just can't do it

yesterday i was scheduled to work from 7a-3:30pm to get to know the new computer system on my unit. i wasn't considered part of the "staff", but i was involved a little in patient care in order to figure out how to chart with the new system, etc. well the day before, i was caring for 2 sicks boys at my own house...eli had 104.5 fever and diarrhea, caleb had 103 fever and diarrhea, both stating that their throats and "belly hurts". i took them both in to see the doctor more or less for my own peace of mind that they didn't have strep throat or something worse. just as i suspected, some kind of viral bug was all she diagnosed them with, along with plenty of fluids and rest. since the baby boy was well, i figured saturday with daddy would be okay. when i left that morning at 6am, jerry was already awake and i told him, "make sure you call me if for some reason they're too sick to handle". i didn't hear anything til 9am. i called to check on him/them and he couldn't even talk cuz the baby had horrible diarrhea and was screaming from a raw bottom. he called me back and said, "you have to come home, i can't do this". apparently the dr's office had called to check on them and said to take caleb to the ER because of this swollen eye that they were now concerned about. after 2 1/2 hours at work, i rescued my poor husband from the fevers, poops, and screaming. i called the dr. back to get an explanation of exactly why we couldn't wait til monday to get labs on caleb and she agreed that we could, so no need to rush to the ER. within one hour of being home the boys were running around crazy, acting like normal and i was left wondering where my sick children went that i was there to take care of. of course, once the tylenol and motrin wore off they were all laying on the couch, lifeless again. jerry did admit, "i just can't do what you do...not with 3 sick kids especially". thank you, jerry...for admitting that and being man enough to call for help :) i told him that he didn't get a fair chance that day, not with all 3 of them being sick. we'll try again next monday when i'm scheduled to work. maybe this time he'll have well children as he gets to try out the new school routine. good luck!

kindergarten

the 1st day of school is always so exciting, at least for me. i still can't believe that my baby boy is old enough to be in kindergarten! because eli is still going to kingsway christian school, it wasn't as big of a deal to me as if he would've gotten onto a school bus and left. i walked him in to his new class and was welcomed with a "to do" list on his new desk. this was a bit of a shock to me since i was not fore-warned about this and had 2 other children sitting in a stroller with me. thankfully, my best friend was also there with her son and was done with the list, so she helped me frantically get everything sorted out and things labeled correctly for eli to start his day. his 1st day must've went okay because when asked about it his response was "it was fine". typical boy response and something i'm very used to! as a mom, i want details. i've discovered though, at least from this boy, that details are not among the necessities in life when it comes to school. i guess if he's happy and there's no bad reports from the teacher, then school is going fine. kindergarten seems like a big step in a 5 year old's life, but maybe i'm just overrating it. he sure looked cute though!

8 years

today jerry and i celebrated our 8th anniversary! it's kind of sad that we didn't even have cards to exchange, but after a few children, you realize that it's not about sentimental cards or gifts. TIME...that's what matters. we actually got to spend quality time together, minus children, for 3 1/2 hours. we started with dinner out and kept reminding each other to eat slowly and enjoy our food since we had noone but ourselves to feed. when our waitress brought our dinners out, i said, "oh, i'm not even done with my salad yet". to not scarf down my food is so rare of an occasion that i was surprised when i had food waiting to be eaten. after we enjoyed our peaceful dinner, we chose to spend our time shopping in stores that aren't "kid-friendly". we stopped by the furniture store to look at couches that hopefully someday we can buy to match our living room that we're getting ready to re-paint. we went into various stores looking for a coat rack. we even went into hh gregg and shopped for our 50 inch plasma tv that we're hoping to get before colts season starts. after stopping in to about 5 different stores without having to strap children in and out of the truck, we decided to sit outside at the ice cream shop and eat dessert together. not exactly the most romantic anniversary evening, but it was just what we needed...to be just "us". although we did have an ageda, we were together doing what "we" wanted to do...that, in and of itself, is a celebration!

old friends

last week i finally got to go meet and visit with an old friend from high school and her 4 little boys. yes, 4, little boys...crazy that between the 2 of us there were 7 little boys running around. it's unbelievable how you can not talk to someone for almost 10 years and basically pick up where you left off. we both have changed so much, but at the same time, not at all. she even made the comment that when we talked on the phone for directions to her house, she thought it didn't sound like me and then i laughed and she said, "yep, that's tracy". we let some silly mistakes come between us, which was absolutely immature and petty, but at the time, well, i guess we were young, vulnerable, stupid, etc. now, in our 30's and both happily married, i think we both realize that life does go on and time really does heal. she was one of my best friends and i have so many great memories with her that i feel so thankful for a second chance at our friendship. now that we both have boys and are in similar life situations, i hope we can keep "growing up" together.

a little girl time

this weekend the boys went with jerry to spend the night camping out in mawmaw and pawpaw teipen's backyard. they worked very hard clearing out a spot out by the woods where they made a fire and pitched their tent. abram and i went down yesterday to spend the day with them and got to hang out and watch the boys, plus dru & hanna (their cousins) ride the "big red tractor", the orange tractor, and the 4 wheeler all day. hanna fits right in with the boys, but when she saw me getting out my nail polish to paint my toenails, she quickly came right to my side. she was fascinated with all of the color options she had to choose from and decided on bright purple for her nails & toes. i didn't realize what i was getting myself into when i agreed to paint them...those nails are tiny! i always thought i'd love to paint a little girl's nails, do her hair, and other girly things, but i soon realized this is all much harder than it seems. i found myself re-doing a few nails here and there as she decided to move or i overestimated the amount of paint. she didn't complain over my less-than-perfect job and soon was my buddy. i decided to try to braid her hair next...bad idea. i started out okay, but by the middle of her head, her baby fine hair had already escaped my tight grip. it was a fight between her moving around, me not having enough fingers, and her fine, silky hair and i totally lost. two cute barretts fixed her up and she had had enough "girl" time and i had too. i must admit, boys are much easier. although they definitely don't have the patience to sit through a manicure, they are so easily occupied with dirt, motorized vehicles, and finding great sticks that i find myself very thankful right now that i have boys.

smelly stuff

today i took the boys to the hendricks county fair which was a lot of fun. we hadn't been to the new fairgrounds, so that was a nice treat to actually have clean bathrooms & an organized fair ground. the boys, of course, found the tractors to be the most fun of all. there were tons of them and if they would've let them sit on all of them, they would have. fortunately for my sake, and abram's, they only let you try out 4 of the tractors. otherwise, i was a little worried because the first barn we went in was the horse barn and caleb's words were, "mom, it's stinky in here". he had a horrible look on his face and for those of you that don't know, caleb has a very sensitive gag reflex so i was a bit concerned. i assurred him that animals just smell that way and that even though he thought it was "stinky" the animals were clean and he'd be fine. he made it through all of the barns without any incident and seemed to like the rabbits the best. he wondered when we could have a rabbit at our house. eli was quite disappointed that the rides weren't up and running during the early hours of the day, but my wallet was not at all upset. we decided to eat lunch out instead of spending a fortune on fair food, so we headed over to pizza king to see the train deliver our drinks. the boys were having a great time when i noticed abram grunting. i knew what that meant, but since he rarely makes a mess of his poopy diapers, i wasn't in a hurry to change him. after a few mintues though i started to smell something, sorta like the barns we had just left at the fair. i thought maybe someone had something stuck to their sandal, but then i looked over and saw abram with brown stuff all over his outfit, in his hands, all over his legs, all over my keys, his toys, etc. i must say that i was completely unprepared for such an event since i thought we were just eating a quick lunch and heading home. i didn't even bring the diaper bag in which obviously was a big mistake. you'd think after 3 kids i would know better! i looked at eli and admitted to him that i had no idea how to handle this situation. it's not like i could just leave them all to run out to the van. so i used every napkin in the place and wiped as much off as i could and then very carefully snuck out of there. a bath, new clothes (for both of us), and disinfectant were ordered up and we were ready for a nap. lesson for the day...always be prepared!!!

the party

19 kids were at my house yesterday for abram's 1st birthday party...all under the age of 5!! all i have to say about that is "wow"!! the party was fun though and celebrating a 1st birthday is always interesting since you don't really know how the baby is gonna react to the attention, present opening, cake, etc. abram was a little overwhelmed during the gift opening time as he was completely lost in a pile of presents and kids trying to get at his new toys. he found one toy that he really liked though and tried to focus his attention on that while his brothers opened his gifts for him. he LOVED the big doggie that his brothers got him as he's been loving on theirs for awhile now. the boys knew exactly what they were getting him for his birthday long ago when he started to grow attached to their doggies. he's already doing the lightning crawl to get to it everytime he sees it and then wrestles and growls as he rolls around with it. the dog is at least a foot longer than him! the cake, or rather, cupcake time at the party was rather uneventful. abram didn't really have any desire to try to mess it up or eat it. i ended up tearing it apart for him and forcing a piece in his mouth just to say that he at least ate a bite. he was ready to go outside after the party and got a gator ride from his big brother. he played with his buggy for awhile and then was ready to pass out with his thumb and blankie. after spending a few hours making a video for his party of him from birth til now to music, i completely forgot to show everybody it since i was so distracted by all of the excitement of the day. i remembered while some of my family were still here, so i at least got to show them. hopefully my dad can figure out how to email it, so that i can try to show it off to everyone else. oh, and i DID get the scrapbook done!