OK let's see....lil prince had kidney stones a few weeks ago, lil king had strep and a nasty reaction and now lil princess had croup! Break????? Where are you???? I'd sure like to catch one.
She woke me up around 11:30pm crying and gasping for air....certainly NOT a sound any mommy wants to hear. I knew exactly what was going on because she is my lil' croup kid...she always seems to get it. I immediately brought her into our bathroom, shut the door, turned the shower on as hot as it could go and waited for the steam to do its magic. 15 minutes later no such luck! So I called the nurse line to get some more tips. The nurse could hear her struggle over the phone and said to bring her in right away. I didn't think driving all the way to the Children's hospital in the ghetto sounded like a good idea, especially at midnight on a Friday night, so I too her to the closest pediatric urgent care. While there they hooked her up to the monitor and gave her a Racemic Epinepherine nebulizer. These are the magic nebs that should do the trick.....well it lasted about 1 1/2 hours. BOO! So a second one and a visit again from the doctor with the news we were going to have to be admitted came shortly after. Problem was....they wouldn't let me drive her to the hospital. So my lil princess got to go for a ride in an ambulance! She was kind of nervous because I wasn't going to be in there with her (I had to follow behind in my SUV. But once I got to the hospital she was all smiles. They gave her a teddy bear and everything! We didn't get to bed until after 5am and only slept for 2 hours...tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiired! She was discharged the next morning and she's been on steroids to help since. We'll stop those in a few days. UGH!
For those of you are faithful followers you will remember my List of 2012 Projects. I have been working on them!
Here is my before and after photos of my mud room. Now because I am being honest and sharing what my mud room REALLY looked like before you must bite your tongue with judgement...after all I do have 5 4 kids (+1 husband).
Oy what a MESS!
I don't know who to blame...them or myself!
Too much stuff without a REAL place
Want to know what I did? First I purged....I took every single thing out of the closet and off the bench and cubbies and tossed it on the floor! I made the mess bigger before it was made better.
Then I decided what was necessary to organize this chaos. Buckets!!!! I purchased 4 clear tubs with teal stripes (because it's one of my favorite colors) and made labels for them (one with each child's name on them). These are stored neatly under the bench for their shoes.
Next I added a long rectangle strip just above the coat hooks. I painted chalkboard paint onto the wall in the same teal color. For now it has one of my favorite quotes on it but as my children get older I plan to use it for a "reminder" board of tasks, appointments, and schedules.
I designated one closet for the kids items and one for the adults items to keep things seperated.
I used my favorite label maker to label the drawers. Each drawer is designated for one specific item (umbrellas, hats, mittens, scarves, and reusable bags).
The I designated two tubs for extra shoes. With 4 kids I have LOTS of extra shoes around this house and they always seem to be lost in a tub somewhere in my storage area. This way I have them sorted and together! Yippie!
Lastly I decided that each child needed their own "locker" so I labeled them with their names and used each one to hang their coat and shoes for the coming day. This saves me time as they know EXACTLY what to grab and where it is!
So there you have it....my new and improved mud room! Let me know what you think!
If you are a faithful follower of our blog you will know it is never dull at our house. Well this week has proven that for sure!
See this sad rash?
This is what guttate psoriasis strep throat looks like. What the heck is that you ask? Well long story short it is a form of strep throat. Lil King is on antibiotics right now and the toxins from the strep are being released through his skin. It is really rare (only 2% of strep infections happen this way) and the rash will continue to get worse over the next week or two and can last up to two months! It's itchy, obnoxious and annoying. Poor guy!
This is what a baby who LOVES bath time looks like! Yup, lil' duke is such a fan of bath time! He loves it so much that he throws a fit when I have to take him out for fear he will start to resemble a raisin.
Enjoy the video below!
And last but not least we got this great crayon maker for Christmas and boy is it neat! Check it out!
I have been on a cleaning, organizing, and new project finding kick this past month....who knows, maybe it's the desperate need to put the year 2011 behind me...shoot with 6 deaths among our friends and family, some serious illnesses, major surgeries, and other huge stresses I think I'd do about anything to "move on" to a new year. Pintrest is my newest favorite site and I wanted to share with you some AMAZING tips and tricks I have learned from it. (and if you are good at the very end I will share a cute video, lol)
4. The top of an old Parmesan tub fits perfectly on a mason jar!
5. You can make your own pore strips at home with only a makeup brush,1 tsp gelatin,1 tsp milk, and a dish
6. Peroxide and baking soda will clean your stained cookie sheets and make them look like new!
Lil' duke is a wonderful baby.
God must have known we needed
a patient, calm, and relaxed baby
in this house. He is so precious and
we couldn't love him more. We are
excited to watch him grow and
change each day. So far we think
he is a mini version of Lil' King, but
we will see who he looks like later.
He is named after a very special person,
Jonathan. He was and is Lil' Kings
Godfather and watches over our children
from Heaven.
Our lil' princess is exactly
that...our princess. She
enjoys giving kisses and hugs,
she loves to carry her babies
around the house, and really
enjoys art time at preschool.
She is a spitfire at times and
has a lot of attitude too. We
adore her and think she is
a true princess. She is named
after her great grandmother,
Marilyn. We wanted to honor
and remember her in this way.
Our lil' prince is the "oldest"
twin. He loves to climb on
things, read books, and knows all
of his shapes and colors. He
is almost always smiling and giggling.
He has many nicknames but my
favorite is lovie bug. I never thought
I'd live to see the day where he would
have more spark than his twin sister
but lately he has become very
independent and precocious . He is
named after Daddy's uncle, Jeffery.
He passed shortly before the twins
were born. We wanted to remember
him in this way.
Our lil' king is 5 years
old. He loves to play outside,
practice spelling his name, help
mommy cook, go to preschool, and
talk about the new baby. He is
our first born and in many ways
fits into that mold. He is very
outgoing and talkative. He is
looking forward to playing
T-ball this summer and going
out on the lake. He talks about
going to Kindergarten on a daily
basis and is very excited for that
milestone. He is named after
mommy AND daddy's grandfathers,
Donald. We wanted to honor them in
this way.
I'm a mommy to four beautiful
children, a son-born October 2006,
boy/girl twins born May 2008,
and another boy born in January of
2011, I'm a wife to a husband
who loves me for me, I'm a daughter
to a mother who raised
me all on her own, I'm a Christian
who loves the Lord God, and I am
a nurse who misses working at times
but has the best job and enjoys being
a full time mommy.
Daddy is a lawyer by trade but
owns his own business. He is a very
determined person (also known as type
A) and because of this I am lucky
enough to have MY dream job, a mommy!
He enjoys boating in the summer
and likes to ski in the winter.
