Not a good start to the week...

It is 1:30 AM. I just finished my homework assignments due tonight, with 14 minutes to spare. Michael arrived home with a high fever that went up to 104.7. He is going to Jeanne's tomorrow (thanks Jeanne! :) ) and then probably back to the doctor unless he makes a miraculous recovery by tomorrow. I am exhausted and have 4 hours to sleep if I am lucky enough not to have it interrupted. I thought I would share part of my homework assignment with you. We were asked to give examples of defense mechanisms:

Right now, I am denying that it is truly 12 AM and that I have to get up for work in 4 and a half hours. I am also repressing the thought that my sick 2 year old will most likely be waking up every 30 minutes for the remainder of the evening and result in even less sleep. And I am most definitely repressing any thoughts of what my work day will be like tomorrow. And tomorrow, I will use reaction formation when I go into work, smiling and cheerful when really I will feel like putting my head down on my desk and whining because I know I will be awake for at least the next 14 hours and will probably have to take a trip to the pediatrician after work...well, maybe not whining, but at least taking a nice, long nap.

Let's hope that the professor has a good sense of humor. :)

So very, very tired

I am not sure how it is only Tuesday. Nicholas and Michael returned home from their visit from their Dad's this weekend. They were very glad to see him and it sounds like they had a great visit...aside from Nick's injury.

When Nick arrived home on Sunday night, he could still barely move his arm and it hurt him to touch it. I read the medical reports that stated it was either a sprain or Nursemaid's Elbow. I had no idea what that was, but I found out it was a partially dislocated elbow and Nick had every single symptom of it. I am not sure what the confusion about it was. I have no medical expertise and it seemed pretty obvious to me and it made me pretty angry that the hospital had missed it. And then I felt panicked when I read that if it wasn't corrected soon after it could cause permanent damage to a kid's range of motion in his arm. There were instructions on how to fix it, but they were confusing. Luckily, I cam across Megan's blog here: http://www.holdituptothelight.com/ (which is totally adorable) which included pictures with instructions on how to fix it. So I just followed her instructions and his elbow popped right into place and now he is good as new. I am very relieved as I was not wanting to go to the ER for the third time in a week. Nick was totally thrilled that his arm worked again. We ate chocolate to celebrate. :)

I toasted waffles this morning and apparently they were evil conspirational waffles. Because when they popped out, they knocked out the electricity from the toaster, microwave, and the refrigerator. All I could think of was all of those home cooked frozen lunches I had prepared for the boys melting and becoming unusable. So I went down to the circuit breaker and told it it needed to work with me because I was not in the mood to cook 18 additional baby meals. I flipped every switch back and forth, said a little prayer, and our appliances are up and running again. It's a good thing. I may have murdered the waffles.

Nick and Michael had a great day at school today. Michael has started napping and receives huge smiley faces from his teachers as they are grateful that peace is returning to their classroom instead of Michael causing a baby revolt every day at nap time. Nick does great at school, but he has desginated nap for a time to kick things, sing, and roll like a log across the room, which is not amusing his teacher at school at all. We are working on it. He is at least doing fine with all the "awake time" activities.

I started 2 online graduate classes yesterday to begin earning the 12 stupid counseling credits I need to take to earn my counseling license. I already passed the test and completed the hours (both years ago) but my Master's program was 48 credits and licensure requires 60. I have to say it is a little intimidating. It has been 10 years since I was last in school. I am taking Personality Theory and Grief and Bereavement Counseling and am grateful that neither include any math. :)

It is 7:53 PM and I am leaving my house a wreck and am getting up early to deal with it. Right now, I am going to go to sleep. And I am going to dream about running, and my friends in VA, and being at a playground with the boys, and chocolate, and ice cream, and of some day when I will be able to sleep on a regular basis again.

ER trip - take 2

Well, at least my boys are efficient and are getting their lifetime's worth of ER visits over with within a weeks' period. Last night, Nicholas was at his Dad's house pretending to be a cat. Somehow, he twisted his wrist and when he woke up this morning it was tender and hurt him to move it. So the boys' Dad took Nick and Michael to he ER so Nick could get x-rays. The doctor thinks he may have sprained it. At least it's not broken. I am hoping on a very boring week that does not involve any sicknesses or injuries. 'Hope you all have a great week too!

How to get hot chicks....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-haskins/target-women-how-to-get-h_b_308173.html

The start of school, the ER, and a cardboard box

Here are some pictures of what will likely be our last pool day of September, taken sometime earlier this month. I think we will all miss those days, but with the end of summer much other excitement has arrived in our lives.

Nicholas and Michael started daycare/school at the end of August. They are settling in and both are doing well. Nick is very enthusiastic about his new school and is learning his letters and numbers quickly. It's difficult to figure out what he actually knows since he hates being asked and will pretend he doesn't know things just so his teachers, or I, or anyone else will stop asking him. He is learning to write and loves it. He comes home every day and tells me he has to do his homework and practices. It's amazing to watch him learn! His teacher says he is very bright. But then I was curious then why I had to keep calling the poison control center. I would think that determining what substances would constitute food would be a basic measure of some sort of intelligence. I hope he is bright, but really I just want him to be happy, healthy, and kind to others. Anything else is a bonus. I am just very glad that he is settling down and seems to really enjoy school. He has an awesome teacher and loves all of the structure, which is good. He will have many more years of it. :)

The only complaint I've received is Nick's singing. And luckily it is unrelated to my lack of talent at it. He was refusing to sing at first and his teacher kept urging him to join the class in song. And he finally found his voice. It's just that when he finds it at naptime after the entire class is asleep and bursts into a spontaneous song, it tends to wake up his sleepy classmates and that is not appreciated. Luckily, it has only happened a few times so far. It must have been pretty impressive though since teachers from the other floor commented on it.

Michael....well, he had a bit of a rough start. Michael decided he didn't much care for his teacher and wanted to go back to Ms. Jeanne's house. Michael has opinions on things, but is basically a pretty cooperative and sweet kid. But with school, he decided to make a strong stand. So after the first 2 weeks of him physically assaulting his teacher, thwapping other kids with his bear blanket, and hurling his lunch across the room, I suggested a classroom change. His teacher may have been perfectly wonderful, but it is out of character for Michael not to like someone, let alone beat on him or her. Things have improved since that. Michael is no longer hitting his teachers, and his new teachers are much more positive about his school performance. I get comments like. "Michael speaks very well! But we did have some problems where he wouldn't stop lying on the table today (or hitting a friend, or jumping off of a chair, or hanging from a coat rack....) He is still very sweet, but I have to say he is no longer the docile, easy going baby he was. He is still very happy though!

He was so happy that even when he had a fever at school, no one noticed, which is NOT the school's fault as he does not act sick when he is sick. Unfortunately, when they did notice, his fever was 104.5. And despite giving him tylenol and popsicles, when we arrived at the pediatrician's office it was 105.9. Despite another dose of medications, we could only get it down to 104.2 and the doctor was concerned he might have pneumonia. So my parents were kind enough to assist us. My mom watched Nick and my Dad and I took a very sick baby boo to the ER CHOP. They did not do the x-rays the doctor recommended and said it was a cold. That is SOME cold. We saw 3 different doctor's that night who had 3 different opinions, but what really matters is that once the antibiotics kicked in (which I was able to run out and get thanks to Emily), his fever went away and now he seems healthy and well again.

One of the scariest parts was also one of the funniest. After we arrived home from daycare and we were waiting to go to the pediatrician, Michael started hallucinating and was giggling and grabbing at invisible fireflies. Then he saw my mom (Nonna) on the TV and was totally shocked and happy about it. He was the happiest sick kid I have ever seen. He talked and giggled the entire time until we realized how high his fever was and had to put cold washclothes all over him. Poor kid. And Nick was so good that evening which must have been really hard as it was quite chaotic and scary. I was very grateful to live so near my family that evening and that they were so helpful...thank you!!! :)

The pictures below are from a week ago when I gave my kids a box. First they colored it with markers, and then it has been a car, rocket, plane, train, and my personal favorite, a luggage carrier. Nick filled the entire thing with toys and then "delivered" them by putting them back on the shelves (definitely not my genetics! :) ).

As for me, everything has been going well. I am enjoying work again since the demotion I applied for was granted. I am starting school tomorrow to get the 12 credits of counseling related courses I need to apply for my counseling license (since I finished all of the other requirements and that is the only thing holding me back.) And I discovered I qualify for the post 911 GI Bill so I am going to go back to school this summer after I finish the 12 counseling credits this spring, to start on my MA in Administration of Human Services. I feel like I am finally getting the hang of managing everything on my own (with the very appreciated support of family and friends) and we are really settling down here.

Thanks for reading and happy Fall! :)