First time...

...sitting solo. And still sick, but getting a little better.

Yay alice!

TGIS

Yes, Thank God it is SATURDAY.

Friday stunk. I am happy to see it go.

Started out with a 2:30 am wake up call from Alice and ended up in the children's ER.

Neither of those things are ever good.

After mid morning ped appointment on Friday (second time there this week) with two still sick kids, I learned...

Alice has the croup.
And an ear infection...in both ears.
Ella has the same virus that Alice has, but is just not as sick.
Alice does not like the nebulizer.
What a stridor is and what it sounds like.
Alice still smiles and is not at all cranky when she's sick as a dog.
A sick Ella is a quiet Ella....which is just unnatural.

My poor baby was still not doing great after the ped, (after 4 breathing treatments her breathing still sounded like darth vader) so we took her down to Children's Healthcare ER. Scary. Just to get her checked out...all was well. Okay to take home. Phew. Guess we can expect a few more days of keeping a close eye on her to make sure she's breathing okay.

So many meds for such a little baby. :(


Thanks to my mom -- who played tag team at the doctor with me and watched E while we were at the hospital, our neighbor, Amy -- who sat with a sick Ella for us until my mom could get here --, and Lauren -- who answered a random "do you know anything about croup?" text with a sweet call and tons of info. (she's a nurse) --- you guys made a tough day a lot more tolerable.

On the mend.

Reading stories to Alice helped.


As did playing "one of these things is not like the other".

Sick Day

Well, apparently, my prescription (Aladdin and blankie) didn't do the trick to heal Ella.

I knew something was up when I picked her up from the Kids Klub at the gym yesterday (after a not as hard as I anticipated 5 miler with the middle 3 miles at 7:12 pace.) and she was lying on the floor.

Then, I definitely knew a trip to the doctor was in order after she fell asleep in the cart at Publix. Not even the free Publix cookie would rouse her. (I love Publix.) Poor kid.

Alice decided to start a very good seal imitation as well...so both Parker girls got checked.

They're fine...just colds.

No school for E today. Just hanging around the house getting healthy is in order. Along with (hopefully) an hour trainer ride for mommy between tuck ins, nose blows (E), and nose sucks (Alice).

The three of us and a strangely large picture of a girl and a horse at the doc.

Lost in translation

E had a tough day at school today. Cried and wanted mommy at snack time...not really like her.

Apparently, the chocolate chip cookie "made me cold". And the yogurt "wasn't healthy for me".

Huh?

I guess it must have been "the rock in my tummy....that came in through my head....make me feel cold and not healthy."

Here's to hoping a strong dose of "Aladdin" and her blankie cures all.

Alice -- with no rock in her head and who is also, not cold.

2000...

...yards were swum (swam? who knows? seriously, does anybody know?) by yours truly today.

I know, I know...just a warm up for you fish out there, but for me?

A new post partum record. (Insert fist pump.)

Now, I just have to sit my butt down and cobble together a (hopefully kick ass) training plan that results in PR's for triathlon, 5k and half marathons for the spring. Simple, right?

All I require is a kid-free hour or so, Runner's World online, "Triathlete Magazine's Essential Week by Week Training Plans" and some fairy dust.

My Brain...

...is (thankfully, wonderfully) completely normal.

After months of weird symptoms (right eye not seeing right, heaviness of the right side of my body, feeling like I was going to pass out a few times), a visit to the ER, and a neurologist that seemed convinced that I had MS...I am so relieved.

Just got the results of my (too hellish to even discuss how scary it was being shoved in that torture chamber of a device for 40 minutes with a mask on my face***) MRI and MRA and my brain shows no signs of anything wrong.

Yahoo.

So....what is causing all this weird stuff?
Which, by the way, I had all the same symptoms post baby #1, as well...that just disappeared after about a year. (2 ER visits and 1 MRI with that bout.)

Most likely, migraine.

The neurologist's best guess is that this is an aura. (I get migraines and when I get them, I lose vision..yep, in my right eye.)

He prescribed some medicine, so we'll see if it helps any....

I am just SO relieved. My brain, with all of its obvious abnormalities (can't you just remember someone's name, just once, when you meet them?), appears normal.

Thank God.

Alice and I, MRI in hand, leaving the office with the good news.

***just wanted to add that if anyone is reading this that is breastfeeding and getting an MRI with contrast...it is okay to nurse right after. My neurologist and the radiologist both said I needed to wait 24-48 hours after to get rid of the contrast solution. (I was totally stressing about this, since Alice is 100% breastfed, poor kid would be wondering what happened.) BUT, according to my OB and 2 lactation consultants, you are totally fine to feed right after. The docs had some old school information.

Art.

"Wow! That's a great picture, E! What is it of?".
-me

"baby Jesus on a rocketship."
-Ella

Over the river and through the woods...

...to Mimi's house we went.

Rain+potholes+bee boots=one deliriously happy (already asleep) 3 year old.



Doesn't hurt to have a ride home from your grandpa either.

New Year.

New Baby.(courtesy ed hetherington - photo, not baby.)


New Goals.
1:40 @ ING Half.
Sub 20 5k -- been working on this one for a LOOOONG time. PR is 20:26...so at the very least get below that.
Beat my time from 2007 @ John Tanner.


New Furniture!
Coming on Friday....I can't wait for our new non-falling-into-the cracks-between-the-sections-sectional, our new cruelty-free (to kids not cows) leather coffee table with no sharp corners, and comfy, spinning, chair. Merry Christmas to us.

Old friends.

Celebrated the holiday with two of my college roommates and their families. Love you guys.

Happy New Year to everyone.