Nathan woke us up not feeling well on Monday night. I thougth it was just a cold but it was the first time he has ever told us that his throat hurt. We did all the usual things for a cold and took shifts sitting up with him (around my pumping) and made it through the night. Tuesday afternoon Mom gave me a call that Nathan woke up from his nap crying with a barking cough! Very concerned, we went to the doctor that night and found out Nathan has croup.
The dr. said he knew right away from the cough that sounds like a seal barking for it's dinner. And he was right, that's exactly what Nathan's cough sounded like.
He had been doing breathing treatments all day which I'm sure helped a little. The dr. gave him two antibiotic pills in the office and sent us home with one for the next night and a package of pulmicort which was double the strength he is used to. We were to use that each night. The dr. also told us to expect it to get much worse at night and he would probably be up most of the night coughing. We weren't looking forward to that!
We made pretty good time and were home about 8:30 pm. James rushed Evan off to bed (or so he thought) and I got Nathan ready for bed. One dose of Dimatap before bath, a nice warm bubble bath, breathing treatment with the new meds and then a trick that Mary Nell from work told me about. I put Vicks on his feet and then socks. The vaporizer was already humming and a vicks plugin was working when we got ready to do stories. James came in during stories with a very awake Evan! When the floppy game started for Nathan, I took Evan, made another bottle and sat in the recliner with the really soft afghan that Julie's Mom had sent us. About 12 ounces of milk later and Evan was finally asleep.
We collapsed into bed a little after 11 pm expecting to be up again all night - I was thrilled to wake up at 4 am to pump and find that everyone was sleeping soundly (even James was snoring!).
Not sure exactly what did the trick - if it was all the medicines, the vicks, a very elevated bed, or the nosespray that James gave Nathan. But we were so grateful for a good night's sleep. So very grateful that we repeated the routine last night and here I am at 5:30 am pumping and everyone is asleep! Evan woke at 1:15 am wanting another bottle, but aside from that all went well.
We'll try the routine again tonight but we are out of antibiotics. So, I'm not sure what did the trick, but we will definitely keep trying the vicks. I actually found two sites on the web suggesting it and Mary Nell had sent me one of those circulating emails that said how good it works. Somethng is helping us sleep with the croup!
Now my prayer is that Nathan gets well soon and Evan does not catch it! But for now everyone is enjoying sweet dreams!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Drowning
If you haven't heard me say it lately, I think I'm drowning again. It's my most common state of existence these days. Overachiever me is constantly creating new projects (this blog, a million photos that need correcting and loading to winkflash, new ebay sales) and time seems to be flying by (next week is Thanksgiving - when did that happen, I've been looking through photos for 5 minutes and 20 minutes have already past). My head is spinning - The house is a wreck, the kids need my attention, the cats are meowing and leaving hairballs everywhere, I need to steam/puree/freeze more food, is it time to pump again already!
Another weekend has come and gone. Here's a brief update because I need to finish this during my lunch hour or it won't get done:
Evan is eating better - he actually ate plums, apples and acorn squash over Saturday and Sunday without too much of a fight. Mom found that if you tap his nose he opens his mouth which is a big help. I also got a few times when Evan looked at me and opened his mouth like he was really eating. No sour faces and he's spitting out less of the food now. Maybe we are on our way!
Nathan and Evan had a fun weekend playing together. Nathan wants nothing more than to play with his little brother and he shares his toys with Evan so well! I just hope it lasts. Its fun to watch them running around the house.
Nathan is also becoming such a good helper. He even gave Evan a bath one night at Grandma's house. They both had fun and he did a really good job!
We made it to church again which I think might make 3 weeks in a row. Evan had fun in the cry room and really enjoyed watching Pete on the TV. Nathan loves his new class and really enjoys the big room that they get to run and play in. We are making it a habit of letting Nathan run around the room after we pick him up from class.
So, we had a lot of fun but didn't get much done this weekend. But it's all good - as long as I come up for air once in a while! :-)
Another weekend has come and gone. Here's a brief update because I need to finish this during my lunch hour or it won't get done:
Evan is eating better - he actually ate plums, apples and acorn squash over Saturday and Sunday without too much of a fight. Mom found that if you tap his nose he opens his mouth which is a big help. I also got a few times when Evan looked at me and opened his mouth like he was really eating. No sour faces and he's spitting out less of the food now. Maybe we are on our way!
Nathan and Evan had a fun weekend playing together. Nathan wants nothing more than to play with his little brother and he shares his toys with Evan so well! I just hope it lasts. Its fun to watch them running around the house.
Nathan is also becoming such a good helper. He even gave Evan a bath one night at Grandma's house. They both had fun and he did a really good job!
We made it to church again which I think might make 3 weeks in a row. Evan had fun in the cry room and really enjoyed watching Pete on the TV. Nathan loves his new class and really enjoys the big room that they get to run and play in. We are making it a habit of letting Nathan run around the room after we pick him up from class.
So, we had a lot of fun but didn't get much done this weekend. But it's all good - as long as I come up for air once in a while! :-)
Friday, November 14, 2008
Butter me up!
I love winter, but it sure is hard on my hands. My skin has been super dry this year with all the pumping and it just tends to be dry anyway. This time of year usually sends me running to Origins for their chocolate lotion (now discontinued) or their ginger lotion or anything with Shea Butter.
Well, Mom stumbled across a new Aveeno lotion that has shea butter!!
She tried it out on the boys and I liked it so much I went out and bought some too. Much cheaper than Origins lotions and really great! I have been using it on Evan and Nathan for about a month now and I can see a and feel a real difference! I was surprised. Their skin is super soft and the rough spots on Evan are now gone! Nathan’s bumps are also decreasing on his arms and legs and his face is looking better! I am really surprised at the difference. And this is only using it once a day right after baths!
So, if you have dry skin check this one out. It costs a little more than just generic cheaper brands, but far less than fancy designer places like Origins. I would say it's worth every penny!
Well, Mom stumbled across a new Aveeno lotion that has shea butter!!
She tried it out on the boys and I liked it so much I went out and bought some too. Much cheaper than Origins lotions and really great! I have been using it on Evan and Nathan for about a month now and I can see a and feel a real difference! I was surprised. Their skin is super soft and the rough spots on Evan are now gone! Nathan’s bumps are also decreasing on his arms and legs and his face is looking better! I am really surprised at the difference. And this is only using it once a day right after baths!
So, if you have dry skin check this one out. It costs a little more than just generic cheaper brands, but far less than fancy designer places like Origins. I would say it's worth every penny!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Making Memories
We had a lot of fun this weekend - we packed in as much as possible and then I sent off two very tired boys to Grandma's house this morning. I am hoping they will nap well!
Another part of me would say it was also a pretty poopy weekend - that would be the "poke back" part!
We started Saturday with grocery shopping. I had Evan in a new sling because we washed and dried my favorite one a few weeks ago - they shrink in the dryer. Well, my new one is either a little smaller or I didn't get Evan in very good because he was pretty snug, but he also wasn't squirming so I went with it. The grocery store was pretty warm and I thought we were just building up some sweat, until I felt under the sling and realized no, that kind of wet isn't from sweat. I had not realized that Evan pooped and it went all directions in his diaper - thanks Evan!
Evan did get the best nap Saturday afternoon so I sent Nathan and James off with the wagon to the creek and across the street to see the new horse. I got peas and sweet potatoes steamed and did a little cleaning!
Sunday we actually got to Church and even arrived early! Yeah us! Nathan had a lot of fun in his class and was so happy to see us. When we asked him what they did in class he said "We talked about God again."
After church we went straight home to make lunch. While I was making manwhich and James was helping, Evan and Nathan actually played together! I was having so much fun watching them and was busy cooking that I didn't think to grab the video camera and only got a couple of photos. Evan was in his walker and Nathan was running around the kitchen and dining area - running laps! He would pass through the kitchen where Evan was and Evan would take off after him as fast as his little feet could go. The house was full of squeals, rattly walker wheels and the sound of the walker bouncing off the walls and furniture.
Of course, Nathan was so fast he would take off as Evan followed and then be around passing Evan again in a few seconds. Evan was doing his best to keep up or at least keep moving and they were both having such a great time! It was a vision of things to come and children to dodge when working in the kitchen. Finally Nathan got tired or wanted to change the game and climbed onto one of the cat perches where Evan couldn't reach him. That's when I thought to grab the camera. Nathan then turned into a swimming cat while on the perch! You can see in the photo that Evan's feet are just going!
After lunch it was off to the library. We haven't ever taken Nathan to the library but he's gone a few times with Grandma for story time. Grandpa bought Nathan some little dinosaur toys on Friday and of course I couldn't remember any of them so we decided to check out a book on dinosaurs. While we were there we also got a few books to have for the bedtime. It was a little frustrating because I couldn't find books like we have at home and most of them were longer than Nathan really has the attention span for.
We weren't in the library long when James pointed out that I had stains all over the front of my shirt. I had trouble feeding Evan at lunch time and must have gotten his barley and yams all over me when I picked him up. Of course I didn't notice before we left and there was nothing I could do about it then.
Evan slept in the stroller until another mom came in talking way too loud to her kids and had to stand right next to me and the stroller. Evan was awake before I could get away from her so I pulled out the sling to try to keep Evan quiet. I didn't really think through the whole take a baby to the library idea...Once in the sling, James and Nathan took off to find dinosaur books and Evan and I went in search of something we could check out. I finally found two Miss Spider books we didn't own and a Rollie Pollie Ollie book.
That's about the time I started feeling moist again...great. Just a little more to add to my colorful shirt. Thanks again Evan!
After the library we went to Dairy Queen for ice cream. Once there I was really mad I didn't bring the camera because Nathan was hilarious with his ice cream! We asked for a bowl and spoon in case Nathan had trouble with the cone. He was so excited to have ice cream and took the cone right away when we got to a table. And tried to bite the bottom end off! We had to stop him because of the paper wrapper and then showed him to start at the top. He enjoyed it but I could tell he was a little disappointed, so I took the paper wrapper off and told him to eat it anyway he wanted to. Nathan took it back and bit right into the side of the cone where you hold it! Not what I would have done, but okay. After a few minutes of watching him try to work around the ice cream and get to the cone, I asked if he wanted to put the ice cream in the bowl and he did. Then he enjoyed eating on the cone and using the spoon to eat the ice cream in the bowl. That's when it got funny!
They gave us a really long handled spoon and if you've had Dairy Queen soft serve, you know it's pretty thick - not dense like custard but firm. Nathan would stick the spoon into the ice cream and try to lift it out which would bend the handle over the side of the bowl. We thought sure he was going to shoot glops of ice cream everywhere like an ancient medieval rock launcher! When the spoon finally let loose from the ice cream, a few droplets when up in the air and landed on the table. By then James and I were giggling hysterically while Nathan was seriously trying to eat his ice cream! We tried to help him with the spoon, he managed to eat the whole cone and only lost one small glop that few into the air but we never found where it landed - I thought sure it was in my hair.
So, although my clothes suffered a little this weekend, the boys had a blast and we couldn't ask for much more than that!
Another part of me would say it was also a pretty poopy weekend - that would be the "poke back" part!
We started Saturday with grocery shopping. I had Evan in a new sling because we washed and dried my favorite one a few weeks ago - they shrink in the dryer. Well, my new one is either a little smaller or I didn't get Evan in very good because he was pretty snug, but he also wasn't squirming so I went with it. The grocery store was pretty warm and I thought we were just building up some sweat, until I felt under the sling and realized no, that kind of wet isn't from sweat. I had not realized that Evan pooped and it went all directions in his diaper - thanks Evan!
Evan did get the best nap Saturday afternoon so I sent Nathan and James off with the wagon to the creek and across the street to see the new horse. I got peas and sweet potatoes steamed and did a little cleaning!
Sunday we actually got to Church and even arrived early! Yeah us! Nathan had a lot of fun in his class and was so happy to see us. When we asked him what they did in class he said "We talked about God again."
After church we went straight home to make lunch. While I was making manwhich and James was helping, Evan and Nathan actually played together! I was having so much fun watching them and was busy cooking that I didn't think to grab the video camera and only got a couple of photos. Evan was in his walker and Nathan was running around the kitchen and dining area - running laps! He would pass through the kitchen where Evan was and Evan would take off after him as fast as his little feet could go. The house was full of squeals, rattly walker wheels and the sound of the walker bouncing off the walls and furniture.
Of course, Nathan was so fast he would take off as Evan followed and then be around passing Evan again in a few seconds. Evan was doing his best to keep up or at least keep moving and they were both having such a great time! It was a vision of things to come and children to dodge when working in the kitchen. Finally Nathan got tired or wanted to change the game and climbed onto one of the cat perches where Evan couldn't reach him. That's when I thought to grab the camera. Nathan then turned into a swimming cat while on the perch! You can see in the photo that Evan's feet are just going!
After lunch it was off to the library. We haven't ever taken Nathan to the library but he's gone a few times with Grandma for story time. Grandpa bought Nathan some little dinosaur toys on Friday and of course I couldn't remember any of them so we decided to check out a book on dinosaurs. While we were there we also got a few books to have for the bedtime. It was a little frustrating because I couldn't find books like we have at home and most of them were longer than Nathan really has the attention span for.
We weren't in the library long when James pointed out that I had stains all over the front of my shirt. I had trouble feeding Evan at lunch time and must have gotten his barley and yams all over me when I picked him up. Of course I didn't notice before we left and there was nothing I could do about it then.
Evan slept in the stroller until another mom came in talking way too loud to her kids and had to stand right next to me and the stroller. Evan was awake before I could get away from her so I pulled out the sling to try to keep Evan quiet. I didn't really think through the whole take a baby to the library idea...Once in the sling, James and Nathan took off to find dinosaur books and Evan and I went in search of something we could check out. I finally found two Miss Spider books we didn't own and a Rollie Pollie Ollie book.
That's about the time I started feeling moist again...great. Just a little more to add to my colorful shirt. Thanks again Evan!
After the library we went to Dairy Queen for ice cream. Once there I was really mad I didn't bring the camera because Nathan was hilarious with his ice cream! We asked for a bowl and spoon in case Nathan had trouble with the cone. He was so excited to have ice cream and took the cone right away when we got to a table. And tried to bite the bottom end off! We had to stop him because of the paper wrapper and then showed him to start at the top. He enjoyed it but I could tell he was a little disappointed, so I took the paper wrapper off and told him to eat it anyway he wanted to. Nathan took it back and bit right into the side of the cone where you hold it! Not what I would have done, but okay. After a few minutes of watching him try to work around the ice cream and get to the cone, I asked if he wanted to put the ice cream in the bowl and he did. Then he enjoyed eating on the cone and using the spoon to eat the ice cream in the bowl. That's when it got funny!
They gave us a really long handled spoon and if you've had Dairy Queen soft serve, you know it's pretty thick - not dense like custard but firm. Nathan would stick the spoon into the ice cream and try to lift it out which would bend the handle over the side of the bowl. We thought sure he was going to shoot glops of ice cream everywhere like an ancient medieval rock launcher! When the spoon finally let loose from the ice cream, a few droplets when up in the air and landed on the table. By then James and I were giggling hysterically while Nathan was seriously trying to eat his ice cream! We tried to help him with the spoon, he managed to eat the whole cone and only lost one small glop that few into the air but we never found where it landed - I thought sure it was in my hair.
So, although my clothes suffered a little this weekend, the boys had a blast and we couldn't ask for much more than that!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Not Quite Ready to Party
Well, it was an eventful weekend and the boys are worn out! We started with Halloween on Friday, a party for Julie on Saturday and ended with grocery shopping and naps on Sunday.
My inspiration Julie was in town this weekend and we got to see her at a party at a friend's place. She looked beautiful and it was so nice to see her smile and hear her laugh! I've been missing her so much! It was also a fun party because I knew most of the people who came - all also friends from work who I really love. It was nice to see them with the boys and James and get a chance to talk outside of work. I wish I could have spent more time talking with Julie, but I knew there wouldn't be time for that. There were so many people who wanted to spend time with her and we had never been out with the boys at someone else's place.
We got there right at 5:30 and I had hopes for a good visit. Evan had two really good naps but Nathan had not napped at all. He seemed fine, not too tired or too hyper. Well, Nathan started bouncing off the walls as soon as we arrived so James had to try to keep track of him. Then other friends of Julie's started to arrive with their kids and Nathan just got more wound up! He was really happy to see Julie, she had come to the house a couple of times so Nathan knew her, but he surprised me how much he wanted to play with the other kids. A few of them were also 3 yrs old which was nice. I worried just a little about how he was behaving but kind of tried to take cues from the other Moms as to whether he was doing okay. James did a great job taking care of him and keeping track of him.
I was on Evan duty. He started out well in the sling but too soon became just overstimulated with all the people and activity. That poor little head was just whipping around everywhere trying to see everything and then he started the headbutting on my shoulder. He was tired and ready to go and we just arrived! We did our best and he was soon struggling to get out of the sling. So I abandoned it and tried to keep him quiet and as calm as possible. I was soon sad to realize that he is just still too young for that kind of excitement but I knew everyone would want to see him. I spent the evening torn between wanting to be a part of the party and needing to get the boys home.
It was fun to see Ruth, Debbie and her kids Ryan and Lauren. It was also fun to "show off" the boys. I tried to take some photos for Julie and for the family scrap book. This was our first party out as a family! It wasn't until we left that I realized just how brave we had been to go on this adventure so calmly. It was hard to enjoy the party, the people or pay attention to anything with the boys there. I was constantly focused on Evan who was struggling in my arms and alternating between talking and crying. And then one eye was trying to keep up with Nathan and James. I was concerned that James might get frustrated with Nathan and not have any fun at the party. Every glance told me he was just trying to keep up.
But I got to talk with everyone just a little, eat even less, drink nothing and we finally left at 7:30 so I could pump in the car on the way home. My pumping was so messed up all day and now Daylight Savings Time was threatening to complicate things even more.
We got in the car, all ready to go and Nathan burst into tears. He had shown Julie his lizard (which was a big hit at the party) and his biplane but we completely forgot to show her the scorpions he had brought in the toy bag. It was too late to go back but James had a great idea that we could send Julie a photo of him with his scorpions - which we still need to do! Soon we were on our way. Nathan was calmed down, Evan had passed out and I was pumping while James quickly got us home. Evan woke up all too soon so I sent James and Nathan out to look for bugs while I tried to calm Evan back to sleep in the big reclining rocker upstairs. After Evan passed out, James got Nathan to eat come food and gave him a bath. He had eaten two small slices of pizza and 4 cookies at the party. Not enough food for him and way too much sugar! We finally collapsed at 11 pm (oh wait, make that 10 pm - thanks DST) at the dinner table to eat something ourselves and I pumped. There was a college game being replayed so I spent the hour ignoring TV and reading a magazine.
Evan woke up twice before I went to bed, once in the middle of the night and again around 5:30 am. Church was definitely out and we did our best to get Evan some naps and let Nathan have some fun on Sunday. I think we did okay. I got some food steamed for Evan and he's doing better at eating solids. Still doesn't like them but not protesting nearly as much.
It's 1:55 am and I need to get back to bed. I am praying that the boys sleep through the night. Especially Evan. My pumping is still a struggle and not going well so I really could use a few nights were he doesn't wake up wanting more milk.
My inspiration Julie was in town this weekend and we got to see her at a party at a friend's place. She looked beautiful and it was so nice to see her smile and hear her laugh! I've been missing her so much! It was also a fun party because I knew most of the people who came - all also friends from work who I really love. It was nice to see them with the boys and James and get a chance to talk outside of work. I wish I could have spent more time talking with Julie, but I knew there wouldn't be time for that. There were so many people who wanted to spend time with her and we had never been out with the boys at someone else's place.
We got there right at 5:30 and I had hopes for a good visit. Evan had two really good naps but Nathan had not napped at all. He seemed fine, not too tired or too hyper. Well, Nathan started bouncing off the walls as soon as we arrived so James had to try to keep track of him. Then other friends of Julie's started to arrive with their kids and Nathan just got more wound up! He was really happy to see Julie, she had come to the house a couple of times so Nathan knew her, but he surprised me how much he wanted to play with the other kids. A few of them were also 3 yrs old which was nice. I worried just a little about how he was behaving but kind of tried to take cues from the other Moms as to whether he was doing okay. James did a great job taking care of him and keeping track of him.
I was on Evan duty. He started out well in the sling but too soon became just overstimulated with all the people and activity. That poor little head was just whipping around everywhere trying to see everything and then he started the headbutting on my shoulder. He was tired and ready to go and we just arrived! We did our best and he was soon struggling to get out of the sling. So I abandoned it and tried to keep him quiet and as calm as possible. I was soon sad to realize that he is just still too young for that kind of excitement but I knew everyone would want to see him. I spent the evening torn between wanting to be a part of the party and needing to get the boys home.
It was fun to see Ruth, Debbie and her kids Ryan and Lauren. It was also fun to "show off" the boys. I tried to take some photos for Julie and for the family scrap book. This was our first party out as a family! It wasn't until we left that I realized just how brave we had been to go on this adventure so calmly. It was hard to enjoy the party, the people or pay attention to anything with the boys there. I was constantly focused on Evan who was struggling in my arms and alternating between talking and crying. And then one eye was trying to keep up with Nathan and James. I was concerned that James might get frustrated with Nathan and not have any fun at the party. Every glance told me he was just trying to keep up.
But I got to talk with everyone just a little, eat even less, drink nothing and we finally left at 7:30 so I could pump in the car on the way home. My pumping was so messed up all day and now Daylight Savings Time was threatening to complicate things even more.
We got in the car, all ready to go and Nathan burst into tears. He had shown Julie his lizard (which was a big hit at the party) and his biplane but we completely forgot to show her the scorpions he had brought in the toy bag. It was too late to go back but James had a great idea that we could send Julie a photo of him with his scorpions - which we still need to do! Soon we were on our way. Nathan was calmed down, Evan had passed out and I was pumping while James quickly got us home. Evan woke up all too soon so I sent James and Nathan out to look for bugs while I tried to calm Evan back to sleep in the big reclining rocker upstairs. After Evan passed out, James got Nathan to eat come food and gave him a bath. He had eaten two small slices of pizza and 4 cookies at the party. Not enough food for him and way too much sugar! We finally collapsed at 11 pm (oh wait, make that 10 pm - thanks DST) at the dinner table to eat something ourselves and I pumped. There was a college game being replayed so I spent the hour ignoring TV and reading a magazine.
Evan woke up twice before I went to bed, once in the middle of the night and again around 5:30 am. Church was definitely out and we did our best to get Evan some naps and let Nathan have some fun on Sunday. I think we did okay. I got some food steamed for Evan and he's doing better at eating solids. Still doesn't like them but not protesting nearly as much.
It's 1:55 am and I need to get back to bed. I am praying that the boys sleep through the night. Especially Evan. My pumping is still a struggle and not going well so I really could use a few nights were he doesn't wake up wanting more milk.
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