croup, crap, and other ramblings

from KidsHealth-The term croup does not refer to a single illness, but rather a group of conditions involving inflammation of the upper airway that leads to a cough that sounds like a bark, particularly when a child is crying.(yep, he had this)Most children with viral croup are between the ages of 3 months and 5 years old.(yep, he is almost 9 months) Croup is most likely to occur during the winter months and early spring(winter time right now), and symptoms are most severe in children younger than 3 years of age(yep, as previously mentioned, he's 9 months).
Most croup due to viruses is mild and can be treated at home, though rarely viral croup can be severe and even life-threatening. Some children are more prone to developing croup, especially those who were born prematurely(nope, he was full-term) or with narrowed upper airways.
Treatment
Most, though not all, cases of viral croup are mild. Breathing in moist air seems to relieve many of the symptoms.(we sat in the shower in 10 minute spurts about 6 times on Friday) Doctors will also sometimes treat with steroids, which helps with the airway swelling.(we now have a Rx for a decongestant and a steroid)

so, if you haven't yet guessed, Luke was diagnosed with croup on Friday night. Erin had a cold with a cough for a few days, and then she shook it off and is now fine. Luke started with a cough on Thursday, and then on Friday it just deteriorated quickly. his cough became a bark, so we spent a lot of time in the closed bathroom with the shower running. I probably lost a few pounds from my sweating. Luke, however, did not seem affected by the steam at all. he enjoyed touching the foggy mirror, but continued to cough and then started wheezing with his regular breathing. the man was on his way home from working 3 days of crazy hours, so I decided to wait until he could get home to take over the other 2 kids. I was not taking all 3 of them to the ER(my original plan). I called my brother-in-law for advice(he's a respiratory therapist). he asked if we had a place nearby for pediatric urgent care, and yes, we do. I wasn't familiar if they were equipped for more than the common cold, but he suggested to go there. so, once the man got home, we were off. I can honestly say that that place, Nightlight Pediatrics, was awesome! if you ever need to have urgent care for a child, this is the place to go. I was starting to fill out the paperwork for Luke, and got to a line that said, "if your child is having any respiratory problems, tell us NOW", so I did. a nurse came right out to the waiting room to listen to his breathing and take his pulse. we were taken right back to get an oxygen sat. level taken, and from there to a room. a Dr. came right in and got a breathing trt. ordered and started within about 5 minutes. let me tell you, this 9 month old did NOT like the breathing trt. at all. he screamed and squirmed while I tried to hold him, hold the mask on him, and try to calm him down all at once. the Dr. came back in and said we'd try it another way...he took of the mask and I just had to hold the tube so that the steam would blow on Luke's face. he liked this for about 2 seconds, then we were back to the screaming. the only good thing about the screaming was that he was breathing the medicated steam in. I was in a sweat again by the time the trt. was done.
so, his breathing improved a LOT! I was so relieved. they had mentioned doing a swab for RSV if the trt. did not help. but, he was pretty certain it was croup, and gave me the Rx's and some printed sheets of info for what to do and what to look out for at home. we were on our way out of the door exactly 1 hour from arriving. that is great service!
we stopped by Walgreen's for the meds, and waited. I did not want to drive home and then turn around to go back, so we waited in the car and Luke slept a bit. we finally got back home and started the fun task of giving him his medications. it took both of us, and the majority of the stuff got into him, I think. there was a lot of crying and spitting and wiping up going on.
he is doing better now, on Sunday. his breathing is quiet and he has a runny nose and is just generally in the "I have a cold and I'm cranky" mode.
my son, the 8 year old, was very worried. he did, however, hear me wrong when I was telling him what Luke was diagnosed with. he informed the neighbors that Luke had "the crap". lol, I'm sure they thought "what????? you took your child to the Dr. because he went poop?". I saw her later, though, and explained what really happened. we got a good laugh at his explanation of it all!
well, I'm off to the grocery store while Luke is fast asleep. I'm dropping off the 8 yr old for a playdate at another neighbor's house, and I am getting a cold. my throat is itchy and I'm all stuffy. gotta love kids, they share absolutely everything with you, don't they?

Luke's 1st Christmas 2007

me and my smiley guy on Christmas Eve

giving Eskimo kisses

and in his little Santa outfit playing with some new toys on his 1st Christmas Day

and of course, we had to go out for a swing!

(complete with drool!)

we survived Christmas 2007!

it's the day after. the day otherwise known as finding homes for all of the new stuff day. I'm currently taking a break from that fun to do laundry.

I can honestly say that the kids had an awesome Christmas! everything was a big hit gift-wise. Jack got his much asked for Nintendo DS, and 3 games for it. he was so excited when he found out it was all charged up and ready to go(Santa had the forethought to charge it for him). he has also had so much fun with the 2007 Hess truck. my Dad gets this for all of the boy grandchildren every year, even the 12 yr old one loved it! next year Luke'll get one, too:)

Erin has been playing with her pink Leapster a lot, and who can complain when she's counting and spelling????? put a Princess in the game and she'll add, subtract or spell her name a million times, it seems! she also got a pink scooter and matching pink helmet! that was given a test drive first thing Christmas morning:) she also loves this little set of horses that she got. she has arranged them over and over.

Luke seemed to enjoy eating wrapping paper and bows best of all this year:) he has played with new toys, but he got the most upset when I had to hold him down and pry out a wad of wrapping paper out of his mouth. mean Momma I am, huh?

we had the family over yesterday for ham sandwiches and leftovers from my sister's Christmas Eve party. it was fun. exhausting, but fun. hubby had to go back to work today, so it's been the kids and I looking through all of the goodies again. Erin has a bad cough and slight fever, so she's been laying on the couch sleeping off and on. poor thing, it's beautiful outside and I know she doesn't feel good if she'd rather lay down rather than play out there with Jack.

being Santa can be exhausting and mysterious

we went to see Santa yesterday. our old favorite Santa moved away last year. he was a funky, casual Christmas Santa who wore striped knee socks and a flannel shirt. the nicest man and best Santa I had ever seen. my oldest has pictures with him from 3 months old to 6 years old. but, Santa moved...to Georgia I heard. oh well, hope the Georgians are enjoying my Santa.

anyways, back to Santa. I dressed my 3 children in matching Christmas pajama pants with coordinating red, green and white shirts. the baby threw up all over himself in the car on the way to see Santa, so we made a quick trip into JCPenney with a naked baby(can we say the white trash family look is not my favorite one to wear...omg, I was mortified). found a new white onesie, and got him dressed again to match the family. the line was not too horrible, we waited about 20 minutes.

so, while we were in line, we ask the kids what they are going to ask Santa for. of course, the shopping and wrapping is done, so we had a pretty good idea of what they were going to say. this was our mistake. never assume your children will stick to their previously agreed upon Christmas lists. both of them, both of them.....wanted some completely new item never before talked about. well, that's not exactly true..let me explain.

the 8 year old happily told us that he was asking Santa for pinart. my first reaction was, wth is pinart? apparently, that is what the little toy thing is called that you press your hand in and it leaves an impression in metal. they come in colors now. he wants green. the 4 year old had other plans. she loudly tells us that she is asking Santa for something but it is a secret. she won't tell us. shit!

so, the husband and I devise a plan. after the kids have talked to Santa, I will take them over to pay for the picture, and the husband will covertly ask Santa what our daughter asked him for. brilliant, right? they may have killed some brain cells along the way, but we're still on top of the game, the man and I!

she wants My Little Pony Pinkie Pie. I have never heard of this creature. so, I did a search and found 5 pages of items that have Pinkie Pie either in them, on them, or shaped as this pink pony. I had to look through every item to try to figure out what my daughter would be wanting. prices ranged from $2.99 to $150.00. I chose something in the $20.00 range and thank the Lord, Target had that and the pinart and they will ship them to my house in 3 days. no shopping. no crowds. just the click click click of credit card numbers. whew, crisis averted...Santa will be the man yet again.

speaking of Santa getting all of the credit, I'm wondering how much longer my 8 year old will believe. some of my friends who have children the same age have informed me theirs no longer believe. I can't remember exactly when I stopped believing in the man in the red suit, but I love that my kids believe and believe with such wholeheartedness(is that a word?).

the kids have also informed us that they will be getting up super early on Christmas. they have been instructed that they can see what Santa brought them, check out their stockings, and no more until we are up, coffeed and camera ready. the baby seems more interested in eating presents...thank goodness there are some under the tree exactly for that purpose!

so...I have some food preparations to do and then I think I'll be ready. I have 1 dozen cupcakes frozen, a bunch of Christmas toffee frozen, the ham...and the menu is ready. I am hoping to make Christmas cookies with my daughter tomorrow afternoon. so, pink 3 headed snowmen are on their way to creation. (she already told me that was she wanted to make. I just smiled and said OK. it's best not to question creativity sometimes.)

the child is trying to kill me

OK, it is 3:35PM right now as I type, and I seriously need a drink. a strong drink. maybe 2.

my 4 year old just up and decided to go over to a neighbor's house to play. without asking me! I was doing laundry, going in and out of the garage. she was watching PBS, and then when I came back in, she wasn't there. I assumed she was in her room playing, so I continued to fold and put away a load of laundry. then, when I was done, I realized it was really quiet. Luke is asleep, but usually when Erin plays by herself, she talks or sings to herself. no noise.

I looked in her room, empty.
I looked throughout the rest of the house, nobody home but the baby and myself.
just then, Jack got home from school. I asked him if he had seen Erin outside, he said nope.
then, I panicked.
I asked him to stay home with Luke while I went outside and looked in a few spots where she plays in the yard.(behind a big tree, in the bushes, in the playhouse)
then, I walked next door and knocked. who comes to the front door with my neighbor? Erin.
omg, it was one of those "do I want to strangle you or hug you first moments"! my neighbor apologized, she said she assumed I knew where she was.

so, all of my chicks are home now, safe and sound. the 4 year old chick will remain home for the remainder of the day, in her room. I'm ready for that drink now. my hands have stopped shaking enough to pour one now......whew

ahhh, December in Florida

we're getting ready for Christmas here.... we have lights up outside, including some cool lights on the swingset! however, this is Florida. so we put up those lights and got a slight tan, a few mosquito bites, and yes, we were in shorts. I'm still in shorts, and it is December 3.
however, wait! what did the weatherman just say? we're getting a cold front! in Florida, a cold front is when the wind blows enough to slightly mess up your hair and you might need to wear real shoes instead of flipflops. so, a cold front is heading for us, and tomorrow it should be about 10 degrees cooler than it is today(80 today). my maple trees are just now starting to loose their leaves. so, here in Florida we're enjoying Fall. meanwhile, the husband has a few ski resorts set to his favorites so he can see the webcams whenever he wants to see snow. poor hubby. he should have been born in Colorado.
on the topic of Christmas decorations....umm, am I not correct in that the whole frickin point of an advent calendar is that it is UP and VISIBLE for the children on December 1st? and where is our advent calendar? it is still up in the attic, in a box, where it will most likely stay until next weekend when I will go apeshit on him until he climbs up there and gets it. (I refuse to climb up there)