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December 18, 2003
Well, what a weekend the Coulson family has had… On Thursday John and I took the kids and John for their flu shots. I had got mine a few weeks back at work which is great as you don’t have to leave the site just to the cafeteria for a quick shot and you’re done.
After the shot I went to help McKinley down (who even with the anesthetic cream was not happy) and she was warm… did I forget to check whether she had a fever prior to the shot? Yes I guess I did (bad mommy award #1 for me) the day pretty much got worse, M’s eyes started running, along with her nose, she had a terrible fever which seemed to get worse and worse (104) and a hacking cough started. By Friday of that week Brennen, J and M picked me up from work and I knew B had gotten ill also. I could almost feel the heat radiating off of him, his eyes were watery and he whimpered all the way home. That weekend neither of the kids ate, they were well hydrated with ice water, juice and popsicles, John and I probably got about 3 hours of sleep between Friday and Monday. McKinley, recovered quickly (which is always like her) and by Tuesday of last week she was much better (that means her flu was about 6 days which I’m told is the average) Brennen seemed to have a harder time recovering he was extremely clingy and very upset at the slightest change in his surroundings, I pretty much sat for a week with him on my lap and when I went to work he transferred laps. John and I got very little done and both of us were pretty wiped out by the end of the flu.
I took Brennen and M in for a check up at the doctors to ensure that although they were ill that it had not moved to their ears or developed into a bronchial illness. I did get a script for B, but chose not to fill it and monitor him to see if his flu cleared up on its own. It has been slow but he’s now got most of his appetite back, his cough is still there very hacking but not as *juicy* as it once was. I didn’t want to have him on antibiotics if he could fight the flu, as I am a firm believer in giving the body its *room* to fight an infection and am very careful about over using antibiotics. I think our bodies can fight off a lot of infections given rest, fluids and lots of sleep (too bad those three things aren’t available to the parent of the sick child lol).
My biggest concern now is the weight he has lost, from a side angle he looks painfully thin and almost as if his head is too big for his body. I weighed him and he weighs 26 pounds which for an almost 3 year old is very thin. His size 2T pants are too big now and I find he just looks scarily thin. I purchased some Pediasure for young children and have been combining it with his chocolate milk to help with weight gain but it seems so slow. He’s finally coming around and has a bit of an appetite but I am still worried about his lack of weight.
We as a family have been VERY busy this last week getting prepared for the holiday. We purchased our Christmas tree last Sunday (John went and got it while I kept the kids home recovering) he came home with a gorgeous 8 foot tree which probably needed a foot trimmed to get it into our house !. We decorated the outside of the house with two real wreaths, garland on our porch and bench we have under our bay window. The lights are up (white twinkling) and I (if I do say so myself) created a really nice display in our urn outside the house, I used garland and scotch branches with some great looking curly sticks purchased at Michaels Craft Store. Our house looks really festive, but classy, I’m sorry but I don’t go for the huge inflated cartoon characters on the front of lawns and multiple snowmen, angels, Santa’s etc. My neighbors (nicknamed hippy family by J and me) have the hugest Hodge podgy of items on their lawn and porch that I think it is the cheesiest thing! Of course M and B love hippy families’ decorations and want me to add a Homer Simpson (mooning you in a Santa costume) to our lawn as they have… I don’t think so!
This past weekend we spent the Saturday at Sears getting a few remaining Christmas gifts for my dad, step mom, mom and stepfather, who are coming up on the 19th for a few days (mom and step dad) and December 23rd to the 26th (my dad and step mom). I think other than stocking stuffers (hello dollar store) the kids are done. We got Brennen the Geotracks train (with numerous extra pieces), a basketball net, a few different board books, a leap pad refrigerator magnet set (ABC’s), a hot wheel set and some small little toys. I think he’ll have lots to play with on Christmas day and I’m trying to convince John to set up the train so he can play with it immediately This weekend we also went to Loblaws and made Gingerbread houses with the Riley family, the kids had a blast and their house turned out great. Brennen and McKinley brought up the bible again this Sunday to start Children’s liturgy it was again, quite cute and the kids loved going down the aisle while everyone was watching (Brennen was in his Senators shirt which caused a lot of laughing and pointing.).
I am hoping to finish work this week so I have a few days of final preparations (we have Christmas Dinner at our place for 14 or 15 people so it gets busy). I’d like to get the kids picture taken with Santa one more time. I went and had their pics taken with Ho Ho last week before they became ill and the picture is great and the kids loved to visit and chat with Santa (who by the way was excellent and very good with kids).
Tonight is M’s colour pageant at school, its being held at our Church next to the school, this will be interesting as Brennen usually will say “no more or all done” when we go to Church more than on Sunday lol. He’s getting a bit better in keeping somewhat quiet during service but has a tendency to yell out “hey Mee Mee” when he sees McKinley coming from Children’s Liturgy.
I took Brennen to McKinley’s Kindergarten party on Tuesday morning, and he was hilarious. I made cupcakes for cupcake day (fundraising for the school’s schoolyard improvement committee which I am a member of) and Christmas squares for the snack (it was amazing to see all the snacks parents brought from fruit and veggie plates to multiple kinds of cakes, cupcakes and cookies.). When I dropped B and McKinley off at her classroom and started to the gym he went willingly enough but on my way back (10 minutes later) Ms. J was at the door with a crying Brennen, he wanted mommy. I took him back to the gym where he LOVED being my bingo helper, with my bingo stamps (prizes for the kids) he proceeded to stamp his whole body, dance around and enjoy the kids coming and going from the stations. Later, seeing McKinley, he decided to roam around with her, stopping at the snack table (I think he spent ALL of his time there lol sampling the goodies) getting his face painted as Rudolph, going through the obstacle course etc. I tried to keep an eye on him but he was everywhere and with the kids at my station getting into Christmas bingo the way they did it was difficult. Brennen played with a friend 3 year old whose brother is in McKinley’s class, her name is Rowan and they chased each other around for the last twenty minutes of the party. Its funny Brennen and Rowan know each other from Soccer in the summer and they get along so well, Rowan was one of our favorite names for a boy before B was born and he was very close to being named Rowan until J and I decided on Brennen.
That night Brennen fell asleep at 7:00 in his track pants and shirt on John’s knee, and was finished for the night. I’m amazed he lasted all day. Friday is his playgroup party which I’ll be taking him to, I’m sure he’ll have a splendid time there also.
Corrine from Moms today wrote a great entry about having an excellent network of friends, I agree, my friends who range from high school, work and school oriented are fantastic, they are all working moms who understand that special difficulty we have in feeling like we are getting it all done. We go for evening walks, gingerbread house building, Mass, volunteer at school or in some cases keep in touch by phone. I am really appreciative of my pals and hope they each have a great holiday season. I have some great people in my life that understand my lifestyle and parenting style and it’s great. I especially find my mommy friends are great, now that I too am a mommy; we have so much in common. With M in school and being Chair of the Parent Council it’s great to have a network of moms to count on.
Well I’d like to say I’ll have another update for my diary before Christmas but I can’t promise. Its funny I keep filing things away in my mind for the diary and then promptly forget them. I really hope to have penned at least one update before New Years Eve at the very least.
Cheers, and love to Baby B!!!! who isn’t such a baby anymore!
Kellie
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