Love note

Izzy Scott.

I hear this name ALL. THE. TIME.

From the time Stratton started Pre-K and started going to the Excel after school program he would talk about Izzy. (and Danica- they were at one time both his girl friends) “Izzy has white hair like me and Danica has crazy hair (aka curly hair)”. These ladies and some others I don’t remember him mentioning as much, apparently play together at Excel everyday, Stratton tells me they play chase but they never catch Stratton of course! (So he says). He also told us that if you get caught you have to be on the girls team, so I can see why that would be such an awful consequence to getting caught!! So, according to Stratton these girls are always trying to play with him “and they always like to chase him”. I guess Miss Izzy has decided that chasing him around the gym isn’t getting her message across! We found a picture she had drawn him in his backpack! When we asked him about it he just laughed and got all smiley and goofy! And he told Jarrod at first that he drew the picture, not Izzy. Yeah right. Not falling for that my friend!! He finally admitted that she gave it to him, but he wouldn’t give us anything else. I asked him yesterday if he wanted to send her a valentine at school (the school does these Valagram things) and first he said yeah!! Then after he thought about it he decided maybe no. We’ll see. I’m curious to see if he and Izzy will continue to chase each other. . .

Arden’s 3rd set of tubes

I knew when she had an ear infection on Christmas that we were probably on the road to tubes again. And of course after being on antibiotics for 2 weeks it was still there, sealed the deal. But I would rather her have these than have to be on antibiotics on and off for the next few months. And with all that fluid in her ears, I’m sure it’s hard to hear and I know it’s making her not sleep well.

We had to be at the hospital at 6:30 am. She was schedule to be the 2nd one of the morning. When we got there they told us that the kid that was supposed to be before Arden had called in and had a fever so they couldn’t do surgery so they would be getting Arden back as soon as possible! We got there at 6:30 and we’re in and out by 8:00! Crazy!! It was the first time we had a surgery at the new hospital and it was very nice! She had a private waiting/recovery room and that was new for us!! Arden was so good! The only time she gave us any trouble was when we tried to get her to drink the “goofy juice”. She didn’t want to take it, but we finally got her to, it just took awhile. And then just a couple of minutes after she got it down they were ready to take her back so we didn’t even get to see her all silly! What a bummer! I’m not sure if she would have rivaled Stratton in the entertainment department or not! He’s a trip! She was much more low key during the check-in process. She was very quiet and observant. But she didn’t cry or fuss at all.

We got to go back to holding with her and after they took her back to surgery we went back to her room to wait. I bet we weren’t there 10 minutes before Dr. Lansford was coming through the door to tell us it all went perfectly and she had been taken to recovery and would be back to her room soon. 10 minutes later here she came! She wasn’t happy!!! She cried and cried and cried. . . I think it was the anesthesia more than anything. We stayed a few more minutes, got her ear drops and they let us go! I was very surprised how fast it went this time!

 

Once we got home, she got a snack and a drink and she was back to her normal self in no time! I did give her some tylenol just in case she had some pain, but she really didn’t act like she felt bad at all! I decided I would let her wear panties since I knew we’d be home all day. Well after being in them approximately 5 minutes she peed all over herself and SOAKED the couch. Nice. She had to put on some clean clothes and she found a t-shirt of Stratton’s in the clean laundry basket and put it on. Silly girl! She played and watched TV most of the morning.

Having a banana. And she asked to put the bib on. I don’t make her wear them anymore! She found it in some baby stuff I had in a basket for the garage sale and had to have it.

I guess her ears felt funny, she picked at them all day.

Such a lady!

Jarrod took down all the outside Christmas decorations, and ran some errands and shortly after lunch Arden went down for a nap. I decided to take this opportunity to clean out Stratton’s room and toys! I got a huge trash bag full of trash, and several smaller bags of yard sale stuff! I should have taken before and after pictures! Jarrod took all the garage sale stuff to the storage unit. We ended up getting quite a bit done! After Arden’s nap Gigi came to see her. She and Pops had been in Florida on vacation for the last week and she brought the kids some prizes from their trip! Then a little later, Jarrod’s parents brought Stratton home. The kids were glad to see each other! They played and played! Mom left to go visit with Darcy for a bit and we got some supper then Terry and Margie headed home and we all went to bed! What a Long day!!

Mom and dad got Stratton a pirate skull mask that came with a gun, knife and a sword. Well, Arden got ahold of it and the gun and it might as well have been hers! They should have bought two of them!! She was a very convincing ruthless pirate!!

Chasing each other around with guns and swords. . .a normal Monday night in our house.

Ha! Stratton’s muscles.

And notice the cushion missing off the couch, it was still drying from the pee incident.

One day I WILL HAVE nice NEW furniture, but not anytime soon.

Reading with Nan before bedtime.

A restful weekend for us girls!

Friday

She asked for a “pitty dess” and “hair-tails” this morning!

Friday night Stratton and I were going to have a date! We decided that daddy and Arden could eat supper with us, then we were going to the movies to see Paddington Bear! Well we ate at Lazzari’s (Stratton’s pick) and then Jarrod and Arden headed home and Stratton and I headed to the theater. We got there about 6:40, I thought plenty of time to go to the bathroom, get popcorn and not have to sit for long- Stratton as you may have heard,can’t sit still for long. We got in line to get our tickets and we got up the counter and they told us it was SOLD OUT!! What?! A kids movie at 7 o’clock??? Yep. And there were no other age-appropriate movies playing that we could see instead. He was heartbroken! He shed some very quiet tears and we left. I asked him if there was anything else he’d like to do, and he just shook his head no. I felt horrible!! I decided to take him to Hastings and rent a movie, I thought that might be fun. . . . my poor kids will never know the days of walking the rows of movies trying to pick JUST ONE. . . .ahh, the good ole’ days! He chose a baseball movie and we looked at books, too while we were there. He got a book about Alligators and Crocodile and picked out a Calliou book for Arden (that is currently her favorite cartoon) then we went home. When we got home Stratton got a bath and laid on the couch and made it about 10 minutes into the movie before he feel asleep! Jarrod and Arden fell asleep in our bed, so I ended up being the only one who watched the movie. Had I known that I would have gotten something I wanted!

Saturday the boys left right after lunch and headed to Searcy to pickup Archer and Pa, then they went to Little Rock to the monster truck show! They had a great time! They stayed the night with Nan and Pa and Stratton got to stay till Monday since we had to be at the hospital for Arden’s procedure at 6:30 am and they were out of school for MLK day a “in-service” day.

Meanwhile, Arden and I took a nap, then I got a shower and we got dressed to run some errands. We stopped by Dillon & Brandye’s to drop off some stuff and got to visit with them and love on Darcy. Then we decided to go out and grab dinner at Sumo (Japanese steakhouse) with them, D&B had never been. We had a fun time, and Brandye’s friend Allison came too. Arden was phenomenally well behaved. She ate so well, too! I was impressed! She ate the soup, chicken, rice and some broccoli dipped in their yum-yum sauce. Then we headed to Kroger (my first time to really shop at the new one-wow!) to get groceries. Arden was SO good! We really did have a great time! She even got to get a prize since she was on her best behavior! We got home, unloaded the groceries, made the bed (with flannel sheets! Ha! When Jarrod’s away I get to do things my way!) we got ready for bed and hit the hay- probably about 10:30ish. Which is really late for her!! I let her sleep in our bed since the boys were going to stay the night in Searcy. It worked out well! We both slept the entire night with no interruptions!

Getting to sleep in daddy’s spot!

So I didn’t set the alarm for Sunday morning, since Arden was sleeping with me and she’s usually an early riser, just like her brother. But it just so happens that she didn’t wake up till 7:45am! Bible class starts at 9am, so that was just an hour to get us both ready and out the door! But, we made it just fine. She was good during church, and it was strange to be there without the boys. It’s amazing how calm and well behaved she is when Stratton isn’t around to pick at her and provoke her!! After church we went home, changed into comfy clothes, ate a sandwich and were back in bed for a nap by 12:30! She was ready for a nap, too! I thought she’d sleep for an hour or two and I’d catch a cat nap then get up and get some more laundry done. . . . well, that didn’t happen! Neither of us woke up till I heard the garage door opening, signaling that Jarrod was home. I looked over at the clock and it was 4:30pm!! Ha! I guess we both needed some rest!! Jarrod came in and kept Arden busy for a few minutes so I could get ready for church and we headed back out!

I love this : )

After church we went to get some dinner and I think Arden was enjoying the alone time! She was really really good. So good in fact, that we even ordered dessert (and also that I feel less guilty about making my kids go through something traumatic, like surgery, after I’ve treated them to dessert) . It was a disappointment. Don’t get the chocolate hot fudge cake from Ruby Tuesday. Then we went home and got ready for the early morning on Monday.

Showing off her cute new outfit from Dillon & Brandye

Bossing Coloring with daddy

Recovering and adjusting

The last 2 weeks have pretty much just been us trying to get back into a normal routine after the holidays and being sick. It was a rather hard transition back to work and school. It was a looong week! Arden is continuing to grab at her ears and act like she doesn’t feel great. And she also tells me frequently “I not feel dood, I go to doctor.” in a sad pouty voice. Not sure if she’s playing me or really doesn’t feel good, but I felt bad enough I took her to the doctor on Friday morning. They put her on new antibiotics and she already had an appointment to see the ENT on Monday anyway.

She said she didn’t feel good, so I didn’t make her go to bible class- pretty sure I got played this time.

We took the kids to Marvel Universe Live! in Little Rock last weekend. We gave Stratton the tickets for Christmas. The show was at 3:00pm so we grabbed some lunch on our way out of town and then hit the road so the kids could get a decent nap on the way there!

Lunch at Firehouse

Before the show!

Stratton LOVED the show. It was loud and a little scary, there were fireworks, lasers, fights, and stunts and motorcycles tricks. . . .all things that little boys love! Plus all his favorite super hero's were in the show! Iron man, Spiderman, the Hulk, Captain America, Wolverine. . .and more! And of course all the villains! Arden on the other hand felt slightly different about the event. She hated it. For most of it, especially anytime it got really loud or there were fireworks shooting off, she would burry her head in my shoulder and clung to me so tightly I could hardly breathe!! As it went on she relaxed a little. The popcorn helped.

After the show Jarrod called Steven to see if he wanted to meet us for dinner at Copelands. We had a yummy dinner and even better cheesecake! Then we headed back home. We got to the house about 10pm.

Monday morning, we took Arden to her ENT appointment, and as I assumed, they recommended another set of tubes. It’s been about a year since she had the last ones in, so I guess we’ve gone almost a year without an ear infection- that’s not too bad! We set up the procedure for next Monday. They will call me Friday afternoon and let me know what time. They schedule by age, so hopefully Arden will be one of the first ones!!

Monday night we decided to take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese. Stratton has been doing really well in school, and was promised a trip to CEC before the holidays and the sickness! We will only go on a weeknight, it’s so much less busy! Arden wasn’t keen on the rides moving. I forgot at this age they are happy to just climb on and off of stuff! Stratton took care of her tokens though! I only got one picture! Too much to keep up with!!

Last week a little girl (and one of the girls Arden plays with a lot) scratched Arden’s neck up pretty good. The little girl wanted whatever Arden had and jumped on top of her, the Arden pushed her off and slammed her head in the ground – this is what the teacher told me she saw before she could get to them! Ha! 2 year olds are brutal!! I’m glad to hear that Arden took up for herself though that time! But then Tuesday, a little boy got her and scratched her up really good. He got in trouble and we had to sign an incident report this time, it was pretty bad! Poor baby!! This time however she just took it and then fell on the ground and starting crying?! I’m not sure why she didn’t fight back this time? Who knows. She doesn’t have a problem holding her own with Stratton!! A few hours after that she fell down and bruised her check! When I picked her up she looked just awful!! I also had to call the doctor’s office and ask them to change her antibiotic. She was giving us the worst fits about it! The new meds are much more palatable and she is taking it so much better!!

Scratches on her nose and head and check

Arden and baby Lelia- we take her pretty much everywhere these days!

She likes to try to dress herself. Sometimes she gets it, sometimes not. . .

Wednesday morning she woke up in a particularly good mood. At least one of us slept well!

Major bedhead!!

“I sleep in mommas bed!!”

She’s been waking up and coming to get in bed with us every night since we got her new bed. I am not as hard on her as I probably should be about this, but when you wake up to such sweet snuggles it’s hard!! And with her being sick and not feeling good I hate to make her cry it out in her room! Maybe once we get the ears situation over we can start working on getting her to stay in her bed for the night!

Last night after her bath before church I put her hair in pigtails for the first time! I was surprised that she left them in! The whole time at church too! She looked adorable! I took these right after I did it and her hair was still wet, it looked even cuter after it dried.

When we got home Stratton did his homework (with some help). Since starting back to school they now have weekly spelling tests on Friday. So, I am having him write his spelling words 3 times each every night. Then on Thursday night we do a mock test. Last week he made a 100% on his test!! I hope this proves to him that a little work and preparation makes test taking easier! He told me the other night “that it’s not fair! None of the other kids have to do spelling words every night” and I said. . .”Well, you know what?? Life’s not fair!”. Yep, I sure did. I am about 99.9% sure I told myself that I would never tell my kids that when I was a mom. He has been doing much better in school till yesterday. He got in trouble for not listening. What a shocker.

I developed my own worksheet. There are 8 words, he must write them 3 times each. It takes him FOREVER. . . .

Probably because he gets distracted very easily!

Oh, yes. She is giving him a drink, I guess his arms are worn out from writing too much! I’m such an awful mom!!

This has been a long week (that’s not over yet!) Tomorrow if Stratton can be good, I hope to take him to see the Paddington Bear movie. I think we might leave Arden and Jarrod at home! And then Saturday Jarrod and Terry are taking Stratton and Archer to the Monster Truck Jam in Little Rock, and Stratton gets to stay with Nan and Pa till Monday afternoon! They are out of school Monday! That will help us out since Arden could possibly need to be at the hospital at 5am, which would be hard to do with a cranky 5 year old tagging along!

Christmas (Out)Break

 

Santa should have put Tamiflu in our stockings!

3 prescriptions for Tamiflu, 1 antibiotic, Motrin, Zofran and Hydroxyzine

So, Christmas day afternoon Stratton started feeling bad. And then he starting running a higher fever. We thought it was just from running around and being tired from Christmas and I was still thinking he had a sinus infection and was at this point really mad that the doctor that saw him the day before hadn’t put him on an antibiotic or steroid. We left Nanny and Papa’s house around 6pm and headed home. Stratton laid around most of the rest of the night. And his fever never went down, in fact it kept going up. At 11:30pm I was on the phone with a nurse because his fever was inching up to 104, and he threw up shortly after we tried to give him a does of tylenol. She told us the normal stuff. . . if it gets up to 105 put him in a lukewarm bath, keep tylenol and motrin going and it was likely just a virus but we might want to take him to his pediatrician in the morning. . .Finally, after a new dose of Motrin at 12:30 (we were alternating tylenol and motrin every 3 hours but it seemed like the tylenol didn’t help at all) it starting creeping back down and once it was below 102 and he fell asleep we decided to let him sleep and not bother him for awhile. He slept till about 7am, and then we were all up.

I now felt really bad. I had been congested and coughing, but by this point I was starting to feel achy and just plain yucky! We decided that Stratton really needed to go back to the doctor (his pediatrician this time and not an urgent care doc) and Arden probably needed to be seen since she was coming down with the crud, too. So we called and actually got an appointment for 8:30am! We threw on clothes and headed that way! I’m sure we looked pathetic, because when the nurse came out to call Stratton’s name she just kinda chuckled and looked at all of us and shook her head and said “Ok, Ya’ll c’mon”. Of course they all know us pretty well around there. It seems like we are there a lot!

They did a flu and strep test on Stratton. This time he tested positive for the flu. Great. They didn’t test the rest of us, but his doctor was pretty sure I had it and that the rest of us should be on Tamiflu. Except for Arden, she didn’t recommend it for her as the symptoms and side effects outweigh the benefits in kids her age even though it has been approved for 2 and up. They didn’t test Arden for the flu, I guess once he was positive they didn’t really need to, but they did check her out and she also had an ear infection, so she got antibiotics instead. Nice. But it was very nice of the pediatrician to write me and Jarrod scripts for Tamiflu!

This was Friday- the 26th. We all stayed in all weekend, and most of the week. We all got sick. I can’t confirm it was the flu, since the rest of us weren’t tested, but I’m pretty sure it was. I mean we all had the same symptoms pretty much. The crazy thing is both the kids were running about a 102 fever and still playing and as active as ever- like they didn’t even feel bad! Meanwhile I’m running a 99.2 temperature and I feel like I’m going to die. Kids are so resilient! Jarrod went to the store one night, I can’t remember when. . .and Dillon and Brandye brought us soup. We did ok. Thankfully the kids had new toys and games and movies to play with and watch! We all took a nap every afternoon! Jarrod was feeling better and went to work Tuesday and Wednesday. I was starting to feel better too, I got out Monday night and ran some errands. But then starting running a low fever again on Tuesday night and Wednesday. By Tuesday night, both the kids were back to normal. No fever, and no trace of feeling bad! Wednesday night (New Year’s Eve) Jarrod and Stratton went to the NEA highschool basketball tournament at the convo and were out pretty late. Arden and I stayed in, since I really didn’t feel 100% and Jarrod didn’t want to take both of the kids by himself! I don’t blame him! So, Arden and I stayed home and watched Peppa Pig and went to bed! Happy New Year! It wasn’t much of a Christmas Break, not at all what we planned. I thought we’d do some fun stuff since I was also off work this week, but nope. I guess that is a good thing, being off work and the kids out of school no one missed any days, but it stinks to have taken our whole vacation time.

Terry and Margie came and got the kids on Thursday so Jarrod and I could get some rest and I could have some time to do laundry and clean! That helped tremendously! I got most of the laundry caught up, and cleaned the house really good! Jarrod and I even had a date night Friday night! We went to the movies for the first time in over a year I think!! Saturday they brought the kids back home and then Saturday night we finally got together with my mom and dad and Dillon and Brandye and Darcy so we could do our family Christmas! We had take out pizza and it was very low key (Yeah, I didn’t even take pictures. ) We had a good time even though we were having Christmas on January 3rd!

Here’s some pictures from our week in exile.

Arden got a couple nightgowns for Christmas! She loves them!

Jarrod put Arden’s new bed together! She was so excited!

She loved it! Well, until bedtime that is!

Playing in her bed before bedtime

Team effort vacuuming

Arden ran the batteries down!! “It Not Working!!” She said!

Caught them playing together, nicely!

Playing together again in Stratton’s new Rocket Ship bed tent

They like to get up here and watch movies on the ipad or just play

We did a lot of playing, laying, sleeping, eating. . .in our bed! We spend entirely too much time in it this week! But I guess that’s why we have such a big bed! Oh and Arden found a lost pacifier in a bag we hadn’t used in a few months. Right in her mouth it went!

Both of them napping in our bed, I was in the middle but had to get out! They were suffocating me!

I hate when they are sick, but we spent a lot of time snuggling.

New Year’s eve 2014, Peppa Pig and snuggles with my girl.

A little New Year’s Day basketball! Everyone feeling better, finally! Sister wants to dunk it!