"Mommy... my bel-wee hurts..."

We went through many, many, many days of stomach issues with Claire. She was/is sensitive to dyes, heavy sugar items, tomato based products and the list goes on. She's a pretty good sport about avoiding the triggers - like requesting white icing parts of the birthday cake, or passing on juice for water instead. Chloe, thankfully, has more of the goat stomach from my side of the family. But tomatoes will do her in as well - thanks to my yummy cheesy beefy bake casserole she had a few days of runny poo and a painful bottom rash. But she's a trooper and was all fixed up with a little diaper "team" gooped on. Another thing about Chloe, since moving into her big girl bed was that she sleeps like a log on the left side of the bed with her head on the pillow. I don't think the pillow on the other side of her Full Size bed has ever been touched by her head. Until Friday.

Thursday was a special day. Even though Claire had another Yellow behavior report (green is good), Chloe had a rock star day with TWO pee pees in the potty. Jason was out at a client dinner, so the girls and I went to Chick Fil A to treat Chloe. Then we went off to Target for some big girl panties. Because she was so excited and couldn't choose, we left with three packs - Dora, Disney Princess and Hello Kitty. Spirits were high!

Friday morning, I go into Chloe's room to get her up for school and she is on the right side of the bed. The side that she never goes on. Oh wait.... I see why! Because there is puke all over her left side pillow! And it gets better... she is laying in a puddle of diarrhea that has leaked out of her diaper and all over the right side of the bed. Yuck. A call to my Mom and Dad and a Chloe bath later, Chloe is sprawled across my lap with eyes closed and thumb in mouth. My parents arrive and take over so I can get on to work. Mom takes over sick baby duty - all she does is sleep and throw up all day. They try a little water, throw up. Try a few crackers, throw up. Saturday arrives.... I try water, throw up. I try Pedialyte, throw up. Eventually, Chloe stops her waking and is just a limp, open mouthed, out of it little girl. She can't drink from her cup, and there hasn't been a wet diaper since sometime over night Friday night. The on call pediatrician asks several questions: ounces of liquid kept down in past 24 hours (zero), number of wet diapers in past 24 hours (maybe 2, but none in 8 hours) and sends us to Greenville Memorial's Children's Emergency Room.

Saturday morning

I carry Chloe's limp body into the ER fully prepared for the crowds of knife wound, drugged out crazies who all have active stab wounds bleeding on the floor. After being frisked by the 6'5" / 325 lb woman security guard at the metal detectors (see, I told you there were crazies in there!) I check in at the front desk and take a seat in the waiting area and check out the scenery. Wait... there aren't even any sick or hurt people here! A couple serene looking people with the yellow ER arm bands flipping through magazines. Ahhh... the US health care system. I guess some people on that Saturday needed some Excedrin for their headaches or a freebie pregnancy test. There was no one in that waiting room even close to the condition that Chloe was in. Thankfully, GHS has a separate Pediatric ER and they took us back only 5 minutes after we arrived.

The nurses checked us into an exam room and took Chloe's vitals. What a great ER - nice and calm, separation from the drug OD's, with ceiling mounted TV's with cartoons playing. Not that Chloe noticed any of that. After an eternity, the resident showed up and prescribed the stop-the-puking drug, Zofran. She said she didn't want to do an IV if she could help it (needles + little arms = bad idea) and called up for a pink Pedialyte Popsicles. By the Resident doctor crossing the threshold of our exam room, an alarm was triggered for the Lady from the Business Office to show up and try to solicit some payment out of stressed out parents. As I am holding my comatose daughter, the conversation goes like this:


Lady: Hello, I am from the business office. Your insurance has a 20% co-pay. Would you like to pay that now?

Me: My 20% co-pay is based on the negotiated rate, which we won't know until the claim is filed and processed.

Lady: OK, well all we would really like to collect today is $150. Would you be ready to pay that today?

Me: We have yet to have any treatment. Isn't it customary to pay once services are rendered? We can't even get a Popsicle delivered around here!

Lady: How about I come back in 30 minutes after you have been treated.

Me: That would be great. I'd love that we be treated in 30 minutes.

Lady: Actually, I don't think I'll be able to make it back. Take this paper, now security will let you out. We'll send you a bill.


2 Hours later, the Popsicle shows up. Chloe springs out of a dead sleep to devour it... only devour means gingerly lick until almost half is gone.

And she is sound asleep again. The doctor comes back - she's exhausted and not able to take in more fluids. We opt for the IV, and two HUGE nurses/bodyguards wheel in the IV equipment. A third one shows up to hold down this lethargic 26 lb child. Without the strength to really fight, Chloe wails "mommmmmmyyyyy, mommmmmmmyyyyy...." over and over until the deed is done, and the juice is flowing. She conks back out for the entire hour that the bag takes to dispense.

Lights out for IV time

Near the end of the IV, Jason shows up with Claire - who has been at home sleeping while my parents were keeping me company at the hospital. Claire looked like she'd seen a ghost when she walked in - she saw Chloe hooked up to the machines and not moving on the stretcher bed. I teared up when I saw her carrying a bulging grocery bag full of Chloe's favorite toys - her baby doll, her lovie "Nunny", her Dora purse and all three of her new packages of Big Girl panties. Not long after Claire and Jason arrived, the IV finished up and the doctor came back to check on her. While she wasn't any more awake, she had a wet diaper!! Hurray! We were sprung from the hospital and on our way home.

Sunday's position of choice

Sunday was the same - lots of sleeping, but in the 5 minute jaunts of Chloe waking up, I force fed her some cheerios and chicken soup. Finally, after hours of sleeping she woke up at 3:00 and on shaky legs was ready to play again! Monday, Chloe stayed home from school, but was back at it today on her way to full recovery. We think we need a do-over on that weekend but are so glad that she is feeling all better!

Introducing ... the Class of 2023

They have entered the building!



Monday marked the beginning of the newest chapter of our lives... the start of Claire's 'official' schooling. And no less, the first day of school was on her 5th birthday. Some parents might be concerned about their child being the youngest child in her class and being ready, but with Claire you don't worry at all. She's been what I call street wise from the beginning. In fact, a teacher (3rd grade) at Claire's school who has a son in her pre-school class was shocked to hear how young she was in comparison to her classmates. She described Claire as "with it" after searching for a while to figure out how to describe her. I just knew I didn't need to worry a whole lot about Claire venturing off into the world of big girl school. Chloe may be a different story....


It's a transition for all of us: now we have 2 drop offs to make in the morning, Claire brings a cold lunch every day instead of her usual leftovers from dinner and there is the afternoon nap to give up. I feel for her - sound asleep at 7:20 on the night of Day 2, after having the excitement of a birthday on the same day as a jam packed first day of school. Thankfully she didn't wake us at 4:30 AM, but still an early time to get up. I tried to time things to not be quite so hurried in the morning, but we still ended up later than I wanted. We did snap a few pictures in the driveway before heading off.









I had drop-off duty for both girls because Jason's car was full of the birthday party water slide that had to be dropped off on Monday morning. I took Chloe to school first, then we made our way sloooooooowly through the traffic to Claire's new school. The traffic was as bad as I expected, but we did make it before the 8AM start time, parked and both walked her into her new class. The teachers were great in introducing them to the routine of indicating their lunch plans with a popsicle stick (brought from home, buy hot, etc), putting their bag in their assigned cubby and sitting at their assigned seat. The kids were coloring while everyone was getting settled. With a few more pictures and kisses good-bye, we were on our way out leaving Claire behind with her huge smile on her face.










I worried all day. I thought about her at 10:30 which is her designated lunch time (!!!), 12:00 at recess time, 2:00 at dismissal time, and 3:00 wondering if she made it back to Goddard for after school. I zoomed out of work at 4:50 and was thrilled to find her playing with kids in the gym - successfully making it onto the correct bus! Whew!


After collecting Chloe, we headed over to meet Jason and both sets of grandparents for dinner at Claire's favorite restaurant, Red Robin. After eating and having the obnoxious group of 10 of the wait staff sing their version of Happy Birthday, we came back to our house where a gift opening session to rival Christmas morning for a family of 8 kids took place. After another round of cupcakes, the girls were ready to collapse into bed.





What a memorable day to celebrate a birthday and first day of school!

Party Time!

I can control a lot of things. But I can't control the weather. That didn't stop me from checking the forecast for Saturday at least 6 times per day all week leading up to Saturday. Every forecast said the same thing - rain. Cooler temps. And it's time for a break, right? After all, for the past 100 days of summer it's been over 95* almost every day - and the weather people actually sound a little excited about talking about drought conditions again because it just hardly ever rains. Especially in August - everyone knows it is just hot with an occasional afternoon pop up thunderstorm.

Unless you are having your 5th birthday party at your house with a rented water slide with 25 of your closest 5 year old buddies coming over to run wild in the back yard. THEN you can see the storm clouds rolling up. The quote on the Friday night and Saturday morning weather reports: "better not have any outdoor plans this weekend that don't involve an umbrella!" I laid in bed Friday night listening to the rain whip outside thinking about how to escape the torment that was coming to me. I considered locking the front door, shutting the blinds, and leaving a platter of cupcakes on the front porch with instructions to take one and LEAVE. Jason tried to make me feel better.... it's a water slide, right? Who cares if it rains! Save me from running the hose all day!

Thankfully the weather people did what they did best... try to ruin your weekend and they were WRONG!! HA! We didn't see a drop of rain from 6AM until 5PM. It was overcast for most of the morning, but it helped to keep temps down so us parents didn't pass out on the porch and deck watching the kids run around like maniacs going down that slide a few hundred times each.

Party Favors

Cupcakes!

Waiting for everyone to show up

Claire and her buddies had a ball - the slide was a big hit, pizza was served and the cupcakes were fabulous.












When the sun came out after everyone was exhausted around 2:00, we decided to turn the water off and let the slide dry out and pack it back up. It was still forecasted to rain on Sunday, so we didn't want to have to deal with shoving a wet slide in the back of Jason's SUV. Around 5PM Saturday night the rain started - flash flood warnings and all, it sure did rain! And good think we packed it up because Sunday's weather was terr... oh, wait.... It's 95* and bright and sunny today!!


That's OK, Claire is exhausted and napping now to get ready for her first day of kindergarten tomorrow - which happens to be on her actual 5th birthday!

You Know it's Muggy Outside When...

You know it's muggy outside when....

..... you hear water running in gutters and it's not raining

You know it's muggy outside when....

...... at 6:30 AM you can't see your neighbor's house in the fog/humidity/swamp, and it's only 20 feet away

You know it's muggy outside when....

....... the roads are soaking wet but it's been 6 hours since the last rain

You know it's muggy outside when....

......... you see mushrooms sprouting up in the grass, where yesterday there were none

You know it's muggy outside when....

......... You step out of the cold AC and your first breath feels like it's through a straw

You know it's muggy outside when....

....... A swamp creature shows up at your house at 7:30 AM looking for water. And your sweet daughter brings it a bottle.

***Here's to looking forward to lower humidity and temps for the Fall!

Recipe - Mexican Pork Chops

I've been trying to serve less red meat, but have had trouble finding ways to mix in pork, chicken or even fish that everyone is happy with. Our new pork stand-by is to marinate some chops in low-sodium Dale's for about 30 minutes and then toss them on the grill. It's super easy and really good. But that about summed up my pork chop resume. Last night I tried something new that fit into my favorite kinds of meals - those that have ingredients that are mostly dumped out of something, and everything is contained in one dish.

Here ya go....

Mexican Style Pork Chops

4 Center Cut Pork Chops, bone in (pretty thick - about 3/4" or so)
Can black beans, drain & rinse
Can yellow corn, drain
1 cup instant rice, uncooked
1 medium onion, chopped (or about a cup of frozen chopped onion)
1 can tomato soup
1 1/4 cup water
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Pre-heat oven to 375
Heat oil in large oven proof skillet with Med-High heat
Brown pork chops in oil on both sides, about 3 min per side
Remove chops from heat and set aside
Saute onion in same skillet until tender
Add all remaining ingredients, except cheese
Bring to boil, then turn off heat
Lay pork chops on top of mixture
Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes (depends on thickness of chops)
Sprinkle with cheese for the last 5 minutes in the oven

Family feedback: Kids and Jason liked it, and we all had plenty for lunch leftovers. You could add more chops if you needed to.

Experimental Cooking

As I have mentioned oh, at least 10,000 times before, I stay pretty busy with work, kids and life in general. For some reason I like to cook most weeknights - the rare exception being if someone has to work really late, or I find myself out of a key ingredient. Come to think of it, running out of key ingredients is pretty common. Just ask Jason about trips to Publix to buy a can of cream of mushroom soup (he comes back with 5.)

I'm not sure why I run out of stuff. Every Sunday I diligently make a list of what we are going to have as meals for the week. I take inventory of what items I have on hand, then make a list of everything else that I need. Then off we go, the whole family, to the grocery store with list in hand.

The list creating process usually takes me a looooooong time because I am always bored with the same old/same old stuff that I make. To try to freshen things up, I search cookbooks, websites or just make stuff up to create new things. Jason will tell you - some work out, and some do not which again leads to an impromptu pizza night. Most of the things that I choose are meant to be fast and kid friendly. They are not necessarily the healthiest option (read: I like cheese) or the most economical. I realize that I could save money by not going for convenience items, but for me it makes sense to use frozen chopped onion or green peppers, pre-shredded cheese, etc to speed up the prep time. Again, my goal is to provide a hot meal that the kids (including Jason) will eat AND we have leftovers for the next day's lunches.

Truth is, I like to cook and try new things. So for all those busy folks out there, I thought I would share. I can't promise that they are any good, but I will share the feedback from my family and what we thought of it. And feel free to share ideas back with me!

An Unmistakable Thud

You know the one I am talking about .... the sound of a little head hitting a hard floor. Having knocked myself out on our hardwood floors, I show pity to all others who have had their noggin cracked - even when it's caused by the usual rule breaking - jumping on furniture, running through the house, etc. But yesterday's thud from my favorite accident prone two year old turned out to be a little more then a head bonk.

First a little background information..... Chloe moved to our kitchen table several months ago and she sits at our counter height table in her booster seat. Over the past few weeks Chloe has figured out to mount and dismount her booster all on her own. And beware of the tongue lashing you get if you, heaven forbid, try to help her climb up or down into the stool - you'll be screamed at with a "noooo, Himie do it!" and we recoil and allow her to shake and strain her way up into the seat. Side note... we are not sure who Himie is (pronounced Him-E), but that is how Chloe refers to herself. No idea where that came from, but the message is clear: Back Off.

Sunday night Chloe (Himie) had finished up her weekly Sunday Grilled Cheese Supper (Sunday best, of course) and was making her climb down the stool to join Claire for play time. I was making my own sandwich at the time and only heard the thud... and the scream afterwards. I run over and scoop her off the floor where she's laying face down and a gush of blood comes out of her mouth. You know the blood I am talking about - the black kind that indicates something reallllly deep has gone on. I whisk her to the kitchen sink where the blood continues to pour and I hear it gurgling in her throat. I mop her chin with a paper towel and Jason brings a cup of water - in which she lets another rush of blood flow right into. At this point I still can't see where the blood is coming from - she's just screaming and gurgling, and the blood is still full in her mouth and I can't see in. She finally calms down and lays on my shoulder for a few minutes and I ask her if it is her teeth or tongue that is hurting. She clearly replies with "tongue" and even sticks it out so I can see the big black gash that is right in the center. Thankfully all the teeth are still intact.

The shirt - "Smile!" Ummm, don't think so.

Chloe calms down and has some water out of a sippy, then head's into my bedroom for their special TV watching treat whenever someone gets sick or injured. An hour of Dora and The Wonder Pets later, she tells me, "Mommy, it's feewing bettah." She makes an appeal for me to sleep with her when I put her to bed - gotta give her credit for a good try!

This morning at breakfast, Chloe sucked on some cantaloupe and licked icing off a toaster strudel - but ate no solid food before heading to the couch with her blanket saying she wanted to go night-night. I spoke with her teacher around lunch time and she ate snack and lunch but was still requesting to go to sleep. Hopefully this will be a quick heal and Himie will feel better soon!