busy bodies

Well, it's been busy around this house, to say the lease. Let's keep it simple and put it in bullet form so you don't have to wade through paragraphs of my rambling.

-We spent the weekend in Grand Junction, where Elsha and Brian's new baby boy was being blessed. So adorable! He and Eli had matching white knit suits for their blessings, they were really, really, REALLY cute. We drove down Friday night after Joe got off work, so we got in pretty late, but ready to enjoy the weekend.

-The first "enjoyable" part of our weekend ended up being a trip to Urgent Care for Patrick. He'd been coughing at night for weeks, but he could always put himself back to sleep and he never coughed during the day... until Friday. We thought it would surely subside, but as we travelled it only got worse and twice he coughed so hard he gagged and then puked. YUCK. With all the vomiting he got dehydrated, the coughing still didn't stop, and Saturday morning he started wheezing, so off we went to urgent care. They gave him a breathing treatment for relax his bronchial tubes and it turns out he had an ear infection so he's on antibiotics, and once he got a round of meds in him he was totally back to himself! Running around, playing, counting (he counts to seven! I could die of happiness), etc. Now he's on his meds 3x/day for a week, which stinks because the steroids make him hyper, not good for bedtime. Twice he's stayed up until 10 p.m. :(

-Aside from Urgent Care, Grand Junction was awesome! Saturday night the guys watched the kids (5 kids in all) and we girls went shopping. Hooray! The first time I've been shopping for FUN (not groceries) without my kids since, well, since I've had kids!

- Sunday was the blessing in the morning, then the BEST LUNCH I've EVER HAD. Ribeye steaks, cocktail shrimp, steamed artichokes, baked potatoes and salad, and homemade brownie sundaes for dessert! Definitely worth waiting to drive home so we could eat aaaaaaall that food!

-The drive home was unremarkable except that, due to his meds, Patrick didn't got to bed until we got home, about 9:45.

-Monday started Eli's bout of sickness - if he wasn't sleeping he was crying. Actually, WAILING, which is so NOT like Eli. The only times he cries at all is because of extreme hunger or tiredness, or because Patrick just did something to him like smacked him on the head, and even that is rarely wailing. So it was a bit of a tough day, but we just stayed home and tried to unpack and get reorganized from our trip.

-Tuesday was the same with Eli, only worse - MORE crying, and then, like Patrick, he'd cough and gag and throw up! Even infant Tylenol didn't alleviate his troubles, so we made a doctor's appointment asap and they got him in at 3 p.m.

- I got hired at Bed, Bath, and Beyond! Great timing in the big scheme of things, but poor timing considering the immediate circumstances, since Tuesday was my first day. I'll be working one or two evenings a week and Saturdays. I was supposed to go in at 3:30, and the kids were supposed to be watched by a friend until Joe could get home from work, but with Eli needing to get to the doctor, Joe came home SUPER early, about 2:45, to take him so I could get to work. At 3:00, though, right after the boys left, BB&B called to postpone my shift from 3:30 'til 5:00, so I called Joe and he swung back around to pick me up and we ALL went to the doctor.

-Diagnosis: RSV - BUMMER. We renamed it Really Sad Virus, because it's REALLY SAD to have such a happy baby be so sick. We have to go back a couple times in the next few weeks so they can monitor his progress because RSV is basically a common cold for adutls, but in babies it can turn into bronchitis or pneumonia.

-Immediately after the doctor I headed to work, where there was lots of paperwork and training videos. I know I'll have a great time working there, and it'll be even better when I don't have to leave sick kids at home. I came back to find everyone alive and Joe still sane, so if he can handle that I know he can handle ANY day at home!

-Today, there's lots of laundry. I've been puked on more times in the last 5 days than I have in my entire life, including by myself, and when you wear 5 shirts a day instead of 1, laundry piles up pretty quickly.

-Last but not least (not that it makes ME busy), Joe joined weight watchers! Spurred by Elsha and Brian's success after only a week when he has been trying to lose weight for about 2 years, he figured that joining would be worth it. Who knows, if he has great success, maybe he'll hit the blog and brag about himself :)

So that's why you haven't heard from us in a few days, and why you won't be seeing us for a few more.