Homebound weekend

It is incredible how productive a person can be when they are stuck at home. That would be me this past weekend.

Friday night Skadi fell asleep early saying she wasn't feeling well. By 11:30pm, she was up. Every 30 minutes she was up. Until 4am.

We would just start to fall asleep when she would yell again, "MOMMY I FREWUP!"

And AB and I would start the routine all over, AB swapping out towels under her head or changing sheets as necessary, me pulling off her jammies, wiping off her face, getting her a drink of water and comforting her. It was a long night.

We aren't used to this routine. My daughter, like me, gets carsick. But viral stomach stuff isn't a common visitor in our house. I read on Facebook updates from friends whose kids are sick, once again, with the stomach flu and I give thanks that it isn't us. Now, viral respiratory crud knows our address well.

I felt awful for my daughter, but figured I might as well make the most of the weekend stuck at home by actually doing some of the things I have been talking about tackling.

My October goal is to organize spaces. Namely, the kids' drawers and closets, their toys (I am itching to get rid of lots of plastic things that reside in the bottoms of toy buckets - I can't watch Toy Story right now, it might ruin my mojo). I also have stacks upon stacks of things to go back into the pretty play room. I need to go through all that stuff first. I refuse to put things back that we won't use or will just be clutter. I am not getting rid of the kids' Geotrax, the play kitchen and play food or the Little People things. Those items got a free pass back into the playroom. Everything else has had to prove its worthiness. Also on the reorg list is the garage... AB and his sister have been working that.

Accomplished? Skadi's dresser, her closet, her bedroom toys and 80% of the toys sorted for the playroom. Four large Rubbermaid bins were filled with size 2T clothes and baby/toddler toys. Not to mention the garage was worked to the just over 50% point. (Can you tell I am in earned value mode? Percent completes. I deem this project to be on schedule with a positive cost variance... I haven't spent any money on this project... yet.)

On top of the reorg going on in the house we also tackled spaghetti sauce this weekend and ended Saturday with 19 containers of fresh (now frozen) sauce. AB and I started this ritual either before or after Leif was born. We can't really remember. But in the 6 or so years we have perfected our recipe and even the kids don't care for the bottled stuff. We eat a lot of spaghetti sauce throughout the year - this should last us about 6 months we figure. I like knowing that this staple of ours all fresh at the peak vegies and no sugar.

I think it was Alice Waters who said, "if you have to add sugar to your spaghetti sauce then make pesto".

On Sunday we started the morning with homemade pumpkin pie (described yesterday) and load after load of laundry.

Of course the downside to this extreme productivity in a germ laden house is that come Monday night child #2 started vomiting. AB and I felt the nausea worm over us that evening and both woke up and told respective employers we would see them Wednesday.

As I am feeling much better I am thinking I can attempt continued organization efforts upstairs.

Or I could just go watch Glee instead.

All Hands

I have been in my job for six years now. That makes 12 "All Hands Meetings" I should have attended.

I think I have gone to three.

Every.single.time there is one scheduled either I am sick or one of my kids are sick. I have come to expect that "All Hands" means "One sick family member".

I was determined to beat it this year. Leif's sick was last week. We all are nearly recovered from colds. Nobody was going to be sick.

Well and no one is. Except that yesterday at the mall, Skadi fell in the kid's play area where she was hanging with Leif and Daddy while I got a new watch battery.

And rechipped her tooth.

The repair job we had done about four months ago popped right off when she whacked her tooth on the slide.

Lovely.

I am certain they will fit her in during the All Hands Meeting tomorrow to fix it.

Something to be thankful for

Leif was admitted to the hospital Wednesday morning for what was declared in the ER to be a "severe asthma attack". Tuesday evening in the bathtub he started wheezing, so I nebulized him. He had a little bit of a cold and had been complaining of a sore throat that day and the day prior.

At about 2am he woke up wheezing and asked for his "fertilizer". At 2am nothing much makes sense. Talking to a preschooler at that time of morning doesn't make it easier. Finally it dawned on me how much coughing he was doing. So I fertilized him. I started to get concerned as well and hauled him to bed with us where AB and I debated a trip to the ER right then. At 4am it was evident that things were not right, his breathing was labored. A little while later he woke up and said, "I can't breathe".

AB had just left for work (I knew this as I was not sleeping and instead watching Leif sleep). I called AB on his cell phone and he turned around, came inside and ran him off to the ER. I felt helpless and scared as I sat around the house at 5:30am waiting for Skadi to wake up so that I could get her ready and take her to daycare.

By the time I arrived at the hospital the decision to admit him had been made.

We walked down the halls of the pediatric ward and I was hit with how thankful I was.

My son was by far and away the healthiest child in the ward. Rooms with signs controlling exposure were everywhere. Rooms with children laying in beds.

I was thankful it was a chore to keep my son in bed.

Truly, I don't know how parents of sick children do it. I truly don't. My prayers are with them all.

Brutal

I just need to get this out and then I won't complain any more! Tired of whining - skip this.

6 weeks ago Skadi started vomiting.
A few days later AB and I got the crud.
AB's combined with Leif's cold.
5 weeks ago Leif, Skadi and AB have cold
4 weeks ago I got cold
3 weeks ago the cold was getting better and everyone was on the mend.
2 weeks ago Leif and I went to the Urgent Care - he had double ear infection, I had secondarily infecteed bronchitis and a sinus infection.
A week ago this coming Saturday Skadi started vomiting.
And didn't stop until Monday afternoon.
Combined with a cold.
AB took her to the doctor on Tuesday and she has a double ear infection (her first).
On Wednesday I got the cold.
Today driving home Leif started puking. (And is still puking.)

What exactly have I done? What karma did I violate? Should we just sell our infected house and move?

This has to end... doesn't it?

A first

I am quite sure I have never ever slept through the phone ringing.

Ever.

Even when I was bone tired while pregnant with the kiddos I would register the phone ringing - though I sometimes chose not to get up and answer it. I would choose to stay snuggled in bed instead.

Skadi was home sick Monday and Tuesday - the worst week EVER for us to have a sick kid. I was home with her Monday through the brunt of the puking episodes. (AB took over Monday afternoon and then stayed with her all day today.) Monday morning when Skadi crashed, so did I. The laundry beckoned, the kitchen called my name, my blogs called, work e-mail went neglected. All the while I slept.

When we finally rose I saw I had missed a call from AB. Missed it totally.

Right now I am beyond tired thanks to a multitude of reasons. This evening after the kids FINALLY fell asleep, I ran through my work e-mail, barely registering that my phone number at work was also changing with my move to my new office (that apparently happened today). I hit my "flag" button repeatedly, reminding myself that I will have time next week. At least more time then right now.

The Plague

I count myself lucky that my family is healthy and we don't typically tend to get sick. A cold here and there, the occasional GI stuff that hangs for a day or so. But nothing out of the ordinary.

Until the month of April.

Our house has been afflicted with the plague. The exact date is still up in the air - AB insists he is going on a full four weeks of cold. He remembers starting Zicam on Thursday the 3rd. (This does mean I can blame him, right?) Then that following weekend Skadi had the stomach bug that wouldn't leave.

It took about a week for AB and I to officially kick the stomach crud. (Leif went unafflicted, thankfully.) But for AB it was concurrent stomach and cold virus. Lovely.

The kids got the cold virus and then - a week after everyone else, my body gave up the ghost and succumbed too.

AB saw the site nurse and was given an antibiotic prescription despite my insistence that it was a cold or the flu and that antbiotics wouldn't do anything. (One of my pet peeves... that antibiotics are frequently doled out for the common cold or the flu thus attributing to antibiotic resistance and plain it just does no good!)

Ok, so he MAY have needed them, he felt a little better afterwards.

This past Friday marked my two weeks of cold virus - it was on its way out. I had a nagging cough, but that was it.

Then on Saturday it started ALL over again with the runny nose and congestion. Leif woke up Sunday saying his ears hurt. He even went so far as to put bandaids on his ears. (Yes, I should have gotten a picture.)

Once my mom and stepdad took off I told AB I was taking him to the Urgent Care and reluctantly agreed that since I was taking Leif anyways, I should be seen.

See I insist on and make appointments for everyone else in my house but me to see the doctor. Truly, I am not sure why my aversion to the doctor aside from my insisting that I am fine, I am healthy, I don't need antibiotics. (Nor do I *really* want antibiotics - they do mean things to my stomach.)

Leif was diagnosed with double ear infections and got a prescription for antibiotics. (He DOES have a tendency towards bacterial ear infections after viral infections - we don't mess around with waiting it out with him.)

Me? A sinus infection and secondarily infected bronchitis. Heavy duty antibiotics for me.

So for all my insisting that I don't need antibiotics?

24 hours later and my life is different on antibiotics. Yeah yeah yeah.

Decision making

Someone tell me that a preschooler's inability to make a decision is just a phase. Please?

AB and I are so so tired of the, "no I want apple juice, no grape juice, no blueberry juice!"

The school counselor suggested we handle this by saying, "ok, you can change your mind two more times". Then we stick with whatever the choice is after those two times.

This only means the meltdown comes sooner.

I have tried to slow him down, "think about what you really want, no answer is wrong".

This doesn't work.

Of course eliminating the decision making all together is seeming like a very valid option right now.

-----------------

I got a huge check today.

Well I got a huge check at work today. AB asked if I couldn't skim just a little off the top?

(JOKING!)

It would just figure though that I got my first big huge check on the day that I am out sick with an also sick one year old. And sick husband who is trying to study for an exam.

I didn't even feel up to toasting the installment with a decent glass of wine at our very bland dinner. (Leif - the only one not suffering GI distress - learned the merits of Top Ramen for dinner.)

"Mmm, I like this soup!"

Watch me fall over... he liked something!

Another week down.

I would rate this past weekend about mid-range on the scale. There was plenty of room for improvement, but it wasn't bad either.

Saturday morning was swimming lessons. It is about all we can do to contain Skadi during Leif's 9:30am swim lessons. At 10am her lesson starts. She is our water baby. She does so much better in the water at this age then Leif did. I don't know if it is spending the last year nearly solid at the pool on Saturday mornings watching the routine, or if it is just in her nature. She loves the pool.

Finally her slot came and she was so excited to be in the pool. Her little body was just so tense from the excitement bubbling up in her.

Of course that also meant that only 20 minutes into her 30 minute lesson she had exhausted herself and was no longer interested in participating.

Leif and I dropped daddy and a sleeping Skadi off at the house and we headed to Costco where we spent way too much money. I loaded up on Carter's outfits for Skadi for the summer (must relish the last few months that I can put her in the uber-cute Carter's baby stuff) as well as pajamas for both kids.

Leif seems to have zoomed straight by 3T. Just a few weeks ago his 3T's were all still baggy and long. But starting last week we noticed they are suddenly appearing short. He was wearing 2T for what seemed like forever. I was starting to wonder if he and Skadi would both be in 2T at the same time despite being 2 years and 8 months apart.

But alas, the growth spurt happened and appears to be done. Leif's diet has returned to "would rather eat next to nothing".

The weekend took a turn for the worse on Sunday when AB and I both woke with headaches. (If I am going to wake with a headache I would have liked to have had fun the night before, thank you very much.) Skadi got up with daddy while I slept a little longer. Lucky daddy was the first to find out that Skadi had apparently picked up a stomach bug.

I woke and kept asking, "are you sure she is vomiting, or just spitting up?" I got my answer about 10 minutes later when she threw up the breast milk she had just consumed.

Leif insisted shortly thereafter that he too, had a stomach ache. Three year olds are tough to figure out. Is it that he wants medicine? Is it that he wants the attention being lavished on his sister? Or is this the reason he hasn't eaten so far today? Does he really have a stomach ache?

We may never know.

I erred on the side of caution and cancelled our playdate.

Skadi was up and down most of the day. Leif and I did get one good stint where Skadi was sleeping and we went into the front yard and cleaned out the front flower beds. I also pruned the juniper bush that had dreams of living on the other side of the sidewalk. I need a few cubic feet of soil for the flower bed since my giant bearded irises are working their way out of the dirt, but aside from that I am well on my way with our April goal. At least MY portion of the April goal.

I had talked up the anticipated "movie night" slated for Saturday night, only to be disappointed when The Bee Movie did not appear in our mailbox Saturday as promised. Star Wars was a worthy substitute.

I know. I can feel you looking at me sideways.

Star Wars? Guns, violence, Star Wars?

Yep, Leif's selections of shows he will watch on TV has expanded from Curious George to Curious George, The Forte Giant Little Einstein's episode OR any one of six Star Wars movies.

Blame AB.

At least the language is clean.

Leif sits and tells us who is the bad guy and who isn't. He squeals "here comes 'Darth Mater'" when Vadar comes on. He thinks the ewoks are cute, Jar Jar Binks is cool (just shoot me now), and Obi Kenobi looks just like daddy (AB beams at knowing his son would easily mistake him for Ewan MacGregor).

I keep telling myself he really isn't *that* young for Star Wars. I saw the first one in the theater when I was 5 years old. Only a year and a half older than Leif.

Today Leif had a dental check-up. I picked him up from school and we headed that way. Leif nearly bouncing out of his seat with excitement for the visit. (Weird child.)

Leif inherited my klutziness. AB has recently said that no matter the place, we are guaranteed that Leif will be the first one to fall and bang himself up or be in tears.

We were called back to the chairs, Leif hops into the big chair. I walk over to put my coat and purse on the bench when I hear the collective parent gasp around me. Reflexes said it was my kid.

Sure enough I whipped around just in time to see my son cartwheeling off the chair. Seems he stood up in the chair, lost his balance, caught his legs on the armrest and flipped over the side. Onto his head.

Yep, that's my kid.

The dentist was over within minutes checking him for breaks and checking his pupils. He gave me all the instructions on what to watch for in the case of a concussion. I have the list memorized at this point, but I just nodded my head and held my screaming preschooler.

The sweet and very concerned 8 year old boy in the chair next to him asked if he was going to be ok? He would be, I told him.

As typical Leif behavior, a few minutes later and he was as good as had it never happened. The assistant was able to get two good x-rays and clean his top teeth well.

When she got finished rinsing the top Leif insisted, "no thank you, you don't need to do more, I don't like it". The bottoms then proved to be a little more difficult.

No cavities (thank goodness).

And even better for me? Finding out we have a zero balance after fighting for 6 months with insurance on covering his work back in September done under general.

Phew.

So this explains the trend to have one parent stay home

It is weeks/months like the past few in our household.

With one child, who had been through the ailments and illnesses that accompany daycare, we could deal with us both working. Paying one daycare tuition was acceptable. And splitting time off when someone needed to be home with Leif was tolerable.

Then Skaders arrived. And she is truly one of the two best things that have ever happened to us. (I don't want to give the impression I am blaming her.) Then AB took an internship (read no benefits - vacation, sick time or insurance). All that was fine in the name of getting experience and I carried the family on my insurance. And it paid off. AB is in the process of being hired on fully by a great company (though one that doesn't realize there is a child who could really use the extra dental insurance in the next 7 days).

And here I am going to sound like an excessive whiner, but it is taking its toll. Being the sole one responsible for doctor's appointments and staying home with the kids when sick, while I wouldn't have it any other way given the choice, it is hard with a full time career. I have said it before, I will say it again, I don't know what single parents do. AB works out of town and with no paid leave, it just doesn't make sense for him to try and take off to do this stuff, particularly while he is trying to prove himself to his management.

My manager called me today. As explained previously, my manager never calls. And being that the last time she called I got a mid-year raise I have to admit hearing her voice raised my hopes there for a nanosecond.

Nope, she called to talk to me about my chargeable hours goal for the fiscal year and see what my plan was. I admitted to having missed filling out my timecard yesterday since I was home with a sick kid (that I DID e-mail her about). Therefore my chargeable goal was 8 hours off. And yes, I realize that still left me teetering on the brink, but I actually was (just barely) within guidelines.

She told me she was concerned as I had zero, zippo, nadda sick time left (thank you maternity leave policies that I could rant about). Yet in my e-mail regarding my schedule for the coming week I told her I would be out for a full day for my son's dental work. She fully understood this necessity, but reminded me this would either be on vacation time or she would authorize unpaid leave because I could not flex this time so close to the fiscal year end, nor could I use sick time. (Don't even get me started on my banked time sitting there, waiting to be "used when one most needs it"...)

She was quite polite about it all. She gets it, she has three kids. And she admitted that she knew how hard this is in the first year after a new baby. I don't blame her. I don't know who I blame. Nobody really. Maybe benefits a little for not letting me at those 24 or so banked hours...

Picking up Skadi didn't help a whole lot. She had a rough day thanks to tooth #2 pushing it's way through her little gum. Combined with the recovery from this skin issue she had and I blogged about yesterday. It was just a sucky day for her. I am tired of her getting bumped to the other room for no apparent reason. I am tired of the dipshit second teacher over there who is having serious bouts of pregnancy brain and threw her clothes away today. Brand new outfit in the trash. I stood there and waited for them to find her clothes... thankfully.

It is hard having been on "the other side" and seeing the other option for care conveniently only once the kids are 1 year old. Maybe it was this bad when Leif was there... maybe I just didn't know any better and now I do.

I went home and looked at AB (after going and buying last minute new shoes for Leif on the way home since his broke today at school and he was very upset about it). I told him if I went to 80% time I could take Mondays off, he will have Fridays off and we could drop Skaders to 3 days a week at daycare. He pointed at our son's mouth. Then reminded me of the debt that accumulated from a year of unemployment and three years of tuition for his Masters.

Nevermind.

Lotto anyone?

The weekend continues

Sort of, at least.

I am home with Skadi today. While in Portland last weekend Skadi's reddish crease on her neck decided to take on a life of its own. Things got worse and we got her into the doctor on Thursday with a raging yeast infection of the neck. After a day on the antifungal/steroid cream, things were looking up. Then this weekend it went the other way again and started looking worse. Apparently we upset the delicate fungal/bacterial balance and allowed the bacteria to run amuck. Staph that is. A call to the doctor Sunday morning confirmed this when she told us the cultures returned a positive for staph. (Yes, we were slightly irritated to find out she knew this already and hadn't passed the info on.)

After 15 hours on the antibiotic this morning things are looking substantially better. Because of the bacterial/contagious nature of this new diagnosis, Skadi is home, with me.

Leif had a playdate this Sunday. I have to say I love the fact that most of our friends are scientists. Because when I told J's mom right off the bat that I completely understood if they wanted to cancel the playdate for the staph on Skaders, she suggested we just meet at the park instead and keep the babies on seperate blankets. Thus, I didn't have to break the news to Leif that he wasn't in fact going to get to play with J this weekend.

We had a busy weekend as usual. Swimming on Saturday. Then AB's company picnic, where Leif had a fantastic time in the three bounce houses and we had a great lunch. Oh and to top it off AB won a gift certificate for Outback. I was a little bummed his was for the Outback and the one after his name was called was for Anthony's... though at least with the Outback, I have no hesitation in taking the kids. So it will get used sooner.

AB cleaned out and inventoried the freezers in the house, mowed the lawns and pureed about 4 big bowls of tomatoes and cooked it down for spaghetti sauce (which was my task that I didn't get to). I did however get our closet about 2/3 organized with the new shoe hangers from Ikea and sorting out some clothes. The floor is clear (save for 6 pairs of shoes... I really needed the 5th shoe hanger that I didn't buy). I still have the sweater organizers to put into use and a little more organization of shelf items, but we are well on our way there.

When Skadi goes down for her afternoon (long) nap I plan to do some cooking and get Leif's organizer put together. Yay me!