Still Sneaking Away

The girls were great this year to create the traps on their own and they each made a trap.  They titled their places Lucky Leprechaun & Lila's Lucky Leprechaun with the year 2014.  They put tape like they were windows, hoping they would get stuck on the sticky side while trying to escape, but those handy little leprechauns used the sticks they used to prop their traps to break the tape and escape. Then they must have used their magic to vanish because magic was still in the air leaving green sprinkles on our breakfast.  The girls were excited that their smoothies were even in green cups--wish I could take credit for planning that, but they were the clean cups we had. :)  I did make clover muffins for an after school snack that they loved and then for dinner we managed to have a few green items--guacamole and salad.  For family home evening we played a Pot of Gold game and talked about our blessings and how we can share them with those around us.  It was a nice day and I truly am "lucky" to have such a wonderful family!!

Sick Days

As a Mom you don't really get sick days. You do your best to keep food on the table and get people to their activities while not getting anyone else in the family sick--especially babies like Andrew. And usually while not getting much sleep because the baby was up, or the sick kid woke you up or someone had a bad dream (there were several nights where I was awakened by the kids at least 7 times each taking their own turn after I just got back into bed). Last week I took three people to the doctor and came home with three different antibiotics. Ellie and I had bronchitis and Lila had another UTI. Ellie cleared up after two days on her antibiotics--me I'm still hacking over a week later. Lila's UTI was resistant again so we were back to the shots or a $400 prescription. I spoke with the pharmacist who priced it out for me and he said I could get the capsules and sprinkle it on applesauce or yogurt for $13 so we did that. Lila also went to the urologist again last week and she gave me a standing order for a urine test at the lab so I don't have to make a doctor's appointment every time I think she may have one. We still feel like we are on the right track to correcting the problem--we're going to do another urine test on Friday to make sure the antibiotic cleared the infection. Andrew also had is 4 month check-up on Friday which went well.  And my ENT called me twice during the week to follow-up with my biopsy results which were abnormal so I'll be doing surgery sooner than later. In the midst of all of this we are changing insurance because our plan no longer exists, thanks to the man who said, "if you like your insurance you won't have to change." Any way to sum up last week: 5 doctors visits, over 10 doctor, insurance, hospital, pharmacist phone calls (not including the ones to make appointments), 4 antibiotics.  PHEW!

Fortunately, I had made a few freezer meals recently so we enjoyed those without too much work from me. One night we had chef salads and I was a little worried how the girls would handle it since they don't like lettuce on their burgers or anything. But they thought it was great because they could pick whatever toppings they wanted to put on their salads. Lila didn't even have dressing on hers. Now they asked to have chef salads for every meal. :)

Needless to say the last two weeks I have been in a bit of fog with illness so I haven't kept up the blog like I would like so here are a few bright shining moments I remember through the fog. :)

The first week we were sick I thought it was just a head cold and it was a beautiful day and the zoo was having a free day so we packed up and headed to the zoo with Mimi who happened to be in town--I thought the fresh air and an outing would do us good. Well people were parking a 1/2 mile away on the streets and as we pulled down a side street to park I thought this is crazy I don't want to be in this crowded of a zoo and I have been wanting to take the girls to the Natural History Museum so we changed plans. The girls loved the museum (I did feel a bit bad for taking my sick child to the museum--I thought we would be outside and it wouldn't be a big deal). At the end Lila said, "We have to come back." So I turned our entrance fees into a membership and we will be going back. :)

Steve's brother Greg was in town with his girls Katie and Lexie so they came by Thursday evening and stayed the night before heading home on Friday. My girls were so excited to play with their big cousins. So sad I didn't get any pictures. Steve and Greg enjoyed visiting and watching a sci-fi movie that has been on Steve's list for a while.

Andrew started eating rice cereal. His weight gain was about a pound less than anticipated so the doctor suggested rice cereal. I thought it might be a good idea to get him started on a few solid foods before my surgery so he will be eating other things. He liked it a lot--almost nothing came back out. I kept making more and more like 3 small helpings and he probably would have ate more, but I wanted to start kind of slow. :)

Now he is trying to grab the spoon out of my hand. So last night I gave him one of these rice rusk things--he thought it was great. I love watching them try to coordinate getting food to their mouth. :)

This morning we had to call Lila down for breakfast several times. I know she was up and doing something, but she kept saying, "just a minute." Well she came down dressed and she had brushed her hair and put in her own barrettes (note the one dangling at the bottom on the right). :) So cute I think I'll let her go to school like this.

Mimi gave the girls these clip on earrings and they love them. Lila especially will wear them all day every day and was in tears one day when she lost one at school. Thankfully her teacher found it and returned it to her the next day.

We did manage to find a few evenings to take the girls on their dates. Lila and I did manicures and pedicures since she hasn't been able to stop talking about it since Ellie went. She even told one of my friends about Ellie's pedicure and said, "they massage your feet and it is so great, I think." I took Ellie shopping for her baptism dress and we found a very cute one. Steve took Ellie to Boondocks to play miniature golf and I guess it was a closely contested game and Ellie got super excited after a good round and jumped up and down twisted her ankle and skinned her forearm. She still had a ball. I love these special moments with them. I love my family and am so grateful that we help it each other make it through the illnesses and the fun times. The family truly is central to life here, helping us learn and grow, and strive to be better and more Christ like. Thanks for being patient and loving!!