Not only do I find little boy surprises in Grant's pockets like acorns, rocks and sticks, but I also find boy surprises in his lunch box. Leaves and sticks are his top two favorites. Before I can make his lunch for the next school day, I must first literally clean out the boy's lunch kit. Too bad I don't have a compost heap I could add this stuff to. It goes in my "Favorite Grant Memories" section in my heart instead.
...It does this...
And just when you think you've seen it all, it becomes clear that today is the day pigs must be flying because not only is the snow suddenly falling in a way that would make one believe the heavens truly had opened up, but the snow is actually starting to stick...
Wow! 
It was truly an unexpected, magical day. The reports the night before said we had a 50/50 chance of snow. I was one of the thousands that was sure the snow would hit further north. Thank goodness I was wrong. It was so fun to see the kids enjoying the wonder that snow is. Snow is truly a rare occurrence here, so I wanted to be sure the boys got to see, touch, smell and taste it -who knows if/when it'll happen again.
Ugggggh. What a night! Grant had a sudden asthma attack at about 1 this morning. I tried to gain control over the problem in the same progression I always do. We start off with a breathing treatment and wait ten minutes... If no luck, we do another breathing treatment and wait another ten minutes... This is when I would pretty much bet my bottom dollar the attack will be over. But Daddy is away, and that means that all things that would normally take a familiar progression decide to take a vacation. After doing two breathing treatments with Xopenex and a steroid, a dose of Singular and Mucinex and still not having any luck, I decided to try something that Cook's Children Hospital did when Grant was there two years ago with asthma. They switched back and forth between Xopenex and Albuterol. I figured this was our last shot before the E.R., so I crossed my fingers and emptied an Albuterol vial into the machine. Fifteen minutes later, I dare say he was actually getting worse. This is when I picked up the phone and called my mother and father-in-law b/c I needed someone to come stay with Rhett so I could take Grant to the hospital. If I felt the situation was bad enough, I would've called an ambulance or perhaps even ripped Rhett out of his pleasant slumber and drug him with us. But Grant was not turning blue/purple, and he was not using other muscles to help him breathe, so I really felt like we had time. While we waited for Dude-Dad to arrive to watch Rhett, I quickly packed an E.R. bag and got myself dressed while Grant did two more Albuterol treatments and cried from exhaustion, tired tummy muscles and the fear of shots that may occur once at the hospital. I tried to calm him b/c crying does NOT help asthma. I succeeded a tad. By then it was about 3 a.m., and I was starting to feel drowsy and really bummed that our night would spent in an E.R. and we would emerge sometime later that day with Grant being exhausted, poked and prodded, and I would be left with a nice hospital bill. Just when the feeling of "This stinks! Wake me up when it's over!" began to really set in........... Grant stopped coughing. Just like that. He went from coughing at least 50 times a minute (which I also know is bad for the heart and that's another reason I wanted to get him to the E.R.) to not coughing at all! FINALLY, the medicines had kicked in. After five breathing treatments (two Xopenex and three Albuterol) in 2.5 hours, an oral steroid, and a dose of Singulair and Mucinex, the episode had ended. Whew! Dude-Dad stayed a while as I put Grant back to bed to make sure everything really was okay and his babysitting services weren't needed after all. When all was clear, he went back home, bless his heart, and I was able to finally snuggle down into my warm bed next to Grant and close my eyes knowing that Grant's lungs were finally at rest.
I don't think he's coughed once today.
Now the big question is, why can't these things happen when Daddy is in town? Lest we forget the time when Grant was two and I was prego with Rhett and he stuck a pea up his nose which landed us in the E.R. Daddy was gone then.
Lest we forget Spring Break two years ago when Grant's asthma got so bad that we had an ambulance ride and E.R. visits to two different hospitals. Daddy was gone then.
Lest we forget last year's Spring Break when Rhett was admitted into Cook's in Fort Worth with dangerously low blood sugar caused by a stomach bug. Daddy was gone then, too. \
I'm telling you people, Kerry leaves, and I cross my fingers that bad luck will keep its distance. Maybe the next time he leaves I should also throw salt over my shoulder.
... I told Grant that Rhett and I would eat lunch with him at school on Wednesday and that I'd bring McDonalds with me and ended up showing up with donuts and chocolate milk instead. Hmmmm, it seems that McDonlads doesn't sell lunch food until 10.30, and I needed to order my food at 10.15. Grant sure didn't mind the change of the day's menu. Not sure what I can say about what his teacher thought. I was feeling guilty about it until I realized I could possibly win a Nobel *prize for it since it seems those things are being handed out like hot cakes to just about anyone.
...The loud thunder kept us up last night which meant that Rhett was crying b/c he was scared so Grant couldn't sleep and then Grant needed a breathing treatment at 3.30 a.m. due to coughing that was keeping ALL of us up. Why do these things happen when Daddy is out of town?
...I left the sunroof partially opened in my car overnight. Not a big deal, but since it rained outside, it rained a bit inside my car as well and we, along with the a little neighbor girl, Ashlyn, had to drive to school in a wet car on a cool morning. That's a great way to start the day, huh?
...I left my favorite dessert (chocolate brownies with chocolate icing and colored sprinkles) out within Madalyn's reach while picking up Grant and Ashlyn from school. I came home to find this.
But despite all the "fun", there were some high points. My favorite being that Grant got to go to the Treasure Chest today at school and pick out a prize for once again earning all of his positive reward stickers. Instead of getting something for HIM, he got something for ME. He said he knew I would like it b/c it had flowers and lots of pink. HOW SWEET!!!!!!! I think it may be the sweetest thing he's ever done for me.
Grant drew a picture of Thanksgiving at school this week. What are the black arrows pointing to, you ask? That would be the big white wind-powered windmills that are between Texas and New Mexico. I know that when I think of Thanksgiving, I often associate windmills with the holiday as well as pie and turkey.
So... I have this little business called Scoodle Doots where I sell all things monogrammed = shirts for fun, shirts for holidays, shirts for special events, sippy cups, travel mugs, sports bottles, burp cloths, hooded towels for babies/kids, diaper covers for baby girls, mouse pads, and so on.Recently I have been wanting to get my own website or a spot on "Etsy", but Christmas orders are coming in from many sweet friends and I just don't have time to do both a website and get Christmas shirts mailed out. Thus, my little business has a blog until I catch up with time. Only Christmas items are posted now, but soon I hope to add all the other spunky crafts I have to offer as well.
Last night was a normal night. We ate dinner, the kids got a bath, and they were to put to bed. I was enjoying my quiet time on the couch while eating Reduced Fat Oreos when I heard an unfamiliar cry coming from Rhett's room. You know what this means, Moms. It means that you prepare yourself for anything as you quickly enter the child's room as you have no idea what to expect since it's not a sad cry, it's not a scared cry, it's not a mad cry and it's not a sleepy cry. And as a mom, you KNOW the differences. This cry - it was new, and I knew it could not be good.
I knew what was wrong as soon I entered his dark room - I could smell it. Yip. It was the foul, unmistakable smell of vomit.
Grant was woken by the noise and unbeknownst to me, he quickly used the opportunity as a spring board for drawing ideas. He decided he'd draw each time Rhett threw up. One could easily say Grant never suffers from Drawer's Block. The child uses anything and everything as inspiration. I mean, doesn't everyone use vomit as an inspiration for art work?
I was trying to get Grant back to sleep and deal with a sick baby who was throwing up every ten minutes!!! when I had to break down and call Kerry. He was so sweet. He left his dinner with a client to come home and help me.
I ran off to the grocery store at midnight since I was out of laundry detergent (I can NOT let vomit laundry sit overnight.) and Lysol and Sprite. I had already had my shower for the night, so I threw on my glasses, some mismatched clothes, threw my hair up in a make-do pony tail and headed out the door. I was sure I would see no one I knew, so I didn't care how I looked. But as usual, I guessed wrong, and I DID run into someone I knew at the store. BUMMER! It was the beloved Mr. Ray, our neighbor. He's the manager of the store, so it makes sense for him to be there, but I could've sworn I saw his car in his driveway as I was leaving the house which is another reason why I felt "safe" to enter the store in less than my Sunday best. He was very kind when he saw me. He did a bit of a double take and said, "Amanda? What are you doing here this late?" I gave him a quick version of the story. He offered to help me out to my car and made sure to ask if Kerry was home to help. As if that wasn't nice enough, he told me to bring Rhett into the store when he was well for a cookie. What a great neighbor, huh?!
Today I am keeping a close eye on Rhett who is watching "Little Einsteins" over and over again, and I am trying to conquer the vomit laundry that has piled up in the bathroom. Since I'm washing all things "sick" twice in hot water, it's taking a while, but by golly, it will get done.
And for those that would like a visual aid of the night's happenings, I give you Grant's interpretation of last night... you can click on the picture to enlarge it.
He drew a picture of Rhett each time he threw up. I circled those in red. The green box in the bottom left corner is a picture of me giving Rhett a shower after one of his many sick episodes. I'm not sure what the rest of the drawings are. I believe some are of Rhett lying in bed.
What a brother, huh?? I think he decided to do this after I kicked him out of Rhett's room. He kept coming in with Kerry's guitar wanting to sing/play a song for Rhett to make him feel better. YES, it was a very sweet motive, but I was trying my darnedest to keep Grant from catching the bug. Anywho, when Kerry got home from his dinner, Grant showed him the drawing so he'd know what was going on. Kerry got a good laugh out of it. Only Grant would do such a thing. What a nut. Who knows. Someday he may be a famous artist and you will be able to proudly boast, "I knew him when he drew pictures of vomiting kids." ha ha
Kerry was finally able to get Grant back to sleep, and I was finally able to get Rhett resting comfortably.
Wish us luck.
