2014 - Week 51

Well, Monday did not start off too great (even for a Monday!). Eliza had a pretty rough night – therefore, I had a pretty rough night. And, a nice, early morning. I mean, seriously, this can end any time now. I feel like I just drag all day long, I’m like the walking dead at work every day. Luckily, Monday is her day at my in-laws, so even if she’s not feeling 100%, I know she’ll be well cared for. Of course, the downside, is like a typical grandparent, my in-laws freak out about everything and convince us (more Christian than anything) that she’s deathly ill and something horrible is going on. So, throughout the day we just started worrying more and more. After a long day of work, I decided to take Eliza in to be seen again. Mostly, we have been concerned about her getting dehydrated. We feel like she was showing several signs of it…her soft spot was sunken in more than usual, she’s had a slight fever, she’s not eating well, she’s still throwing up randomly, she’s waking up with dry diapers and not peeing much at all throughout the day. While we’re *sure* she’s just fine, it never hurts to get checked out. But, there’s no way to get a last minute appointment with a (decent) pediatrician in our system, and I just hat taking the kids to Urgent Care…the doctors they staff just never seem to know how to deal with kids. We decided to try out this “Urgency Room” place a few people have recommended to me. It’s kind of a cross between an emergency room and a clinic. And, it was actually pretty awesome. They checked us in, got is in a room, and a short time later the doctor came in. He right away said she appeared to be happy and healthy and didn’t show any obvious signs of being sick or dehydrated. Her vitals were all pretty good, so everything was coming up positive. Because of her on and off fevers, they suggested checking for a urinary tract infection. So, they used a catheter to check her urine – which, on the plus side, would also show if she was dehydrated. She was NOT a fan of that process, but it went quickly (and boy did she pee after they did that!). I fed her while we waited for the results, and thankfully everything came back normal. So, they just gave us a few things to keep an eye on, said just keep feeding her like normal, even if she’s throwing up or refuses, just keep trying. It’s always nice to get the “all clear” and know that nothing serious is going on, but sometimes you just wish there was actually something you could treat, something you could actually DO something for. Waiting it out is just the worst. While we were getting checked out, Christian picked the big girls up and started dinner at home. We pretty much just had time to eat and go to bed once we were all home and settled in, so it was a pretty chaotic evening. I did contact Sprint and put them in their place today though, which made me feel pretty good with everything going on. We switched from T-Mobile to Spring a few weeks ago, and I received our first bill. It was almost double what it was supposed to be and I was freaking out. A small portion of the additional costs were pro-rated from the month before...apparently having a phone for TWO DAYS of a billing period = $20 per line. Ugh. I talked to them to figure out the rest of the issues….for one, they added insurance to both of our phones, which we didn’t ask for ($22 total), so they agreed to remove those charges. In addition, each line had a $15 fee that was supposed to be waived through December 2015. According to them, the small print states that it can take 2-3 billing periods to reflect that promotion. I was NOT having any of that. I totally went off about how shady it was, and how this was not like a discount or a special, on-going program…it was a signing promotion that was only good for a certain period of time…it’s not like I get 2 additional months at the end because it takes them 2 months to activate. I finally talked to a supervisor and they agreed to manually apply the discount until it goes through (so, $30 was removed). I’m not a confrontational person, so it’s hard for me to contact a company like that and let them have it, but man did it feel good! Jerks.

Tuesday was actually a pretty good day. Eliza seemed to be doing much better and was off to daycare. We were off to work, the big girls off to school. All was right in the world again. Our local radio station does this “Christmas Wish” thing every year – where you nominate a deserving family for some kind of uplifting experience (everything from Christmas presents for kids, grocery gift cards for the family, new appliances, etc.). It’s been getting to me big time lately – specifically these two infant stories they’ve done. One baby, London, is exactly a month older than Eliza and looks so much like her. She’s the sweetest little thing; you can follow her story on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/703198259751832/?ref=br_tf. The other is this sweet little guy Vito, you can follow his story as well https://www.facebook.com/VitoSkaro. Their stories just broke my heart and had me bawling. Continuing to follow their stories is an emotional rollercoaster – I don’t know how people manage to stay so strong, I just don’t. Anyway, Christmas Wish and crying my eyes out all the way to work is how I start very morning this time of year. On the flip slide, on the way home a light came on in the van. Christian ran it up to the auto parts store to scan it and apparently it’s some kind of sensor, so he’ll be bringing that in to get fixed on Thursday. Ugh – makes me nervous that we’ve already had a few issues with the van, and it’s not even a year old yet. When I picked the girls up, I received a gift from Eliza (well, her teacher, LOL). I opened it when I got home and it was this SUPER cute ornament her teacher had made, with her pictures all over it. I seriously almost died, I love it!

The awesome ornament I got from Eliza's teacher, love!

Tonight Buddy and his friends were holding some sack races.

Wednesday was a pretty quiet day. It was my work from home day, so the morning was slightly less chaotic than normal. Christian was off to work and I dropped the girls off at daycare. On our way out, the post office delivered a package – at 6:30AM, crazy! We received another package in the morning, afternoon mail and I officially had everything I needed to finish wrapping this weekend. Another plus today…while it was cold as heck, it was sunny…after what seems like weeks of gray, foggy, dark, sad weather, it was finally sunny. Between the sun and a slight breeze, snow was blowing around like little specs of glitter. I loved it – a very small bright side to winter weather. After working the day away, I picked the girls up, we met Christian at home and we had a quiet evening.

Buddy made it snow inside tonight and surprised the girls when they got home. Eliza is mesmerized by them!

Buddy had to look up directions on how to cut out snowflakes - apparently elementary arts and crafts don't stick with you for too long.

Thursday was a pretty low-key day all around. We were all off to work, daycare and school as appropriate. With that, Eliza actually made it through the entire week and I think we might actually be in the clear (knock on wood), finally!! Christian took the van today to get fixed today, so I drive my old car to work. It was so strange being in the car again (since we can’t fit all of the girls in it, I really never go in it anymore), and I felt like I couldn’t see anything…I definitely missed my van after a day away from it! They did get the part replaced and the light off though, hallelujah!! So, at the end of the day, we have a house of healthy people, a van that’s been fixed back up and we were good to go. Can’t get much better than that!

Buddy had quite the showing at his kissing booth tonight...I'm sure all of his earnings are going to a good cause.

In honor of our visit to see the big guy this weekend, my throwback this week was a look back at our past visits. This year should be interesting.

Friday, Friday, Friday…FINALLY Friday. Even though it was my Friday to work, it was still Friday and you can’t really beat that. My mom was over bright and early to hang out with Eliza for the day…with her being sick, it had been quite a long time since she’d watched Eliza. After a long day at work, I picked the big girls up and rushed home…I left them with my mom for a few minutes to rush Eliza off to get her 2^nd dose of the fly shot (with fingers TIGHTLY crossed that didn’t spawn all of her issues last month). We were in and out, and back home in no time, ready to get the weekend started. Christian had to work late, pretty typical for Friday, so it was just the girls and I for most of the evening. Olivia brought home a cute ornament from school today, and her teachers gave her a fun book and bag. She was excited about being on winter break – though, I don’t think she truly knows what it means, and I don’t think she’ll actually be excited about sitting at daycare for two weeks. I got the girls fed and settled in, Christian brought home dinner for us and we had a quiet night at home. I did some final present wrapping after the girls went to bed…how crazy is it that Christmas is a week away?!?

The super cute ornament Olivia made.

The dog is obsessed with her.

Buddy arrived with this years Gingerbread House tonight. We were too tired to do it though...

On Saturday, Christian was off to work. The girls were up really, REALLY early…so I sent them back to bed. I don’t play those games. Eliza and I finally woke, and freed the big girls from their room. We had breakfast, I have them all some baths and got Eliza down for a nap. The big girls watched some movies and played while I did a little cleaning up, showered and got ready for the day. We finally packed into the van, and met Christian at his sisters’ house for his oldest nieces birthday party (she’s a Christmas baby, so they had her party early this year). The girls had a great time playing with their cousins, his mom and sister made some yummy taquitos for dinner, we chatted and laughed and hung out for a while. Finally, we were on our way home, for some Christmas activities. We started on our gingerbread house, and made the girls’ 2014 homemade ornaments. It was pretty late by the time we finished, so the girls pretty much passed out…Christian wasn’t far behind either. I started watching “Anchorman 2” (despite all of the bad things I’ve heard about it), but I couldn’t keep myself awake for long either. We’re all so lame!

Seriously, I love this girl, with her big, round, bald head. Love!

  

The birthday girl! Oldest and youngest cousins, so cute.

Buddy arrived with supplies to make our ornaments tonight. Fun!

(observing)

Sunday was another pretty busy day. We started off pretty typical...breakfast, picked up around the house, started laundry. Then, got ourselves ready and kicked off a day of Christmas festivities. First, we were off to Mall of America for our Santa visit. I didn’t expect miracles this year…but it was pretty much a disaster. Eliza was miserable ad hungry (terrible planning)…one flash of the photographers camera and Amelia’s eyes were watering and she was miserable. It was just terrible. I mean, we didn’t have a screaming, terrified kid, but still, terrible. Eliza fell asleep on the way home and napped for a while, so we finished up the gingerbread house and worked on the girls’ homemade cards for the grandparents. Finally, we made cookies (it’s taken forever, but they’re finally made!) and cleaned up the kitchen. It was late, but Christian was off to help his friend, Lorenzo, with car stuff. I got the big girls to bed, but Eliza would not go to sleep for ANYTHING. It was an exhausting night, and it should make for a rough Monday.

Visiting Santa

Making our gingerbread house

Buddy brought us supplies to make our homemade Christmas Cards for the grandparents tonight

Making cookies for the teachers at KinderCare

Until Next Week! XOXO