Long Day/Sick Boy

So, as you may have guessed from the title of this blog I had a very long day with a rather sick little boy.

It started yesterday morning... Skylar had not eaten dinner the night prior but threw up as soon as he woke up. He seemed okay after and did fine at daycare. Last night he refused to eat dinner again, at that point I thought maybe his stomach was just bothering him and maybe not eating was the best thing. Well, this morning things took a turn for the worse. He started having serious diarrhea and even told me he had an "ouchie" on his butt. My poor guy! I cleaned him up a couple times before I realized this was gonna be an all day event. So I called the boss to let her know I wouldn't be in, then called Regan, my mom, and Rachel to get some advice. One thing was agreed over all: hydration. Which I knew, I just kinda wanted to make sure I wasn't worried about nothing. Skylar had actually fallen asleep after I cleaned him for the fourth time. He woke up again close to lunch time. He had a surprise for me too, poo... in the bed... on the tempurpedic mattress. GROSS!!! This stuff went through a pull-up (don't keep diapers on hand anymore), Skylar's clothes, several blankets, and sheets!!! I had been planning to run to the store when Skylar woke up, to get blankets and more pedialyte so while I was out I picked up cleaning supplies.



I knew it was going to be bad, but luckily Skylar had fallen back asleep on the way home.





Cleaning was going relatively well, I was trying not to get much more liquid into the mattress and I had also taken the cover off and put it in the washer. After that (it had been approximately an hour) I went to check on Skylar, I discovered he had barely moved.



He managed to switch position in the next hour.



It was almost five when he finally woke up again. I managed to get him to drink about one sip of water and half a jello cup. That was a good enough victory for the time being. I told him that grandma was coming by to see him, he seemed somewhat alert and stayed awake until she came over. He still didn't seem like he had much strength and definitely wasn't happy.



Mom and I got him to take a little bit of Motrin. He did fight though, and actually ended up throwing some of it along with a bit of the jello he had eaten earlier up. I think whatever portion of it he was able to keep down did work because he stayed awake and a couple hours later he had become somewhat cheerful.



He stayed pretty chipper for a couple of hours. He started to take some fluids and was even interested in eating so I got him the one thing I always choose when I'm ill: egg drop soup. I also picked up some plain steamed white rice. He ate a little bit, which was fine. I knew he wouldn't clear a plate or anything, not with the day he had. He started to act a little more lethargic around nine o'clock. So after a quick bath we got in his bed and watched Toy Story. He's sleeping now. I actually fell asleep in there earlier. Thank goodness I got up because if I sleep longer than an hour in his bed the only thing I feel for a few hours after is pain.

This is one of the last pictures I took when he was feeling good. I hope this is how he feels all day tomorrow. So I will end with this photo in hopes it gives us luck for tomorrow. As for me, I'm going to sleep now... getting some rest in case he needs me sooner rather than later.

a big fat waste of time

Skylar and I spent four hours on post today for practically no reason at all. Apparently when you are moving to an "overseas" assignment all dependants need current physicals and to be screened for the Exceptional Family Member Program or EFMP. So here I am thinking Skylar will be seen by a doctor, PA, or NP and they will go over some developmental tasks or activities with him but... nope! It is literally a worksheet that you do yourself! I mean, if I wanted to I could choose the outcome. It was bad enough I had to try to get Skylar to pay attention to me when there were far too many more interesting things going around in the clinic. Also, my physical consisted of my doctor walking in, putting the stethoscope to my chest without saying a word, bringing me into an office only to find out I'm not the patient she was looking for, sending me back, and going through it again and then verifying my name. Luckily the second time she did intend to see me. Am I just that ancient, or did physicals used to consist of your doctor palpating your abdomen, thyroid, neck, back, etc. Not anymore! That was just a questionnaire that I could have hypothetically filled out myself. She didn't examine me, just asked me if I had pain and any medical history. I thought to myself: "what's the point of having a primary doctor if they don't know who you are, what your history is, or at least have the decency to look at your chart before they call you and what the hell is the point of having a physical in the office? I could have done this over the phone!"

So anyway, it was a super long day that essentially wasted my time. The upside to those four hours is that they were spent with my beautiful son, regardless how imperfect his behavior may have been.

A Late Evening

So Skylar and I took a late nap today. I had stayed up late last night cleaning, and he was exhausted by the time we got home. We had played at the mall for a bit, it was a little late and no one else was in the play area so we played together. We had a blast! This morning we got up relatively early and ate breakfast, got cleaned up, picked up my mom, and went to the commissary. We weren't at the commissary too long, so after we got home and put groceries away we went to lunch with my mom. We went to MBFGR, I didn't overeat but man was I full after. Sky was looking sleepy when we left, but actually stayed up another hour before settling down for a nap. I took advantage. I actually woke up just after eight! Skylar was still sleeping so I let him. He ended up waking up about an hour later. When I went to check on him was just sitting in my room watching tv, perfectly quiet and content and when he saw me he just smiled, so I went over and he gave me a sweet kiss and a hug. He insisted on getting dressed and putting on shoes.





After he was dressed he looked over and saw his monster trucks. Uncle Aaron got them for him for Christmas last year. They are actually very cool, you don't have to wind them. You just push and they continue to go after you let go.



So now we are done playing for the night. We came into the living room and Skylar asked to watch a movie. I don't know if I was suprised or not when I heard him ask: "A-tar?"

Avatar

We went to blockbuster last week to try to find a used copy of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (I think it was last Thursday), and they had Avatar on. I'm not joking when I say that Skylar stopped dead in his tracks and watched for an easy 10 minutes while I was looking for the other movie. He hardly moved a muscle. When it was time to check out he told me: "mommy, my want that one!" I just told him okay and that we'd get it in a few days when it comes out. Then on Sunday we were at target and he saw a poster for it and told me again: "mommy, that one!" "Almost baby..." Was my reply, I thought he was going to mutiny when I didn't find a copy at that instant. Well I picked up a copy during lunch today and showed it to him when I picked him up from school. He was stoked! He also insisted that he hold it, "not mommy's!" So I gave it to him. We didn't go straight home though, we got some sushi, and were planning on meeting my mom in Tucson when her flight got in but she got delayed. I was originally going to bring his portable to let him watch it on the way up. Instead we came home, got him bathed, and then I broke it out again.



He actually has only said two things to me since the movie started: "dragons! look mommy, dragons!" and "whoa! look at that!" I love my little guy. HOw could you not with a face like his?

My Silly Boy

Skylar was being goofy in the tub last night... Counting, and quoting Toy Story on top of the usual splashing and blowing bubbles with his lips just under the water.



When he finally let me get him out of the tub he went on to watch Toy Story 2 almost three times! I told him I was tired and going to bed... he didn't like that, but I didn't care. I needed rest. Besides, I had watched it with him the first time, and started it for him the second time. He looked like he was going to pass out, I can't believe he stayed up! I think he may have been in and out for a while. He eventually had enough at about 1am. That's when he came in whimpering and barely holding his body up. I told him: "Sky, it's time to lay down and go to sleep. You're going to be very tired in the morning." I was right.



To my delight he woke up in a happy mood: no crying, and he cooperated while I dressed him for daycare. The icing on the cake this morning happened when we got to daycare. We had just walked inside and his friend Laura walked in with her mom and brother. She was in a hurry to get back to the classroom and apparently so was Skylar. I watched as he ran off with her, opened the gate, let her walk in, then walked in himself and shut the gate! I said quietly to myself, "okay, see you after school... I love you." He did glance back once, but didn't seemed too concerened. I'm glad he knows that I will be back later to hug him and ask how his day was. I on the other hand thought about how my little man is growing up, it just goes so quick!!!

I've had about all the "job-searching" I can handle!

I spent 90% of my lunch break applying for a job at Hawaii Medical Center West, and about 98% of my evening emailing resumes and applying at other facilities. In all honesty it's not looking so good. Not as far as experience and being qualified is concerned, I'm talking about job openings... I'm crossing my fingers in hopes that within the next month more positions will open. I have seen several positions for medical records and patient relations, I'm wondering if I would have a chance at getting a position like that if I can't find a mammo or ct position. I'm going to ask a friend of mine who works GS now and see what he thinks. So here's to finding a job!!!! Is it weird that this is my first time actually searching for a job using my degree? I got hired pretty much before I graduated from xray school from the facility I was doing my fourth rotation at.


Everyday that passes I think more and more how I'm leaving more than just my biological family in Arizona, it's all my friends, coworkers, mentors... it's weird. I guess it's just military wifehood catching up to me. I've been lucky so far, let the real stuff begin, I think I can make it.

suds in the bucket

Today I decided my house needed a thorough cleaning...

I started in the living room, and truth be told I didn't get much further. I took down the curtains and washed, dried, and re-hung them. Skylar and I moved the DVD shelf, cleaned under the coaches moved his eisle... and loads of other things. Another thing I did was go through our clothes, mine and Skylar's anyway... I put some away for storage, should the likely thing happen and we have another boy when the time comes. The others went for donation, some to the salvation army and some to Skylar's daycare. I've been through the bathrooms pretty well, I'm going to get rid of some things from under the sinks, and I've got to scrub the floors. I've already been through the pantry and the cabinets in the kitchen. The floors in the kitchen and dining room do need a thorough scrubbing and I plan on doing that either some night this week or this upcoming weekend. I've been through Regan and I's closet... got rid of some old shoes, and more clothes. I need to go through a couple baskets of who knows what in our room... some paperwork, more clothes, and old photos. Sometime in the near future I will be going through the linen closet and putting the scrubby towels aside for the big cleaning we'll be doing before my mom moves in to our house. I'm going to throw out the blankets and sheets that are in bad shape, donate the ones that are in decent shape, of course some will go with us to Hawaii. The biggest project facing me this week is going to be sorting Skylar's toys. I'm planning on donating several. I actually need to ask childtime if they could use any of them... the rest I will take to the salvation army. I was thinking of having a yard sale but I just don't want to invest too much time into that and not be happy with the return. Man! I had almost forgot that I need to get the remaining bits of wallpaper border down in Skylar's room and paint the walls in there. I'm thinking white unless my mom wants a different color. She's not sure what she's going to use that room for yet... so we'll see.

So that's what I've been up to today: cleaning, and making plans for more cleaning.

Korea in a Nutshell

It's been two weeks since I got back from visiting Regan in Korea. It was a blast. I wanted to put some pictures up, I'm slowly but surely working on that... both on facebook and here. These are just a few of the amazing pictures we snapped.

I had just been through customs, and made it over to the USO check in. This is the view from where I sat waiting for regan:




The first place off-base we visited was the Seoul Tower.



They had these hanging figures made of chicken wire... it was different, but awesome. Also visited the Teddy Bear Museum, there is another one in Honolulu so we will probably visit that one after we move.



Well, that's all for now. I've still got some figuring out to do.

Happy Birthday Kaleb!

So, it's been quite a long day. Skylar went to the birthday party of a little boy from school, this was the first birthday party he's been to that wasn't for a relative or friend of the family. It was really cute. They had it at Thompkin's Park which I knew was going to be a challenge... only because most of the kids are familiar with the playground and my son is no exception. He did very well though. He was attentive to his friend, told him happy birthday and even helped sing! After the birthday party we stopped by dairy queen, it was very hot out, and then headed home. After we pulled in Sky insisted he wanted to stay in the car, I knew the reason. His eyes were just about sealed when we came into the driveway. I figured it was in the best interest of my afternoon to go ahead and drive until my little man was all the way asleep. I was right. I was able to relax for a couple hours. Unfortunately now my guy is super rowdy so I must cut my first post short.

I am very excited to have a blog again, it's been a long time since myjournal. So until next time...