Last Week

Last week was a very looonnnngggg week. Between the bad weather, sick children and sick mommy, we were stuck indoors trying to make the best of it.

Joshua took the brunt of it. He had started the weekend before with a moderate fever, cough and runny nose. Plus he just wasn't sleeping...correction....he wasn't sleeping by himself. He prefered sleeping his cold away on mommy or daddy. Which I have to say it's kind of sweet to have that snuggly, very warm body on you, it's just sad that he has to be sick to be there.

Anyway, we had been in contact with the docs over the weekend because Josh just wouldn't stop pulling on his ears. We all thought it was because he is teething...two 1st molars coming in on the top...ouch! So, the doc called in some numbing ear drops. Well, let me tell you, we had a different kid that Sunday. He was smiling, laughing, eating, etc. We thought we had it licked. Well the doc still wanted us to go in on Monday to have him checked out and good thing we did. The poor kid had a double ear infection. One ear was pretty severe, the other one on its way. And due to the fact that he'd had a mild fever all weekend, and a low fever that day, they decided it best to put him on amoxicillin.

As you can see, he was a pretty sick little guy. He never sits that still in the bean bag chair to watch his favorite Veggie Tales, (A Snoodle's Tale). He's usually up dancing to the music.

It is amazing how quickly kids recover though, because even later that day, he was up walking around and playing with his brother a little more.

It wasn't until the next day that we noticed a positive change in his health. He let his brother "decorate" him for the "John Deere Festival of Lights Parade". One of Ethan's passions would be anything John Deere. He knows everything about all of it. So, needless to say he has Part 1-Part 4 of the DVD's that talk all about John Deere. On one of those DVD's they show a parade that John Deere participates in every year for Christmas called the Festival of Lights Parade. They completely cover some of their biggest tractors in lights and parade down the street in competition for first place. Well, Ethan decided that to cheer his brother up, he would decorate him for the parade. This was their "float" all decorated with cars, trucks, and peek-a-blocks. Then Ethan pushed him around. Josh got a kick out of it.

So, that brings us to Wednesday of last week. Right around the time that mommy started feeling the effects of no sleep because of sick children, 3 rd trimester woes, and her case of this head/chest cold coming on.

What is the best game that two loving children... who care only about letting their mother rest and recoup from all of this...play? None other than the very loud game I like to call Dump Truck Derby. Here are the rules...you must run as fast as you can while pushing the truck, you must be as crazy as you can while running fast and pushing the truck, you must crash into as many obstacles as you can while being crazy, running fast and pushing the truck, and most importantly you must make as much noise as your body allows you to while doing all of the above. Bonus points for knocking over or running into your little brother to make him whine or better yet, cry! The game is only over when one or both of the contestants have decided to move on to another game. Yes, it is pure chaos. Yes, it is loud and hectic, especially when the referee...mom...has to determine fair play throughout due to the younger less agile of the two playing. But, oh my goodness do they have fun. Plus, on a rainy, cloudy, yucky day, when your stuck inside, what better way to burn off some energy!!

Onto Thursday. It was a good day, but it was a sad day. We finally found a home for Moose. Thanks to many of the contacts we've had through the vets office, we were referred to the Greater Derry Humane Society. They are a no-kill group who do not have a facility which they work out of. All of the animals are kept in foster homes until a permanent loving home can be found for the animal. So, on Thursday afternoon, we drove Moose out to his foster home in Derry. They are a very nice couple, and Moose took to them right away. I knew I would be upset when it was time to go, so I was thankful that Mike was with me. As we suspected he didn't even realize we'd left him. We've been in contact a couple of times so far, and Moose is doing awesome. He's getting the exercise and attention he so despertely needed, and is making great progress in his house training. We hope to hear he'll be adopted soon, but are comforted in the fact that for now he is in a loving environment until then. It has been a sad relief to not have him around. Sad because we so desperately wanted the companionship of a dog, but a relief because other than when we were sick at the beginning of the week, we again just haven't been home. That's not a great way to raise a puppy.

On Saturday Josh and I cleaned and disinfected the inside of the house, while the other two men...Mike and Ethan...tended to winterizing the outside of the house. It was a very busy day but we were able to get a lot accomplished, since everyone was feeling a little better.

After a long week of sickness, restlessness, a serious lack of sleep, and the disheveled state of the house, it was nice to sit back and relax on Saturday night in the mostly cleaned and picked up place we call home.