The Alphabet, Appendicitis and Asthma

I want to start off by saying that I am horrified that its been over two weeks since my last blog post.  I assure you its not due to a lack of things to write about, it's about finding the time, it always seems to be about time.

I remember when my time was my own, when my world revolved around me: my needs, my wants and my desires.  Although I would never trade my boys for anything, I would be lying to say that I don't have moments where I long for the carefree, freedom of young adulthood.

As a mother and a wife, my life now includes both great responsibility and so much love.  The past week has reminded me of both these facets of my life.  Last Saturday, the boy turned three years old.  In previous years we've simply had family over the the house, but this year I wanted the boy to have a birthday party that he could really enjoy.

I also wanted to make the boy something handmade and from the heart and Alphabet Bean Bags were the perfect project.  On the crafty front I alo made plain bean bags and crayons for each of the kids goodie bags.  With the help of Pinterest, I considered a robot themed party, debated whether to make gluten-free cupcakes with marshmallow fondant or attempt a gluten-free rainbow cake.  In the end, the party was great, we took the kids to a local playplace, Fun 4 Kidz to let them burn off some energy before heading back to the house for hotdogs and cupcakes.  Overall the party was a success and fun was had by all.

So that was last week.

This week has not been so much fun.  

On Sunday night the hubs had an upset stomach and was up vomiting during the night.  In the morning, his pains had become sharper and more localized on the right side of his abdomen.  After some rest and a trip to the doctor he was off to the hospital.  He ultimately had to have his appendix removed, although it didn't rupture, it was perforated and leaking.  Following the procedure the surgeon made  point of telling him that he could have died.

As he recovers, he's of course in pain and discomfort, but he's also heartbroken that for the next month, he can't lift anything over twenty pounds, including our children. 

And my baby boys?  Cold's, both of them.  They have low grade fevers, the baby has lots of congestion and snot and the boy's asthma is out of control.  In fact the boy is now the second family member to go to the hospital this week.  Fortunately he was back out within a few hours.  He's on a four day dose of oral steroids, however it will be a couple days before we can expect to see an improvement. 

Interestingly, we've also been instructed to actively keep his fever under control and keep him on acetaminophen every four hours.  Not only can the fever provoke the asthma, the asthma can affect the body's ability to fight a fever.  What a vicious cycle.

So things have been hectic, tiring and overwhelming to say the least.  Thankfully yesterday I had a beautiful walk and coffee in Steveston with one of my best friends, with absolutely no children in tow.  It was amazing and just what I needed.  Today I am at my parents house with my boys and I am so incredibly thankful to have such caring and kind family and friends.