Weekend Update

So what have we been up to for the last month? Well, let's take it from the bottom.

Sophie
The supermuppet turned 2! And just what was on her dream agenda for the big day?

Chuck E. Cheese's. Check.

Pablo cake. Check.

Balloons. Not pictured, but check.

All in all, I think it was a fairly successful day. Ethan and Grace had a little bit too much fun "decorating" for her birthday, as well as picking out and wrapping her birthday presents. Chuck E. Cheese's was a nightmare and a half, but I guess that was to be expected. We went on a Saturday afternoon and as soon as we walked in, we saw that literally every single table and booth there had a reserved sign on it for someone's birthday party. It was so crowded that I have no idea how it wasn't a fire hazard, and I swear the place was starting to give me a panic attack. Luckily the kids spent their 20 bucks worth of tokens quickly and after a 20 minute wait in line to pick out their "prizes" with their tickets, we were out of there.

Half-way through the ticket redemption line.

Sophie has a little bit of a crush on Pablo from the Backyardigans, and luckily I was able to find directions on Nick, Jr.'s website to make her cake. Of course, the icing contained more blue food coloring in it than actual icing, and Sophie couldn't even eat any of it due to her allergies, but she loved it nonetheless.

Grace

Grace, Grace, Grace. Poor little Grace has been through quite a lot over the last few weeks. Starting TWO weeks ago she came down with strep throat. She started running a fever one night and complaining that her tonsils were hurting and by the next morning the glands on her neck were totally swollen. I took her in to the doctor, they verified it was strep, and after getting her prescription filled we were on our way. One week LATER however, as I went to check on the kids before going to bed, I saw that Grace looked like she had a bit of a rash on her back and stomach. I wasn't super concerned because the doctor had said that Scarlet Fever is also caused by a Strep bacteria, and that those symptoms might show up as well even while she was on the antibiotics. By the time she woke up the next morning, the rash had spread even more. Well, fast forward till about noon, and I was getting more concerned because the rash was looking even worse and it wasn't exactly matching the description or pictures for Scarlet Fever I had found online. At this point a light came on in my brain and I realized that the rash could be an allergic reaction to the antibiotics she was on.

So after waking Sophie up (who I had just put down for her nap 20 minutes earlier), and loading all 3 kids up in the car, we headed back over to the doctor's office where the nurse took one look at her and went straight for the Benadryl. As soon as the doctor walked in, he verified that indeed she is allergic to penicillin.

Here she is in the morning before we went to the doctor:

(Don't be fooled by this picture. Yes, she looks bad -- but, she was actually posing with these faces for the picture and having a grand old time doing so.)

And here she is later that night before bed, when the hives had spread even more:

Every square inch of her body was literally covered.


America's Next Top Model 2025


Poor little Grace-Face

Actually it was poor little mom (and dad). Because you see, the thing with hives is that they tend to itch. And since Grace was basically one giant hive, her itching was monstrous. That first night she woke up at 10 o'clock at night and couldn't fall back asleep until 3 in the morning because she was itching -- and twitching -- so bad. And this was even while on Benadryl round the clock. I took the next night's shift which was luckily only from 10 until midnight, but still. It was a rough weekend for all of us! It's been a little over a week now since we discovered the allergy, and the rash has basically faded away. Her face still looks a little mottled, but it is nothing like it was. As for Grace, she's basically just excited that she's allergic to something just like Sophie. Is she your classic middle child, or what? Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!


Ethan
Ethan has been lucky enough to escape most of the sickness this month, and as a result has been able to focus more of his attention on the important things in his life. You know like making birthday decorations for Sophie, Valentines galore, and a little upstairs decor for the hallway. He's very creative like that. Unfortunately with all that creativity comes a lot of messes. And since I have not been feeling all that well myself this past month, that means that the house has stayed looking like this for a while:

Operation Valentine's Day 2009.


Ethan's improvements to the upstairs interior design.

Me

Just what have I been up to, you ask? Well, up until about a week and a half ago I was still feeling miserably morning sick. I basically spent a lot of time laying on the couch in the Living Room while the TV babysat the kids for me in the Family Room and the house went to pot and the kids lived on cereal and Scott lived on Ramen. Really, the only thing I managed to accomplish during this time was re-reading the entire Harry Potter series (minus Book 1, which has never been my favorite). I figured I was just lying there anyway, so I might as well keep my brain active, right? Right?

Fortunately, the morning sickness miraculously abated around 12 weeks, which is about a week or so earlier than I was expecting. I've been feeling so much better, that clearly the best way to celebrate was to drag all 3 kids to the mall yesterday (on a Saturday, mind you) so that I could finally get Sophie's birthday picture taken by the fine folks at The Picture People. Of course, I didn't really have a choice seeing as to how Scott was busy magnifying his scouting calling by spending ALL day at a training program, but still. Let's just say that Ethan refused to change out of his pajamas that morning, we were running late for her appointment because I never got around to ironing her dress the night before, the kids were begging for suckers during almost all of the "photo shoot," and we ended up spending over 3 hours there because I didn't want to "waste" a trip all the way out to the mall. I figured while I was there I might as well check out maternity clothing at the Gap and kids clothes at Gymboree (which just happen to be on opposite sides of the mall) all because I had coupons and reward cards burning a hole in my pocket. Sophie missed her nap, we all missed lunch and I ended up forking over my precious spending money on food court pizza, and in the end I only managed to find one thing I wanted at the Gap.

This week I also managed to make a Gumbo for Enrichment, demonstrated that night how to start the Roux for the class, and gave the sisters a hastily researched (i.e. Googled) history of Cajuns in Louisiana as well as basic differences between Creole and Cajun cooking. Because I am such an expert. Hahahahaha. And today was my Sunday for teaching Relief Society at church. So, there you have it. My month in a nutshell.

What the bunnysauce? Where did this belly come from??


Ode to a sugar cookie. Oh how I love you -- you pink, buttercream-frosted, sprinkled delight.

Scott

Or Scoutmaster Scotty as I like to call him these days. Scott has been quite busy this month with work, scouts, and taking over all my responsibilities around the house. Oh and cahooting with Ken Jennings to plan a retirement party for one of the Sales Directors Scott works with. That's right, I said Ken Jennings. As in the Jeopardy guy. How funny is that?? Apparently this lady LOVES Jeopardy and told Scott one time that Ken was her hero. This got the wheel's rolling in Scott's brain and when it came time to planning the party, he decided to send a little email Ken's way to see if there was anything he could do to help.

And help he did. Here are his contributions:

A Ken Jennings bobble-head doll, a signed copy of his book, and an "audio message" he provided for playing at her party. Not too shabby, right?

Well, that's about all folks. I'll be celebrating my 29th birthday on this coming Saturday, so perhaps the next post won't be a month in coming...


Hahahahaha.