I answer to mom, but you can call me wonder woman

Compliment of the week: 'I'm pretty sure you're wonder woman.' -via facebook

Unfortunately my superhero costume isn't skin tight and sexy, its stretched out, loose and covered in barf, boogers and excrement.  In no way do I begrudge my children, their little immune systems are learning to ward off offenders but its been almost three months since I had a healthy household and I'm starting to feel more than a little thin around the edges.

The baby is finally on the mend (this month alone he spent a week throwing up, a week with a near 40 degree fever and a week on antibiotics for a resulting ear infection), unfortunately the boy is still fighting something and has had a fever for a day and a half and has been cranky and miserable for two weeks and my poor hubs, he's been fighting a cold for weeks too.

I'm generally a glass half full kind of gal, but as of late I have to admit that glass has been starting to feel a little bit 'half empty'.  I hate being negative and I don't want to wallow in self-pity so when I could have (and perhaps should have) been finding moments to share the challenges that have been my life as of late, I instead chose to introvert; to read a few pages in my book, bake muffins with my boy or watch a show with my hubs.

But all that is going to change; I've spent the last week alternating between thinking of great posts to write and feeling guilty that I haven't made time to do so.  I believe in mind over matter, and I've decided that this is the turning point and I WILL get back on track with my posts.  Although I generally try and make sure that my posts have a good balance of personal and sponsored posts, there may be a small flux of sponsored posts as I have a number of commitments that are overdue and I'm keen to get published.

Now, I just hope my immune system is up to wonder woman's standard and I don't get knocked down with illness the moment all my boys' recover.

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.

sicky baby

I wonder, what good are medical walk-in clinics if they are closed when regular doctor's offices are closed?

My little guy has had a bit of a cold for over a week; mostly congestion, crankiness and a lack of hunger. He also had a bit of a mucousy cough and since a little girl at daycare had Bronchitis the week before, he went to the doctor and got the all-clear last week. By Thursday he seemed to be starting to pep up, but Friday afternoon came around and all of a sudden the boy woke up screaming with a fever.

By Saturday afternoon, when he awoke from his nap lethargic and still feverish, I thought it might be time for another trip to the doctor. Particularly since there had been no fever associated with the cold the week before.

We left home around 3:30pm, by 4:00 we had been to FIVE (that's right FIVE) walk-in medical clinics and not one of them was open. We decided to go to the ER at the local hospital. Three hours later, the doctor finally listened to his chest, didn't seem all all concerned about the fever (granted he was only about 38 degrees as I had given him some Infants Motrin) and sent us on our way.

By the time we arrived home and got settled back in, the boy's fever was back up to 39.5 degrees. A warm bath and more Motrin had him calmed down and into bed. Four hours later, he was feverish and upset again, more Motrin and this time Mommy laid down in the spare room with baby. When he woke up, another 4 hours later, this time with a temperature of 39.9 degrees I decided it was time to take him to Children's Hospital ER.

 We saw a doctor within an hour of arriving; although he figured that the boy may have just caught the flu after his cold, he did hear something in his chest, so he sent him for a chest x-ray.  Seriously, he looked so pathetic strapped in the chair, arms above his head and screaming his lungs out.  On the plus side the x-ray did show something, but it was hard to be definitive.  The boy either has the flu (viral) or an early stage bacterial pneumonia.  He's on antibiotics in case it is pneumonia, and the doctor has assured me that the fever itself is not dangerous.

He seems to be a bit perkier today and he actually ate a little food and had some formula before heading back down for his nap, so hopefully he's on the mend.  I decided to stay home from work to comfort him today, but will likely be back to work tomorrow.  I hate to see my little man so sick and pathetic, yet I know that its all part of growing up.  Hope your family's feeling happy & healthy, and if their not, I hope they feel better soon.