{Ava-bird is 9 months old}

(As of February 4th, that is.)

Ava is such a sweet little girl. I can't get enough of her and I definitely can't believe that she'll be a year old soon. She still seems so little to me. Time sure flies. During her ninth month she learned to wave bye-bye, give high-fives, clap her hands and say "uh-oh". She is so fun-loving and those cheeks are certainly the show-stopper when we're running errands. We hear a lot of "aaaw, look at that adorable pout" and "oh my goodness, I just want to pinch those cute cheeks" while were out and we love to soak up every minute of it because we're pretty sure those chunky little cheeks won't last forever. Strangely, we also hear a lot of "wow, what a deep voice she has" as well. It's so true - our little girl sounds a bit masculine. But we'll just call it "sultry" instead, okay? I actually love her deep little voice. It sort of compensates for the fact that she's still quite dainty.

Happy 9 months to our sweet, growing girl! She truly is the little princess of our household and is deeply adored.

{seriously?}

Can you believe after I blogged about the whole house being done with the RSV plague that we all came down with the stomach flu? Yep, more puking. Eli caught it Saturday/Sunday and then I had it Thursday and then Ava and Dev had it Sunday. Ugh.

Anywho, just dropping by this neglected blog of mine with hopes to post something more [fun] later. This neglect seems to be the norm lately since we are ALWAYS ill around here. I also need to catch Ava (who is simultaneously suffering from a yucky cold and pink eye) on a healthy day for her 9-month photos. Wish me luck before she's 10 months and I've missed it.

Did I mention that I need a vacation.

{tomorrow}

Who gave the baby a sucker?

{preschool valentine's treats}

I saw this idea on howdoesshe's blog and loved them. Granted, they would have been MUCH MORE appreciated by an older crowd, but Dean loved them nonetheless. I made 30 of them for his preschool Valentine swap and forgot to take photos - darnit - of all the cute "skins" I made. This is the one he brought home and it was actually one of my faves so I'm glad I could get a photo of it.

The process: Wrap your conversation hearts "sweethearts" in cute paper. Use two twizzler strings (or regular string) for the cables. Wrap two rolos or mini PB cups in foil to create ear buds, folding the foil aroud the twizzlers to attach. Glue on your playlist and button and you're good to go. I put them in baggies labeled "iHeart you!" to complete the package. It was pretty easy and quick-moving as far as crafty projects like this go but it would have moved a LOT faster if I had left the ear buds out. But what fun would that have been?

Oh, and I can't believe how much candy Dean scored in class today. I think he's going to have a sugar high for a month. I also can't believe that the wonderful Cy-Fair school district will only allow school-aged (Kindergarten and up) kids to swap cards and stickers. LAME! What is this health-nut world coming to when kids can't even enjoy a good sugar-induced buzz on at least Halloween and Valentine's Day? Sheesh.

Anywho, have a great (and romantic if you're mushy like that) Valentine's Day this weekend!!

{glad the plague is gone}

The RSV lasted two weeks in this house and it was NOT a fun two weeks. It started with a couple days of cold and cough and blew up into throwing up and wild fevers - alternating between children - for the remaining 12 days. That was 12 days of at least one of the kids barfing. You can probably imagine what a delight that was all on your own.

Eli's body seemed to have the worst time coping and he developed fever blisters inside his mouth and on his lips. His fevers got up to 104 and hovered at high levels for about 5 of the days. He only threw up 3 or 4 of the times though but since he wouldn't eat he lost 5 lbs in a week. It was a struggle to keep him hydrated and he actually scared us a couple times as he grew a little delirious from his need to hydrate. We forced some pediasure into that little tummy of his and he bounced right back. Thankfully.

Ava, on the other hand, did not get any fever. She was the one we were most concerned about because RSV can be so dangerous for little ones so we were grateful for that. She threw up several times but seemed to take it in strides. And then a night came that she literally didn't sleep at all (so neither did Dev or I). She just screamed and moaned the whole night. She still didn't have a fever but she's such a good sleeper these days that we knew something was wrong. So back to the doc we went to find out one of her ear drums ruptured, and the other one came near, due to all the phlegm and mucous the wonderful illness produced. She was fine after she started her amoxicillin and ear drops.

And then there's Dean. He waited to get his RSV until the others were starting to recover so he spent the remaining 7 days of the plague throwing up and feverish all by himself. I have to say, that made it easier on me but since I could just focus on him but he missed a whole week of preschool, unfortunately. He always gets high fevers so we weren't shocked to see his in the 103-104 range. He seemed to do fine in the mornings and I would catch myself thinking that he was getting better. Then the evening would come and he would be feverish and vomiting again. He had such a yucky nose through it all that his skin below his nose chapped and scabbed from all his wiping. We sent him back to preschool once he was all better (that would be yesterday) looking like he had a Hitler mustache. Poor guy.

Thank goodness we're all doing better and that it wasn't worse. We didn't have any of the terrible breathing issues that can sometimes come with RSV so nobody needed a nebulizer (is that what they're called?). And they were all better by the 6th which was my birthday (Happy birthday to you, too, Tiff Snedeker), so I got to out with my man and some friends. That was a great end to an exhausting couple weeks.

{still here}

Hi all.

I just wanted to hop on here and say that we ARE still alive so no need to email or call anymore. The kids have had RSV since the Sunday before last and it's just not going away. So, we have been elbow-deep in snot and puke and this virus is definitely plague-worthy in our opinions. Every time we think the kiddos are on the up and up, it strikes again. We were thinking last night that perhaps everyone was getting better. Shortly after discussing that, however, Ava and Dean threw up all over their beds (and in Ava's case, also the floor and the floor again - poor thing). Eli seemed to have the worst of it and got some nasty fever blisters in the midst of his woes last week. He also lost 5 pounds which is concerning for Eli because he lives and breathes to eat and refused for much of the week. We were pretty worried but he's doing much better now.

As for the other two... we wait. I hate waiting and hope they're better soon. Ava only slept an hour last night so Devin and I tried to tag-team caring for her. Thank goodness he was willing to donate some of his own sleep to the cause because I know I could not handle three sick kiddos on no sleep. I'm not even sure I can handle three well kids on no sleep. Anywho, I'd better go because Eli and Dean are at war and I need to go break it up. (I guess it's good that they're feeling well enough to argue?)

I need a nap.