Barf-O-RAMA

Remember how we recently had barf issues at our house? Well, guess what? Just as I suspected, they weren't over.

First, Levi got it on the first week of school. Then Faith got it last week. Then she was FINE. Then I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner to celebrate everybody's WELLness. And I'm not sure, but we suspect those spaghetti and meatballs got us all sick. Because how else can you explain all FOUR of us being sick at exactly the SAME time? I got it first. Saturday night. I was supposed to teach the lesson in RS the following morning. Uh-OH.

A thank-you and an 'I'm sorry' to Kristi!!! You're the bomb.

Throwing up 10 times really does wonders for your waistline. That's what I kept telling myself every time I'd go to worship the porcelain throne. Then John told me that he was sick on Sunday morning. Now, you can imagine how this news first hit me. I was sort of annoyed. Like, 'Can't I be the only one sick right now?' And then I realized that yes... John was very sick. Then Faith started in with the turkey trots. And poor Levi was bored ALL DAY Sunday. And then...

All of a sudden, Levi started acting sort of funny. Sort of lethargic. I asked him if he was sick and he, of course, vehemently DENIED that he was sick. He was just bored, he said.

When it was FINALLY time to get the kids in bed (which I'd been praying for all day so that I wouldn't have to hike up the stairs in my weakened state and change one more diaper), Levi crawled into bed and started crying. John and I were pleading with him to tell us what was wrong. This is what he said:

"I can't tell you. I just can't. I can't, I can't, I can't. I can't say it"

More begging from us...

Then he said, "I think I'm going to throw up". Luckily, he'd turned green by then and John had the bowl ready, but he still got nailed.

We're all find and dandy now which is really, REALLY nice. I'm still recovering. Not physically. Physically I feel fine. It's the sterilizing and enormous loads of laundry I'm recovering from. And of course the Google reader that somehow managed to make its way up to 119 in my sick absence.

Here's Faith pictured in appropriate barf attire. The best thing to put your kids in when they're barfing are the really, really hideous things in their drawers. OR... you can use huge t-shirts. Those work too.

Even though Faith was sick, she still managed to find time to talk on the phone and walk around at the same time. Hmmm... I wonder where she gets that from.

And while we're on the subject that include cute pictures of Faith, please tell me what to do with her hair. It's starting to get long and look like this:

But if I just use my fingers and get it out of her eyes (or, preferably, a clip) it looks like this:

Ponytails are cute, but getting a straight part is not cute since she won't hold still. Any advice?

I don't need to cut it, right? RIGHT?

Just Stuff

A few things...

I taught my RS lesson for the first time ever today. I think it actually went okay. But let's just say that I'm happy I don't have to do it again until July. The preparation kept me lying awake at night wondering if I was going to be short on the time allotted or if I was going to keep everyone too long.

I have a very large bump inside my right nostril. I hope it's not a tumor. That would suck. It's painful. I know this because I keep touching it to make sure it still hurts.

I'm going to the dermatologist this week in a desperate attempt for him to fix the skin problem that won't go away unless I take the medication I can't take while I'm breastfeeding and/or pregnant. So, you can guess how long I've had this skin problem. I'm going to ask him about the tumor in my nose. I have a quandary: Is that an ENT question or a dermatology question? It is a bump on my skin after all. But, it's on my nose skin so does that make it an ENT problem? I'm so confused.

I fell down the stairs today. Typical. My ankle hurts like a mother.

I'm mostly over my sickness, but I have the lingering cough. We all know how pleasant that can be. I also have the hereditary mucous membrane and the problems that go along with it.

Thanks Mom and Dad.

I have nice friends and neighbors who brought me stuff like apple cider and dinner for the sick and afflicted. I'm convinced that my friend Stephanie who brought the dinner was sent down to me from heaven. It's like she reads my mind and knows what I always need. I adore her. She has no blog so I can't share her with you. Thanks Steph and Thanks Kim for the apple cider. Kim has a blog. Click on her name.

Faith likes to play peek-a-boo and also has a scrunchie face smile that I'll be posting soon.

(hint, hint for the pictures, Joyce)

Peek...

A-BOO!!!

I'm going to bed on a Sunday night and the house is clean. Miracles DO HAPPEN.

I Opened The Window And INFLUENZA

We're all sick around here. I think it started with Faith, but I'm still not sure. Baby symptoms are hard to read because they can always be mistaken for teething symptoms. So, let's just say that if she hasn't had this, I sure hope she doesn't get it. Then I got sick and now poor little Levi is sick. Whenever there's that much sickness in one house, I feel like sterilizing everything. But the trouble is that I feel too much like crap to do it. Thankfully, I'm past the worst of it and now I'm stuck with the dregs. It doesn't help that I have to teach the Relief Society lesson on Sunday and I've barely even started. I'm having stress about it. Maybe if I don't do anything, it will just go away. Do you think?

My definition of the flu is body aches, chills and fever. If I'm barfing I say I have the stomach flu. I've told a few people that I have the flu and they automatically assume it's the stomach flu. So what's the correct terminology?

I wish I had a cooler pic with this post. I was going to take a pic of Levi but it was just too mean. I feel so bad for him when he's sick because, like most kids, he's looking at me like I caused it (which I sort of did, I guess) and I should be able to snap my fingers and make it better.

Chicken Soup for the Holly

I knew it would happen. It comes around about this time every year. The inevitable cold and cough. No matter how hard I try, it does not escape me. It seems to always happen at really bad times. Holidays, times where I have A LOT on my plate, times where I'm supposed to sing in church or (gasp) at someones funeral. I think it would be one thing if it was just a snotty nose and a stuffy head. I could deal with that. But the cough? The cough just really makes everything so much worse!! It's the kind of cough that lasts for weeks before it finally trails away and leaves you. It keeps me and everyone else up in the night. Last night while I was nursing Faith, she would come unlatched with every cough and look at me like I was really ruining her night time experience. I sucked on cough drops to no avail. I'm sure the only thing they did was rot my teeth from letting them sit in the corner of my mouth all night long. It's a miracle I didn't die from choking on them.

The cough starts out innocently enough. Every time it starts, I kid myself into thinking it's just a little cough and maybe it will be gone the next day. It never is. It starts out dry and hits me just every now and then, then it escalates to the tickle in the back of your throat where you must cough and cough and cough until you've itched the tickle. Then comes the worst part. The cough turns into the bark where you bark and bark like a dog until that teensy bit of phlegm in the the back of your throat finally comes loose. It's so exhausting that you feel like you've just ran a marathon. You can actually feel the ab-work. You lie on your bed, curl up in a little ball and say, "Kill me now!"

I made myself feel better by making my famous Chicken Noodle Soup. I've mastered it. It's my mother-in-law's recipe (though of course I tell myself that mine is better. Shhh. Don't tell her) and it's my husband's favorite. He's a weird guy that way. His favorite food is soup. If I want to make him happy, I make him this soup and I'll be forgiven on any shopping spree I went on where I "accidentally" spent too much. Not that I've ever done that or anything. Because I love YOU; my readers, I am sharing the recipe. You're welcome! Feel free to thank me by sending gifts.

Chicken Noodle Soup

One whole roasting chicken

3 ribs celery, chopped

1/2 onion diced

3 medium sized carrots cut in pennies

2-3 bay leaves

1 Package Grandma's Frozen Egg Noodles

3 Medium sized potatoes, peeled and sliced in quarters

2 Chicken Bouillon cubes (optional)

Salt to taste

Cover chicken in a large stockpot with water, diced onion and bay leaves. Cook on high for about one hour. Take chicken out of broth water. Remove skin and bones. Shred chicken with fingers. While you're doing that, cook carrots, potatoes, celery and Grandma's noodles in broth water. Be sure to follow directions on the back of Grandma's noodles package first. Cook on high until noodles and vegetables are tender with bouillon cubes. About 20-30 minutes. Add chicken back into broth water. Serve. Get lucky.

If you want to be a good girl, you can make your broth before hand and skim fat off top the following day. Unfortunately, I am never prepared enough for this and I'm convinced it won't taste as good anyway.

First Cold

My baby has her first cold and let me just tell you... it's not pretty! She looks horrible! She is extremely miserable and puffy and red. Yesterday it must have been coming on because all she wanted to do was sleep. When she woke up though, she'd have a fit. Now I know why. Levi has a bad cold too. Every time I pick him up from school he has a brown nose. Ha ha... he's a brown noser! I guess it's because all the snot that's coming out of his nose and then he wipes it upward with his dirty hand. Now I know you all think I must be horrible for letting him go to school with a cold. It's not a horrible cold with him though. And with colds, to get them completely well your child would have to stay home from school for a week. So, there ya have it. My excuse for being selfish and sending him to school anyway. Curse me if you'd like :).

Are these not the saddest pictures you have ever seen?

Levi's Brown Nose ( I took a picture to prove it to you). It's gross, I know