Seriously?!

So, Staci, one of my best friends from forever, calls me out of the blue on Saturday. "What are you up to?" she asks. I reply, "Oh, I'm just driving down K-10 in my camisole and underwear, how about you?" I'm sure you can imagine her response! Well, it's just been one of those kind of weeks.

It started out strange last Saturday. During dinner we were all conversing as we usually do, when Riley turned his head to the right and Corey and I immediately looked at each other and said, "Did you see that?" Riley had two large bumps protuding from the left side of his neck that seemed to appear out of nowhere. They were not there when he laid down for his nap a couple hours earlier, now they are there looking like a couple of rubber bouncy balls laying beneath his skin. I feel them, ask him a million questions, then run to my trusty computer. Of course, all of the most terrifying possibilities jump out at me: blood clot, aneurysm, non-Hodgkins lymphoma -- aaaahhhhh! So, by now it is 7:00 and Corey and I have been going back and forth about what to do. We finally decide that I will take him to the ER just to be safe. Just where I wanted to be on a Saturday night after a home KU Football game! On the way there I called my mom, who is always so calm and the voice of reason. Thank you for that mom as I am the complete opposite! Anyhow, fortunately, the drunks had not started to filter into the emergency room just yet, so it wasn't quite the crazy scene I was anxiously anticipating = ) After completing some paperwork and getting shuffled from room to room, we got settled into "the coolest room ever!" -- Riley's words. A bed with rails that can move up and down, his own remote, cartoons on TV, a chair that spins = good times for a 3 yr old! On top of that he got to pee in a cup -- fun! -- and since they ended up not needing the sample, he got to bring it home to show Gage and Daddy -- bonus! It ended up that he actually had a pretty severe double ear infection and the bumps were his lymph nodes that had swollen up in response to the infection. They prescribed some anti-biotics and he has been getting much better. Thank goodness that is all that it was. Also, thank goodness that Riley has dubbed the ER "AWESOME!" as I am sure we will make many more trips there in the future!

A couple days later, Riley started to complain that his tummy hurt. Well, lo and behold, the vomiting was not far behind. Ugh! But honestly, if all flu episodes were like this one, I wouldn't freak so badly about the dreaded virus. Don't get me wrong, he was pretty darn sick for about 6-7 hours, but after that, it was like the illness was gone as quickly as it had arrived. After testing the waters and allowing him some small portions of crackers and pedialyte for a couple hours, I finally caved to his requests for pancakes and he was scarfing them down like he hadn't eaten in days! So glad he wasn't down and out for too long!

So, that was Wednesday. We were a little too hopeful that Gage had survived this spout without catching the bug. Well, we found out that we weren't that lucky at almost the worst possible time and place. This Saturday morning we headed over to Monkey Bizness in Olathe to celebrate our friend Taryn's 3rd birthday. We had been there just under an hour when Gage said he didn't want to go down the slide again with Riley and me, so he just sat at the bottom and waited. I didn't think much of it as he had woken up bright and early at 5:15 that morning and just figured he was extra tired as it was getting close to lunch and nap time. Oh, if only that were so! When we got to the bottom, Gage asked, "Momma, hold me." Well, you just can't deny a request so sweet, so I scooped him up and sat down on a bench with him. He snuggled his head tightly into my chest and then ....... yep, you guessed it! -- he blew chunks all over me. Yuck!!! Thankfully, I guess, the vomit was mostly on me and Gage and less than a silver dollar size actually fell to the floor. After what seemed like an eternity of parents and children staring at us while slowly backing away, one gentleman was kind enough to bring a trash can over to us and beckon some workers to bring us some paper towels and trash bags.

So, from here, I stripped down poor little Gage and tried to wipe myself as clean as I could. I hurried the boys out to the van for our 40 minute drive home. Now, I am still covered in puke at this point and totally wreak. Thankfully, while dressing in the morning, I had put on a camisole under the shirt I was wearing. So, I peeled off the saturated top shirt and put it in the trash bag. Next, I scanned the parking lot and everything looked clear, so I took off my jeans and put them in the trash bag as well. Ok, so far so good. I now strap in the boys and get Gage set up with the trash bag and a towel in case he needs to let loose again. We are now on our way home.

I call Corey and explain the fun to him, and being the great hubby that he is tells me he'll get everything ready at home for our little sicko. Next I call my mom, who once again calms me down and helps me laugh at my unfortunate situation. After I hang up with her is when I get the call from Staci. After talking to her for a while, Gage has another episode, so I need to pull over and attend to him. Thankfully we were close to home and were now on a back county road so we didn't have to deal with traffic. We take care of business and are on our way again.

Unfortunately, we were on our way a little too fast. The next thing you know I am getting pulled over by a Sheriff's deputy. Are you kidding me?! Luckily, the boys had brought their blankies with them for the car ride that morning, so I covered up my bottom half with Riley's and proceeded to plead my case. The fellow did not seem very sympathetic to say the least. After questioning me if we were in a life-threatening situation, or en route to the hospital, then checking my license and insurance (which seemed to take forever) the not overly kind deputy finally came back to my window. I wanted to say but didn't, "Seriously, you know I have a vomiting sick kid in here, aaaannnnd my entire van, as well as my child and I smell like a puke bucket, did you really need to take that long?!" However, in the end, he did let me off with a warning and a stearn, "Slow it down ma'am, slow it down." Good grief!

Anyhow, after a couple of hours, Gage's flu disappeared just like Riley's did and he was out running around in the yard by the end of the day. Good times, good times. Let's hope this next week is much less eventful on the health front!

Definitely NOT as "funny" as YouTube ...

So, our little sugarbaby Gage had a couple of cavities that were found at his dentist visit last month. One was on his canine and appeared to just be a soft sport that formed during the tooth's development. Nothing we could've done to prevent that one. However, there were two more on his back teeth, most likely the result of his love for all things sugary and sticky. So, there will be no more of those! Not that we will cut out all candy for the poor little guy, that would be just cruel. However, the worst offenders from the dentist's list will be eliminated as they are the ones that stick around for a long time and do the most damage. Of course, these worst offenders are most of his favorites -- tootsie rolls, laffy taffy, suckers, etc. It'll be rough on the little fella, but I'm sure he'll survive = )

Anyhow, back to the appointment. The dentist and her staff had previously discussed using a sedative with Gage since he is only 2 1/2. The sedative doesn't put the child to sleep, but is designed to help him calm down and relax so the dentist can complete the necessary dental work (fillings, x-rays, and flouride treatment.) The sedation also works to block the short-term memory of the child so they do not remember the "scary" part of the visit, thus hopefully curtailing fear of the dentist at future visits.

When we were advised of this option at the original check-up, I was very curious about it and a little hesitant. I am not a big fan of taking/giving medicine in general, unless it is an absolute necessity. So, I did tons of research on the drug they said they would give Gage and even watched the "funny" video on YouTube of the little boy who had been given this same sedation and seemed to act intoxicated. After all of this, even though I still had a few reservations, we decided it would probably be the best thing to do so Gage's little cavities didn't turn into big problems.

Oh boy. At the actual visit, the dentist decided a stronger sedative needed to be used as Gage is such an "active and strong" boy (her nice way of saying he was being a scared, stubborn pill!) Of course, this other sedative has not only stronger sedation qualities, but more extreme and longer lasting side effects. Great! Well, I made the executive decision to go ahead with it and paid for it dearly. Gage basically turned into a viral "mean drunk" for about 30 minutes before he chilled a little. He became very aggressive, hitting, biting, kicking, crying ... just being very mean ... all the while slowly losing control of motor functions. I'm not quite sure how he couldn't stand or sit on his own, but he could still flail and fight like a rabid dog, but he did. Once he finally calmed down enough that they could take him back to do the procedures, I was an emotional mess. It didn't help that I could hear him crying and hollering out in the waiting room. Needless to say, I shed some tears, too.

After all of that, he thankfully wore himself out and all of the cavities were filled, x-rays were taken, and flouride was applied. He then just wanted to cuddle and snuggle. I had hoped to take him back to his pre-school that afternoon, but the sedative was still way too present in his system. So, I attempted to take him to the office with me. It did not work out. It kind of reminded me of my bartending days and dealing with the drunks. At the bar, no matter how nicely, or how many times you would try to tell the customer to sit down and hush up before they hurt themselves or got into trouble, they would just keep on keepin' on with a fierce determination and a blankness in their eyes. This was my dear, sweet, little redhead. He wouldn't lay down and watch his movies for the life of him. He would stumble throughout the office, run into a wall here, fall down there, try to climb on chairs and visit with my boss. It would've been funny, if it wasn't so not funny. Thankfully, Corey was able to take the afternoon off and take care of him at home. The effects of the sedative bascially continued all through the evening, eventually taking on what I'm sure were almost "hangover-like" qualities, which the doctor had also warned us about. He was grumpy and irritable. He was demanding and ornery. He was docile one minute, then beligerant and bawling the next. He was also ravenous -- eating even more than usual -- a whole 6oz steak, a cup of noodles and green beans for supper. A little later a whole apple and an individual size bag of Doritos. A little while after that, 8oz of milk, a string cheese, some pepporoni slices and 1/2 an orange. Then still asking for more food when I put him to bed at 8:15. Ahhhhhhhhhh!

We're just praying that no more cavities show up in our kids -- ever! -- or at least until they are old enough to effectively cope with the situation without the use of sedation. I honestly never want to go through that again. I know that this isn't the way it typically turns out. I've even taked with a couple of friends and clients whose children went through it just fine and just acted silly through the ordeal. Oh, if only we had been that lucky! Oh well, I guess you live and you learn. I'm just so thankful that today my sweet-natured little goofball buddy is back instead of his Dr. Gagerstein alter ego. That guy was scary!!!!

This 'n That ...

Riley, Gage, and Katie hiking at the dog park. We've visited there several times over the last week since the weather has been so beautiful. It's been kind of bittersweet, however, as this is the first time we've been there without Gracie. The boys are as big of fans of autumn as their mommy ... here's Riley enjoying the falling leaves.

Gage sporting a balloon pumpkin hat that our wonderful neighbor Vicki brought over for him. (She also brought one over for Riley, but being the ornery little sort that he is, he almost immediatly started popping the balloons on the grass outside -- thus, no pictures of him!)
Li'l Transformer - Bumblebee Gage.

Big Transformer - Bumblebee Riley

The 2 Bumblebees anxiously awaiting their departure.

My weekend project consisted of starting the revamping of our bedroom. Here's the new wallcolor ... I'm diggin' it = )

That's all for now. I've got tons of stories to tell and may get to them someday soon. In the meantime, the weather is just too great to be sitting in front of a computer, so I'm heading to the backyard to enjoy the fire for a little while before I need to shuttle the kiddos to dreamland. Take care!

Tricks and Treats

Well, there have actually been more tricks than treats this past week or so. First, the hard drive goes out in our computer. Ugh! And, of course, nothing can be retrieved off of it. Luckily, I have most things backed-up and pictures uploaded to photo sharing sites. However, the last batch of pictures that I took off of my camera (close to 100) had not been loaded yet. Bummer. Oh well, I guess the treat side of this is we now have a new computer that runs Windows7 and it is awesome. Plus, it is wicked fast compared to our old machine. So, I guess, Merry Christmas to us a few months early!

The next trick is that my camera that has all of the kiddos Halloween pictures on it is ... missing in action. Of course, no one has any idea why it isn't in the spot it is supposed to be. Hmmmmm, mysterious, spooky stuff! Hopefully, we will scavenge it up somewhere soon, then I will share a couple of pictures of the two lovely bumblebee transformers. It was a long time getting to these outfits as the final costume, but I'll wait to share that story until there are photos to go along with it.

Lastly, here is a little trick Corey played on the boys. I'm sure most of you who spend any time on the web have seen this video of "the ghost of Michael Jackson." Well, Corey watched it and let out a howl, so of course, the boys wanted to see what all of the commotion was about. Riley wasn't too keen on it -- "it freaked me out" were his exact words, but little Gage is kind of strange and LOVES to be scared. He thinks it's a thrill. Thus, he requested to watch it over and over again. Each time his "surprise" becoming more and more dramatic. He is such a ham!

Well, that's all for this update. Will fill you in on more trick-or-treating fun when we find the camera = )