Snuggle Buddies!

How cute are they??

Charlotte's First Day of Junior Kindergarten

Charlotte on her first day!

First Day

Char's favorite things as of now....(click to enlarge)

Charlotte by her locker

 Charlotte with her friend, Maddie

 Charlotte working on her first school project

 All finished!

What Have We Been Up To?

Yes, yes...some of you have reminded me that I haven't updated the Blog since my rather bleak last post.  Nothing is wrong, we are just all recovering, all getting used to some life changes and trying to spend the last few days of summer together.  Charlotte starts school again on Tuesday, can you believe it!!  I can't remember if I have mentioned it, but I was asked to be room mother this year, so I have been doing lots of things to prepare for the school year.  Here are a few pics from the last week or so to show you what we've been doing.  Lots of pictures to come this week, Charlotte's first week back :)

Lunch at the train restaurant.  

 Note to self...go to the train restaurant at 3:00 on a Tuesday, you pretty much get the place to yourself!

 He kept putting a fry in his teeth and saying, "I'm a walrus!!"

Waiting for the train to bring our food

 Charlotte at swim lessons

 Kicking away!

 Charlotte sporting her new goggles!

 Aunt Emily hanging out with Charlotte and Nate in their princess castle

 Charlotte got a few new pairs of shoes for the new school year...aren't these Tom's adorable!!

 Nate passed out in Mommy and Daddy's bed

Where is My Silver Lining??

When it rains, it pours...and right now it feels like there is a giant typhoon hanging over my house that shows no sign of letting up.  I am exhausted, physically and mentally and there is no time for it.  

Ever since we were at the lake house, everyone has been sick.  Everyone has been coughing, sneezing, feverish...  Everyone, except for me..thankfully.  Someone has to take care of all of these sick people!   

Kevin had been coughing for weeks...terribly.  To the point where he couldn't sleep at night.  He was also having trouble breathing.  I finally made him go to urgent care because I thought he might have pneumonia or something.  I said, "Go...it'll be quick, they'll do a chest x-ray, get you some antibiotics and you will be on your way."  Famous last words.  They didn't like what they saw and sent him straight to the ER.  To make a long and stressful hospital story short..he couldn't breathe because he had so much fluid on his lungs...because his heart wasn't working properly.  He has something called Cardiomyopathy.  Which, in essence, is heart failure.  He has an awesome cardiologist who is hoping to improve his heart function with medication and a low sodium diet.  If, in a few months, it hasn't improved, we can explore other options.  It's been an adjustment for us trying to figure out which foods are safe to eat and making sure he is taking his medications at the right time every day.  But, he has one HELL of a nurse, if I do say so myself :)

He was released from the hospital on Friday evening and I was throwing a baby shower for a high school friend of mine on Saturday.  You all know how I throw a party...never half ass.  So, I was a little stressed about that.  Thank God we have so much wonderful family close by.  What would we do without all of them?  They all stepped up to help, especially Grandma Judy and Aunt Colleen who spent the night Friday and helped to watch the kids while I threw the shower.  

All of this would be easier to deal with without days like today.  Today was awful...it's just not what you need while trying to deal with stressful life changes.  It was like a comedy of errors the whole day...except it wasn't funny....at all.  

The day started off amazing.  I actually woke up before everyone else, had coffee and breakfast alone before anyone's feet even hit the floor.  Heaven!  I got ready to hit the gym since Charlotte had Princess Camp at the YMCA this morning..I was planning on meeting a friend to go to kickboxing while Nate stayed in the day care.  I was all dressed and ready to go...then, Nate got up.  He was boiling hot. I took his temp and he was 101.5.  Well, there goes the day care for him.  I was upset to be missing my workout since I have been doing so well.  But, more upset that people in this house keep getting sick!!!  I literally said to Kevin, "I cannot bring another member of this family to Good Samaritan Hospital..I will lose my freaking mind!"  So, we dropped Charlotte off at camp and came back home.  I cleaned and did laundry until it was time to go get Charlotte.  We brought her home and I mowed the lawn and cleaned some more while Nate napped.  When Nate woke up, he was shivering and crying.  He was now 102.5.  Fab.  Another dose of Motrin.  He isn't complaining or showing any other symptoms, so no need to rush to the doctor quite yet.  Charlotte had swimming at 3:45, so I asked Kevin if Nate could stay home with him while I took Char to swimming.  It's only a half hour class.  So, Nate and Kevin hung out while I took Char.  I got there, got into the pool area...got her all set with her swim belt and kickstick...and waited.  And waited....  So, I finally texted her teacher and asked her if I got the time or date wrong.  She said she had it written down for 4:45.  I hardly get these things wrong...but my head has been elsewhere lately, so I gave her the benefit of the doubt.  The only problem was that Kevin had a dinner meeting at 5:30, so I had to go back home, get Nate and drive BACK to the YMCA for Char's now 4:45 lesson.  

Okay....so, I get home, go upstairs to print out my calendar so that I can confirm the rest of her lesson times and the printer is out of ink...of course.  I finally get everyone back in the car, back to the YMCA.  We get Charlotte back into her swim belt and kickstick and hand her off to the teacher.  I take Nate to the swimming viewing area, a separate room with glass windows where we can watch her swim.  My butt literally had just touched the bleacher type seating in the room when one of the instructors started knocking on the glass to tell me to come back in because a child had vomited in the pool and they had to close for an hour to clean it.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME???  Lesson cancelled.  I was so frustrated.

It has just been a crappy day, so I took the kids to Dairy Queen for a treat.  The day continued to worsen...but it's not worth writing about.  Let's just say Charlotte had a meltdown because we had to get rid of some size 3 pajamas.  So we made a quick 6:30 pm Kohl's run to get some new nightgowns because I couldn't take the fact that her life was ending over 4 outgrown Dora nightgowns.  (Plus I had a 30% coupon to burn)  Lord almighty.  Drama.

I am hoping that Nate gets better because I just can't have another medical crisis right now.  The insurance company is going to send someone to the house to find out what is going on if this keeps up!  Sometimes, the stress of everything that has been happening these past few weeks is just too much.  I have to just go somewhere quiet and take a few deep breaths.  I just need to figure out how to keep my family well.

Hopefully, I will have better updates soon.  Just writing about all of this makes me feel a little better!    

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Sunday was a gorgeous day and we wanted to do something fun with the kids.  So, we decided to go to a Schaumburg Boomers game.  It was so much fun.  They have a really nice stadium, it's very family friendly!  The kids only lasted until the 6th inning, but we had fun!!  

Checking out their first real ballpark!

 Cheering for the "white guys".  The Boomers were in white jerseys.  She kept yelling, "Go White Guys!"   Kevin and I would immediately say, "White jerseys, the guys in white JERSEYS!"  

 The field

 Eating Peanuts....what else?? 

 Charlotte sporting her new Boomers hat!

 The Nugget

 "Mom, I'm bored, can I play with your phone?"

 Nate and his new Boomers hat!

Charlotte at the Hospital

Here is a YouTube video of Charlotte at the Hospital this morning:

Char at the Hospital

Playing on the iPad

 PASSED OUT...the way she spent most of the morning

 Charlotte got a special visitor

 Playing hopscotch in the hallway..I think she is ready to go home!

Charlotte is finally back home and doing well!  We are so glad to be home together!  

"It's Kind of Like a Hotel"

If it's not one thing, it's another, right?  Well, in my last post I talked about Nathan having stomach issues...he recovered.  But, not before passing it to Charlotte, who apparently got it worse than him.  To put it, well...bluntly, it's been coming out of both ends for Charlotte for two days.  It was so much worse today.  She was so tired and lethargic.  I knew she was getting dehydrated because she couldn't hold anything down.  After my second call to the pediatrician's office..they told me to bring her into the ER to be evaluated.  I have to give it to Good Samaritan Hospital here in Downers Grove.  Within 5 minutes of me walking in the door, she had a room in the ER and an IV in her arm.  They don't mess around.  The drew some blood and saw that she was in fact dehydrated.  Her electrolytes were off, her potassium was low.  They also did a chest x ray to rule out pneumonia since she sounded "junky."  They decided it would be best to admit her overnight to rehydrate her and monitor her. So, Charlotte and I are having a "sleepover" in the pediatric ward of Good Sam.  She wasn't thrilled about it at first.  But after her fabulous pillowcase they gave her, the free flowing apple juice and popsicles and the movies on demand...she turned and said, "This is kind of like a hotel."  All in all, it is a really nice Peds ward.  Very clean, beautiful rooms...kind of set up in ICU style.  Hopefully, we will only be here until lunch tomorrow.  She was already doing better once they got some fluids in her.  

Not so thrilled to have an IV..but she did SO good.  She didn't even cry or scream.  I don't know that she had the energy to cry or scream, but I will say it was bravery none the less.  

Passed out from the anti nausea meds

She thought me blowing up a glove was the coolest thing ever...

Finally in her room on the Pediatric ward enjoying a popsicle...and yes, that is a Lojack on her arm.  No one will be stealing her tonight!

She loves that she can control the bed.  She wants one for home, lol!

Resting and watching TV

My accommodations for the night