March Madness

I didn't realize how long it'd been since I posted.  Once everyone got well we were wide open.  Baseball started, the weather turned to spring and we've been going, going, going.  Which I love and hate.  I really do love getting out and doing fun things but I also love being at home.

This boy and his crazy hair.  He was excited to finally go back to school after missing a week.

Barrett's school does a family 5K and fun run every spring.  This was the 14th annual.  We signed up to do the one mile fun run.  We told my dad we were going to walk it and I fully intended to walk.  But Barrett took off running and my competitive instinct took over so I started running too, so did my dad.  We ended up running most of the mile.  It was an amazing FREE event and it was so much fun!

The kids were out of school the next day but I had to work so they stayed with my dad.  They had dental appointments that afternoon and dad met me there with them.  It was AveryAnn's first trip to the dentist and she did so good.  She didn't want to leave.  They were in the chair together when I went back to talk to the dentist and they all bragged about how good they were and what a sweet big brother Barrett was.  It made my mama heart so happy!

Patrick has been talking about putting a big light up on the back of our house so the kids can play when the sun goes down.  He had to get in the attic to do part of the wiring and Barrett got up there with him to help and he was so excited.  It was so cute.

We got this tent from Patrick's brother and we're wanting to go camping.  We set it up in the back yard just to see if we could and it was so much fun.  It was too cold that night to sleep out there.

We played a game on uno and then took it down.

The next morning I got a text from my dad that by little brother and his family were coming up for lunch so we headed over to visit.  The girls are so fun together.

We broke out the Wii. Barrett had never played and it was so much fun.  I won bowling so I had to document it.

Sunday was St. Patrick's Day.  Barrett's first St. Patrick's day was also a Sunday.  Here he is both days before church.

Monday he had his first baseball game.  My cousin's kids were in town for their Spring Break so they came to watch him.  It was so sweet for them to want to come and for Babo to bring them.  Barrett was beside himself that his cousins were there to watch him.  He had a good hit and did great in the field.  This year he's really starting to understand the game and it's so much fun to watch. I know I have a picture somewhere of my sister and me at Matthew's little league game when he was about Barrett's age.  I need to dig it up.  They lost but they played really well!

We played again on Tuesday night and this girl was a mess.  It was cold and she refused to wear a jacket.  They almost won this game but lost in the last inning on a grand slam.  It was a heartbreaker.   

Miss Priss got her school pictures back last week.  I am dying at some of these.  They are so expensive so I always only buy on sheet but I had to illegally snap these shots of the others.  They were so sassy.

Barrett made a list of all the things he wanted to do over Spring Break.  McWane Science Center, Top Golf, Flight Museum, and the Zoo were all on his list.  Thankfully most of these things are at no cost to us since we have memberships and/or employee discounts through Patrick's work. We both had to work all week but we made the most of it.  (Spring Break post coming soon)

I'd made margaritas for bunko and I very much enjoyed the left overs.

Friday, AveryAnn had her 3 year old well check. After we decided to hit the zoo.  I never do anything with just her even though Barrett is in school all day.  It was crowded.  We met Anna and Dawson and a really fun day.  

We fed the Lorakeets.  We've never done that and AveryAnn loved it. 

Also got to ride the train.  

The bears were out playing and AveryAnn wanted to have her picture made with them.

Then she begged to ride the carousel, the she cried and wanted to ride on the bench seat.

We got home and played outside until the sun went down.  It was the perfect kickoff for Spring Break!

Fevers, Flu and Fun

After Barrett woke up with a fever both Monday and Tuesday, I decided he needed to go to the doctor. So Tuesday afternoon we headed to see Dr. Farr and he confirmed Barrett had the flu.  I really didn't think it would be flu.  He didn't seem that sick.  He'd had a pretty high temperature, but he didn't act as pitiful as I was expecting.

So, we tried to plan as best we could for a few days hunkered down at home.  Now, you may remember that I just started a new part time job about 6 weeks ago.  So I had to ask for help, which I don't love doing.  Patrick was on call so he couldn't take off.  My dad stepped in and offered to keep him so I could go to work.  AveryAnn went to school Wednesday and was fine.  That night I looked at her and could tell she was not well.  I took her temperature and it was 103.6 which is what Barrett's had been so I called the nurse and they were able to call us in some Tamiflu for her.

Thursday, my dad came to our house to watch them because they were still asleep when it was time to go.  I went to work.  I got home and my dad was like "oh, by the way, he says his legs hurt and he won't walk on them".  He said he heard him screaming and he was in the floor in his room and wouldn't walk.  He didn't act very concerned so I was like oh ok.  I googled it and this came up and I felt very confident this was the case with Barrett.

Now, after I mentioned it to my friends, I realized I probably should have been more concerned, but that just isn't me.  I don't get overly excited about things.   So Friday morning, I called the doctor and asked if that was normal or if I should be concerned.  They said it isn't really common but it is normal.  It's just a weird thing that can happen after a virus.

Also, AveryAnn's eyes looked like this.  So while I was on the phone with the nurse I asked her about it and she said it was probably pink eye so she called us in some eye drops.  I was also worried because AveryAnn had only had one wet diaper in over hours so they had me monitor that and told me to call back if she didn't have one in the next two hours.  Thankfully, she did so we didn't have to worry about that.  All she would eat were the pedialite popsicles. 

We spent most of the day Friday doing laundry and staying hydrated.  I also taught Barrett how to play checkers.  They were both feeling better by Friday afternoon.  Barrett's legs quit hurting and he was finally able to put weight on them.

He wore his "thing one" shirt to bed Friday night since he missed Dr. Seuss week at school.

We also played Train dominoes and UNO.  Saturday night, Ally started throwing up too.  Patrick was also not feeling well but he had to go to work. 

She read her "class" a book.  They were both so much better Saturday and Sunday.  We stayed home just to be sure but they were both fever free for 48 hours.  They were both going to school Monday.  Barrett did get to go.  AveryAnn started breaking out Sunday night in a rash.  I wasn't sure what it was but she didn't have any other symptoms.  Well Monday morning she woke up with a fever.  So we headed back to the doctor.  I'm glad I just went ahead and took her in because she had an ear infection.  Dr. Farr said the hives were probably a weird reaction to the virus (like the leg thing).  My dad met me and got her so I could finish my work day.  I started feeling bad Monday afternoon, but I woke up around 3:00 Tuesday morning with a fever and chills.  So AveryAnn and I stayed home to rest.  The fever went away around lunch time and I started to feel better.  Hopefully, Wednesday will be back to regularly scheduled programming.  Thankfully, my kids aren't sick often but they really made up for it this week. Whew, I'm tired!

Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 8

I feel like this week has been a whirlwind.  I don't function well in chaos.  I know I've mentioned that before, but it's the truth.  I have not done a very good job planning meals and it shows.  "If we fail to plan, we plan to fail."  I'm not sure who said that but it really is the truth.  I also have done a lot of stress eating this week.  Most of the time I can handle this and talk myself out of eating whatever I'm about to eat to make myself feel better, not this week. After Barrett woke up with a fever Monday and Tuesday I decided to go ahead and take him to the doctor and he was diagnosed with the flu.  So we're in survival mode.  I hate seeing him sick.  I also hate that I've had to work since I just started my job, so I haven't been the one getting to cuddle him all day.  That's been hard on me.  Thankfully, I have an awesome support system that has taken great care of him and I'm only working part time so I'm not away all day.  Baseball practice started this week.  We're sad we're having to miss but one more week at home isn't so bad before the hustle and bustle of spring hits.

I'm +1 lb this week.  Not ideal.  Not proud.  Not surprised.  I've got to get my act together and get serious.  I know I can do this.  I've done it before.  We got this.

Weekend Fun

We've been going, going, going all weekend long.  For the record, I don't enjoy this.  But it never fails that everything falls on the same weekend every month.

Thursday, I dropped off cupcakes for AveryAnn's class for her birthday.  Her teacher sent me this picture.  She had a great day.

Friday was her "pure day" as we say in my family.  I had a good bit of work to do so we headed to the office.  We were putting a decal on a wall at a gym and one of the people there had this adorable puppy.  AveryAnn loved him.  I sent this picture to Patrick saying that was what Grampy got her for her birthday.  I think he was a little nervous.

For lunch Grampy promised her the Foodland hot bar.  It just opened and we've all be very excited about it.  She got corn and green beans and she was so excited!

Friday night Patrick's parents and brother came over to have dinner and cake.  She was so excited.  

She got a Baby Alive Sarah doll.  I'm not sure who loved it more, she or Barrett.  They fed her and we changed her diaper.  Several times.  

We got up bright and early Saturday morning to head to the Just Keep Smiling Live with the Characters show.  This year John, Hope, Madelyn and Brooks were able to come.  Madelyn was a little unsure of the characters.  But they had so much fun.  I think this was my favorite show yet.

We loved the Ninja Turtles

Barrett went with the Moore's to see the super heroes while AveryAnn and I waited in line to see Goofy. Ava was a handler for the show so she got to be Goofy for the autograph part so we had to go see her.

AveryAnn loved the characters this year.  She was scared last year.  Makes me want to jump on a plane to Disney right now.

She also had to see Daisy.

After the show, John and Hope ran and got some chickfila for lunch and came up to our house to hang out and kill time before the birthday party they had to go to.  It worked out perfect.  We had a nice afternoon visiting with them.  We've gotten to see them so much lately and it's been so nice!

When they left for their party we headed to 280 for a party.

I had to post this because both of my kids are in it and not crying.  It's pretty much a miracle.

AveryAnn was so into the characters. She ran up to pickachu and just stood there but he couldn't see her and it was the funniest thing to me.  I was laughing so hard.

We left the party headed home.  But first we had to stop and pick up my consignment sale check and the few things that didn't sell.  We got that and headed home, where I basically threw the kids out and changed clothes really quick so I could head to my sister's church for their Mardi Gras party.  I'd promised her I would go weeks ago and then everything fell on the same weekend. 

It was a lot of fun!  We ate and danced and had fun!

Sunday we got up and went to church.  Of course Patrick got called in to work so just the kids and I headed to Mass.  We got lunch and headed home.  Our school PTA was putting on a "Back the Blue" event at our ballpark and they'd been hyping it up to the kids all week.  I was really hoping Barrett would forget about the "police party" as he was calling it.  Of course he didn't, thankfully the weather was beautiful so the kids and I headed over to the ballpark to see what it was all about.  They had the best time on the obstacle course and in the bouncy house.  It was a really nice afternoon for our community.

We came home from that and I headed to the store and then to bunko.  I was so drained by the time I got to bunko.  But I made it through and finally got home and got everything ready for the week.  

This morning when Barrett got up I heard him coughing, when I saw him his face was all red.  I took his temp and of course he had a fever.  I didn't have anyone to keep him and I had to go to work so Patrick had to leave work to come home and stay with him.  He's been fever free most of the afternoon so hopefully it was just a virus and he'll be better tomorrow.