A MONSTER of an Update!!

We have had a week (or more like 2 weeks) from Hell!! I have been planning to blog, and life has just taken over and I have not been able to find a spare moment. I will recap the last week (again, more like 2), and hopefully this will explain why.

Saturday Nov 22
Picture Day, at 3:50pm. I spent the morning and early afternoon searching for shoes for the kids to wear. I get home, and we are just running out of time. We call and reschedule for 5:00pm. Which is a good thing, as it was The Ohio State / Michigan game that day, and we had to go by the Stadium, and would have been stuck in traffic as the game was just over at about that time. We get to Portrait Innovations, and they are PACKED! People and kids everywhere - not even any standing room. They tell us that they are running about 35 minutes behind, and that we could either stay there (who in their right mind with 4 kids would do that?!) or we could go shopping, get something to eat, and they would call us when it was our turn. Since we were all dressed up, we went shopping and decided to save the kids clothes and eat dinner after pictures. So, we head over to Target. The big boys spend some of their money, Gryfinn looked at soo many toys, (I need to add that he was THE BEST two year old on this day!) and I found some clippie type barretts for Caelyn. After being at the store for about 50 minutes, we decide to go check out and head back to Portrait Innovations. So - by the time we get back, it has been over an hour. And there is STILL 3 people ahead of us. We decided to cancel and reschedule. They were so packed, that there would be no way that we would get the quality of pictures that we want. Or would we get the one on one that we are used to - and that we need with having 4 kids. And I refuse to pay for pictures that I do not love. So we rescheduled. And go to dinner. Which was great! We had such a good dinner. Sucks that we drove about 50 minutes away, and had to endure poor Caelyn cry for the last 20-25 minutes of the drive.

Sunday November 23
This was our anniversary. Six wonderful, beautiful years with the most amazing woman. EVER. We had plans to go shopping and to dinner at the Melting Pot. But, Gryfinn woke up at 7:30am throwing up - so those plans went out the window. He vomited so much. The poor baby. It was about every 15 minutes for the first few hours, and then it finally slowed. I have to say now, that him being so good, and well behaved, and so much fun the day before, was the quiet before the storm. Cause his sickness lasted 9 - yes NINE - days. And yes, I believe that are trip to Target infected him.

Monday November 24
We had thought Gryfinn was starting to feel better, still real down, and kinda lethargic, but sorta kinda starting to look up.

Tuesday November 25
Gryfinn wakes up at 5:30 am throwing up again. And he is just pitiful. Throws up on and off throughout the day. That night, Jarrod starts getting sick at 8:00pm. And then Jayk starts at 10:30pm. Kelly let me sleep, as I was supposed to go back to work on Wednesday. (I had a 5 day weekend) And then poor Kel starts getting sick around 2:00am.

Wednesday November 26
I had to call off work - with 4 of the 6 members of my family having the stomach bug, vomiting and diarrhea - there was nothing else for me to do. Kelly couldn't take care of the sick kids, let alone our healthy baby girl. My manager tried to give me grief about it - as I would not get paid my Holiday pay for Thanksgiving - but what was I supposed to do? I would much rather have had my family healthy and been working. Believe me. So I spent the day tending to my family, and scrubbing and disinfecting our house. After all, we were having dinner the next day for my family. By this evening, Jarrod and Jayk were feeling better. Kelly wasn't throwing up anymore, but she still wasn't feeling good. And poor Gryfinn was still not well. He wasn't throwing up anymore, but he would not eat, and we could barely get him to drink. And have I mentioned his diarrhea. The poor little guy.

Thursday November 27
Happy Turkey Day! I spent the day cooking and preparing food. I would not let Kel help, as she still was not back to normal, and we just could not chance infecting everyone else. Although we had so much sickness, and had done SO much laundry, we have SO VERY MUCH to be thankful for. The love of my life. Our four beautiful kids. Our home. Our cars. Our jobs. Our parents. Our siblings. Our nieces and nephews. Kelly's Grandma. Our cousins. Our friends. Our furbaby. Having a washer and dryer to do all of our laundry! I could go on. I am just so thankful for so much. Dinner was delicious. And even though my brothers (all older, and like to pick on their baby sister!) razzed me - saying they could not believe I had done all of it! Things were great! I loved having my family over. All of us together, eating and hanging out, our kids playing, was just wonderful. But, Gryfinn still won't eat, and still not well.

Friday November 28
Gryfinn takes diarrhea to a whole new level. I just didn't know it was possible for that much to come out of someone so little. And speaking of little, he lost 4.5 pounds. So, I am really starting to worry. He just seemed so lethargic, and I was { } this close to taking him to the dr or ER. But we got him to drink some pedialyte, and it really seemed to help. He asked for a waffle, and ate the WHOLE THING! And then asked for a fruit bar, and ate that too. So, we thought things were really looking up.

Saturday November 29
Happy 1st Birthday Eli!! I can't believe it has been a whole year since you were born! Gryfinn has gone back to not eating but he is drinking. He is quite whiny, and definitely still not his silly self. I sure am missing my happy feet. The Holiday in the City is today, with the lighting of the tree and the parade to welcome Santa. Jarrod and Jayk have a bucket band performance following the parade. There were also some fireworks, and of course Gryfinn loved them, but so did Caelyn. She was mesmerized by them! She just watched, and was in complete awe!!



Sunday November 30
Kelly and I FINALLY get to celebrate our anniversary. We were so excited to get out of the house - with.out.the.kids - that we forgot everything and had to turn around and go back. We were able to go shopping and do dinner at the Melting Pot! And I have to say that it was a wonderful experience! I so enjoyed it. There was no rushing, as you can't, and we got to sit and talk, and eat, and again, with no rushing, and it was still hot, and fresh when we ate!! We got almost all of our shopping for Gryfinn and Caelyn done. With them being little, they are so much easier to buy for than Jarrod and Jayk. We did get the big boys a few things, but will probably shop online for the rest. We can get a better deal on an mp3 player that plays movies and videos and on Rock Band for the Wii, ..... not only are the smaller ones easier to shop for - they sure are a heckuva lot cheaper too!! Gryfinn still is not eating, but is drinking some. Until the evening. Jayk comes home with dinner from Taco Bell, and Gryfinn is all over his taco. Jayk being such a wonderful big brother lets him have it, and in turn, eats a couple of cookies after he finishes the rest of his meal. But, since Kel and I are concerned, we bought Gryfinn some Pediasure - which we don't try until Monday.



Monday December 1
I can NOT believe that it is already December. This year has just FLOWN by! Gryfinn still isn't back to normal, and still not really eating, so we try the Pediasure. And the poor baby - he must have thought his Mom's poisoned him. He thought he was drinking chocolate milk. He took a drink, and immediately was about in tears from the taste - he covered his mouth and said 'Oh Yuck. Oh Mommy, yuck. Oh no Mommy, yuck!' So I take it that it was yucky. And I felt just awful. So then gave him some good chocolate milk, and he drank it. He then eats some soup for lunch, and this just thrills us! And his next bowel movement was actually firm! YAY!!! Don't typically cheer for poop, but when your lil man has had diarrhea for a week straight, I am sure you would cheer too. I won a gemstone in a drawing from Kay Jewelers, so I had to go and pick out my stone of choice, and I also had to get Jarrod and Jayk their basketball shoes. So we ventured out to the mall. And I of course spent way too much money on things that are not needed. And I also got my finger shut in the car door. I took our car and not the crossover since I just took the big boys and Caelyn. And why, I am not sure, when we were leaving to head home, I had grabbed a hold of the part of the car that is between the front door and back door. And the the back door was open, and my pinkie slid down into the lil section where the door closes, and the next thing I know, Jayk slams the car door. And of course it won't shut all the way because my finger is there! It hurt so bad! I then yelled 'DO NOT SHUT THAT DOOR!' And then muttered a curse word, I think it was shit, or maybe it was damn. And then, the Mom came out, and I made sure Jayk knew I was not yelling at him, that I was just yelling because it hurt so bad, and I wanted to make sure he did not try to shut it again. Cause my finger was there. I told Kel that it hurt so bad I actually thought I was going to cry.



Tuesday December 2

Gryfinn is really on his way back to normal, but he is still a bit fussy. He is starting to get his spark back, but he still has that 'I don't feel well' look. His eyes are dark, and still look a bit sunken in. And he is still a bit fussy. And grumpy. I think some of that is from being babied for the last week. It always takes a lil while to get the kids back once they have been sick. But I really think we are on the road to recovery. And I am keeping my fingers crossed that Caelyn and I stay healthy and don't catch this awful bug that has plagued my family. Also - my poor pinkie is swollen and starting to bruise nicely. But, it doesn't seem to hurt too much. Gryfinn was back to his silly self last night. The color in his face seemed so much better, and his eyes didn't seem as dark. Thank goodness! I have missed my silly lil man! Jarrod and Jayk had bucket band practice last night, usually from 5-7, but Jarrod had to be at basketball ball at 6:15. So we left bucket band at 6 so he could make it to basketball on time, and my Mom brought Jayk home from bucket band. At their next performance, I will record, and then post - so you will see how AMAZING my boys are!



So - that is a week (well, again, more like two weeks) in review. Life has been hectic. I am ready for a vacation!!! I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I was going to add pictures here and there - ones of Caelyn in her barretts, of Gryfinn and his dark eyes, of the boys from their bucket band performance, of Eli's first birthday party - but I just didn't have time to get on the laptop where all the pictures are stored. So, those pic's will have to come at a later date. If I ever get the time on the laptop.

If you made it through this entire bog, I APPLAUD you!! If you didn't, I COMPLETELY understand. A lot of ramblings.....