Christmas Day 2012

We made it!  We actually landed in Minneapolis at 7:45am CST.  Christmas Day is always spent at my dad's and we had a really nice time.  Kolton continued to keep us worried though by refusing to eat or drink anything.  By the time we went to bed we were resigned to the fact that we were most likely headed to the hospital again the next day.  But little man bounced back a little and drank nearly half a glass of milk and ate some french toast.  He still isn't completely back to normal and most of our time is spent pleading with him to eat. His pediatrician called and said his IGA and IGG numbers came back low. Basically his ability to fight off infections is compromised some what.  She told me not to "freak out" or anything and we will  test him again at the end of January.  So I'm just trying to relax and enjoy our time at home. 

Kolton finally grasped the concept of opening presents.  He gets bored after a few but its been really fun to see him rip the paper. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Where are you Christmas?

No, your eyes do not deceive you...that is Kolton sitting in a hospital bed once again.  We ended up getting admitted on Saturday because he continued to throw up and refused to eat or drink.  Ugh!  He slept all morning and didn't care one bit that there were a bunch of gifts for him under the tree.  Thankfully, we were only there for 24 hours and everything seemed to be on the mend.  Then little man threw up again last night.  So our Christmas is off to a pretty rocky start and to tell you the truth my spirit is knocked down a little.  Christmas Eve is probably my favorite day of the year and today seems like any other day.  Then I think about those poor families in Connecticut and feel like a complete asshole for getting all worked up.  We missed my family celebration on Sunday but are hoping to make it back tomorrow; we have a 6am flight.  We just don't know what is the best thing to do for Kolton.  Today he seemed better but still not eating and drinking like normal.  Traveling is always hard on a kid so I hope we aren't making things worse by going!  Merry Christmas!

This was taken Sunday afternoon after getting back...those cute Santa pjs have had puke on them at least 4 times.  I'm starting to think they are bad luck.

Inevitable

I spent most of yesterday puking my guts out!  Mike had to come home to help me out.  He ended up taking Kolton back to urgent care for an IV.  Now he's feeling a little grumble.  Uh oh!

Today was much better only little man still refuses to eat or drink.  His energy is normal so that is good but I just can't understand why he doesn't like to drink.  I try milk, water, grape gatorade, strawberry gatorade, apple juice, and white grape juice.  I'm telling you the kid does not like to drink stuff!  Its so incredibly frustrating.

We are leaving for WI bright and early Sunday morning so Santa is going to make a special appearance this evening ;)  I hope I will be able to post again tomorrow...assuming the world doesn't end in the next few hours!

You Know Its Love

We had another fun trip to KidMed last night!  Kolton got a stomach bug.  It didn't really hit until bedtime but he refused to eat dinner so that should have tipped me off.  After his bath we were sitting in his room chatting and singing songs like we always do when all of the sudden he puked.  I had given him some milk after dinner, which I never do, but since he didn't eat I thought I needed to fill him with calories.  Of course I was in the line of fire so I quickly got us both changed and back in the chair.  I thought it was just a fluke...I was very wrong!

He threw up 6 times over the next 1.5 hours.  Each time the amount of fluid increased.  Each time I foolishly changed our clothes top to bottom. We were sitting on the couch waiting for a call back from the on-call pediatrician when he gave me the sign once again.  I slid off the couch and sat in the middle of my living room while Kolton heaved 3 times.  You know its love when the feeling of warm vomit hitting your chest and rolling down between your boobs doesn't completely gross you out!

Needless to say I didn't wait any longer.  I changed us both yet again and got in the car.  Thankfully I had the good sense to pack yet another set of clothes because he threw up again in the waiting room.  And that is where I got pissed off and I'm going to rant....

While I was getting Kolton out of his car seat an SUV zoomed into the parking lot and two adults raced inside ahead of me.  Turns out it was a mom and her 14 year old son.  We approached the desk at roughly the same time but she was first and asked about getting an X-ray for her man-child that was clearly not in any pain.  Meanwhile I'm begging someone for assistance and was told I was welcome to use the bathroom.  Ok, What?!?!  It's not like my 23 month old knows how to heave over a toilet bowl!

When I emerged covered in vomit the receptionist did little to help besides hold forms for me to sign.  The mom with the teenager had the audacity to roll her eyes at me!  She shooed her son to another part of the waiting room.  And they were sitting in the SICK CHILD AREA, where SICK CHILDREN SHOULD SIT!  Then I had to wait while they got called back.  ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME!!!!!!  I don't know, I guess I thought she would see my situation was a little more dire and let me go ahead of her.  Ugh!

So we were back where we had been just a few weeks ago and Kolton was losing his shit.  I think he definitely remembered because he was crying hysterically while getting his vitals done.  We had to go through the same song and dance about him refusing to drink things that kids normally like.  The nurse practically shoved a piece of ice pop down his throat.  I begged her to stop and had to say over and over he doesn't like that stuff on a normal day, so he's not going to like it now!!!!

He did get anti-nausea medication that helped a lot although he continued to spit up a little.  I was so happy just to get him back home in bed, and shower.  This morning I got to face the piles of laundry I had created all around the house.  The smell coming from Kolton's room was completely foul.  The stomach bug had progressed to diarrhea...awesome!  I've gone through at least 12 diapers today, given two baths, and little man's tushy is so red and irritated.  He's never really had a problem with diaper rash but today the Desitin was in full effect.

Sorry this got so long! Hope all is well with all of you!

Sad

I really have no words for how utterly sad I've felt all weekend.  The shooting in CT is simply vile and evil.  These poor families.  How do you go on?

The night before this happened I was sitting at the mall with Kolton and found myself wondering what I would do if shots rang out.  Because, after all, there had been a shooting at a mall in Oregon earlier this week and this particular mall had its own incident in October (It didn't make national news).  Yet there I sat, looking for escape routes.

After the shooting at the movie theater this summer I wondered how I would ever be able to sit through a movie again.  I went to see Twilight last weekend and I didn't even think about it.  Is it wrong that I didn't?  Or should I believe that the gun man can't take away a simple pleasure like going to the movies?

I have to drop Kolton off at pre-school tomorrow.  We all have those security thingys that let you in the door.  Every week someone shouts "hold the door" or folks go in as you go out.  I wonder if tomorrow morning will be different?  I know I will let go of his hand with a heavy heart.  But I also know as the weeks go by without incident I may forget the weight of all this.

But, it happens to every generation....that moment when you realize that the world is inherently different from the one you grew up in.  It seems  there has always been a price to pay for time moving forward and advances in technology.  So while the world changes for the better it also gets worse because of it.

12-12-12

I saw on the news this morning that couples were rushing to Las Vegas to get married and many C-sections and inductions were planned for this lucky day, 12-12-12.  Well today just happened to be the worst day I have had in recent memory.  I was so distracted and pissed off I didn't really get a chance to figure out what is wrong with my iPhone.  So once again I don't have any pictures to post =(

Last night I noticed that the house seemed raw even though I ticked the thermostat up to 75.  When I went to bed I realized that the vents were blowing cool air.  I woke up multiple times to check the progress and the temp in the house only decreased.  I was fine snuggled in my bed with Sophie but I was really worried about Kolton.  He doesn't really sleep with blankets on yet.  I did my best to cover him and thankfully he slept through the night and then some.  He didn't wake up until close to 9:00.  Still, my day just got worse and worse.

On top of the heat thing Kolton was a bear...he had a 45 minute major meltdown.  He also continues to throw food everywhere and tries to gouge my eyes out every chance he gets.  Then after his long sleep he refused to nap. Sophie accidentally scratched my face and drew blood while we were playing.  I blew a fuse vacuuming with the space heater plugged in and we have so much shit in our garage it was challenging to crawl back to the circuit breaker.  When the heat was finally fixed I decided to seek some retail therapy and go to target with my cranky over tired toddler.  And just as I was driving home thinking about what a shitty day it had been I got rear ended!  WTF!  I was at a stop light so thankfully there was no damage but come on!  Ever have a day where you just look up at the universe and throw your hands up?!?!

Nothing that a glass of Mark West and a little Christmas Vacation won't cure!

Little Trees

Sorry I don't have a photo for you today.  Apparently the only way to free up space on my phone is to get rid of the videos that are taking up too much space.  When I connected my iPhone to my Mac I got nothing.  It didn't sync automatically like I thought it was supposed to.  I think sharing a computer for multiple devices is screwing everything up!  But I need to get it figured out soon because I miss taking pictures of my little man.

So what have we been up to?  I'm trying to just relax and enjoy the holiday season.  I love hanging out by my tree and watching Christmas movies.  I love it so much that I'm not getting much else done.  I'm really close to having all my shopping done but I also feel like there is always tomorrow.  I have to watch it or I'm going to be scrambling!

Kolton did his very fist craft today.  New Years Resolution #1 is to try to do one craft per week with him.  One of the women in our playgroup used to be a teacher.  She had the kids all do that handprint Christmas tree I've seen floating around Pinterest.   He was the only kid that didn't really like it so his tree is really small and doesn't take up much of the paper.  But I love it and I'm going to keep it FOREVER!

Pictures coming soon!

Space Invaders

I don't understand why I was able to take close to 2000 photos with my old iPhone and currently I'm just slightly over 800 with my 4S and its telling me I don't have adequate storage.  I purchased additional storage for $20 and hit my limit again almost immediately.  I must be backing up data I don't care about.  If anyone has any insight please let me know!  It drives me crazy to delete photos from my phone even though I have them all downloaded into Shutterfly.

I was finally able to make it back to the dentist for my permanent crowns.  What a freakin nightmare.  At one point 3 people had their hands in my mouth, plus instruments.  They were all hovering over me with masks on like alien body snatchers.  Ugh!  Personal space people!  A 30 minute appointment took almost 2 hours and by the end of it I was ready to throw down and punch someone.  And to tell you the truth when I was younger I did just that.  I tried to warn them...my dental issues are BAD!

The entire time all I could think  about was I deserved this after what I put Kolton through last week.  In the hospital they strapped him down with a straight jacket while they took a pressure sucker to clean out his nose.  His eyes got real big while he cried and squirmed.  Again, invasion of the body snatchers.  So yeah, I' got what was coming to me!

Afterwards I decided to treat myself to a mani & pedi where my nail tech told me I need to go to the gym.  I think I'll brink my headphones next time.

Cookie Exchange

Nothing has struck fear in me quite like the words that were uttered at play group a couple weeks ago...cookie exchange!  Shit!  I started to sweat.  I quickly proclaimed that my cookies would most likely be store bought.  I was met with a chorus of easy recipes I could try.  OMG, what was I going to do!  I wasn't ready to battle with an oven.  Thankfully, I found inspiration in my MIL's Family Circle magazine over Thanksgiving; chocolate covered pretzel rods.  So easy to do and they went over very well.  Go Me!  You better believe I bought a couple dozen from the store as a back up though =)

And in case you are wondering Kolton is feeling great!  He has a little bit of a runny nose and he coughs here and there but other than that he's totally fine.  Hard to believe just a few days ago he was soooooo sick.  I'm still struggling with feeding him.  But I think that's just him and no longer the sickness.  How long is this picky toddler phase going to last?

Circus Animal

Get a load of this crib!  If you look really hard you can see that there is also a top on it. He looks just like a caged circus animal.

Kolton was born at a Baltimore City hospital.  My monthly check ups were near there as well.  For every appointment...and by the end there were a lot....we had to pay for parking in the ramp.  These suburban hospitals crack me up because you can park right out front!  It feels like I'm stealing!  It also felt like there was hardly a soul there.  We were released Saturday afternoon after Kolton had gone 24 hours without needing oxygen and showed signs of wanting to eat and drink.  He's definitely not 100% but pretty close.

The past week has felt like three.  I hardly know what day it is.  I can't help but think about all the kids that are stuck in the hospital for a lot longer and for serious conditions.  But honestly, I didn't mind the food!  It's waaaaay better than anything I can make!