Scenes Fom Our Sick House

As I said in my last post, we are on day 6 of sickness around here. I cannot remember a time when Darrin and I were this sick at the same time. 

Over the week, we've tried everything...rotating Tylenol & Motrin, gargling salt water, diffuser with Breathe, Breathe & Vicks on our chests, nasal rinses, nasal massages, heating pad for body aches, lukewarm showers for fevers, hot baths with essential oils, Sudefed, Allegra, OTC & prescription cough medicine, zpacks, zinc, and homemade cough syrup with and without whiskey.

Carson is on a steroid now for Croup. Even one dose helped so much. He's a trooper with all things doctors and medicine, but he said this medicine was terrible. I made a chart on the chalkboard that he gets to color a dot after he takes it. Worked like a charm.

Miles has been hibernating in his room to avoid the germs. So far he's been successful. I told Darrin that I feel bad for him that it's so boring around here. Darrin said he doesn't think he's sad at all. Ha ha. He came out of his room yesterday and said, "Hello all you highly contagious people." 

Darrin has been sick the longest but he might be turning the corner...

I had to pull it together long enough yesterday to take Carson to the doctor. He was wheezing so badly when he woke up that it was enough for me to call the doctor. 

He said his lungs sounded great and that it was croup. Strep was negative. I didn't subject him to a flu or Covid test since there is not treatment for him anyway. He's a great patient and I don't want to mess with that by scaring him with unnecessary tests. Darrin went to the doctor earlier in the week and I had a Teladoc appointment. I may have to go in today because my throat and ear are hurting pretty badly.

Carson has completely turned around from this just yesterday.

It's been a long week. Darrin and I had to miss some work, but it came at a manageable time. Hopefully we can begin to turn the corner and start 2024 on the right foot.

Christmas Recap

We had a wonderful Christmas. If I'm being honest, I don't love the holidays. It's just too much busyness and expectations. Ordinary days > than holidays. Carson had fun with his cousins on Christmas Eve. 

Aunt Brenda drew Carson's name and got him a bunch of baseball necklaces. He was very happy about that. He loves some baseball drip.

We weren't sure if Granny & Pa would be able to come to our house on Christmas Eve because of her knee surgery, but they made it!

Marmee came to spend the night on Christmas Eve too. 

We don't do a lot of Christmas traditions, but the boxes on Christmas Eve are their favorite. 

They got baseball necklaces with the travel team colors. 

They have been loving each other a lot lately. Not sure what changed, but I'm just going to enjoy it while it lasts. 

Santa brought sleds and snow gloves. Hopefully it will snow this year. Darrin wasn't feeling good so he went to bed early and I got everything ready. My father-in-law and I stayed up and watched football while I worked. I enjoyed hanging out with him. 

Carson got a bat, cleats, a metal detector, paper & markers, and a Nintendo Switch.

Miles got cleats, a chain, a PG hat, a PS5, and a massage which was scheduled 2 days after Christmas. He has always wanted one and this was his reaction. He had it on Wednesday and loved it. 

On Christmas we went to Marmee's for dinner and presents. I like for the boys to open our presents at our house and the grandparents presents at their houses. It feels less overwhelming and they know who got them what. Unfortunately Darrin ran a low fever on Christmas Eve and then it got worse on Christmas day so he couldn't come with us. We had a nice, chill evening. We ate roast, mashed potatoes, carrots, bread, and apple crisp for dessert. The boys got electric throw from Marmee and they were sooooo excited. Carson also got a volcano set and Miles got a magnetic MLB standings chart. 

Since Darrin was sick, I took Miles to work out on the 26th. 

It was fun to see him get to do his thing. He loves working out. He and Darrin started working out in the morning before work/school back in June. 

He eats a lot all the time, but especially on work out days. Breakfast was two waffles, oatmeal, two eggs, bacon, and an English muffin. I told him it was like the Grandma's breakfast at Cracker Barrell :)

Currently, Darrin, Carson, and I are all sick. For Darrin and me, the doctor said it sounds like flu or Covid but she wouldn't treat it anyway, so we skipped the testing. She prefers to let it run it's course. I'm taking Carson to the doctor this afternoon. He has a high temp and is wheezing, which happens every time the weather changes. Our entire house looks like this. 

The sickness has put a damper on the holidays. Hopefully we can kick it soon and return to normal life.

Photo Dump

I thought it would be good to do a quick photo dump before Christmas Eve. Hopefully I will do a good job of taking pictures the next couple of days and have lots to blog about. Until then...

I bought a new dry erase calendar for the frig to write meals on for the week. The only part of our frig that is magnetic is the side.

Miles and Carson stayed home all week together. We told Miles that if he did a good job taking care of him, that we would pay him over the summer rather than hire a babysitter for Carson or find a day camp. Taking "good" care of him meant food, snacks, and more than just sitting in front of the TV and computer. So Miles came up with a schedule that included their chores, video games, baseball practice, and other non-video game stuff. Carson played on my computer in Miles' closet while Miles played in his room. To my knowledge, they didn't fight a single time. 

They did baseball drills in the garage except for Friday because Miles says he takes off every Friday :) 

Carson randomly sleep walks. When he does, it is impossible to get him to go back to his bed even though he's really not awake. So he ends up on our floor.

We celebrated Christmas with Granny & Pa and Aunt Crystal & Uncle Steve. Granny had knee replacement surgery a couple weeks ago, but she's doing great. 

I didn't get many pictures, but I did get one of Carson and Aunt Crystal. She loves her nephews well!

We played some cards when everyone left.

One day we will learn to stop letting Carson and Pa sit beside each other. 

Christmas break has included a lot of downtime with everyone in their own space...me in our bedroom, Darrin in the living room, Miles in his room, and Carson in the sunroom....we come together for dinner. Nachos directly on the table (on wax paper) is a new favorite. I did learn that parchment paper > wax paper because wax paper melts with hot taco meat.

I finished this book and I have to say it was my least favorite in 2023. Maybe I'll do a book recap for the year. That was my 34th book of the year. I started a new one today. I should end up the year with 35-36 which is a number I never would have guessed. The downtime I had during 2020 ignited a love for reading.

Our Elf brought us biscuits to make homemade donuts this morning.

Carson had strep a couple weeks ago and it was the worst case he's ever had. I bought some smoothie drinks so he would have something on his stomach in order to take his medicine, but he had a hard time swallowing even that.

I asked my friends at work if they wanted something salty or something sweet for Christmas. Salty = homemade salsa and chips. Sweet = caramel pie. 

Uncle Jeff, Aunt Jeree, and Anna sent Carson a new stuffed animal for Christmas. Meet Charlie. He is in love. He carries Charlie everywhere he goes.

Charlie even hangs out while he plays video games.

No shame in Carson's game. This is his Christmas list. Every year they publish the first graders lists in the local paper. I can't believe this is out there for the world to see. He will be getting none of these items.

Merry Christmas!

Weekend Wrap Up

An elf came to our house last week and Carson was so excited to have him. 

He brought us some mini gingerbread houses, so we put one of them together on Friday night. I've done several of them and the mini are by far the easiest to do.

Carson went shopping at his school's Santa's Workshop. He got me a mug that says Wonder Mom, Darrin a pin that says World's Best Dad, and Miles a rocket launcher. 

Darrin and I did some Christmas shopping and enjoyed a day date. 

We had to cut our shopping short because tornado sirens were going off at home. I was concerned the boys were scared, but they were perfectly content in my closet. I was proud of Miles for taking control. Unfortunately Carson was running a fever and said his throat hurt. 

Miles had a winter dance at school on Saturday night. 

These three have been friends since kindergarten.

Miles has a great class. They are smart, athletic, and involved. They are going to have great high school years. 

My friends and I took them out for Mexican afterwards and they were perfectly behaved. 

Carson's sore throat and fever escalated on Sunday morning, so we went to a walk in clinic. I'm still confused by the pole in the play area :)

Carson is still the best patient ever. He worked his word search while waiting for the doctor and then he let them swab his throat without even flinching. He has strep and an ear infection. His throat looks terrible. He's had strep a lot but this is the worst it's ever hurt him.

Since he had to miss his first travel baseball practice, he said he wanted to get some practice in at home.

He stayed home today and will again tomorrow. I washed sheets, towels, and blankets all day to try to get the germs out of the house. Hopefully we can keep everyone else from getting it.