Diagnosis: Ear infections

Thursday morning, Tyson had his 6 month check up. I mentioned to the doctor right away that I thought his right ear might be infected. I had been seeing him grab at it etc. When she went in to check his ears, he had lots of wax (all of my boys do). She did say that having a wax problem is genetic---weird. So, she used her little tool to try to dig it out so that she could see enough to tell if he had an infection. Apparently his wax is not gooey and in clumps like most people's, but it's real flakey and hard to "grab". So after a few minutes of her digging around and him screaming, she decided to check his other ear first. She figured if that one was infected, then it didn't matter if the first one was or not, she'd be treating him anyway. So, turns out---ear infection. So, off to Target we went to pick up Tyson's very first anti-biotic(the first of many I'm sure).
I can't remember his "stats" off the top of my head, other than his weight, which was 18 pounds 3 ounces. A healthy(other than ear infections), smiley little boy, meeting all of his milestones (other than sleeping through the night).
After the 10:00 doctor appointment we headed to Target to pick up the prescription and diapers, etc. before his 11:40 picture appointment. Picture appointment right after shots---mistake. Poor thing was exhausted. I had to wake him up for pictures. I got him in his little jeans and white shirt (the standard 6 month picture outfit for my boys). Then he puked all over it. So....I had to put him back in the used-to-be white shirt that he was wearing under his t-shirt earlier in the day, and left him in the slightly damp jeans. There were at least 20 people (15 of them 5 and under) in the JCPenney picture studio waiting area. Kids screaming, whining, running around like they're crazy. Mom's yelling, toys flying. Annoying. It was finally our turn. Tyson didn't cry, but he didn't smile a lot either. This was partially due to the crappy photographer we had. So, we got a few "ok" pictures, I ordered what I needed, and we moved on. I still needed to get to the grocery store, take the groceries home and then head to Albany to pick up Kayden and Tyler from Grammy's house where they spent the morning with Grandpa. (I'm trying to figure out how I can post those pictures, but they changed their website and I haven't figured it out yet).

Hoping for ear infection????

I'm pooped. Tyson hasn't been sleeping well at all. We stayed at Mike's parents' house on Saturday night. I put him to bed at about 9:30. He was up at 11:00, 2:00, 5:00 and 6:00. AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Of course when he woke up at 6:00, he woke up Tyler. Tyler's crying woke up Sydney, and then we were up. Grandma and I and the three kiddos. Since he (Tyson) was up so early, and didn't sleep well during the night I thought I'd be able to get at least one good nap out of him on Sunday. I thought wrong. He wouldn't nap. He'd fall asleep, but as soon as I'd lay him down, he'd wake up. He's been spitting up even more than usual. He had his biggest poop ever. He's wearing me out.
He goes in for his 6-month appointment on Thursday (yes, this is what I do with my rare days off from September through May--doctor appointments). I am sort of not-so-secretly hoping he has an ear infection or something. I'm hoping there is a reason for this ridiculous behavior! If I find out he's fine, I don't know what I'll try next. Maybe I'll go back to Gripe Water???? Maybe I'll disappear on my Girls' Weekend. That's what I'll do. I'll leave Friday, and come back sometime Sunday.

My little learner

Monday night was Kayden's first night of ECFE for the year. He went last year and he loved it. It's his time away from "the babies", because he's a "big boy" (no matter what Felix at daycare says) =) This year was a little different. He's in a 3-year-old class this year. It will last 20 weeks, and for the first 5 weeks I go with him, and just leave the classroom for about 30 minutes for the parent meeting. After the first 5 weeks, I just drop him off. This scares me a little. It's almost like real school. Except he doesn't ride a bus.
The first night, they had time to play and explore the classroom, although Kayden ALWAYS plays with the same toys (the animals), they had snack, and then circle time with songs. This week the parents stayed in the room the whole time. He did fine. Although, I wish he'd spend more time trying new things and doing the painting, play dough, etc. Maybe once I'm not with him, the teacher will be able to get him to try some of those things.
He was also really quiet the first night. He loves the songs they sing at circle time, and he'll sing all of them at home, but while in class, he sat on his red square. Stone-faced. Hopefully that changes too.
P.S. He even has his own locker!!! This is a HUGE deal in the world of a 3 year old =)

Girl Time

As a family, we lead a very busy life. There is always something going on. It's rare that we have a weekend with nothing planned. Mike has his hobbies: hunting, fishing, his Harley, house projects. We have our hobbies together: volleyball, kickball, four-wheeling. And then, there are the things we do with our kids: pre-school, zoo trips, play dates, camping...
And then there is me. I love doing these things with my family, but my girl time is very important. Once a year I go on a scrapbooking weekend. I go with a group of girls and we scrapbook, we eat, we talk, we sleep, we read magazines, we shop....it's fun, it's relaxing, it's MY time. With that same group of girls, we do a fall weekend where we usually get a hotel, we shop, we eat (are you seeing a pattern here?), we talk, and I sleep for more than 4 hours straight =)
On Monday nights, from September until March, I play volleyball with another group of girls. It's one hour of time away from the house, but that time is amazing. I love it!
There is a group of four of us girls who have been trying to plan a once-a-month dinner out. No kids. No husbands. Just us girls. Do you think we could find a day that works for all of us???? We were supposed to go next Tuesday night. As the day gets closer, I'm realizing that Kayden has pre-school Monday night, I have a long-overdue haircut appointment on Wednesday, Tyson has a doctor appointment and picture appointment on Thursday, and then Friday I leave for my girls weekend. Starting Thursday night, Mike is on-call. So, I've decided to back out. It sucks. I WANT to go, but there is just so much going on. We will make it work (eventually). Who knows if we'll ever get to the point of once-a-month outings, but we'll start with once and see where it goes from there.

"Not-Me-Monday"

All the things I did NOT do in the past week:
1. I did not watch Tyler drop his half-eaten apple on the ground outside, see the dirt on it, and then let him continue to eat it to avoid the fit he'd throw if I took it away.
2. I did not take out the train set I'd bought Kayden for Christmas, and let him play with it in order to keep him quiet/occupied while we met with our realtors.
3. I did not watch "Sister Wives" last night.
4. I did not think for half-a-second that my baby is growing too fast, and I'd like to have another one (that thought disappeared VERY quickly).
5. I did not hear Kayden say, "Fricken door!" when he couldn't get the basement door closed.
6. Kayden did not tell Mike to "just chill out" when he was telling him that he needed to finish his supper.

Now that's love!

I got to daycare yesterday afternoon to pick up the boys. I was putting Tyson in his carseat/carrier, and Sharon said, "Oh, Tyler has a runny nose and I don't have any more kleenex out here". No big deal. A little snot never bothered me (until it starts running into his mouth). The next thing I knew, she was wiping his snotty nose with her sleeve! Now that's love! I'm pretty sure I wouldn't even do that!

Another health issue...

So, last week, I think it was maybe Wednesday??? My mom called and said my dad was having stomach pains, and some other issues. She asked me to call Rhonda (my RN sister-in-law) and ask her what to do. Since my dad has had some heart issues in the past, there was a little concern. I explained the symptoms to Rhonda, and she said it didn't seem like anything too serious, and gave me instructions to give him (Pepto, etc.). I called my mom back and she said she'd try those things. Well, by midnight, the symptoms weren't getting any better, so off to the ER they went. Turns out he was having a Gallbladder attack. So, they sent him home with some drugs and made an appointment for him to come back in the morning for tests. After the tests, it was determined he'd need surgery to have it removed. This could be a couple weeks, so he was to continue the drugs and hopefully the pain would be manageable until then. By Monday, he couldn't take it anymore. So, back to the doctor they went. They decided they'd do emergency surgery Tuesday morning. I met my mom at the hospital at about 8:00, and we waited. Everything turned out fine (they weren't sure exactly what they would have to do, since he'd had heart surgery just a few months ago.) Everything turned out fine, and by noon, they were on their way home.
It seems like there is always something.....