Sick...AGAIN!

Today marks nearly a month since everyone in my house has been well. Let me tell you how tired I am of my kitchen being taken over by medications, medicine droppers, and nebulizer parts. It seems to be never ending!!! Oh, and the complete and utter lack of sleep has got to go as well! Whatever these germs are that have kept us down and out for the last month may kindly take the next bus out of here!

Poor Kourtney has had croup twice, and has been dealing with her asthma constantly. She's on double the normal dose of steroids, and is doing breathing treatments several times a day. This is not including the two visits to the ER for asthma and coughing up blood (which, by the way, they determined came from broken capillaries due to coughing so hard...oh what fun!). The coughing has kept her from having a decent night of sleep in what seems like forever, which of course means that Mommy and Daddy haven't slept either. Oddly enough, she's still in a great mood a majority of the time. At least that's made this a little less painful.

Kieran has been down and out for the last two weeks. The first week, it was strep throat. He was out of school Monday thru Thursday, but went skipping back on Friday, only to catch the next bug. He missed the following Monday due to a fever, was fine on Tuesday and went to school, and then by Tuesday night was completely miserable with a 103ish temperature again. I was up with him all night long, snuggling him and attending to his every whimper, during which time he also developed the classic seal bark cough that says croup is on its way. Lovely. He ran a fever of 104 for four more days before it finally let up. Poor kid was so sick that he had to be carried from room to room because he didn't have the energy to walk.

Now, Cristian is complaining of a sore throat. Tomorrow, he goes for a throat culture. Fabulous.

I think I may as well just throw in the towel, and turn in my mommy card. I'm done now, thank you very much. I don't want to play anymore.

Here We Go Again...

We found out yesterday afternoon that Brady may be facing the loss of another job. The company that he works for has been facing major financial issues for several months now, as are so many other companies out there. Yesterday they announced that part of the company had been bought out...but, it looks like they are only taking a select few from this company with them. They are currently seeking a $300 million loan from the Department of Energy, but at this point, it doesn't look promising. One of the higher ups will be coming to Sacramento today to talk to two of the shifts. Hopefully, that will shed some light on what we can expect as far as how much time before layoffs occur.

I feel so bad for Brady. This would be his second layoff within a year. And, there are no jobs available for him to seek. It's definitely a very defeating feeling.

But, we still have our faith, and we are relying on God to help get us through (and the government's unemployment benefits, when the time comes!). There are so many others that are much worse off than we are, and we are praying for them, as well as for ourselves. I'm sure something good will come out of all of this...it's just going to take time. Please pray...not just for us, but for everyone out there that is going through this same thing.

Finally!

I finally figured out how to cut and export the movie clip of Cristian's gymnastics performance! Yeah me! :) Here it is, for your viewing pleasure...

Miscellaneous

Below are some miscellaneous pictures that I've taken over the last couple of weeks. Enjoy!

Daddy "blow drying" the My Little Pony's hair.

Kourtney waiting with more ponies who need to be beautified.

Bubble fun!

Believe it or not, she actually can manage to blow some bubbles every now and then. LOL

Yes, he's ticked because he had to write sentences...again! I'm sure he'll hate me for this picture someday!

Brothers letting sister "help" with Legos...Now that's love!

Gymnastics...Finally!

I know, I know...it's only taken me nearly a month! But, seriously, I am soooooo busy with school and work, and trying to be a mom, that I haven't had time to get the video from the boys' gymnastics show posted. I'm putting off report cards and homework tonight so that I can get the video posted. I'm also watching a movie with the kids, which means I'm the queen of multi-tasking right now! LOL!

As of yet, I haven't figured out how to cut Cristian's video down to less than 100 MB, so I can't post his yet. But, I'm working on it, and will hopefully get that one up soon!



This one is Kieran doing his routine on the rings. It still amazes me that he can hold himself completely upside down without assistance!

Both boys had a blast at their show, and did great! I'm glad they love it so much!

Well, I have to get going...Homework and report cards are calling my name, and no matter how much I try to ignore them, they continue to get louder...and louder...and LOUDER! Guess I'd better get them done so that I can play with my blog a little bit more. I'll try not to leave three weeks in between posts again, although you all have to admit that I'm doing better this year than I've ever done! :) Yeah me!

So busy!

I have been wanting to get onto the blog and post for the last two weeks, but haven't yet figured out how to manage all of my time accordingly since I am now going back to school full-time. For those of you that haven't heard yet, I'm working on my pre-requisites for the BSN (BS in Nursing) degree. At the rate I'm going, I'll be done with my pre-reqs in December, and will hopefully be accepted into the BSN program at Sacramento State University that will start the following January. I'm really excited about being back in school, but there are definitely not enough hours in the day for me to accomplish all that I need to get done!

Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that I honestly am trying to stay on top of this whole blogging thing. I have some amazing videos of the boys at their gymnastics performance from last Friday that I'd like to share (if I can figure out how!)...and of course, I simply enjoy writing about my kids! LOL But, for now, I'm supposed to be doing homework while I wait for Brady to get home, so I'd better get back at it. I'll be busted if he walks in the door and sees me updating the blog...It's a good thing his truck has a Flow Master and I can hear him coming from a mile away!

She's a Big Girl Now!

Well, it's official...my baby is no longer a baby. Kourtney started preschool today, which is both a great thing and a terrible thing. It's great because she loved it so much, but terrible because she's my last one...and she's growing up all too quickly!

Last week, the boys and I took Kourtney to Little Steps Christian Preschool to take a tour of her classroom, meet her teacher, and play with her new classmates, whom she quickly classified as her friends. She loved every minute of it, and couldn't wait to go back. Fortunately for her, she didn't have to wait long! :) We arrived at school at 8:45, after dropping the boys off at school. It took her all of ten seconds to warm up, and get into the routine. She was playing with toys, talking to the fish (one of the classroom pets), and kicking me out of the room. Apparently, I'm only good for drop-off and pick-up...She only let me stay long enough to take a couple of pictures and put her stuff in her cubby. Then, I was booted out the door...by my toddler!

While it was fantastic that she was so excited, I was just a bit bummed that she didn't shed a single tear, or even pretend that she wanted me to hang out with her for a few minutes. I'm grateful, though, that it went so well...Kieran cried for the first six months of preschool, which was torture, so I would much prefer it this way.

All in all, her day went fantastic! I called around 2:00 pm, and the teacher said that she had laid on her mat for nap time with the rest of the kids, falling right to sleep. When I got there to pick her up at 3:30 (after picking up the boys from school), she didn't want to go home! She loved it so much that it took us more than ten minutes to get out of the building! I'm thrilled that she had such a blast...And can I just say that I had the most productive day that I've had in seven months?! Woohoo for preschool!

Here are some pictures of Kourtney on her first morning of preschool...

In the kitchen...Just before walking out the door. She's soooo excited!

Exploring some of the new toys...

Excitedly showing off the fish...She can't wait to feed them!