Someone's turning 7. . .

Not sure if you are, but I know I'm not ready for this. . . Chloe turns 7 on February 7th. 

Chloe and I sat down this evening and made her birthday invitations. . . the party sites were all "out of stock" of Monster High Invitations online.  I think they came out pretty good. . . there are a few more pictures than I would have done myself but I had to remind myself that these were Chloe's invitations, not mine.  :-)

We are holding her family birthday party Saturday, February 11th at 1:00pm.  Come celebrate the Birthday Girl at our new house. . . We will serve cake and ice cream.

 

And as an added bonus this year, since she has a nice little room she wants to show off and we have plenty of room to accommodate kids, Chloe get to have 2 or 3 friends spend the night Friday night!  These are the invitations her friends are getting. . . 

Septic Tank Woes

Home ownership is fun!  Seems like if it's not one thing, it's another.  But I can honestly say that so far we have been lucky, things haven't been too bad.  Just time consuming.  Lol.

Our problems started about a week or two ago.  I ran a load of laundry in which flooded the laundry room.  Now, honestly I didn't think too much of it.  It was a load of blankets and I thought I over stuffed the machine and the water spilled out. . . the mess wasn't horrible but noticeable.  {And on a side note - I told Jerry about the incident and he did not look into it!}  The rug around the toilet had gotten washed every time I did laundry because I kept finding it wet. . . I thought the kids were doing it!

Fast forward to last weekend.  I was downstairs putting Chloe to bed and switching over the laundry and cleaning up the cat's stuff (litter box, food/water, sweeping, mopping, etc).  And as the washing machine started to drain the water from the basin I heard water pouring over and hitting the floor.  I ran into the laundry room and I find the toilet bowl over flowing with what I can clearly see as sewage.  It was everywhere!  So I told Jerry the next morning, that we had a problem. . . Heck, I wrote him a note for him to read in the morning when he got home - I still have it for proof!  {He still didn't LOOK in the laundry room}  He told me to only run one appliance at a time - that night I was also running the dishwasher upstairs and all three kids had baths. . . thought that maybe I was using too much water at once and it couldn't get out of the house at the same time.

So the next day I did what he asked.  I ran a load of laundry and only the washer machine was using water. . . It happened again.  So we went to Walmart and bought a plunger and a tiny toilet snake. . . Jerry said that the kids probably put something down the toilet and clogged it.  {Jerry still hadn't looked at it - do you see a theme going on here!?!? :-)}  When we got home, Jerry went down to unclog the toilet. . . he was downstairs a while. . .

He came up - not so happily, and reported that it was a bigger problem.  He ran to Walmart again to get a chemical to put down the drain to unclog the pipe.  The next morning, it still hadn't worked so that brings us to today!  I did some research on our Home Warranty and I found out if it was only a clog we were covered.  I had to do some talking to Jerry because he's a fix-it man and wanted to prove he could fix it himself.  But I finally got him talked into calling the warranty company and having them send out a certified plumber.  It was only a $60 service charge for us. . . and I'm sure after everything Jerry wanted to take apart and buy and break and fix and replace - it would just save me money in the long run! 

The warranty company considered it an emergency fix and sent someone out today.  Of course, it had to be after our doctor's appointment and picking kids up from school.  The plumber was suppose to be here around 5pm.  So while waiting, we did some more looking and talked to the plumber. . . he needed a accessible clean-out pipe in order for the warranty to pay for it.  Jerry and I couldn't find anything anywhere. . . but then again we didn't know exactly what we were looking for.  So with a quick call to his dad, we found out we had to dig up part of the septic tank.  Thank goodness Jerry knew almost exactly where the tank was and was able to dig up the top of it and found the manhole cover on top before the plumber got here.

Come to find out we do not have a clean-out point.  But the plumber was able to help Jerry dig a bigger opening and install a clean-out for us for $20 parts / $20 labor.  After they installed the clean-out point, the plumber called the warranty company to say "Yes, it is a clog that can be snaked.  Yes, there is an accessible clean-out port."  The warranty company gave the go ahead for the repair work and the pipe was snaked and opened up!  Everything is back to normal except the hole in the yard . . . which will be filled in once I buy a longer PCP pipe and cap.  Then if it ever happens again. . . the clean-out pipe is accessible without having to dig up the yard!

All-in-all, it was a pretty descent fix. . . I only had to pay $103.00 to have the septic tank unclogged and a clean-out point installed.  I am so thankful for that amazing plumber who helped Jerry out without charging us an arm and a leg.  It would have been so easy for him to say, no access point - not doing it.  And without the access point the warranty wouldn't have covered the fix.

We learned a lot about our septic tank today. . . and Jerry learned to check-out the "problems" I tell him about. . . even if he thinks I'm crazy!  :-)  Tomorrow is my disinfect-the-laundry-room-to-do-the-laundry-without-having-the-toilet-overflow day!!  Lol. . . it's the little things that make me happy.

Doctor's Appointment #3 - 17w4d

Doctor's appointment went well this afternoon.  In short, here are the specs. . .

• Weighed in at 128.6 pounds {Total weight gain of +0.6 lbs}
• Blood pressure was good.
• Baby's heart rate was 147 beats per minute {Girl?!?!, Boy's both ran in the 150's}
• Just like the other 3, this baby is sitting on the right side.
• Belly Measuring (top to bottom) at 17 weeks. Making the EDD: June 24, 2012
• Jerry & I turned down the quad screen - {the quad screen is done between weeks 15 and 20 of pregnancy. Results of the quad screen indicate your risk of carrying a baby who has certain developmental or chromosomal conditions, such as spina bifida or Down syndrome — not whether your baby actually has these conditions.}

February will be a big month for us!  Not only does our oldest turn 7 but we will have both an ultrasound and a doctor's appointment.   And if we are right on the date our ultrasound should be able to tell us the baby's gender.   But the real news that we want to get out of the ultrasound is the placement of the placenta. . . it's in our best interest and my well-being if the placenta implanted away from my c-section scar.

*If the placenta placement cannot be seen from the normal ultrasound, my doctor ordered an internal ultrasound to be done.   Placement is the key - good placement means we could have a regular pregnancy without major complications.   Bad placement could mean a bumpy journey from here on out.*

So please send happy thoughts. . . everything from the outside looks to be going good - now to have a lookie at what's going on inside.   I know the doctor is chomping at the bit to get her hands on some solid proof of good news.  Since we won't commit to any other testing.  :-)

Upcoming Events:

• Thursday, February 9th - 11am Gender Scan / Placenta Placement - Internal/External Ultrasounds
• Thursday, February 16th - 9:30am Routine Doctor's Appointment

Quick January Update -- In pictures!

Jaxen sleeping in his big boy bed for the 1st time!

Cats enjoying {hehe} the beautiful weather!

Jacob & Jaxen playing outside in January!!

Jaxen, Jacob & Chloe - playing together!

I love moments like this!!  ♥ my babies!

Beautiful House Warming Gift from Joanna & Caleb.

To those who missed the family dinner I held - this is what you missed!!  It was delicious!

Jacob enjoying the family over

Jaxen was starving.

My dinner guests!!  My sisters - Amanda & Joanna with there other halves.

My nephew, Carter with Jacob

Jerry cuddling with a sick little boy.

Mr. Sickie

What am I doing wrong?!

Let me start off by saying that I KNOW that there are a lot of missing pieces in this blog!  I'm not sure if there is enough time in the day for me to fill you in on everything that has gone on in the past couple of months.  I can tell you that thing have been insane!  I hope things things are finally settling down for us and I believe we have made all the right decisions for our family.  Only time will tell and with time all will be revealed on here!   :-)

With everything going on, I really think it was/is too much for Jacob.  He's is absolutely driving me crazy because he has had a GIANT set back in using the bathroom.  My once 100% potty trained 4-year old is back to not going in the potty - AT ALL!  By 9am this morning, Jacob had already peed and pooped in his underwear.  He will sit in it and he will wear it all day long.  He will go get on the potty if I ask him to, but he will not go on his own.

I have tried EVERYTHING!  I'm almost to my breaking point.  I've punished/spanked, awarded good behavior, taken toys/monkey away, made him stand in the corner,bribed, sent him to bed early, praised, given him more one-on-one time and looked the other way.  I just don't know what else to do.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

Jacob says that he doesn't know when he has to go. . . which I find hard to believe because he's been potty trained once.  I also find it hard to believe because he sits in it until I find it. . . it doesn't phase him to have dirty underwear.  I'm sure it's all the changes that have taken place in the last month - new house, him and Jaxen have to share a room now, etc. 

Jerry and I are literally clueless.  Any suggestion would be appreciated!!  Any other parents gone through this?!

MLK Day.

Monday's are normally horrible around here.  After all, who really likes Monday unless it's a holiday weekend?  However, working in retail, I do not get a holiday weekend.  And since Monday's are really my Friday at work. . . they seem to drag on even longer!!  Especially, when they stop everything at work to have a 40-minute meeting!  Which makes going home 40-minutes later because we still have to finish our jobs. 
So you can tell what my attitude was going into this meeting.  {Blah!}  And you can always tell when the meetings are going to be long because they put out the chairs! 

But yesterday's meeting was just what I needed after the crazy week I've had.  {Stress was just building - Jaxen to the ER a week ago, Still haven't found my energy to move our stuff in the house, Laundry is piling up because every time I do a load of Laundry the toilet downstairs backs up, Jaxen's got to be getting teeth because he's cranky and attached to me 24/7 helping me get nothing done, plus my first 3-day work week since before Christmas - I was hurting come Monday!}  My name was drawn in the safety pot - so I got to play Walmart "Plinko" and I won a free meal for my entire area!  {Now everyone love me!}  And they announced our cost of living raise. . . which you don't get in a store {and if you do, it's only a few pennies at most!} and the DC didn't get one last year.  So it's wonderful that across the board - no matter what your "pay scale" or if you are maxed out - everyone in the DC gets a $0.40 raise.  So that's a collective $0.80 more for Jerry and I.  Which is amazing!  I am also scheduled my 6-month $0.50 raise next month - so in just 6-months at the DC I have gotten a $1.40 in raises and started out making $6.00 more an hour at the DC than the store.  I can't believe the difference it's making.  If I ever doubted my transfer, I certainly don't now.  I definitely did what was right for my family!!

Well I think I finally lost the boys to their bedroom. . . I'm going to see if I can sneak downstairs and get some laundry sorted.  If anyone is still paying attention to this blog - I have updated the Picasa web album. . . I got the November/December 2011 & January 2012 albums uploaded.  I didn't realize I was so behind!

A night in the E.R.

And the award of the first kid to make mom sit in the E.R. goes to -------------- Jaxen!
Oh what a night it was.  Sunday morning, I dropped Jaxen off at the baby sitter's house.  I noticed he was coughing but then again so were the other two.  When I got home, Jaxen was still napping.  Jerry said he was cranky so I let him sleep longer than normal after Jerry went to work.  It was about 6pm when I woke him up for dinner.  His cough was horrible!  It was now high pitched and sharp . . . barking like a seal.  Which is never a good sign.

Being a Sunday night, our pediatrician's office was closed so I called the Ask Mayo Clinic which is provided free of charge with our insurance.  I've called them before and they are pleasant to talk to.  Very helpful and reassuring.  Sometimes, Mom's just need to know that they are doing the right thing and that a doctor's visit isn't always necessary.  If anything, the Nurse Line saves me in doctor's bills.  Just by giving me another option to fight a stubborn cold.  Jaxen's only 12 months old and I can't give him anything over-the-counter without calling the doctor and getting a dosage.  Most medicine packages say "Under 4 years, Ask your Doctor".  The other two are on Musinex 24/7 because of their own coughs and it's working.  I was curious if I could give Jaxen some Musinex.  However, this time it wasn't reassurance or a dosage that I got.  :-(

After taking all Jaxen's information and hearing him coughing and trying to breathe through the phone she recommended that I get a hold of the pediatrician and if I could then an ER visit was necessary.  Of course, the pediatrician wasn't there and the answer machine says to go to Children's Mercy.  Now, no offense to other parents but Children's Mercy is in North Kansas City and would take us an hour longer to get there and would probably cost me 10 times more than our local hospital just because it's a "Children's Hospital". 

I called Jerry and let him know what was going on.  He was going to see about getting off to come with us - to watch the other 2 for me.  I got the other 2 ready while waiting for Jerry to call me back.  Which didn't take too long. . . he was on his way.  And by the time that I got all three ready and a backpack packed for a lengthy wait, Jerry was here and off we went.

I felt really stupid because the cold air opened Jaxen's airways and by the time we arrived at the Emergency Room, he was breathing okay and the coughing had stopped.  But thankfully, the ER staff took everything serious and told me cold air opens the lungs and that his symptoms would come back in a few minutes.  And sure enough, by the time I got the paperwork filled out, Jaxen was struggling to breathe.  The respiratory specialist was called down before the doctor saw Jaxen and gave him a breathing treatment within minutes of arriving in the ER - which helped a lot!  The only thing Jax didn't like about the breathing treatment was the clip on his toe that was monitoring his heart rate, while he got the medicine.  The respiratory specialist verified that he definitely sound croupy and that it was the beginning stages of croup.

After the breathing treatment, we waited a long time!  The ER received 3 cardiac patients who took priority over Jaxen - which is understandable.  And the nurses kept coming in a playing with Jaxen, keeping him happy.  I finally got Jaxen to fall asleep about 11:15pm.  And sure enough it was about 11:40pm when the doctor showed up to check Jaxen {we checked in at 8!}.  He ordered a blood test, a flu test, and a chest x-ray to make sure that there wasn't anything extra going on.

I held Jaxen down while they drew blood and swabbed his nose.  Jerry got to go with him for the x-ray, while I went to the bathroom and visited with the other 2 in the waiting room.  After the x-ray, Jaxen and I were back in the hospital room. . . waiting for the test results.  It wasn't too much longer when the doctor came in and let me know that Jaxen has Bronchiolitis {which is a baby's version of Bronchitis}.  Jaxen's white blood cells were great, he tested negative to the flu and RSV, and there's no pneumonia in his lungs.   Jaxen got a dosage of steroids before we left and a prescription for another weeks worth.  And we had orders to see the pediatrician in 2-3 days for a follow-up appointment. 

We were discharged and back home about 1am.  Once we got the kids in bed, Jerry went back to work.  I called into work, called off the babysitter and went to bed myself.

Jaxen woke up the next morning acting more like his normal self.  Still a little raspy but not struggling to breathe.  I filled his prescription and got more Musinex for the big kids. . . trying really hard not to spread this one around!!  I don't need another ER visit anytime soon!!