Saturday, February 19, 2011

Being sick is NO fun

My past post mentioned that I had been coughing for weeks. It's true but actually, I've had this cough since the end of December. It would come and go. And then I got some sort of sinus thing after that which put me down again. Then Robee and Felix got some flu bug last week (thank goodness it was at the same time on the same day) and the day before that, Owen was sick, barfing every 10 minutes. Evan had been sick two days before that, with Angie following the next day. Owen was running a fever again today but wanted to play his last game of basketball. I know that if he felt better, he would look a little more excited about his trophy.




So you could say we've had an overload illnesses.

So the cough was getting worse each day. On Monday, Owen was sick AGAIN with a fever and then on Wednesday, Felix was feeling a little under the weather. I sent her to school but then as the day progressed, I started feeling the same as her. Felix and Robee both were sick and running fevers after school. So I went on to TKD, feeling like I was going to be leaving early. And I did. By the evening, all three of us had fevers, chills, and were whiny (they get that from me).

I didn't sleep much that night and woke again at 3 coughing my lungs out. I coughed so hard, I was gagging (and I NEVER throw up) and I think I even pulled a rib. I took my temp and it read 105. Yikes. I said, "Okay, you win. I'll go to the clinic first thing in the morning." Tabs of Motrin and a cool compress later, I was back to a more normal temperature.

As soon as the clinic opened, all three of us staggered in -- and I do mean staggered. After coughing, sneezing, fevering all night we were a mess. The kids had basic colds that were to be watched if the fever continued for more than three days. I got lucky (ha) and had bronchitis and a sinus infection, so I'm on antibiotics (with lots of yogurt). I am now the LEAST infectious of everyone which is great!

The three of us then spent all day on the floor or couches sleeping and watching TV, with a repeat on Friday. I actually think the kids are finally tired of TV. I know that I'm feeling a little cramped, people-wise. After being cooped up with the kids for the past three days, I'm ready for some major alone time.



So this is our table. Ready for any illness. Pain/fever meds, vapo rub, nasal spray, Halls, thermometers, and Nyquil for sleeping. We've already gone through two boxes of tissues. Thomas is the last to have this and then we should be all done ..... we hope. I am going to open all the windows and spray the house with Lysol and wait for Spring to heal us.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Heal thyself

Now it's been five weeks and there seems to be no relief. My cough gets a little better and then gets worse.

Today, I started running a fever and my head filled up AGAIN and my sinuses plugged up AGAIN and my cough has gotten worse .......... AGAIN. I'm freezing one minute and then sweating the next.

The kids are also getting sick AGAIN. Owen got sick AGAIN. This has GOT to stop. I guess it's time to go to the clinic. Ugh.

But in the mean time, I'll throw up some other random pics just for the sake of conversation. Also for the sake of conversation, I've started another blog (yeah, cuz I do SO well keeping up on this one - bee ruther) which I invite anyone to come and read. It's called http://www.farmer101.com/ and it's a blog about Urban Farming ... something I'm learning about little by little.


This is Robee and his friend Rielly. They are in the Robotics Club together at school. They built this ... whatever it is ... together and they were at the local pool testing it out to see if it would float and maneuver through the water. I think it failed. As a side note: I can't wait for Robee to get some height on him; but he is a year younger than all his classmates. I think by the summer he'll shoot up like Felix did.



This is my latest FAVORITE candy EVER. I don't even have to unwrap the damn things; just pour them down my pie hole.
Do you realize how dangerous this can be to my thighs and butt?? Do you??
Curse you Reeses!!!

Robee has started guitar lessons. This is such a great pic. Even though Ben is about 17 years older than Robee (I have to think about that one), he is such a great role model and such a great big brother. This was at Thomas' birthday dinner this past Sunday. Thanks to Ben for encouraging Robee to practice and for teaching him "Happy Birthday."

So if I'm not dead from coughing up my lungs, I hope to be writing from a healthy body by this weekend. Ack.

The worse part of coughing so hard?? Peeing my pants almost every time. Poop out two ginormous children and THIS is what happens. I TRIED to talk my OBGYN into giving me a C section, but NOOOOOOO. Didn't want it on her record. Grrrr. Apparently, I still have some issues with that woman. Hmmmm.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Random Thoughts

So February has begun. January went by like a flash as per usual. Nothing major occurred. No deaths. No crashes. No meltdowns. Fairly calm.

The chickens are laying again. Chickens have a down time for laying during the winter months. It has to do with daylight - or lack thereof. For great laying, they must have 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark. We have a timer for the lights but .... well .... there are at least 23 projects that are on the Neeleman/Barker Family To-Do-List and when we only have two days per week which, because of karate half a day Saturday and church half a day Sunday, only equals to one full day to work on stuff, it makes it hard to get everything done.

Back to the chickens. So now we're back up to 18 layers. I've added two Black Jersey Giants which only one is mine. The other is Caroline's, who is a friend of Felix's who is not allowed to have chickens at her house (unbelievable). So I'm boarding her chicken.

Thomas and I went to Leavenworth for our weekend last week. It was nice but not as much snow as I would have liked since I finally bought myself some cross country skies. A "Play It Again Sports" opened up by our favorite restaurant (Asian One: yummy crab fried rice and green curry chicken!) and I was able to, over a few weeks, grab skis, boots, poles. All I need is some gators and .............. well SNOW. I was hoping to use them there but it's been a sparse snow year.

I've had hacking cough for the past two weeks. We were driving home from a wedding reception in Granite Falls and something just took over my head. Pounding headache, cough and sinus pain like crazy. For no reason. I hear in passing however, everyone has had this and it lasts about four weeks.

So here are some random pics that I had and thought I'd throw up here. Jen is going to get me a better blog writer since I HATE this blog writer. It's so un-user friendly. Ugh.

Felix and Robee at her Honor Jazz Band Concert. She plays the Alto Clarinet and was asked to play! Very great. So proud of her.


My Robee with me at the concert. His hair is looking like a brown football helmet.

Felix before the concert. I LOVE her new hair cut and so does she. She can pull off short hair so great. Mom would love it too. She adored Felix as a baby (and older too!). She was able to spend more time with her than Robee when they were babies because I visited more.



Felix riding. She wanted horse riding lessons for Christmas. She has loved horses since the first time I put her on one when she was one year old at the fair.




Her and the butt of Tucker the horse. This horse is 27 years old. Crikey. She's disappointed because he doesn't really like to trot, lope, canter or run. HA! 27. That's like ... what ... 130 in human years? What is the horse to human age ratio? Hmmm.



The Terrible Trio. l to r - Clyde, Porter, Abbi. They are sitting so lovely because they think they're getting a treat.

And so February marches on to March.
And then to April.
Then to May.
Then to June and summer begins.
I can do this.