So Chase is back at school today, I hope he's feeling well enough to behave himself. Tomorrow our little guy turns six (SIX! How is he six years old?) and I just emailed his teacher to find out a good time to bring the much-requested cookie cake up for his class.

Cass seems to be a bit snotty but is otherwise in good spirits. I need to start thinking about goody bags for Chase's bday party this weekend. Five of the 11 kids we invited from his class neglected to RSVP. Nice, eh?

I'm off to figure out goody bags...we're going to pick out/order the cake this afternoon when we go get the cookie cake. I asked what he wanted to do for his bday dinner tomorrow night and he said he wanted mac & cheese.

Cass awakes...

The words you never want to hear at 2am...

"My tummy hurts..."

So yesterday I stayed in bed feverish and hopped up on Nyquil. I quite literally didn't leave my bed yesterday. Jamie was on kid duty and I slept. I started to feel a bit better late yesterday evening. Chase went to AWANA w/his BFF Dylan and had a blast. He came home, we got the kids in the bed and I went back to bed for the night. Around 2am, Chase came into our room, and came over to me complaining of a tummy ache. I was a bit hazy from the Nyquil and asked Jamie to give him two jr. motrin for pain. Barney purple, grape flavored jr. motrin. Chase went back to bed after the motrin. A few minutes later, he came back and spewed all over our bedroom and bathroom. Barney purple puke. Fortunately, this thing I've got has rendered me smell-less. So Jamie busted out the steam cleaner and we set to work. Chase was back asleep (in his own bed) by the time we finished.

Cassie is not 100% yet, she was up multiple times last night. Chase is feeling better today--I really think it may have been something he ate b/c he's enjoying his day on the couch in front of Noggin and Nick Jr a bit too much. As for me, the fever is gone and I think I'm on the mend. Jamie, on the other hand--Jamie looks a bit like Michael Keaton during the flannel shirt scene in Mr. Mom. I think it is safe to say that he does not envy me my SAHM status, particularly on days like this. "Yesterday, I yelled Kenny for coloring outside of the lines, Caroline. I'm starting to lose it here..."

Well, Cassie went to the dr today instead of hanging at her cousin Brady's bday party. The dr said she's definitely coming down w/something, but her breathing sounds good and her ears look good--so they could rule out pneumonia and an ear infection. That still leaves influenza (Chase and I were vaxed, Cass wasn't), RSV, UTI and a whole slew of other stuff. Basically, it is too early to tell. So I'm to keep an eye on her and bring her back Monday if she's still feverish so they can do urinalysis and a chest x-ray. IOW--I totally wasted a co-pay and my morning AND I missed my nephew's first bday. Grrrrr.

The car idiot emailed me an apology. It made me laugh. There is a nice family here now test driving the van. I hope they buy it. They have two young boys. Chase was outside--he wanted to tell them all the cool features it has so they'll buy it. God love him--I plunked him in front of The Backyardigans On Demand. He means well...

I'm off, I haven't done anything productive today.

Cassie's First Fever, I think

So Cass spiked a 103.1 fever this afternoon. Given the nasty cold her parents and brother have, I'm not surprised. What does surprise me is that she isn't snotting, sniffling, or hacking like the rest of us--she's just feverish. And crabby. And boycotting sleep b/c God forbid she go horizontal. Hmmm--Dr. Mom is thinking ear infection.

I could talk about the experience w/the ped's nurse that inspired a complaint letter to the ped, but I think I'm going to do a shot of Nyquil and head to bed. That's another post for another day.

This isn't exactly restoring my faith in the human race...

So we're trying to sell the van. I'm upgrading to a new Sienna in a few weeks and we thought we'd do the fiscally responsible thing and sell the T&C outright vs. doing a trade in. I've sold a few cars in the paper over the years and never had any problems, so I wasn't expecting what I've got. We've had the car priced well below blue book for some time (the car market in general is dead right now) and keep getting ridiculous low-ball offers. Some moron just emailed me, "Yeah, I looked it up on Kelly Blue Book, too. Those go for $5100 on eBay 12-24 hrs from my house, but since I wouldn't have to drive so far, I'll give you 6k." Seriously. I replied that I would donate the van to charity and get a tax deduction before I gave it away like that. A$$hole. FTR--6k is a good 2500 under blue book. I could get more than THAT on a trade in...Grrrrrrrrr.

Jamie isn't worried--so I shouldn't be, but I can't help it. I'm a worrier. I think we're going to see about parking it on Jim's parking lot for a few weeks w/a For Sale sign. We can leave the keys in Jim's office and they can see him if they want to test drive it. Thank God we can afford to sit on it for a while, but thus far, this whole experience has done nothing to restore my faith in humanity. Everyone wants something (that would be my van) for nothing. And that makes me sad.

PS--Still not feeling well. Chase has the cough, but (knock wood) Cass seems well enough. Mr. K has taken a turn for the worse, he's in ICU on a feeding tube and drs say this weekend is critical. Please send out some prayers for him and Judy.

Bucket of Butt

That's how I feel right now. I told Chase I felt like a bucket of butt last night and he said, "That's probably not something I should say at school, huh?" Yeah, not so much. Jamie's been sick for a week. Jamie is tough. The only sick day he has taken in our decade of marriage was when he herniated a disk last spring. Seriously. I dropped Chase off at preschool, walked in the house to find Jamie flat on his back on the living room floor and knew it was bad b/c he wasn't at work. He wasn't at work b/c he couldn't sit, stand, or walk. He missed 1 1/2 days of work for a herniated disk. Seriously. Don't tell him this, but I'm pretty sure he's tougher than Chuck Norris...or just crazy. But my point is, the man doesn't let being sick get him down. He's worked through 104 fevers, the stomach flu--you name it, he's worked through it.

Then there is me. I am a wuss. A total, complete, absolute wuss about illness. I've given birth twice and didn't think labor was that big of a deal. But give me a fever and I'm a whiny mess. Last night I had a 100.3 fever. That's not even a high fever! Chase's fever hit 105 w/his pneumonia last month. But I was in bed, wearing sweats, covered w/a pile of blankets and apparently looking so pathetic that my five year old felt compelled to soothe me. Jamie brought home a strawberry shake. He's going to be late the rest of the week, btw. So I'm going into survival mode and doing the bare minimum to get by and that's it. And praying the kids stay well...

On the bright side, CIO took less than a week to work. I don't think there has ever been a baby more easygoing than Cass. Truly. This morning I popped her into her crib and she flipped onto her tummy and snuggled in. She didn't make a peep of protest. I am so blessed to have such an easy, sweet little girl.

Off to shower. And then I'll put on a clean pair of jammies...and curl up w/Woody. Jamie may not need sick days, but I'm taking one today.

Once upon a time, "everyone knew" the Earth was flat. Clearly, just b/c everyone knew it didn't make it true.

Just thought I'd throw that out there. Does anyone know how to format this blogspot stuff? My inability to indent paragraphs and/or have hard breaks between them drives this English major crazy.

Cassie recently decided that napping is for the birds. Like most young women, she'd much prefer socializing. So mean mommy has resorted to letting her cry it out. She doesn't really cry so much as fuss/protest loudly. Yesterday she did it for 45 minutes and I thought I might die. Last night, it was 10 minutes before bed. This morning, it was about 10 or 15 minutes--which I can handle. 10-15 minutes of fussing is worth a happy, well rested baby.

I'm off to get some laundry done while little one sleeps. Chase was thrilled by the snow this morning (the whole dusting of it) and has his first Young Rembrandts session tonight after school. He and his BFF Dylan are doing YR together. I'll be anxious to hear how he likes it. Dylan was over all day yesterday and they boys had a blast playing together. They watched High School Musical on the way home, now I know what to get Chase for his bday...how is it possible that he is going to be six years old in eight days?