It just got better.

Which means that I'm pretty darned happy right now. I have heard so many moms with other "older" children tell me that things will get better. Well. It's kind of hard when my 16 month old daughter constantly wants to sit on the potty. Not so bad in itself, but she dunked her left foot in the toilet, sock, shoe pant leg and all. And just moments before walking out the door to leave. It also wasn't too bad when she told me she needed, "potty, ca-ca" but only after she had already pooped. She proceeded to take off said dirty diaper, stepped in it in an effort to get to the toilet also. Oh well. I guess it comes with the territory. I wasn't really pushing the potty training issue with her, but she is constantly seeing Eddie sitting there. So of course, monkey see, monkey do.

Totally unrelated as to why I'm happy. But like I said. Things with kids are hard. Busy. Interesting, and fun. So. Moms keep telling me it will get better. And then my perfect sleeper stopped being perfect. For nearly 7 months, or was it 7 already? Eddie stopped sleeping and he wrecked my nights. He wouldn't go to bed, stay in bed and he wouldn't sleep all night.

Well tonight he went to bed. He was put down once!!! ONCE! He said goodnight, and he went to sleep. I don't know how to act. I'm happy, and my life just got a little better. Seasoned moms know a thing or two about kids. I think I'm getting seasoned a bit right now. Going to go have some "ME" time! Ciao~~~

Sunday

I hate to even talk about it, but I'm really happy. I was sitting at home in my room on Wednesday evening when the TV show The Supernanny came on. If you aren't familiar with that show it has the parents writing letters and calling for help with their "unruly" kids. When the Supernanny comes over, she wows everyone with her amazing techniques and always helps out the frazzled parents when their kids magically behave.

So. I was watching this show and saw a 5 year old hitting, kicking, slapping and biting his father. And then to top it all off, he wouldn't sleep in his own bed. And then it hit me, horrible visions flashed in my head of Eddie turning into this horrible little kid. And right now he has enough of a temper and personality to warrant the term "brat" on many occasions.

Just to recap, Eddie has been having difficulty going to sleep at bed time. And I mean, he refuses to go to bed when it's time. He just keeps walking back out of the room. And then after he does finally pass out from shear exhaustion, he would always wake up in the middle of the night and sneak into our bed. Most times I wouldn't feel him climb into bed. The smart little booger that he is, he figured out that if he snuck in on daddy's side. that he wouldn't care. If he woke mommy up, he was always made to go back into his own room. So he had it made. On the rare occurrence that I awoke, I would try and put him into his bed. Even at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning he would still fight me to get back in bed. Now upon being rudely awaken in the early morning hours, mommy is not the most pleasant person there is. So sometimes after trying to put him back 6, 7, even 8 times, I would just give up. Now I'm sure that just set us up for more disaster as it has shown him that he can wear us down. Unfortunately for a period of time we let him sleep on his toddler bed in our room. Now we did this out of necessity at one point, and then to save our sanity for the next part.

Well here comes the interesting part, I tried again that night. I calmly put Supernanny's techniques back into action. I told Eddie it was going to be bed time soon and then at the appointed time, we went to the room. Every time that he walked back into the living room, I would calmly walk him back and tell him that it was bed time. I never yelled or lost my cool. (As sometimes in the past I have) It took me 1 hour and 8 minutes to get him to stay in there. It was nice. He woke up once that night at 2 :46 am. He did whimper and cry a little bit when I told him that he had to go back to his bed. But to my amazement, he stayed!!

On Thursday and Friday nights it took between 15 and 20 minutes. A bed time first!!! On Thursday he woke at 11:05 pm and easily went back to his room. Friday night he didn't wake up at all! Saturday bed time was a bit better. He came out 4 times. So I'd say it took about 10 minutes before he stayed in there! And he never woke up during the middle of the night!

I'm so happy I don't even know what to say! I mean, I feel like my newborn just learned to sleep through the night! Only, Eddie is about to turn 3. He's been giving me grief about bed time for 7 long months! I can't believe he's showing signs of a pattern of GOOD sleeping!!! Yeah!! I'm so proud of that little monkey!!!

He just better keep it up!! And now on to potty training. (((another long battle ahead I see.)))Crossing my fingers that tonight goes well too!!!

Psycho shopping.

I'm wondering when if ever, I will be able to just drive by and stop into a store with my kids. Like say the mood strikes me, without any planning ahead, and I want to browse through a store that is on my way home, could I do that? Not tonight. If you would have been in the Mervyn's on the Southwest side of town, I would have been the mom with the double stroller and the kids screaming and hitting each other.

Eddie was crying and whining at the same time, "I don't want to act crazy mommy. I don't want to be bad." All the while he is turning around in the front seat of the stroller and hitting Alexa. Alexa was just as guilty though. She was antagonizing him right back. She was kicking and pulling on his seat back. When he would turn around, she would hit him in the face. And then he hits her back. Screaming erupts and I barely spent 20 minutes in the store. Eddie did manage to swipe a shoe from the shoe dept. and an outfit from the kids dept. We were over near mens wear when I discovered these items.

I suppose it could have been worse. They could have both vomited or something like that. I don't know what I was thinking, but those two were awful in there. I don't think I will do that again for a long while. Or at least unless I have help with me.

Ok, Grey's is coming on. So I have to get out of here. Oh this is my favorite time of day. BED TIME!!!!!!!

Better.

So. Her rash is breaking up. And that's good. The meds are working. Also good. But we miss Daddy. He's not here at the moment. So if all the people calling for him would kindly stop, I'd appreciate it. But it's not likely that the telemarketers will do that, so I suppose I will go on ignoring them.

We got to talk to Daddy last night. And I'm glad that Eddie got to speak with him. He even told dh to, "lave los manos." Which unbeknownst to us both, his little brain was working fast and furious, and he had to throw his two cents worth in there when we were discussing some few select passages in Spanish. What a smart kid. We both burst out in laughter at the appropriate timing of it all. What a little nut!

Anyway, here is where my dh is right now:

The Dominican Republic. And he was out late last night eating goat. Apparently that's their local dish. Umm.... Yum?Not so much for me, thank you. I personally would have gone for the fish. But hey, he's Colombian, and he's grown up eating interesting and unusual things. I suppose that's why I love him. hmmmm.

Anyway. We are here. And he is there. I'm still happy that he will be back on Saturday. We are awaiting orders. And then it will all be a bit more official. Real. And then scary too. Our house hasn't even shown once. And the street upon which we live is littered with homes for sale and rent. That bites.

I'm praying that something comes our way soon. There has to be at least one person that wants to buy my house! It's pretty! Well, we have rubbed some of the pretty off, but it's still nice. And come on, I'd even throw in a carpet allowance. And some paint. I know an AMAZING painter: My Go 2 Guy

So. I better run. I have to go and do mommy related things. And clean. And pay bills. And eat. At some point.

Petechial rash.

So today we have some new symptom. But what's the underlying cause? When I undressed Alexa today I found this.

On top of having a double ear infection and an upper respiratory infection, my daughter now has petechia. (puh-teek-ee-eye) Of course I was concerned about this, as this isn't a normal allergic response. So I took her back to the Urgent Care center where she was seen on Friday. I wanted to have medical professionals take a closer look.

I've been told that it could be something, or it could be nothing. Reassuring, no?

Well. I was asked if we applied a tourniquet. Interesting, but no. I was asked if she had possibly taken a large amount of aspirin. Also no. Especially interesting since she was playing, laughing, running, eating and sleeping normally. So. The Doctor on duty did tell me that he feels that there may be a possibility of a peri-infectious process going on. Meaning that her body is dealing with several infections at once, also topped with the previous skin rash that she had about a week and half ago. Lovely. On a side note he did decide to discontinue her amoxicillin and go with another antibiotic to be safe. Even though he strongly feels that the amoxicillin is not to blame. He wants me to follow up with my pediatrician and possibly do skin testing for the penicillin family in the future. Also... he said that this might be caused by trauma. And I'm thinking fabulous. My son is dragging her by the arm, and he's done this to her. Oh joy.

Well, on the bright side, it is very localized. And the girl can't sit still. She's playing like there is no tomorrow. She's happy and her cough is improving. We'll see how this goes. But I wanted to blog about this so that anyone else out there reading could see a true petechial rash. It was tough to get these pictures, as she was moving around like a little puppy dog. So considering that, I did a pretty good job.

Have to run now. The kids are giving dh a hard time!

Can someone get me a shot of that Tylenol with Codeine??

Ok, now does this look like a sick kid to you?? Maybe a cute one. But not sick so much. I actually took this picture this morning. When she was at her happiest. But then again, it all went downhill fast. Considering that she was up for 2.5 hours in the wee hours this morning she looks pretty darn chipper.

And how about this picture? Look a little more like she's sliding down that slope? Nah? Still cute?

Well here's the diagnosis. Bilateral otitis media, with an upper respiratory infection to boot.

She started off not sleeping last night. And then again for her nap. Her nasty cough only got worse and she was having trouble napping even. Which totally bites. I started off her morning with some albuterol because I heard her wheezing. Poor thing. I called the clinic and their computers were down. So of course I couldn't get an appointment. I took her to urgent care. Where on the way, she threw up in the car. As I pulled over in front of this woman's house, she was super kind an offered a towel or wipes. But I declined and cleaned her up and went on my way. I felt bad enough about parking there in her front drive and throwing out chunks of baby vomit as it was. So I didn't want to dirty her towels too. Alexa was kind enough to keep the vomit all to herself in her lap. My new car smell is now forever gone.

After arriving at the urgent care with a naked baby, I quickly grabbed her up and went inside. I wanted to get our name on the list so we could hurry up and wait. I dressed her inside the clinic and had all kinds of weird stares. I told the girl behind the counter that my daughter had just thrown up and that's why she isn't dressed. She looked at me as if I told her that Ron Jon surf shop in Florida was having a sale and today was their last day. Basically, she was unmoved. She didn't even smile, or offer a sympathetic anything. I wanted to bash her nineteen year old face in with that ugly brown clipboard. Patience. As I in my wisdom knew that the only people who could be so sympathetic are the ones who have been in those shoes. The ones who are mothers or fathers themselves. And this kid obviously was not. Just bothered by me, my comments, and she was just there to do a job. So I turned heel and took a seat and dressed my child. Some other mothers in the place had a more sympathetic look on their faces. A few even talked with me. After an hour in the evil urgent care center, I went to ask how long I would be waiting and how many people were ahead of me. I was told about 7 and it could be an hour or more longer.

I was a bit disturbed that they didn't take pediatric respiratory cases and maybe bump them up a few spaces. I mean, after all. My child was the only child in the place who was screaming inconsolably. I asked for my ID back and I told them I was leaving. I drove 5 miles down the road to another urgent care, walked right in, and was seen. It was like night and day. I felt like I had left the city or something. What were those people over there doing wrong? I couldn't tell you. But I was just happy to be taken care of. My daughter needed to be seen, and she needed medication.

So. We have amoxicillin for the ear infection. We also have a lovely tylenol with codeine to help her sleep and for the pain. I was also ok'd to treat her again for any wheezing she may have. As I thanked him for respecting my ability to identify an actual wheeze, we left. There still was not a soul in that waiting room. Strange, considering half the town was sitting in the other urgent care center.

She's now sleeping with the humidifier on, and towels rolled up under her mattress to give her a little boost under her head. I hope it all helps. Dh is leaving for the Dominican on Monday and will be gone for a week. Boo.

Just let me get these kids feeling better. Just let Eddie stay feeling better. I don't need him sick too. Ok, gotta go. I'm really tired.

No. Stop that. Come here.

Don't touch that. Get your fingers out of your mouth. Get that thing out of your mouth. Don't put that in your sister's mouth. Leave her hair thingy alone. Aaggghhh! Now her hair is all messed up. Stop running, Eddieeeeee!!!Alexa, hold mommy's hand. Yes, you have to. Get off the ground. It's either you hold my hand or I'm carrying you. Good, go ahead and cry.

Eddie let's go. No. We can't stay here all day long. Ok. I understand that you want to do it yourself, but you need to get in the car. Get in your car seat. Now, let's go. No. I don't have cheese in the car. No, I don't have graham crackers right now either.

And I don't know what on earth possessed me to take them to the BX tonight either. Maybe it was Nana and Tito. Yeah, it's fair to say that it was.

My kids were running around and they looked like monkeys. There were other people in the BX with kids. And strollers. Both of my strollers were in a very good place. Our garage. Note to self, put the large stroller in the car for instances such as these. At least I could strap them in and they couldn't move. Kind of like jail. Or like a straight jacket. But they serve the same purpose. Confinement. My children do not like to be confined. They are much like birds. They love to soar and explore. Far and away from me. T

hey laughed and they ran. They tried with all their might to hang on those little divider thingies. You know the kind. The ones that they have to corral people into lines at restaurants and at movies, also in banks. Well those things are like major kid magnets. No child on this earth is immune to their draw. They get sucked in to their wondrous beauty. Kids are captivated by them and are unable to keep their hands from pulling on them. Of course they are kind of flimsy so it's very easy to knock them over. Both of my children were trying hard to do exactly that. So, try as you might to order some food, it's a daunting task at hand when your two toddlers (one at nearly 3 and the other just 16 months) are running freely throughout the food court.

So I managed to order food and eat. And feed the children. Lacka almost fell out of the chair. I caught her with my leg. Only because both of my hands were full. Once my father saw that she was leaning over, he grabbed her. It all happened in a split second. But still, it was kind of funny. And no, I wasn't going to put her into a high chair. She thinks that she is a big girl and certainly she needs to sit in a chair like her big brother does.

I'm at home now and one might think that relief has come just to be in our home. Well it hasn't. The kids have been fighting, mainly because that's what they do. They fight. Eddie only wants toys that Alexa seems to be playing with at the time. He loses interest as soon as she does. He has pushed her down several times, and he has fallen several times as well. Crying is a must at every half hour. Alexa is coughing pretty badly. And I haven't stopped yelling. About pushing, grabbing, hitting, jumping on the bed, taking her toys, listening, not listening, chewing on Alexa's hair thingies, slamming the door, pushing the door into Alexa, staying out of the kitty's room (litter room) leaving the kitty alone, staying out of the fridge. Man do I sound like some kind of meanie?

The kids are now turning their milk cups upside down and spilling it everywhere. Just because it's fun. I have to go round them up now as they have left the room. Surely they are doing something awful in there. I just know it.

Back to normal.

The big kids are gone. And the little kids have ransacked the house. Even after our extreme attempts at making it presentable for a negligible showing during our open house on Saturday. Well, you know if we would have left the place littered with toys and clothes that we would have had 5 to 10 people come banging on our door. And that's how it works. Clean it up, and nobody shows. Leave it dirty and the whole neighborhood will come by.

Devon and Alyssa had a very nice visit with us. I think it went by very fast. Lightning speed in fact. I didn't take enough pictures. And Devon being 14 and way too cool to take pictures didn't help my cause any. But still all in all, it went smoothly.

I like the fact that I didn't lose my cool. I didn't secretly boil under my skin at any time during their visit. Most times I do. Because of course they say or do something that leaves me wondering who told them that? Or who has been mothering these kids? A pack of wolves? I have an extreme amount of discontent for their mother and how she has chosen to live her life. What's more is that I feel immensely sad for the way that she is inflicting her bottom of the barrel values and beliefs into these kids. They are really good kids. And I try hard as a human being to be the better person.

But she is as bottom of the barrel as they come. It's a real freak of nature that she ever married my husband in the first place. We'll just chalk that up to teenage STUPIDITY on his part. And we all make mistakes, so I'm going to have to forgive him this one. No matter, two lovely children came out of it. And we have to try to correct all the wrongs done in 6 months, over the period of 10 days. Seemingly impossible right?? Well.... I can't give up on them.

Especially when they have such big hearts. Devon told me that he loved me when he left for the plane. Awwww.....And Alyssa left me a note to open after they left. It said that she misses us all every day and she wished she could come and stay with us all the time. I kind of wonder what she really means by that. Is she saying something more? Is she really trying to express how she honestly feels? Or is it just meant to make us feel better. Kids are really smart that way. And I'm not a psychiatrist. All I know is that my mother never tries to choke me. And yes, I really do mean physically choking me. (as in Alyssa told me that her grandmother and her mom got into a nasty curse word using name calling fight where the outcome was grandma choking out momma.) Nice. Really nice. And classy too. They did this in a public place with her little brother and sister there. (Her sister is 5 months older than Eddie, so she's 3, and the little brother is 11 days older than Alexa, so he's 16 months.) Yes, my step-children have a lot of siblings.

I'm not even going to go into the fact that when Devon was younger, he was told by his mother that when his dad (my dh) and I started to have kids, that we wouldn't love him anymore. And then mother of the year she is, she goes and gets pregnant first. WHAT A LOSER! But I'm not going to go there.

I'm just going to say that these kids have a very poor role model. Two very poor role models. As her live in boyfriend who fathered her child #3 and #4 is just as much a lowlife. Where on earth do they come from? The stature of these characters are the type you might normally see on any episode of Cops. Anyway.....

I don't want to blab on and on about them, as they honestly didn't deserve any time on my blog. But I just need to vent every once in a while. I'm not stressed about any one thing, I just feel bad for them that they have to live there with those two.

So, it's time to go and do something productive with my day. Like figure out where in the world my dh disappeared to. It's his last day off before he returns to work, and where is he? I've got only one guess. WORK. Yes, I know he is, without even asking him. He's there. Checking his emails. I can't wait until he gets out of that job. He's an overachiever. And he needs a more relaxing job. Like maybe he should take up gardening. Or dog walking. Or cooking. We could open up a his and hers bakery. That would be fun.

ok, must run. Must find dh!

Cuteness

So I was giving the little monkeys a bath this evening when I realized that I honestly don't have any pictures of them in the tub. Really. So I called out to dh, "Honey.........!! Bring me my camera!!!!" And then it magically appeared. So I took a few of them in all their glory.

Anyone know when they actually start listening and stop drinking the bath water? I tell them, "No, Icky! Poopy! Yucky! Don't drink that! Stop!" Nothing works. I just don't know.... guess they will eventually outgrow it.

Here's what I'm talking about:

And of course if drinking it wasn't enough.... he has to force some nasty bath water on his sister. Geesh. At least he's sharing. Look. I'm trying to look at the bright side here.