thoughts on a sunday

Cutest patient I've ever seen.

• I'm sitting here trying to start this post and all I can think of is, "I'm too tired."  But I'm still gonna try.
  
  
• I survived my first week!  Brian has come and gone and is driving back to Grants Pass as I type this.  It's a four hour drive.  He got here on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and had to leave this afternoon at 5:30.  I guess that's almost 48 hours!  It's something!
  
  
• I enjoyed having him home, especially since the girls were still sick.  Ellery was getting a fever every night- and a high one, 103.9 was the highest- and Layla was not getting any better, even on antibiotics.  I was so happy when he came home on Friday to turn all decision making over to him.  I was done making them myself.
  
  
• I guess I should tell you how annoying the insta-care by our house is.  So, our pediatrician's office was closed on Thursday, and I felt like Layla and Elle needed to be seen that day.  I didn't want to go another night with them being so sick and not knowing what was wrong.  So I decided to go to the insta-care.  Basically, the doctor listened to Layla's breathing, and looked in Ellery's throat and came back into the room with two prescriptions for antibiotics.  I finally asked what Layla had and she said, "respiratory" and then made a hand gesture.  What?!  What is that?  You didn't even look at my children!
  
  
• All week long I've been saying that Layla has "respiratory/hand gesture".  We've been laughing about it, but really it makes me mad that a doctor would exam a little baby that sounded so awful like that.  It's like she just thought that she'd just prescribe a medicine to just get us on our way.
  
  
• Unfortunately by Saturday Layla was doing worse and her respiratory hadn't improved at all and so we decided to take her in again.  This time to the ER, because our doctor doesn't work on weekends.  (I really like our doctor, but his schedule is causing me stress.)  We had a fabulous doctor who really examined Layla and determined that she had Bronchiolitis, caused by RSV and prescribed albuterol (which we're very familiar with) and now I'm not afraid she's going to stop breathing in the night.
  
  
• While in the ER she got a chest x-ray.  This was a bit traumatic.  She had to sit in this little contraption with her legs dangling down and they enclosed her body with plastic casing while I held her hands above her head.  She screamed for his, understandably so, which they said was okay because it gave them a better picture.  As they turned her around the get a side view, I popped in her souci.  I was amazed that her eyes started to roll around and get all droopy and she was going to sleep!  How she could sleep in that position, I'll never know- but then they wanted her to cry again, so I took it out, and she obliged.  
  
  
• I fully admit that I'm  very paranoid when it comes to my kids being sick.  Can't help it.
  
  
• Okay, moving on.  Brian got through his first week at a new hospital and provided anesthesia during a lobectomy- which is kind of a big case- and he did awesome.  He is in a lonely little house all by himself with no tv.  I feel sad for him.  He's hoping to run a lot, but honestly, he's so exhausted that I don't know if that will happen.  I hope it does because he really misses it.  It will be a happy day when running can be a priority in his life again.
  
  
• I've always wanted to do a whole post about how much I love the names Ellery comes up with for her girls or animals or anything really.  Just a couple from this week:  a little farm wife named Smartha, and a fly named Coco.  I really should make a list because they're quite funny.  McKay's farm guy was named Bernie, which I thought was kind of funny too.  Where has he ever heard the name Bernie before?
  
  
• If you're wondering, we played farm today.  They had a whole pasture and coral set up and everything.  I got to be Smartha.
  
  
• Also, I guess you should know about Coco too.  We were eating dinner and Ellery looked over at the glass door and suddenly shouted, "Quick McKay!  It's a bug!"  As if they had preplanned all this, McKay immediately ran into the garage and got a bug catching container and amazingly caught the fly.  I was left at the table alone as they tended to the new "pet" and decided on a name.  I finally had to call them back to eat and insist that they remove Coco from the kitchen table and put him in the garage until we were done.  Coco is now dead.
  
  
• We were happy to discover that Layla still knew who Brian was.  I know it had only been a few days, but last time after just a week she was scared of him, so you never know.  You could actually see the excitement on her face when he picked her up.  It was like, "Hey, where have you been!" and it was cute to watch her get excited to see him.  We also discovered that Layla loves to give me big slobbery, open-mouthed kisses, and she will not do the same for dad.  Brian kept trying to get a kiss, but they are strictly reserved for me.
  
  
• We had some quick visitors this week.  Brian's parents decided that they wanted to see McKay play in a tee ball game and came out for a quick trip on Monday.  They wanted to take the kids to a hotel Monday night and have a swimming/sleepover party, and Brian, Layla and I got some alone time. :)  The kids had so much fun and I was just blown away at the whole thing.  I remember going to a hotel in a similar situation with my grandparents when I was little and the memories have never left me and it was so fun and special.  I know it will be the same for my kids.  Oh, and we didn't tell the kids they were coming.  So we were just outside at the playground and they walked up and the kids were so surprised.  It was so fun!
  
  
• Aside from filling his mitt up with dirt for a whole inning, McKay did well at his game and it was fun to have Granddad there to "coach" him.
  
  
• A couple weeks ago Layla got her two bottom teeth.  They are now poking through quite a bit and unfortunately I am feeling them quite frequently.  Time to start flicking the cheek.
  
  
• A couple more things about miss Laysie- she is rolling all around the house!  I am shocked at the distance she now covers on the floor.  Still not crawling, but getting stronger as she practices the crawling position.  Also, she loves books.  I would like to take more time to read to her, because she loves it so much.  But she's so cute- touching each page and turning them and chewing on them.
  
  
• McKay and Elle were lucky enough to receive a zhu zhu pet, um...kingdom?  or home?  I don't really know what to call it, but it's got tunnels, and wheels and rooms and slides and even a garage with a car in it that the zhu zhu's can drive.  I'ts pretty fancy stuff.  My friend's daughter didn't play with it and because it's quite huge, I'm sure she was happy to free up some space in her house, so she brought it over to us.  They love it.  Brian and I realized today that zhu zhu pets are the first craze that McKay's really gotten into.  He's always loved animals, but this is the first commercialized toy he's really gotten into.  He takes good care of his zhu zhu's.  Sometimes Brian and I really want to get him a dog- because he would just LOVE it.  I can just see him as the kind of kid who would really be best friend's with his dog  (in a healthy way, hehe).
  
  
• Tonight my sweet friend and neighbor brought us dinner.  She had heard that the kids were sick and Brian was leaving and asked if she could.  She is the third person this week to ask, and so I finally just decided that maybe I should get dinner.  Makes me grateful for the support-system I have out here.  There were times this week that I needed help, and it's almost painful to ask for it.  Why is that?  Jana and I talk all the time about how when people ask us for help we are happy to do it- it feels good to serve others- but when it comes down to you asking for it, it's hard to not feel like a huge burden or inconvenience.  Maybe this is a lesson for me to really learn this year, because I pretty much have about three months left of the year with Brian under the same roof, so I'm sure there will be times where I need it.    

• I was sad about Brian leaving today, but the only thing that made me excited was the finale of Survivor.  I can't say anything because Brian doesn't have a tv, and will have to watch it online tomorrow after work, but oh it was good!  I am, however, disturbed that Grant is mad at Boston Rob. I imagined them being best friends.

Happy Sunday!