House Of Sickness

I dressed the girls today, not Hugo or myself, so here's to day 3 in my jammies.  And yes, all three of my kids are being mesmerized by the amazing, mesmerizing powers of Nihao Kia Lan on the TV in the above photo.  I needed to make dinner, please don't judge.  Actually, I was shocked that the girls remained on the couch as long as they did!  So far from TV land, only the Backyardigans theme song has captured their attention.  The girls are now sleeping  for the night and in 9 minutes, so will Hugo.  Nighty, night!

Sick Kiddos

The kids and I are all sick.  Boo hoo hoo for us!  I think I have yucky sinus issues and I'm thinking the kids do also.  We're talking noses which run like open faucets and for the girls, goopy eyes with crusty lashes and bedhead hair stuck to cheeks, eyelids, and foreheads with globs of dried and smeared snot.  Trouble is, the girls can't take any medicine to help dry out their noses and ease their scratchy throats, they're beginning to bark like baby seals.  Their moods swing back and forth by the half hour between happy selves and clingy, grumpy monster babies.  This is a hard time being a Momma to twins.  I cried on the couch for a good 20 minutes this afternoon while Marlo and Sabine each through fits because they didn't want to share me.  It just plain sucked. 

Last night Marlo woke up at 1:30am crying.  I sleep shuffled into the room to cover her up and insert a shoosh into her mouth.  This would have been the normal routine, but something was different, her breathing was labored and scratchy sounding and sorta all over the place.  I held her and tried to sooth her to no avail, I said a little prayer.  I was fully awake now and growing a little scared.  Did I need to take her to the hospital?  Cesar was out of town, should I call him?  Who would I call to stay with Sabine and Hugo if I left with Marlo?  Then the thought of hot, moist air came into my mind and I brought her into the bathroom for a little steam with me.  I was surprised how welcoming the steam was to my own lungs and throat.  We sat and sat together upon the covered toilet seat.  She cuddled into me and only opened her eyes to peep up at me every so often as she sucked upon her shoosha. 

The night before, I went into the girls room to cover them up one last time before I climbed between my own sheets.  I went first to Marlo's crib to settle her.  I am always filled with a beautiful, peaceful feeling as I gaze down at her chubby, little figure.  I want so to scoop her up and kiss her, but I refrain.  Then, a noise.  It came from Sabine's crib.  As I turned my love filled eyes away from Miss Marlo I spied Sabine rising to a sitting up position in the middle of her crib, and then, she barfed and then blink, blink, blinked at me and then started to cry and paw at stinky her mouth.  Poor thing. 

Hugo has been fine until late this afternoon.  His voice is off and he's a wee bit sniffly.  What, o what, I wonder will happen tonight?  Hopefully a whole lot of Zzzzzzzzzzzs, from all 5 of us!

Christmas Eve

Today is Christmas Eve, one of my most favorite days of the year, and I am sick.  I am supposed to be cooking and baking and singing and cheerful, but instead, I'm snotty and achy and coughing and exhausted. 

The Elders are coming to dinner and I invited Brother Harris at the last minute to join us.  They were all warned.  I mean, even if I actually hadn't said anything about being sick, they could hear my coughing and loss of voice and I'm sure that they could almost see the pile of Kleenex trailing behind me through the phone.  I am a mess and I have no idea how catchy I might be.  I'm certainly, without a doubt, gross.  As I said, they were warned. 

I even explained to the Elders on the 23rd, that I wasn't sure what we'd be eating on the 24th.  I thought I could maybe convince Cesar to cook pancakes...  Well, maybe we'd do cereal.  A cereal bar!  The boys told me that Captain Crunch was their favorite.  We could do Captain Crunch. 

Did you know that the very first argument that Cesar and I ever had, was over Lucky Charms.  It was.  It turned out to be a hands down, all drag out brawl over breakfast choices.  In the end, he tried to play my Momma card and hollered out that he bet my Mom didn't eat Lucky Charms!  I said, "No she doesn't.  BECAUSE SHE LIKES SUGAR SMACKS!"  He was left with nothin'.  He exited the apartment while I hid out in the bathroom and cried my eyes out.  Eventually, Cesar returned and we ran into each others arms and cried while declaring our love for one another.  That sayin', he still cringes if I bring home a box of Lucky Charms once every blue moon or so.

Without a sure idea of what I was cooking for our Christmas Eve dinner that evening, I tried to tidy and clean the house.  The kids were three steps ahead of me.  I went upstairs to straighten the bathroom and was greeted by the sight of an entire, brand new roll of toilet paper balled and ripped to spreads before me.  Hugo had been hot on my heels and even he froze at the sight.  He sucked in a deep breath and quickly let me know that he hadn't had any part in that mess.  I slowly pulled my phone out of my jeans pocket to take a picture.  Hugo asked why I was doing that.  In a quiet voice I explained that this sight made my heart heavy and said at the moment, but that I knew one day soon, I would think it was funny.  I wanted the picture of the girls destruction of the bathroom to make me laugh one future day.

Saying Good-Bye

Today we spent the morning and afternoon and early evening up to our eyeballs in laundry, changing sheets on beds and general cleanup of the Joshua and Kristene May household. They have been so generous to allows us all to descend upon their home like locusts and fill it to the rafters with all our laughter and noise. We have all played, stuffed our tummies with good food and treats galore and hugged and kissed to last us all another year or so. The children, well, I'm not sure what the children will do without one another. Cousin love, a beautiful thing to behold.

Now our time to depart arrived. Kisses, kisses, kisses all around. Hugo and I are driving down to Oceanside, CA with the Price family to spend the next two weeks at their house. Cesar smooshed into the van with us and we drove him down to the airport in Salt Lake to fly back to the City. I don't do very well with good-byes. I tend to lean toward the teary side. It was nice to be smooshed close with him for that bit of snowy highway.

A sister-in-law (I won't name names because you know who you are!) arrived with a stomach bug which flew through our holiday party. Sunday was my day to get it. I was not looking forward to the drive through all the mountain passes. I willed myself to sleep in my chair surrounded by all the kids. Millie turned around as I was closing my eyes and pointed out the "bucket" - for just in case. Before long, I was awoken by that sound. That sound which you know is your child and your child only. I grabbed the bucket just in time. Fun trip it was. By the end of our long, long drive I was fearing my head might implode from all the pressure within my plugged ears, my throat was terribly scratchy, my body all achy and I had nearly used up an entire box of tissues all by myself.

Trent drove through Vegas for me to see how much it has grown since I was last there. Amazing. I couldn't get over all the growth. It was a lot to take in. The lights and colors and palms were all so beautiful but so... crowded. The photos below are my drive-by tour experience from the back seat of a packed mini van. Enjoy!

Garden Pretties & A Visit With Ho Ho

My garden is slowing shriveling and deflating with the creeping frost. There is a protective hedge around my little garden which seems to keep the deep freeze at bay for as long as possible. The time has come though and the frost is stretching closer and closer to the house each night. I have been a neglectful gardener and left all of my plants standing where they grew all summer long. I try to make myself feel better by thinking of all the nutritious seeds left out there for the birds. That seems to work. Yes, my weed pit and I are keeping our winter birdies well fed.

This weekend we are all keeping a low profile. Cesar came home early from work last night with swollen glands. I am not myself just yet either. I seriously thought about sleeping in the guest room last night so that Cesar and I would have less chance of swapping virus bugs. Didn't happen. I couldn't resist a good snuggle.

There is a small problem to our keeping a low profile this weekend. The small problems name is H-u-g-o, Hugo. Our Mr Hugo is completely 100% a-okay. Yesterday he bounced around the house like a ping pong ball from mess to mess and t-r-o-u-b-l-e. His lethargic, sleepy days are a thing of the past. I haven't thought of his trouble making as being naughty before. More like he is curious, like a little monkey he so enjoys reading about before nap time. Yesterday I was beginning to feel like he might be tormenting me on purpose. I counted the minutes until nap time like I haven't done since his early baby days. His nap was short. S-h-o-r-t, short. I began counting the hours (hours!?) until the possibility of bed time. I was in t-r-o-u-b-l-e.

Then, a miracle happened. My very own, personal, mini miracle.

Shaka phoned up and announced she would be picking up H-u-g-o, trouble maker extraordinaire of mine, as soon as her boys were off the bus. She left no room in our brief conversation for my buts, buts, buts. Our Church was holding it's Christmas party that night. I had been a little sad about not going. I had wanted to see everyone and eat good food and sing carols and watch the children perform the nativity. Hugo was going to be a frog just like last year. Santa was also scheduled to visit. Now Hugo wouldn't miss out on the party. I quickly got him dressed. All I had to do was mention Thing 3's name and he was off, racing up the stairs ready for me to dress him. Happy I was when Shaka and her boys met Hugo at the door, but not happier than Hugo. I think his Christmas wish arrived early this year with his riding in Shaka's van near the big boys. He didn't look back. There was no wave of his little hand for me. I didn't even get his coat or hat on him. Out the door he booked it.

Late, late last night Hugo arrived home. So strange to think he went to a party without me! We had to be quiet because Poppa was already tucked into his sheets, snoring away. I asked Hugo if he saw Santa. He said, "No Momma, Ho Ho."

Santa is Ho Ho at our house.

Blue

Hugo and I are both sick. Yucky gross sick. First him, well still him, and now me. The little guy is taking a monster long nap at the moment. Who knows why, but I can't sleep. I am tired and achy all over. Why can't I sleep??? I could really use some shuteye about now.

I do know that the minute I would close my eyes I will hear a thud, a thump, thump, thump, a creeeeeeeek as his bedroom door opens and then, from the top of the stairs Hugo will call down, "Momma, I wake up!"

Can't close my eyes.

No point to closing my eyes.

Can't close my eyes.

No point to closing my eyes.