Ray of Sunshine

That’s me. Just a regular old ray of sunshine. …..er not. Today I’m a crab. I’m sick. I have no patience for sickness right now, and I’m a whiner. The it-could-be-a-lot-worse mantra is not working today. I feel like crawling in bed and hiding from the world. Even from hubby. (sorry babe) Usually when I’m sick I want to be cuddled, but this time I’m just crabby about it. I don’t want to be touched. I don’t want to do any parenting. I don’t want to be at work or do any work. I don’t even want to be awake! Away from my warm, cozy bed. If my children didn’t use up all my PTO time, I would SO be at home from work today. I think the reason this round of sickness is so insulting, is that we had 5 complete months of sickness starting in January. Honestly, there were 3 weeks in the whole 5 months in which we weren’t at the clinic for some illness. So the last 2 months of relative good health were such a relief. Apparently I’m still bitter (you think?), this new round of illness is showing me that. Adding to the insult, this is the kind of cold that really hurts in the glands, even into the gums and teeth, I was awake almost all night long, and I’ve been sleep deprived with the exception of the recent kidless weekend, and I’m just plain tired of it all. No more clinics. No more hospitals. No more sickness. No more responsibility. No more thinking. No more adulthood. Can I get away with that please?

Our Niece's Heart

So I am realizing maybe I should talk a little about our niece's heart condition. She was born with a birth defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, in which the left side of the heart is severely under-developed during pregnancy. It is a rare condition with no known causes. If you click on the link, you will find plenty of additional information. Our niece just had the 3rd and final operation, and is doing very well.

Ahhh....kidless weekend....

Okay, don't get me wrong. We adore our children, but sometimes you just need a break. We realized we had not had a kidless weekend since before Ellie was born, last year for our anniversary. This year for our anniversary, we checked with the grandparents and they were willing to take the kids for the WHOLE weekend!! We were like kids again. And I truly believe a weekend away is good for everybody. Good for hubby and me and our relationship, good for the kids because their parents are rejuvenated and appreciate their kids more, good for the grandparents who get plenty of bonding time. And it was such a happy reunion! Both kids were so happy when we arrived to pick them up. So sweet. Of course, Ellie developed a cold, however, so that is an interesting development to deal with right away. A slight fever too, but not high enough to keep her out of daycare. Cross your fingers it stays that way and doesn't elevate any higher or turn into an ear infection. Yikes. Maybe teething? Who knows - it's always a mystery to solve, isn't it?

Anyways, being kids again ourselves looked like this.

I picked Sean up from work Friday afternoon and we headed over to the hospital to visit our niece. This was our last responsible thing to do... :) She is doing very well and was happy to see us. She did have one minor setback and had developed fluid around the lungs earlier that day, and had to be put to sleep again so they could put a tube in to drain the fluid. That has been going well so far. So she was very sleepy and napped most of the time we were there. She had just been turned in bed and was upset, so hubby held her hand and I kept my hand on the top of her head stroking her hair. She relaxed when she saw us, and just before we left she woke up and was answering questions. It was wonderful to hear her voice after all she had been through. Children are incredible how quickly they recover!!! She was to be in the hospital 6 days and may be there longer because of the fluid around the lungs development, but in spite of that she is doing great. And her parents are exhausted but managing.

From there we headed to Sonic and did the drive-in thing. Holy cow - go there, people, and get the banana split blast! Yummy!!! From there we headed to our college campus, where we met, and walked all over the place reminiscing about the good old days. It was fun, and we arrived home about midnight and collapsed for the night. Neither of us slept as well as we had hoped, but it was such a relief to wake up and not have crying, screaming, any noise of any kind.

Saturday we arose and went to Perkins for breakfast.....no brunch. That's right - we didn't even get our acts together until about 11 for breakfast. It was SO GOOD! We tried to go to a museum exhibit after that but found the earliest entrance time was about 3 hours later, and that wasn't going to fit in our schedule. So we pouted and instead got our shopping done. Target and the grocery store, oh, and home depot. Yeah, we know how to have a good time. Since Matthew wasn't here, I decided to finish up painting his room. I had the majority completed a few weeks ago, but had some squares around the room that I painted blue green and red. As I went, I discovered it was going to take multiple coats because of how saturated those colors were. Grrrr. I did one coat, and then we headed off to dinner and the drive-in movies!!!

We saw The Dark Knight and Hancock. They were showing a third - but the idea of getting home after 4am wasn't too appealing. Both movies were good, but I was a bit let down. Shhh, please don't shun me. Yeah, Heath Ledger had a great performance, but still as a complete psycho. Yikes! It was creepy. I'd say more, but I'm sure many of you out there are planning to see this still, so I'll hold off judgement. Hancock was pretty good, but got really strange in the last 1/2. Pretty funny, though, to see a superhero be a total jerk! It was good for some laughs.

Sunday we got up and I jumped out of bed and went straight to painting. Unfortunately it became clear it was going to take even another coat after that. Grrrr x 2. I called my parents to see if they minded keeping the kids for an extra couple hours so I could finish that painting. So we went to the museum and saw what we had planned to the day before, then came straight home so I could do a final coat. And it had to be a final coat no matter what since I ran out of paint... The coverage was good, though, so it all worked out. We put the room back together and were off to pick up the kids.

Boy were they happy! It was so nice to see them! And it was great getting butterflies in our tummies on the way there, just excited to see them! And they were excited to see us. Even Ellie started smiling away at us and bouncing in our arms when we held her. Too cute! Matthew could hardly finish his dinner he was so excited.

Thanks, Mom and Dad for the much needed break. We had a great weekend, and are ready to be non-disgruntled parents again!

Niece update

Our niece got through surgery very well yesterday. What was supposed to be an 8-hr surgery took about 5.5 hrs. That's what I understand anyways. When we were called, she was still sleeping and was due to be taken off the respirator in a couple of hours. I have not heard anything since. I'm sure it is a crazy time there! We are planning a visit this evening. Thanks for all the support!

Staycation and other random things

My twist on a staycation? Giving the kids to their grandparents for the whole weekend! Yeah baby!!!! That’s what my husband and I have to look forward to this weekend. Oh my gosh. A whole weekend – what ever shall we do with ourselves? (don’t answer that, you sickos)

We have this ever growing list of things we think we can fit in – humanly impossible. For sure, our plans include going to the drive-in movies (there’s 2 left around the area), and going to Sonic. We’ve never been. I know, I know, that’s probably sacriledge, but we have never had one nearby until recently. Our list includes things like the museum, taking walks at night since we never get to, bowling, outdoor concerts, restaurants (we’ve already talked about 4 restaurants). Like I said. Humanly impossible. We feel like kids again, and this weekend will be so fast. But it will be SO FUN!!!! Oh, and did I mention SLEEP? That is first and foremost on the list. Sleeping in. Which to me, would even mean 7am. Even that sounds glorious! I can’t wait to wake up without a monitor in my ear to the sound of a baby waking up before she’s ready to wake up. Those of you with kids knows when they wake up before their bodies are ready, the word cranky comes into play. Add a cast that makes them unable to get themselves comfortable, and it’s a winning recipe for a 5 or 6am start to the day. UGH!

Moving on,
Why did this not shock me?

Apparently one of my SILs (sister-in-law) went to the county fair in the town I grew up in. Well, this town has a bit of a reputation for having a lack of ‘diversity’ to put it nicely. But let’s read between the lines – it’s full of racists! Case in point: so my SIL and her family are at this fair. There is a black family close to them, and some guys shout “get out of here, you niggers. This is a white town!” Ummm, huh? What year is it? Where do we live? Keep in mind here, that my SIL is half black herself, and my husband is black. Nice. SIL has asked us so many times why we don’t move up there – now hubby has plenty of ammo. Did I mention there was a group of skinheads at my high school? Nice.

In other news,
my niece is having heart surgery AS I WRITE THIS. Please, please, pretty please, pray for her. Her last of 3 major heart surgeries! This girl is a trooper - pray she will continue to be and for the doctors and all medical staff involved to be at the top of their game today. And let's especially pray for her parents to be able to get through this. We love you guys!

Another day, another cast

Just to let all my loved ones know, Ellie had to have her cast replaced. I took her in last Monday because her cast had slipped down her arm a bit - like a 1/2 inch or more! When they heard that, they told me to come in that day and that we'd have to wait a long time because the cast room was really busy.


I was expecting to be there all afternoon, so I had prepared bottles ahead of time, and brought plenty of distractions/change of clothes/etc. I was amazed when 2 minutes after I sat down, the girl that checked me in came to tell me they were ready for me. I hadn't even heard them call our names because I assumed it would be a long time! How amazing! I went to check in and was immediately sent to the cast room where they were waiting in the doorway for me. Did I mention I love the hospital where everything related to Ellie's hand has taken place?! About a minute later, they were sawing away at the cast. That's right - sawing! What a horrible thing that was - pinning your baby down while she's screaming because the saw is the loudest thing ever!! She recovered quickly though, and they put a new cast on. They left the bandaging around the hand intact, so I didn't even get to see her hand. Huge bummer! September seems so long from now before we can see her hand.

We were in and out of the hospital in about a half hour total, with brand new purple cast in tow. I'm still hugely amazed by the fact we got right in and out! The validated parking did me no good because we were there such a short time, it was only $2 instead of the validated $3!

The Cuteness Factor

Ellie

Ellie is rolling all over these days. I think she'll be crawling soon if she can figure it out with the jumbo arm. She has figured out how to stay sitting up with that arm now. In her crib, we'll find her wiggling to get comfortably with her butt so high in the air. Once she figures out that she can go up on her arms at the same time, watch out world.

After Ellie ate yesterday, we put her in a little rocker recliner seat while we ate or cleaned up or something. We often put her there to watch us in the kitchen. As she was sitting there, she all the sudden stopped all movement and got serious, and I asked if she was okay. About 3 seconds later, she had a huge shiver. For some reason, it really struck us cute to see this little thing shudder because she got a chill.

Matthew

We were on our way to pick up Sean from work downtown and head to my parents' house. I was explaining downtown to Matthew. He kept bringing it up during the car ride, and at one point said "mommy, know what downtown means? it means downtown." He is full of these statements, and I think it's precious every time. whenever he says know what something means?, I'm always prepared to hear it means whatever the something is.

One more. This week Matthew started saying "I love you mommy" all the time. I just about melt every time. I can see in my near future that he'll be using this to his advantage, but for now I just enjoy it and say "I love you, too."