First ER trip (I am sure there are more to come)

I was playing with Jerry while fixing dinner. I was holding his hands and "jumping" him as I cooked. We had been running around and playing and just having fun. In my brain I know this was not a good idea, but forgot in the moment. Next thing we know he is crying and holding his arm. When we tried to touch it he would wail. Tyler asked him what hurt and he kept pointing at his elbow. We tried to get him to eat dinner, but he wouldn't pick up his fork. Instead, he used his right hand for everything (he seems to be left-handed). Call the pediatrician. She says go to urgent care or the ER, it sound like nurse maid's elbow. I have now earned the Brittney Spears mommy award, again.

We found an urgent care that took his insurance and headed out. Jerry, Michael, and Mommy made our way inside, only to find out they need prior authorization to see us. Great, off to the hospital. After parking across the street, the ER lot was full, I managed to lug a car seat with a baby and push a stroller across the street and up the hill and into the ER. Of course, the place was hopping. Usually Wednesday nights are slow, but since we were there this was not the case.

Eventually Jerry started playing around and acting like nothing was wrong. Could it just be the motrin kicking in? After a forever wait to get registered, then another wait to see the nurse, another to get back to see the doctor, and of course waiting to see the doctor, we figured things out. A couple of the nurses said he must have popped his own arm back into place. The doctor could see nothing wrong. Jerry had full rang of motion in his wrist, elbow, and shoulder. He asked if Jerry had taken any falls during the day. I just sort of laughed. He doesn't know my kid. I told him no falls other than climbing on a box trying to get cake and then falling down and cutting his tongue with his teeth. He obviously has no clue what kind of child this is (thank goodness). As we were getting ready to go, Jerry tripped and smashed his head on Michael's car seat. The doctor said he wanted to check him to make sure we didn't have any busted lips or heads, before we walked out the door.Finally, after 5 hours, we headed home.

As I was trying to get back out the door and down the hill and across the street to the car, a security officer stopped and asked if we needed help. We all piled in his car and he drove us over to the car. Not only did he give us a ride, he didn't leave until all were safely buckled and I had started the car. A little thing, yes, but a big deal to me.

Although the entire ordeal was a headache and long and tiring, I was still able to see my blessings. My child hadn't stuck a plastic toy in his ear and refused to say what it was. I didn't have to press charges against the dad/boyfriend that brought my kid in with a shattered jaw. My child wasn't screaming or throwing up. My kids behaved and were quiet and flirted with anyone they could. My kids have insurance to pay for things like this. I can speak English, and I am married to my kids father, and all my kids have the same father. We have a pediatric hospital close to the house. I had a home to go to, with a warm bed and heat.

Once we got home Jerry easily went to bed. Michael, on the other hand, did not. He wanted to play since he woke up as I was taking him out of his car seat. I think it was around 2 before I really got to sleep, then Michael was up again at 4:30. Tyler thought I was just getting home, so thank goodness he got some sleep and didn't hear all the racket when we came in.

You think I would start having good luck now. After a long night like that, I deserve something easy. Of course not. When I went to slice the cheese for Tyler's sandwich, I discovered that the brand new brick I just cut open was moldy. Yippie skippie, I get to go return it today. I did get to go back to sleep for a while. Thomas got up to watch TV and I crashed again until Tyler called. Then I buried myself back in the blankets for another couple hours when Jerry and Michael woke me up. As I was getting ready to make breakfast, bowls of cereal, I rinsed dishes to load the dishwasher and run it. I reached to turn on the disposal, no go. Great, now my garbage disposal is broken. The day has to get better from here, right?

Great, now Jerry is wrapping computer chords around his neck. Why do my kids do this?

Taxes

I am so proud of myself. Our taxes are done!!! Just had to share my excitement. Happy tax time to all of you. While so many rush to the post office in a couple months, I will be sitting at home laughing at them.

Ears

We have bad luck with ears in our house. I am known for nasty ear infections and have been all my life. Thomas went through two sets of tubes in six months, but has been fine so far. Jerry got tubes put in the day Michael was born. Jerry has also had two infections since, one more and we get new tubes for him too. We are just waiting for Michael to follow the trend. Well, I said Thomas has been fine since... until now. Last night he told me his ear hurt. I asked him when it hurt and he said when he breathes. Great, here we go again. I gave him Tylenol and put him to bed, and told him to tell me if it still hurt in the morning. Once he was in bed I did a Happy Dance. No, I didn't dance because he is hurting, I did the dance because he TOLD me he is hurting. Finally, we have reached the point where he can tell us rather than us needing to guess what is wrong. HOORAY!!! Unfortunately, this morning he came in to tell me his ears still hurt. While we were eating breakfast he told me "when I burp with my mouth closed, my ears really hurt." What could I do but laugh and tell him sorry. At least he burped with his mouth closed. We head out to the doctor in about 15 minutes, and we will see what they say (gee, I wonder). Happy Saturday.

I Need a Life

This is sad. Officially, sad. I just spent an hour re-formatting the blog. I had way too much fun. I hope you enjoy the additions and alterations. Tell us what you think, and share any suggestions you might have. Hey, this computer thing is easy to change stuff. Look for more fun stuff and changes to come. Thanks for reading, and thanks for your comments. I love to see that others enjoy our misadventures and misfortunes. Thanks for letting us know that you care about us. We miss those who are distant, love to visit with those who are close, and look forward to seeing everybody soon.

Moms are NOT Allowed to Take Showers

I attempted to take a shower this morning. Actually, with the shower, there was no attempt, I took a shower. Granted it was after feeding Michael, again, after I first tried to get in the shower. Luckily, this time, it was the second time that was a charm, not the third. However, while trying to get all the puke and snot off of me and get out the knots from my kids "fixing" my hair, and trying to clean the tub while I was in there (killing two birds with one stone) I got that feeling.

Just to make sure all was well, I put on my robe, towel on head, and went downstairs to check on Thomas and Jerry before getting dressed. MISTAKE! I should have at least gotten dressed before venturing into the unknown.

And what to my wondering eyes should appear... no, not eight tiny reindeer, those were last month (never saw them then anyway). There was a chair at the sink, with Jerry perched on top. This I could see from the bottom of the stairs. And he was eating his toothpaste, straight out of the tube. Rounding the corner into the kitchen revealed to me the next horror. A bag of pretzels, all over the floor. They were not just resting on the floor, the boys, probably Jerry more than Thomas, had done a happy dance all over them. Yes, I had tiny bits and crumbs of what used to be pretzels all over my floor. Instead of coming 'round the chimney, I was coming 'round the counter to strangle Jerry. STOP, don't fall on the WATER all over the floor. Somehow the buggers had turned on the water, flooded the top of the counter, soaked anything on the counter on both sides of the sink, and flooded the floor about 12 inches out from the sink. And let's not forget that toothpaste yet. In the process of eating it, he had squeezed it out all over the tube itself. Into the trash with that one. No patience to deal with it.

Now, get your over-active imaginations rolling. Picture me, in my robe, with towel on head, trying to clean all this up. Thomas was trying to sop up the mess before I came down, and had a towel that looked like he had just pulled it out of an unfinished cycle of the washing machine. It dripped when he picked it up. When I picked it up to squeeze out some of the pool, I barely had to try to have a stream running into the sink. Jerry was promptly sent up to his room so he couldn't "help" clean up. Next thing I hear is little Jerry feet running into my room. I scream up to him to get out of my room and into his. Thud, thud, thud go the feet again. Sound direction tells me he is heading out of my bathroom and into my room, then on to his room. SLAM the door (his new game is to slam the door repeatedly and laugh like it is the funniest thing he has ever done). That was it for me. I went running up the stairs, in my robe, towel streaming behind my head, and all but threw the kid in his bed. I didn't even give him his pacifier.

Now I sit and type and vent. Still in my robe, but the towel fell off my head. The pretzels are swept into a pile, waiting to get put into the trash. The wet towels are piled in the middle of the kitchen, waiting to go up to the washing machine. (Note to self: don't forget the laundry detergent this time, the third trip to the store) Jerry finally gave up and fell asleep, I think.

Moral of the story: Don't try to take a shower when only the baby is asleep. Wait until there is another adult present, or until at least the two youngest are asleep. You may stink all day, but your sanity will be more in tact when your friend brings her four kids over later in the afternoon.

Sometimes you get what you ask for, and a little more

Jerry has taken to throwing little tantrums. He is also less than great at listening. He hears just fine, but has minimal intentions of following through on what you have told him to do. Yesterday afternoon he got mad at something I told him he couldn't do. Of course he started crying and being oh-so-pitiful. Tyler said "fine, walk over there and throw a fit." Jerry did just that. He looked at us, walked across the room, threw himself face down on the floor and threw a fit. Crying, wailing, face down, and bum up throwing a fit. At least he listens sometimes. I wish I had taken a picture, oh well, maybe next time, since I am sure there will be a next time.

I went to my music rehearsal last night. I left ALL THREE boys home with Tyler!!! I got home and heard the stories of the evening's saga. The funniest, by far, was Thomas getting a taste of his own medicine. Thomas has issues with personal space. He gets way too close to people, those he knows and those he doesn't. When I tell him to look at me, he gets almost nose to nose. When he sits next to you, he touches you and talks nonstop. He doesn't quite realize what he is doing, but he drives us nuts with it. We are trying to work on it, but it is a difficult thing to teach. Well, last night, Tyler had the two boys sit on the couch together. Jerry kept touching Thomas and getting close to him. Apparently, Thomas was getting quite annoyed by it. He kept asking to get up and go snuggle with Daddy. Tyler told them to stay. They sat like this for half an hour, or so I was told. Maybe he will start to understand. Or maybe he will just return the favor when he has a chance. That's what brothers do, isn't it?

Most of you know I am a bargain hunter. Coupons and clearance and consignment sales are my friends. We use Craig's list for lots of stuff, but we also belong to a local Yahoo group called freecycle. I was able to give a bunch of stuff we don't use to someone who will use them. I had only posted an offer for one thing, but I ended up cleaning out my attic to give things away. One post and lots of stuff taken, fantastic! Even better, it is someone who wouldn't have the things in the first place. I am so glad we have been so blessed with what we have, and I am thrilled we are able to help someone else. Thanks Susan for giving me the chance to help someone else out!

Recovery Saga

For those of you who follow the blog and know about my pain in the patoot recovery from my c-section, there is finally good news. I got a fantastic Christmas gift from my doctors. The Thursday before Christmas, I finally got the all clear. The lovely yeast infection that had developed around my 12 week old incision wasn't getting better, so we tried a new tactic. Still, THEY SET ME FREE!!! No more going to the doctor every week. No more finding someone to watch the kids every stinkin' week. Then, on Christmas Eve, the last little bit had completely closed. Forget all the "stuff" people give and get for Christmas, I got the best one in a while. WAHOO, I am finally back to normal! Time for a Happy Dance.... did you like it? :)