Rainy Monday!

Where to start? We took Liam back Sat. morning to our pediatrician who informed us that the rash was not caused from the stomach flu. He told us that a rash from the flu or bug will only present in one form and will be there for 2-3 days. Liam had 3 different rashes all at once and most of it was cleared up by Friday night. He is pretty sure that Liam had an allergic reaction to something. He does have the bug but that is not what caused the rash! Other then still having diarriah he is feeling better!


Maddie went back to the Dr. this morning for a recheck on her pneumonia. She is doing much better as well. Her lungs sound much more clear. She has color back and is acting like herself again. She still won't eat anything or even drink a whole lot, but enough to at least keep her hydrated.


Jarryd is home from school today. He woke me up at 4am to tell me he didn't feel well. I put him back to bed only to have him come back in a few minutes later to tell me he puked. So I had him brush his teeth, wash his face have a little drink of water and tucked back into be. 20 minutes later it was a total dejavu! He is feeling fine, playing and enjoying a day off! He has only eaten a popsicle though all day. So I hope his illness is not going to turn into what Liam has.


On a good note, we leave for Florida 2 weeks from tomorrow! I can't wait to see my Dad and step mom and enjoy some nice warm air! We are just about ready. I have made my check list and just need to pack. I am really hoping that the kids are all better and back to themselves before we leave. I want to be able to enjoy ourselves and not have any illness' during our stay!

Seriously???

So just as Maddie seems to be doing better Liam gets sick. He woke up yesterday morning with diarriah and vomiting. It was awful. We just figured it was the stomach bug. Well then early afternoon he started with a rash on his stomach. I had Jarryds Great Grandmother who lives next door and is a retired nurse take a look at it. She thought it might be an allergic reaction to something, and told me to keep a close eye on it. Well with in an hour it got worse and there were new spots that looked totally different. So I walked Liam next door to ask her if I should be worried. She told me yes and that I should call our pediatrician. So I did but of course they were already closed and told me we needed to take him to the er.

So we did just that. We spent 4.5 hours there for them to tell us it was the flu causing this rash. And sent us home and told us we need to have our pediatrician check him today. So I am going to call as soon as they are open. He is still sleeping so I am not sure how it looks this morning. I just know that if my kids don't get healthy soon I am going to loose my mind! Will update when and if we find anything else out!

Have a great weekend!

Maddie is Sick...I Have Had Enough!

So one of these days I will be able to post something other then my kids not so wonderful health. This week it is Madalynn.

It all started over 2 weeks ago when she spiked a fever out of the blue. Well the fever never completely went away. Some days it was down but other days it spiked. Well on Tuesday night it spiked to 104. We gave her some Motrin and that brought it down. We put her in bed with us so we could keep a close eye on her. By morning it was maintaining right around 102.5. After talking to my mom I decided it was best to get her to the Dr.

When we got there everything looked fine, ears, throat, belly etc. Then he noticed that her glands were extremely enlarged, signaling an infection. From there he sent us across the parking lot to the family health center where they took blood work. That was horrible, I think she handled it better then me! We also had to collect urine to rule out a UTi, since she has a long history of them. So by evening time we were all done and she was acting OK.

Well by yesterday morning she was acting and looking VERY sick. Her fever wouldn't come below 102 with Motrin and Tylenol. She wouldn't get up from the couch. Refused to eat anything. I was able to get a little juice in her but that was about it. So I called the Dr.s to see if they had any results. They did not yet have results but wanted to see her because of her doing worse.

When we got there her fever was up to 103. Then when the pediatrician was listening to her lungs she heard some crackling. She suspected it was pneumonia but sent us back to the Family Health Center for a Chest XRay. Yea that was definitely not fun with a very sick little girl who wanted nothing to do with anything!!! Well they got the XRay and sent it with us back to the Pediatricians. Our Dr. looked at it and found there were white patches on both her lungs confirming the pneumonia. So she put her antibiotics and we have to go back Monday Morning. In the mean time we have to make sure her fever does not go above 103.5 and stay there for more then 2 hours. We also have to keep an eye on her breathing. Which so far has not been a problem.

We are just hoping to get this all cleared up at home and not have to be hospitalized for it. That is the next step if this doesn't work. So keep your fingers crossed. I will re post after Monday's appointment to update everyone.

When Will It End?

Well today we went back to Dr.Gavin for Liam's Post Op on his ears. We were hoping for a clean bill of health but that was not the case! His left ear looked perfect. His right ear however has some problems still. He was unable to get a good look at the ear because the tube has some blood clots in it. He said the bleeding last week was most likey an infection but the bleeding meant the tubes were actually working! Why there is still blood clots though he can't figure out. So he gave us a prescription for new drops to start. These drops should clear up the clots over the next week. We go back to see Dr. Gavin on April 14. Hopefully then everything will be clear and he will finally give us that clean bill of health in his ears that we have been waiting 5 months to get.

Long and Overdue!

Sometimes I feel like I need a remote for my life. I really sometimes just want to pause certain things stop them to give me a breather, be able to rewind all the wonderful moments, and fastforward through the bad ones! But since we weren't born with that remote I keep living this crazy busy life!


Liam goes back tomorrow to Dr. Gavin(ENT) to have a checkup on his ears. He is still playing with that right one a lot. I am not sure if it is just out of habit or if there is still something going on in there! He did cut his first top tooth last week so that was exciting. Now though he likes to grind his teeth which just makes my skin crawl.


We are going to be enrolling Maddie in school for next year. There is preschool just outside of Greenwich that offers a 2 year old program. It is only 2 morning a week for 2 hours a day. They don't really do any teaching, it is mostly for social reasons. They work on potty training for the kids that aren't yet. I just think it will be good for her to get out of the house a couple hours a week and be able to play and have fun with a few other children her age. They only take a maximum of 8 kids so I think thats great! It will also be good for me to have that few hours a week to be able to bond with Liam. Him and have never really had 1:1 time!


Jarryd will be starting TBall very soon. He is very excited and nervous. He loves to play he just doesn't like not knowing who his coach will be and who will be on his team. Jarryd is a very nervous boy, but once he gets into things he is fine. So I need to get out his glove and cleats from last year and make sure they fit. I am pretty sure his baseball pants won't but I suppose I should have him try them on too before I buy new ones. Oh and then I will be signing him up for Football on Wed or Saturday. Spring is coming so fast!


Paul has taken on a side job on the weekends to help save for our house. Our friends that live in hudson falls have asked Paul to help him out one weekend day a week. It really works out for all of us. Paul gets to work on cars which he really misses sometimes and he gets to hang out with his friend Chris all day! All the money he makes from that is going into our House Fund, so that will be awesome! Me and the kids go up with him for the day too. Chris and Meggan have 6 kids with another on the way(God bless their souls!) so their kids and ours have fun playing together! When we went up Saturday we took the kids outside for like 4 hours because the weather was so nice. In fact it was so nice I had a short sleeved shirt on and actually got a little sunburn!!!! So that is where we will be spending a least one day a week for a while!


Oh and I was 2ounces away from my 15 pound weight loss Saturday! My first goal is 20pounds by April 21 when we leave for Florida so I am well on my way! I still have a long ways to go to my final goal but I am happy with my progress so far. I can't wait because we are going to order a double jogging stroller so I can get out and start walking almost everyday and that should help too!

I am sick of being sick...

So once again it has been a rough couple of weeks for our family. We have all been sick in some way. Last week Paul and Maddie were really sick. This week its me. Oh and get this, Liam has an ear infection! Seriously we were supposed to be done with them. We woke up yesterday morning to find a puddle of blood on his sheet draining from his ear. Yea just what we wanted to wake up to! Well at least we know the tubes are working. Now lets just see if we can try to keep Jarryd healthy. That can sometimes be a major battle!


Oh and to top it all off I have 4 extra kids here today. I have my regular 2 daycare kids and then a friend of ours asked us to watch her two children today and tomorrow. So yea I have a 10month old, a 16month old, a 20month old, and 3 2 year olds! Wish me luck for today and tomorrow!

Good Health and Houses!

So things have been rather crazy here this week. On a good note thogh everyone is starting to feel better!

Liam has his 9 month well visit this morning. The Dr. wanted to wait till after his tubes were in before we did his shots. His ears looked perfect!!! That was the first they have been able to say that in four months now! What a relief. He was 30in(84%) and 19lbs10oz(22%)! I can't even believe how big he is getting. But he got a clean bill of health and is pretty advanced developmentally!

The house hunting has begun. Well kind of. We are possibly buying a piece of property around the corner from Paul's parents house. It is in a nice neighbor hood and out of the village but walking distance to everything here. We are just waiting on the sellers go ahead. Now we are looking around for Prefab homes. They really are the best way to go. We might spend a little more upfront, but there are a lot of good things about that. I mean it is all brand new. So no fixing the furnace, roof, foundation and everything else for at least 10 years! Also we get to pick our floor plan, paint colors bedrooms, square foot etc! It will probably still be at least 2 years before anything really happens. Ideally we will be able to pay the property off before we move in so that it will give us some equity and lower our mortgage. So all in time we will own our house in good time!

Will It Ever End???

So once again one of the kids are sick. Poor Jarryd has strep throat. He came home yesterday and went straight upstairs to lay down in his bed. When I went up there he looked terrible and told me his belly and throat hurt. So I left for Saratoga and he fell asleep. When I got home he woke up crying and had a fever of 102.7. This morning he woke up not feeling any better. So Justin took him to the Dr.s and sure enough it was strep. So now we just have to hope and pray it doesn't spread through this house.

Other then Jarryd everyone else is good. Liam seems to be playing with his ears less and less everyday. We go back on the 31st for the post op check up. But he is looking for his dinner. So I am off to feed him then feed the rest of the house!

A Little Bit of Everything

Okay so I have been so bad about blogging this last week. So I will try to keep this one not too long while still updating you. Maybe I will learn to keep up on this more!

Well Friday morning we had to be in Albany at 6:30 for Liam's surgery. Everything went great. He was not too happy about not being able to eat all morning but he was content. The ENT was wonderful and kept us completely informed. He had more inflammation and fluid then he suspected but was still able to place the tubes successfully! Liam woke right up out of the anesthesia and we were out of there by 11:00!

Paul and I actually got a night out to ourselves on Saturday. It was so wonderful. My sister watched the 2 babies(Jarryd was in Mass with his grandparents). We went to Mexican Connection for dinner. Um my favorite! Afterwards we headed to Target to get some things. It was so nice to be able to go shopping without bringing kids along! We were home by 8:00, I sat down and paid all the bills and Paul played PlayStation! Its amazing now what consists of a great night!

As for my diet, I had lost 6pounds even as of my 2 week weigh in on Saturday morning. I am so proud of myself. 6 pounds certainly is not a lot but its a start. I just wish I could find more time to exercise because I know I could not only loose more weight but also be getting my body back into shape. So I am really trying to learn how to balance the cooking cleaning taking care of kids and working out. It will come in good time I suppose. As long as I can loose a little more before we head down to Florida on April 21! I really don't want to have to buy all new summer clothes to wear for that week, only to loose more by June and not need them anymore.

So our savings account keeps growing! Yay little by little we are finally getting somewhere! We are looking into some property because we really want to go with a prefabricated home. You really get more bang for your buck that way. We found the one we would love but that one might be a little out of our price range so we will keep looking. We really don't plan on buying within the next year or 2 anyway so that gives us plenty of time to look and explore our options.

That's about it for now I guess. If you made it through then good for you. I will really try hard this week to keep up on this better.

Will It Ever End?

So once again the kids are sick! I swear this is never ending. Jarryd is home from school today because he has a fever. Although he has no other symptoms I couldn't send him because I know they would have just sent him home if they knew he was feverish. Maddie has been crying all morning that her belly hurts. Liam has had 2 diapers of poop that have exploded out his diaper because there was so much. I am just waiting for me and Paul to get it now.

And seriously enough with the damn snow already. I am so sick and tired of snow. We drove home from New Hampshire yesterday in a horrible snowstorm. And anyone that knows the drive from there to here knows it is the worst road ever for snow. It snowed all day yesterday and now its sunny and almost 40 out. Then we wonder why everyone is so sick this year.

I am just so tired of this weather. I want to get outside. I want the kids to be able to play and get fresh air. I want to start walking in the evening again. I want to open all my windows and have the wonderful smell to take over my house. When I am driving I want to be able open my car windows. I just want spring, well late spring so all the snow and mud is gone.

This and That.

So Liams appointment got bumped up to yesterday afternoon at the ENT's. We saw Dr. Gavin who is Jarryd's ENT and we really like him. He actually said his right ear looks just about ear infection free!!! So I was so excited thinking maybe finally we had no ear infections. Well then he moved to the right ear and that was a whole nother story. There is so much fluid built up behind the ear drum that he is a little worried about it rupturing. He wanted to do the surgery tomorrow but since Liam had some Motrin for another fever on Tuesday he didn't feel comfortable doing it so soon. So we go next Friday for the tubes. So he said for any fevers or pain to only use tylenol between now and then. So only another week for the poor little man and then hopefully all this pain and irritation will be over for him. It really just sucks when there is nothing we can do.
This afternoon we are headed up to New Hampshire to visit with my Grandfather and Uncle. We love spending time up there with them. While we are up there we plan on going to Disney on Ice. I can't wait I have never been to one and I think Madalynn and Jarryd will really enjoy it. We are also going to do a little shopping at the outlets in Maine. We just got tickets this week for our trip to Florida in April to see my Dad and step Mom. So we are going to get the kids some new summer outfirs to take down with us.
I am really nervous about my diet while up there. I have been sticking strong to it all week. I have been excercising as much as possible. Although I know its not good to weight yourself daily I have to for motivation. So far I have lost 4 pounds. Its only been 6 days so I am really happy with that. Its a good start on a very long path of recovering my body!

Weight Loss

I just wanted to drop a quick little note to let everyone know that Today is the day I started my diet. I am so nervous about this, but I know its time. So here goes nothing...

Update on Liam

Okay so I took Liam back to the pediatrian Friday afternoon. He had been running a fever and just not feeling well. Well of course his ears were actually worse. He had been on the antibiotic, Bactrum, for 8 days at that point. He also had a very red irritated throat, a fever of 102.6, and very lethargic. So the Dr. also said he caught a mild version of the flu. This tends to be common in children this year that had the flu shot. I guess its better then the actual flu. At this point the pediatrician is just like what next. He did however put him on Zythromax(also known as the ZPack), to take for 5 days with the Bactrum!
He had his first ear infection was Dec. 4! And since then other then a day or two inbetween checkups he has been on 5 differnent antibiotics with basially no brake. We are doing everything possible to prevent further infections, but nothing is helping. I don't like how much tylenol and motrin we have had to give him either. But it is the only thing that will control the pain.
After reviewing his chart the Dr. came to the conclusion there is nothing more they can do for Liam. So he is sending us to an ENT to get him some tubes. The appointment is next Thurs morning. We are seeing Dr. Gavin who is Jarryds ENT. We really like him a lot. Although we have to travel to Albany Med I am very anxious to get to this appointment and find out what he thinks about all this. In the mean time, we are just waiting. Him and Maddie are both supposed to have Well Visits onThurs. Chances are Liams shots will be postponed b/c of the illness. But at least we can see how the ears are doing. I sure hope they are no worse.

I Want Health Fully Restored In My House

Well for the past 3 days Liam has had a low grade fever. But last night it spiked to 103.5, needless to say me and Paul got no sleep. He has been coughing a lot too. Here is the thing, the poor kid has been on a really strong antibiotic for over a week because of the ear infections. So what on earth could it be now? Well we are off to the Dr.s at 3 to hopfully figure this out! I really just feel so helpless.
I also think Maddie might have something brewing as well. She is never a lazy child. Well from the time she got up this morning till she went down for a nap, she never got off the couch. She just kept asking me to cuddle her all morning. So she has been down since noon so maybe she was just overtired. But she is just so not herself today. She refused to eat all morning. Finally around 11:30 I got her to eat almost a whole thing of yogurt which is better then nothing! We are supposed to be going to check out a school for her next week so hopefully she won't be too sick. Its just a preschool with a class for 2 year olds. They go 2 mornings a week for 2.5 hours. All they do is learn social skills, work on potty training and that kind of stuff. They don't do a lot of teaching at that age, which I like. She just needs something, because even with her brothers and 2 daycare kids she is just very bored here. She needs something more!
At least Jarryd is remaining healthy!*Knoch on wood* He has a busy weekend. He has a birthday party tomorrow morning at Tree Pad in Queensbury. Then Sunday is his ski lesson again. Last week went better then the week before so hopefully this week will go even better then last!!! He really likes it, he just wants instant sucsess!
Well Paul should be home soon, he is leaving work early so I can take Liam to the Dr.s and not have to take 4 extra kids with me! He is such a good husband...sometimes!(hahaha). So I will try to get a post up about how we make up! Hopefully its nothing and I am just being over paranoid! I tend to do that a little bit. After spending so much time in the NICU with both the boys.

Naptime Is My Favorite Time

So all 4 kids are sleeping right now! Its very rare that I get them to all sleep at the same time. Liam is usually awake during the older kids naps because he still takes 2 naps most days, which work around the other kids one nap. But today I really needed this. So hopefully I will get at least an hour to myself.

I am so nervous, we finally got Paul's other W2 yesterday in the mail. We took them to our accountant so now we just have to wait 2-3 days to find out how much we will be getting back this year. The last 2 years we have gotten back at least $8,000! But this year we are not sure what will happen because of Paul working in VT and us living here in NY. If we get enough back the only things we want to buy with it are a new camera and computer. Both of ours are about shot. Other then that we just want to dump the rest into a savings account. We are really getting the "house fever". We both want to buy our own house so bad, but know unless we have a BIG down payment it is never going to happen. So over the next 2 years we are going to really tighten our belts and save ever possible penny we can. Our biggest thing is we want to own our house and not have our house own us and have no money left after paying a mortgage payment. So for now our duplex will due. The rent is cheap and it is 3 bedrooms. Its just that we are really outgrowing. So we shall see.

I have decided that I really am ready to start losing all this baby weight. Maddie just turned 2 and Liam is going to be 9months on Sat. so the time is now. I have struggled so much with my weight in the last 6 months. I really do think its the IUD I had placed. Since I have had it I have actually gained a great deal of weight. But no more excuses. The time is now. So I will keep an update on when I officially start and my progress. My first goal is to lose 20lbs by April 21, which is when we leave for Florida to visit my father and Step Mom! And they are really my weight loss inspiration right now. They have both lost so much weight and look so good! So I know its something I really can do, its just a matter of self discipline!

Another Double Ear Infection...

This week has been very long for me! Liam has not been sleeping at all! For the last 2 months he has gone back to waking up at night, and not just once or twice but anywhere between 3-6times a night! Paul and I are just exhausted. I took Liam back to the pediatrician last night for a recheck on his last ear infection (he has had 3 since Dec.4). Well the Dr. took a look at his ears and low and behold he has another double ear infection. One ear is bad and the other is very bad according to the Dr. I swear it is so annoying, we are doing everything to treat it and prevent! But the poor child is just living with this constant ear infection. I was glad when he said that if this happens again or it doesn't clear up then he will send us to an ENT to see about getting tubes put in. I just think that this is the best option at this point. I am so afraid of hearing loss from multiple ear infections. Also there is the fact that he has been on antibiotics for pretty much 2 months straight now. And I really just don't like that, its not good for him for several reasons. So we go back for his next recheck on Feb. 12. That day is also his 9month well visit and Maddie's 2 year well visit. When we were at the Dr.s last night they weighed and measured him and I just can't believe how big he is getting. He was 18.11lbs(34%) and 2.5in(73%)! Hard to believe he is so big already! Really where does the time go?
In other news, tomorrow is something that Paul and I have been looking forward to for a while now! A night out with no kids!!! Its actually Paul's 25th Birthday, so we are having a nice breakfast here for him and some family. Then in the evening we have his annual fireman's banquet! Its something we always look forward to because we get to dress up a little bit, have no children and dance and just enjoy being young adults! Paul is really into the UFC fighting and we always go over to our friends house in Hudson Falls to watch it with them. Well that is also tomorrow night, so we will be going from the banquet to their house to watch the fight! I am so excited about a nice long evening out with out children.
Other then that nothing new is really going on. Jarryd is still doing ski lessons and enjoying that! Madalynn is well Madalynn. She never stops. She really keeps us on our toes from the moment she wakes up till the moment she goes to sleep. But we wouldn't have it any other way.

A Little Thing to Get Me Started!

So I decided to start this blog for a couple reasons. First I wanted to be able to just keep people updated on our busy growing family! The other reason is just a place to kinda vent in.
So I hope to be able to keep up on this with all the craziness of our life!