Quincy’s Eyes and Ears and Mouth and Nose, and Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Knees and Toes!

Ears

Quincy’s quarterly checkup with Dr Mellon was last week. One of her T-tubes is out, and she still has a tiny hole in her eardrum that we hope will close up before it has the opportunity to get infected. I had to take a photo...that teeny tiny piece of plastic sure is expensive, but it has made a world of difference in Quincy’s life over the past few years. She has regained most of her hearing back. We hope to be tube free from now on. Her other tube should be out at the next visit. If it doesn’t push out on its own, dr Mellon will remove it to avoid too much scar tissue build up on Quincy’s ear drums.

Eyes

At her well visit, Q was DELIGHTED to discover she is near sighted and will be getting glasses, soon. She’s been pooping the lenses out of sunglasses for years and wearing the frames as an accessory, so no doubt, she is thrilled to hear she gets the real deal. 

Mouth: 

She is losing molars like crazy. We finally told her a couple weeks ago about the tooth fairy and Santa. She is furious with us for spoiling the magic and ending her childhood.  

Nose: 

Quincy took a basketball to the face at the end of practice recently and had an epic bloody nose. I really cannot believe a nose could bleed so much. We went through half a roll of paper towels on the drive home. 

Legs: 

She was also really proud of how well she handled two other b-ball contact related injuries. Her leg doesn’t look very bad, but the way she describes the collision with a set of fingernails over a ball explains why she often runs with her hands guarding her face. 

Arms:

Really, 5th grade girls basketball is sort of a blood bath.  She came home Saturday with an abrasion down her forearm from taking a fall in the game. 

Knees and Toes, Knees and Toes! 

Our front deck walkway (and the rest of NWA) is a sheet of ice. Quincy ran out front to get her backpack from the van, and ate it pretty hard.  Poor girl! 

But hey...she’s getting glasses and she’s stoked! 

Skipping and Surgery

It's blurry but I had to post this pic of quincy because she was skipping  cheerfully into her appointments with the ent and audiologist. She's such a joyful treasure and I love her carefree attitude about life. Que sera sera, Quincy. 

We received some big bad news today after another failed hearing test. Right now, her right ear has pretty moderate hearing loss. Her left ear makes up for it a bit, but now that the tubes have come out, it's only a matter of time before that one collects fluid again, too. Her adenoids are swollen and the fluid in her right ear had zero response to two rounds of different antibiotics and drops.

We're going to remove adenoids and try a different kind of tube and get her hearing back. I really wish we didn't have to. 

Here she is, immersed in a copy of National Geographic, fascinated by the article about hunger in Congo. She had more to say about the photos of people in a crowded city in Africa than she did about having surgery in 2 weeks. I tried to get her attention to see if she had any questions for the doctor, but all I got was, "I don't want surgery again. No fair. That's worse than braces." Then, "Mom! These people don't even have a grocery store! They just buy bread out of those baskets and its outside." "Look how dirty everything is. They're just driving around by their food! And they're hardly wearing any clothes!"  

Way to keep the big picture for us, Quincy. 

She's gonna be fine. 

 

Tubes Out.

Q had her tubes removed today. 

Her eardrum has pushed them out of place (this is totally normal) and healed up behind, but the tubes were stuck inside her ears (not so normal) with buildup and scabbing. The ENT was able to retrieve them with some long alligator tweezers and a microscope. Quincy said it hurt, and by her body language, I believe her. 

It was so sad to hold her hands and talk to (distract) her while big fat crocodile tears ran down the cheeks of my precious baby girl. The nurse wrapped them up "to go" for quincy to keep (nasty!) and I was actually pleased when she politely declined, "Those things hurt. I don't even want to look at them. You can keep them, or toss them, or whatever you do with stuff you take out of kids' ears. Thanks." 

Poor Quincy.

She's had fluid on her ears since July and two hearing tests since have had negative results, and today we learned that they're infected. At her appointment today, our ENT suggested yet another round of meds to try to try to clear up the infection. We're being aggressive with a 10 day twice a day antibiotic, then a once a day profilactic antibiotic for 2 weeks until we have a follow up appointment. The goal is to not need tubes again. I'm praying this works. 

ENT follow up

We had a 3 month follow up appointment with the ENT and audiologist today. Aside from missing some very low frequencies, which may be due to the weight and pressure of the actual tubes, Quincy's hearing is back up in the normal range.

We are so grateful. Hip hip hooray for tubes! 

Quincy was excited to see her bestie, the audiologist, and tell her all about being a 2nd grader. She also requested that we drive through and get her a milkshake from chick fil a on our way back to school. Atta girl. 

Hear

Quincy had her follow up with the audiologist and ENT this morning. Unfortunately, her hearing has not improved and ears have gotten much worse, rather than better, and now her tonsils are infected as well.  Miss Quincy will receive her first set of tubes sometime in the next couple of weeks. 

She begged me not to send her back to school. If she didn't have a test today I would've obliged. We picked up a donut and CFA for lunch and dad met her at the school to eat together. Because sometimes, having good comfort food and your parents around makes everything so much better. She cheered up a bit and returned to class feeling happy and ready to hit a home run on her spelling test. 

Surgery. Yuck. It feels like our best option at this point.  I hope I am doing the right thing. 

Let's hear it for Audiologists!

I took Quincy to an Audiologist and an ENT to follow up on a couple of failed hearing tests that were done at school earlier this year. 

The Audiologist was great and spent about an hour doing different types of hearing tests with Quincy and made everything a game for her. Quincy loved it. The tests revealed that Quincy has hearing loss in her right ear. Luckily, the tests and ENT confirmed that the cause is fluid that has been in her middle ear space for months and a big bad ear infection.

I was initially a little frustrated tgat we dropped a fortune on an audiologist and ENT only to discover that it is just fluid causing the hearing loss, which would've been caught by our pediatrician if the school had sent us there instead of insisting on Audiology.  But after thinking about it, I am really just grateful. Considering all of the potential causes for hearibg loss, an ear infection is the best case scenario for my daughter as hopefully, it can just be cleared up with some strong antibiotics, and we likely would have ended up at the ENT anyway, so it's more like we were able to skip a step.  

 We will go back for more tests in a couple of weeks to determine whether or not tubes for her right ear are necessary. When we told the new ENT Quincy's history with ear infections as an infant and toddler, and if our account with the ENT we met with a few years ago, she was really concerned and said she never should've gone so long without a referral to an ENT. We still feel good about our decision to not get tubes a few years ago, but we will definitely go that route if it is necessary this time. 

And then there's little Quincy, who's been unable to hear us in her right ear, had no pain or fever or other symptom of a raging ear infection other than some general grouchiness she has been a real trooper. 

In the meantime, the school has moved Quincy's desk to the front of the classroom so she can see and hear instructions more clearly, and I am praying that the antibiotics are enough to do clear up the infection. 

In case you didn't know these things:

1) One-ply toilet paper shouldn't even exist. 
I bought it on accident and it is a total joke. 

Or as Aaron says, "this is the toilet paper they have in Hell."
2) According to Quincy, "if a boy gives you a flower to put in your hair, then he is your boyfriend (what the?! What are they teaching her at that preschool?) but only if he is as handsome as Justin. Mrs. Lewis says we can get married when we are older but right now he just has to be my boyfriend."

3) The wait time at Bentonville Pediatrics is approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes for a scheduled appointment.  Oh and Corbin's ears are both infected again.

4) Reese's ears, however, are not infected...but she put on a good enough show for Aaron this morning for him to gain a boat load of sympathy, the Quetzalcoatl blanket (reserved for sick days and special events in our house) and his permission for her to stay home sick from school.  My diagnosis was similar to Dr. A's.  She assured us at Corbin's appointment that Reese is quite healthy and quite the actress.  She was required to take quite the nap and do quite the list of chores when we got home from the doctor.  At least they only charged me for Corbin.

5) "Daddy" = Aaron, and "Dad" = grandpa Hal.  For the last week, Corbin hollers for "Gwamma" and "Dad" and follows them everywhere like a curious puppy. Super cute. It was a little embarrassing/creepy when I was in Lowe's with my dad and Corbin was calling him "Dad", though....so we started to push that he actually call him, "Grandpa". 

Now he just calls them both, "Gwamma".  My dad isn't really thrilled about that nickname, either, but considering that my girls both called my mom, "Grandpa" when they were two, it's only fair that he take one for the team.

6) Tonight, Reese asked Aaron if he's "jealous that Mommy's parents are here to visit us".  He laughed.  He's pretty thrilled to have someone else around to hold crazy Mommy's hair back while she pukes, fetch snacks for her ridiculous food cravings, and check things off her never ending to-do list.

7)  My hair was not designed to be braided.  It just doesn't work. 
8) Speaking of my hair, I despise the (too purple) color and have an appointment for a cut/style/color on Saturday.  I'm tempted to chop it short, but I have one fear that keeps me from doing just that:  I'm turning 30 in one week.  What if the haircut is terrible? I already don't have my own body right now, I definitely cannot rock my 30th birthday with an unflattering "mom haircut".   So I'm keeping it long for a while longer.  But what to do with it?  Send ideas for style/color soon.  I grew my bangs out and sort of hate it, so I'll probably have them cut, unless someone has a brilliant style suggestion that will fix them.

9) The fence gate is done, done, aaaaaand done. Hallelujah!  Thanks, Dad!  I sleep better at night knowing Corbin cannot sneak out again. (That's right, I said again. Mother of the year!)

10) Aside from maxi dresses (saving grace) maternity clothing companies are all sharing the same slogan this year and my guess is that it sounds something like, "We hate pregnant women".  Dear Motherhood, Mimi, Old Navy, and the rest of the lot: Pregnant women want to be comfortable, not sexy. Sexy is how we got pregnant. That part's taken care of...now we just want to get our elastic waist goin' on and sport fabric that doesn't make us sweaty.
11) Reese got some test scores back and she is reading at 2nd grade level.  She was satisfied with this assessment and told us with confidence that "2nd grade will be better than 1st grade."  I sure hope so.  This year wasn't the greatest as far as class/teachers go and I hope she'll have some different kids in her class next year.  There are 20 days left of school and she is ready to close the door on 1st grade and not look back.  I admire her for her perseverance in a few lousy situations this school year.  She maintained a good example for her peers and made it through with a positive attitude.  I am so happy that she will be home with us for summer break soon! I just love that girl and last summer break was just not long enough. 

12) Another sign that Reese is ready to move on to bigger and better things is that she ditched the training wheels and taught herself to ride her two wheeler like a champ. She now cruises around effortlessly and we are so proud of her.  Way to go, Reese!  You can do hard things!  

13) Aaron played in a stake basketball tournament on Saturday and made it to the semi finals.  Go Aaron!  I wish we'd gone to cheer. I love watching him play sports and it also would have been a really good excuse for eating junk food and making a few cat calls.  He had a lot of fun.

14) The weatherman here raps the news.
No seriously.  Not like those Autotune remixes, he actually made up a rap for the 10day forecast. 
It isn't good....which is actually kind of disappointing since I love me a good rap.  

Also, tonight regularly programmed television was briefly interrupted for "BREAKING NEWS".
Wanna know what the breaking news was?  10 second film coverage of an airport landing at XNA with the alleged new Razorbacks coach on board. Yep, breaking news.  Hopefully the new highest paid state employee will live a higher moral standard than the previous head coach did. 

15) I made eggs this morning and they were still warm when I cracked them open.   It made me happy to know how fresh our breakfast was...but it was also kind of freaky to hold a warm egg in my hand.  Sort of like sitting on a warm toilet seat in the winter.  It's super nice to not have your buns freeze...until you think about why the seat is warm in the first place. 

Oh Doctor Doctor...

The kids seem to be feeling fine, but Corbin is still wheezy and Reese complained of an earache, so I took them to the doctor this morning and had some tests run.

Strep.

I've never heard of kids puking because they have Strep, but the doctor said it's really common. She also said that it's a common cause for ear infections. Interesting.

In addition to the family-o-strep, Reese and Corbin also have ear infections. I am nauseated to the point of uselessness (mac n cheese for dinner anyone? corndog? cereal? excellent.) and have a killer sore throat/ear thing going on, which is really no surprise at all week, holding hair back, changing bedding, scrubbing up puddles and snuggling the sickies.

Thank goodness for ear pain, or I probably would have skipped the doctor, assuming this was just a typical stomach virus that needed to run it's course.

We all left with antibiotics (yay!), and hopefully, 24 hours from now we will rejoin the land of the living.

Big thanks to the friends who called to check in or offered to bring us anything.

Today

1) I taught preschool this morning, and consequently, I keep forgetting that it is Friday, and not Wednesday. It was a great day, as always. I'll post pictures and curriculum later.

2) When Quincy woke up from her nap, she playfully crawled into the kitchen, pawed my feet, nuzzled her head and neck against my calves, and made an animal-like whinny.

Me: "Hi, you're awake! Are you a kitty or a horse?"

Quincy: "I'm a Quincy!"

3) Miss Reese was awarded as Terrific Kid at her school assembly today. The assembly was first thing in the morning, so Aaron surprised Reese and drove her to school, then stayed for the assembly. Reese was really excited. We are proud of her for being selected as a Terrific Kid!

4) I took both her and Corbin to the doctor yesterday. I was pleased to hear that Quincy's ears are clear, without a lick of infection. This is big news in our house, since we often wonder if her ears ever even heal 100% between one infection and the next.

Of course, both of Corbin's ears are infected, but hey, at least I have a reason for why he wasn't sleeping at night.

5) I just made 2 loaves of white bread to go with the gumbo I'm making for dinner. Like WHITE white bread. Rolls in loaf form. Though I am normally a big fan of the nutritional benefits and nutty taste of wheat bread, the babys cooling on my stovetop have got to be the most absolutely delicious, fluffy, wonder bread of breads I have ever made. I feel like I have conquered the world. I feel like a rockstar. I feel like Betty Crocker. ---
which is sort of cute because it is a Betty Crocker recipe.

I wonder if Betty Crocker still has yesterday's laundry piled on top of her bed, waiting to be folded.

Knot.

as in, A knot in my gut.

I took Quincy to the Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist today.

It was time. Poor kid. I didn't know what else to do for her.

Dr. ENT came highly recommended, and is supposed to be "the best".

Here is what I learned, today:

1) It costs $125 for a doctor to look into your daughter's mouth and ears, and tell you

"Well they're not infected now, are they?" (well DUH, no! She's on the 8th day of antibiotics!)

"She's already four, so tubes could possibly help her, but we'll want to take her adnoids out also, because we have a better chance of something working if we do both procedures. But she might just be one of those kids that's going to have ear problems for the rest of her life, regardless. It's really up to you. It will either help or it won't."

2) Really? All you can give me to decide whether or not to put her under and have surgery is a maybe? I maybe really don't feel good about that.

3) Pretty much.

4) Surgery is absolutely optional at this point, and definitely not necessary. Quincy is not the ideal perfect candidate for tubes, or for adnoids. She's in the grey area that might benefit from having it done, or it might do nothing at all, or she might have even more problems from the surgery.

I really appreciate the doctor's total honesty and full disclosure of risks involved. I was really surprised at how indifferent he seemed. I'd expected a pushy "this child needs tubes in her ears stat". Instead, he suggested that we just wait and think about it, because she'll either be like Reese, and slowly get less ear infections a year until it's few enough to not be a big deal, or she'll just be "one of those kids with ear problems."

Obviously, I don't want the latter for her.

He explained both procedures to me (short hand 1 minute speed version), and the associated risks with each, first the freakishly rare, life threatening complications (rare and unlikely, but wow. Holy crap.), and then explained the typical post-op complications that are more likely to actually happen (expected to feel better about those, because they are normal complications that are easily fixed, but nope. I felt much much worse.)

I went into the appointment, apprehensive, but with my calendar, prepared to schedule surgery.

I left with information on the procedures, and no surgery scheduled.

5) Ick. It isn't right.

Not just because it's surgery.
Not just because there are rare, unlikely risks. (because what procedure doesn't have risks?)

Not because it will cost $2K up front.

I really thought I'd feel better about this after a consultation with the doctor.

I feel much much worse.

I asked him, up front, to just tell me what to do. Professional opinion.

Obviously, he can't do that, but it was worth a shot.

He said it really doesn't matter if we do the tubes, or tubes and adnoids, because it only "might work". So, it's up to us, and how fed up with ear infections we are (very). If we're fed up enough, then it's worth a shot.

huh.

I also learned this:

6) Since she sucks her thumb, it's most likely her adnoids that are getting infected (from bacteria brought in on her hands (gross) first, and the swelling is leading to drain blockage that leads to infection. If we can get her to stop sucking her thumb, he predicts the ear infections will drop drastically.

7) I hate this.

I hate having to make difficult decisions that I don't have the right answer right away to.

I hate not having the right answer, right away.

I hate not being right (see a trend?)

I hate that my kid has broken ears.

I hate that she gets every illness that she is exposed to.

I hate that she sat there, tiny and timid, perfectly healthy, perfectly perfect, in that great big exam chair, totally terrified today when the doc came in...while we talked about everything that is wrong with her. Because she is perfect. (my kid. I can say that.)

I hate that I had to pretend like I was not nervous or worried or terrified, myself.

I hate the word hate.

But I hate all of this even more, so I'm using it anyway.

8) Being a parent is hard.

Looks like Operation Hideaway Thumb is under way, after all. I mean, I have to try that, first, don't I?

Of course, she still gets many of her infections as a result from natural poor drainage when she gets any kind of cold or virus. So operation "stay away from sick kids" is also under way.

But that's another blog post for another day.

Be Grateful for the Lemons

Corbin and Quincy both had ear infections (act surprised, y'all).
Corbin's antibiotic (read: chalk flavored liquid that he spits out on the floor) gives him the kind of diarrhea that can't be contained in a diaper.

It's swell.
So today, I am grateful for this stuff

Without it, things could have been much worse.

A Willy Sick Halloween

Reese woke up puking on Halloween.
Corbin was up coughing and crying all night.
Quincy was fine, so she and Aaron went to church, and the sickies and I lounged around in our jammies all day long.

It wasn't so bad.
We made butternut squash soup.
We napped.
We (I) cleaned puke out of the carpet.
When Aaron and Q came home we had dinner and carved pumpkins.
Reese requested a "throwing up pumpkin, just like me!"

Gross.

We watched It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

The Jack-o-lanterns and Halloween tree glowed

The Halloween Witch (aka aunt Kasey) dropped by and left spooky cupcakes

Meanie mom put her goblins to bed

They protested...

"Arrgh! Hells no! We shant be goin' to bed, matey!"


"Hey, Mom! I found your broom!"


Finally, Dad (aka always the hero) read them an extra story and turned on the closet light (much to Mean Mom's chagrin) and settled everyone down for bed.

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake was devoured.

Roasted pepper hummus and pita chips were munched.

The candy and Halloween decor disappeared.

PS-Reese's tummy is not angry with the world, today, and Corbin went to the doctor this morning. Ear infections!

Of course.

At least we know he'll be feeling chipper again, soon.

It really was a nice, relaxing Halloween. Most of our celebrating was done over the weekend, so it was fun to spend Sunday afternoon and evening inside together as a family.

We are ready to welcome the new month, give thanks, and celebrate all that we have.

Reasons to Avoid Me Right Now.

While we were in Ca, The air conditioner leaked, seeped through the subfloors, and flooded the hallway and a bedroom.
Remember how I thought my house smelled like old lady, when I got home?
That's because the flood sat in a hot humid house for 3 weeks, and all of the water damaged walls, carpet and subfloors were growing mildew.

New carpet coming.
Mildew cleaned.
Popcorn ceilings down.
Painting ceilings.
Treating floors and walls.
Painting walls.
Painting book shelves.
Priming and painting trim.
Painting baseboards.
Running out of time and sanity.
Reese has an ear infection.
Everything I own is stacked in my dining room.
I've "slept" on my living room floor for almost a week.
I'm about to crack.
Oh, and everything in my house is covered in a thin, white layer of dust, so I kind of look like I'm ON crack, too.

Now accepting prayers, positive energy, and free labor.

Flavor of the Day

We interrupt this vacation to bring you a trip to the doctor's office.
I guess I forgot to add "make sure all three kids get ear infections at the same time" to my vacation checklist.

check!

Just spent several HOURS at the clinic and 5 out of my kids 6 ears are infected, and one eardrum has burst.
And just to paint a little picture of our clinic visit for you:

We were there long enough for me to stop caring that Quincy was screaming at top volume and kicking the floor. I only hoped it would get us out of there faster.

It didn't work.

We were there long enough for the tantrum to turn to sleep. She took an hour long nap in the "tiny room".

We were there long enough for me to answer the "what's this one's pain level" question (that was asked 100 times) with, "How about if you ask them?" and gesture to the kid screaming on the floor with an arched back, the one slumped half awake in a chair, and the baby using all of his tiny man-cub strength to pry himself out of my arms, while biting my finger and throwing the paci across the room every time I offered it.

The doctor also offered Tylenol with Codeine for the kids, "because it looks like nobody has slept in awhile" and Valium for me, to which I think he intended as a joke...but realized by my state of insanity and lack of patience that I would take some if he offered it up for realzies.

After the doctor left we waited an hour for him to write out the prescriptions(not for Valuim, sadly) Another set of nurses came in to ask more questions ("M'am, which one is sick?" ALL OF THEM, people! ALL OF THEM! And really? I'm a M'am, now?), they offered me an old Parents magazine to pass the time while we wait.

The featured article was "30 Simple and Easy Ways Moms Can Relax".
Perfect.

I flipped to the article, and funny thing, I didn't find "get the Hell out of this Doctor's office cuz you've been here for freaking forever" listed as one of the easy, simple suggestions.

At least now I have a reason for why the flight out here was so crazy. Their ears were probably killing them. Poor kids.
Sort of. The flight out here was traumatizing enough that a total stranger came up to my mom when we were at the baggage claim and said, "I was on the same flight as your daughter. You need to take the kids and drop her off at spa. Immediately."

Thank heaven for antibiotics and super tacos. It's been a long day.
Fun will resume tomorrow.

PS-Aaron. I really miss you. Family vacations should be spent as a family. Next year, you're coming out here with us. And I am crashing the "boys only" fishing trip.

Infection, Doctor Visit, Antibiotics, Rinse, Repeat

Quincy has another ear infection.
We now have an ENT referral.

If you have had any experiences with tubes, good or bad (if bad, and you are local, please share which doc you used), let's hear about 'em. I am D.O.N.E. with the infected ear situation in our home.

And poor Quincy is reeeealllly done.

Unplugged

I'm here.
I've been spending my days soaking up the goodness of my parents, planting my garden, finishing my table, pushing my kids in swings, eating, eating, and eating, completing a fence, teaching preschoolers about trees and transportation, identifying bugs, dealing with MORE ear infections (seriously), and planning a fabulous, but totally last minute vacation to Disney World.

I've been spending spending my nights giving haircuts, catching up on bills, laundry, and all things I'd rather neglect while my folks are here, and writing/editing a series of 8 page essays for World Lit, which because of the date of our lil' Florida vaycay, are now all due one week earlier.
I just emailed the last one. I am soooooo over night school until Fall.
Give me my family.

Bring on the weekend!

Also, I think I'm going to close my Facebook account.
I haven't missed it at all.

After the Storm

Went back to the pediatrician and Corbin ALSO has an ear infection.
That makes five.
FIVE infected ears in this casa.
Five too many for this mom to be happy about it. WHY? Why does at least ONE of them have an infection EVERY month? We are on a YEAR and a HALF where we've had at least one ear a month infected.

I've talked to the docs about tubes. But they remind me that between my kids and me (yup, my ears were infected in that 18 months as well)...there are 8 ears. So it might seem like one particular kid has chronic infections, but in actuality (I asked to see the charts), they are spaced out, with only a few repeats. It sounded something like this:
Last month: Reese's right ear
The month before that: Quincy's left
The month before that: Quincy's right
Before that: Corbin's left....and so on.
Which makes us: Not candidates for tubes.

The girls are back to their cute, happy, silly selves.
I'm also feeling better.
Not better enough to deep clean the rubble that the tornado of sickness left in my house.

I called Paz.
She is scheduled to come on Monday with her little team of miracle workers.
YAY!

Paz is a cleaning lady.
I'm not above that.

Until Monday? Paper plates and take-out.
I'm not above that, either.

Change of Plans

Mother nature is against us.
We left Saturday morning for OKC.
2 hrs later, we hit the blizzard that swept across Oklahoma and Arkansas, and after sliding on the road twice (in new tires) we had to turn around and come back.
Aaron was pretty disappointed.

We did enjoy our time alone with this little guy, though.
We had dinner and watched the NIU game at Gusanos then went to Chili's for Paradise pie, and watched BYU [forget how to play basketball] from the comfort of our own home while 8 inches of snow fell outside.

Church was canceled Sunday (yup!), since most people couldn't get out of their driveways in the snow, so we slept in, and enjoyed having a quiet house to ourselves.

Kasey and Jimmie brought our girlies home to us in their Jeep, and they brought dinner too! Excellent! I had my first corned beef and cabbage experience, and managed to pound 1/2 of a dark chocolate cake (over the course of 2 days, but yup, 1/2 a cake...totally worth it. I shared a little...unwillingly). Verdict? Corned beef=GOOD. Cabbage=not my favorite. Carrots and Potatoes=GOOD.

You KNOW you have good friends when they still take your children overnight even when the kids are sick and they know the chances of anyone sleeping are pretty low. But Kasey assured us the girls could handle watching movies in their jammies from her house just as well as they would from ours. She gave them meds round the clock and handled 3am nebulizer treatments like a champ. We soaked up a little more of this guy, and did NOT wake up at 3am.

Yummy baby.

Thanks, K! What would I do without her? Definitely not eat good pizza, a "big salad", and Paradise Pie snuggled up in a snowstorm with my boys, this weekend. From girls night out, to bathroom remodels, to bed rest, that girl has ALWAYS been there for me. I feel blessed to have such selfless friends, and am totally inspired to try harder to recognize when I can help others the way that she has helped me so many times. The weekend was just lovely.

Good news: because our cancellation was due to inclement weather, the hotel gave us a refund, and Tia and Jared were rockstars and sold our tickets for a good percentage of their original cost, so we aren't at a huge loss there, either.

Bad news: it's probably a good thing we didn't stay in OKC, because by Sunday afternoon, Reese Quincy and I all had pretty high fevers.

We went to the Dr. today and (drumroll please.....)

BOTH girls have double ear infections!
No surprises there! They've also got a croupy cough from some virus that has almost run it's full course. We got a prescription cough syrup for that, and hopefully, with the antibiotics everyone will be fever free and feeling better soon!

My appointment was slightly less successful. They aren't really sure what is wrong with me, but with Tylenol, my fever was still 104.1* at the doctor's office.

I walked in, they looked at me, and made me wear a mask! Sad, right? I got paranoid looks from everyone that walked in and I felt like a leper. Worse, I started coughing (the kind of coughing where you just cross your legs and pray) and they gave me ANOTHER mask and told me that "these new masks they just bought are kind of thin, so I should double up".

Great. Now I'm not only a leper, I'm the reject leper.

I got the nice nurse.
She brought me a warm blanket and said, "I hurt just looking at you".
Thanks, nurse.

Then she gave me the most painful shot of antibiotics I've EVER received, right in the butt... but I'm pretty sure was stabbing me with a dagger of some sort when I wasn't looking. It took ever a minute, which doesn't sound like a long time, but relative to the "quick like a band-aid" shots I am used to...it was an eternity of pain.
Then again, I was probably more aware of how long it took because her hand was on my butt.

Doc gave me Rx's for two more antibiotics and some Darvocett. I mentioned that Darvocett knocks me out and he said, "Good. Take the Darvocett and go to bed."

HAHA.
Wouldn't that be awesome if Mothers could just "go to bed" and sleep off their illnesses?

He sent me home with a cute note excusing Aaron from 3 days of work so he can stay home and care for the kids while I rest up.

I got home and went to bed.
I woke up 10 minutes later. sort of. I was conscious enough to hear what was happening, but not awake enough to get up.

The Cox Guy was here to fix the internet.
Corbin was crying.
Quincy was crying.
Reese was crying.
The tub was running.
Quincy had pooped in the front yard. (FOR REAL.)
Aaron was dealing with the Cox guy (a real winner, I might add) and carrying a poopy baby around.
Reese was attempting to bathe Quincy, because she was disgusted at the sight of Quincy's runs, she couldn't take it anymore and demanded that Q get in the tub.... but the faucet had become stuck on Hot and she was scalding her screaming sister.

My fever had broken and I was soaking wet with sweat and I could hear everything happening around me, but was too sick to get up.
Am I the only mom out there that finds it hard to "take it easy" or "rest up" when stuff like this is happening down the hall?

Reese ran outside to tell Aaron about the water, but fell on the concrete and scraped up her arm.
More crying.
The Cox guy left.
Aaron bathed Q, mended Reese, changed Corbin, and gave them all their meds.
Corbin went to bed and the girls and Aaron went to Walmart for prescriptions, popcorn chicken (that's how we roll), new princess toothbrushes, Dora toothpaste, glittery obnoxious Princess Tiana t-shirts that I never would have purchased, chicken noodle soup, and pink roses (for "mom 'cuz her butt got shot").

I slept.

I had to cancel preschool tomorrow.
I missed the "Flintstone Olympics" Activity I've been planning for 2 weeks.
I have no idea what we're going to do tomorrow.
I'm pretty sure it involves a fort, movies, and comfort food.
I HATE not being able to take care of my children.
I HATE not being able to take care of myself.
I want my mom.

Not quite what we had planned for spring break!
Luckily, we all have drugs now, and we will all (hopefully) feel better VERY soon.
or at least well enough to go out and clean Quincy's poop off the front lawn.

stay classy, San Diego.

Stats

We had a round of well child visits today.
This was convenient, as both Reese and Quincy have been pretty grouchy, and I had a feeling I would come home with at least one diagnosed ear infection.

Reese: (the lucky winner)
5yrs old
has an ear infection AND a bladder infection (which explains the "crazies" this week)
Weight: 32 lbs (15th percentile)
Height: 42 inches (45th percentile)
She is SOOOOO excited about starting school in the Fall and knows her letters, numbers, colors, etc.
This morning, I got off the treadmill and she told me, "Mom, I just have to tell you that you smell awful." At least she is finally on board with being honest.
And I did smell pretty awful.

Quincy:
3 yrs old
Has a ton o fluid in her ears, but it is not infected (yet) so we are hoping an antihistamine will dry her ears out before they become infected.
Weight: 24 lbs
Height 36 inches
We are thinking about getting one of those little bracelets that help children to stop sucking their thumb. I have mixed feelings about it.
On a positive note, the pediatrician said that Quincy's vocabulary is "stellar" and her conversation skills are exceptional for her age.
My current favorite thing that she does is put her hands up by her face when she converses with anyone. She's such a character.

Corbin
9 months
Sits Up, Rolls, Scoots, and is starting to get up on his knees and rock back and forth.
Weight: 18 lbs (50th percentile)
Height: 28 inches (60th percentile)
I can't remember his head measurement, but was surprised when the doc said he's in the 50th percentile for head circumference...it just seems so big! ("look at the size o that head! It has it's own weather system" -Mike Meyers)
He wowed the nurse when he said, "Mama" and "Ahdunnnn" (all done)
The only other words he says are "Dada" and "Mo!" (aka "MORE FOOD. NOW.")
Is allergic to milk based formula, and gets a rash on his face when he eats anything with carrots in it.
Loves bananas and sliced apples....but we really have to watch him with the apples...those new toofies are sharp and he likes to bite chunks off. No bueno.
Is the cutest baby in the universe.

Aaron:
-Is rad.
-Is freaking hilarious. He is beautifully gifted in the art of delivering perfectly timed movie quotes as responses for unrelated conversation topics. He's been on a roll lately.
-got an award at work with his team...but is super humble, and the only reason I found out about it is because I saw the photo of them accepting said award on our camera.
-those who know Aaron well will appreciate that he is doing the Heisman pose with the award in the photo.
-is starting to get burned out on "Gringo Fiesta" and we're only on day 5. Perhaps we need Santa Fe pizza tomorrow night.
-is wrapped around his little girls' fingers.

Meg:
-Survived my first college exam after a 5 year hiatus. Aaron was quick to remember that I would go temporarily insane and put a carton of chocolate ice cream in the freezer 3 days prior to test day.
-helped my kid pee in a cup today. The first time you pee in a cup serves as some sort of rite of passage I'm sure...but really, helping someone else go pee in a cup....that's beyond rite of passage. That should come with an award. I was pretty upset when the nurse did not offer ME a princess sticker as well.
-I'm trapped in a love/hate relationship with the treadmill...Spring and grandparents cannot arrive soon enough. I gotta get my run on, and one 6-8 mile run a week just isn't cuttin' it. My long-time-running friend, Jocelyn, was right when she said, "welcome to the drug" recently. I'm hooked.
-I'm working on my table...and by working I mean, I'm thinking about it, and I pull out my tape measure about twice a day to think about what I'm going to do, and when I'm going to find time to do it.
-Preschool is going really well. Some days I wish I had decided to teach more than once a week. There's just so much to do, I love it so much, and Quincy thrives when her friends are here to learn and play with her. Wednesday has gone from being my worst day of the week to one of the best days of the week.
-I am only awake because my children are. Ear infections are awesome like that. Yes. The current time is 1:41am, and I have one Reese in my arms, waiting for ear drops to kick in. At least she's been fever free this time....could be much much worse.

"I Do. Mitchell, I Wanna Dance for My Baby."

Unfortunately, Corbin has RSV and an ear infection. (Another ear infection? Act surprised, Y'all. I should buy stock in Augmetin and Albuterol.)

He is still his happy, smiley self, and he isn't about to let RSV stop him from getting his Miley on.