So, today I get to go BACK in and be seen by the colon-rectal surgeons.
Because things have become "not quite right" over the past 3 days.
I'll be taking wagers now. What do you think the issue is?
1. Fistula, requiring an actual surgery in an actual OR tomorrow, or
2. Mystery problem, possibly a second abscess developing.
More later, I'm sure. We just can't do without a little drama around here every 3 weeks or so, it seems!
Update:
I will spare you all the long, boring details, since we did so much of that last time. Long story short: I am not near death. Should I happen to actually be developing a fistula, we won't know that for a month or two at the earliest. As of right now it looks like my abscess healed too fast (as it sometimes happens in "young, very healthy people" says the Dr. Thanks Doc. I'll take it.), and it wasn't quite done...emptying...so it basically re-formed and then emptied on its own, as there was already an incision site as a weak point.
Man I feel sick just writing this all. Such gross stuff we are possible of in our bodies, huh? Sigh. This is about as far from classy as I can get.
Showing posts with label updates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label updates. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Monday, October 28, 2013
The Weekend.
This past weekend was a bit rare for us: Jonas and I WENT somewhere! Without kids!
My friend Danika from college was getting married way up north, in Biwabik MN. Biwabik is 1.5 hours north of Duluth, on a good day (i.e. no crazy MN snow storms, etc.). Renee and Jon kindly volunteered to come to our house and spend the night with our kids so we could attend this wedding, so obviously we said YES. Jonas had a church meeting from 9-10:30 on Saturday morning, and then we headed out on our road trip around 11:00 a.m.
It's truly amazing to me how fast and how light I can pack when there are no kids involved. Mind-blowing.
We were just driving 3+ hours north in our same state, but it's amazing what a difference that makes in the scenery and fall leaf colors. I feel like we passed through at LEAST three separate climate zones. ;)
I didn't bring my camera because:
1. Jonas and I are rarely alone for that amount of time, and I wanted to just "be" rather than "document" the whole time.
2. The bride had asked people to focus on enjoying the wedding rather than taking lots of their own pictures...and possibly getting in the way of her professional photographer doing their job correctly. ;) I fully agreed with this sentiment, and I do love to follow the rules!
3. Now that we have kids it feels silly to take pictures of just the two of us. Or scenery!
We arrived early, of course, per my eternal goal to never be late for anything. We drove around the town for 4 or 5 passes, then made our way to the church and marveled at the difference between small town and "big city" living. ;)
The wedding itself was lovely, and it was so fun to see a few friends from college there as well! Danika has been a missionary for the last 10 years of life since college and has spend the majority of that time in Afghanistan and Taiwan. For this, I SO admire her. I'm sure she has wanted to be married in that time, and I'm sure trusting to the timing God might have had in her life was a struggle at times, but my friends...she didn't let the fact that she wasn't married in ANY way stop her from living a life of complete purpose and meaning in the Kingdom of God. She went to scary lands, alone, knowing that God's direction in her life was far more important than a guy next to her.
I. Love. That.
I don't know her entire thought process related to this, if any, but I just love that. Were she to have never gotten married, were she to never have any kids...her life would still be JUST as meaningful and purpose-filled as anyone married with kids. Her situation, or those relationships in/not in her life, did NOT define her to God. Or to me. I just love her. :)
Anyway, I'm very glad she HAS gotten married, because it was something she wanted. So we wanted it for her. :) She married a great guy from India, and I can't wait to see the future unfold for two people who lived such great individual lives for God...what will their future look like TOGETHER? Exciting stuff!! :)
The most fun part of the wedding for me was actually our dinner companions. We sat at a table of 8 with two other couples from college, and it was great to catch up with them for sure, but our conversation was very...expected. Not BAD in any way, it's just that we're all sort of at the same stages of life together, and while it's great to rejoice at houses bought and children we have, it also feels like a somewhat "small" conversations at time, if that's all that is discussed. However, we had two dark horses join us: two guys, who looked to be in their early to mid 40's, asked to sit at our table with us. At first they were very quiet, just listening a lot, but as time went on it became very clear to us that these were maybe the coolest people you or I have pretty much ever met (well, okay, maybe not Scooter...but we all know we can't be at his level of schmoozing big-name people every day!). Maybe I should say the coolest "ordinary" people you or I have ever met. :)
Both men worked with an organization out of Colorado Springs, CO, that focuses on Afghanistan and Afghan refugees. So, they knew the groom well because he had started a church in India to minister to Afghan refugees.
Guy #1: (We have forgotten their names at this point because we were sort of in shock at their life stories!). Successful Doctor. Leaves regular medical practice because he is tired of treating people who don't take care of themselves and don't treasure the gift of health. He regularly travels to Afghanistan to train Afghan doctors on how to treat their own people, mostly in preventative medicine. On one of these missions in 2012 he was CAPTURED by the TALIBAN and had to be rescued by Navy Seals!! I remember this! He was in the news! If you don't remember, here's a link to one news clipping from the event: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/colo-doctor-rescued-taliban-capture-article-1.1216514 Keep in mind he's the most quiet, humble guy you will ever meet...and the only reason we found this out is because he left the table for a moment and his companion gave his story away! *jaws dropped all around* Of course, he has 6 kids too, a very successful 20-year marriage, etc. AND he has continued to go back to Afghanistan and do his training, no matter what.
Guy #2: Married his wife at age 18. Been married for 20+ years already. Has TWELVE children: 4 biological, 6 adopted. Each child they adopted they also fostered, AND they have fostered many, many more children on top of the ones they already have. The stories he told were heartbreaking and heartwarming to to highest extent possible. The whole family moved to Sierra Leone for a few years to be missionaries...they didn't leave when the U.S Embassy told them to (NOT cool, in my book...), or when the Sierra Leone government told them to, but they finally left when they felt like the lives of their many children were in serious danger. His work over there was to start many small businesses to help the people be self sustaining and thrive on their own. Each and every business he started is fully operational, years later now, and creating amazing opportunities for people there. And he has absolutely nothing to do with them currently--he just brought a few ideas, got the ball rolling, and then left it in the hands of highly trained native peoples. LOVE that! His family has moved 20 times in their 20+ years of marriage due to his previous job, so his wife home-schools his twelve children. No biggie. On top of the work they now do with Afghan refugees, he and his wife are looking to buy an 80 acre piece of land in Missouri where they can create a home for children who age-out of the foster system there. Heart of GOLD, guys. Again, totally humble and completely winning in personality. If my checkbook had been on me I'm pretty sure I would have written him a check.
These guys were so INSPIRING to talk to. As we drove away Jonas asked me if talking to people like that made me feel guilty, or feel like our lives should look exactly like their lives, etc. Nope. Not at all. What they did inspire in me was the desire to live a large life...to not get sucked into living a small, me/us-only-centered life and to totally protect and insulate my family. They made me want to live big IN my current life, not change my current life, you know? I think that's a big difference. We aren't all called to travel to Afghanistan to train medical doctors, obviously. But we are all called to something in our current lives, right NOW, and I don't want to miss out on that for sure!! :)
Great times. Best dinner conversation in ages!
After the wedding we drove back to stay at the lake home of a dear friend's parents...the same place I took the kids to this past summer when our power was out for days and Jonas had to leave, same day, for Amsterdam. :) Guys, I was asleep by 9:30 and got TEN hours of sleep. TEN! It has literally--LITERALLY, Renee--been years. It was heaven on earth to me.
We slowly got ready for the day and then headed into Duluth, right on the canal, to have breakfast at Amazing Grace Cafe. Delicious stuff.
A slow drive home in the beautiful, sunny weather...and then we were home again. Jonas did a lot of work in the yard/outside, getting ready for winter, and I just SAT inside, pretty much. ;)
At 4:30 on Sunday we headed over to my parent's house to celebrate the Birthday of my Dad and brother Dan. Jonas grilled the best steaks we have had at our house in a loooong time (bravo, honey!), and we had a great dinner together with Greg and Andrea in town from Rochester, and we even got to meet Dan's new girlfriend!
Fun, delightful times.
The End.
p.s. The kids both got to bed at least an hour late last night. Finn still got up at 5:45 a.m. this morning, but Layla at least slept until 7:45. Good girl. :) Finn is just WAY too perky at such early hours of the day.
My friend Danika from college was getting married way up north, in Biwabik MN. Biwabik is 1.5 hours north of Duluth, on a good day (i.e. no crazy MN snow storms, etc.). Renee and Jon kindly volunteered to come to our house and spend the night with our kids so we could attend this wedding, so obviously we said YES. Jonas had a church meeting from 9-10:30 on Saturday morning, and then we headed out on our road trip around 11:00 a.m.
It's truly amazing to me how fast and how light I can pack when there are no kids involved. Mind-blowing.
We were just driving 3+ hours north in our same state, but it's amazing what a difference that makes in the scenery and fall leaf colors. I feel like we passed through at LEAST three separate climate zones. ;)
I didn't bring my camera because:
1. Jonas and I are rarely alone for that amount of time, and I wanted to just "be" rather than "document" the whole time.
2. The bride had asked people to focus on enjoying the wedding rather than taking lots of their own pictures...and possibly getting in the way of her professional photographer doing their job correctly. ;) I fully agreed with this sentiment, and I do love to follow the rules!
3. Now that we have kids it feels silly to take pictures of just the two of us. Or scenery!
We arrived early, of course, per my eternal goal to never be late for anything. We drove around the town for 4 or 5 passes, then made our way to the church and marveled at the difference between small town and "big city" living. ;)
The wedding itself was lovely, and it was so fun to see a few friends from college there as well! Danika has been a missionary for the last 10 years of life since college and has spend the majority of that time in Afghanistan and Taiwan. For this, I SO admire her. I'm sure she has wanted to be married in that time, and I'm sure trusting to the timing God might have had in her life was a struggle at times, but my friends...she didn't let the fact that she wasn't married in ANY way stop her from living a life of complete purpose and meaning in the Kingdom of God. She went to scary lands, alone, knowing that God's direction in her life was far more important than a guy next to her.
I. Love. That.
I don't know her entire thought process related to this, if any, but I just love that. Were she to have never gotten married, were she to never have any kids...her life would still be JUST as meaningful and purpose-filled as anyone married with kids. Her situation, or those relationships in/not in her life, did NOT define her to God. Or to me. I just love her. :)
Anyway, I'm very glad she HAS gotten married, because it was something she wanted. So we wanted it for her. :) She married a great guy from India, and I can't wait to see the future unfold for two people who lived such great individual lives for God...what will their future look like TOGETHER? Exciting stuff!! :)
The most fun part of the wedding for me was actually our dinner companions. We sat at a table of 8 with two other couples from college, and it was great to catch up with them for sure, but our conversation was very...expected. Not BAD in any way, it's just that we're all sort of at the same stages of life together, and while it's great to rejoice at houses bought and children we have, it also feels like a somewhat "small" conversations at time, if that's all that is discussed. However, we had two dark horses join us: two guys, who looked to be in their early to mid 40's, asked to sit at our table with us. At first they were very quiet, just listening a lot, but as time went on it became very clear to us that these were maybe the coolest people you or I have pretty much ever met (well, okay, maybe not Scooter...but we all know we can't be at his level of schmoozing big-name people every day!). Maybe I should say the coolest "ordinary" people you or I have ever met. :)
Both men worked with an organization out of Colorado Springs, CO, that focuses on Afghanistan and Afghan refugees. So, they knew the groom well because he had started a church in India to minister to Afghan refugees.
Guy #1: (We have forgotten their names at this point because we were sort of in shock at their life stories!). Successful Doctor. Leaves regular medical practice because he is tired of treating people who don't take care of themselves and don't treasure the gift of health. He regularly travels to Afghanistan to train Afghan doctors on how to treat their own people, mostly in preventative medicine. On one of these missions in 2012 he was CAPTURED by the TALIBAN and had to be rescued by Navy Seals!! I remember this! He was in the news! If you don't remember, here's a link to one news clipping from the event: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/colo-doctor-rescued-taliban-capture-article-1.1216514 Keep in mind he's the most quiet, humble guy you will ever meet...and the only reason we found this out is because he left the table for a moment and his companion gave his story away! *jaws dropped all around* Of course, he has 6 kids too, a very successful 20-year marriage, etc. AND he has continued to go back to Afghanistan and do his training, no matter what.
Guy #2: Married his wife at age 18. Been married for 20+ years already. Has TWELVE children: 4 biological, 6 adopted. Each child they adopted they also fostered, AND they have fostered many, many more children on top of the ones they already have. The stories he told were heartbreaking and heartwarming to to highest extent possible. The whole family moved to Sierra Leone for a few years to be missionaries...they didn't leave when the U.S Embassy told them to (NOT cool, in my book...), or when the Sierra Leone government told them to, but they finally left when they felt like the lives of their many children were in serious danger. His work over there was to start many small businesses to help the people be self sustaining and thrive on their own. Each and every business he started is fully operational, years later now, and creating amazing opportunities for people there. And he has absolutely nothing to do with them currently--he just brought a few ideas, got the ball rolling, and then left it in the hands of highly trained native peoples. LOVE that! His family has moved 20 times in their 20+ years of marriage due to his previous job, so his wife home-schools his twelve children. No biggie. On top of the work they now do with Afghan refugees, he and his wife are looking to buy an 80 acre piece of land in Missouri where they can create a home for children who age-out of the foster system there. Heart of GOLD, guys. Again, totally humble and completely winning in personality. If my checkbook had been on me I'm pretty sure I would have written him a check.
These guys were so INSPIRING to talk to. As we drove away Jonas asked me if talking to people like that made me feel guilty, or feel like our lives should look exactly like their lives, etc. Nope. Not at all. What they did inspire in me was the desire to live a large life...to not get sucked into living a small, me/us-only-centered life and to totally protect and insulate my family. They made me want to live big IN my current life, not change my current life, you know? I think that's a big difference. We aren't all called to travel to Afghanistan to train medical doctors, obviously. But we are all called to something in our current lives, right NOW, and I don't want to miss out on that for sure!! :)
Great times. Best dinner conversation in ages!
After the wedding we drove back to stay at the lake home of a dear friend's parents...the same place I took the kids to this past summer when our power was out for days and Jonas had to leave, same day, for Amsterdam. :) Guys, I was asleep by 9:30 and got TEN hours of sleep. TEN! It has literally--LITERALLY, Renee--been years. It was heaven on earth to me.
We slowly got ready for the day and then headed into Duluth, right on the canal, to have breakfast at Amazing Grace Cafe. Delicious stuff.
A slow drive home in the beautiful, sunny weather...and then we were home again. Jonas did a lot of work in the yard/outside, getting ready for winter, and I just SAT inside, pretty much. ;)
At 4:30 on Sunday we headed over to my parent's house to celebrate the Birthday of my Dad and brother Dan. Jonas grilled the best steaks we have had at our house in a loooong time (bravo, honey!), and we had a great dinner together with Greg and Andrea in town from Rochester, and we even got to meet Dan's new girlfriend!
Fun, delightful times.
The End.
p.s. The kids both got to bed at least an hour late last night. Finn still got up at 5:45 a.m. this morning, but Layla at least slept until 7:45. Good girl. :) Finn is just WAY too perky at such early hours of the day.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Layla
Phew. I am pretty exhausted today. We were in and out of the car all day, constantly moving, other than a 45 minute time period when Layla was in preschool, and I even pawned off one of my chores on Renee! Days like this are simply draining for me. If I'm busy around the house all day that's one thing, but when I feel like I've spent SO much of my day in the car, I hate it. So here I am, in bed, feet up, while Jonas takes over the spaghetti prep for the kids downstairs. My first moment of peace all day. Aaaaaaaaah. :) Lovely.
I forget if I mentioned Layla's vision in my last update about her (and I'm too lazy to go and check right now...). The only other thing Jonas remembered about her 4 Year Well Child checkup, other than her 80th% for weight shocker, was that her vision is a little off. Not too horrible yet, for sure, but she's on her way down. Already. :( Gosh I feel sorry for her. My vision is bad, and Jonas has horrid vision, so her genetic propensity to near-blindness is crazy high, that's for sure.
I remember getting my glasses as a kid--maybe 6th grade? 5th?--and being SHOCKED. THAT was how people saw all the time? It was amazing to see so clearly--everything!! But, then the reality of wearing glasses sets in. As soon as I could, in high school, I moved to contacts and never went back...that is until I had kids. THEN how I felt about my appearance (the main reason I wore contacts, other than not liking the feel of having something on my face all day long...) took a BIG backseat to everything else in life demanding my attention. But, at least as an adult I can buy new frames every few years, try to make myself look a little trendy even if I am wearing glasses, find frames that look good with my face shape and hair cut/color, etc.
Poor kids. Kids who wear glasses get TEASED. They break them. They forget them. Okay, maybe it should read more like "Poor parents of kids who have to wear glasses." When she does get glasses I am going to try my hardest to make sure they look good on her, AND we'll be getting an insurance plan for them pronto.
Incredibly long, rambling story short: Layla has vision that is going downhill. But she doesn't need glasses. Yet.
New topic: (too tired for a transition) I had Layla's first preschool conference today. As a teacher, I hated/loved conferences. When they were bad, they were AWFUL. When they were good, they could almost make me cry happy tears. There seemed to be very few in-between conferences. Blech. So glad those days are not in front of me right now.
Anyway, it was so funny to be on the parent end of conferences! Keep in mind, this is preschool. Glorified daycare. But Layla loves it, and she really loves her teacher Mrs. Nelson. Mrs. Nelson has been teaching at this school for at least 16 years, and she is very high energy and silly. Layla especially adores when Mrs. Nelson gets silly, so I adore Mrs. Nelson for getting silly. :) I know that feeling, of being willing to do just about anything to get a child to pay attention and engage in something, but...man. I'm also pretty sure I could never go to the level that preschool teachers go to when they try to get 3 and 4-year-old kids to learn something. That takes HUMILITY.
At the start of school they did a very (veeeeeeery) simple, one page assessment on each kid:
1. How far can they count on their own? Layla could count well, but she had gaps. She got 1-17, 21-27, etc. I guess this is normal for this age. We never really worked on anything other than counting to ten with her.
2. Can they recognize their own name? She can! We have never worked on this with her, other than just this week when she has been asking me to write letters and numbers so she can copy them. I wrote her name down, but I have seriously never tried to teacher her how to write it, recognize it, etc.
3. Can they identify 8 different shapes? She got 6 of the 8, initially. Missed rectangle and oval. Claire would totally have nailed those as a 2-year-old. ;) Again, maybe if Mama cared at all...and, you know...tried to teach her things...
4. Can they identify 10 different colors? She got 8 of the 10...missed brown and black. That was interesting to me and made me think of my Dad, and his "these green pants are clearly blue" incident.
The teacher says she is totally normal and right on track, maybe above a bit, in what she knows and how she can learn. This would make sense to me just because she is the oldest kid in her class, but it was also interesting to me how much I did not care about these things. These things??? She'll get them. Eventually. In time. No biggie at all. I thought I might be a bit more protective of her, but I just can't work up the energy right now...she's fine. ;)
Mrs. Nelson DID say that Layla likes to be silly. She also likes to be silly with her new BFF Evie, who I guess she solidified her bond with this week. Mrs. Nelson says they hug, tell each other "I love you," and hang out quite often. CUTE! (The "making her first friend away from Mama" part is cute, not the being silly part...that we will be keeping an eye on, but again...it's preschool. I find myself not being able to work up any energy about a preschool kid who likes to be silly, right? Don't worry. I'm on it. I'm watching. I'm just not reacting very fast...) ;)
When asked if I had any questions, I did. Layla has a few speech delays that I know are normal for a 2 or 3-year-old, possibly, but now that she is 4 and in a formal school setting, I wondered what Mrs. Nelson thought about her speech. She said "Oh, yeah! That's right! She doesn't have a few speech issues, and we do have a hard time understanding her every now and then, but it wasn't really at the front of my mind because she clearly is not a kid that needs fast intervention right now. However, we should keep an eye on her, and we'll meet again in December or January to see if we think a speech evaluation is the right way to go." So, I'm glad I asked. Because I feel like as her parent, he speech issues are so cute to me, and in some ways I hope they stay as long as possible--as long as they are just normal kid things. BUT, if she really does have a speech problem of some sort, as minor as it may be, I would like her to be seen ASAP and have things evaluated and taken care of before she becomes self-conscious of it, or before other kids tease her, etc.
(Her speech issues are her inability to say the letters "L, "F," and the "Th" blend, which I know is a more advanced skill than the "L" or "F." She also loves to talk like a baby at times, which I know is also a little kid thing, but I sometimes find myself wondering if she is doing that for a reason. There may be other things too that I'm forgetting right now.)
Mrs. Nelson asked if there had been any speech issues on either side of the family, because I guess if a parent/aunt/uncle/grandparent had issues, then it tends to be more common in the family? This seemed odd to me, but maybe it's just because I've never heard this before. Genetics are strange creatures. Anyway, I couldn't think of any--I felt like maybe one of my brothers was seen for a very short time, but I can't remember who it might have been. Dan? Eric? I feel like I just remember funny stories being told around the dinner table of their impressions of speech therapy, but I could be wrong. Did any Schaefer boys / parents have speech issues? I guess I don't know that either. :) We'll find out.
In addition to this, it dawned on me that Layla had her tongue clipped when she has just a few weeks old--maybe 3 or 4?--to help her nurse better. While we both doubted this had anything to do with how she currently pronounces letters, it is something to ask about, I guess, if we meet with the speech pathologist eventually.
So, that's it for now. Conference #1 down, 2 or 3 more to go per child, for the next 14 years or so... Bring it.
I forget if I mentioned Layla's vision in my last update about her (and I'm too lazy to go and check right now...). The only other thing Jonas remembered about her 4 Year Well Child checkup, other than her 80th% for weight shocker, was that her vision is a little off. Not too horrible yet, for sure, but she's on her way down. Already. :( Gosh I feel sorry for her. My vision is bad, and Jonas has horrid vision, so her genetic propensity to near-blindness is crazy high, that's for sure.
I remember getting my glasses as a kid--maybe 6th grade? 5th?--and being SHOCKED. THAT was how people saw all the time? It was amazing to see so clearly--everything!! But, then the reality of wearing glasses sets in. As soon as I could, in high school, I moved to contacts and never went back...that is until I had kids. THEN how I felt about my appearance (the main reason I wore contacts, other than not liking the feel of having something on my face all day long...) took a BIG backseat to everything else in life demanding my attention. But, at least as an adult I can buy new frames every few years, try to make myself look a little trendy even if I am wearing glasses, find frames that look good with my face shape and hair cut/color, etc.
Poor kids. Kids who wear glasses get TEASED. They break them. They forget them. Okay, maybe it should read more like "Poor parents of kids who have to wear glasses." When she does get glasses I am going to try my hardest to make sure they look good on her, AND we'll be getting an insurance plan for them pronto.
Incredibly long, rambling story short: Layla has vision that is going downhill. But she doesn't need glasses. Yet.
New topic: (too tired for a transition) I had Layla's first preschool conference today. As a teacher, I hated/loved conferences. When they were bad, they were AWFUL. When they were good, they could almost make me cry happy tears. There seemed to be very few in-between conferences. Blech. So glad those days are not in front of me right now.
Anyway, it was so funny to be on the parent end of conferences! Keep in mind, this is preschool. Glorified daycare. But Layla loves it, and she really loves her teacher Mrs. Nelson. Mrs. Nelson has been teaching at this school for at least 16 years, and she is very high energy and silly. Layla especially adores when Mrs. Nelson gets silly, so I adore Mrs. Nelson for getting silly. :) I know that feeling, of being willing to do just about anything to get a child to pay attention and engage in something, but...man. I'm also pretty sure I could never go to the level that preschool teachers go to when they try to get 3 and 4-year-old kids to learn something. That takes HUMILITY.
At the start of school they did a very (veeeeeeery) simple, one page assessment on each kid:
1. How far can they count on their own? Layla could count well, but she had gaps. She got 1-17, 21-27, etc. I guess this is normal for this age. We never really worked on anything other than counting to ten with her.
2. Can they recognize their own name? She can! We have never worked on this with her, other than just this week when she has been asking me to write letters and numbers so she can copy them. I wrote her name down, but I have seriously never tried to teacher her how to write it, recognize it, etc.
3. Can they identify 8 different shapes? She got 6 of the 8, initially. Missed rectangle and oval. Claire would totally have nailed those as a 2-year-old. ;) Again, maybe if Mama cared at all...and, you know...tried to teach her things...
4. Can they identify 10 different colors? She got 8 of the 10...missed brown and black. That was interesting to me and made me think of my Dad, and his "these green pants are clearly blue" incident.
The teacher says she is totally normal and right on track, maybe above a bit, in what she knows and how she can learn. This would make sense to me just because she is the oldest kid in her class, but it was also interesting to me how much I did not care about these things. These things??? She'll get them. Eventually. In time. No biggie at all. I thought I might be a bit more protective of her, but I just can't work up the energy right now...she's fine. ;)
Mrs. Nelson DID say that Layla likes to be silly. She also likes to be silly with her new BFF Evie, who I guess she solidified her bond with this week. Mrs. Nelson says they hug, tell each other "I love you," and hang out quite often. CUTE! (The "making her first friend away from Mama" part is cute, not the being silly part...that we will be keeping an eye on, but again...it's preschool. I find myself not being able to work up any energy about a preschool kid who likes to be silly, right? Don't worry. I'm on it. I'm watching. I'm just not reacting very fast...) ;)
When asked if I had any questions, I did. Layla has a few speech delays that I know are normal for a 2 or 3-year-old, possibly, but now that she is 4 and in a formal school setting, I wondered what Mrs. Nelson thought about her speech. She said "Oh, yeah! That's right! She doesn't have a few speech issues, and we do have a hard time understanding her every now and then, but it wasn't really at the front of my mind because she clearly is not a kid that needs fast intervention right now. However, we should keep an eye on her, and we'll meet again in December or January to see if we think a speech evaluation is the right way to go." So, I'm glad I asked. Because I feel like as her parent, he speech issues are so cute to me, and in some ways I hope they stay as long as possible--as long as they are just normal kid things. BUT, if she really does have a speech problem of some sort, as minor as it may be, I would like her to be seen ASAP and have things evaluated and taken care of before she becomes self-conscious of it, or before other kids tease her, etc.
(Her speech issues are her inability to say the letters "L, "F," and the "Th" blend, which I know is a more advanced skill than the "L" or "F." She also loves to talk like a baby at times, which I know is also a little kid thing, but I sometimes find myself wondering if she is doing that for a reason. There may be other things too that I'm forgetting right now.)
Mrs. Nelson asked if there had been any speech issues on either side of the family, because I guess if a parent/aunt/uncle/grandparent had issues, then it tends to be more common in the family? This seemed odd to me, but maybe it's just because I've never heard this before. Genetics are strange creatures. Anyway, I couldn't think of any--I felt like maybe one of my brothers was seen for a very short time, but I can't remember who it might have been. Dan? Eric? I feel like I just remember funny stories being told around the dinner table of their impressions of speech therapy, but I could be wrong. Did any Schaefer boys / parents have speech issues? I guess I don't know that either. :) We'll find out.
In addition to this, it dawned on me that Layla had her tongue clipped when she has just a few weeks old--maybe 3 or 4?--to help her nurse better. While we both doubted this had anything to do with how she currently pronounces letters, it is something to ask about, I guess, if we meet with the speech pathologist eventually.
So, that's it for now. Conference #1 down, 2 or 3 more to go per child, for the next 14 years or so... Bring it.
Friday, October 18, 2013
*Yawn*
Random updates from a very tired Mama:
1. Finn is naked right now. He has basically been naked for several days now. Two days ago he decided that clothes were VERY optional, and no matter what I do/put him in, I find him naked within about 20 minutes. I found out outfit he couldn't get out of, but he made my life so miserable for the 1.5 hours he was wearing it that I decided it's just not worth it: naked it is. So, we've been doing some potty training. I don't think it's as effective at this age (2.5-ish) as it was when we trained Layla (3 years, 4 months...and she really trained herself at that point), but oh well. I'm not rushed or "trying to MAKE THIS HAPPEN!" so hopefully it'll just be positive. That's all I ask at this point. I suppose I could try duct taping his diapers to his body, but...eh.
2. Same child had a VERY rough night last night. He's been sick for 2-3 days, mostly with a VERY runny nose during the day, and then constant coughing/choking on his own mucus at night. His breathing got worse last night too, so we're off to the Dr. today. Jonas leaves for a tour of KC BBQ joints with Scooter and Ben on Saturday, and I need healthy and sleeping kids by then! Seriously, though, I think Finn woke up at least 15-20 times last night because he couldn't breathe/was coughing. Poor kid. :( He was misery. He finally woke up and stayed up at 4:30 a.m. *yaaaaaaaaawn*
3. Layla woke up at 6:00 today. Just because.
4. I know I had more to say, but my brain is fried. I'll remember it later and come back to update, if I'm not asleep on my feet...
I remembered one!
5. Layla has been so funny about smell lately. She acts like she has the world's most sensitive sense of smell. She can't stand the smell of a ton of things that I think have almost no smell at all...like apples, for crying out loud! The funniest one is bananas, though. If she is even in the same room with a banana (out of the peel) she sort of flips out. Gets as far away from it as she can, covers her mouth with her hand, and hides her head in her arms. Wowza. Seeeeeeeeeeeensitive. :) Now imagine her reaction to something that actually HAS a strong scent, in my opinion...yeah...
1. Finn is naked right now. He has basically been naked for several days now. Two days ago he decided that clothes were VERY optional, and no matter what I do/put him in, I find him naked within about 20 minutes. I found out outfit he couldn't get out of, but he made my life so miserable for the 1.5 hours he was wearing it that I decided it's just not worth it: naked it is. So, we've been doing some potty training. I don't think it's as effective at this age (2.5-ish) as it was when we trained Layla (3 years, 4 months...and she really trained herself at that point), but oh well. I'm not rushed or "trying to MAKE THIS HAPPEN!" so hopefully it'll just be positive. That's all I ask at this point. I suppose I could try duct taping his diapers to his body, but...eh.
2. Same child had a VERY rough night last night. He's been sick for 2-3 days, mostly with a VERY runny nose during the day, and then constant coughing/choking on his own mucus at night. His breathing got worse last night too, so we're off to the Dr. today. Jonas leaves for a tour of KC BBQ joints with Scooter and Ben on Saturday, and I need healthy and sleeping kids by then! Seriously, though, I think Finn woke up at least 15-20 times last night because he couldn't breathe/was coughing. Poor kid. :( He was misery. He finally woke up and stayed up at 4:30 a.m. *yaaaaaaaaawn*
3. Layla woke up at 6:00 today. Just because.
4. I know I had more to say, but my brain is fried. I'll remember it later and come back to update, if I'm not asleep on my feet...
I remembered one!
5. Layla has been so funny about smell lately. She acts like she has the world's most sensitive sense of smell. She can't stand the smell of a ton of things that I think have almost no smell at all...like apples, for crying out loud! The funniest one is bananas, though. If she is even in the same room with a banana (out of the peel) she sort of flips out. Gets as far away from it as she can, covers her mouth with her hand, and hides her head in her arms. Wowza. Seeeeeeeeeeeensitive. :) Now imagine her reaction to something that actually HAS a strong scent, in my opinion...yeah...
Friday, October 4, 2013
Random updates:
1. Layla had a HORRIBLE nightmare two nights ago. I just felt awful for her. I think it was maybe 3:00 a.m. when I heard her screeeeeeeaming on the monitor. When I ran in there she was curled up in the fetal position, both hands pressed tight to her eyes. I tried to comfort her and calm her down, but she just remained tense and tight. I took her to the bathroom, because 90% of the time, if she wakes up at night, it's just because she needs to go to the bathroom. She went, but still with both hands pressed tightly to her face. Her talk was something about "the big one" and "make it go away," etc. Finally I just had to play along a bit and tell her that Mommy got "it," "it" was gone now, etc. I sloooowly pried her hands away from her face, and she looked around the room frantically in total fear.
My heart just broke. Oh, age 4. I remember you. The age the nightmares started. :( I think I had some bad, bad dreams from about age 4 to age 8, as far as I can remember.
Last night was the first night we have had to leave Layla's closet door all the way open, with the light on, when she went to bed. She was still afraid. Poor Baby. I talked to her a bit about it, and I am thinking it was a dragon she was afraid of...at least that's what she told me last night. Who knows if it was what she was afraid of the night before. She asked to come in with us the night of the nightmare, which of course I said yes to--you could feel the fear melting off of her as she left the room with me. :( Once again, SO glad I held out for that king size bed when we got married. Jonas couldn't understand my absolute insistence on it...but I knew. ;)
2. I know people who can function just fine, regularly, on 4-6 hours of sleep a night. This seems insane to me, as I as someone who needs 8-9 hours to feel "great." Because I know myself, I normally make a very high priority of going to bed at a very reasonable time. Rarely will I ever got to bed after 10:00, especially with having kids--you never know when you'll need to get up, right? Well, last night I made a mistake. I stayed up until 11:45 p.m. watching TV. SO lame. Such a bad choice. But it was fun at the time. :)
Of course, on nights when you make a bad personal decision, what happens? You know the answer to this. That's right: kids happen. ;) Finn actually did just fine "sleeping through the night," but after 10 hours of sleep he decided that was enough...at 5:00 a.m. UGH. He is the worst too, because he wakes up and wants to DO STUFF AND GET BREAKFAST RIGHT AWAY COME ON MAMA! It's so jarring (at least when Layla wakes up she will snuggle with me in bed for ages!). As I had only been asleep for 5 hours (which I know is fine for some people, yes, I get it...just not for me...), this was not okay. I was walking through cement to get to him. I try to bribe Finn with a movie/show of some sort when he wakes up, but this rarely goes as planned. He is just so neeeeedy when he wakes up, and he especially likes to poke at my closed eyes if I somehow find a way to rest again. Twerp. ;) Then, Layla woke up around 5:45--SO unusual for her, but of course, this was the morning for it, right? I finally got them both settled in my bed, next to me, watching a "Team Umi Zoomie" episode on my Kindle while I tried to at least rest some more.
Evidently the episode they watched was about cereal, because about 22 minutes later Layla was convinced that we all needed to go downstairs and eat "cereal and milk." Keep in mind, my kids have NEVER had cereal and milk (like normal kids!) because of their allergies. But, I had some almond milk on hand, and miracle-of-miracles some cereal too. I poured them each a bowl, and Layla had to check and make sure that it looked like the picture on the front. After that, all she did was stir it around and around. Finn actually took two bites! I was impressed, but neither of them wanted anything to do with the rest of it. Ah, well. At least they have now had cereal. :)
My heart just broke. Oh, age 4. I remember you. The age the nightmares started. :( I think I had some bad, bad dreams from about age 4 to age 8, as far as I can remember.
Last night was the first night we have had to leave Layla's closet door all the way open, with the light on, when she went to bed. She was still afraid. Poor Baby. I talked to her a bit about it, and I am thinking it was a dragon she was afraid of...at least that's what she told me last night. Who knows if it was what she was afraid of the night before. She asked to come in with us the night of the nightmare, which of course I said yes to--you could feel the fear melting off of her as she left the room with me. :( Once again, SO glad I held out for that king size bed when we got married. Jonas couldn't understand my absolute insistence on it...but I knew. ;)
2. I know people who can function just fine, regularly, on 4-6 hours of sleep a night. This seems insane to me, as I as someone who needs 8-9 hours to feel "great." Because I know myself, I normally make a very high priority of going to bed at a very reasonable time. Rarely will I ever got to bed after 10:00, especially with having kids--you never know when you'll need to get up, right? Well, last night I made a mistake. I stayed up until 11:45 p.m. watching TV. SO lame. Such a bad choice. But it was fun at the time. :)
Of course, on nights when you make a bad personal decision, what happens? You know the answer to this. That's right: kids happen. ;) Finn actually did just fine "sleeping through the night," but after 10 hours of sleep he decided that was enough...at 5:00 a.m. UGH. He is the worst too, because he wakes up and wants to DO STUFF AND GET BREAKFAST RIGHT AWAY COME ON MAMA! It's so jarring (at least when Layla wakes up she will snuggle with me in bed for ages!). As I had only been asleep for 5 hours (which I know is fine for some people, yes, I get it...just not for me...), this was not okay. I was walking through cement to get to him. I try to bribe Finn with a movie/show of some sort when he wakes up, but this rarely goes as planned. He is just so neeeeedy when he wakes up, and he especially likes to poke at my closed eyes if I somehow find a way to rest again. Twerp. ;) Then, Layla woke up around 5:45--SO unusual for her, but of course, this was the morning for it, right? I finally got them both settled in my bed, next to me, watching a "Team Umi Zoomie" episode on my Kindle while I tried to at least rest some more.
Evidently the episode they watched was about cereal, because about 22 minutes later Layla was convinced that we all needed to go downstairs and eat "cereal and milk." Keep in mind, my kids have NEVER had cereal and milk (like normal kids!) because of their allergies. But, I had some almond milk on hand, and miracle-of-miracles some cereal too. I poured them each a bowl, and Layla had to check and make sure that it looked like the picture on the front. After that, all she did was stir it around and around. Finn actually took two bites! I was impressed, but neither of them wanted anything to do with the rest of it. Ah, well. At least they have now had cereal. :)
Monday, June 24, 2013
There are no words. ;)
Well, actually, there are LOTS of words. And not all of them are appropriate. But that's okay, right? Sometimes the bad words are PERFECT for a situation. ;) At least, that's my belief, and I'm sticking with it.
So, here's the run down on the past few days for us:
Friday night:
8:30 = Power goes out. The white noise machines turn off, but the kids don't really "need" them to sleep anymore--they are just a luxury to prevent any noise we want to make in the house from waking them up. The kids didn't make a peep and slept just fine, but I wanted the white noise back! I prefer to sleep that way for sure. :(
Saturday morning:
12:30 = I finally fell asleep, after tossing and turning for several hours (worrying about all the food in my fridges and freezers...one of the downsides to buying in bulk, I guess..., worrying about not hearing the kids over the monitors if they did start to cry, wanting the soothing white noise back, etc...).
1:30 = we wake up to the power going back on, and Layla starting to cry/cough in a telltale croup way.
1:35 = I head to the hospital with Layla. I miss our old neighborhood for being only 5 minutes away from 4 hospitals!
1:50 = Check in at hospital, get drugs, etc. By the time we got there her breathing was actually much better, it's just when they did anything to her she started coughing again, etc. So she got the oral drug without the adrenaline mask. I love how quick the adrenaline mask works--10 minutes flat and she's totally better, you'd never know she was sick. The oral drug only takes 6 hours to fully work. :( But, she was doing just fine by the time we left the hospital.
3:40 = Get home, put Layla back in bed, she falls asleep quickly.
4:00-ish = I head back to bed.
7:30 = I wake up to a crazy loud BOOM outside, and the power instantly goes off again. Bad feeling that this is not a good sign for us.
I don't really remember the rest of the morning, really, other than it being hot and a little stressful. Maybe we were outside? The electronic message at our power company said it would take 3 hours for our power to come back on. My fingers were crossed my food could survive that.
12:30 = still no power. Jonas calls again and gives me the bad news: It's not going to be back on until Wednesday, June 26th!!!!! Double whammy: Jonas was leaving in 5 hours for Amsterdam for a week. Triple whammy: Layla, Finn and I were all sick.
I immediately went into my "zone" and crazy fast packed up all the food I really cared about from the fridges/freezers into the car, then packed up some stuff for the night for the kids and myself--we would end up at a hotel maybe? I wasn't sure because I didn't feel like I could impose on any of my friends with two sick kids!--Jonas threw his stuff in a suitcase, and we headed out to the Horsmans. Thankfully Renee hadn't gone grocery shopping in a while, so I was able to fit almost EVERYTHING I cared about in her fridge and freezer! It was awesome. She was headed to church to help with a wedding, so she took just a few bags of frozen veggies to store at the church freezer, and we were saved! That worked out really well.
4:30 = The kids and I drop Jonas off at the airport then head home to the Horsmans. We decided to stay there for the night, then head up to Duluth the next morning. Friends of ours up there have a house on a lake with plenty of room, AC, a change of scenery for the kids, etc. I thought it sounded like a good idea...then... ;)
7:30 = I realize it's 7:30, and Layla is DYING she is so tired, since she lost a lot of sleep the night before at the hospital and never made it up. Renee and Jon gave us their room, so I took her up there and put her on the floor. She fell asleep almost immediately, but it was a bit warm in there, so she didn't sleep very deeply, I think. Very "restless," etc.
8:00 = I take Finn up to the room. He SCREAMS bloody murder. This from the kid who goes down beautifully almost every night! I realize the critical mistake I made by putting the easiest kid to bed first, but really...she was so tired!
8:15 = I take Finn back downstairs, thinking I'll just let him "crash" while watching TV tonight. After all, it is a strange place, not his normal routine, etc.
10:45 p.m. = Finn finally crashes. I wanted to kill something, or someone, by this time! I was SO tired! 4 hours total of sleep the night before, and I was sick on top of it! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, Finn!!!! :( I take him upstairs, and we crash in bed together.
Sunday:
3:00 a.m. = Finn wakes up screaming. I try to hold him. Nothing. I try to rock and "shush" him. Nothing. I try to bounce him, or wake him up. Nothing. He is TIRED and MAD and coughing up a lung. I know this cough. It's the cough that comes before the croup cough. Now I'm worried I'll be going to the hospital two nights in a row, or the following night...when we're in Duluth, with no one to watch Layla while I take him in at 2:00 a.m....to a hospital that I don't know, is 30 min away, and out of network. Yes, my brain DID go there that fast. ;)
3:30 a.m. = Layla is awake by now, of course, and still very tired. I try to keep them all quiet in the room since the rest of the house is totally full of people trying to sleep! Renee woke up with all of Finn's crying, and bless her heart she tried to help. My kids were not in a "helping" mood.
4:45 a.m. = I lose it in sleep deprivation and annoyance and grab the kids, in PJs and with no shoes, pull them down the stairs and out the door, pack them into the car, and drive home. I had slight hopes that the power would be on again. NO. No power. So we sat in our driveway at 5:00 a.m. watching a DVD in the car--because at least they can cry there without waking anyone up, right? When I thought it was light enough to see without having any lights on in the house we went it. Layla was a zombie and just SAT on the chair in our living room, doing nothing. Finn was crying and crying about anything and everything. I thought maybe, just maybe, I could get Layla back to sleep on my bed, so I took her upstairs (locking Finn downstairs with the baby gates so he couldn't follow and run it all!), plopped her down on my bed, and I SWEAR within 3 minutes she was out cold. It was 6:00 when she fell asleep.
6:00 = Encouraged by Layla falling back to sleep, and with the sweet dream of getting more than 8 total hours of sleep in 48 hours, I brought Finn into his room, shut the curtains, and rocked him. He was crying and crying, "Mama! Mama!" in a sad, whiny voice, until finally he just conked. It was 6:30 when he fell asleep. I had his window shut because it started to storm again and I didn't want the noise and thunder to wake him.
6:30 = I crawl into my bed, oooooooooh so slowly, next to Layla, and put my head on the pillow. My house is TOTALLY silent at this point...a very odd thing for me when sleeping.
8:20 = I wake up. Shocked. I got almost 2 hours of sleep!!! I feel like there is hope for the world again. I do not currently feel like harming my children. This is a good first step.
8:30 = Layla wakes up, all cheery and happy, smiles and giggles. Thank you JESUS.
We go downstairs to play for a while. I empty out everything in my fridge so it doesn't smell when I return from Duluth. 3 garbage bags late I have come to two conclusions:
1. We own an amazing amount of condiments, which are going to suck to replace.
2. I save and freeze things that I never remember about late. Must stop doing this.
We continued to clean up, pack for Duluth, and all the while I'm listening for Finn upstairs (I'm not used to doing this because we have monitors on the first floor...)
10:00 = Finn finally wakes up. I am SHOCKED and so happy that he recovered some of that lost sleep! I'm also a little bitter that "I" did not get to sleep for 3.5 more hours, but whatever, I got over it relatively soon and just got to packing.
While my kids were much happier now, they were still both incredibly emotional. SO EMOTIONAL!!! I can't write that in all caps enough!! It took me 2 more full hours to pack because I literally had to stop every 3 minutes to hold a crying child. Renee, I used the word literally intentionally there. :)
11: 45 = We head over to a friend's house to borrow a double stroller for Duluth. I own two very nice double strollers, BOTH of which were in my garage. Stuck. Because you can only open the door with electricity. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I normally always keep one in my van, so I was kicking myself for taking the easy way out last walk and just shoving it in the garage. :(
* The Plus Side = I got to borrow Maren's Phil and Ted stroller, and very FANCY stroller which I shall never be able to afford. ;)
12:00 = Back to Renee and Jon's house, all of us still in our PJs, to grab everything we had left there at 5:00 a.m. and head up to Duluth.
1:00 = Stop in some random town for lunch at McDonalds. Feel bad that I take my kids to McDonalds. ;) Get annoyed with the McDonalds teller that the 20 piece McNuggets from the value menu are as expensive as a 6 piece McNuggets from the regular menu, so I order the 20 piece, feed the kids 6, and then throw the rest away...just to show THEM. ;) Yes, I was sleep deprived. But it felt good.
2:30 = Almost fall asleep at the wheel. Evidently those extra 2 hours of sleep weren't enough. Scared shitless. Much more alert for the rest of the drive.
3:30 = Arrive at the home of Jim and Barb Swanstrom, Lauren Mitchell's parents. They live on a beautiful lake 30 minutes outside of Duluth and graciously agreed to let us stay there.
The kids snapped out of their funk and have been perfect angels ever since we arrived here!!
They were happy and polite all afternoon. They went to bed at a normal time. They did not wake up ONE SINGLE TIME all night! They slept until 8:30 a.m., almost a record for my kids! And, no one had to go to the hospital, so they both get bonus points for that.
All in all, a crazy, cray 24 hours in the life of this middle-class-white-girl-mother-of-two. ;)
Up next...videos from our first day here.
So, here's the run down on the past few days for us:
Friday night:
8:30 = Power goes out. The white noise machines turn off, but the kids don't really "need" them to sleep anymore--they are just a luxury to prevent any noise we want to make in the house from waking them up. The kids didn't make a peep and slept just fine, but I wanted the white noise back! I prefer to sleep that way for sure. :(
Saturday morning:
12:30 = I finally fell asleep, after tossing and turning for several hours (worrying about all the food in my fridges and freezers...one of the downsides to buying in bulk, I guess..., worrying about not hearing the kids over the monitors if they did start to cry, wanting the soothing white noise back, etc...).
1:30 = we wake up to the power going back on, and Layla starting to cry/cough in a telltale croup way.
1:35 = I head to the hospital with Layla. I miss our old neighborhood for being only 5 minutes away from 4 hospitals!
1:50 = Check in at hospital, get drugs, etc. By the time we got there her breathing was actually much better, it's just when they did anything to her she started coughing again, etc. So she got the oral drug without the adrenaline mask. I love how quick the adrenaline mask works--10 minutes flat and she's totally better, you'd never know she was sick. The oral drug only takes 6 hours to fully work. :( But, she was doing just fine by the time we left the hospital.
3:40 = Get home, put Layla back in bed, she falls asleep quickly.
4:00-ish = I head back to bed.
7:30 = I wake up to a crazy loud BOOM outside, and the power instantly goes off again. Bad feeling that this is not a good sign for us.
I don't really remember the rest of the morning, really, other than it being hot and a little stressful. Maybe we were outside? The electronic message at our power company said it would take 3 hours for our power to come back on. My fingers were crossed my food could survive that.
12:30 = still no power. Jonas calls again and gives me the bad news: It's not going to be back on until Wednesday, June 26th!!!!! Double whammy: Jonas was leaving in 5 hours for Amsterdam for a week. Triple whammy: Layla, Finn and I were all sick.
I immediately went into my "zone" and crazy fast packed up all the food I really cared about from the fridges/freezers into the car, then packed up some stuff for the night for the kids and myself--we would end up at a hotel maybe? I wasn't sure because I didn't feel like I could impose on any of my friends with two sick kids!--Jonas threw his stuff in a suitcase, and we headed out to the Horsmans. Thankfully Renee hadn't gone grocery shopping in a while, so I was able to fit almost EVERYTHING I cared about in her fridge and freezer! It was awesome. She was headed to church to help with a wedding, so she took just a few bags of frozen veggies to store at the church freezer, and we were saved! That worked out really well.
4:30 = The kids and I drop Jonas off at the airport then head home to the Horsmans. We decided to stay there for the night, then head up to Duluth the next morning. Friends of ours up there have a house on a lake with plenty of room, AC, a change of scenery for the kids, etc. I thought it sounded like a good idea...then... ;)
7:30 = I realize it's 7:30, and Layla is DYING she is so tired, since she lost a lot of sleep the night before at the hospital and never made it up. Renee and Jon gave us their room, so I took her up there and put her on the floor. She fell asleep almost immediately, but it was a bit warm in there, so she didn't sleep very deeply, I think. Very "restless," etc.
8:00 = I take Finn up to the room. He SCREAMS bloody murder. This from the kid who goes down beautifully almost every night! I realize the critical mistake I made by putting the easiest kid to bed first, but really...she was so tired!
8:15 = I take Finn back downstairs, thinking I'll just let him "crash" while watching TV tonight. After all, it is a strange place, not his normal routine, etc.
10:45 p.m. = Finn finally crashes. I wanted to kill something, or someone, by this time! I was SO tired! 4 hours total of sleep the night before, and I was sick on top of it! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, Finn!!!! :( I take him upstairs, and we crash in bed together.
Sunday:
3:00 a.m. = Finn wakes up screaming. I try to hold him. Nothing. I try to rock and "shush" him. Nothing. I try to bounce him, or wake him up. Nothing. He is TIRED and MAD and coughing up a lung. I know this cough. It's the cough that comes before the croup cough. Now I'm worried I'll be going to the hospital two nights in a row, or the following night...when we're in Duluth, with no one to watch Layla while I take him in at 2:00 a.m....to a hospital that I don't know, is 30 min away, and out of network. Yes, my brain DID go there that fast. ;)
3:30 a.m. = Layla is awake by now, of course, and still very tired. I try to keep them all quiet in the room since the rest of the house is totally full of people trying to sleep! Renee woke up with all of Finn's crying, and bless her heart she tried to help. My kids were not in a "helping" mood.
4:45 a.m. = I lose it in sleep deprivation and annoyance and grab the kids, in PJs and with no shoes, pull them down the stairs and out the door, pack them into the car, and drive home. I had slight hopes that the power would be on again. NO. No power. So we sat in our driveway at 5:00 a.m. watching a DVD in the car--because at least they can cry there without waking anyone up, right? When I thought it was light enough to see without having any lights on in the house we went it. Layla was a zombie and just SAT on the chair in our living room, doing nothing. Finn was crying and crying about anything and everything. I thought maybe, just maybe, I could get Layla back to sleep on my bed, so I took her upstairs (locking Finn downstairs with the baby gates so he couldn't follow and run it all!), plopped her down on my bed, and I SWEAR within 3 minutes she was out cold. It was 6:00 when she fell asleep.
6:00 = Encouraged by Layla falling back to sleep, and with the sweet dream of getting more than 8 total hours of sleep in 48 hours, I brought Finn into his room, shut the curtains, and rocked him. He was crying and crying, "Mama! Mama!" in a sad, whiny voice, until finally he just conked. It was 6:30 when he fell asleep. I had his window shut because it started to storm again and I didn't want the noise and thunder to wake him.
6:30 = I crawl into my bed, oooooooooh so slowly, next to Layla, and put my head on the pillow. My house is TOTALLY silent at this point...a very odd thing for me when sleeping.
8:20 = I wake up. Shocked. I got almost 2 hours of sleep!!! I feel like there is hope for the world again. I do not currently feel like harming my children. This is a good first step.
8:30 = Layla wakes up, all cheery and happy, smiles and giggles. Thank you JESUS.
We go downstairs to play for a while. I empty out everything in my fridge so it doesn't smell when I return from Duluth. 3 garbage bags late I have come to two conclusions:
1. We own an amazing amount of condiments, which are going to suck to replace.
2. I save and freeze things that I never remember about late. Must stop doing this.
We continued to clean up, pack for Duluth, and all the while I'm listening for Finn upstairs (I'm not used to doing this because we have monitors on the first floor...)
10:00 = Finn finally wakes up. I am SHOCKED and so happy that he recovered some of that lost sleep! I'm also a little bitter that "I" did not get to sleep for 3.5 more hours, but whatever, I got over it relatively soon and just got to packing.
While my kids were much happier now, they were still both incredibly emotional. SO EMOTIONAL!!! I can't write that in all caps enough!! It took me 2 more full hours to pack because I literally had to stop every 3 minutes to hold a crying child. Renee, I used the word literally intentionally there. :)
11: 45 = We head over to a friend's house to borrow a double stroller for Duluth. I own two very nice double strollers, BOTH of which were in my garage. Stuck. Because you can only open the door with electricity. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I normally always keep one in my van, so I was kicking myself for taking the easy way out last walk and just shoving it in the garage. :(
* The Plus Side = I got to borrow Maren's Phil and Ted stroller, and very FANCY stroller which I shall never be able to afford. ;)
12:00 = Back to Renee and Jon's house, all of us still in our PJs, to grab everything we had left there at 5:00 a.m. and head up to Duluth.
1:00 = Stop in some random town for lunch at McDonalds. Feel bad that I take my kids to McDonalds. ;) Get annoyed with the McDonalds teller that the 20 piece McNuggets from the value menu are as expensive as a 6 piece McNuggets from the regular menu, so I order the 20 piece, feed the kids 6, and then throw the rest away...just to show THEM. ;) Yes, I was sleep deprived. But it felt good.
2:30 = Almost fall asleep at the wheel. Evidently those extra 2 hours of sleep weren't enough. Scared shitless. Much more alert for the rest of the drive.
3:30 = Arrive at the home of Jim and Barb Swanstrom, Lauren Mitchell's parents. They live on a beautiful lake 30 minutes outside of Duluth and graciously agreed to let us stay there.
The kids snapped out of their funk and have been perfect angels ever since we arrived here!!
They were happy and polite all afternoon. They went to bed at a normal time. They did not wake up ONE SINGLE TIME all night! They slept until 8:30 a.m., almost a record for my kids! And, no one had to go to the hospital, so they both get bonus points for that.
All in all, a crazy, cray 24 hours in the life of this middle-class-white-girl-mother-of-two. ;)
Up next...videos from our first day here.
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