To Hell And Back

It's been a rough week! A rough two weeks actually. It all started with Allison getting sick which ended up being RSV. The RSV then turned into pneumonia.

Emily was sick with an ear infection and really bad cold. The doctor said it may be pneumonia as well but didn't do the chest x-ray because she would be on antibiotics for the ear infection that would kill the pneumonia if she had it.

I was sick with a bad cold which turned into a sinus infection and I am thinking bronchitis as well.

Erik was sick - but wasn't home to share in all our misery so that is good.

It's been rough - especially being the only parent taking care of two very sick kids while I am sick too!

BUT...sunnier days are ahead (well not really - we are expecting rain here) because we are all pretty much better. Today I cleaned the house to rid this house of all the germs and I am excited we can now go out and about for something other than going to the doctor. It's sad when they know you at the valet parking at the hospital and at the pediatric check in. It's also sad when I see the pediatrician more than my own husband!

Looking forward to Easter and to spending time with family this next week!

Green Sickies...

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! I don't know why I love this day so much! I am not Irish. I do however love the color green!

All three of us cootie infested females went to lunch today with my dear friend Trina (who is also sick) and had a nice time! I was mighty glad to get out of the house! However...we are all back home. Thinking everyone was doing better has proven me wrong as I was greeted with fevers and puke a bit after we got back. Sigh.

At any rate...

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!



And...since you can't see Allison...here is her "why do you have me dressed like this and why are you taking my picture when I am sick" photo!

No More Cooties!

Whomever sent the cooties over to attack my daughter...you are on my shit list. Poor sweet baby has had this cold for the past 5 days now complete with vomit, snot (and LOTS of it), a cough that has turned worse, fever (that's gone now), and snot. Oh - did I mention...snot?

She went to the doctor today and was tested for RSV. We should have the results tomorrow. RSV is pretty serious in infants her age so I am hoping it comes back negative.

Despite being pukey and snotty and having this horrible cough - she is still smiling and "talking" a lot. Lord knows that when I am sick I don't think I crack a smile at all until it's gone.

Speaking of gone...hubby is. He's been gone since Saturday and won't be back until next week. Of all weeks to be gone - it's when someone in the house is sick.

Oh...speaking of sick...I am about to be. Yes - that nagging-you-are-about-to-get-sick-and-no-amount-of-Emergen-C-Echinecea-Prenatals-handwashing-and-everything-else-you-want-to-do-is-going-to-work is creeping up on me. Again...while hubby is gone.

The munchkin is doing good - minus some diarrhea (it's not really TMI - so don't crinkle your nose - everyone has it from time to time) yesterday which is cleared up now.

And if you haven't had enough crinkling of your nose and thinking I am providing too much information...here is a picture of the baby. Covered in puke. Believe it or not - I had a huge burp rag covering her when she did this...three times...in a row.
The lighting is poor because when she feeds at her ungodly hour - only a small light is turned on in the room.


So that's what I have been up to lately...and with the way I feel...what I will be up to the next week or more.

This is my new sign I am promoting:

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Day 15
todays challenge: This one is more for me than anything, so you're welcome to take it or leave it. But, the challenge today is to stay off the internet all day long. I'm committing to 12 hours. But, of course you do what's right for you. Remember it's your own personal challenge, these are merely suggestions.



Not too difficult. I managed to stay away from the dang thing almost all day! I find it easy to do this with two small children that need me all.the.friggen.time. Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing?


Day 16
todays challenge: Last week! Okay, todays challenge is a good one. I want you to memorize a quote or scripture that brings you peace. Don't know one? Google some! And when you find just the one, write it down on an index card and carry it around with you all day. Hopefully by the end of the day, not only will you have it in your head...but most importantly, it will permanently be in your heart.



That is my motto that I must remember. When I am stressed - I carry that outwardly and everyone else around me feels it too - only causing the situation to be more stressful. Vicious cycle. Not fun. Trying to work on it. Meh.


Day 17
todays challenge: Write a goodbye letter to someone or something that needs to go from your life. It's not necessarily a letter to be shared or sent, but written only to release your heart from the pain and hold it has on you. Maybe even find a symbolic way to destroy the letter after it's been written. Find a way to let it go.


Honestly, I haven't done this yet. I am going to do it today.

Day 18
todays challenge: Try something new. It can be ANYTHING. Just mix it up today, go wild and crazy.


Sadly...the only "wild and crazy" thing I did was take our youngest daughter to physical therapy for her torticollis. I learned all the "wild and crazy" things we have to do with her around the clock - 24 hours a day. Somehow I don't think this is the "wild and crazy" referred to in this challenge.

Day 19
todays challenge: Ask someone who is really close to you, that loves you a whole bunch, what one of your weaknesses are. {Ask them to to tell you in a LOVING & GENTLE way} Take that information and pray over it...and ask God to show you how to work on it. Do not, I repeat DO NOT, ask someone who does not have your best interests at heart. Because they will just be mean. And that's not the point. We're trying to GROW here.

I already knew the answer but was told:



Day 20
todays challenge: Can you believe it's almost the last day? Here's what I want you to do today....Make a list of all the things you loved about this challenge. Make another list of all the things you HATED. And then ponder why...You'll understand why tomorrow.


Done.

Day 21!!!
Your final challenge....write out what you learned, good and bad. Most importantly, take note of what will be taken with you as you walk away from these three weeks.

So what I learned is that I don't necessarily need Peanut Butter Oreos to get through the day. I am a lot healthier without them and amazingly...the scale moves a lot more without them too! :)

I learned that I need to spend more time with my 2 1/2 year old. It's hard when I am alone with her without help from the husband, but I need to try and do it more than I have been.

I learned to stop and count my blessings each day. When I am overwhelmed I need to remember I am truly blessed. There are others that have it worse than I do and I need to stop bitchin', take a look around and realize I am truly truly blessed.

I learned I REALLY need to work on my negative self talk. It has been a HUGE part of me my entire life (or at least as far back as I can remember). I NEVER EVER want my daughters to feel that way about themselves and I need to work my ass off getting to a point where I knock that crap off. THAT will be a huge hill for me to climb. It also was the toughest part of this assignment.

I learned to stop and just have FUN. When life is about to piss me off - stop and have fun. It is definitely therapy for an aching soul.

I learned going out of my comfort zone and doing things I don't normally do can sometimes bring about great rewards. I strengthened friendships by doing this and boosted my self esteem!

I learned I am not perfect. I never will be. I cannot be there for everyone every second of the day. Sometimes it IS all about me. Most of the time it isn't. But I am who I am. I am not superwoman and I am okay with that.

Now whether this challenge brought about 3 difficult weeks - or just life did - I don't know. It's funny how this challenge happened during some pretty rough times for me. But I am stronger for it. I am thinking more about myself because of it (and no, not in a selfish way - in a healthy way). Life is an ongoing challenge - it always will be. But I am happy. I am truly happy.

Catching Up

Still doing The Challenge. Haven't done so good with some things but have done good with others!

So I left off on Day 10 and it's time to pick it back up.

Day 11: today's challenge: Are you ready for this? NO COMPUTER IN THE MORNING HOURS! I know, I know. {unless of course you are at work...} But only for work purposes. Get off the dang computer and DO SOMETHING. Hey, it could be worse. It could be 21 days!

This was easy. The morning hours were occupied by taking a trip out to San Francisco with the family to the Academy of Sciences. :) YAY for this task falling on a day that literally took me away from the house! :)

Day 12: today's challenge: We all make mistakes. We all need another chance. Today you get that opportunity in regards to these challenges.
It's Do Over Day. Pick one of the previous challenges that maybe you weren't ever so successful at....And try for it again. Practice makes perfect.

Those Peanut Butter Oreos derive from Satan. They are pure evil. They are so hard to stay away from and I caved. On Day 11. YAY for Day 12 coming along and reminding me I can have a do-over! YAY! :)

Day 13: todays challenge: Ahhhh, Friday. Time to unwind and relax. I am ordering you to do just that today. Your challenge is to find a way to relax and DO IT!

Seriously...this is almost getting too easy! I had things I had to do in the morning (like take the baby to the doctor). But I did relax after that because I had no choice. I have a nice case of mastitis - AGAIN - and with a 102 fever - I had no choice BUT to relax! So relax is what I did - in the afternoon and evening! :)

Day 14: todays challenge: Today might be a real challenge for you, because it's uncomfortable. I want you to do something that you wouldn't normally do alone. Go for a walk without your ipod. Go see a movie. Get some lunch at a coffee shop and bring a book. I think it's important to be comfortable being out and about with just ourselves. So give it a shot, see what happens.

Again...easy. Hubby got mandatoried overtime today. I was going to lay around the house with my fever and sore boob and just watch 2 kids. Some moms I know and their kids were all meeting up and I wasn't going to go. For one, I feel like crap. Boob infections aren't fun. In fact they downright suck - this time especially. Plus it's SO hard with me to take BOTH kids out by myself sometimes - especially when feeling like crap. I usually have Erik or my mom or Sister-in-Law or someone to help because it's hard to nurse with Emily not understanding that for 20+ minutes she has to stick right next to me and behave. A toddler sitting still for 20+ minutes doesn't work.

The other issue - it's uncomfortable to meet people I haven't met before. Well...okay. I have sorta met these moms before - but sorta not. They were my online mommy friends. For 2+ years we have been friends online and today those of us that live relatively close all met up. It was AWESOME! I had SUCH a great time! Emily did too! Allison slept but I guess she was happy! Emily came home soaking wet with a huge red smeared heart on her face talking about her new friends. I came home with a lower fever and a huge smile on my face thinking about my "new" friends. It was awesome - it was great - and something I probably would have said no to - even without the boob infection! I am glad I did it!

So now let's see what tomorrow's challenge brings! :)

And Moving On...

So I am moving on from my not-so-good days I have had and taking each hour as it comes along!

This Challenge has kept me on my toes and more focused on the good things in life and on...well...being a better me. Funny how it has done that.

So I had not accomplished Day 7 ON Day 7. In fact, I don't see that I have really accomplished it yet. It was for me to do something nice for a stranger - and to be creative about it. Well...ummm. I failed. I did manage to wave a man who was on a walk with about 5 kids across the cross walk as we waited (and were in a hurry to get the kid home for her nap). That's nice right? I also managed yesterday to play with a little girl at my daughter's tumbling class whose mom was probably about 6 months pregnant. Is that nice? Hmmm. I still need to work on this one.

Day 8 was to do something fun. Dance in the living room. Have a picnic in the park. Go shopping. Just HAVE FUN!

I DID manage to do that! YAY me! :) We went shopping in the morning to Target. LOVE Target. The kid got new sunglasses...



We also bought a much needed clock for our kitchen and the baby got a new piggy bank!

After Emily's nap, we were able to surprise her with a Barbie Jeep given to us by one of Erik's co-workers. She was petrified of it at first. Lots of tears. BUT...after a bit - she LOVED it.



I wish I could show the video but I can't seem to save it to my computer.

Day 9 says: Let's start getting things DONE! You know that to do list that you've been staring at or thinking of for FOREVER? Today you get to tackle one of those tasks that has just not been attended to for quite some time.
You will feel SUCH a sense of relief when it's finally crossed off the list.

I think I am going to do this after I get done here.

Which leads us to today...Day 10: We're almost half way there!!! And with 11 more days to go, we definitely need to be working on patience. Let today's focus be on just that. Lots of deep breaths. Breathe. Patience.

I have a newborn and a 2.5 year old. Enough said.