Ugh!

Life has been pretty hectic these last couple of days. On Thursday, Mikaela was diagnosed with pneumonia and then on Friday, Darion. Then of course, Friday night Mikaela had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic or the Motrin that she was taking for her constant 103.6 degree fever. I say of course, because in my house somebody is going to be allergic to something. The pediatrician tells me to stop giving the antibiotic and only administer Benadryl to her every 6 hours for 24 hours. Also, I was instructed that if the hives came back we were to take her directly to the ER. Well, guess what? At 10pm Saturday night, the hives came back with a vengeance. We stayed at the ER until 4:30am. They were going to keep her for the pneumonia, but thank God she responded to the triple dose of albuterol breathing treatment. By the way, my daughter is a warrior. She had never had to have blood drawn before, but she handled it like a pro. They had to try in 3 different places, even the wrist area on the back of her hand, and not once did she cry, nor did she even whine. The nurse was moving that needle all around trying to get a vein, and my baby girl laid there like they had given her anesthesia. I was so impressed with her bravery!

Anyway, she's now on the same antibiotic as Darion. However, the hives are still resurfacing every 4 hours. Poor thing! But on a good note, her fever is gone, and she's feeling a lot better, albeit a little tired and drained.

Since the ER visit, I have had to give Mikaela breathing treatments every 4 hours. Talking about sleep deprivation! At about 12:30am after administering a treatment, I went to come down the stairs to go back to bed, and I slid down the stairs. My back hurts, my neck hurts, and I think I might have hit my head, because I had the worst headache. What's the saying...? When it rains, it pours!

But, this too shall pass.

Coth diapering

I decided a couple of months ago to switch to cloth diapers for a number of reasons. One being money. I will point out that I did want to cloth diaper with my fourth child when money wasn't an issue, but my husband was against it. The economy is taking it's toll, so I decided to take the plunge. My husband is still not completely on-board, but at least he isn't forbidding it.

Anyway, it has cost me a total of $5 to cloth diaper my 19 month old. I used old receiving blankets, old flannel shirts, an old blanket, some cloth diapers we've used as burp cloths for the last three kids, and a wool-like sweater. The sweater became two diaper covers for overnights. The blanket became rectangular strips to keep the moisture from going through the cloth diapers. I cut out and sewed 6 diapers that would be considered AIO (all-in-ones). I did these by hand since I do not own a sewing machine. After about two weeks of having to wash them every night, I decided that 6 was definitely not enough. However, I did not want to sit and sew anymore AIOs, because it literally took me an hour to do one by hand. So I used the remainder of the receiving blankets and the flannel shirts and just cut large rectangles. I now just take one large rectangle, line it with a rectangular strip and a folded cloth diaper, and then pin it on him. The five dollars I spent were on a 4-pack of those plastic pants I bought just the other day to put over his little underwear. YES, I said underwear!!! He is now going to the bathroom. We only use the cloth diapers when we leave the house and at bedtime now.

Now that's what I call a success story.

Where does the time go?

I can't believe it's been over 5 months since I've blogged. Let's see... what has been going on in my life during that time? I am staying steady with the weightloss. However, I have not worked out since school started back and that was 7 weeks ago. Gotta get off my tush and get my workout on! A couple of nights ago I was really craving a Burger King cheeseburger, and I ate one. I figure that since I'm not vegetarian for ethical reasons that I can eat meat if I feel like it. I had a plate of veggie spaghetti last night, so there's still hope for me. I just have to figure out how to stop WANTING sweets.

The kids are doing great, even though Mikaela is sick right now. Poor thing, this fever will not disappear. At least it's not high. She turned 7 on Monday and Savion turned 11 back on August 5th. My babies are growing up way too fast. Mekhi can count by 10s, forwards and backwards, and Jaylem finished the 9th grade with an A average. Oh, and the little guy (Darion) is going to the potty!!! It's amazing what a cloth diaper can inspire. I'll post about my reasons for going cloth on a different post.

Hubby and I had our 11th anniversary back on the 5th of September. We have been together for 16 years, but we didn't get that little piece of paper notarized until 1997, so legally we've made it thru 11 years.

Well, that's about it in a nutshell. I'll try to keep posting as often as possible.