In The Hospital

Most of you are my friend on Facebook so you saw that Kolton was admitted to the hospital last night with RSV.  He hadn't eaten or drank anything substantial in 48 hours so besides the IV fluids from the night before I wasn't really sure what he was running on.  He was EXHAUSTED and slept most of the evening.  He even fell asleep on the procedure table after they inserted his IV.  But don't get me wrong my little fighter put up a BIG fight before going down for the count.  Through out the past week multiple doctors and nurses have commented on how strong he is.  We are so proud of that!!!!  But, it makes handling him on my own quite difficult sometimes.

I actually went home to sleep while Mike stayed the night.  I figured there wasn't any reason why both of us should be there.  I'm not going to lie, leaving went against all of my Mommy instincts.  However, I had been through the ringer myself the past few days and really just wanted to sleep and take a shower.  When I went back this morning around 8:00 I expected to find a happy, smiley, little guy.  What I got was the lethargic version that scared me a little.  Mike said they had a rough night and that Kolton's oxygen levels had dipped too low multiple times over night sounding an alarm.

He spent most of today, from 9 am to 3:30pm, sleeping on my chest.  When he finally woke up I got the smiles I was hoping for!  He even drank a little bit of milk and ate a few crackers.  So while we've definitely turned the corner we are going to stay one more night.

I can't believe it got this bad!

Pushing Fluids

Today was not such a good day.  Kolton refused to eat or drink anything.  I spent the entire day offering different types, flavors, and textures.  So, we ended up at KidMed for 3 hours tonight.  He got a 1/2 bag of IV fluids and another nebulizer treatment.  They told me they were on the fence about admitting him.  Thankfully we were sent home but I might end up sleeping in his room tonight.

Kolton is so picky that he doesn't drink things like Gatorade & Juice on a regular basis.  He also refuses popsicles and ice cream.  So when he is this stuffed up and milk just isn't appealing there is nothing left to hydrate him besides a little water here or there.  Its really hard trying to explain this to the doctors when they tell me to push fluids.  Do most kids just like that stuff automatically?  Its sometimes hard to tell if I miss the boat on some obvious mommy things or if my kid is a little weird.

Ho, Ho, Homecoming

My dad

The Holidays!  I can't believe Thanksgiving is over already and we are now on to Christmas.  I also can't believe we will be back home in WI again in just under 4 weeks.  We always look forward to getting home and seeing family.  But as Mike hilariously stated when we finally got home around 12:00 am this morning... there is nothing quite as wonderful as getting to sleep in your own bed after a long trip away.

Kolton has a terrible cold.  I'm actually not 100% sure he ever fully recovered from the ear infection.  He is so congested he chokes on the phlegm.  The last few nights have been anything but restful for him.  We went back to the doctor today for more antibiotics and a nebulizer.  My poor little guy.  I have been relatively laid back because his energy has been up but today he slept most of the day and was down again by 7:30.  Then there was this hilarious moment at the airport last night....we sat down to eat at Ike's which is kind of an upscale burger place (BTW, the Minneapolis airport is awesome) I was feeding Kolton applesauce when he started to gag (again from all the phlegm) and he ended up throwing up the applesauce on his pants.  It wasn't too gross so I just wiped it off.  As Mike and I settled in with our burgers he proceeded to eat his mandarin oranges.  Can you guess what happened next?  Yup, those suckers came back up too, all over his sweater.  I haven't carried a change of clothes for him in a long, long, time and all of his clothes were checked in my suitcase.  But, like I said, the MSP airport is great so I was easily able to find him a $20 T-shirt to wear home!  It's moments like those that all you can do is laugh and hope for the best.  He slept from take off to touch down.

Even with little man feeling like crud earlier in the day we were able to sneak in a trip to the Mall of America so Kolton could see Santa. I was anxious for other people to be with me instead of doing these little holiday traditions on my own.  I also really, really, miss that place.  It was simply 'the mall' to me and I took it for granted.   On a Monday afternoon there was no line to sit on the big guy's knee =)

Hope your holiday season is off to a happy, and healthy start!

Behind

 

I'm pretty sure I've gained at least 5 pounds in the last 3 days.  Holy Moly!  I don't know about you but I can wait another month before eating mashed potatoes again.  And now that Thanksgiving has been over for 48 hours I'm already feeling behind in Christmas preparations.  Every year I tell myself to get a jump on things and every year I fail to do so.  Mike and I did manage to get some shopping done today.  It was nice to be able to buy gifts without worrying about shipping them back.  I also just ordered our cards, so hopefully I can get them out in a timely manner.  We will be here in WI for a couple more days before I can dive into getting the tree up at our place.  Um, it is still November right?

 

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

It is a little bit of a shame that Thanksgiving kind of gets swept up into the whole Christmas Hoopla.  Thanksgiving is the opening act to the main event.  It doesn't quite stand on its own.  But it is definitely a time to reflect on what is good in our lives.  This year I am thankful for my healthy, happy, almost 2 year old, precious, still my baby, light of my life, little boy.  Plus my sweet as pie, apple of my eye, still my baby too, little bestie, Soph-A-Loaf.  I'm also thankful for the fact that Mike seems to have found his stride at this new company, maybe things will work out for the better!  And that we can afford to fly back home for both holidays this year.  I'm all packed but I never did get my tree up.  Oh, well!

So, I buy this ridiculously expensive dog food for Sophie.  She is picky and this is the only combo she will eat.  She eats Merrick dry food mixed with those little Chef Michael's canned soft food.  They are nearly $1 a can!  To stretch things out I try to use only 1/2 a can for each feeding.  I'm in either Target or the grocery store so much that I usually always pick up a few cans just so I'm not spending a ton at one time.  ANYWAY---  This week at both Target and Petco I found a random coupon stashed in with the cans.  Some coupon crusader must be going around stashing unwanted coupons for other people to use.  I laughed out loud when it happened the second time.  Thank You Coupon Crusader where ever you are!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!!

Girls Weekend!

Mike sent me this photo a few minutes after I left.  Don't you just melt!?!?  My baby was still looking for me.  What a cutie.  This weekend was wonderful filled with a lot of heartfelt girl talk that was so desperately needed.  Now that we are old, we didn't get too crazy or anything.  But we did go out to two amazing dinners which is my favorite thing to do anyway.  And the boys survived with ease.  The hubby's kept texting us pics as if to provide photographic evidence that everyone was still alive!  Of course, like any good weekend, I needed to day to recuperate a little =)

Hard to believe we are going to be flying back home in just a couple of days.  I don't know why but I feel a compulsive need to have my house clean before I go anywhere.  I wish I felt that way on all days!  But I think the thought of coming home to a messy house is just a little gloomy.  I'm also contemplating putting up our Christmas tree before we leave.  Suddenly, I have so much to do!  Hopefully I'll have a little pep in my step tomorrow.

Quirky

Every neighborhood has its quirks.  In Baltimore it was the old guys who sat on the corner everyday.  Our first Richmond place was like a retirement community. At this new place nobody walks their dogs!  Since the day we got Sophie we realized what a social advantage having a dog is.  Its easy to meet and chat with your neighbors when you are all out with the doggies.  But here, I don't see a soul!  I honestly don't understand.  I can't imagine that people don't have the little fur-babies.  And I definitely hear them barking when we are out on our walks.  So where is everybody????

I'm off to a girls weekend; leaving tonight and coming back Sunday.  I might even have to go to campus for a late AOII meeting too.  That Means Mike and Kolton will have some quality alone time.  I think (hope) they are going to be just fine.  But this will be the first time in quite a while that I won't see my little man for a full 24 hours.  As much as I know I'm going to miss him I also know I desperately need this girl time!