Inferno

When babies throw up they give no warning. It's just crying one second, and the next thing you know, you're covered in bananas and green beans. It is so sad.

Corbin has the flu.

Our pediatrician must drive a freaking nice car.
I am hiring a cleaning lady as soon as everyone is well.
And I am getting the carpets shampooed. or replaced.

Activity Days

I'm loving my new church calling as an Activity Days leader for the 8-11 yr old girls.
This week's activity was a Flintstone Olympics (think Redneck Olympics or Hillbilly Olympics, but with a caveman theme...I guess the redneck thing is a little too close to home out here).

When the girls arrived at the activity, they were placed in pair teams.
Then they went to "Bedrock Beauty Parlor" to have their hair put up in ribbons and little rawhide bones like Pebbles while they got a quick "pep talk" on good sportsmanship.

I put each leader in charge of their own event, and they came up with Bedrock Bowling, a Tortilla Discuss throw, Club Feet Shoebox Shuffle, Dino Ring Toss, and I did the Volcano Drive in with cardboard cars.
I painted these backdrops to make it a little more fun. It's difficult to tell, but they're about 6 ft wide by 8 ft tall. I think they turned out pretty cute...but it could just be my super cute models ;).

A BIG thanks to my friend, Stephanie, who helped me with Wilma and Betty, here. They might not have been recognizable without her help! I need to show Steph what they look like painted and finished, she'll be so proud!
After the events, they decorated medal necklaces and were given rock candy sticks.
I had to miss the actual activity (boo evil illness from the depths of Hell), but from what I've heard so far, the girls had a really good time.

You've GOT to be kidding me.

My temp was down to 102.7 when Aaron left for work this morning.
The minute he left, Corbin woke up.
The girls were angels and played with him in his crib for nearly an hour while I gathered energy to get up.
I got up, put Corbin in his high chair, and started to slice him a banana for breakfast.
Then it hit me.
You know...IT.

In the sink. The rest was all over myself.
Perfect.

I spent the next hour curled up on the bathroom tile in a puddle of gross. Reese came in at one point and offered a bottled water, the cell phone, and a roll of toilet paper.

I am amazed at her innate survival skills. Think about it. If you were deserted on an island somewhere, wouldn't the 3 things at the top of your list be a working cell phone, water, and toilet paper? Answer: YES. Go Reese. That kid is awesome.

I called Aaron and begged him to come home and take me to the hospital.
Then I called friend/neighbor, Jenny/lifesaver, to come down and help Corbin out until Aaron got home. Thanks, Jenny!
Reese returned to the kitchen and she and Quincy fed Corbin cheerios until Jenny arrived.

Aaron brought me Gatorade, gave me a blessing and helped me back into bed.

After several hours of solid sleep, my fever is down to 100 (finally!) and I am feeling better now than I have felt in days. Aaron has worked from home most of today, and only went in for a couple of meetings, but left me with advice to "try to get up and move around a little" thinking it will help me feel better.

I am on the sofa with the laptop. This is my valid attempt at "moving around".

As soon as I can be certain it will stay down, I am getting the fattest Dr. Pepper they sell from Sonic.
And maybe one of those Snickers or Reese's chocolatey shake things that they have.
And some french fries.
And a chocolate chip cookie.
And a really good burrito.
not from Sonic.

"but I don't wanna be a cowboy!"

because the last post was kind of depressing.
and also because they are freaking cute.

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.

Whyyyyyyyyyy?!!!!

If you wish to see the MOST DEPRESSING nutritional information sheet EVAH, click here.

Otherwise, just enjoy the pretty picture and continue living in a fantasy world (with me) where if you have had the sort of day that requires a delicious treat like the Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie (shown below) just to maintain sanity and make the world a better place again...it better be calorie free, for cryin' out loud.

(image from chili's.com)

stupid nutritional information. Why must they post it in plain sight where I am about to partake of the paradise?

Honestly, if I am ordering the Paradise Pie, do they REALLY think I'm the kind of person that is counting calories?

Does anyone out there ACTUALLY say, "well, shoot. I had the paradise pie, so I guess I only have 400 calories left today if I'm going to stay on target. I'd better order the bite size salad, instead....just to be safe."

But seriously. Eat it anyway.

Split it with friends, if you must...but do partake.
It's the bad boy of all restaurant chain desserts (a close 2nd place to the Applebee's White Chocolate Blondie).
I am drawn to it's presence like bangers flocking to a 7-11 parking lot after midnight.

Paradise Pie, you're the illest.

The Big Dance

We're headed to Oklahoma City.
First Stop: The temple
Second Stop: Food. But where? Been to OKC? Have any suggestions?
Third Stop: The Ford Center for NCAA Basketball
Fourth Stop: Sadly, Not here. or here. Both were on our list, until we discovered that Baby Guy would not be welcome.
Soooo....no bedside turtle cheesecake and cocoa at 10pm, no cozy down comforters, no jetted jacuzzi tub, no late 1800's architecture, no fresh flowers on my nightstand, no fresh fruit and yogurt in bed wake up call and gourmet breakfast and OJ on the balcony.

I can't blame them for their no-kid policy. No one wants to hear a crying baby down the hall during their romantic getaway.

But my baby is pretty dang perfect.
and they allow PETS. PETS!
I don't know about you, but I'd SO rather hear a cute baby giggle in the morning than some yappy dog that needs to be let out to pee.

We're taking our sweet baby boy, and hitting a cheap Marriott instead. Not the same, but it's baby friendly, costs less, and that continental breakfast is mine all mine.

And it turns out that NCAA basketball is not very kid-friendly either. Unless you count $68 tickets per child as kid friendly. Reese and Quincy will be livin' it up at Hotel Kasey and Jimmie. They'll be in good hands. I've been lucky enough to stay at Kasey's "B&B" before...it's quite heavenly.

Enjoy your weekend!