Keep Those Fingers Crossed

J had his collarbone x-rayed again today. We didn't get to see the actual doctor; just the x-ray lady, so I have no idea what the results are. The tech said the doctor would call in "a day or two", but I know better. This means by the end of the week. If the break still looks bad, they will do surgery. I am hopeful that it's healing as J can now lift his arm above his shoulder again and doesn't complain about it anymore. But he did fall out of bed for the first time on Saturday night and complained of it hurting after that, so I really don't know.

My dork of a husband is reading a "G.I. Joe" comic book right now. I knew I was marrying a geek. But he takes geekdom to a whole new level.

Dammit....Part 2

So, J woke in the middle of the night and begged to come sleep with me. Chris got kicked to the couch and J slept in my bed. He tossed and turned for a long time, but finally fell back asleep. I woke at 6:48 to see him staring at me. I talked to him, but didn't get any response, so I don't think he was really awake. He slept until 9:20ish. J felt hot, so I took his temp. 102.4. Sigh. He complained that he felt yucky. I gave Kensie a bottle while J laid on my bed and watched "Playhouse Disney". We came downstairs and J began crying. I kept asking him what was wrong and he suddenly threw up again. I cleaned him up and settled him on the couch. I gave him a suppository to try to get the fever down since he won't be able to keep Tylenol or Motrin down. I'm just so sick of this. September has been a solid month of illness. I want it to end!

Dammit

J threw up again tonight and is running a fever. I swear I am going to scream. Chris currently has a sinus infection, I have strep, and now J is sick again. September has been a never-ending cycle of illness and injury. I knew that with J going to school that he would be exposed to more illness, but I never thought it would be one right after the other like it has been. It seems excessive to me.

I need a Valium. Too bad I don't have any.

Party On!

We had Jonathan's birthday party on Saturday. It was at Mulberry Lane Farm. We had a blast! Both sets of grandparents were there, a couple of aunts/uncles/cousins, and J's best buddies. We had the tour first and then did cake and presents in the hay mow.

Here are the partiers:


Checking out the chicks:


Farmer J:

Riding Thunder the Pony:


Milking Elsie:


Tractor ride (J's favorite part):
Presents!:


Cake:


I love this picture of my hot and sweaty boy:




We had a wedding to go to on Saturday evening. Jonathan had a BLAST dancing. He sure can boogie down! Look at my babies all dolled up before we left:


It was a very good weekend!

In Honor of Jasper Joseph

My sister is putting her dog, Jasper, to sleep this afternoon. This is hard for me. Jazzy has been battling cancer for a few months now and it's gotten to the point that his quality of life is poor. He is suffering and his suffering needs to end.

It's hard for me because Jasper and Montana, one of my dogs, are siblings. My parents had their mom until she passed away earlier this year. The mother, Belle, had been hit by a car and found on the side of the road. She was a stray and was seriously injured. After many surgeries, she healed, and my parents adopted her. We found out she was pregnant shortly before Christmas of 1997. Belle had been pregnant before she was hit. The vet warned us that the puppies may be stillborn or they may have severe birth defects given the numerous surgeries and all of the meds Belle had been on.

Belle gave birth on January 2, 1998 to seven healthy puppies. An eighth was stillborn. As soon as Montana was born, I chose her as my dog. It is hard for me to accept that Jasper is going to pass. He is Montana's brother and it makes me face reality that Montana, too, is ten years old. I will also be faced with the same decision that my sister is facing. That makes my heart hurt.

Jasper has lived a good life. He loves camping, fetch, the water, and car rides. He is patient and unbelievably kind. This is a picture of Jazzy. It's not the best, but it's the only digital image of him on this computer:

I love you Jazzy Joe. You will be missed.

Terrible Three's

I thought two-year-olds were challenging. Tantrums, screaming, etc. But three-year-olds? OMG. It was like a switch went off on the day that J turned three. My sweet little man turned into a psychopath. He hits. He talks back. He is SO sassy. He has been hurting Kensie the last few days. That pisses me off the most. I try talking to him in a stern voice and he just repeats back what I am saying. For example:

Me: Jonathan, it's 5 minutes until bedtime.

J: No, it's not. I not go to bed.

Me (sterner): You are going to bed. You are going to bed in five minutes.

J (points finger at me and matches my tone): No, I not go to bed. You. Go. To. Bed.

Me: Jonathan, that is sassy talk. The sassiness needs to stop.

J (looks up at ceiling and GROWLS)

Arrrggghhhh! I just want to smack him. I don't know what to do. I know I need to regain control. I put him in timeouts and it doesn't faze him. I try to use my SuperNanny voice. He doesn't care. I have even smacked him on the butt. He cries and then tells me something like, "You not do that!".

Lord, give me a strength.

I'm sick of sickness

Illness has been rampant in my house the last few weeks. This is what I have been dealing wth:

Kensie had a cold about two weeks ago. It turned into an ear infection. I then caught her cold. It was horrid. It was worse than the typical cold. My body ached, I had a fever, my nose was stuffy and runny, and I sneezed like crazy. J got the sniffles a bit. Well, then Chris came down with the cold last week. You know how men are when they're sick. He is acting like he's dying.

Last night the kids took baths. I got J out of the tub and he started shaking. He is never like that, even though he plays til his water is icy. I dried him off, put on his jammies, and got him under a blanket. He then went downstairs to watch a show before bed. At one point, he climbed onto my lap and he was hot. I took his temperature and it was 101.3. I gave J some Tylenol and he went to bed. At 4:30 he woke up and was hot. I gave him some Motrin and he came to bed with me.

This morning he was fine, so he and Chris went to Chris' brother's house to watch the Packer game. Well, J apparently threw up and is running a fever again, so they are on their way home. I don't want a kid with a stomach bug. That is the worst.

Now I am preparing for this bug to make it through our household. J's birthday party is on Saturday, so we had all better be healthy for that!

Birthday Boy!

Today was the big day! We woke Jonathan up this morning with a hearty round of "Happy Birthday". He thought that was silly. We also gave him his balloons...that's an annual tradition. We got ready and headed for Noodles and Company. J ate all of his noodles and at least 1/3 of mine. Piggy.

We then drove up to Green Bay and did the zoo. One of the highlights was the penguin exhibit:



Another hit was feeding the goats:

They also have two super cool playground at the zoo:



We visited all of the animals and had a snack in the cafe. We then headed for Toys R Us. Since J is a member of the birthday club, he got a crown, a balloon, and a t-shirt there. They wished him a happy birthday over the intercom. Being a member of the birthday club, he received a $3 gift card in the mail last week. Along with his money from Great-Grandma Kuester, J bought a set of Scooby Doo Matchbox cars.

We had dinner at Fazoli's (another one of J's faves) and headed home. Kensie and J took baths and went to bed, exhausted. I am currently baking cupcakes for J to take to school tomorrow. The original plan had been for J to help me bake them, but we got home too late tonight. I think he'll be okay with that.

I still can't believe that I am the mom of a three-year-old. I think J had a great birthday. I know I sure enjoyed the day.

Bittersweet

Tomorrow is Jonathan's birthday. He will be three. I have mixed feelings about this. That means that J will no longer be a toddler. He will officially be a pre-schooler. I can't believe that it's been three years since I became a mommy. Three years. How can that be? These years have just flown by. I can remember the day he was born like it was yesterday. I remember being so scared and excited. When J was born, he had health problems. He had a lot of difficulties breathing. I didn't get to see him until he was about ten hours old. The NICU nurses took a photo of him and had Chris bring it to me. This is the photo:

He was later intubated. He looked so pathetic when I met him. Tubes and wires were everywhere. But all I saw was beauty. He was here. The baby I had wished for, dreamed of, and planned for was finally here. I fell head over heels in love. J had been pretty unresponsive since he'd been born. But when I got down to the NICU, I leaned over his isolette and said, "Hello, baby boy. This is your mommy. I love you." And J turned his head and opened his eyes. He knew my voice and he found comfort in that. He opened his mouth and tried to make a noise, but couldn't because of the tube down his throat.

When I was pregnant, I nicknamed him my Sweet Baby J and the name has stuck. He gets so angry when I call him my baby, but he so totally is. I put him to bed tonight. (We always let J choose who he wants and he chose Mommy tonight.) As we were snuggling, I told him the story of the day he was born. He liked that. I have told him the story before and he especially likes the part about Heidi wishing, praying, and hoping for a baby and then the doctor tells her she has a baby boy growing in her tummy. Heidi didn't become a mommy until Jonathan was born. That makes him pretty special.

We are taking J to Noodles and Company, his favorite restaurant, and to the Green Bay Zoo for his birthday. His party isn't until the 20th. He is so excited and I guess I am, too.

When it rains, it pours

On top of J having a broken bone, Kensie now has an ear infection and the cold from hell. She is beyond crabby, not sleeping, not eating, and fussy. Gah!

And our garage door broke. I have been dealing with garage guys all day and getting estimates. It sounds like it is gonna be about 500 bucks to replace the damn thing. 500 bucks that we did not plan for and that we don't really have.

I'm sick of being an adult. Responsibility sucks.

Weekend from hell...and other things

Man, what a weekend.

Saturday morning, J came up to wake me up. (I always get to sleep in on Saturdays.) He snuggled with me for a bit and then decided to head back downstairs. I got up and suddenly heard J crying and Chris yelling at me to get downstairs. Apparently, Chance....the spastic dog....had knocked J down the stairs. J was screaming.

I ran downstairs and scooped him up. J kept saying his head and his shoulder hurt. Chris told me to go get dressed because he thought J needed to go to the hospital. I took Kensie upstairs, threw my hair into a ponytail, and got a pair of shorts and a t-shirt on.

When I came back down, J was sitting with Chris on the couch. Chris had ice on J's shoulder. While Chris got dressed, I called my mom to ask her to meet us at the hospital so that she could take the baby.

We got to the hospital and they took us right back. A nurse took the necessary info and we waited for the doctor. Once he came in, he examined J. The doctor was awesome! He talked to J about Thomas the Tank Engine, his dogs, all kinds of things to keep his mind off what he was doing. It worked beautifully. The doctor didn't feel anything but ordered x-rays to be sure.

J was pretty upset during the x-ray, but he was good about lying still. We went back to the room and waited some more. The doctor came back and yes, J definitely broke his clavicle. It's a nice clean break and should heal nicely.

A nurse came in and fitted J with a sling. Except for baths, J has to wear the sling all the time. They told us to alternate Tylenol and Motrin for pain and sent us on our way.

After figuring out how to strap J into his car seat, we took him to Noodles and Company for a late lunch. That's his favorite spot. He ate like a pig. We then went to Wal-mart so J could get a new toy. He picked out a Matchbox playset and a "Scooby Doo" DVD.

We came home and J spent the rest of the afternoon/evening camped out on the couch.


Saturday night was rough. J couldn't get comfortable. He is a side or tummy sleeper, so being on his back just wasn't working for him. He finally joined me in my bed at 5:30. Sunday night was the same. We did get him a prescription for Tylenol with Codeine for night time. It made him loopy, but I think it helped with the pain.

J is whiney and that's understandable. He's grumpy. He has gotten quite adept at getting around with just one arm. But he's in a lot of pain and that breaks my heart.

Today was J's first day of school. We had a very rough night again last night, so we were all tired this morning. He wasn't that cooperative about getting his picture taken. Here he is before we left:

Drop-off went great. I didn't cry and neither did J! I miss him, though. It's eerily quiet here. Kensie is napping and I should be taking advantage of that, but I am feeling lazy. Three nights of little sleep is getting to me.