The Good, the Bad and the Sick

It seems that the only time I blog lately is when I have something bad to talk about, like the kids being sick. I will get to that in a minute but let's start with the good stuff!

The boys went to the eye Dr. last week for a check up. They were initially sent to have their eyes tested at 9 mths old because they were preemies. At that time we were told that they would eventually need glasses and it would probably be between 3-5 years old. So, we went back this last week and went through the full examine (including being dilated which I wasn't expecting) and we checked out just fine. They are both far-sided but nothing that needs correctly right now. I did think that Owen would be really cute in glasses but who needs the added expense and hassle!

The other good news is that Mike and I leave on Thursday for Phoenix for 3 short days. We will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary soon so this is our celebration! The great part is that we are staying for free at a fantastic resort where my old boss is the Director of Operations. Of course this comes along with a 100 page audit, but hey, I critique all the time anyway.

For the bad and sick news...the kids are all sick again. Very sick! My bro (who is living with us) came down with a very nasty stomach virus last week. Despite our biggest efforts to keep him confined to the basement, the kids now have it. I am not a germ freak but I sprayed more Lysol and cleaned more counters than ever before. No luck! Kyle starting throwing up on Friday night, Owen on Saturday afternoon and Janie last night. This is not just a 12 hour gig either. It is a throw up every half an hour for 10-12 hours and it comes on without warning (hence my stained carpet). The biggest bummer is that Janie had to miss her Sectional gymnastics meet today which qualifies her for State. Oh well, it could always be worse (like if I get it and can't go on vacation). We are over the vomiting part and now just dealing with fevers and the other end. A HUGE thanks to my wonderful mom for being her and doing all of the nasty laundry!



Some good news, some not so good. I have to think that our turn is NOW over...right?

Health Update!

The good news the boys are at school. Owen's fever did not come back yesterday so we seem to be on the mend. Hope this is not wishful thinking!

I got Janie into the orthepoedic today. She confirmed that she did not see anything broken in the x-ray. She did say that a small fracture or stress fracture would not show up. She is to take it easy (no tumbling) but put pressure as she can tolerate on it. She will go back in 2 1/2 weeks for a folllow up x-ray. I guess this is all we can ask for now. I mean, gymnastics is not our life, right?

Can our turn be over, please?

Let me pre-warn you, I am going to whine here. This is not necessarily going to be a positive post so you may want to sign off now if you are not in the mood to here me complain.

I try to keep it together most of the time. The busy schedules, work, our dirty house, money challenges, blah, blah, blah. Sickness is another story. I can handle the occasional bug or infection but let me tell you, we have had our share!

As I posted a couple of weeks ago, Janie has influenza and pneumonia. She missed 5 days of school and I missed 3 days of work (thanks to friends helping me out!). Last Saturday night, while we were at my sisters, Kyle go the stomach virus. It was actually not bad. 24 hours to the minute and we were done. No biggie! Then on Thursday I received a call from school that he was crying about his ear. He had mentioned it a few times earlier in the week but wasn't really complaining so I didn't do anything about it. On Thursday I took him in and he had a sever double ear infection. They think that he has strep too but did not test for it since he was going on an antibiotic anyway.


Thursday night about 2am, Owen started vomiting. After 5 sheet changes, I again told my self no biggie. Mike took the day off on Friday and stayed home. Since yesterday (Friday), Owen has had a 102-103 temp. When the Motrin runs out at the 4 hour mark, he is hot as can be. I did take him in today figuring that it would be an ear infection also but he checked out fine, for now.


Next - Janie came home from gymnastics on Wed. with a hurt foot. Apparently she was tumbling and hurt it on her landing. She said that she thinks she heard a crack. She seemed fine on Thursday. When I picked her up from school on Friday, she was hurting. I took her to practice thinking that she bruised it and a little warm up would help it. She came home from practice in severe pain. She woke up today in severe pain and unable to put any pressure on it. Since I was taking Owen in, I had them look at her too. They sent us for an x-ray. The Dr. called several hours later and said that the preliminary x-ray did not show a fracture. She however wants us to follow up with the orthopedic to check it out as she is not convinced that it is not broken or at least a stress fracture. Mind you, this is after being cast Oct-Dec with a broken tibia!


Really? Really? I am now thinking that Kyle is on the way to being healthy. Owen probably has influenza and will have a 102-103 temp for 5 more days. And Janie, poor Janie has worked her tail off to get back into shape for competition in gymnastics. She has lost a lot and worked to gain it back. Now I am feeling pretty certain that she has at minimum a stress fracture and her season is over.

Told you that I was going to complain! Now I think I am going to have a glass of wine, or two!

Chicago, My Kind of Town

As I mentioned in the previous post, Janie and I went to Chicago for a gymnastics meet and a little fun (despite her being sick) a couple of weeks ago. As I was walking through the streets of downtown Chicago, holding my daughters hand, I was thinking what a great memory this will be!

I think it is so funny that I look like I have cleavage and a pregnant belly in this picture.



Does Janie look white as a ghost or what?

I am sad to say that I didn't bring my camera so I didn't get any pics at my cousins house:( that we visited while we were there.

Where is my NANNY?!?

For the boys first 3 years, we had Krissy come to the house and care for the kids daily. Some days Janie was there and some days she wasn't. Some days the kids were healthy and some days there weren't. Unless the kids were puking, she was always there. Janie spent a lot of sick days stationed in our bedroom and that was fine! It was refreshing to not have to worry about covering work, etc...all while knowing that my kids were cared for.

In September the boys started preschool. There are a lot of advantages to them not being at the house every day. They are not bored with their toys, I sometimes get an hour to myself, they are meeting new friends, blah, blah, blah! There is one MAJOR disadvantage and that is when the kids are sick.

Janie has not been to school since last Thursday. She has had 102-103 temp around the clock. Once the Motrin kicks in and the fever breaks, she is fine but she can't go to school. I took her in on Monday and she was diagnosed with Influenza. You know, the flu that you get the shot for? The shot we didn't get! They told us it was lasting 5+ days. So after severe coughing and another 103 day (the 6th one)yesterday, I called the Dr. back. They wanted to see her again. Pneumonia it is! Not bad, they said, but still pneumonia. They put her on the Z-pack and said she will for sure be doing well by Monday. Well...after the first dose (with food as we were told), she vomited 30 minutes later. I called the Doc this morning to see if this is a reaction or not. They want us to do one more dose tonight. We will see!


To add to the excitement, Owen came home from school with a fever yesterday! My most committed and best friend took Janie and Owen for the second day in a row today so that I did not have to miss an entire week of work. I am so lucky to have her in my life!

Did I mention that I took Janie to Chicago last weekend for a gymnastics meet and we had a blast? Well the meet wasn't great and she was on Motrin constantly but it was fun. Mommy of the year award once again!

Jelly Bean Boutique Bows

Do you like my new blog look? We went to Chicago this past weekend for a gymnastics meet (don't ask, Janie had a fever and still does). We stayed at my cousins on Friday night. I think she was more excited about making my blog look better than actually seeing me! Hopefully not really!

I have a new button on my blog. If you click on it, you will see these fantastic bows that my cousin (her name is Kate, BTW) makes. They are so cute, super cheap (compared to the stores) and best of all, they actually stay in your hair. They come in almost every color or pattern you can think of. She is about to venture into some new stuff which includes super cute onsies and burp cloths!

Check it out!

Happy Birthday Mikey!

My much older husband turned 42 today. Although he worked all day, we were able to get out for dinner tonight and come home for some box mix cake (go me). She was so happy with the new kitchen faucet that I got him for his gift:) Hey, I got a mum plant one year!


Happy Birthday my love.

It's Friday!

Aren't they cute? Not always good, but cute!

Gymnastics, our life for now

Until late spring, gymnastics is pretty much all we do! Janie has started competition season. She practices 3 days a week, 4-5 hours per day and then competes every other weekend. The good news is, she is competing. After a broken leg and 12 weeks of being cast, the Dr. did not think she would be ready yet. Guess what, she is, I think. Still walking with a limp, she has managed to get through two meets now. They are not necessarily pretty but she is improving weekly. We will continue to cheer her on and encourage her. I am sure improvement will continue as the season goes on.

We have this upcoming weekend off and then we head to Chicago for competition the next week. Thanks Kate for letting us stay with you on Friday. This sure gets expensive!

Frankenmuth

This is a long overdue post! Days after the New Year, we took the kids for what has become an annual overnight in Frankenmuth. We did a quick stop at Bronners and then check in for the night! What a great time. We swam several times, played games (you know, the ones that you collect tickets and then exchange for the 99 cent toy), played miniture golf and then ate the Famous Chicken Dinner before our departure. I have to say that I was concerned about the family of five in one hotel room. I am proud to say that it worked well and the kids had a great time and slept like champs!

Big Stuff

I know I still owe a New Years update but in the mean time can I have a drum roll please....the 3 3/4 year old Mitchell boys are now sleeping in BIG BEDS! Yes, after a very successful 3 3/4 years of cribs and then cribs with crib nets, we have finally made the big leap. I still ask myself why? They were happy in their cribs, they couldn't get out, they weren't too big... I think it is my fear that they will be 6 years old and not able to attend a sleepover because they want to sleep in their cribs! Nevertheless, it is done. The room was not big enough to have the beds both on the ground so we had to set them up as bunks. Owen has decided to take the top (thank God someone wanted it) and Kyle feels best on the bottom.


The other news is that we are completely binky free. I may have mentioned that Kyle lost his last binky about a month ago. Fortunately, they do not make these binkies anymore so there was not an option to buy more. When he lost it, we were done. He had a couple of sad nights but overall it has been a smooth month.

Guess what? He found the binky on Sunday! It was hiding in a Christmas decoration box. At first he ran and hid under his bed. I told him that he could cut it with Mommy and Daddy's scissors. He told me "I'm not cutting it" Minutes later I ask him how it tasted. He said "fuzzy, I want to cut it". And so he did!


Bye, bye babies! Hello young boys!

A Merry Christmas

I spent the pre-holidays constantly telling myself to enjoy and watch as my children experienced the magic of Christmas. I tried to really enjoy wrapping gifts and shopping for them. I tried to think of the people that I was addressing my Christmas cards to. Overall, I think it was successful. To say that Christmas gives me that tingling excitement that I once remember as child would be false. I can however say that I fully enjoyed it!

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at our house following a few family traditions including Kreploc soup for dinner (a soup from my Jewish roots, go figure), going to Church (which included giving the boys gum for the 1st time out of desperation) and reading The Night Before Christmas before bed. The kids were ready to role Christmas morning before 7am (which was early considering that we were still putting trains together at 1am). They are still unsure which toy to play with and if their new favorite thing, Iron Man and Superman costumes should ever come off. We are unsure how to keep the mess cleaned up!


We had a great time at my sister's in Columbus with 5 kids 3 years and under. Great food and wine were of plenty!



Here's to the holidays with young kids and family!

A Must Read

My mom sent me this and I can't help but listen to it over and over. To my dear girlfriends, this is so true!

A Little Snow?

With the recent snow fall, it was nice to get the kiddos outside to play a little. An added bonus? Janie has the official all clear on her broken leg! After her Orthopedic appt. on Friday, she is officially castless. Walking a bit like a duck still, she is able to play, do gymnastics and shovel! Of course immediately after playing outside, breathing treatments are a must :(

Christmas Cookies

We decided to make cut out cookies this year with the kids. Actually, we decided to buy the premade, bake only cut-outs from GFS and frost them. It was a good time however I would not allow anyone non-family to eat them because the kids were doing a lot of finger liking throughout the process. The kicker is that the kids don't really like cookies so I have been the one eating them. Great, just great!

Thanksgiving

We did our traditional Thanksgiving at my Aunt's house in Canton, Ohio. My mom's side of the family always gets together for this holiday. My 90 year old grandmother is still alive and lives in a home near my aunt. We have been fortunate enough to get her over to the house for every Thanksgiving despite her severe dementia.


So we enjoyed our family time. I soon realized that we now have 8 kids 3 years and under. Pretty busy! With the exception of the few things flying off of the wall (compliments of Owen and Kyle) and the puke on the couch and carpet(compliments of Kyle), the kids were excellent! Nights were rougher for some than others but days were fabulous!


Yes, Kyle has had the stomach virus. He threw up for over 24 hours, still thinking that he could eat in between! Just waiting to hear of the next victim.
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I continue to be so thankful for everything in my life!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Reading

Until a year ago I would have told you that the last book that I read was Charlotte's Web. This includes college days. Somehow I got through college on Cliff's Notes. In recent years I have enjoyed magazines, especially People. I would read them cover to cover. While reading People, I would read some of the non-fiction book reviews and finally, I saw something that interested me. So, Mike bought me my first book on Polygamy last Christmas. I could not put it down. Since then I have read several books. Several Polygamy books to start and now anything non-fiction. I guess I really like to read about others' life stories. Now I would rather read than watch TV. Actually, I would rather read than do most things.

Listed below are some of the great reads that I have enjoyed this past year. Since I don't link well, you will have to look them up yourself. I have not included the "bad reads".

~Shattered Dream by Irene Spencer (Polygamy)
~His Favorite Wife by Susan Ray Schmidt (Polygamy)
~Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall (Polygamy)
~Escape by Caolyn Jessop (Polygamy)
~Miracles Happen by Brooke and Jean Ellison (A young girl becomes paralyzed from the neck down and goes on to attend Harvard)
~The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (Amazing life lessons)
~Standing Tall by Vivian Stringer (Rutgers B-ball coach, amazing life lessons)
~Meant to Be by Walter Anderson (A boy who groups up in a horrible home and goes on to lead a high profile career while he finds out many secrets about his past)
~Schuyler's Monster by Robert Rummel-Hudson (A father's story of his wordless daughter)
~Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston (the mountain climber who cut his own hand off)
~Living at the Edge of the World by Tina S. and Jamie Pastor ( a story about a teenager living in the underground tunnels of Grand Central Station)

That's all! Pretty good huh? When did I find time for that?

Update

Life has been very busy (I know, like everyone) with work, volunteering and sick kids. It has been a while since I have put out an update so here goes:

Janie ~

She had her long leg cast taken off two weeks ago and a short leg cast put on. She has clearly mastered the crutches and can even run a bit on them. Of course, this is not without the occasional face plant! We go back next week to see the Dr. and hope that the x-ray looks a bit better this round than it did last time (still looked the same as the day she broke it). She will then hopefully move to a walking cast for 4-5 more weeks. Wow, 3 months total this time around.

Janie is having a great year in school and loves her teacher. We had conferences this past week and it appears that the only concerns are boys and a lot of socialization. Janie's teacher and I are completely on the same page and will continue to work on keeping her humble and a nice girl.

She started back at gymnastics this week and will go twice a week for two hours each time to just work on stretching and strength building. Maybe I should go too!

Owen~

Well we just completed five days of Hand-foot-mouth disease. This highly contagious virus is easily managed with the exception of no eating when you have a mouth full of soars. Thank you to my girlfriend Theresa for taking my sick kid for two days!

The separation thing at school with Owen and Kyle has proven to be a very positive thing for Owen. He has really come out of his shell and is less dependent on Kyle. He is now officially potty trained! It took a few more months than Kyle but we are so proud of him.

Owen is really hilarious to listen to as he has all kinds of great comments or saying. Ex: Manit! (I think that is in place of darnit) Mom, I am so frustrated!
He also calls me out on being incorrect often!

Kyle~

Kyle, Kyle, Kyle...my little entertainer! He found it necessary this past week to pull down his pants at school and shake it for the entire class. Yah, not sure what to even say about that!

Kyle is super sweet and caring and Mr. social however he gets into trouble ALL THE TIME! He is up to at least 8 time outs a day. He has however started saying "I'm gonna have a good day" every day he wakes up. At least his intentions are good;

Not much else to report. We had our annual fashion show for the NICU this past Thursday and it was a huge success again this year! I will post some pics as soon as I have them because I forgot to take any. We are going to the circus tomorrow with the kiddos and looking forward to that!

Our nanny Krissy had her baby last week. This is her second girl ans she named her Kenzie. All are doing well. I am however a bit sad that she is not here anymore so I will have to make a lot more effort to see this baby!


That's all for now!

Halloween 2008

The injured gymnast (Kerri Strug), the cowboy and the monkey seemed to have a good time at Halloween. Janie made it the entire way using her crutches! Kyle wasn't so sure he was going out until the last minutes before trick-o-treating. He is a bit scared of monsters:) They consumed plenty of candy and only one managed to throw up!

We did our traditional night of trick-o-treating with our friends, the Fishes. The men take the kids out and the ladies stay back and pass out candy and maybe consume a cocktail!

GIVE BLOOD

Okay, I am going to hop onto my soapbox for a few minutes. I proudly gave blood today. I gave blood for a few reasons: I have had several people close to me need blood transfusions, we had a blood drive at work, and most importantly, I am O negative. What this means is that anyone in the world can receive my blood no matter what their blood type is. It is also the most common type of blood used on premature babies, which of course is huge to me!

I received an e-mail the other day telling me how hospitals are at an all time low in blood supply. In fact, there is not any O negative on hospital shelves. You know what that means, I am screwed if I need blood! Fortunately, all of my children are O negative but none of them are old enough to give.

So I ask you today, make an appointment to go and give blood! Do it for your friend or your parent that has needed a transfusion at some time. Do it for that little bitty baby who did not choose to be born too soon.

I am making a commitment to myself to give 5 times a year starting now. You can give 6 times a year if you have your days exactly right. I will make it happen! Can you? Call 1800GIVELIFE

Okay, done for now...