Christmas post delayed

Had great plans of posting about our fun Christmas day but that has been delayed by a horrible tummy bug. Tim & I got it last night and Eli got it this morning. We've quarantined ourselves and hope it will pass by tomorrow. Guess it's a good thing the boys are out of school and we're off work next week. It'll take that long to get our lives back in order!!

I love Christmas pjs

My 1st Christmas - happy Baby Cole

In my Christmas pjs, all ready for bed

My sweet boys - the funny thing is that immediately after this picture was taken, Eli let go of Baby Cole and he fell to the floor. Cole wasn't hurt, just a little startled.

The boys are currently snug in their beds (woo hoo!) and we're waiting for Santa to arrive. Eli left cookies and milk out for him before he went to bed so I'm sure he will be here soon. We have had a good day and have enjoyed lots of family time. You know story and pictures will be coming! Now off to check Santa radar......

Coming out the other side......maybe......hopefully

It has been a rough week around here but I'm very hopeful that we're coming out the other side of it. Whew....let me see if I can accurately recap.

Friday: I stayed home with Cole and Eli was ok to go to school. Tim came home early so I could go to Eli's school Christmas party. Santa stopped by school in the morning and they had parties in the afternoon. Then after I got home, Cole's fever spiked so we ended up on the phone with the nurses. They told us to wait 48 hours (Sat morning) for his new antibiotic to kick in. It was another rough night.

Saturday: Eli & I made chocolate chip cookies. It's so funny that now he can tell you almost every ingredient to make cookies. How many 2 year olds can recite a cookie recipe? Only the cookie monster ones!! The rest of the day was uneventful until the night time. Eli started going downhill and his fever crept up. By 9pm, he was over 104 and croupy coughing. I called our neighbor Amy for expert guidance. We called the doctor's office again and the nurse called us back. She gave me all the usual croup instructions (steamy shower, fluids, etc) and we were alone for the night. I slept in the playroom with Eli while Tim dealt with Cole. It was a very scary night because his fever was just so high. He woke up about every half hour asking for something to drink but that was it for food or drink.

Sunday: Cole seemed to be doing ok (still fussier and needier than usual) and Eli was somewhat better but still had a bad cough and wheeze. In the morning, we made some doggie treats (again staying busy with baking!) and then Tim took Eli back to the doctor. They checked him out and then sent him for chest x-rays. Fortunately there was no pneumonia but a lot of goop. This was also the day that I decided to change Cole's name to "Joey" because he thought he was a baby kangaroo and had to be constantly attached to me. This night I slept in Eli's room with him and Tim slept in the play room with Cole.

Monday: Eli stayed home with Tim because he still had big fevers Sunday night. Cole went to school and I went to work. Monday night was hard (again) and I can't remember if we slept in our own bed at all.

Tuesday: Eli stayed home again with Tim after more fever Monday night, Cole went to school and I went to work. Tim called the doctor again about Eli and she was concerned that his temp was still as high (104-105). She made us an appt for Wed.

Wednesday: Tim went to work, Cole to school and Eli & I stayed home. Doctor's appointment revealed that he now has double ear infections so he's on the same antibiotic that Cole is on - just a higher strength. I'm so hopeful that this will help and get us past this yucky phase.

Tomorrow I'll be home with both boys while Tim has to work until lunch. Hopefully they'll sleep better tonight and be good for me tomorrow. It would also be nice if we could sleep in our own bed - we've only been there about 2 or 3 hours since last week. I must say that I wasn't sure I would make it through their double sickness without losing my sanity but now that I can see some daylight, I'm doing much better. I can't think of much more stressful than sick kids and when you add work, daily stuff and the holidays with expected visitors, it's even more so. Grandparents are all coming tomorrow so I'm hopeful that the boys will be better and that the extra hands will give us a break.

Now, of course, some photos...

Eli's school Christmas party

He was so happy when I showed up (and so was I, I loved being there)

Ms Jessica - one of Eli's teachers

He shut the table down - last one eating

A little snow Friday night

Saturday morning - he decided the bowl was a helmet

Working on a puzzle with Daddy

Making Christmas treats for Belle

Belle's going to be so happy with all these treats

Pitiful little boy on Sunday morning

Watching 'Cars' with Mommy

Cole spent a lot of time in the bean bag chair. This is from his video monitor - we put the bean bag in his crib. I know it's not AAP approved but hey, it worked for us that night!!

Sick Day

This face pretty much sums up life right now

We're battling sick and lots of fussiness in our house right now. Tuesday we took Cole to the doctor because his ear infection didn't seem to be gone after he finished his antibiotics. Turns out it was still there so doctor put him on a different antibiotic. Tuesday night Eli said his tummy hurt and he was very cranky. Wednesday morning both boys seemed normal, no fever and Eli was running all over so we sent them to school. About 10am I got a call that Cole had a fever of 100.6 and then two minutes later, they called me about Eli - he had a fever of 100.3. So Tim picked both boys up and stayed home with them for the afternoon. I took Cole back to the doctor this morning and it was scary that his temp at the doc's office was 101.3 under the arm. She said it looked like his right ear was worse than Tuesday so she switched him to a different (3rd) antibiotic to try to get it cleared up. Eli was with us and was very well behaved. We managed to go to Target to get Cole's prescription without incident (whew!). The day was tough in that Cole didn't want to be anywhere that wasn't on me (he has even been fussing right now for Tim). It's obvious that he's miserable and we're trying to keep him as comfortable as we can. It was tough being home with both of them today and, I must confess that Eli got way more tv time that I normally like but it was an extreme circumstance. The plan is to send Eli to school tomorrow (weather permitting) but to keep Cole home again. He still seems hot tonight and if this is a virus, his fever should break soon. If not, we've been told to go back to the doctor's office this weekend. I hope it doesn't go to that - I'm having flashbacks of January when Eli had to be admitted to the hospital.

Unfortunately, in all of this, we cancelled our trip to my parents' house for this weekend. We were supposed to see my grandparents for Christmas but it wouldn't be good for the boys to travel sick or take that to my grandparents' house. We'll miss the celebration, good food and family but it's necessary. We do hope to get this all cleared up before Christmas Day - keep your fingers crossed for us.

One of our happier moments today - Eli creating with Play doh

Christmas Card photo outtakes

It's quite a challenge to get a decent photo with a 2 year old, 5 month old and a 13-1/2 year old dog. Thank goodness for digital technology! Check out some of these faces......

Eli looks mischievous here - imagine that!

Eli's DONE with picture taking

Trying to compose himself - it didn't work!

Houses - Gingerbread and Jump

After Tim's parents left, Eli and I took to working on our Gingerbread House. This time we did much better with decorating it but Eli's love of icing and the candy treats was just the same!!

Mommy decorating, Eli eating

Icing thief! I redid the icing multiples times!!

Our cute little house

For lunch, Eli decided to climb into the high chair. He looks so huge in there compared to Cole!

After nap time, we went to meet our friends Noah and Maddie (and families) to make pottery. When Eli was a few months old, we did some handprint ornaments so thought it would be fun to do again. Well, the pottery thing didn't work out so we ended up taking the kids to Jump Zone - lots of jumpy bouncy houses. I think they were much happier there anyway. Daddies had toddler duty while Mommies had baby duty (me with Cole, Robin with Kylie and Janet with Mason). Yes we were quite the crew in there!! It's so much fun having friends with kids the same age. Makes a big difference to know that you're not alone in the world of raising two little ones.

Come on Daddy - let's go!

Down the slide through the obstacle course en route to the big slide

S-Q-U-E-E-Z-E.....funny thing is that Tim had to go through there too!

Down the big slide - Eli & Daddy

Maddie, Noah & Eli - aren't they all so cute?!

Weekend with the Grandparents

This weekend we started our three weeks of family visits for the Christmas season - something I'm really looking forward to. Grandma & Grandpa N came to visit us for the weekend to see the boys and hang out with all of us.

First things first, Friday morning I had an appointment with an orthopedist about my knees. I have arthritis in my knees and it turns out that a lot of my problem is actually my knee caps. I have cartilage build up under them and they also don't track properly. Looks like I'll be scheduling arthroscopic knee surgery for late Jan / early Feb. Physical therapy hasn't helped me in the past and based on my problems, cortisone injections will be useless. Something fun to look forward to huh?

Friday afternoon, Tim's parents arrived and all of us hung out together and had a nice pasta and meatball dinner. I think we all fell asleep pretty early - they were probably tired from travel and I was tired from trying to get a million things done that day.

Saturday morning I took Eli to the "Y" while Cole stayed with Grandma and Tim worked in the garage with his dad. It was a good thing that Cole stayed home because they had a case of hand / foot / mouth in the baby nursery at the "Y". I took a spin class while Eli played with friends. It was a nice to get a little exercise in. Once we got home, Eli had snack and Tim's mom, Cole & I ran out to see if I could find something to wear for Tim's work Christmas party (that night) - no luck there. Saturday night, Tim & I went to the President of his company's house for their Christmas gathering. It was nice to see Tim's coworkers again and also have some kid-free time. After that, we stopped by a neighbor's Christmas party and said hi to all our neighborhood friends. We got home pretty early to find out that Cole gave Grandma a hard time going to bed. Eli, who we were worried about, went to bed easy but Cole was tougher.

Sunday, we had a nice breakfast and hung out for a bit before Tim's parents headed home. Eli and I then put together and decorated a gingerbread house. Not too much else that day but family hang out time.

Eli & Daddy swinging - had to get Eli out to burn some energy off!

Baby Cole swinging with Sophie

Eli & Grandpa - Monster Trucks of course!

Cole hanging with Grandma

Tim & I before heading out to his Christmas party