Mom to the Screaming Masses

It's The Little Things, Really

Day "I lost track of all the numbers because it's been so long" of the PIGGY FLU continues. Emma's fever finally broke, after 7 days, but she's left with a horrific cough and sounds like she's about to hack up a lung. Mackenzie fell Thursday and has the same cough. I've been told that the cough lasts at least a month. WONDERFUL.

Riley did a favor for Gabriel. I don't remember what the favor was, but, as it was shortly after his birthday and he was flush with money - he gave her $5. She was IN HEAVEN. She had big plans for what to buy - a doll, a new iPod, a phone, a bunch of candy. She toyed with a trip to McDonald's and maybe one to Sonic for a slushie. My husband took Gabriel to the toy store to spend his birthday gift certificates on Legos and a Nerf pop gun - because,really, the 73 fake guns that he already has are not sufficient for his fun - and when they arrived home, Riley pouted and cried because SHE hadn't been able to go to the toy store - that Nirvana of the under 10 set.

A Meeting With The Nutritionist

It's here! It's here! My very exciting news that I can't wait for you all to see! I'm pleased to be partnering with Diets In Review to publish the Mom 2 Mom newsletter! Written by a mom for moms, the newsletter will focus on the four things a mom needs to live a healthy and balanced life: Food, Fitness, Family and Fun. Would you take a minute and sign up? The newsletter will be delivered directly into your inbox and I can promise it will be chock full of interesting and helpful information!

Last year at this time my oldest son weighed 138 or so pounds. He was about 5'4". Today he weighed in at 111 pounds and stands 5'8". 4 inches taller, 27 pounds lighter. Does that seem, well, odd behavior for a 17 year old to you? Especially one who eats just about anything he can get his hands on. I've blogged before about our trips to the doctor and the blood work we've had done. He's been tested for just about everything that we could imagine, and it all came back negative. Meanwhile, the 10 15 20 pounds became 22, 25, 28 and the kid is all bones. You can count his ribs, his hip bones jut out sharply and the center of his chest, the spot where the ribs meet (that spot where you place your hands when you perform CPR - I'm too tired to look it up) sinks in. He's exhausted all the time and if he's not sleeping he's on the coach. BUT. His cross country times are the best they've ever been - his last 5K time was around 20 minutes. As the doctor put it, how sick can you be when you can run a couple of sub 7 minutes in a row? Indeed.

The next step was a trip to the sports nutritionist.

The kid runs cross country 3-5 miles every day. Up until a few months ago he took boxing a couple of times a week. Maybe he just burns off more than he takes in.

The Ultimate Playlist

I'm thinking about my upcoming 40th birthday party, while I'm holding down the fort with my trusty selection of Tylenol, Motrin, tissues and the thermometer. Oh, yeah, baybee - we are still sick like pigs over here.

I want to create a playlist of music to run while the party is ongoing. If you had to pick just one song, to create the best selection of music EVER - what would you choose?

I'm going first. I choose Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne. OR If I Ever Leave This World Alive by Flogging Molly. Tough choice.

What would you pick?

If It Oinks Like a Pig, Must It BE a Pig?

So, it's been five days of two kids being down. Under the weather, if you will. I briefly alluded to the roaming illness a few posts ago - when it had only hit my two oldest - who can pretty much manage on their own. Allegra missed three days of school and NIk was out of sorts most all of the week. Friday jumped up and bit me sharply on the behind, though.

(Riley never truly was seriously "ill", but she fought the good fight with a mean cold for a good week or more. So, I'm not going to classify her as an "ill" child, but at the same point in time, she was clearly under the weather. Just for statistical purposes.)

It Was a Long 42 Weeks

His was supposed to be my easiest birth. After all, at 36 weeks, I was 4 cms dilated and 80% effaced. The doctor raised her eyebrow at me and said, "Don't make any plans this weekend. I won't either and we will almost certainly see each other before Monday!" With a pat on my leg, she stood and left.

We repeated this scenario the next week. And the next and the next and the next. At 40 weeks, she shrugged and said, "Babies come on their own time. Your first three births weren't late, I have no reason to believe this one will. Just relax and he'll come soon." I cried and begged for an induction, for I was so tired of being pregnant. It didn't help that I was absolutely enormous with what was predicted to be a 10 pound baby. "No medical reason!" she chirped. "We only induce for medical reasons!" And I knew that. I really didn't want an epidural - I am a big fan of natural deliveries and knew that if I waited, it'd work out. I was so, so tired of being pregnant.

At 42 weeks, the doctor changed her tune. She gave me a weekend to get stuff lined up and get myself into the hospital, where I proceeded to have an induction that took 5 hours from start to finish. My blonde, blue eyed roly poly 7 pound baby was born a bit over two weeks late on a sunny Monday afternoon, while Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" played. From the beginning he was calm and alert, rarely crying, almost always happy. He melted right into the family and the transition was seamless.

He's now a friendly, happy, outgoing kid who is completely and totally unorganized and unfazed about anything. He has many things that could bring him down - anaphylactic food allergies, a learning disability, asthma, small for his age - but he bounces back beautifully. He loves to "do" things, to create and be hands on all the time. Today he took his birthday money to Wal-Mart and bought the Darth Vader Tie Fighter and came home and built the entire thing himself. He loves to read and loves to goof around with Legos. In fact, the worst moment of his year occurred when he went to dinner with my mom and took his little Lego guys - and LEFT a dozen of them in the restaurant. (Those things aren't cheap to replace, either!) He's a sweet, funny kid who always comes up with a smarty pants answer and can be counted on for a dry wit and an absolutely smack on impersonation of Elvis. He hates math. HATES IT. He trains Muay Thai and it never fails to crack me up that he smiles as he spars - it's kind of intimidating.

Happy 10th birthday, Gabriel! Welcome to Double Digit Land! I hope the next ten years pass as trouble free as the first ten!

Happiness Is...

If you'd like to see what I've been eating for the past week, check out my DietToGo Roundup for Week One. They provided me with two weeks worth of meals in exchange for an honest review.

I found this little gem at Left of Ordinary. I first "met" Lefty, who went by a DIFFERENT pseudonym, on the most wonderful discussion board over at One Hot Mama - a pregnancy and nursing discussion board that I first started lurking on TEN years ago this week. (I know so, because I went on there when I was pregnant with Gabriel right before he was born, when I was searching for a way to get a post dates baby to be BORN ALREADY.) I found some of my best friends on that board, and even though I understand that they needed to close the boards, I still miss it tremendously. Those ladies were the most amazing amount of support that a mom could ask for. 

When I was a kid, I remember that one of my teachers had a poster, very similar to the one Lefty mentions, with Snoopy dancing on it and the words, "Happiness Is" at the top. I am trying to find some goodness on this day which began as a Monday on a Thursday, so here's my list.

Wordless Wednesday

Otherwise known as, Oh, My God, My Preshus, Preshus Baybee is a High School Senior!!!! If I was dramatic. Which I'm not. :)

It's Here! It's Here!

Have you checked over at Scrutiny by the Masses recently? I'm reviewing the Shark Ninja - the trip to NY last month - The Children's Place Halloween Outfits (with TWO chances for a gift card!), and there are still two Visa gift card giveaways active. 

I guarantee there's at least one thing over at DietsInReview that will interest you!Check out Five New Ways to Work Out, The Five Best Foods for Fall, and how I feel about Sneaking Vegetables into Kids.

It's only here for a limited time and I've got to buy it while it lasts.

To what am I referring?

 

What is your favorite fall treat?

What I've Been Doing

My kids came home from the mountain trip with their Nana. They LOVED it. She takes a grouping of them every year - it rotates depending upon who wants to go and who is old enough - and they stay at the same place. It's great fun for them and I so appreciate my mom taking them - I always love being with my kids, but I'd be a liar if I didn't love having a break. The day they come home is always the same. They yell and scream to see me, toss all of their clothes in the general direction of the washer, put their pumpkins on the front step, and bring their prizes into the kitchen.

Witness prize #1

 

25 pounds of Fuji apples

In Which My Daughter Learns the Meaning of the Word "Commando"

I went to the mall today for a new blush. Somehow I lost my old one, about a month ago. The stars of "having a spare penny" and "time to go to the mall" as well as "freedom from little people" aligned perfectly and today was deemed the day. I had planned to go all alone, but my teenage daughter had other plans and begged me to take her. I soon realized why - she wanted to "discover" Victoria's Secret and my mind blew up when I realized that she meant to purchase push up bras.

I dunno - I like me some VS as much as the next guy, but I draw the line of comfort and appropriateness at my daughters wearing push up bras and thongs. Call me old fashioned, whatever. It just doesn't seem like something I'm comfy with.

I think that part of Victoria's Secret is that I'm a Mennonite when it comes to mothering. But I digress.