Wow, what a weekend we've had!

In my last post, I said that my mom got sick and how I'm such a phobic about it. Well, Lauren ended up getting sick the very next day. She threw up all night long. It was horrible. By the next morning she seemed to be doing better but she was real tired. She didn't really want to play, just wanted to watch cartoons. She told me she wanted some lunch so I went into the kitchen to make her something and before I could even get the bread and cheese out, she was fast asleep on the living room floor.

Saturday, she seemed to be doing even a little bit better. We went to Walmart and did a little bit of shopping. The kids each got gift cards and were just dying to use them. When we got home, it hit her again. She just wanted to lay on the couch and watch tv. All of a sudden she says she needs to throw up. Oh man!!! Here we go again. So I made the decision that she needed to be seen by a doctor. We went over to urgent care and they got her right in. They did a strep test and a urine dip. She's got ANOTHER urinary tract infection! We caught this one in the beginning so she wasn't even feeling it. I asked the doctor if the vomiting was associated with the UTI and she said that more than likely it was. I didn't know that could happen, but now I do.

They increased her antibiotics for the next 7 days (I hadn't been giving her any because she was throwing up) and gave her something for the nausea. 30 minutes after she took the nausea medicine, she was up playing like nothing was wrong.

Last night, we had Sean's birthday party (which was called off Saturday night because of Lauren, then it was back on after she took that medicine LOL). I had 3 little boys running all over my house making the biggest racket you'd ever heard. Sean was in heaven! If only I had half as much energy as they do.......

By midnight, I had had enough and told the boys it was time to turn on a movie and go to sleep. I went to bed.......

At 5:00 this morning, I hear giggling coming from the living room. I got up to find 4 little boys huddled around the tv playing XBox. Those turds never even went to sleep!!

I'm so exhausted today and I can hear my bed calling me. Sean fell asleep around 5:00 this evening and hasn't woke up yet. LOL I told him no more sleepovers with more than one friend. That was just too much.

So, Happy Birthday to my little boy (he hates it when I call him that). You've still got a birthday spankin' coming!

Mom and Dad left this morning. We had a good time while they were here. We did some "retail therapy" and watched tv. All in all it was a relaxing start to my week.

Last night, Sean decided that for his birthday he wanted Papa to take him to Hobby Lobby and get him a model car to put together and then he wanted to go out to eat. I thought for sure he was going to say that he wanted to eat somewhere expensive, but he picked Taco Bell. LOL He's definitely his father's son.

So, we went to Hobby Lobby and he picked out which model he wanted. I'm not good with cars, but I know he picked a cool one. Some kind of hot rod. Then we went to Taco Bell for his birthday dinner.

When we got home, Sean had some homework to do so my dad sat down with him and helped him with his homework and then they started working on the model. It's not one of those that you have to glue and then paint. It's a snap together kind. It took them almost 2 hours to put that thing together, and Sean is so proud of it.

This morning when I woke up, I heard my dad asking my mom if she slept well (she was on the couch...which didn't surprise me at all seeing as she's such a Pogo addict and falls asleep while playing). But then I heard my mom say that she didn't sleep good at all. She had been up all night throwing up. OH MAN! I'm just a phobic when it comes to someone getting sick in my home because I'm so afraid that either I'm going to catch it or one of my kids will. I thought for sure they would stay another night since Mom wasn't feeling well, but she said that they needed to get home and just to let her rest for a while longer.

Dad went out to start my car to take Sean to school (I'm so spoiled when they come, I don't have to get out in the morning), and wouldn't you know it.......my car was completely dead! I didn't tap the brakes when we got home last night so my brake lights stayed on all night and ran my battery down. I'm so sick of wanting/needing to go somewhere and can't because I have a dead battery. So, I called the mechanic and he told me to go ahead and bring the car in and they would look at it. Dad took it down to him while Mom was resting and got my car fixed. The little relay switch under the brake pedal was loose and just needed to be adjusted. Thank goodness that it wasn't something major and I don't have to get a new battery.

Mom finally started feeling better around 11 and they hit the road. I gave her a coffee can to use just incase she started feeling sick again. They made it home around 7:00 tonight and she's feeling much better.

I talked to Michael for about 2 hours on the computer this afternoon. I miss him so much already and it seems like he's never going to be home. He's only been gone 4 days but it feels like 4 weeks. He said it's so cold in Wyoming. It's been snowing ever since he got there but he said it's suppose to stop tonight or early in the morning.

Sean's birthday is Monday.....and it's a school holiday. I have told him that we are not going to have a big birthday party, but he can ask 2 friends to come spend the night with him. So, we have asked 2 boys to come over Sunday afternoon and spend the night. We are going to order pizza and play games. He's very excited about that. I can't believe my baby boy is going to be 9 years old. Where does the time go?

Lauren's Accident

Yesterday, I left the house for 15 minutes to run to the bank. When I got home, Michael was standing in the front foyer holding a wet, crying, bleeding Lauren.

Before I left for the bank, I had put her in the tub because she got all wet and cold from playing outside in the snow. While I was gone, she got out of the tub, climbed up on the toilet to get a towel and slipped. She hit her eye on the toilet and got a gash above her eye.

I immediately knew that she needed to go to the ER. The cut wasn't that big and really wasn't bleeding that bad, but it was in a bad spot and she needed to have it cleaned being she hit the toilet.

I took her to the ER and they put us on the fast track (in and out in under an hour). Doctor came in to see her and decided that she needed to have the cut cleaned and glued. She was so brave and only cried when he was putting the glue on. I guess that stuff stings quite a bit.

After the ER, I decided that she needed a treat for being so brave, so we went through the drive-thru at McDonald's and got a Happy Meal.

She's doing much better today and says that her eye doesn't even hurt. But, when I told her that we were going to church she said, "No! They will be mad at me for my eye!". Awwwwwww. I told her no one would be mad at her about getting hurt and that made her feel better.

(I tried to post a picture here, but I can't get it to fit.)

On another note, Michael has been sent to Gillette, WY for two weeks for work. The oilfield has really slowed down here in Farmington, so they gave him the option of working nights (only getting 8 hours a day) or going to Wyoming for two weeks (14+ hours a day whether he works or not) with all expenses paid. It was a tough decision for him to make because Sean's birthday is next week and he really hates to miss birthdays, plus being gone for two weeks is hard on everyone. But, he made the decision that would be best for all of us. We have done this many times before and have survived. Seems like it even makes us stronger. We appreciate each other a lot more after being apart for a while.

I'm going to miss him something terrible, but I know he will be coming home and he's doing what's best for our family.

Sick

For the last week, I have been so sick with a cold. My head is throbbing, my nose is plugged up and now I'm starting to get a cough.

I hardly ever get sick, but when I do....watch out because it's going to be bad. I have an immune system disorder and when I get down with a cold it takes quite a while for me to get better.

This really is a bad time of the year for me to get sick too. My parents come up every year for Sean's birthday and this year they are coming early. They will be here in 2 days. My house is a wreck, my laundry is piled up and I feel like crap. I just don't have the energy to do anything. All I want to do is go to bed and sleep. Of course, I can't do that with 2 kids and a husband who is gone 6 days a week.

Maybe when my mom gets here she will make me some homemade chicken noodle soup to make me all better. LOL It's funny how when I get sick, all I want is my mommy. She always makes everything better. Plus, she's so great with the kids that I don't have to worry.

Well, time to try to get some things done around the house. I'll probably end up on the couch in about 20 minutes watching TV. LOL

Out to Sea

Well, I'm sad to report that the other two fishies didn't make it. I don't know what went wrong, but I've never been able to keep fish alive. I guess I should just stick to cats and dogs.

As we were flushing the last two down the toilet Sean asked, "Mom, are they going out to the sea now?" LOL I guess he paid attention during Finding Nemo.

Lauren really isn't upset about it at all, in fact she laughed when they spun around in the toilet bowl and then went down.

What a way to start off a new year. LOL

Tragedy

Well, we've had our first death of the new year.

Yesterday while grocery shopping, Lauren decided she wanted to spend some of her Christmas money and get some goldfish. So we got a fish bowl with all the stuff and 3 goldfish.

Sadly, one of our little fishies didn't make it through the night.

Later, I was checking on the other fish and only noticed one in the bowl. I asked Lauren what happened to it and she told me that she "accidentally" took it into her room. I ran in her room and started searching. I picked up her blanket, flipped it and out of the corner of my eye, I saw something orange fly through the air. Yep, there was the fishy. He was still alive! I rushed him back to his bowl and he stayed on his side for a minute then sank to the bottom. He laid there for a while then slowly made his way up to the top for air and food.

So far, he's okay but we'll just have to wait and see.

I guess thinking a 4 year old can have goldfish wasn't such good thinking after all.

Happy New Year

Well here it is, the first day of 2009. I can hardly believe 2008 is over, but I am so relieved that it is. Last year was really rough on us and I can only hope and pray that this year is better.

2008 started with Michael getting fired from his job after 8 years of loyalty. That hit us really hard. The next week, we got the news that my father in law only had weeks to live.

Michael and his brother had planned a trip to go see him one more time and when they got there, he was worse than we had ever imagined. I can remember it like it was yesterday....I was sitting in church and my phone started to vibrate and when I looked at the caller ID, I knew something was really wrong. I ran out of the worship center and answered my phone. Michael told me to cancel his flight for the next morning because his dad only had about 24-48 hours to live. I grabbed the kids and we went home to pack. By the time I got home, Michael called me again and told me to stop packing and just to wait. Everyone thought we were getting a little too anxious. At 7:00, Michael called again to say that Jim had passed. I was so heartbroken. Even though we knew it was coming, it doesn't make it any easier to lose someone you love so much. Super Bowl Sunday will never be the same for us. He died at the beginning of the 4th quarter (but he was rooting for the Giants).

By the next morning, we had gotten snowed in and I couldn't go anywhere. Michael kept telling me, "I have every shoulder in the world to cry on except for the one I want". I have never cried so much in my life. I wanted so badly to be with my husband, but there was nothing I could do. And believe me, I tried EVERYTHING.

I don't think I will ever come to terms with the fact that I didn't get to go say goodbye to Jim, but I know that he knew I loved him and tried everything I could to get to Texas.

The next six months weren't any better for us. Michael got a great job, but the starting pay wasn't that great so we were struggling financially. Then our landlord decided to sell the house we were renting. We found a house, but the rent was even higher than what we were paying, but really had no choice. So we moved again.

The last six months of 2008 slowly got better and now that it's the beginning of 2009 I am hoping that it keeps getting better.

I have set my goals for 2009 and I'm going to work very hard to reach those goals. I don't set New Years Resolutions, I don't believe in them. But I will make myself a goal poster for my wall, refrigerator and bathroom mirror so everywhere I go, I will see my goals and work harder to obtain them.

I hope you have a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.