Christmas 2008

We had a great Christmas. It was a little busy, but that always happens. We did decide that we need to make our Christmas Eve tradition of going to Rocky's grandparent's house an every other year thing. That should make it a little less stressful. We all got great gifts. The kids were so thrilled with everything Santa brought them. Ciara got an American Girl Doll that she now carries around everywhere. She named her "little Ciara." Caden got trucks, and cars, and a car crash track. He loves to make the cars crash into eachother. Some gifts of mine I would like to note are: an iPod touch (this is the coolest thing ever) a large jewelry box (now all my jewelry can fit in one place) I got so many great things that I don't want to list them all. But I believe we all got everything we wanted. Here are a few pics of our Christmas activities. Here is Ciara at her Christmas Program at school.

Here is Caden posing with his toys from Santa.

Here is Ciara showing me her new diaper bag that Santa brought.

Mom with her Yoga Toes.Dad with his socks.

Cleanliness

So, Ciara's fever went away for a few days, and now is back. This is making me worry. My Dr. isn't in today, so I am going to wait until tomorrow (I could see another Dr. but I would have to take her in again. If I wait for our regular Dr, he may be able to just give us a prescription over the phone. Plus, he is our neighbor, and I like him, so I will wait). This is just really starting to bother me. Why has she had a fever for so long? Then all sorts of awful things start to run through my head. OK, I am sure it is just some simple thing. On to my real topic: house cleaning. For those of you unfamiliar with my family, I grew up in a super clean house. My mom is kind of a neat freak. Well, not just a neat freak, but a CLEAN freak. My sister has inherited a form of this, as have I (but I am much more relaxed about it than any of them). I understand that most people are not as clean as we are in my family, but I continue to be surprised at how cleanliness has become passe (meaning not very popular). I am not going to site those people that I am talking about, so don't ask if I am talking about you specifically. Every time I go over to a new person's house, I am always a little shocked at how not clean things are. And no, I don't go through the house with a white glove looking for dust. Usually, dishes are not done, food crumbs are everywhere, and carpets are stained. I will give two examples of people who do not read this. Example 1: An old friend of mine had so much stuff in their house that you could hardly move. Laundry would pile up (in the living room, no less), and there was just STUFF everywhere. Example 2: About a month or two ago, I went to a party at another person's house. The carpet was covered in dog pee stains. And they were very obvious stains that no one had even bothered to wipe up. It really grossed me out. I was afraid to walk on the carpet. So, is it just me? Am I being too hard on people? I promise, I will still like you and be your friend if you are messy. I am just wondering where have all the clean people gone? Is cleaning not cool now? Am I a nerd?

House of Sick

December has begun with a bang for me this year. Let me give you a glimpse of my schedule:

2nd: work

3rd: volunteering at the Festival of Trees

4th: Junior League meeting, then book club meeting (which I didn't make it to because my JL meeting ran too late.)

5th: work

6th: my mother-in-laws family work party (kids movie at the theatre, then visit from Santa). After this party, Caden started screaming about his ear, so I took him to an urgent care facility, where they confirmed his ear infection. We got antibiotics and went home. We had planned on going downtown to look at the lights, but cancelled it because of Caden. We decided to go to Thanksgiving Point instead, since they have a drive though light display. Ciara developed a fever of 102 that night as well.

7th: church. Kids and Rocky stayed home, but I had to go and teach my wild 8 year olds (only 3 weeks left!). Caden also started to have diarrhea because of his antibiotics (they had to give him a stronger one since he was on amoxicillian 6 weeks ago for a previous ear infection).

8th: work, and sick kids.

9th: we skipped ballet because both kids were getting increasingly worse. Caden had stopped peeing, and wasn't eating because of his stomach problems, and Ciara still had a fever. I took both kids into the Dr. He told me to stop Caden's antibiotics, and then both kids have a viral infection that we just have to wait out. Great. Then I had to make cookies, go to work, and then head over to a cookie party (where I ate too many delicious cookies).

Now, here we are on the 10th. Both kids are still sick. Caden, I think, is starting to do better. But I was up with him from 3am until 4:30 am going to the bathroom. I think I may have forgot to mention, Caden has somehow potty trained himself in the middle of all this. We are not wearing underwear yet (until this diarrhea is finished, I don't want to put underwear on him) but I have been impressed that he makes it to the potty most of the time. So I am exhausted. I haven't had an uninterrupted night of sleep since the kids got sick (Saturday). I am watching my nephew today, but we are not going anywhere. I need to catch up. I haven't been able to check my email in 2 days, and when I finally did I had 87 emails. We have a packed schedule for the rest of the week as well. Tonight, we are all getting together to decorate my family's tree, tomorrow I have a luncheon, and then (if the kids are better) my sister-in-laws are taking the kids to zoo lights. Friday, Rocky and I have a Christmas party with friends, Saturday is the trek to see my grandma, then hopefully to see the lights downtown. Sunday is my sis-in-law's birthday. This is not a good time to have sick kids. I just hope they get better soon! Sorry that I haven't seen a lot of you in a while, as you can read, I have been busy!

Pacifier Issues

I don't know what it is about today, but it has been the worst day. There isn't one thing that I can pinpoint that has gone wrong, but things just keep adding up. My biggest problem is Caden sleeping. He has been waking up at 5 or 6 every morning. For some, you may think that that is just what kids do. And yes, some do. Not Caden. This started when we took away his pacifier. He used to sleep in until 7:30 or 8. It might not be so bad if he weren't so tired, but he is exhausted, and therefore a total grump. He also has trouble going to sleep. Before his "binky-ectomy" (the medical term for removal of the pacifier), we would put him down and he would stay in bed. Now, he gets out of bed at least 4 times at night, and during naptime. We cannot get him to stay in bed. Punishment doesn't seem to motivate him either. Again, this wouldn't be such a problem, but he is just so tired, and he cries all day long, and gets mad at everything. I miss my sweet, good natured boy. I am breaking down right now and am going to go and get new pacifiers. This has got to stop. Although part of me is worried about bringing back the binky. Is this the wrong move? Or will he just eventually outgrow it? I know that he will have to give it up sometime, but I don't think now is the time. He only uses it for sleeping, and it stays in the crib. I guess I am just lost with this problem. Ciara didn't go through this. She was younger than Caden when we took hers away, but she didn't seem to use it as much. She usually held it in her hand while sleeping, and not in her mouth. Caden always has it in his mouth when sleeping. I am seriously pulling my hair out, which is why I have decided to cave. He needs his sleep, and I want my happy son back.