Hello Again!

Holy cow! It's been almost 2 1/2 months since I've posted anything. Well, if there's anyone left out there that checks this thing, this one's for you! :)

Let's see, what's happened since February. Since then, we've had a trip to the zoo as a family. Aidan and Julien have been to the Science Center. It warmed up and then it got cold again. Then it got hot, like 90 degrees hot. Then it snowed. Then it rained. And rained and rained and rained. I try to look on the bright side and think of the savings to my water bill since I don't have to water the flowers. Flowers! My flowers have come up! My tulips were beautiful, although I lost one over the winter. Then my peonies, lilies and irises came up too. The peonies and irises will be blooming soon. I was very happy to see everything I transplanted from Iowa survive the winter and thrive. My grandmother would be pleased to see her flowers doing well and back in Missouri soil.

We've painted the livingroom and kitchen since I've been away. We added board and batten treatment to the livingroom. It was A LOT of work but so worth it. My neighbor told me it looks "right out of a Pottery Barn catalog" which I took as a huge compliment. I'm not very good at design and decorating so pulling this off was a big coup for me. Julien was a huge help and very good sport about it all. I told him the next time I ask him to paint a room he won't mind as much because there's no way it could be more work than that was! :)

April brought my grandmother's 90th birthday and her big party. I was very glad the kids and I could be a part of that. My grandmother is such an inspiration. She's sharp as a tack, very active, and in great health. I hope I can be half as healthy at half her age. I have such wonderful memories of going to her house, playing cards, and of course kringlas and lefse hot off the stove.

April also brought a trip to Texas for a good friend Kevin's wedding. Another friend, Mikey, drove down from Iowa and then we were off to Texas in the van. Drove through a nasty storm in Arkansas, made fun of the names Texarkana and Arkadeplhia, saw some really backwoods parts of east Texas and LOTS of donut shops, but made it in one piece in about 12 hours. The wedding was beautiful and we had a great time. Hard not to enjoy a wedding that serves BBQ at the reception. :) It was fun to see the boys together. In my mind I can still see them as 18 year olds with no responsibilities or direction and then now, to see them as grown men, all married with families no less, is quite the sight. I guess we all grow up eventually, don't we? While we were gone the kids came down with quite the bug. Both had bad coughs and fevers making them sick for a week. It's the sickest Olivia has been. When she lays on the couch and falls asleep, you know something is wrong. We're finally back to good health, minus some coughing here and there. Unfortunately the weather and their fevers managed to get in the way of Easter egg hunting and we were forced to do it in the house and miss out on the other two hunts we were supposed to go to. The kids still had fun and liked their baskets. Hopefully next year will be better.

May will be a busy month again, as if there were any other kinds. We have trips to Iowa, music festivals for the kids, the end of preschool for the year, and who knows what else to look forward to. Hopefully somewhere in there will be the planting of a garden and maybe even work on a deck. *Fingers crossed* I'll try to keep you posted. :)

This Week in the Ross-Boon House

As one person gets well, another bites the dust. Julien's allergies are out of control the last couple days. Poor guy, he looks like he got socked in the eye as it's all swollen. On the other hand, Olivia seems over her cold now. She hardly coughs and generally seems more happy. She's back to eating with a vengeance. She's downing 7 ounces on average and will sit for half an hour in her highchair and eat cheerios happily. She gets half of them in her lap but the other half actually make it to her mouth. She's getting pretty good at feeding herself. We also found out this week that she likes carrots. Who knew? Aidan hated them and still doesn't really eat them. Green beans she can do without, but if it's orange she likes it.

Today was gorgeous so we spent as much time outside as possible. After lunch, we played in the back yard. Olivia promptly rolled off the blanket and into the grass. Aidan freaked out the first time he touched grass. Olivia was fascinated. She kept running her hands through it. We went back out after nap time. Olivia even went down the baby slide, with help. She was a little confused about what was going on. But, she loved watching the big kids play. Aidan would stay outside all day long if he could. This weekend is going to be rainy and cold. Yuck. Seems a little unfair that the week would be nice and the weekend would be crappy. Oh well. I have a lot to do in the house this weekend, so at least I won't be distracted.

My Craigslist adventures have been pretty successful. I sold the cradle, car seat, breast pump, and some maternity clothes. I've decided to take a bunch of kids clothes, the rest of my maternity clothes, and some toys to a consignment sale. So, I have to hang everything up, make sure everything is clean, and that all the batteries work. I also have to price everything and tag it. So, guess what I will be doing this weekend? I've been able to get hangers from some friends and that has helped a ton. I'll really hoping this sale will go well so I can add to the playset fund. I should be about half way there. This sale won't get me the rest of the way, but I'll be close. I can't wait!

Here We Go Again....

You know how I said in the last post that everyone was well again? Scratch that. Olivia has been suffering with a cold for about 10 days now. It seems like she's coming out of it now but this weekend was hard on her. She was so tired that she took 4 naps a day instead of 2 and still slept through the night. She's back to playing and laughing and eating so I think we may avoid the doctor's office this time around.

Things have been busy. Olivia has been doing new things and growing like a weed! She now sleeps through the night although, she isn't a sound sleeper like Aidan. She'll lose her pacifier or cry out for a minute for no reason. But she sleeps 7p-6a usually. Sometimes she's up earlier than that, which I am not a big fan of. She's also going from laying down to sitting by herself. And she's getting on all fours now too. She'll scoot forward a little bit but no real crawling yet. And no teeth yet. Aidan was 7 mos when he got his first one but, no teeth so far. But she's got more hair than he did at this point. It's really come in, and it's finally growing in the back too. It's still darker than Aidan's. I think it may stay that color for a while. And if her eyes stay blue, she'll have such striking looks. Even if her hair and eyes change color, she'll still be a looker. :) What are the odds we'd have two blue eyed kids though?? Crazy!

Aidan and I are still active in playgroup, or as active as our schedule allows us to be. Unfortunately, the leader of the playgroup had some issues with some members and an email war broke out. It has really disappointing to see that grown women couldn't keep a playgroup civil and resolve our issues as adults and be good examples for our children. So, it broke up and ended up turning into two groups. The positive side of this is that we were able to form a new group that shares responsibility and we were able to find a way to run the group without dues. (Cause issues always come up when money is involved and when one person is put in charge.) Another plus was being able to see who people really are by their reactions (or overreactions) to the situation. Nowadays, I have no time for other people's nonsense. Life is too short. I'm glad that our friends were able to roll with the punches and that we were able to stick together. I'm looking forward to hanging out this summer. As well as Aidan is doing in school, I'll be glad when he's out for the summer. I think we'll be doing two days a week next year, especially since he'll have a whole other year after that due to his late birthday.

I've been gearing up to get rid of a lot of the baby stuff and clothes that have accumulated in the house. The infant car seat and extra base went on Craigslist last week and were sold and gone in less than 24 hours. Awesome! I put the cradle on today and in 20 minutes had two emails about it. I'm hoping I can get it sold and gone in a day or so. I'd like to get rid of the big stuff now and maybe have a garage sale for the clothes. I'd like to do a consignment sale but I missed one already and I don't think I'll make the next one coming up. There's one an hour away but I don't know if I want to drive that far. There's an outdoor sale at a local high school coming in May but it's rain or shine. I'd rather have a garage to hide in if it rains. I thought about the local consignment store but I'm not a big fan of it. Not well organized and way over stocked. I'd like to get as much as I can from all this stuff as the money I earn from it will go towards the playset fund. If I can get the cradle sold, I think I'll be half way there. Very exciting!!

Well, we all have trips coming up soon to get ready for. My parents' anniversary is coming up as is my Dad's last day at work! Woohoo! And the annual St. Patty's day feast at my house! Yum! The house will smell so good on Wednesday. I'll let you know how it goes. :)

Back to Normal

You'll all be happy to know that everyone is now well in the Ross-Boon house! :) Olivia was the last one to fully recover. Everyone has returned to school and work, life has returned to normal. Thank goodness.

Aidan has been doing great at preschool. Every week he brings home a "letter page" where he traces the letter of the week. I've noticed a real improvement lately. His Vs and Ws were really good. It's amazing to see the pieces start to come together for him. He has a lot going on this month at preschool too. We have Easter parties and parent events for preschool and playgroup coming up. And St. Patty's day too. Can't wait for that! I'm already planning my annual St. Patty's day feast! Corned Beef, cabbage, carrots and parsnips, potatoes, and soda bread. Yum! Then we have my Dad's retirement coming up and a trip up to see them hopefully sometime soon. So lots going on. Thank goodness we're all well now so we can get started.

Olivia is feeling better. So good in fact, that at 5:45 this morning I was woken by the sound of her babbling loudly to herself. And I mean LOUDLY. Even when I eventually took her downstairs, she was so loud that Julien could hear her up in our room. She has definitely found her voice. She's also getting close to going from laying down to sitting up all by herself. She also gets up on her hands and knees while in her crib, but for some reason, not any other time. I imagine it won't be long before I see her doing that everywhere. I got the convertible car seat out and cleaned the cover up. I can't wait to get her in it and be done with the pumpkin seat forever. :)

We're also anxiously awaiting the arrival of spring and warm weather! I have so many plans for the yard and flowers again. I still have to get and transplant my Grandmother's flowers. Julien has plans for the backyard again so more grading and mess. I'm still hoping a playset will appear in my backyard something this summer too. Even if the patio waits until next year, which it probably will, the playset would be a huge help. I can't wait to get started on it all. Come on warm weather! We're ready!

A House Full of Sickies

The stomach flu is going around and it has officially hit our house. Olivia threw up Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Saturday, in bed right after I laid her down, and Sunday, while I was holding her. Lucky for me I pointed her away from me and not at me. However my carpet was not as lucky. Also she's had the nastiest diapers I've ever changed. Let's just say we've been changing outfits pretty regularly. I knew it was a matter of time before Aidan got it too. Monday he went to school and seemed like he felt pretty good. By Monday night, he was miserable. However, on more than one occasion, we've commented on how Aidan is not a puker. He's done it once and it was very small. He didn't even spit up much after 6 months old. Kid has an iron stomach. (Kinda like Mommy. :) ) Well, he threw up twice Monday night. Fortunately we were able to realize what was about to happen and get him to the bathroom in time. For Aidan to get physically ill, you know he's really sick. He even woke up at 4a crying cause he had thrown up a little on his blanket and wanted new jammies too. Since then his tummy seems to have settled. Today, he got up before me and went and laid on the couch waiting for me. (Which is weird. He's never done that before.) I got him to eat a piece of toast and drink some water, then set him up with one of his dinosaur movies. He barely moved. Then at about 10:30 he asked to go to his room and lay down. And there he's been since sleeping away. While he's been napping I took the opportunity to sanitize a bunch of toys, doorknobs, light switches, clean bathrooms, and wash laundry and bedding. I hope I can get rid of some of the germs and maybe save us some misery. It doesn't hurt to try. Olivia's mood has been better today. She's drinking her bottles pretty well and she's busy playing and babbling. But we can't seem to get over the diarrhea. So far, no signs of dehydration so I'm not sure what else I can do. I'm hoping that it will start to clear on its own. As for poor Aidan, I don't see preschool happening for him tomorrow. Even though he'll make the whole 24 hour free rule, he's just wiped out right now. I really hope Julien and I don't go down next. But if we do, we better not get sick at the same time. That would be a nightmare.

Dueling Ear Infections

Remember how I said that Olivia had fluid in her ear? Well, by Friday morning she wasn't much better and, on top of it, Aidan woke up saying his ear hurt. So off to the doctor all three of us! Nice of them to coordinate their schedules and be sick at the same time. Saved me a trip. :) Sure enough, Aidan had an ear infection just getting warmed up in his right ear. (Once again he was right. I always listen to that kid when he says his ear hurts.) And Olivia's left ear was infected too now. So, antibiotics for both. It's kinda nice that at least one of them can take his medicine by himself using a medicine spoon. We spent the day trying to recoup and waiting patiently for Nana and Grandpa to arrive. Aidan loves it when they come to play. He even got them to himself Saturday afternoon as they took him to the Magic House. It was a nice break for us. We don't ever have a chance to be together just Olivia, Julien and I. Not since the hospital when we were all getting acquainted. :) Besides Nana and Grandpa coming to visit, the neighbor and I went to a spa party at my friend Sam's house. Nothing better than beauty treatments and a nice adult beverage. Then there was the Super Bowl of course. The Walters joined us for the game, ribs, wings, and chips. It was my first time making ribs that didn't involve a crock pot. Even though it took all day, they were awesome. The toffee brownies I made were way easy to make and were awesome too. We enjoyed the game more than the commercials for the first time and the team we were rooting for won. All in all, a good day. :) Now, Nana and Grandpa have left, were eating leftovers, and still recovering from ear infections. Strangely enough, I've noticed Olivia sleeps better when she's sick. Is that strange? This week is Valentine's Day parties and a four day weekend for Aidan from school. Oh, and the "snow storm" were supposed to get tonight. A whole 3-5 inches predicted. I highly doubt we'll even get that. It may sound weird but, I'd kinda like a big snow that keeps us in the house just once. That doesn't happen much here, yet every time they call for snow they act like it's the big one. You can only cry wolf so many times Weatherman! Now bring on the snow!

Runny Noses and Grumpy Kids

My poor kids. Last Thursday they were fine, healthy, and happy. Friday was the preschool holiday party at which, I noticed Aidan had a runny nose. Well, it all went downhill from there. By the time Nana and Grandpa got here, both kids were congested and draining. By the time Saturday got here, poor Olivia couldn't sleep on her back so she slept in her car seat for a couple days. Saline nasal spray really seemed to help her as did the humidifier. Monday she seemed a lot better and I thought we'd dodged a trip to the doc. Aidan was much better on Sunday too. But like his little sister, his congestion has returned too. So, benadryl, a humidifier in his room, and that mentholated soap in his bath have been in order. They all seem to help but he hasn't kicked it yet. His poor face got chapped from all the wiping but even that seems improved since a little aquaphor and lip balm. The drainage is making him cough a little in the morning but that seems to be the only time. I think he only has a cold and there isn't much that can be done. Olivia, I'm not sure. She had a fever Saturday night but it broke with tylenol and didn't return. She isn't sleeping at night very well and has been a cranky pants today. She has fought sleep. Poor thing, on top of it all is still battling those teeth. Although I see white on her bottom gums, nothing has come through. And I see a lot of white. I think it's really bothering her which creates a problem for me. Which is it really? Is it a cold and possible ear infection or it is teething which won't improve until those puppies come through? Not to mention the fact that Christmas is days away and we are to be traveling eventually. Ugh. I really thought we had dodged the doctor but I made an appointment for Olivia tomorrow morning. I'll give her one more night but somehow, I don't think she'll sleep any better. It's going to be a long night. I just hope the doctor has some ideas about how to help the kids out.

What a Weekend!

What a weekend! Friday night was my Moms' party for playgroup. What a fun night! We had drinks, played games, and talked until late. It was so needed for all moms who were able to attend. I love my fellow playgroup mommas. I'm so glad I found them after we moved here. Saturday morning I got my hair cut finally. Boy did I need that. Should probably do it more than once every 6-7 mos. I love the cut and it feels so much better! Saturday night was Julien's party for work. It was a lot of fun too. We played Scene It and I tried not to dominate too much. ;) I can't help it if I have a knack for useless trivia. But, we had a secret santa exchange and I now have salad serving spoons, and really nice ones too. And Julien got a 6 pack. Do they know him or what? Nana and Grandpa watched the kids for us. Poor babies have colds. Aidan seems to be doing better than Olivia. She had a rough night and ended up sleeping in her car seat so she could breathe. She's congested, has runny, goopy eyes, and had a fever last night. Luckily the fever is gone and saline drops have helped a lot. But I think we may have to go to the doctor just to check. This is the first time she's been sick and I don't want it to go to her ears. She's been sick since Friday so I feel like she's suffered long enough. I don't know yet if Aidan will be going to his last day of preschool before Christmas break. I may take him with to the doc. We'll see how he feels in the morning after some Claritin at bedtime. His poor face is chapped from having a runny nose and wiping it all the time. I have a feeling though, that it will be a long night for Olivia. She did sleep til 2am last night but had some problems after that. I was hoping for a relaxing week but I don't think that's going to happen. Oh well. Maybe next time. ;) Wish us luck!

Aidan's First Sick Day

Friday, Aidan woke up with a fever, no appetite, and a need to be clingy. No preschool for him. We only made it a week and a half before he had a sick day. Oh well. So, I called the doctor and made him an appointment. Olivia's been congested all week and Julien had strep last week so I figured it was a good idea. Turns out he has an ear infection. She checked Olivia since she was there too and Olivia looks fine. She said just to ride out the congestion and keep up with the vaporizer and elevating the head of her mattress. Poor Aidan complained his ear hurt off and on all Friday. But he slept better on Friday night. Thursday night was a rough night for Aidan. He didn't sleep well and he wet the bed. But, the first dose of antibiotic seemed to perk him up a lot. He's been so excited about Uncle Adrian coming too. He can't wait to play with him. So, the holiday week begins for us today. Nana and Grandpa are coming soon and then Turkey Day! Hopefully we'll all be healthy for it.

Runny Noses

My poor little girl did not sleep well last night. She woke up frequently due to congestion. You could tell today that she didn't get a lot of rest. This morning her nose started to run a bit and her eyes were watery. Throw in her drool and she was kind of slimy today. Poor thing. I'm not sure if it's just a cold or if teething has something to do with it too. I really do think she's teething. I know Julien probably thinks I'm nuts but I see two ridges on her bottom gums and she is drooling a lot lately. Anyway, she was a sleepy girl today. And she didn't eat a lot at one sitting but ate often. She did a little better tonight before bed. She was happy to see Daddy too as she cuddled up with him and slept on his belly. He thought she felt a little warm so he took her temp and it was 99.8. So we gave her some tylenol, put a vaporizer in her room, and got her ready for bed. Funny enough, she only cried for a few minutes, 5-10 tops, then she passed out. I don't know if the sleep training deserves the credit or the tylenol and cold does. Either way, both my kids are in bed and quiet by 9p and that's awesome!

Doctors Frustrate Me Sometimes....

Last week, my nieces Emma and Sophie came for a visit and sightseeing. Aidan had a great time and we did a lot in three days. I will eventually blog about all of that. Things are pretty hectic right now. Julien left for a business trip on Monday, the day we left to take the girls back to Iowa. That's also the day that Aidan started running a fever and got sick. There seems to be a pattern of Aidan getting sick and Julien going out of town. So, we made it to Iowa on Monday in one piece. We stayed Tuesday as Aidan really wasn't up to traveling, and left for home on Wednesday. Thursday we went to the doctor. Unfortunately, our normal pediatrician wasn't available in the morning so we saw the other doctor. Nice guy but I knew as soon as I was leaving the office that he was wrong about his diagnosis. Call it mother's intuition. He said Aidan had a virus and there wasn't anything he could really do. As for his cough, try honey. In my opinion, I thought that was pretty weak. Against better judgement, I didn't say anything and took Aidan home. So when the fever wasn't gone today either and Aidan wasn't making any progress, I called the office again. Just my luck, our doctor is out today. Great. So I leave a message for the other one that I had no confidence in at this point. So I wait for a call. And wait. I'm getting frustrated. So I call and make an appointment so Aidan won't miss an opportunity to be seen if he needs to be. Good thing I did, cause the doctor didn't call until an hour before our appointment time and asked for me to bring Aidan in anyway. I have to wake Aidan up for this appointment which makes us both mad. Aidan has not been sleeping well and he was actually sleeping for once. When we walk in the office, Aidan is clinging to me like a rag doll and looks terrible. He has drainage coming out of one eye and his temp is going back up. At least the doctor will see what I see at home, I think. Even if Aidan is miserable maybe the doc will figure it out. We see the doctor and guess what? His right ear is terrible today. The doc seems surprised. Guess who isn't? That's right, me! We end up getting an antibiotic which is what I knew we needed yesterday. Sometimes I think male doctors don't listen to moms as much as female doctors do. Our normal ped. is a woman and she always asks me if he's following his normal pattern of when he's sick, how is this different? If he had asked me the same, maybe I would have had the medicine yesterday and we'd be a day closer to a healthy boy. Cause right now, I can't wait for him to get back to normal. To say I'm at my wit's end would be an understatement. Not only am I caring for him alone, after a busy week with my nieces and little time to recover, doing a lot of driving back and forth to Iowa, but I'm also fighting off a bug myself that my buddy probably shared with me. I can't wait for Julien to get back from Phoenix (which is where he went after his business trip) and to get some help and some rest. Julien says that I'm getting a couple days off when he gets home. We shall see....

Hive Update #2

Today is the last day of Aidan's antibiotic. He seems completely recovered from the strep. I called the doc on Monday and she said to use benadryl every 6 hours for the hives. And guess what, it really helped! They were improving on Monday but, by Tuesday they were on his legs only. And they were faint and fading at that. I think we are finally well. He's playing and eating (a ton!) as usual. We even went to Monkey Joe's to play with Gabi and Joey and their friends on Tuesday. Monkey Joe's is an indoor gym full of inflatables, like bounce houses and stuff. They have one that is a huge slide that the older kids loved. Too big for Aidan though. So he tried a littler one. He tried and tried to climb up steps of the slide and after much effort made it to the top. Then, he came whizzing down the slide and promptly told me he wanted to go home. Ha! Too much excitement I guess. We played for an hour and then had lunch at the only Panchero's in Missouri. (Mommy wasn't going to take no for an answer from Aidan. Luckily he thought the place looked cool and had a quesadilla.) Aidan fell asleep on the way home, too much excitement. Looks like we will make our Valentine's Day party on Friday after all! Yay! Maybe we can do something fun if the weather holds out this weekend. I'm just so glad that he's healthy again. It was a really rough week.

Hive Update

We started the new antibiotic but the hives are still here. I guess it wasn't the medicine but the strep after all. On one hand, that's nice to know he's not allergic to it. On the other, who knows when the hives will go away. After reading online about them, we've done everything we can to make him comfortable. Baking soda baths, loose clothes, gentle soap, calamine lotion when he let's us. I guess we will have to wait it out. At least the fever is gone. I'm really looking forward to Aidan to be healthy again.

A Long Week for my Sickly Buddy

What a long week. Ugh. Poor Aidan has been so sick. First, the fever that yo-yoed all week. Then 3am Friday morning, he woke up with a temp of 104. Luckily, some Motrin and cold compresses helped and in 30 minutes his temp went down a whole degree. But, I also noticed he had hives on his face and neck. As his fever went down, the hives got lighter though. So, ER trip averted. Off to the pediatrician's in the morning. In the morning, Aidan was bushed and not happy about being looked over. He was especially unhappy about the swab for the strep test, which came back positive. The doctor warned that strep can cause hives in children, hence the hives the night before, and especially if they are sensitive like Aidan seems to be. Which , I did not know and found was good information to have. We went home with a prescription for amoxicillin, a sticker and a bag of goldfish (from the doctor's office.) Aidan was so wore out, he feel asleep in the car. After the first dose of medicine, Aidan looked better, had more energy, and the fever was gone. I thought we were in the clear. We went to bed and that was that for Friday.

Then, Saturday morning happened. Julien got up with Aidan and immediately brought him to me. (Saturday is my morning to sleep in.) He was covered with big, red hives. He had never had anything close to these. The back of his neck looked like a big sunburn and it was swollen. His right eye looked like it may swell shut as it had a big hive above and below it. Soon they spread and he had them all down his back, on his arms, and even on his bootie. His ankle got swollen and red from a big hive on it. We gave him benadryl right away. Nothing happened. I thought, it could be the strep, he needs his antibiotic. Halfway through giving him his dose, I happened to be reading the info card that came with the medicine to see that hives are a sign of allergic reaction. Next to that it said in big letters- CALL YOUR DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY. Great. So, a call to the office's exchange to page the doctor. Since both things could be the cause of the hives, it's almost impossible to say which it was. Out of caution, the doctor called in a different antibiotic to use to be sure. Other than that, the hives will go away when they go away. So, all day Aidan looked like he lost a fight. He played and whined like normal. But, I felt so bad knowing there was little I could do and I couldn't make the hives go away. Tonight he started his new antibiotic. And the hives on his face started to lighten and a couple went away too. Hopefully tomorrow he can actually leave the house. Today was a beautiful day and he had to spend it cooped up with us. Keep your fingers crossed that he continues to improve tomorrow. He has to be tired of being sick. Lord knows I'm exhausted from it.