My poor baby

Little Rose is sick... and has been on and off for the entire month of March. She started getting really sick late last week. My mama alarms were going off like crazy, and I was about to take her to the ER when I decided to call the doctor instead, who gave us some great advice and told us to take her to the ER right away if she got worse. She didn't get worse, so we scheduled an appointment for the next morning. She took a throat culture and it came back positive. She was on amoxicilin from Friday afternoon onward. She refused to take it, (even trying to force it down the back of her mouth didn't work-- she managed to spit some out every single time! Plus it was traumatic, for both Rose and me) so finally we got it into some Tang and she'd drink it up that way.

Sunday, Dave and I played tag team at church, with me going to Sacrament Meeting and Dave going to Sunday School and Priesthood Meeting. After church, we noticed Rose would not turn her head. I started to get very nervous and ended up calling the on-call pediatrician, who said it didn't sound like meningitis because she was still up and playing around.

We took her in to the doctor's again this morning, and the pediatrician pointed out a HUGE lump on her neck that I hadn't noticed before. She apparently has a swollen gland, and is at risk for an abscess. The pediatrician put her on a stronger antibiotic (and one for Lacy, too, since Lacy's been coughing all month long and has been exposed to the strep throat anyway) and told us to draw around the lump to make sure it doesn't grow. The ONLY reason we aren't in the hospital now is because she is so happy and chipper today, so it's obvious she's improving at this point. She's been playing and having fun, with only minor reminders that she is sick.

I took some pictures of the girls outside on the swing yesterday when some friends stopped by and didn't notice Rose's huge bulging neck. How the heck could I miss that? Probably because she wouldn't let me near it. She also slept weird last night-- almost on her face with two fluffy pillows so she could be elevated. There were not many positions that were comfortable for her last night.

So yesterday's photo:

Seriously, how could I miss that?

Playing in the house (please don't judge me because my house is messy... I've been trying unsuccessfully this month to stay on top of things, but with so many illnesses in our family, I'm just happy to have clean clothes and dishes!). This is the way she held her head all afternoon and evening. She did not move her head at all.

We circled around the swelling today. Look at the inner lines. Dave accidentally drew too far out and revised his borders later on. It looks like a sideways A now.

Finally, we noticed today that Lacy has bangs. She did not get bangs in her haircut earlier in the year. We have no idea when she cut her bangs. I know she trimmed her hair a couple weeks ago at my sister's house, but that was just an inch or two. This is more than an inch or two.

We are really mad at her for this, but at the same time, it actually looks pretty cute. Her new bangs are usually brushed to the side, so they blended in with the rest of her hair. She must have cut them sometime recently because she's been obsessed with scissors lately. She cut the ribbons short on my scriptures (just to the ends of the pages, not super short, thankfully!) and has been cutting whatever she can find lately.

She has had her scissor privileges revoked for the time being. Now I have to go through the house and FIND them all so she won't have access!

Note to self

Don't ever start getting smug about how your kids haven't been sick all winter long. The kids are liable to get sick with horrific coughs, strep throat, and ear infections as the winter comes to a close.

For a whole month.

Lacy the Yoga Instructor

This evening Lacy had Rose and I do a yoga session with her, with Lacy being the instructor. It was hilarious to watch her. She kept changing her name and introducing herself to me by shaking my hand. At one point her name was Willow. She actually had us do a couple real yoga poses, and she made up a bunch of her own that were similar to real yoga poses. She called one the caterpillar and another butterfly (which isn't the same as the actual butterfly pose she learned in gymnastics, this one had us sitting down gently waving our arms in the breeze). I showed her a few poses while we were at it. She rejected the idea of cat and cow, downward dog and mountain pose, but was excited to try child's pose and tree pose. She lost her balance with tree pose, but with my help she was able to do it correctly. While she was speaking, she used a very calming, low voice. I seriously was about to bust a gut it was so funny, because it was EXACTLY like every yoga class I've ever taken! Minus the running around the room yoga moves that Lacy, I mean Willow, took us through. I think there's a kid's yoga class at one of the local park and rec programs. I think I'd better sign Lacy up. She may have found her calling. And I'm only half joking.

It's Spring! And Adventures in Purple Breadmaking

Finally, spring is here! I'm so, so excited about spring this year! We are busily getting the garden ready, and today I planted peas! And beets! And I will plant more early spring veggies tomorrow. Seriously, can't wait. Lacy planted peas in her garden too. And one beet. Rose just covered the swiss chard in dirt. It doesn't mind-- it is the plant that would not die.

I also made bread today. This is probably my best bread that I've ever made, that doesn't happen to contain wheat. It also doesn't contain rice. My first attempt at wheat-free bread making resulted in a loaf of bread that was nothing more than a steaming rice loaf. It was disgusting. It would have tasted great with some stir fry on top, or with some curry. But on a sandwich? Yuck. Today's bread came from a cookbook my brother Mark gave me for my birthday. It's in the Gluten-Free Gourmet series, and it is a wonderful book. Everything I've made from this book has turned out great and tastes great, too.

I'm sure all of you are wondering- purple bread? What gives? The bread I made today was made from ground popcorn. The popcorn I happened to have in my pantry is black. When ground, black popcorn makes purple flour. We had loads of fun mixing the bread and watching it as it rose. It was a lovely lavender color. I wish I took pictures of it in the pans! I am almost out of black popcorn so I may never make purple bread again.

The bread, hot from the oven. Looks like a normal loaf of bread.


But looks can be deceiving.

The verdict? It's good!
And one more, from the other day when we got snow (yes, in March. What's going on?).
Lacy made a miniature snowman, complete with baby carrot nose. Don't mind the messy house, we had the flu. Which is why I've taken about 6 pictures total this month.

FIRE!

We had a fire in our house today. Seriously. And it was Rose's fault.

I had dinner in the oven. I kept telling Rose to quit opening the oven. But she kept doing it over and over, so I took us all out of the kitchen. Well, eventually Rose snuck away from me and I didn't notice, because she came back with a worried look on her face. I was trying to figure out what happened, when I suddenly started smelling smoke.

She opened the oven the whole way, put an oven mitt on the element, and it caught fire. Smoking, burning fire. Fortunately, it wasn't too far gone so I was able to lift it up and put it in the sink to put out the fire.

In the process I scared Dave because we were talking on the phone and suddenly I said, "O my gosh! I have to go!" *click* He called back a minute later and by then the fire was out and I was airing out the house. I feel really bad that I scared him like that, but I had fires to put out! Literally!

My Funny Lacy

• Conversation between Lacy and me just a minute ago: "Mom, Let's talk about babies. First of all, do you want a boy or a girl?" "Well, I like girls a lot... But I also like boys...." "How about we have a hundred of girls and a hundred of boys." "Lacy, I am NOT having that many babies." "Not all at the same time! I know! How about we have TWINS!" She continued talking about babies and baby names for 10 minutes or so. She's obsessed. And I'm not even pregnant or anything. She just loves babies and wants a baby sibling.
  
• Today is Dave's mom's birthday. She passed away in August 2005 when Lacy was a wee one. Lacy asked me today if it was anybody's birthday, and I told her that it was Grandma Kathleen's birthday. She excitedly confirmed that fact with her dad and came back it, "It IS Grandma Kathleen's birthday! I'm going to say a prayer to wish her a happy birthday! (folds arms and bows head) Happy birthday Grandma Kathleen. I hope you have a great birthday. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." Very sweet of her to wish her Grandma a happy birthday. I hope she's looking down on her sweet granddaughter smiling today.
  
• Lacy was hungry and told me, "Mom, I'm hungry for a snack. Something with a lot of sugar and ice creamy." "Hmmmm, how about some yogurt?" "No! (jumping up and down) ICE CREAM! ICE CREAM!" She accepted the yogurt eventually and even asked for seconds (which is why I buy it in bulk, but I'm considering making my own like my cousin Jessie does).
  

Is it over yet?

I'm feeling mostly better. Rose is coughing up a storm (croup-type), Lacy's healthy as a horse, and Dave's been getting headaches because he ran out of his medication and we haven't been able to do anything about it. Gah. I think, though, we're finally over it, at least mostly, and things are looking up from here. So hopefully cute/funny/photo blogs will rule this place for a while. I'm done being sick.

But first, I have to pick up the pieces from my house. It is a disaster area. Could not find clean underwear for Lacy this morning, so she wore some of Rose's. Somehow Rose ended up wearing a pair of Lacy's, so I'm not sure how that happened since Rose got dressed after Lacy.

I think I'm staying home tomorrow because of Rose's cough and I'll try to get some laundry done and "make a path" in my living room. This is what Lacy says she did when she explains how her "clean" room isn't clean. Incidentally, she is apparently a very good cleaner when she is away from her mother. She actually motivated other children to clean yesterday. Why can she not do that with me?

Is this the flu?

We've had a bug in our house. And I'm mighty suspicious that it's the flu. Let's review the FACTS: flu symptoms include Fever, Achiness, Chills, Tiredness and Sudden Symptoms. For Dave, this has been true. He got these symptoms while working on Thursday and after work he came home and slept for the rest of the day. Friday he scarcely got out of bed and had the chills pretty bad. Body aches were a main complaint of his as well. He also complianed of sinus pressure and a runny nose.

I got the bug Sunday night and while I haven't noticed chills or a fever, I also usually get a milder version of whatever illness is going around thanks to my Immune System of Steel. I'm sure if I actually paid more attention to what food went into my body I wouldn't get sick at all. My body aches horribly all the time, my arms are heavy and I am exhausted from doing 1/4 of my normal workload (if that), and I also have sinus pressure and a runny nose.

Last night Rose got a fever and today she's been battling the fever, has had episodes of chills, and has been extremely tired, taking a nap while watching movies and also falling asleep at 8 pm tonight which is very unusual for a nap day.

Thus far Lacy has escaped symptoms completely. I'm hoping this continues, though having a day where she's sleepy wouldn't be so bad... for several nights this week she's fought going to sleep and doesn't go to sleep until after 10. A night of zzzz's by 8 would be heaven at this point.

We've been eating oranges and vitamin C tablets like crazy around here. So what do you think? Flu? Or something else?

Charmin Ultra Strong

We are not really a Charmin family. I like to buy other brands of toilet paper because Charmin is too darned soft and pillowy for me. But Dave was given a half a bag of Charmin Ultra Strong the other day so I'm using free toilet paper. So far so good.

As soon as Lacy saw the package of toilet paper, she exclaimed, "Charmin Ultra Strong!" We hadn't told her the brand of this bag of toilet paper yet, so I assume she got it from commercials. They do have really cute commercials, you know.

Last night Lacy was coughing a lot. I came in to check on her. She asked me, "Mom, can you get me some Charmin Ultra Strong please?"

Good grief. This was at midnight and the girl was half asleep! Talk about brand loyalty! I guess the Charmin commercials are doing the trick. At least for her.

Lacy is now banned from commercial TV for a while. She's been sick, so she's allowed to watch TV a bit more than usual. She's been watching PBS and movies exclusively.