hiking

I can't believe it but we actually went hiking on Sat morning and had a picnic. We went to hone quarry and climbed lovers leap. It was a gorgeous day, cooler in the mountains. Robert did great-walked the whole way there and back. Mary made it about 1/2 way before needed the backpack. And then I carried her most of the way back too (she only made it like 1/8 of the way!). Robert was as sure footed as a mountain goat-we had to keep asking him to slow down and wait for us. Snoopy and Daisy had a good time too. We had a picnic at the top and then played in the 1 puddle left of the creek when we finished the hike. The wild raspberries are starting to produce so we ate a few-and are thinking of going back next week to pick! This is the first time we had been hiking since Mary was born and it felt really good. We headed home for rest time and then I went to work and Wesley took the kids to the free afternoon at the Children's museum. Unfortunately they were in the middle of the parade so that made it a little challenging but he said they had fun.

confessions

I know I haven't posted much recently but it's been a blur. Of work, the hospital move, cleaning up puddles, cleaning up messes, laundry. Lather, rinse, repeat. And then in the middle of it all I had the kids at costco yesterday (we literally had no bread and NO milk). No milk in a house with 2 kids is something akin to a nuclear spill or something. It's an emergency. And since the kids do better at costco than walmart (and that is where we also buy our milk) we went there. Anyways, we were in the eating area having snack (If you can call letting the kids split a ginourmous piece of cheese pizza a snack that is-and believe it or not they actually ate supper too!) and I got up to refill our drink. When I got back the guy next to me said, "your little girl kept calling after you 'mommy, mommy come back, I love you'". Aww! Little stinkers. He tells me that the next thing I know they'll be all grown up and I'll want these days back. Does absence make the heart grow fonder perhaps? He and his wife had 5 kids and home schooled them. They survived and I'm sure I will too.

The kids are all discombobulated from last week and Mary is big time regressing from potty training this week. Sigh. So many freaking puddles in this house! Even when she does pee in the potty she has to empty it herself and today she spilled it all over Daisy. Yesterday Mary made 2 puddles, Daisy made 2 puddles and Snoopy made a puddle. Yes standing right infront of Wesley. She didn't want to go outside and miss the kids eating so she puddled. Argh. And Wesley wanted to know where all the puddle cloths were. Um in the wash that is waiting to be folded-we had completely used up every single puddle cloth! And they are WHINY. Wesley hadn't been home 10 min last eve and he was done so it made me feel better that I was done too!

I hate to admit it but I am ready for the kids to go back to school tomorrow. Wesley wants me to send them full time even if I don't work full time but for some reason that makes me feel really, really, really guilty. Maybe we'll do 4 days a week which will leave us a free day to have fun :) I am tired, my house is a wreck and I've spent days working on it and I am done.

Confessions of a bad mommy

where to start...

It's been a little crazy around here and then everytime I think I'll blog I can't figure out what to say and it seems too overwhelming. It's still overwhelming, so I'll just sum it up

-the hospital move went well. And the last 2 nights have gone well too. We're still learning our way around but over all it's been really great.
-Daisy's doing fairly well. She is still coughing so I took her to the vet and he started her on antibiotics and now she's puking after the antibiotics. Sigh. Need to sort that out tomorrow. Pee accidents have been a little better.
-The kids are in VBS this week and LOVE it! Love it, love it, love it. And daycare has been working on Robert's fear of the vaccuum and he is so much better :)
-Mary is pretty much potty trained and wears panties all day, even at school and even at VBS :) :) :)
-had a good visit with mom and dad over Father's day. Did not enjoy the stomach bug that Mary gave me and then Robert got. But we're all better now!
-did I mention the kids LOVE VBS???
-we were going to go camping this weekend but it looks too hot so we'll just do some day stuff instead

Daisy Dawg

Finally a (non SPCA) glimpse of our newest family member! She's fitting in just fine with the rest of the crazy/lazy/potty training members of the family (Robert is crazy, Snoopy lazy and Mary potty training!). We had a couple rough days and she and Snoopy still get into it occasionally but over all it hasn't been bad. And she has been PERFECT with the kids. Robert was running a matchbox car on her back while the vet was examining her and she just sat there. The vet was impressed. The vet thinks she is older than 4. 5 or 6 at least but should live to be 15ish with good luck since she's such a small dog (17 lbs). I think that her being older has really helped her settle in well-she is calm and not puppy crazy by any means. She's a snuggle bug, loves to curl up on your lap or sleep at your feet while you're watching TV or reading. We crate her during the day when we're gone and at night. That seems to be working well. She's only barked a couple times-once being today when a salesman came by trying to sell educational books. She had her vet appointment today. Overall healthy, no heartwoms but has intestinal worms. So we are de-worming and scooping poop.

Mary has been doing great with potty training-no accidents at all today and I even took her to the vet in undies (and forgot the diaper bag so I was sweating a little!). She peed there and was fine. This evening Wesley had her a little while I was next door helping put supper together (we grill together probably once a week or so) and she was quiet and then he heard a noise-Mary had gone potty in her little potty and was emptying it in the big potty! That's what I like to see! She has to pee all.the.time but I'm sure that will improve soon! I think we've been 2 weeks without a poop in the diaper and I've been keeping her in undies (sorry panties as she says!) at home-I just put shorts on if we're going somewhere. I LOVE it! I just bought a big bag of pull ups-maybe I shouldn't have! She's in diapers at night which fit a little better I think. Wesley is hoping she spaces out her peeing before the Chicago trip or it will take 20 hours to get there!

Work has been crazy. We're at less than 2 weeks til we move to the new hospital. I guess we'll be ready! It's been crazy to say the least. I'll be sooooooo glad to be in and settled.

Yet another night shift!

It seems that I only blog when I work night shift! The ED has settled down for now (there is always a big rush from 10p-1ish). And I have my grocery list/menu plan done I think. It's been a LONG weekend. I've decided that I don't like holidays where I have to work night shift. I've spent the day with the kids and doing laundry and keeping them happy while Wesley mowed. He did watch Robert while I took a nap though and let me sleep in this morning. Anyways, they are ready to go back to school and I am ready for them to go! If it hadn't been a holiday they would have gone to school, Wesley would have gone to work and it would have been peacefully quiet at home in between laundry! Robert talked me into playing candyland again, lol.

We had a pretty low key weekend. Nothing really happened. Wesley went to Brad's sat from 1pm-midnight. I took the kids to the park and then out to DQ for ice cream. Sunday was church and then we had supper with Wes' parents and Nanny. And then today we took the old blue van to get it's transmission repaired.

This week is another full time week. I work tonight and tomorrow night and then have super user orientation Thursday and work 7p-11p as coordinator Friday. So 36 hours.

Ta-berries!

You know, ta-berries. Like ta-berry tortcakes tar? (Strawberry shortcakes car!). Well we are a little strawberry obsessed over here. From taberry tortcake (and her tar) to the real deal to the canned taberries I did last night we got taberries!

mmm-taste, smell!

the boxes of strawberries

I think I see strawberry colored toes in our future!

the results of last nights canning-strawberry lemonade concentrate, strawberry jam and strawberries in syrup!

The Strawberry Farm

The kids and I took our only day off this week and went to the strawberry farm to pick (and eat!). We had a great time!

Riding the wagon behind the John Deere tractor! See Robert likes this!

Mary isn't as sure-she's plastered to me on my lap

They did so well-I was so proud of them. Robert did a great job of picking the red berries. Mary did a nice job of just staying with us and not wandering off. They both managed NOT to break the little flag that marks where you left off. That was a feat in and of itself. Mary picked quite a few green berries but that's OK. She tried really hard. And was really cute.

Camping etc

Here are a few pics of camping! Mary and her baby (can you tell that baby needs a bath BAD?)

Robert and a hose I guess. Being a boy...

Back home, a very dark but contemplative picture of Robert building legos. He simply CANNOT wait to go to chicago and see the lego store. We think we might just be able to talk big Rob into going with us for that.

And Mary and the leapster. Wow, worth every penny of the used price! They are both loving it and learning quickly how to use it!

More pics-including 5 months post burn!

Mary in her big girl bed!

Mary 5 months post burn-it is amazing how much better it looks!

All dressed up for church! Aren't they cute! I love to see them go to toddler church!

Big Kids Camping

This past weekend we went to the annual Argus collectors group gathering. We've gone every year forever it seems-since before Robert was born. It basically works that Wesley goes to the sessions and the kids and I camp with Roger and Peggy and join the group for occasional meals and for the photo shoot outing. This year was the best year ever. Last year with a 1 year old and a 3 year old was terrible-as was the previous year with a 2 year old and a newborn. But this year was much better. They slept better, they listened better, Robert played leapster, Mary played baby dolls. They played on the playground but also were happy to just hang out some too. MUCH BETTER. I actually read several books on the kindle while they played or watched DVD's on the portable DVD player. It does kinda feel like cheating when you camp with electric-A/C, DVD player, kindle that can be used for internet since we had cell service. One hot afternoon we got ice cream bars from the store and then had a water gun fight. (LOL, Robert got in trouble yesterday at school for turning something into a gun-oops!). We left Wed after I got up (I worked night shift the night before)-about 2 pm and came back Sun eve. We had a great dog/house sitter which made coming home so easy-Snoopy was fed, medicated and here waiting for us!

Monday and Tuesday I got up early to hit the gym before work. Monday I taught new employee orientation and then helped with IV therapy for a while. Tuesday I had new hospital orientation which was really fascinating. I am SO excited about the new hospital! So today is my first day home alone with the kids in a long time. I had worked full time the week before last, then they were at school mon-tues-wed until we picked them up before we left, then we were camping... then I went straight back to work. I'm off today and tomorrow and then work fri/sat/sun. I'll prob have 38 hours this week. This afternoon I still need to go to the gym and get groceries.

Living

We live, we love,
we forgive and never give up
'cause the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
'cause the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love

I'm pretty sure I blogged about this before-when the song had just started playing a lot on the radio. I heard it again today and it was a reminder to slow down. I've been kinda stressed today as I think about all the stuff that needs to be done before we leave. And worrying about how the kids will do-will I be horribly tired with crazy kids-will they refuse to go to sleep? Will I be functioning on like 4 hours of sleep? This was a reminder that each day that I have is a blessing-be it here at work, with the kids, whatever. I am blessed to live this life. This weekend with time to just play with the kids (no housework, no projects) is a blessing.

Garden, Mother's day and UVA visit

It's been a busy week outside! We've gotten a lot of projects completed mostly thanks to mom and dad and their help both with the projects and with kid wrangling! The square foot garden beds are done and filled (finished that today!), the area out back under the trees is done and mulched (and wow what a difference it makes!), and best of all-the plants are no longer on the freezer! I even moved the blueberry bush into a bigger pot and outside (and gave it acidic food per instructions!). We're getting a few strawberries here and there and the lettuce is really going well (in the flower bed). The peas and beans are popping up (how cute is that!) and I have tiny lettuce and spinach and basil in the square foot garden. I have a 4x4 square foot that has: lettuce, basil, peas, spinach, thyme, beans, strawberries, yellow squash, zucchini,





Then the 8x4 has:


tomatoes-16 Roma, 2 cherry, 2 slicing, squash plants (the 4x4 has squash seeds), cantaloupe, rosemary, sage, cucumbers (salad and pickling), watermelon. I grew the Roma's from seed and they don't look anything like the plants I got from the greenhouse. I'll be interested in seeing how they compare.





Anyways, those beds were my mother's day wish and I am sooooo happy to have them done! Wesley has decreed that dirt ISN'T cheap! At least compost, peat moss and special dirt with moisture beads isn't! But this is the only year we'll have to do that (for these beds-I can totally see adding another bed next year! Wesley was also able to get the camper cleared out for our upcoming trip on Wed to Eden NC and a trip to the dump and got mulch!



Mother's day was a nice day. Not a whole lot different but still nice. We had lunch with the Furr's-mmm Furr BBQ and then grandma over for supper. We did grilled chicken and grilled asparagus wrapped in bacon-YUM, rice and salad and brownie pudding. I also did a bunch of housework and the week's laundry (after realizing that this week is going to go really quickly with working 2 12 hour night shifts and a trip to UVA!



Today Mary had a 8:50 apt with the plastic surgeon and an 11:00 with the physical therapist (Leslie). The plastic surgeon gave me some tips to try to work on the area on her neck and was very happy over all. She came away with a handful of tinkerbell stickers from him. Leslie was ecstatic over how well her burns were "settling in" and thought her neck looked better than she thought it would-she did not recommend a compression neckpeice and further thought that we might be looking at just a year in her shirt and not 2! She gave us 2 bottles of elta sunscreen and 2 tubes of elta. We also squeezed in a quick trip to Toys R Us and a nice lunch at a local pizza place. AND Mary went poopy on the potty TWICE today!



Tonight I'm working on peds (7p-7a) and tomorrow night I'm working as coordinator (7p-7a) and then we'll leave some time Wed early afternoon to head to Eden for the argus gathering.

Spring!

Garden update:

Ahh spring. When tiny seeds you sprinkle around suddenly turn into little plants and some into edible ones! I think I could live to be 100 and never grow out of the amazement of little plants sprouting out of the ground. I ate the first tiny handful of lettuce this evening-mmmm. Just enough to cover a hamburger! We built a 4x4 square foot garden bed and planted strawberry plants, beans, peas and basil. I'm planing on having the guys build a few more next weekend when dad is here. I got a few more seeds too to plant more lettuce and spinach. I also bought a bunch of herb plants today too. I'm happy to see that at least some of them are perineals. I'm tired of replanting every year! I can't wait until I can really plant the garden (and get the plants off the freezer!) and better yet start eating! I have a bunch of roma tomato plants that I've grown from seed and they've made it so far and have really branched out the last week or so (I've been letting them hang out outside some pretty days). The strawberry plants mom got didn't fare well though so I had to replace them today :(. I feel so bad! The blueberry plant is doing well though. Have I mentioned that I can't wait to move them outside?!? I've also got sunflowers growing outside and some wildflower seeds I planted that are popping up. We got some plants last weekend at the native plant sale that JMU hosts that are doing pretty well too. I love my gardens!

Mary update:

I can't believe that it's been over 4 months since Mary's accident. I have some pics that I need to upload but I'm at work so I can't do that here! We go back to see the plastic surgeon and the physical therapist May 10th. Her shirt has been rubbing her raw in some areas-not on the burns but she has 2 places on her belly (now just 1) and one under her left arm that are pretty red/scaly. Wesley had decided to not do the elta twice a day... I've been soaking them with vit E oil in addition to the elta and that seems to be helping. I've also been trying to really get all the residue out of her shirts and rinse them well. I still don't love handwashing those things but it's now just part of the routine like the twice a day elta cream. Speaking of elta we have gone through a 16 oz jar of it and I've had to order another jar! It should be here this week. Her scars are looking really good IMO and I'm curious what the plastic surgeon/PT will think. She is really working hard at potty training. Recently she has been telling us when she is starting to poop and doing it/finishing it on the potty! She isn't reliably telling us when she needs to pee but really knows how to let pee out. I think we're pretty close!

She sings ALL THE TIME. Does "taper, taper" (a french song) with the motions in the car and with her dolls, ABC, twinkle twinkle, ba ba black sheep... she can count to about 13 and loves to show off. She's still either clueless about her colors or very color blind-all colors are red or pink, lol. She loves pretties-necklaces etc and will wear them awhile and then takes them off. She has a box of (hand me down) shoes that are still too big and loves to parade around in them or in my shoes. She def has a shoe thing! She loves to snuggle, plays the monkey game on the computer, can put on her own shoes ON THE RIGHT FOOT with velcro and all. She is a grandma's girl and worms her way into their house at any opportunity. Her crib has been converted to a toddler bed and she's done fine with that. She's very social, waves to people at stores, talks to strangers and has such a beautiful smile that people comment on how happy she makes them. She certainly blesses us! She can climb the rock wall by herself and go down the slide and she loves blowing bubbles. She is doing very well with keeping her hat on and reminds you that she needs it!

Of course she is also 2! So strong willed, runs away giggling when you're trying to do something, into EVERYTHING. She is a good eater-they both love their fruits and veggies. She still puts pretty much everything into her mouth which is pretty scary. I have to be very careful what is in reach. Especially since she now knows how to move chairs. I made the mistake of letting the kids smell the vanilla bottle last time we were making banana bread together and the other day I was washing dishes and looked down and Mary had the vanilla bottle (large plastic squeeze bottle from costco with a flip lid) open sniffing it going "mmmm smells 'lishous mommy". Sigh. Now where to put the vanilla... She's doing well at school, has no problems when we leave, seems happy and came home with the cutest painted butterfly today. I think her favorite part is the peice of candy they get when they leave if they still have all 3 shapes up next to their name. She certainly has a sweet tooth! I wonder where she got that?

Robert Update:

Robert continues to grow up daily-in every way. I swear he's grown another couple of inches! He is more social, talks to strangers, seems more confident every day. He still is a little clingy at drop off but almost like it's a game now. He likes school and is learning stuff every day. Although when you ask him about his day he usually talks about lunch and nap! Today he talked about sight words and writing so I guess he's absorbing more. They certainly come home with piles of papers every week. His pictures are more colored than they had been and it looks like he's making some progress with writing his name. He flat out refuses to write for me, lol. He plays daily with his legos, loves books and the national geographics kids magazine subscription he got for his b-day. He is very excited about clearing out upstairs/finishing the upstairs so he can move up there with his geotrax! Now to get Wesley motivated. He loves playing outside and is doing a great job riding his bike. I can't wait to go camping with him (there's a parking lot that is pretty much unused-it's for boat parking that I think will be great for bikes!). He pretty much knows his boundries and stays in them and asks to go somewhere else. He talks so much now and pretty involved stuff about what he's been watching or what happened. When we converted Mary's crib he decided he didn't need toddler bed rails anymore so we took them off and he's done fine without them. He's completely potty trained (night too) and sleeps in underwear which makes mornings so much easier! He dresses himself except his shirt (hasn't figured out how to get it started-we need to work on that) and undresses himself. He can do his shoes and we were pretty close to putting on/zipping his coat-I'm sure he'll have it next fall/winter. He's still really sensitive about loud stuff-vacuum cleaner, lawn mower, food processor. He completely freaks out about the vacuum cleaner. He's doing great with cleaning up his toys (with prompting) and the house has been looking a lot better recently. Of course getting rid of about 3 large bags of stuff helped... He loves to help in the kitchen-mainly with baking/pizza dough making. He has a healthy fear of the stove. Boy I wish Mary did! She's still right under foot! Recently he has become more of a snuggle bug and will crawl into my lap and say "I love you mommy". The first time he said that out of the blue I nearly cried. It was sooooo sweet! Now he tells me that daily! He's my sweet little boy!

Snoopy update:

Snoopy seems to have settled in with her meds and is doing pretty well. It takes her a little longer to pee-mostly at the end she stands there like she feels like she still is peeing/needs to pee. But she really isn't going out more often than before or having accidents. She is frisky (sometimes too frisky when she has her nose on the table trying to get the kid's food!), happy and looks good. I gave her a bath this week and she looks beautiful-so soft and shiny. She goes for her anual checkup next month. The vet says we could re-ultrasound at some point but I'm not sure whether we would do that anytime soon (there isn't a local place-we have to take her to Waynesboro for ultrasound). For now I'm just greatful for each day with her! We finally found a house/dog sitter for our trip to Martinsville in a couple weeks and I'm relieved about that! We generally put her in a kennel but I'm not sure they could do 2 meds 1-2 hours apart and I'm afraid she wouldn't eat and start puking again... So it sounds like for about the same money a friend is willing to stay at our house and take care of her :)

Work update

RMH is at 59 days until the big move to the new hospital. It's pretty hectic at work and there are lots of changes going on. I'm working a mix of coordinator/float pool and peds and that's going pretty well. It's good to be back to peds some. I've taken over a blood bank monitor that I do 1-2 times a month where I review when people don't do the documentation for blood transfusions right and create a table with the details. It's an interesting job. I've also re-joined the professional practice comittee. I've started sending the kids to "school" the day before I work night shift and having a chance to rest the day before has made all the difference in the world! I feel much better. It also gives me some time pretty much every week to do some housework and some me stuff. Whether cooking/gardening/errands/reading...

Well since I probably lost most people a paragraph in I guess I'll stop. This is me on starbuck double shot... lol. I keep a few cans in my locker for night shift.

Night shift again!

It seems like I post the most on night shift! This has been a pretty good one over all (so far-knock wood!). We're in the middle of a meditech scheduled downtime so there is a lull (yeah!). I've started a few IV's, done my first set of rounds, copied my sheets (just need to check the list of people on telemetry) and I'm going to take a minute to blog.



The kids went to "school" today and had a great day. When I picked them up they were playing "doggy, doggy where's your bone" and having a great time. Everyone was laughing and having a good time. I had never heard of the game so here's the explanation



http://www.ehow.com/how_4509582_play-doggy-wheres-bone.html



We went home and went right outside and played, blowing bubbles, riding bikes, climbing on the playset... Robert dug up dirt out of the garden and stuck it in his dump truck. Roger and Peggy came out with a cute sundress for Mary. It was a golden couple of hours!

I had a great day too! I got a bunch of decluttering and picking up done. And a NAP. I feel soooo much better tonight than I have any night I've worked. I did 30 day shred too. And now tonight is almost over! :) And I can go home and sleep and then get the weekly housework done. The kitchen is done except the floor and all the surfaces are clear(er) so it shouldn't take long to get the house clean. I also need to put together a grocery list and get groceries later...

Some new pics!

first day of school!
My girlie girl!

wormies!

Mary on the swing

Mary's Easter bunny!

And Robert's!

Crazy Weekend!

This has certainly been an interesting weekend-well mainly Sat. JMU had their block party which swelled to 8,000 people (mostly drunk) and ended in riots and 47 young people needing to be seen at RMH. I gather Augusta Health saw some too. So the ED called a code red (external disaster) the first since we don't know when-15 years maybe? It was quite interesting to see all the things we've drilled in actually come into play-it worked! The inpatient units sent a nurse each, we got extra staff in, OR came in to suture wounds closed (there were lots of lacerations from broken bottles) which freed up the ED docs (all they had to do was examine and direct). All the big wigs came in (director of nursing, the person under her, my boss, admin on call, and someone who could order a ton of pizzas! Oh and the supply manager came with tons of supplies like more suture trays!) I ran a thousand ways from Tuesday setting up the recovery room as a suture room, gather stretchers and supplies, helping out, directing the floor nurses, starting IV's etc. It was exhilarating in some ways and crazy in others but wow-what an experience. I think I can do anything now! Last night was much calmer and more ordinary. Just with some staffing issues but we got those resolved more or less. And I'm glad to be off today and tomorrow! Now I just need to coordinator laundry, housework and groceries, lol!

Sat am I took the kids to the dog show with R+P to see the pugs and other dogs and then we went to walmart to get a few things, petco and then costco. Then home for nap and Robert and I transplanted the tomatoes to bigger pots. Wesley went to the coin show. Yesterday I mainly slept and then picked up the house, watered outside, wo and pruned a little on the peach tree and went back to work! The kids had such a good time on Sat! It was a fun morning. Wesley took them to the park by himself that afternoon which I think is a first! So they were pretty tired by bedtime he said. I've been able to call at bedtime each evening and they both can carry on conversations! It's so nice to be able to tell them goodnight!

"School" has gone well. The kids seem to really like it. We're still struggling with how to get breakfast in them before they go! Mary is counting more (she can get to 13 before mixing up!), as is Robert. I ended up taking Mary to the Dr Thurs since she was still pulling on her ears and she still had an infection so she's on another antibiotic.

5 am and 2 1/2 hours to go!

Oh my goodness I am soooooooo tired. I've been wondering recently if it wouldn't be easier to go back to work full time and have the kids in daycare full time to avoid the 25-26 hour days I do when I work night shift. Lets see. Today I:
-got them up/fed/dressed/changed
-went to the gym and ran 4.25 miles
-home for lunch
-Mary down for a nap. Robert was kinda sleepy so we hung out on the couch for 30 min and then he got ansy so we went outside where I transplanted probably over a 100 bulbs from the field to our flower beds. Finishing in about the time Mary woke up
-gave them a bath
-put supper in the oven
-lost my keys (where the heck are they-and of course the kids were already buckled in the car when I realized that!) found Wesley's keys
-rounded up a quick snack for the kids-didn't do too well with that but they ate supper well!
-took the kids to "school" to drop off their pillows/blankets/clothes/shot reccords/pull ups...............
-I was going to take them to Lowes to look at garden stuff but we went to walmart instead because I ran out of sunscreen today! Bought an insane amount of junk (no food unless you count small crispy chocolate bunnies...mmmm 3 for 50 cents!)
-finished up supper - delish- pork loin with maple syrup/mustard served with sweet potatoes (reg potato for Wesley). The kids ate and ate and ate and ate...
-ate
-went to work where I have placed admissions and started IV's (lather, rinse, repeat)

Today is their first day at kidzone and I really hope it goes well. But honestly I plan on being asleep until I have to go back to work. I'm scheduled to work 3-7 on peds. Yawn. And the house needs serious help but oh well!

A Break

We had a nice weekend away. It was good to just relax and talk, hang out in the hot tub (once we got it working-the breaker was off!). We had a good time in Pigeon Forge. Did some shopping, a lot of sleeping, some wandering around Gatlinburg, mainly the arts and crafts area. We had a couple nice meals out-the Mill in Pigeon Forge and a really nice restaurant in Gatlinburg-whose name I can't remember! It was built around an old trout farm and was just awesome. I had grilled trout which was to die for as was the house speciality-chocolate cheesecake! The rest of the meals we made ourselves. I brought some food I had made/frozen and some ready to heat stuff, hotdogs and then tubes of cinnamon rolls/turnovers, pancake mix. It was great.

I missed the kids a lot more than I thought I would. I worried a lot about Mary. But they did fine and so did Heather and Ryan and Roger and Peggy! It was just so refreshing to wake up to nothing to do. No breakfast to make for little ones, no poopy diapers, just us.

Today I decided to get my but back in gear and get more serious about working out, loosing the lbs that have been creeping on since Mary's accident. So we hit the gym and I had a great workout. I think I have finally come to the realization that staying at my goal weight is going to be a struggle forever. And that's just the way it is.

On a happier note I was able to go and see Jacob and Jodi and their new baby this evening. They were still up when I was rounding down there and it was so precious to see them! I am so happy for them!

Make a wish...

I think Wesley and I are thoroughly D.O.N.E with kid b-day parties! We had the final one tonight (Mary's b-day) and after we had finished singing and she had blown out her candle she made us sing again! We got her some necklaces/bracelets as well as a snap n style baby (that I've had since Nov!). We had pizza and pink cake with the valentine's day sprinkles. She had a great time. Robert got a magnifying bug catcher complete with a fake spider from Roger and Peggy ("fider, fider" to quote Mary). It's gruesome, really and Robert LOVES it. The kids had been at Denee's all day and they spent most of it outside and by bedtime they were exhausted.

Speaking of Robert and bugs, he found a worm ("snake") in the sandbox this week and carried it around for a long time. He wanted to take it inside "to live" which I vetoed. So he talked to it and crooned "nice wormy, aren't you such a nice wormy, such a cute wormy" and passed it to Mary and then to me... oh my. Life with a boy!

Granny died this week and it's been sad. The family night is Sat and the funeral Monday. And Snoopy threw up 5 times in 3 days which has been hard. But things are looking a little better. We're going out of town next weekend which will be good-I think after everything that has happened the last few months we really need a chance to reconnect and rejuvenate.

Then the kids start at Kidzone daycare in April (6th). Robert really needs preschool and this is the only solution that I could come up with that works my schedule!

Long time

I know, it's been a long time since I posted. I was thrown for a loop last Tues with the news that our beloved beagle mutt Snoopy has bladder cancer and has, at best, months to live. Since then we've been cleaning up dog messes (traumatic catheterization=lots of messes afterwards!), a b-day party for the kids (and all the cleaning, baking, planning that goes with that) plus kid care, work, etc, etc, etc.

Well and I just couldn't post without crying and darn it I've cried enough! Between crying during Mary's hospitalization and now... I think I've cried more recently than I had in years. Today things feel a little more manageable. We're holding on to God and to family and we're going to be fine.

We had a party for the kids Sat and it was such a great time. It was so nice to celebrate them and to have the people we love there to celebrate with us. The kids are such a blessing it was nice to just enjoy that for a day! The house was full, it was noisy, it was busy and it was a blast! I love that we can combine their parties. I hope it will work at least one more year. I guess once Robert hits kindergarten things might change. But we'll see.

Sunday Mary decided that she was going to toddler church (you are supposed to be 3!). The teacher said it was fine and I was going to stay with her but she marched into the room, sat down and folded her hands so I decided she didn't need me! They did end up getting her a baby doll at some point but that seemed to be all she needed. She even colored her picture! Sunday afternoon was just a nice quiet time. We stayed for a covered dish meal and then Wesley took the kids home and I stayed for a baby shower. Then a friend (Aaron) came by to visit and then after nap we went for a walk. It took us an hour to walk 1.5 miles, lol. I was carrying Mary in the ring sling and Robert walked. Mary walked the last 1/4 mile or so for which my back was thankful! Snoopy seemed to have a good time. It's been so nice to have warmer weather!

Snoopy has been having trouble adjusting to the NSAID (asprin type medicine) that she is on to slow the growth of her tumor. So we've been working to tweak her regimine. I called the vet again yesterday and he OK'd me to give the acid blocker a couple hours before the NSAID (instead the acid blocker in the morning and the NSAID at night). Doing that seems to be helping a lot. We are also having to break capsules and pour 1/2 powder per day and he suggested adding it to cubes of butter so I did a few days worth today. I have special ice cube trays that I used when making baby food (they have silicone bottoms so the cubes pop out easier). So I melted butter, poured about a tsp into each cube and then sprinkled 1/2 a capsule into each. Much better. And Snoopy ate it without complaint. We've also been more vigilant about making sure she eats a full meal with her NSAID. We actually bought canned dog food today to add to her regular food to make her eat it. We've been adding all sorts of stuff to her dog food trying to get her to eat it so we finally decided that canned dog food would be easier! I actually made her gravy yesterday!

Wesley's grandma (Furr) continues to fail. It's just a matter of time at this point. She is on hospice. She has dementia and fell and broke her hip a couple months ago and just hasn't done well since. She had lived at home until mid summer which is amazing. She is 92. Mary is named for her. I really feel bad for Wesley-all this going on at once!

I feel like we have so many issues up in the air right now. We really could use prayers for clarity right now.
1) The scar on Mary's neck is really thickening and we're going to need to decide if we want to do a neck/head strap compression thing for it. I hate to do it and I hate not to do it. So I guess we'll go back in a month or so and discuss it. The OT that we've been working with is great and is willing to really work with us on all these issues. Mary got her compression shirt bear this week-I was hoping it would be wearing a real compression shirt but it just has a t-shirt with the logo-but it was still a nice gesture! I might make it or her doll a compression shirt out of one of her old temp compression shirts. Maybe I'll make it for the doll.
2) We need to decide when to get a new dog. We've gone around and around and around on the issue and we're nowhere close yet. I know we'll want another dog but we're just not sure when the right time is. I think we still have some time with Snoopy but I don't know how long.
3) We need to decide on preschool for Robert next year.
And the other thing we are really praying about is that nothing comes to a head right when we are scheduled to go away for the weekend (3/26-29). Please God, please, please, please!

Last night about 11 Robert woke up complaining of left ear pain. Wes gave him motrin and then I settled him on the love seat with a DVD. I fell asleep on the couch (love our new couch!) and woke up about 1 am to find him still wide awake so I packed him off to bed where he stayed until 7 when he woke up complaining of left ear pain. So I packed him up and took him to the Dr this morning. Taking 2 kids to walk ins is sooooooo much fun (NOT!!!!). Especially now that Mary is so Dr adverse (and the Dr we saw was the one that was on call the weekend of her burn). Sure enough he had a left ear infection. Which is so strange since he really hasn't had a cold. So he's on twice a day medication too! These kids. What was really funny was that about 15 min into our wait he told me that his ear was "all better" and that he needed to go home now. Lol. I guess the motrin had kicked in and he was tired of sitting in the waiting room. I was wishing for my kindle so I know they had to be tired of it. I did have a few toys but evidently not the ones they wanted!

Well that's all I can think of right now. It's enough isn't it! Well, off to get some stuff done and then work on some procedures inbetween admissions.