The BEST and WORST of April 2011

All I can say is, WOW - April started off with a bang! The first Monday in April, I put in my notice that may last day of work would be April 29th. This has been a long time coming and after all the built up anticipation over the years for this one moment - I thought I would be jumping up and down. Truth is - since I've been back to work our life has been complete chaos! Tyler's new teacher's at his new daycare yell at the kids all the time. I guess positive re-direction is just too much work for them. I knew this could not be an environment that I let Tyler stay in for long. On the other hand, Ella's teachers are wonderful! For some reason, I don't feel as guilty leaving her throughout the day. Maybe it's because she is still so young and happy to be with anyone - or maybe it's because she is the 2nd child and I've already lived this once with Tyler. Either way, not more than a day after putting in my notice, Tyler caught a icky cold at daycare. That Sunday afternoon, he got pink eye. On Monday the Dr confirmed that Ty indeed had pinkeye AND ear infection. By Tuesday the pinkeye spread to the 2nd eye and finally he was back in school on Thursday. On Friday morning Tyler vomited all over the himself and my car.....I turned around and headed back home. After speaking with the Dr again, he had now caught the stomach virus that was also going around his classroom. By Sunday night he was still puking and running a low fever. Wednesday he was feeling better and I took him back to school only to get a call from daycare on Thursday that Ella had diarrhea twice and low grade fever of 99.6. Looks like she caught a bit of what Tyler had. By Saturday both kids appeared better and we headed for a family outgoing at Deer Creek State Park, but now I was sick - I had a sinus infection. If all of this wasn't enough, Saturday night at 2am Tyler was crying...I thought, maybe he peed the bed, maybe he puked, maybe he had another fever....After all, he couldn't be thirsty b/c I have been putting him to bed with a sippy cup full of water to try and prevent dehydration after 3 weeks of illness. Turns out, he was cold. We changed his wet diaper and layered his clothing. I told Nate to go to bed since he threw out his back earlier in the day. 3:30am - an hour and a half later, I finally got Tyler to lay down and go to sleep! 'Nak' 'Pees' 'Nak' 'Pees'. Wow! There is NO reasoning with a toddler to go to sleep and you can have your 'snack' in the morning when it's time for breakfast. Tyler screamed and cried for until he laid back down to sleep. Why didn't I just leave him in his room?? Well, since he can climb out of his crib (at my mom's, not ours yet) I feared that if I left him mad and pumped up full of energy that he would try and climb out of his crib. Instead I choose to ignore the cries and stand there and console him until he calmed down. I refuse to transition him to a big boy bed until Ella is sleeping through the night. Speaking of Ella, Saturday night during all this, she was up every 3 hours, crying and only eating a few ounces of food. Something was wrong with her, but we didn't know what. 7am - Nate gets Ella out of her crib, since he is awake, again! About 20 minutes later he comes flying in the room to tell me that Ella is screaming and constipated. She passed 3 formed poops and was very uncomfortable. Oh my gosh, I can't believe this - she is still only eating formula! Sunday, she was screaming and fussy all day, so I called the Dr. emergency line. I knew she was still constipated and I needed to know how much prune juice was safe to give her. 1oz prune juice and 1oz water. 10 minutes after Ella drink this she started screaming and passed another formed poop. Still a bit discontent I gave her some Tylenol to help ease the pain of her belly ache. Last night, she went to sleep at 8:30pm, got up at midnight and again at 5am. Nate and I exhausted to say the least! On top of that, he left this morning for a business trip in PA. Thankfully, my Dad is coming into town tonight to help me with the kids until Nate gets home. I am still sick and VERY tired, but at least it's me and NOT the babies! Ella's 4 month checkup is tomorrow - so more to come. Ty was supposed to go with her to get a vaccine but since he was sick for 3 weeks, I decided to cancel his appointment to a later date. All in all - Yes, I am excited to come home in 2 weeks, but I can hardly see straight enough to really enjoy the anticipation that I have long awaited!