The saga continues...

Hudson had an ear checkup this morning and the results were not as I had hoped. At our last visit, the doctor said his left ear was "acutely" infected. Evidently, all those little germs and what-nots are so comfortable in there, they just don't want to leave. So, he has an appointment with a pediatric ENT and also an allergist in the beginning of March.

Along a different line, I took Reed to Cool Cuts to get his hair cut today. He hates to have his hair cut and if I take him to a salon, he ends up crying.  Every time I ask him, he tells me that he wants me to do it.  I am no cosmetologist and the outcome of our little styling sessions is the shortest buzz cut the little hair guard will allow. I wanted his hair to have a little more "style", so I talked him into Cool Cuts where the kids get to watch TV or play video games during the actual haircut. I told the stylist that I wanted it a little longer on top and she said "So you can spike it?" Yeah, right. I have NEVER been able to spike his hair. She said "You're not using the right stuff. Let's see what we can do." Reed was playing games the whole time and didn't pay any attention to what was happening...until I told him to look in the mirror. I think the shock of his hair looking different didn't sit too well. He would barely talk to me! On the way out to the car, I said, "Do you not like your hair?" In a tearful voice he said "I don't like my hair sticking up like this! It's all pointy!" I told him that a lot of his friend had "pointy hair" and that he looked so cool. He gave me a look that said No dice, lady. He was mad for about 45 minutes until he made the realization, all by himself, that his pointy hair looked like the points on a dinosaurs back and then he was fine with it. Anyway, here's a picture before he decided that he wanted to be a stegosaurus when he grew up...

Maybe they will be my new speed dial?

Who is "they" you ask?  Sadly, they are Poison Control.

Hudson has a bad habit of putting everything in his mouth.  Yes, I know he's a baby and babies do put stuff in their mouth, but he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth. When Brian empties his pockets at night, he puts all of his change on his nightstand. If Hudson goes in our room, he is constantly putting pennies, dimes, and nickels in his mouth.  Amongst the many things I have recovered from his trap - buttons, small toys, bottle caps and lids to various other items.

This morning Brian took Reed to a swap meet, so it was just me and Hudson at home.  Reed is usually Hudson's tattletale, and since he wasn't here, I have to discover all of Hudson's messes all on my own. :)  I was in my bedroom doing laundry and I heard a rattling noise.  I came into the living room and saw approximately 20 ibuprofen spread around my fat little baby on the living room floor.  I yelled "Hudson!" which scared him and the crying began.  I stuck my finger in his mouth and swept around luckily finding nothing but at the same time thinking he already swallowed something.  I started to pick up all the pills and put them back in the bottle, the crying became louder and more forceful since I rudely took away his new rattle.  I immediately called Poison Control and told the operator what had happened.  I told her that I don't think he swallowed any pills because of the short time he was in the room alone.  She told me that because of his age, his gag reflex would most likely prevent him from swallowing and if anything, he probably would have chewed on them.  After discussing it with her and not finding any evidence of residue in his mouth, I had decided he hadn't swallowed any pills and I was feeling much better. Anyway, according to his weight, he would have had to swallow 9 of them for it to hurt him and there's NO way he could have swallowed 9!  Thank goodness for my fat baby! :)

As this whole thing was happening, I couldn't help but think of my friend Stacey whose daughter has an actual file at Poison Control.  I'm pretty sure that if that were the case with one of my children, I wouldn't be dying my hair because I liked the way the blond looked...it would solely be to cover up the gray. :)

Thankful Thursday

• Babysitting services provided by my parents. I had 2 mornings that I got to sleep late this week...TWO!!  I missed my boys, but it was also like I had a mini vacation.  
• A piece broke off of one of my teeth this week, so I had to go to the dentist (a shout out to your dad, Amanda - best dentist ever!)  The good news is I'm not dying, but it sure did feel that way for a while!  Which leads me to my next thankful thing...
• Hydrocodone.  Good stuff.
• My Macbook.  Mike got me, Sara and Susan one for Christmas and I absolutely love it. With the kids being gone and me on some pain meds for my tooth, I've laid in bed and been able to do my e-mail, my blog, my facebook, etc.  I LOVE it.
• My husband.  I hope you people don't think it's a cop out to be thankful for my husband every week and if you do, I don't care.  :)  I am thankful for him every day - I'm very lucky to be married to my best friend.

Happy Valentine's Weekend to me!

Hudson had a fever off and on this weekend and there was also a couple of puking episodes. He had a slight fever this morning, but he seems to be doing the best he's been so far. When he feels bad, he tends to be quite the momma's boy, so I spent most of the weekend in the recliner with a chubby little baby on my lap. The good news? I'm married to Brian! He brought home dinner last night and Saturday night so I wouldn't have to mess with cooking anything. He also came in with these Saturday evening...and one of the sweetest cards that's he's ever gotten for me. I've felt so frumpy and icky lately - you moms know what it's like when you're 'nursing' a sick kid - pajama bottoms and sweatshirts have been my best friend. :) Although we didn't go anywhere and didn't make a big deal out of Valentine's Day, it was still special to me. Brian made it special for me by remembering to make me feel special.

Brian, thank you for a great weekend. I love you!

One of my "Thankful Thurdays" has turned into...

...Fretful Friday.  Why, you ask? Everything is going so well!  Whatever could be the matter?  Well, I took my sweet little pudgy baby to the doctor this morning. I put him to bed about 8:00 last night and he cried off and on which is normal for a few minutes.  Last night, he would cry and right about the time I decided I needed to go get him, he would stop.  When he was still crying here and there about midnight, I got him out of bed and he had a fever.  I gave him Tylenol and a bottle for good measure.  I went ahead and put him in bed with me because his eyes were wide open and I'm pretty sure the sight of his crib would have caused more tears.  You could tell when the Tylenol kicked in - he was rolling and flopping around on the bed, smiling at me like he'd won some fabulous prize 'cause he was hanging out with mom in the middle of the night. Mind you, I hadn't been to sleep yet at this point, so I was tired and ready for the baby gymnastics to cease.  Finally, about 1:00 or so, he got still and we both fell asleep.  I woke up when Brian came to bed at 1:30 and put Hudson in his bed.  He woke up about 7:45 this morning...with a fever. When my kids have ear infections, Dr. Simpson usually requests they come back after 10 days to check their ears.  I think in all of the hullabaloo of our last doctor's appt. (with the added craziness of a waiting room FULL of other children) she just forgot to schedule it. When he had the fever this morning, I had a sneaking suspicion that his ear infections were back.  Low and behold, not only are his ears infected, but they are worse than last time and his left ear is "acutely" infected.  He has had the best attitude and was only mildly whiny yesterday giving me the idea that he was just tired (he had taken a shorter nap than usual).  He is such a good baby, I couldn't even tell anything was wrong until the fever hit.  He's been increasingly fussy today and just plain feels crummy.  So we're back to 10 days of antibiotics and lots of Motrin & Tylenol.  Please send up a quick prayer for my sweet little one!

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for:

• Children that are well. No one is coughing, needing breathing treatments or asking for medicine. It's been GREAT.
• Being able to go back to the gym. I've worked out three days this week and although I wouldn't say it's been fun, it's been nice to get out of the house and get back into my routine.
• My mom watching the boys today so I could go to Fort Worth. I had some errands to run and was able to go to 3 stores, childless, and do a little shopping. Quietly. It rocked.
• My crock pot. I threw some chicken in and some other various items this morning before I left and dinner will be ready at 6:00. Seriously, whoever invented the crock pot is, in my humble opinion, a freakin' genius.
• My husband. He's not only a wonderful man, he's generous, funny and loves me (and the boys) with all that he has. I'm a lucky gal, that's for sure.

Boys Night In

This is what I found when I came from bunco on Tuesday night....Hudson asleep, Reed playing games on Brian's iphone and Brian watching TV. :)

Dinosaurs are WHAT?

Reed  went with my mom and Brandon to the dinosaur park on Friday and they had a great time.  (You can see my mom's post about it here.)  When they got back, he was telling us with all his 4 year old wisdom why dinosaurs weren't around anymore.

"Well" he said, in all seriousness, "dinosaurs are distinct." 

Funny kid.

Mike just sent me some pictures he took of Hudson yesterday. I just had to share - what a cutie!

Our little monkey

Today we celebrated Hudson's birthday. I have called him "monkey" pretty much from the day he was born, so I thought the monkey theme would be fitting. :) I found these cute plates and cups on the Internet and planned the party around those colors. Most of the monkey stuff I could find leans toward the jungle/palm tree theme, so it wasn't what I wanted. So I bought paper and supplies in turquoise, yellow & chocolate brown and made a lot of the decorations including the birthday banner, giant picture "confetti" for the tables, etc. It was a little more work than I had anticipated, but turned out much cuter than what I would've bought at the store. (As my friend Amanda has said in her blog, "It's much more fun to make than to buy!" Amen, sister!)

Anyway, here are some fun pictures from the day:

The Birthday Boy

(sorry, but this is the best picture I have of him in his cute monkey shirt!)

The cake

The Smash Cake. It didn't take long to turn from this:

to this:

Happy First Birthday Hudson!!

Thankful Thursday and Happy Birthday

Not only is today Thankful Thursday, but it is also my sweet baby's first birthday. So here is my birthday edition just for my precious Hudson!

• I am thankful Hudson is healthy. Ten fingers, ten toes and as perfect as can be. I thank God every day for giving me not only one, but two healthy boys.
  
• I am thankful for the great disposition Hudson has. He has always been an awesome baby - he slept through the night at 2 months (like 8-9 hours). He cries only when he's hungry, tired, doesn't feel good or if Reed steals his favorite toy of the moment. He loves to snuggle and be held. He is a joy.
  
• I am thankful for his smiles. He has a silly smile that he makes where he flashes a huge grin and throws his head back as to say "Check me out - I AM the cutest thing ever."


• I am thankful for his sweet baby babble. When he grows out of it, I will miss it immensely. I wake up in the morning to a string of unintelligible words over the baby monitor that happens to be the sweetest thing ever. (Reed never did that. As soon as his eyelids would flip open, he screamed like a banshee until I got him out of his crib.)


• I am thankful that I have had such a good first year with him. I have really enjoyed all the "firsts" that we have been through. He is my little monkey and I love him to pieces!

I am NOT bored...

I always tell Reed to never say he's bored. If he does, I give him something to do. He never likes the task (cleaning his room ,etc.) so I can probably count on one hand how many times he's told me he's bored. Do you all remember my last post and how I said I was bored? Well, God has taught me a little lesson.

I left the house this morning at 8:45 to take both boys to the doctor. They are both still coughing and I wanted to get Dr. Simpson to check Hudson's ears to make sure the infections are gone. Our appointment was at 9:15. I knew there was still some residual ice outside on our porch, so I asked Brian to carry Hudson to the car for me. Good thing, I slipped on some ice, fell and hurt my wrist. (I'm fine now, it just hurt at the time.)

Susan offered to meet me at the office to help with the boys. We waited about 30 minutes and they took us to the examining room. Dr. Simpson came in and after hearing about her trip to Washington DC for the inauguration (maybe I would've cared more if both boys weren't sick), we got on with it. I told her what was going on and she asked if I had called last week about Hudson. I said yes I had, but she wasn't there. She asked if I called her cell phone. I said no, that the nurses referred us to the urgent care clinic or Cook's so I took him to urgent care. She said (in almost a hurried, strained voice) "They didn't give him steroids, did they?' Ummmm, yes... Then she said "That doc is giving out steroids like candy. It's fine for adults, but I don't know why he's giving them to all these kids." This is the point where I proceeded to tear up and cry. Dr. Simpson said "Oh, no, don't feel bad - it won't hurt him, but it just didn't do anything. It may have made a slight improvement, but it didn't fix anything." Fan-freakin-tastic. Glad I spent $140 on a visit to urgent care & medicine that we didn't need. Needless to say, my children will not be going back there. So, the doc examined him and said that not only did he still have both ears infected, but whatever started his coughing is viral (never heard that from the clinic doc). Hudson's pulse-ox. was supposed to be above 95 and it was at 88, so they decided to give him a breathing treatment. And that was just a barrel of fun. By the time it was over, I was sweating from trying to fight his little body to keep the mask over his face. On the other hand, he sounded GREAT after we were done! So, we were sent home with a nebulizer machine and antibiotics for both boys (Reed also had an ear infection). You would think that would be enough for a morning...

We drove to Brian's shop to get my cell phone that I had forgotten and then back to CVS. I thought this would give them plenty of time to have the medicine ready. We went in and I picked up some things we were low of (juice and such). Went to the pharmacy and low and behold "We don't have anything for you - nothing has been called in." SERIOUSLY? I called the doctor's office, the nurse said they had called it in, but they would fax it over also. This was at 11:30 or so. We walked around a little more. Hudson wanted out of his stroller to walk. He had to touch everything and tried his best to reach that goal. By this point, all three of us are hungry and tired. A little boy that we saw at the doctor comes in and sits beside us and he and Reed were so much alike - it gave me a glimpse of what it would be like to have twins (Thank you Lord for knowing my limits!). They played and laughed. Time wore on...I was becoming very annoyed and then they finally called our name. I had a basket full of stuff, so I just paid for the meds and took the rest up front since the line was so long behind us. So, I'm paying for the juice, etc. and Reed says "Mom, I need to go to the bathroom." Without even looking at him, I said "You'll just have to hold it." We paid, got in the car and the clock said 12:46... OH MY GOODNESS!!!

So, it's Thankful Thursday, right? This is the best I can do.

• I'm thankful my doctor is back.
• I'm thankful the breathing treatments worked so well for Hudson. We just did another one and he didn't hardly fight me at all.
• I'm thankful I didn't yell at anyone at CVS. It was certainly a possibility.

And Lord, point taken. I am no longer bored. :)

It's official...

...I'm bored. I have been out of the house 2 times since last Monday - once to take Hudson to the clinic and today we went to Sonic.  That's it.  On the upside, since we have been home so much the last few days, the house is clean. Laundry is done, beds are made, floors are vacuumed, and "Swiffered", bedrooms cleaned, clutter put away bathrooms cleaned and tonight's dinner has been planned.  Well, if I didn't have kids with coughs (still), I'd go somewhere! Oh, wait...it's 32 degrees outside!  Grrrr.   

Yum Yum!

We had ravioli tonight for dinner.  I think Hudson enjoyed it.

Thankful Thursday

I was going to title this post "When it rains, it pours" but decided to give it a positive spin and make it my Thankful Thursday.  Hudson woke up coughing this morning and it has been quite a day. Here goes.

• I called Dr. Simpson, the boys pediatrician, this morning to make an appointment. The nurse told me that she is on the medical team for the inauguration and won't be back until Tuesday. Um, okay.....  So, she said they are referring all patients to the urgent care clinic. So, I am thankful for our urgent care clinic.  The doctor was very nice, had a great bedside manner and made me feel very comfortable. I wouldn't hesitate to take either of my children there again.
• The clinic doesn't take insurance, but I got receipts and such so I could file with our insurance company.  I am thankful that we have the resources to pay for the clinic and it is not a worry as to how we will get the money.
• Turns out, Hudson has croup, ear infections and the beginnings of an upper respiratory infection.  Yippee-skippee.  I am thankful for a competent doctor who genuinely cared about the well-being of my child.
• We waited at CVS for almost 40 minutes for his three different medicines. I am thankful I am able to go into a store and get medicine.
• Reed is feeling much better.  I am thankful that Brian is willing and able to watch him at the shop so I could concentrate of Hudson at the clinic.

What a day - but boy, I am thankful!