both had a hard time settling down and letting their bodies rest. At one point Ellie was found laying in the doorway reading by the hall light.

Finally they were asleep. I go in to check on them, cover them up, etc... Upon walking in the room I find Ellie's jammies in the doorway. I think hmmm... maybe Carie helped her get new jammies. I look and see Abby in her bed. I look and don't see Ellie in her bed. She's not on the floor. She's not in the closet. She's not in the bathroom. She's not in the hall. I say her name, nothing. I look under their beds and there she is. She crawled under her bed and fell asleep on top of the crib mattress that is stored under her bed. Very cozy quarters! At least it was easy to pull her out!

Oh, and she didn't have any jammies on. She had also removed her diaper. But she did put on one of her new play outfits, a frilly sparkly leotard.

If only our camera wasn't broken!

Friend?

Yesterday was a rough day for the girls', Ellie in particular. It was time to crack down on some specific behaviors, undesirable behaviors that have peaked lately.

We have some simple rules... respect each other, talk kindly to each other, be kind to each other, use good listening ears, etc... I focus on these because these are the areas lacking lately. They were a little shocked at our zero tolerance, so we saw some heightened tantrums. But we had some excellent opportunities to talk about things that are important to us. Excellent opportunities to talk about how we all work together as a family.

Abby was all on board, she seemed to get exactly what we were trying to say. Ellie still uses her circular reasoning which leaves us banging our head at times. But in the end, Ellie asked if I could be her friend. So we all hugged, made up, became friends, and went to bed. Today did go much better, so I know she gets it.

The Smiley Face Game

The girls' like to play games on the computer every once and a while. There are some great kids games/activities at PBS and other places.

They've also taken to Instant Messaging. They aren't privy to IM lingo, so they call it the Smiley Face Game. I often get a long chain of various smiley faces they have chosen. I always know when it is the girls' in control of the computer. Though in the beginning I did think it was Carie and couldn't figure out what point she was trying to make. Turns out she wasn't even in the room. I like to write short messages back to them and they love to see their name on the screen. It's great fun!

So if ever you get an IM from Carie that is filled with smiley faces, think again. Just say "HI Abby" and "HI Eliana".

End of game.

All Clear

Or... clearer.

We are finally seeing some health in our home. It was such a relief to experience a healthy weekend, the first since the weekend prior to Thanksgiving.

The girls' are doing well. Ellie's ears are still "cloudy", but not infected. They look a bit better than last time, so that is good. Hopefully they will continue to heal. This last infection really did a number on her ears. Abby still seems to remain relatively healthy, despite all the other sickness we've been through.

Spencer received the all clear from his RSV. His chest sounds good! His throat looks good. His top 2 teeth have finally emerged providing amazing relief.

His ears though remain slightly infected. This is the continuation of the 4th ear infection. One ear showed slight signs of improvement and the other one is holding steady. So... not worse, which is great news. We are trying a myriad of things to entice the ears to heal. We don't know if any of it is working but we figure his ears aren't getting any worse. Ear tubes are still clearly needed. He's been rescheduled for Wednesday, February 8th.

Prayers and positive energy that he'll remain healthy over the next 2 weeks.

Restaurants & 3 Year Olds

Lately Ellie is constantly asking us to "go to a restaurant". Rarely does she ask to go to a specific restaurant, in the beginning all she really cares about is going out. Once we agree to go out, then she is all about giving input on where to go.

This weekend it has been constant... last night she wanted to go out and then again this morning she was requesting that we go out for lunch. She was even thinking ahead.

So Carie thought to ask what it was about going to a restaurant that drove her desires. They have been asking us tons of "what is your favorite part about xyz" questions lately... so she turned the tables.

Carie: Ellie, what is your favorite part about going to a restaurant?

Ellie: "Going potty"

That explains a lot!

Just Don’t Spill It…

In an effort to keep Abby and Ellie from bursting into Spencer’s room when I put him down for his nap they usually get to pick one of their favorite shows from the DVR list while I’m upstairs. The last few days they have found alternative forms of entertainment in my absence.

On Thursday I came down to the basement to find Abby sitting on the floor next to the removable sink insert from their play kitchen. It was full of water and a dozen or so plastic animals. Just then Ellie comes running around the corner with a hand towel so that the animals can get out and dry off and a new batch of animals can go “swimming”. They both looked at me, just waiting to see how much trouble they were in. They were having a good time, they were being careful, and the carpet was dry. I told them they could keep playing, just don’t spill it.

On Friday, as I stand at the top of the stairs just outside Spencer’s room, I see Abby standing at the kitchen table. She has a tiny pink spoon and a tiny pink bowl from the Princess Tea Set that the girls received for Christmas. As soon as she sees me, she covers the bowl with both hands and anticipates my questions with a quick, “Nothing, Mommy”. I investigate further and find the bowl half full of something that I can’t identify. I ask Abby if it is juice and her response was, “ummm, ya, juice.” I catch sight of Ellie carefully carrying the pink tea pot. I ask her what she has in the pitcher. Ellie tells me that they have my “drink”. It finally dawns on me that they have pilfered my half empty can of Diet Coke and are serving each other. There isn’t much left so I tell them to finish what they have, just don’t spill it.

~ Carie

It's Snowing, It's Snowing...

Proclaims Ellie as she stumbles out of bed earlier than she needed to yesterday morning.

She came to us and told us that it was snowing out her window. She really wanted us to come check it out. We were having a hard time leaving the comforts of our warm bed. We were also pleading with her to not wake up her brother or sister. No need for everyone to start the day this early! But clearly it was only snowing out HER window. I did briefly look out or window and the patio window and saw no snow.

She must have an inside connection to the snow gods though. Sure enough yesterday afternoon it snowed. With the warm weekend temperature, the snow had zero chance in sticking and forming into anything playful. The girls' though were hoping at any chance possible to ride their new sleds. They asked Mommy several times if they could ride their sleds. They wanted Spencer to go for a ride too. They had it all planned out.

That afternoon Carie was up with Spencer trying to initiate a nap. At one point one of the girls' quietly made her way up the stairs and poked her head into his room. She whispered... the snow is all melted. Their sledding hopes were gone.

While I'm not a fan of big snowstorms, I do hope that we do get one more chance at playing in the snow this winter.

One Day It Is...

Gorgeous weather... the next day it is flurrying.

This weekend was amazing. The weather was to die for... way above seasonal normal. A very nice change of pace in mid January.

On Saturday Grandpa and Yia Yia took the girls' on an "adventure". It was their first adventure together and I'm told it won't be their last. Mommy & Momma are excited about that! We didn't realize at the time, but this was the first time we had been home together without the girls'. Spencer was kind enough to keep us company.

On this particular Saturday afternoon their adventure took them to the park where I'm told they played and played and played and then buried many rocks. They also brought home a few of the rocks for keepsakes. Great! Then they went to the store to buy a few things. I don't know what all Grandpa and Yia Yia ended up with, but the girls' had some good snacks and a couple new books to add to their collection.

On Sunday the weather was even better. With temps in the low to mid 60’s, we couldn't resist the temptation and went on our own adventure. The girls' have been itching to go to Build-A-Bear and they happened to get gift cards for Christmas. So after Spencer's awesome morning nap we were off to the mall. Seemed like a good pick me up after all the sickness we've been experiencing.

The girls' got to eat at their favorite place... the mall. I don't know why it is their favorite, but if you don't want to eat at the mall and you don't want a major meltdown... don't drive in proximity of the mall near any mealtime. This day though, we intentionally ended up at the mall for lunch. After lunch we went straight to Build-A-Bear. It didn't take long for the girls' to pick out their new furry friends. Ellie chose a Kitty and Abby chose a Pink Poodle. They've had their eyes on these for quite a while. They had fun watching several other kids make their new friends before it was our turn. After stuffing them, washing them, and adopting them we were on our way. Thankfully we escaped without accessories! I have to say though that this is a fun experience, not only for the girls' but for us Moms' too. After the mall, we made a quick stop at Old Navy and scored big time on clearance items.

Then we were off to the park. Our favorite park happens to be near the mall. Spencer and I hung out in the van with the door open, taking in the sun and fresh warm air. It took a while but he finally conceded to a nap. He really enjoyed just hanging out with me. It was great to see him so happy and then just drift off to sleep. The girls' and Carie were off enjoying the playground... swinging, sliding, climbing, over and over again. It was great to watch them run and run and run. It was great to listen to their joy as they yelled "Mommy, come catch me". We nearly left without any incidents until Ellie insisted on holding onto her "friends" while she swung. These would be her imaginary friends that were swinging with her. Her hands were so full that she couldn't hold onto the swing... which then resulted in a fall and some scrapes on her back. Her friends though were fine.

It was so exciting to experience this gorgeous unseasonably weather over the weekend because today it is flurrying. The snow is flying and the wind is blowing. According to weather.com it is 32 degrees. A solid 30 degrees colder than yesterday.

And This Virus Makes...

I don't know I have lost count.

From all accounts of what we are experiencing, the Ped's Nurse is saying that Abby has viral diarrhea. Sounds like it is going around. If it is "going around" seems 100% certain we are going to "get it".

The best part is that it can last 7-14 days. Oh joy joy. Sarcasm emitting, just in case you couldn't feel it :).

I feel bad for our sick kids, really really bad. I wish it would all go away. Instead we seem to be compounding our illnesses. The upside, Carie and the Ped's Nurse had a great conversation where they both ended up laughing. I mean, what more can you do at this point?

I hope there is hope that this is a fluke and magically disappears. I guess we will know in time. More so I hope that it isn't passed around to other members of our household.

Maybe Carie will log on and write her really good story that doesn't involve sickness. I could really use to read about something other than virus' right about now.

Improvement?

Last night and today were much better than it has been in days... weeks even. I hope that means that some healing is going on. Whatever it is, I'm lovin' it.

It's all about the baby steps baby.

Cold No More

I wish it were as simple as the cold has gone away.

But no. Bottom line is that

a) Surgery has been cancelled. The boy will not be getting ear relief this next Monday, as hoped.

b) No surgery because the boy now has RSV. Ped estimates that he picked up the virus while in the office 7 times in the month of December and 4 visits already in January... all warranted and needed visits. Between the ear infections, teething, and antibiotics... his immune system is so vulnerable.

Nebulizer treatments every 4-6 hours started this morning. He's at home, going nowhere. We figure we are on day 2 of this virus and anticipate it peaking around day 4 or 5. We hope to keep him out of the hospital.

c) Spencer still has his ear infections. Pussy fluid remains in his ears, though they are not "raging" yet. The current antibiotic appears to be keeping that at bay for the moment. We have no hopes of the antibiotic healing his ears. Our long shot hope is that the antibiotic keeps the infection under control.

d) Surgery cannot happen until he is clear of this viral infection for 20 days. We may be able to push anesthesiology to allow the surgery before that time, but not without added risks. He also must be fever free before the surgery can take place.

e) So... we continue to try to keep the ear infections under control while we recover from the RSV. How in the H*LL we are going to do that is beyond me. We are working with our Ped and ENT as things progress. One of their many concerns is his ears and potential hearing damage if this goes on too much longer.

I feel defeated. My boy is so miserable and I don't feel like I can do anything about it. I feel like comforting him isn't quite cutting it.

Update on the girls' while I'm here...

Ellie's ears are still the same. They aren't infected, but they aren't clear either. They aren't any worse than they were last Friday. It may take a while for them to look good since she had an infection for so long. We'll keep monitoring her in the coming weeks since it looks like we'll have a few more office visits. At this point I think they would have to be hurting really bad for us to know. She tells us that they are feeling better and she doesn't want any more "poke shots". So she thinks that if she tells us they hurt she'll get another shot... smart girl.

Abby was running a 101 temp yesterday and threw up last night. She told us that her right ear hurt, but that is the ear with the tube still in place so we would have seen drainage if it was infected. The Ped looked at them today and they looked okay... not great, but okay. We're going with it.

Fashion by Ellie

If you wear 3 layers of your summer dresses and wear the top layer backwards... you will keep warm in the winter.

- Eliana Grace, Age 3 1/2

The amazing thing is that she manages to put the longest one on first and the shortest one on last... always, regardless of her dress selection.

It's the latest trend, try it!

Mushrooms

The boy likes mushrooms. My son cannot possible like mushrooms, can he?

Now your probably wondering why in the world we'd give him mushrooms in the first place. He's not even 9 months old yet.

Well, we didn't give him mushrooms. He pilfered said mushroom while we were looking. Yes, we were looking, but we had no idea what he was up to. He was sneaky about it too boot.

We were at the grocery store. He and Abby were riding in the child seats of the shopping cart and Ellie was sitting in the back. Abby was writing our shopping list and the boy was hanging out. Ellie was in back organizing our groceries.

I noticed that he turned towards the basket of the cart. I thought he was just checking things out, and he was. He found a package of sliced mushrooms within reach. He opened the package and pilfered a mushroom. He got his little fingers through the plastic wrap!

I was quite shocked when I noticed that he has a mushroom in his mouth. He was happily gnawing on it.

Conversations with Ellie

We've had some hilarious conversations with Ellie this morning.

I'm in the bathroom this morning and Ellie comes in and tells me that she needs to go potty. So she goes about her business and I hear her telling me something about the color of potty. I tune in and we have the following dialogue:

Me: What did you say Ellie?
Ellie: My potty is yellow
Me: That's right!
Ellie: Little kids potty is yellow
Me: Everyone's potty is yellow
Ellie: No, big people's potty is brown
Me: I’m pretty sure that everyone’s potty is yellow
Ellie: No, big people’s potty is brown
Me: Oh really? (guess we'll be doing a lesson in the bathroom later today :))

Then she goes and cuddles with Mommy in bed and watches Backyardagains where the discussion of breakfast comes about. I'm certain Carie initiated the discussion. But what I heard was:

Ellie: May I have a Popsicle?
Carie: We don't have popsicles for breakfast
Ellie: May I have a Popsicle for a snack?
Carie: We could probably do that
Ellie: Then I want a snack first

I make some oatmeal for Abby and ask Ellie if she would like some. Carie says... can you serve it frozen on a stick? Nope, can't perform that trick this morning.

Add To The List... Teeth & Black Eye

As if the boy weren't enduring enough pain and suffering, we've discovered that he is teething.

Both Carie and I had this thought yesterday and upon looking at his upper gums it was crystal clear that two pearly whites are trying to emerge. We then remembered the pain he appeared to be in when the bottom two teeth came in. No wonder the Tylenol and Motrin isn't cutting it.

Then yesterday afternoon he wiped out as he was pulling himself up with the spindles. His right eye took the hit. It's not bad, but noticeable and enhances his dark circles.

Spencer, I'm sorry buddy. I'm sorry you are so miserable.

I'm anxious to see how his ears look at today's appointment. With all the other stuff contributing to his miserable-ness, we just have no idea what is causing him the greatest grief.

Football

Another interesting fact about our dear boy Spencer is that he seems to have a love for football. I'm certain he has no idea what it is, and I don't know what he likes about it, but he clearly likes watching football.

Earlier this week he was having a rough time of it. Out of desperation, Carie kept trying new things to calm him down. She flipped on the TV and a football game happened to be on. He got really quiet and totally relaxed in her arms. Carie wasn't particularly interested in that game, so she flipped the channel to TLC. He immediately let her know that he did not approve of the channel flipping. She returned to the football game and he became quiet and relaxed again. So they watched football and peace was returned.

Last night he was very restless in his sleep, again. We were attempting to watch the Rose Bowl... fast-forwarding through all the re-plays and commercials in an attempt to make it through. We still didn't get through more than the first half with all the breaks we took to take care of the kiddo's. Finally around 11:00 I said this is crazy. I'll just take him to bed and see if that helps. Well, he wasn't exactly mad anymore but he wasn't sleeping either. Then I said, well... the game ought to be nearing the end. Let's watch it live and catch the last part of the game. Carie turned on the TV and there was 1:04 minutes left in the game and the score was close. Spencer caught site of the game, sat straight up in the middle of the bed, watched intently and bounced up and down with glee. He was in heaven.

Boy am I bummed there was only 1:04 left in the game. He knew when it was over and we returned to cranky boy.

Interesting Fact

I think it is quite interesting to note that Spencer is in the midst of his first cold. You'd think with all the ear infections that that wouldn't be the case... but it is.

About mid week this week we noticed he was really congested and had a runny nose. He's a miserable mess with a stuffy head, runny nose, and raging ears.

Poor boy! I hope something relieves the pain soon!

Ear Update

Because this is what our lives have come down to lately... the status of our children's ears.

It was Ellie's follow-up appointment today. A follow-up from a couple rounds of meds ago, but we kept it because we suspected we would need it. It was also supposed to be a follow-up for Spencer, but we cancelled that thinking he was over his. Then the Ped's plan was to take a peek in Abby's ears... just to make sure all was still well.

So we get there. Our Ped takes one quick look in Ellie's ears and immediately knew they were bad, both of them. We suspected that she wouldn't be fully healed, but they shouldn't look as bad as they did today.

Then I ask her if she wouldn't mind taking a look in Spencer's right ear (the ear he started pulling on yesterday) and I said... and then you can lie to me. She laughed and gladly looked at his right ear and his left ear. Both infected. She didn't even have to say it, we knew.

For s**ts and grins, I said... would you mind peeking in Abby's ears. She thought that was a good idea and confirmed that the tube in her left ear is gone AND that ear looks good. The tube in her right ear is still in place and functioning, which means her right ear looks good to. YIPPEE!!!

We'll continue treatment for Ellie and hope that once she clears from this month long infection we'll be okay. We hope! For Spencer, the plan is that our Ped is treating this infection, because we were there. But our goal is to call the ENT and go straight to scheduling Spencer for tubes. Hopefully we won't have to delay anything by making a visit to the office.

His last treatment for his last infection was on Friday, December 23rd. At an ENT appointment on Thursday, December 29th his ears looked good. Fluid still remained in his left ear, but the ENT thought it was healing. His test for fluid came back looking great! On Saturday, December 31st Spencer acted more himself than he has in a very long time. Quite refreshing! Three days later he's got a mild fever and is pulling on his right ear.

His ear infection history:
July 20th - 1st Infection
September 29th - 2nd Infection
October 10th - 2nd Infection Cont, Change Treatment
November 28th - 3rd Infection
December 5th - 3rd Infection Cont, Change Treatment
December 16th - 3rd Infection Cont, Change Treatment
December 19th - 3rd Infection Cont, Change Treatment
December 21st - 2nd Installment of Treatment
December 23rd - 3rd Installment of Treatment
December 29th - Visit ENT - All Clear
January 4th - 4th Infection
January 6th - Continued Treatment
January 7th - Continued Treatment
January 11th - Pre-Op Physical
January 16th @ 7:40 am, arrive at 5:40 am- Surgery

The writing of this post has taken long enough that we've managed to get the surgery scheduled. Now to keep him healthy until then, that will be our next challenge. Something to talk with the Ped about on Friday.

My Daily Coffee

Since I detest coffee, no matter how you sugar coat it, this blog is my version of a daily cup of coffee. No matter how my day is going, I can count on a good laugh within just one click.

Here's a house rule that I think we all should have... "In our house we live by one rule: wherever you farted, you stay where it started." Brilliant!

Cuteness

The cute part in all of this is listening to Ellie say "I need a tissue".

Can't Go A Week

Seems that we can't go a week without visiting the Ped's office.

Yesterday morning Ellie woke and told us that she wasn't feeling so good, that her ear hurt. For Ellie, this is big. She rarely notices when she's got an ear infection. For her to notice and comment on not feeling well, it generally has to be really hurting. Of course it is a Holiday and the Ped's office is closed. We don't feel right waiting it out a day until they open, so off to Urgent care we go. They opened at noon so we went after lunch and arrived about 12:45.

Of course Abby really wants to go with us too, which we weren't to keen about. Abby seems rather healthy (comparatively) at the moment and we didn't want to expose her to all the wonderful sick germs flying about the Dr's office. But in the end, she ended up coming with us. It meant that Mommy got some quiet time while Spencer took some marathon naps. Then we figured Abby could either get sick directly from the source or she could get it through Ellie who was exposed. Our hopes are that neither of them will come down with anything new.

When we pulled into the parking lot of the Urgent Care (which is also our Ped's office) and saw 13 minivans, 6 SUV's, and a handful of cars that it was a bad idea... but the goal was to find relief for Ellie. I've never seen that many people in the waiting area... never. With our Peds office we are never waiting for more than a few minutes and there is rarely anyone else in the waiting area. Yesterday they were approaching standing room only... within 45 minutes of opening their office. Nearly 3 hours later we were done.

We check in, fill out the proper paperwork, and talk to the nice receptionist about the potential wait time. She had really no idea how long it would be; her best guess was a couple of hours. So we risked loosing our place "in line" and ran an errand. Surely the folks at Target were potentially healthier than sitting amongst a packed room of decidedly sick and germ spreading children.

We returned to the Ped's office with plenty of time. It was really nice to only sit and wait the 15-30 minutes vs. the 2 hours it would have been. When we were taken back to a room, we ended up getting "our room". Funny how things work out.

The Dr looked Ellie over and found that she does have a raging ear infection in her left ear, the ear that she told us about. Like her brother, she's been fighting this ear infection for a month and like her brother she's now flunked Augmentin, Zithromax, and Omnicef. She was a week behind him in her antibiotic routine... and now a week behind him in getting a Rocephrin shot. The difference though is that, given her age, the infection should have resolved. It should not have gone on this long and it should not take these powerful drugs for her to heal.

After the nasty shot she played up the drama big time. Of course it hurt, I did everything I could to make it better. But later than night Carie found her putting full weight on that leg one minute then holding it up like she can't touch her toes to the ground due to pain the next.

This morning she came downstairs and told us that she didn't feel very good again. This morning though it was her tummy. I'm sure it was because she was hungry since she didn't eat very much yesterday. It also didn't help that she was awake until 3:15 AM because she took a nap yesterday.

We go back to see our Ped tomorrow. I hope everything looks better!

The Boy is Back

It may only be temporary... more on that later.

But on Saturday he was more like himself than he has been a whole month. It was so wonderful to see this change. We could clearly tell in his eyes and his smile that he was suddenly feeling really really good. Sunday and Monday were great too, although we are now in recovery mode from a long holiday weekend, which included traveling and more Christmas celebrations.

We had been wondering if he was going through some behavioral changes and maybe this was just the new Spencer. While some of it may be behavioral, I think the majority of it was driven by him feeling crappy for so long.

He is still quite a happy boy today. Though before leaving this morning I noticed he was feeling a little warm and tugging on his right ear. So we may be headed down another path of ear infections and back to the ENT. I guess we'll see how things develop today and tomorrow.