It is amazing what children can teach us. No matter how bad of a day I have, the kids are so excited to see me the next morning. Heck, even after nap time they are excited to see me again. Sleep to them seems to be a reset button. Whatever went wrong before is erased, but the good remains. Wouldn’t it be great if as adults we could follow this? Have a bad day? Just try again tomorrow. Sunday was a not so good day for all of us in the family. The kids were at each other all day long, and Laura wasn’t listening real well. I turned my frustration/anger on the house and got it clean. Monday morning when the kids woke up, each of them saw me. With genuine joy, they ran to me, “Mom!” So nice to have them forgive and forget so easily.
I feel like my sanity is creeping closer and closer to the edge. Pretty soon it is just going to take a flying leap and leave me here wondering how I will keep going.
It turns out that Laura did indeed have pertussis. 5 days of antibiotics and quarantine were all that were needed. We did get a nebulizer to help her breathe while sleeping. She was coughing so much at night she wasn’t getting enough sleep (and neither were we because we could hear her). Knock on wood, I think we are through it though.
I had to get a bit firm with the professors. I started telling them all that I would not be fulfilling any more orders for the fall semester unless they were fine with not getting the book until October. I have enough to do that I can’t be dealing with such late orders. Some people aren’t so happy with it, but they’ll get over it. There is no point in having a deadline if it isn’t enforced. The student employees that I have are great. They have worked their butts off so that we are ready for book issue beginning on Aug. 27. In fact, Shirley and I are buying them lunch on Tuesday to show our appreciation.
Things at home are a bit stressful right now. Ok, I’ll be honest. I take a lot of responsibility for it. I think it is approaching 3 days since I’ve remembered to take my meds. The alarm on my phone will go off to remind me to take them, but I haven’t had the meds with me. Then I forget to take them later. :( Oops. The kitchen is a mess again. There are toys all over from Warren’s birthday. Laura has also started pulling her toys out here to play with and doesn’t put them away. My goal for this afternoon is to get the house under control. I know I could have been better about cleaning this past week.
On a bright note, Laura is reading! She can read Level 1 and 2 books. I don’t know exactly when this started, but she picked up a book one day and started to read. She was pointing along with the words and everything. We’ve given her a few books that she hasn’t seen before and is reading those as well. Now the challenge is getting to the library so I don’t have to listen to the same book 50 times a day! I know repetition is good for her, but variety is good for Momma. 
Warren is now 3. I am still amazed at how fast the last three years have gone. We’ve had some ups and downs. He is so much fun. His personality and sense of humor are great. He knows exactly what buttons to push on his sister to make her scream. And then he gives a killer smile with a question in his eyes of “What are you going to do about it? I’m cute.” This boy is going to be trouble!
Robert and my dad built the kids a sandbox last weekend. It is 8’x4′. Some of Warren’s birthday presents were Tonka toys. So he takes his diggers out to the sandbox. I thought the sandbox would have been plenty large for two kids. Yeah, once the diggers get in there, it starts to get crowded. The kids are loving having a large sandbox though. I like that they can play out there and I can watch from the house if I want/need.
Robert is starting to work on the house, so I’m taking that as my cue to get off the computer.
I feel like I am just barely staying afloat right now. Work is starting to get very busy/stressful. Today I dealt with a very difficult student. In fact, I was shaking after I was finished with him. In addition to this, I have a lot of professors that are turning late orders, so now I am under pressure to get books ordered, here, and processed. I am a bit worried that everything won’t be ready for book issue. I am going to be putting in some overtime soon to make sure we are ready.
In addition to work stress, home is a bit stressful as well. I feel like Robert and I are finally getting on track to having the house picked out at most times. We are making a huge effort to clean up a little each night so that we aren’t embarrassed by the state of the house. So while that source of stress is dwindling, we are dealing with illness. I feel like the only time I post is when the kids are sick. This time I am a bit more worried. I am hearing so many different things, I don’t know what I should be thinking. It is likely that Laura has contracted pertussis somehow. Yes, she is vaccinated, but that doesn’t seem to matter. She had the test done today, and results are due back in about 3 days. The doctors told us 2-4 days and the county health nurse says 3-5 days. So who knows really. Until the results come in, Laura was put on zithromax to start fighting it. She is quarantined until we have the results. If it is positive, then we have to do 2 more days of quarantine. I decided to call the clinic back to get all 4 of us on antibiotics now so we don’t pass it back and forth. So that is where that all stands. Robert is home with Laura today, Wednesday, and Thursday. I’ll be home with her on Friday. At this point, I just want answers for what is going on.
Time for me to go to bed since tomorrow promises to be another big day at work.
We’ve had a full weekend. Laura’s been fighting a low grade fever for a couple of days. There have been 5 confirmed cases of strep at daycare. Saturday morning she woke up with a sore throat. I didn’t want to mess around and wait so I took her in to the doctor. Her 9:30 appointment lasted until 11:00. Her rapid strep test came back negative, but it also did for the other 5 cases of strep. We are still waiting on the culture results. She is still running a fever, anywhere from 100-101, almost 102. She is acting ok otherwise. I had made plans to go out for lunch then go see The Lorax with Mandy at 2:00 on Saturday at the River Falls theater. Since it was so close to time for us to meet, I just kept Laura with me. We did lunch at Perkins. The movie had sold out for that day. We ended up purchasing tickets on Saturday for the Sunday showing.
Today we kept Laura home from church. Partly due to illness and partly due to laziness on our parts. I did get Laura to take a little bit of a nap this morning before leaving. We left for the movie at 12:45. She was a bit excited. She did really well during the movie. She was sad to come back home. While driving she wanted to go to Best Buy. I asked her why. “I want to play with an iPad.” Funny girl! She was playing with Mandy’s iPad while waiting for the movie to start. This afternoon/evening has been nice and quiet.
Here is another funny Laura gem from this week:
Laura: I got the hiccups
Me: Where did you get them?
Laura: From Shopko!
Time to get going on dinner for the kids and us. Some of us have to work tomorrow. It is also the beginning of Dance Theatre season. Load-in begins tomorrow night.
Tonight was not one of my better nights with the kids. I feel like all I did was yell at them. Thankfully tomorrow is a new day, their memories are short, and they are some of the most forgiving people I have in my life.
I find myself already saying “Remember when things were easy like….”. Laura is only 4 1/2! I shouldn’t be saying that already! I know that I’ll say it even more as she gets older. As a result, I want to chronicle the simple things today that brought so much joy. The day started great. Laura and I made blueberry muffins for breakfast. She thought it was the best. I was the best mommy to her at that point, and it was only 6:30am! During our lunch break, Robert and I ran to Shopko to pick up a new booster seat for Laura, since she really was getting a bit big for her Britax. We found the Megan Fashion one for her. This couldn’t have been better since she was asking for a pink one, plus it was on sale (a bonus for Mom & Dad!). She was super excited when we picked her up from daycare and saw it in her spot. The look of shock/amazement/joy was so perfect. The day continued to improve. When we got home there were two items in the mail for the kids. Grandma Dorothy sent the kids a package (book for Warren, light-up princess necklace for Laura). Grandma Kathy sent the kids a card with a few dollars. These few dollars gave Laura enough money for her to buy the Leap Pad game she’s been wanting. To top the evening off, we’ve had popcorn plus a movie. The kids are even having a picnic on the living room floor.
So in short, today has been a day of joy for our family. I treasure these days and hope to remember them during the difficult times (we all know that there will be some at some point).
I am home from work today with a sick boy. He was coughing a lot last night, and it didn’t sound real good so we made the decision to keep him home. I’m also enjoying just one-on-one time with him. I know he is feeling rough because he fell asleep in my arms this morning at 10:30 (at least 2 hours before normal nap time). It only took him about 2 minutes too. :( Poor boy.
I can’t believe that the last post I made was in November. I know that it had been a while, but I didn’t think it had been that long! Thanksgiving was enjoyable. Christmas was nice too. New Year’s was spent at Mom and Dad’s again for the family Christmas. We made the trek to Iowa with the kids for the extended family Christmases as well. They did very well. Following Christmas was J-Term/Spring book issue. Overall, it went well. There were/are a few bumps in the road, but nothing that I can’t handle. I’m super woman, right? I can do it all!
Truth be told, work isn’t always so great. I’m having some difficulties with some employees. I feel like there is a bit of unrest still, even though we’ve talked. I’m not sure how to handle it.
Home life is going well. Laura is enjoying school. She has a new teacher now. Details weren’t given, but her original teacher is no longer there. The new teacher is already doing more activities with the kids it seems. We’ll see how it continues to go.
Both kids got tubes in their ears this winter. It seems to have made a big difference! Neither one has had an ear infection yet. *knocks on wood*
Warren is talking up a storm anymore. There are times that he is alone (Laura has gone somewhere else) and he just won’t stop talking! I don’t always understand him, but he is making improvements. *happy dance*
Robert and I have completed Financial Peace University. Having the tools we need seems to be making a difference is how we view/handle our money. I strongly urge people to take the course. Yes it costs money to take, but it is a lifetime membership that will more than pay for itself if you follow the program.
Time to get going on dinner and getting kids in bed. Hopefully it won’t be 3 months before you hear from me again.
Warren got his first haircut yesterday. It only took over 2 years for him to have enough hair for us to do this. He really wasn’t sure about sitting in the chair. We started out with a booster seat.
This was short lived. He moved onto Daddy’s lap.
Even on Daddy’s lap, the haircut was not ok. He was so sad, but it was so hard not to laugh at this face. I still laugh when I look at it.
Mommy saved the day! She pulled out her iPod, and Warren was able to watch some Dora. There’s a smile!
Almost done! Just a little bit of trimming left to do.
All done! And a nice blue sucker as a reward for being such a good boy. 
It wasn’t all smiles though. Someone was quite put out that she didn’t get to play with the iPod.
All in all, it was a good experience!
Laura has done much better since last weekend and getting out of the hospital. She has bounced back with no problems since. I went out for Chinese for lunch on Wednesday. I was home sick on Thursday. I’m blaming the food since by 4 pm I was feeling 99% better. Thursday night at the dinner table, Warren got sick. He got sick again at 9:30. Yay for changing pajamas, sheets, pillows, and blankets, NOT. Robert stayed home with him on Friday since I really needed to be at work. He was fine all day. Then came today. He was fine all day long. He didn’t eat much, but I didn’t think anything of it. He woke up at midnight tonight wanting water. He had taken his cup to be washed (trying to get rid of all the germs in the house). I got him water and headed back to bed. I was still awake and trying to fall asleep when he started crying. Robert got up this time. Over the monitor I hear Robert yell for me. I come upstairs to find Warren had puked again. At least this time he only had a little on his pajamas and the rest stayed on his makeshift pillow (blanket folded up inside a pillowcase). We got him changed and a new pillow. Now I am wide awake at 1:30 am. I’m hoping to be back in bed at 2 and falling asleep shortly after. The thing with both kids is that there is no fever with the puking. I am really stumped. It also isn’t consistent. They act fine right after. Thursday night Warren was running around and playing after the incident at dinner. He was fine all day on Friday. Why now? What is going on?????????