sick boy in the ER

Three weeks ago, our little guy got sick.

I got the phone call from daycare while I was at lunch, and immediately walked straight to my car. Lou said that it had come on "suddenly" -- Alex had seemed his normal self at lunch, and immediately after he came to put his head on Lou's lap, and seemed tired and feverish.

That was on a Tuesday afternoon. When we got home, his fever was 103 degrees. He slept, we gave him some ibuprofen, and that night Daddy stayed home with him while I took V to soccer.

When I got home, here is where I found my guys.

They were watching Star Wars cartoons. Somehow, Alex heard me, popped up his head long enough to say, "Mommy! We watching Star Wars" -- then promptly crashed back to sleep.

We thought he would get better from there. However, on Wednesday when I was home with him, he came upstairs after playing happily for awhile, announced he was "cold," and cuddled with me on the couch. When I grabbed the thermometer, he had a fever of 105. I gave him Tylenol, waited a bit, and half an hour later it had gone up to 106. I checked with two different types of thermometers, and both read OVER 106. Matt came upstairs and we decided to whisk him to the ER.

He was so out of it by the time we got there. I was panicked. The traffic on Central and 6th Avenue was the worst I had ever seen, and I was anxious to get him to safety. I had Matt drop us off at the corner, rushed him in -- and thankfully the staff there also rushed us right to a bed. The nurses and doctor were right behind, doing everything from issuing ibuprofen to finding movies to keep him occupied.

Mom and Dad took turns snuggling with Alex on the gurney.

After testing for strep and a urinary infection, and watching the fever respond to treatment and start to come down, we eventually concluded it was something viral and we were sent home.

The poor little guy ran a fever for 5 days and then finally beat that stupid virus. Very thankful for the amazing care in the St. Luke's ER!

Big Boy Bed

When Victoria was just over 2, we converted the crib into a toddler bed. Alex was a baby at the time, but he slept in the bassinet of the pack-n-play in our room.  We had felt like V needed the crib awhile longer, and didn't want to make her feel like her baby brother was taking over "her" bed. I still remember the glee on her face when we took the side wall off the crib and she could climb in all BY HERSELF! She was in it for a short time, but I quickly started to get a sense that Alex was going to need to transition to a crib sooner than V did as a baby. Whereas V had slept in the bassinet in our room until she was 5 months old, Alex seemed heavier, more uncomfortable, like he just needed more space. One day, I broached the subject gently with Victoria, trying to find out if she would be ok with giving her "baby brudder" the crib. I shouldn't have been surprised (but I was) when she jumped at the opportunity and was willing to make it happen right away. My girl has always done amazingly well with transitions.

Even though Victoria got her big girl bed at age 2, I thought Alex might wait a bit longer, mainly because he slept with his foot brace which made sure he could never crawl out of the crib. So, I was surprised when, shortly after we moved into the new house, I was putting Alex to bed one night, after rocking him and snuggling with him, and he pointed to the floor and said "way [lay] down dere, mama." He had gone to sleep in the crib for a couple weeks in the new house just fine -- and now he was asking to lay on the floor? I took him out of the crib, and he asked for a blanket to lay on, and asked for mama to snuggle with him on the floor. Awww... I got the sense that he simply wanted to snuggle, and of course in the crib there was no way for him to do that. Over the next few nights he kept wanting to snuggle at bed time, and eventually he just wanted to sleep on the floor. I laid a couple blankets down, put up the baby gate, and he was one happy guy.

Matt and I talked about what our next steps should be. Clearly, he was ready for a big boy bed, but getting a simple toddler bed was never going to allow room for us to snuggle in bed with him. Even a twin bed, like V has, feels very tight, especially those nights she is sick and wants someone in bed with her.

So, we got a double mattress, and put it right on the floor so A-man can't hurt himself falling out.

The boy LOVES his bed. Like most kids, yeah, he likes to jump on it, "fall" in it and "fall" out of it. But he also likes to be cozy, get covered up in blankets.

All the extra space also means he can bring his "guys" to bed. And his books. And his water cup. And ... and anything else he wants :).

And for my part, I have indeed spent nights there when he gets sick, because he seems to suffer from high fevers and difficulty breathing, and mom gets worried. But even aside from being sick, it seems both parents like being more comfy when we are reading books at night. Mainly, I am just glad that he is so happy in his bed and in his room, as he (like his sister) has turned out to be a very good sleeper.

Alex at the office

Earlier this summer, Alex had a doctor appointment in the morning -- at a time where it really didn't make sense for me to make the trek back out to daycare to get him. So, he came to work with Mommy!

Yep, that's my desk! He brought his own guys. For some reason, he put his shoes up there too. And, you can see that he promptly scoured the entire office for the best treats he could find.

Also, check out that cool hat on my little dude!

I have two little video clips that I just love. The first one shows him in my work elevator after telling me he thought it was cool that he was jumping in the elevator! Then he gets out (and amazingly knows which direction to head?!) and walks down the hall like he owns the place!

The second one is a little longer and more mellow, showing his quiet play time with his guys. I just love watching him play!

I have the best boss and coworkers, who don't mind if the kids occasionally hang out here for awhile, and everyone at City Hall seems so excited when the kids say hi. I'm so glad my kiddos (for now) think it's cool to come to Mommy's work!

cute puppies

The puppies wake up as soon as we move a muscle that might indicate we are awake. And then - they are dancing, wagging tails, excited that it is morning and they get to go DOWNSTAIRS! and OUTSIDE! and eat BREAKFAST! They wait at the top of the stairs, impatiently, while we get ready.

Sometimes Piper brings her favorite squeaky toy into Alex's room, and when Hannah is feeling very good (like lately, being energized after getting over her recent bout of sickness), she joins in.

Sometimes when we go into Victoria's room we catch Piper stealing a spot on the comfy bed.

Thankfully Victoria doesn't mind.

When the kids go to the kitchen to get their morning snacks, Hannah in particular is not far behind.

They get their own snacks too, often courtesy of Victoria, who asks to give the puppies bones ... or treats in their kongs. Like this particular day, when V dug out the kongs, Alex added small salmon treats, and V filled them with peanut butter (on a side note, that girl is getting really good with a butter knife!).



The puppies have a nice big fenced backyard to run in. Of course, they also want to be with us when we are in the front yard. With neighbors and cars nearby, they have to be on chains, but they don't seem to mind. They love watching the world go by, and keeping an eye out for chipmunks (V calls them "chickmunks") and squirrels.

Sometimes we go for car rides. Usually the dogs ride in the back of the SUVs, but sometimes they get spoiled and get to ride in the front.

Hannah has gotten spoiled like this a lot lately. She is my old girl, and she deserves it. Plus, she has laryngeal paralysis which makes it harder for her to breathe, especially when it's hot; in the front seat, mom can put all the AC right on the puppy!

She recently had a bout of sickness -- vomiting and diarrhea -- that had mom very worried. It reminded me that we don't know how much longer we have with this girl. In the meantime, she loves getting extra pets from mom while in the car. Look at this happy face!

We often take the pups to visit my parents and my brother and sister-in-law. Here is Piper with her "cousin," Molly.

After whatever fun in their days, the pups have comfy couches and beds to sleep on ... and even, sometimes, each other.

Artwork & Projects

I love everything about kids' art. The color, textures, the creativity, what you can see about their minds. Over the years, I've taken some photos of my favorites, which mostly come to us courtesy of daycare. This one, for instance, was a collage all the kids did when Victoria was a baby. Lou asked me to find some things that might be appropriate for V, so I cut pictures out of magazines for pancakes (she loves!), an iPhone (Peekaboo Barn!), baby shampoo (she has always loved the water), and our family. Lou "helped" her assemble them into this collage, complete with some scribbles from Baby V.

This simple project that daycare did caught my eye. Some simple rocks glued on the bottom. A strip of blue cellophane to represent a river, green crumbled paper to represent trees. Easy, three dimensional, fun.

Another simple one - this one was a hit with Victoria. She loved seeing her name done in glitter, and adding all the star stickers.

And this one! This still makes me laugh a couple years later. Kids put a pink pig cutout on paper, and Lou gave them some sort of textured brown paint (finger paint with sand maybe?) to add as the "mud" beneath the pig. Look at V's!

Hahahahaha ... this pig isn't standing in mud or even sitting in the mud. He is totally immersed in mud. When I got to daycare that day and saw all the kids' projects lined up on the wall, this one totally stood out as being the one MOST covered in brown.

Given that I obviously like animals -- and art with texture -- you can imagine when I saw this piece the kids had assembled around Thanksgiving time.

Last Christmas, I wanted the kids to make something small to send to the grandparents. I saw this idea on Pinterest: a "tree" ornament made with white styrofoam and using buttons as the "ornaments." I figured the kids would love gluing buttons on, and they did! V also wanted to add string to hers (I'm not sure why, but hey -- I'll go with the artist's inspiration), and A needed some help arranging his:

The kids also made ornaments at daycare, out of burlap. Lou picks a different theme for the daycare tree every year, and last year's was rustic. Check these out!

Each kid has their names put on the back. They are hung on the daycare tree until just before Christmas, when they are sent home.

Here's one that wasn't from daycare -- rather, from something V colored at home -- but it cracked me up. After demonstrating her rainbow color knowledge, V colored the unicorn, then told me, "mama, see that pink stuff under his butt? That's his poop!"

So there you have it. Unicorns have pink poop.

One of Victoria's fun places to draw is on my iPad, in an app called "Drawing Pad." It's a great app that lets you use paint brush, crayon, and marker tools, plus stamps and stickers and photos. Here is a sample creation, one of her simpler ones that shows her vivid use of color:

Here is one of my favorite watercolors from V. I'm not sure what it is that grabs my attention, but I love it.

Last year (2014) for Mother's Day, Lou worked with the kids to prepare these awesome paintings! The one on the left is Alex's; the one on the right is Victoria's. She said both kids especially loved doing the long brush strokes of green. V is especially proud of her bird "right on the top!"

I just love the ideas Lou comes up with! Including this one -- flower pots, with "butterflies" painted from the kids foot prints.

I couldn't possibly love those feet any more.

The year the bowling alley in Cloquet closed, Lou bought old bowling balls and the kids all painted lady bugs. Mine still looks great in the garden!

Also in the garden is this precious stone V "made" in 2011, with her tiny footprints. The beads have become a little faded, but it is still very treasured.

This one isn't artwork per se, but it is really cute. Last year the kids were talking about Dr. Seuss books, and they all made hats (either Thing 1 or Thing 2) and took pictures to make this poster in the class. They were all so proud to show them off!

Kylie, Parker, Leon, Vic, Alex, Liam, Maycen, and Karsyn

Finally, from this year's Mother's Day, one of my favorites -- a set of mason jar vases in a handmade box, made from old pallets by Dave and hand painted by the kids.

Thanks to Lou and my children for all the art and color you bring to my life :).

#ShareaCoke

Coke is doing this thing now. This thing where they put names on the coke bottles, so that people  consumers will think it is cool.

And I say -- what a damn good publicity stunt. Because even though I don't drink much coke, and I wanted to resist because of course I knew it was just a publicity stunt ... I still look! Whenever I pass by the refrigerators at the gas station and the end of the check-out line at Target, I check them out to see what names I can find.

My brother (Adam) drinks coke more than I, so he has had plenty of opportunity to read names. One day, he managed to find in his fridge bottles with the names for him and his wife. Awww ...

And it gets even better ... one day he texted me this:

And another day, the other kid's name popped up!

And all of a sudden, I love the fact that Adam drinks coke :).

more dress-up fun

I just can't get enough of the kids playing dress up. On this day, V was being some sort of superhero firefighter, with her blankie standing in for a cape. Alex's hula hoop and train whistle were an important part of his costume, but for the life of me I can't remember why.

I love Victoria's "come on, I dare ya!" look here ...

Another day, Alex took out his firefighter (pronounced "fiefire") shirt and added a crown and -- what else?? -- Didi's princess wand.

In the same spirit of mixing outfits from different themes, here is Princess Frozen Victoria, with her beautiful crown, blue dress and ... a hunting vest!!

She especially loves the game pocket in the back! ha ha ha I sure do love these kids!

at the beach

Summer time in northern Minnesota. There is lots of water here, and we take advantage of it!

One morning, Alex and I spent some time at the rock skipping beach. Although he wasn't enjoying sand beaches at this time, he felt very comfortable on the rocks.

Another day, this time a very hot one, we took all four "kids" to the same beach. V and A were so excited to arrive! They went running, skipping, and marching all the way down the path:

We watched a big ship heading towards the canal:

And Hannah, our dear old girl who suffers from laryngeal paralysis that gets worse in the heat, got a chance to cool off.

Happy is an understatement.

As I've written before, we've also been swimming at Pattison Park and Lake Vermilion. And, of course, we've gone to Pinehurst Pool, one of Victoria's favorite places, where she took turns swimming with Mommy and Daddy while Alex sat under the umbrella and played.

While not much for water, our little guy did enjoy running and rolling down the hill with his sister!

Writing this, I'm feeling sad that our warm weather is drawing to a close. I keeping thinking, "If I just had more time at the beach, perhaps we could get Alex to actually play in the sand, or dip his toes in." I know how much Victoria loves the water, and wish she could swim to her heart's content all the time. I am still dreaming of laying in the sand on Park Point, and going to Pinehurst one more time. As a kid who grew up with a pool and swam almost every day in the summer, our beach days are just never enough.