Bio-hazard

If you had any plans on visiting my house soon then cancel them. We have a bit of an issue with a stomach bug this week. Most stomach bugs last 24 hours. Our nasty little strain? Yeah...so far it's going on a week. Alex got his bug on Monday morning and it is now Friday. He is still not at his peak energy level. And poor miss Abby got hit pretty hard last night. I was talking with Mandy this morning and we were laughing (yes...laughing) about how my house is a true bio-hazard zone. Everything that you dread cleaning up has been scrubbed out of my carpet in the last two days. What, you ask? Don't ask. Just use your imagination. Let's just say that a two-year old has very poor aim when it comes to digestive related issues. Poor kids. They just want to go to the park or play outside, but they make it about as far as the backyard when they realize they just don't have it in them. With play dates at a stand still and Josh gone for the week, it's been a rough time for everyone - including ol' mom. Luckily, I've been blessed so far with zero bugs in my drained system so let's hope it stays that way. If this stomach bug goes on any longer in our house, then I'm going to put up yellow caution tape around our house and slap a big bio-hazard sign on our door.

ZZZZzzzz.....

What a night. I am so exhausted today. I- *yawn* -hope I can function long enough to write this blog before I...

*thud*

Woah! Yeah...that was me falling asleep at the computer waiting for Abby and Alex to take a nap. Last night was bad. No wait. Bad isn't a strong enough word. Last night was horrible. The night started off as innocent as most. Me, sitting at the computer playing Farmville while I drink a nice relaxing cup of hot cocoa. It was all peaches and cream until Alex's first nightmare. The poor kid had a night terror that lasted well over an hour. I couldn't help him or wake him up without getting kicked in the head so his screams inevitably woke up his peacefully sleeping sister. After that little fun spot of the night was over, they both woke up and wanted to sit on the couch. Supposedly they were hungry and thirsty. Seeing as how a tummy bug has killed Alex's appetite, I thought it best to give him what he wanted. So two crackers and an ounce of water later, (which neither ate or drank), we climbed into my bed in hopes of getting some rest. With in one hour of sleep, Abby was up with a fever and a tummy ache. Turns out that it's her turn for the virus. She writhed in agony for about an hour or so before she finally chucked. I know this may seem cruel, but do you ever sit there with the bucket and just think, 'I wish they'd just chuck already and get it over with.'? I thought I was finally about to sleep for the last hour of my morning when Alex came out of his bedroom crying and screaming. He wet the bed, poor kid. By this time, both kids were up and ready to start their morning. I threw in the towel, admitted defeat, and got dressed. Luckily, Abby's bout with the bug only lasted about eight hours where Alex's lasted two days. *yawn* I was hoping for a nap but seeing as how Alex is merrily jumping on the couch asking for food, I suppose that hope is lost. Needless to say, if ever there were a day when I should probably start drinking coffee, today would be that day.

Stayin' Cool in the Pool

Josh's grandparents sent us some birthday money for the kiddos and we decided on the perfect thing to spend it on. Since the first warm day of spring, (maybe 60 degrees) Alex and Abby have both been continuously asking if they could go swimming. Now, neither one of them know how to actually swim so really what they want is to play in the water. Granted, it has only gotten warm enough for water play in the last month. I wanted to get them a fun little swimming pool but didn't know when we could get it. So upon arrival of the birthday money, I loaded the kids up into my mom's truck (can't fit a pool in the van you know), and headed to ol' Wally World for some summer shopping fun. They picked a nice big green pool with a slide built in. Each of them picked a big beach towel, a swimming suit, and a package of water guns. It only took minutes after getting home to get it set up and ready for the first swim. They were pretty excited and have enjoyed the benefits of the pool almost every other day since. Alex is a nut when he's in the pool. He is pretty fearless in general. This comes as a bit of a danger for Abby who has gone under the water involuntarily quite a few times thanks to Alex's big feet. If Abby had a slogan, it is 'Anything you can do I can do better.' And she tries to mimic all of Alex's crazy stunts. Not good. If local swimming lessons weren't $25 per day per kid, I'd sign them up. But I can't exactly fork out that kind of money for two kids who may or may not be ready for the deep end. So until then, you'll find me standing shin-deep in their pool with one arm ready to grab the next kid who goes under. So I'd just like to say a big Thank You to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa for the birthday money. We wouldn't have a 'cool' source of summer entertainment if it weren't for you!

Tummy Troubles

I'm thinking I should start keeping a couple of tally bars going. One for how many times I call 911 and one for emergency room visits. If there were contests for the highest calls for 911 in a year or number of ER visits in a lifetime, I would totally win - hands down. Okay, so maybe it's not really that bad, but I'd easily be in the top five of people I know. Today we would have added another notch to the ol' ER visit tally. First up, let me say that we are all fine now and there's no reason to panic. :-) Alex and Abby both woke up this morning to a mammoth crash of thunder and lightning followed by a power outage that left them screaming in terror from their bedrooms. (They aren't fans of the dark.) I also discovered that Josh isn't exactly great with the dark either. He jumped out of bed like Batman answering the bat signal and ended up stumbling around the house like a noisy, drunken monkey. I was actually giggling at his panic as I calmly herded up the kids before he could return with a light. Anyhow, within minutes of waking up, Alex was in the bathroom and throwing up. At first, I was convinced it was just a shock to his system and he was having some anxiety issues from being woken up so harshly. (Been there, done that.) This thought was promptly changed when I spent the rest of my morning (from 4:30 a.m. to be precise) on the couch with two kids - one of them sick and both of them scared of the horrific weather happening outside. Alex got better after sleep and was back to his normal, jumpy, happy self by noon. But as the day progressed, he went downhill fast. Despite his happy demeanor in the morning, he still complained about pain in his tummy. He didn't really throw up much, but spent a good amount of time telling me that he needed to. Unfortunately for the poor kid, he developed a fever and couldn't stand up straight without pain in his tummy area. After the last time of him asking me to listen to his tummy with a stethoscope, I called the doc and was told to take him to the ER. He was showing classic signs of appendicitis. In a moment of freak slow motion, my brain calculated the situation at hand. Josh is going to be gone all week in a far away land for work with his new hotel roomy, Steve, and there was now potential that I'd be bunking over night with two kids in the hospital. I don't know about you, but this is not my idea of 101 ways to start your week off right. We packed into my trusty minivan and headed for the hospital. Alex felt so bad that he didn't even cry or put up a fight for the ER doc. He just laid there. And if you know anything about my kids, this is incredibly abnormal. A good once over and a handy little anti-nausea pill later, he was bounding across the hospital bed like a little gazelle. I was thanking God that he didn't have appendicitis and that he just had some kind of yucky tummy bug going around. Of course, this probably means that Abby is next in line and will promptly be followed by me. Josh is bailing for work in a few hours so he will probably come away from this without any issues. I'm praying that everyone is well and happy this week. Feel free to throw a couple of extra prayers our way if you feel so inclined. And seeing as how I have a whopping three hours of sleep in me, I think I'm gonna go pass out on my bed now.

Confessions of a Farmaholic

Has anyone noticed that my blogging has become, well…a bit sporadic? Well, I’ve noticed. Oh sure, sure. I could easily blame it on my busy life as a mom. Anyone would believe that. But I can’t lie to you (or myself) any longer. I have a bit of a confession to make. I have found an addiction that has consumed me now for at least a month. Is it illegal? No. Of course not. What kind of person do you think I am? It’s much more innocent (I think) than anything beyond the law. So here it goes –

Hi. I’m Jessica and I’m a farmaholic.

My farm.

I am so pathetically addicted to Farmville. A month or so ago, I was one of those people who made fun of those poor souls on Facebook who spent all their time and energy on a fake farm. Every time I saw a post on their wall about Farmville, I’d roll my eyes. Well, all that changed when I saw my brother playing it on his computer. I saw a fun little avatar running around the screen taking care of crops and cute little animals. I scoffed out loud and made fun of him for playing. But inside my head I was really saying, ‘oooh. That looks kinda fun. Maybe I’ll give it a shot when no one’s looking. No one will ever know…’ I went home and logged onto Facebook and when no one was looking, I created a farm. The next morning I woke up and went to check on my crops. They were all withered and dead! I was so frustrated that I said, “This is so stupid! I don’t get it. What a dumb game!” I then promptly planted more crops and found myself going back in four hours to harvest like a good little farmer. One week later, I became desperate and shared my obsession with the world by posting a desperate plea for Farmville neighbors on my Facebook wall. I had to suck up my pride and ask my brother to be a neighbor, sealing my deal with the addiction. He sent me a horse and it was so darn cute that I was hooked – line and sinker. Did he poke fun? Yes…but I’m okay with that. :-)

So here I sit, posting a blog when really what I want to be doing is planting a crop. Pathetic? Yes. But it’s fun and it gives me something to wind down my day. Funny thing though. The person I got more stink from was Mandy. I, of course, convinced her to sign up for a farm just for the purpose of being my neighbor. (Insert evil, maniacal laughter here) She is now just as addicted as I am! (ha, ha!) Sadly, they don’t make a patch for this kind of addiction. But there is one good thing that has come out of this, and it is this: I no longer make fun of Josh for his obsession with World of Warcraft. I - *gasp* - understand him. Wait a second! How did that happen??

Now Mandy, it's your turn to join FA (Farmaholics Anonymous) and confess. I'd like to take a moment to thank the person responsible for getting me hooked on this game. Thanks Ben. It's all your fault. :-) Oh well. I'm glad I have a game to play now. Besides, I figure that if I can’t have a real farm to spend my time on then I might as well have a pretend one, right? Now if you will excuse me, I have a fake farm to attend to.

Wiggly Deal

It may not be officially summer yet, but it sure feels like it. I much prefer the stifling heat over the bitter cold. Perhaps it's from growing up with no air conditioning, but the heat really doesn't bother me. My parents only turned the AC on a couple of times during the summer and I remember those days very well. In fact, one of my most vivid memories is coming inside after a long horse ride to the smell of mom cooking tacos in the kitchen on a summer evening with the movie Flash Gordan playing in the front room. My brothers were all sprawled out around the TV with my dad as the AC pumped full force into the house. I can still smell the tacos and feel the abnormal temperature shift as I walked inside. Yep. AC was a treat. Not a lifestyle. My kids know nothing of life without temperature control. Unfortunately, having a kid with allergies means you have to keep outside allergens where they belong. Outside. Of course the only way to monitor that is with a closed house. So to wear long sleeves in the house during the middle of a heat wave isn't necessarily a big deal when it's a constant 76 degrees in your room. This is where my most recent problem has arisen. Alex doesn't have a blankie or a teddy bear he is attached to. He has four long-sleeved shirts. Red, Blue, Purple and Yellow. His Wiggles shirts. You probably wouldn't have noticed unless really keeping a close eye on them, but Alex is wearing a Wiggles shirt in nearly 90% of the photos I've taken of him since last Halloween. They are his favorite things in the whole world. With the temperature on the rise outside, it's been a horrific battle to get him to kick his wiggly little habit. He wakes up and promptly seeks out his long-sleeve wiggles shirts. Oh, I made him short-sleeved ones but they just aren't the same. He wants to look like the Wiggles and they wear long-sleeved shirts, pants and shoes. Trust me. He points this out to me on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis. I hate being the 'evil' momma. I don't want to strip him of this love. It would be the equivalent of taking the well-loved teddy-bear from a kid who can't sleep without it. But I can't exactly let him run around outside in the blazing heat dressed for winter. Uh, can we say, 'heat stroke'? So after many failed ideas, I finally came up with a brilliant plan. After hours of endless tears, I have struck a successful bargain with my three year old. He is only allowed to wear his Wiggles shirts when he is watching The Wiggles. Brilliant? Not to toot my own horn, but yes. Yes it is. Simple. Effective. Alex is happy. I'm happy. And most importantly - no more tears. Granted, we watch a whole lot more of The Wiggles now, but it's a fair trade if you ask me. *whew* Our Wiggly deal has been locked in until fall. Now I can concentrate on my next big issue...potty training Abby.

Alex and his preferred attire - 24/7 if given the opportunity. And yes. These pictures were taken when the temperature was nearly 92 degrees outside.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Hmm. It's actually about 1:00 in the morning so I am posting this about two hours too late. But I just want to say happy birthday to my mom. This morning, the kids and I went to the local dollar store and the kids both got to pick something for Grandma's birthday. They each picked a small card and two small things to go in Grandma's rose garden that she's been adding to for many years. She actually doesn't have anything decorative in her garden so I'm hoping to start a new tradition on what to get her for her birthday. (You know how hard it is to shop for moms, right?) It was fun for the kids. Abby picked a small bunny statue and Alex picked a frog one. They decorated the cards with Alex actually attempting to sign his name. (He did pretty well for what it's worth.) We then went to the local grocery store and they picked out a cake mix to help me make. It was yellow. The milk allergy situation leaves us with limited options. I kept trying to get them to pick chocolate, but they were set on yellow. Oh well. Then I asked for what color the frosting should be and they wanted white with sprinkles. A pound of powdered sugar and a half jug of sprinkles later, we had a tasty frosted birthday concoction to feast on later. And believe it or not, some of the frosting and sprinkles actually ended up on the cake and not in their bellies. I also had a sprinkled kitchen floor, but hey...who doesn't need a sprinkly kitchen, right? They always say you should accent your rooms with color. :-) So by evening, the cake was half gone and Grandma's garden is a shade cuter. Both kiddos went to bed with a full belly of sugar and I'm expecting them to sleep restlessly for it. But it was worth it to have a good birthday for my mom. I think she liked it and it was fun for Alex and Abby. So one more time, if you don't mind, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! We love you and hope it was a great one!