Week 49 – winter hit and we entered another month. The
final month of 2015 – INSANE!
On Monday we woke up to snow. Lots and Lots of snow.
Of course, that meant a LONG drive to work. It took me nearly 2 hours to drop
the girls off and get to work. NO GOOD! I ended up leaving work a tad early,
just in case traffic was terrible on the way home too. I also had to stop at
the DMV to get new tabs for the car. DMV on the last day of the month – I don’t
recommend it. There were some serious characters there, that’s all I know. I
stopped home before picking the big girls up from daycare, to finish up, and order,
our 2015 photobook and do a little cleaning up around the house. I picked the
girls up around closing time, met up with Christian and Eliza at home…we had
dinner, watched a movie and had a quiet night. Olivia stayed up late with us to
have some hot chocolate with me before bed. Love that special one on one time
with the kids every once in a while. FINALLY, time for bed. It ended up being a
much more chaotic night than I expected.
Snow and the Lit Up House - starting to feel like Christmas around here!
Somebody was stealing sips of my hot chocolate tonight
On Tuesday we welcomed December, and I worked from
home. They were predicting another night of terrible snow, and Olivia has an
afternoon appointment, so I figured I’d get the most work done possible just
working from home. Well, it didn’t end up nearly as bad as they thought, but I
still got way more work done than I would in the office anyway. I picked Olivia
up from school a little early for her latest eye appointment. Today they did a
full exam, dilation and all. The muscle reaction they were concerned about
seems to have corrected itself, so that was a relief, and the swelling she had
is gone, so they are pretty sure all of the issues at her last appointment were
related to her injury and/or the Iritis from a few weeks ago. No glasses and
perfect sight, WHEW! We made our way home for a while and watched some TV, so
she could relax on her own for a bit. They said dilation in kids’ eyes is a lot
stronger than adults, and takes a lot longer to “recover” from. She started
complaining of a headache as the evening went on, so she took it pretty easy. We
picked the other girls up and met Christian at Perkins for “kids eat free”
night, before settling in at home and heading to bed shortly after. Eliza is
still completely miserable, and would not sleep for anything. She kept gagging
from coughing and it just breaks my heart. Poor thing. Of course, December also
marks the return of our elf, Buddy. Per usual, he arrived with some cookies and
a note for the girls. They were so excited…and Eliza just wanted to get her
hands on the treats!
Yay for a successful eye appointment!
Dinner with my favorite people.
Welcome, Buddy
On Wednesday, we were up and off to work. The girls
and I are all super stuffed up and coughing like crazy. It’s starting – the winter
horribleness and constant sickness. HATE IT! Eliza finally fell asleep for good
last night around 2:30AM and then she didn’t want to get up, so I felt terrible
forcing her out of bed so early. She was happy again once we got to daycare and
she could snuggle up with her teacher though, so I think it will do her some
good to be there and out of the house. All I know is, this house is beyond
exhausted right now. Somehow, I ended up having a pretty productive day at
work, illness and all. My workload is out of control again, and I feel like I’m
constantly playing catch up. Then, I got a call from daycare in the afternoon.
She didn’t need to be picked up, but they were really concerned about Eliza. She
was wheezing in her sleep, looking pale and her cough was out of control. They
weren’t sure what it could be, but wanted to let me know. I finished out the
day, and we made our way right to Urgent Care after I picked the girls up. I
was sure it was nothing, but better safe than sorry. They checked her over…strep
test was negative, no ear infection or croup, lungs sounded good. Just a bad
viral cold, getting her all blocked up and giving her a sore throat. It’s of
course reassuring to know they don’t have anything serious going on, but
sometimes it really sucks when there’s nothing you can do for them, except wait
it out. For now, lots of clear liquids, a cool mist humidifier in her room and
some Benadryl to help loosen things up and help her get some sleep. We arrived
home at the same time as Christian, and had some dinner. Olivia started
complaining that her stomach hurt, how she was SOOOOO tired and that her SUPER
loose tooth was hurting her (but she “can’t” pull it out – and I won’t, teeth
disgust me). Then, Amelia claimed that her tongue hurt and she was SO exhausted
too. Seriously, they’re all a mess. Needless to say, it was a pretty early
bedtime. For Buddy Day 2, he brought the girls their Christmas tree to set up
and decorate. Funzies!
On Thursday, we all woke up exhausted again. The
Benadryl didn’t seem to help Eliza too much. She still woke up a ton during the
night, just miserable. But she was actually falling back asleep, which was a
change. Hopefully every day is a little better. She was miserable again this
morning, but, again, perked up once she got to daycare. I was off to work,
another busy day that flew by. I stopped at Walmart after work to pick up our
Christmas cards, and seriously, it was a NIGHTMARE! The do layaway and ship to
store items at the same place as the photos, and it’s just terrible. I was in
line FOREVER, and it seemed everybody else was there to pick up items, that
were apparently nowhere to be found. So frustrating. Then, I finally checked
out and arrived to daycare to find Olivia crying and upset. I was sure she had
gotten in trouble, but as I got closer I could see a little cut on her face,
right below her “good” eye, and the teacher informed me that another child had
punched her in the face. Like literally punched her in the face. Apparently
they were playing a game, Olivia was winning, and another little boy was upset,
so he decided to pack up the game and put it away. When she tried to take it
back, to continue playing, he threw the game cards at her and punched her. I’ve
never been so upset before. After EVERYTHING she’s been through, the thought
that something else much worse could’ve happened was just too much for me. I
had the big girls pack up while I went to get Eliza from her room. There, I
came upon the director, on the phone with the puncher’s parents and apparently
it was not his first incident of the day. And, according to Olivia, the
behavior was not out of the norm for him. We’ve encountered a few of these kids
in the 4 years they’ve been there, and I get a little frustrated wondering “when
is enough, enough?” We pay a lot of money for our kids to be in a safe,
learning environment, and shouldn’t have to be worried about them being “assaulted”
by kids that consistently act out in that way. I was relieved to hear them
dealing with it though, and not just trying to brush it under the rug.
Definitely helped me cool down a bit. I’m just thankful that I pick them up,
and not Christian, because I can’t even imagine what he would have done/said!
We finally settled in at home, and I was so over the day. Christian made
dinner, we watched some Christmas movies on TV, the girls took their baths and
we were all off to bed. Hoping for a better night! For Buddy Day 3, he showed
up with the girls’ 2015 Christmas Ornaments.
Finally Friday arrived – man it’s been a long week!
Eliza did indeed sleep much better last night, but she’s definitely still not
herself. Poor thing. Now I’m pretty sure that I’ve caught it and seriously
cannot breath. So gross. Winter – sucks! I dropped the big girls off at daycare
– they don’t have school today (shocker) and Eliza off at my mom’s for the day.
It was a quiet day at work, which was really nice. A lot of the office was out
at training, so it was a productive end to the week. My mom stopped in with
Eliza for a little afternoon visit, which is always nice. I also got a few “personal”
things done today…sent our Christmas cards, booked Olivia’s birthday party and
sent her invitations. Checking things off the list!! I picked Eliza up after
work, and she was quite a handful. I think just exhausted – she didn’t nap too
well today. Of course she passed out once I finally got her in the van and on
our way. We stopped at Hallmark quick, picked the big girls up, and stopped
home to change and get ready for gymnastics. While we were there, Christian
arrived home and made dinner. We ate as soon as we got home and watched some TV
movies before sending the girls off to bed. I caught up on some Hulu before passing out myself. For Buddy
Day 4, he brought the girls their 2015 Hallmark Singing/Dancing Snowman. I love
those!
The cut from yesterday's punch. Thankfully it wasn't any closer to her eye.
On Saturday, we had a busy start to the day. I was
up early, showered and got ready for the day. The girls were up, had some
breakfast and got ready. I packed up some stuff, packed the big girls up in the
van, and we were off. I dropped Chuy off at the vet first, for his 6 month
check-up, we stopped at Target for a few things, and then were off to my friend
Michelle’s for a Christmas Cookie baking party with some of her family and
friends. The girls had fun helping, and watched some movies in between. I had a
blast chatting and laughing and baking away, catching up with friends and
getting a little break from the usual routine. Meanwhile, Christian hung out at
home with Eliza – basically did nothing all day long. Shocker – multi-tasking
is definitely not one of his skills. Once we were done baking like crazy, we
packed up our goodies, I packed the girls up, and we made our way home for
dinner, some movies and a quiet night. Christian left to have dinner and hang
out with a friend for a while, so it was just us girls for the night. Eliza
ended up falling asleep on my lap, which never happens, so the other girls
cuddled up next to us and we watched “The Santa Clause” before bed. Once the
girls were tucked in, I caught up on a few shows and was in bed pretty early
myself. For Buddy Day 5, he made it snow inside. Very exciting!
Let It Snow!
Sunday was a pretty typical busy day around the
house. I put up most of the Christmas decorations, which is always quite a
task, and did some cleaning around the house. And, of course, laundry ALL DAY
LONG. We had Breakfast, and Christian took Olivia with him on a tip to Menard’s.
Eliza ended up taking a SUPER long nap, so Amelia and I worked on her “Star of
the Week” stuff for school tomorrow. She started acting up, and got in big trouble.
While throwing a fit on the couch, she ended up falling asleep and taking a nap
as well. I swear, she’ll never grow out of needing to take a nap! While she
slept, I worked on our giant mound of dishes, and then Olivia and I went on a
target run. After getting home, unloading the van and putting everything away,
I started dinner and helped Olivia with her homework. I finished dishes after
dinner and finally settled in for the night. Eliza didn’t want to go to bed, so
we cuddled for a while before she finally agreed to lay down. LOL – she’s the
boss, that’s for sure. I couldn’t believe the weekend was already ending. Life
is just way too crazy and chaotic! For Buddy Day 6 – he wrote little messages
all over the bathroom mirrors. It was pretty funny listening to the girls when
they woke up and found it. Funny guy!
Until Next Week! XOXO
