Household Management- How do you do it?

Let me say first- that I don't perfectly balance it all.  Something always suffers.  I am the daughter of a hoarder, so what I consider clean is different than what others consider clean, I'm sure.  That said with 6 children it is important to have systems and routines.

Housecleaning- there is a schedule.  I made it and each of the children has one chore everyday- might be as small as sweeping the basement steps, might be as big as cleaning a bathroom or their bedroom.  Besides the things they do to help, I am constantly keeping things going with running the dishwasher, washing machine and dryer and using my favorite- Lilly.This is Lilly: http://store.irobot.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3881234&cp=2804605.2501652&view=compare&s=D-StorePrice-IRBT&parentPage=family. I got her at Sam's club for $219.  I got the extended warranty for like $25 more- so she has a 3 year warranty.  Yes, they are not indestructible and they need a lot of cleaning out.  But I can go shopping or get on the treadmill and Lilly will sweep & vacuum my floors for me while I am doing something else.

  I have a routine.  I get the kids up and get breakfast going- one of them empty's the dishwasher.  If they are not in school another older child loads the dishwasher- if they are in school, I do this.  Then I start a load of laundry and get Lilly running.  At that point I do errands or other picking up around the house that always needs to be done.  I am still working to improve these areas, but having a routine is good.  Also, if I have a crockpot meal on the menu tonight, I get that assembled so it has all day to cook.

Laundry- We do a minimum of one load per day- probably actually more than that.  I am fanatical about dish towels and washcloths- whoever is washing their laundry will get dish towels and washcloths thrown in with their load.  All of my older kids do their own laundry on their laundry day- again a schedule.  Anne does hers on Mondays.  I do mine on Tuesdays.  Gus does his on Wednesdays.  Beth on Thursdays.  Meg on Fridays.  I do Greg and Stella's and squeeze it in when I can when the machines are empty.  We wash by person, not by color so much and everything gets washed on cold so to ward off colors bleeding.  One of Anne's daily jobs is to iron.  I just don't have time for that.  We don't watch TV during the week, so it gives her a chance to watch TV and get a job done.

Meals- I make a menu- even for breakfasts, not just dinners.  I do not do this for lunch except in the summer when everyone is home.  The children make their own lunches for school- yes, even Greg(age 7).  Long ago I made  a list of our meals.  I keep these lists in a binder with my shopping list checklist and my housecleaning checklist.
     Breakfasts:

• eggs- scrambled, fried, strata, hard boiled
• toast- homemade bread, raisin bread( typically with apple butter or jams)
• Oatmeal- instant, old fashioned (I want to try steel cut in the crockpot, but haven't gotten that far yet)
• Farina(also known as Cream of Wheat)
• Pancakes
• Waffles
• Cold Cereal(rare- it makes me gag)
• Grits
• Donuts (rare treat)
• yogurt, yogurt with cold cereal or granola (we eat a crazy amount of yogurt in this house)
• Blueberry muffins
• Bran Muffins (typically with applebutter or jam)
• Honey Wheat Muffins
• Coffee Cake
• Bagels
• Hearty pancakes
• Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
• Apple Muffins
• Bread Pudding
• Triple Chocolate Muffins
• Bacon
• Sausage
• Fruit

OK, that was an example of my list for Breakfasts.  I'm not going to go through and type out all the lunches, dinners, side dishes, different ways to have vegetables, etc.  But yes- i took time to think about it, type it all out.  Dinners are sorted by Beef, Pork, Chicken, Meatless, Side Dishes, and Vegetables, just for simplicity sake.

When I make a menu I try to do a couple of things.  I try to think about what we have already on the schedule and choose simple meal for that evening in advance, lest we end up having Pizza at the last minute.  I have yet another list called Fast & Easy Meals.  There are 20 meals on there that I can make in about 30 minutes or less.

1. Grilled Chicken w/ Rice and steamed veggie
2. Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce & Salad
3. Hawaiian Toast & Salad
4. Chili & Cornbread (crockpot)
5. Baked Chicken, Baked Potatoes & roasted vegetables (this one takes an hour to bake, but 10 minutes or less to assemble)
6. Sloppy Joes (we like this on home made rolls) and a steamed veggie
7. Ham, mac & cheese, steamed veggie
8. Fajitas (do your chopping early in the day- so all you have to do is assembly and cook)
9. Taco Salad (a favorite around here)
10. Tuna Casserole and a fresh Veggie
11. Dinosaur Casserole & salad (Velveeta Shells & cheese w/ hamburger, onion and cream of mushroom soup & Milk)- like Hamburger Helper, but slightly better.
12. Polish Sausage & Saurkraut, salad, mac & cheese, and often I make cooked apples with this or we have applesauce.
13. Reuben Sandwiches or Grilled Ham & Cheese sandwiches with a salad or steamed veggie
14. Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup w/ salad
15. Baked Tilapia or Baked Flounder(frozen fish), corn and a veggie
16. Tortellini Soup- a complete meal in itself
17. Chicken Caesar Salad w/ bread( I normally make honey wheat muffins to go with this)
18. Grilled Chicken Salad (If you make #1, make extra and keep extra grilled chicken on hand in the freezer to pull out in emergency- already have it sliced so it just needs a quick thaw)
19. Potato Soup & Salad
20. Fettucine Alfredo or Pasta con Broccoli  & a salad

These are not the meals I make on a nightly basis, but the fast & easy ones.  Ok, so when I make the menu- each dinner needs a protein, a starch and a vegetable.  I try to not have the same protein two days in a row.  Sunday- Beef, Monday- Chicken, Tuesday- Pork, Wednesday- meatless, Thursday -Beef, Friday- meatless, Saturday- Chicken.   We only do desserts on the weekends, feast days or birthdays. Edited to add a couple of major time savers I have found over the years.  When I buy a big package of hamburger- I fry it all up at once, drain off the fat, rinse it and then store it in meal portion bags- so when its time for Tacos, the meat is already cooked- saved you 20 minutes.  When you go to make spaghetti- meat is already cooked, saved you 20 minutes, etc.  Also, like I mentioned before when I grill chicken, I always grill extra so we can have some in the freezer available for grilled chicken salad in a pinch.

The family loves to help me make a menu- what do they want that we haven't had in awhile.  I get ultimate vetoing power, but I appreciate their input.

Exercise- I fit in exercise in a couple of ways.  One is early in the morning when I get up the big girls- they really take care of themselves- they make their own breakfasts and lunches, I just get up to make sure they are moving.  I can squeeze in 20-30 minutes  at that point.  The other time I typically exercise is when Stella is asleep, down for nap.  This means I have to be careful to not eat or drink too much at lunchtime or I will feel sick when I exercise.  I normally save some of my lunch for afterwards.  I know so many people who count on naptime to rest themselves or to get the bills paid or watch soap operas or get housecleaning done.  I set it all aside and take care of me.  If I exercise I am improving me, and therefore improving the home.  I will be happier, and have more energy if I exercise- the laundry can wait.
For exercise 3X per week I do running- I am following the Couch to 5K program found at www.coolrunning.com . On the days I am not running, I do something else, some days its just my 20 min. Pilates tape, some days it the Energizing DVD, or riding my recumbant bike, walking on the treadmill, The Firm DVD, Circuit Training, etc- something.  Sometimes it is an hour, sometimes I can really only fit in the 20 minutes, as long as i make an effort to be more active, that is what matters.

Surviving

So I have taken a new strategy to this exciting endeavor.  First- since Danmo doesn't seem to get or be able to handle a work in progress- I am able to work on things and then pick them up when I am free again.  This significantly reduces my stress level.  So far this week I have redone the home office.  I bought new rugs, changed the furniture around and had my new treadmill delivered.  I know that with the increased stress of balancing home management and motherhood I am going to need all the endorphins I can get and all the energy I can get.  We suspended our Y membership for the time Danmo is at school and that in itself pays for most of the treadmill expense.

My biggest surprise since Danmo has been gone?  That I need a clean house to be happy- its not just him!

A New Adventure

With Danmo away at school, now I begin the adventure of single motherhood- sort of.  I do not have the worry about going out to get a job to support my family.  I do have the worries of its all on me.  Worries of how to balance it all and keep all the balls in the air.  I am saddest for me thinking of him not being here at the end of his work day to share our thoughts and experiences that have happened.  We struggle to get much done in the evenings when he is home- we just enjoy being together and time flies.

I came back home yesterday after being down range with him setting up his apartment.   The trip down there was an adventure for both of us.  Danmo drove and I flew.  He got there in the afternoon and my flight was scheduled to land a few hours later.  He calls while I am in the airport to tell me his cooling system in his car has quit.  No A/C and now the car is doing that thing where the temperature needle on the dash is going into the HOT zone.  We decide right there for me to get a rental car at the airport.  I try to get one while getting on my flight- but I do not have enough time to arrange one.  My flight was mostly normal until I reached my destination.  We had to keep circling around the airport because there were thunderstorms.  Then we had to be diverted to another nearby airport so we could get fuel.  While refueling I quickly reserve my rental car- whew!  We finally land in our right airport and I get my rental car- 3 hours later than I should have landed.  The drive to his apartment is 1.5 hours.  I finally get there near midnight.  I stopped at Walmart on the way to get a trash can, shower curtain, rings, and liner.  Danmo had told me how he washed up but couldn't really shower without a shower curtain, so I surprised him with a few housewarming gifts.

We really had to do a lot of shopping for him!  Tuesday and Wednesday we shopped like crazy- even I was tired of shopping at that point!  Thursday we spent the whole day putting things together.  Dinner most night was late like 8 pm.  This was a blessing in so many ways because we were able to just have a snack and push through with our work and get so much more done than if we had to stop at "normal" dinner times.  Friday we worked all the way up until midnight- when my body started shutting down - I needed sleep.

These days together were filled with a lot of hard work and joy.  The workout clothes I brought with me were never used- there was no spare moment- we did take teh stairs a lot as a form of exercise- the 7th floor- whew!  It really required us to be loving and patient with each other.   We had to do a lot of scouting around to find stores, restaurants and we found a wonderful Mass there- its only a 2 minute drive from Danmo's apartment. What a blessing to find such a wonderful parish deep in the heart of Dixie!

In many ways this trip was like a second honeymoon.  No children with us- though we did miss them desperately.  No children with us, just us- alone enjoying being together.  We had so much work to do to make his apartment a livable space, but we worked together side by side and got it all done. There were times when we didn't even talk- we just listened to music while we worked toward this common goal- who knew a filing cabinet had so many freaking parts?

Saturday morning came too soon.  I was heartsick to leave my other half behind- until I turned on the highway to the airport- then I was heartsick to get home to my sweet little blessings.  I was greeted at home from the most awesome squeals, hugs and kisses.  Stella laughed and laughed and kept hugging me- she couldn't believe I was here.  Oh what a joy it is to be home with them- it makes my heart happy.  I admit to a very heavy part of my heart- the part left in the south.  I can't wait until he is home again and we are reunited as a whole family.  God bless the single parents out there- I don't know how they do it all alone, except for the grace from God. 

Dear Lord, grant me grace to excel in this endeavor.

First half of February 2010

*February 4-Dan has to leave early for drill this weekend & I start feeling ill. I get the kids White Castle for dinner.(very rare) Meg is funny in the drive thru and asks if she can have a hic drink. None if us know what a hic drink is- but then Beth pipes up- she means HI-C. LOL! We were all rolling! Sorry, we just drink water in this house.

*February 6- Anne has a colorguard competition. I don't know any of the other parents. I am ill- there is no one else to take her. It is in Eureka and we have to be there at 11:30 and then the competition isn't until 1:07. I wake up this morning feeling HORRIBLE. So I dope myself up on Dayquil, Motrin, Sudafed and Chloraseptic. We make it through the competition and come home. I go straight to bed.

*February 7- I wake up feeling worse, so I take myself to the ER at St. Anthony's. I walk right in, no wait. What a blessing. I was so ill and weak I could barely drive myself to the ER. I am so grateful it is closeby. Get taken back, see the doc right away. He looks at my throat and is impressed at how big my uvula was(tonsils taken out at age 16). Swabs my throat- I have strep. I get my antibiotic and go home. Dan comes home, picks up Little Caesar's pizza for dinner.

*February 8- Meg is ill. Her throat hurts. Then Stella & Meg both start running fevers- joy :/ We call the pediatrician. He calls in a prescription for them since I have confirmed strep and they have been exposed, obviously.

*February 9- snowday! I love snowdays - I enjoy the laying in bed, I enjoy just being with the kids with no busyness. Beth & I go to Sam's Club and pick up candy for the kids Valentine's cards. Greg comes down with a fever and goes to bed, so he doesn't work on his valentines.

*February 10- Meg still running a fever, I am still weak. Greg seems to have bounced back almost immediately and I send him off to school. Dan's mom starts feeling ill.

*February 11- Megan's birthday. I am supposed to meet Megan for lunch. But Dan's mom is ill. Meg is still home ill. Stella is still under the weather. I am still fairly weak. I end up canceling. Thursdays are a pretty crazy night for us. Anne has Catechism classes down at St. Francis De Sales from 5-6:15 and the boys go to Boys Club, which starts at 7pm. Getting the family everywhere and getting everyone fed is a challenge to be sure. I always remind myself this is only until May 15, when Anne is confirmed- then this craziness will be over. Its temporary is my mantra on Thursday nights. But this Thursday night we are blessed. Catechism is cancelled and Boys' club is doing a field trip to the Basilica and we opted to not attend. What a blessed evening. I make these huge, beautiful porkchops for dinner with a pan sauce of onions, apples and bacon. YUM. Greg finally decides he should do his Valentines- this ends up lasting until 11:30 PM- UGH!

*February 12- The first day I start feeling well(mostly). I take Meg to the dermatologist to get a wart burned off, then off to school. She was so happy to make it to the Valentine's party! I go visit my mom and take her some food. I help her with a few household tasks. Then Stella & I go visit my dad. I am bushed- I really am still weak and need a nap. My dad really wants me to do some shopping for him and I just need to go home. He understands- I go home. I really don't get much rest. The kids are leaving messes all around and this makes me extremely crabby. Dan & I are supposed to go out for a date night that night. He convinces me to go. We went to Fletcher's in Crestwood Mall. It was good, not very expensive and not crowded. Then we walked around the mall to see what is/is not there anymore. What they have done with the art spaces is really cool. Our new date night tradition includes going to the YMCA together and relaxing in the hot tub for awhile. Come home and off to bed.

*February 13-My girlfriend Kristina calls out of no where Friday night to ask me to meet up with her for lunch. WHAT A TREAT! I have been feeling like a hermit lately with all of these people sick, going to hospitals, never being able to have anyone over. I really needed this time away. Kristina has been going through a lot of illnesses at her house to, so we just enjoyed just being OUT. Everyone appears to be well- PRAISE THE LORD!! Dan and his mom go visit uncle Ed at St. Mary's. He is healing well and should be going home on Wednesday!! We have the Hogrebe's over for dinner. Beth & Meg spend the night at their house.

*February 14- My friend's baby is being baptised at 8:30am in St. Charles. Due to the last month and a half I have not gotten her sling made- so I get up at 6am to make her sling. Dan's mom opts to not go to Mass, she isn't feeling well- again? still? I don't know. Dan wakes up feeling under the weather- GREAAAAT! Dan stays away from the baby. There is a nice reception afterwards and I got to see a lot of friends I rarely get to see. (YAY!) We get home about noon and Dan feels awful now, sore throat, etc. I suggest he goes to the YMCA and uses the hot tub. he does & then he comes home and feels even worse. he heads off to the ER, comes back 4 hours later with an antibiotic.

*February 15- I drop Gus off at a friend's house closeby. My neck again- UGH it has been acting up since the day we went to White Castle, but I was not able to get to the chiropractor due to being ill and weak. Today I go. He is again fabulous, spends a lot of time trying to get me back in shape. I find out he is selling his practice so he can go do research at Logan college. I am happy for him, sad for me. Beth, Stella and I then go to the Hallmark store to buy a card for my aunt. She & Beth share a birthday and Beth wanted to get her a nice card. Then Beth gets dropped off at a friend's house. Her friend is so sweet- she planned a mini surprise party for Beth!! I had no idea. I am so happy for Beth that she has made good friends at her new school. I pick up Anne & drop her off at the same friend's house where Gus is. About 4:30 pm, Dan lays down on the couch in the living room. He is woken pretty violently. Stella starts vomiting! UGH! Of course, now it is time to pick up all of the big kids from the various houses. Since Stella threw up on him, he had to change out of his jammies. This works to my benefit because he goes and picks up the kids while I hold a Stella who just can't seem to stop throwing up :( Poor baby! Meg's piano teacher shows up- the lesson goes well. Anne & Beth really pitch in to make dinner since I am really pinned down with a still throwing up Stella. What a blessing to have children who can help if they have a lot of direct supervision. Get all the kids off to bed. Dan & I rest by the fire in the fireplace. Stella still throwing up.

February 16- Stella wakes up chipper! YAY! She begs for water- like a fool I give her water & yogurt- yep- you guessed it, still throwing up. Now she is having diarrhea too. I was supposed to go visit my mom and dad today. I can not leave her like this. Dan's mom is still ill too.

I am just praying- begging for an end to all of this. I hope this Rotovirus does not rip through the rest of the family. lent begins tomorrow. I have already had a lot of mortifications this year. I am already ready for Easter. I am already ready for Spring.

January 2010

So January 2010 started quiet. Dan and I opted to stay home with the kids for New Years. We rented Night at the Museum and Night at the Museum2 and watched them as we rung in the New Year. I don't remember the first couple days as anything remarkable- just cleaning house and recovering from Christmas and my sister's wedding- taking it easy.
*January 4- a Sunday I woke up in incredible pain. I have a slipped disc (between C4 & C5). I have been to the neurologist, the chiropractor (who rocks out loud, BTW),a nd been to weeks of physical therapy. It started in July 2009- by November I was mostly better, but I still occasionally have flares. This was one and it was the worst ever. It was Sunday and we were getting ready for Mass. I had no idea how I would make it through. Dan had to help me put on my shirt. As I sat to eat a bite before Mass I realised there was no way I could make it to Mass :(
*January 5- went to Chiropractor. After literally crying through Sunday, I went to see Dr. Mark Schisler(314-351-4803) and he adjusted me- sweet relief! God bless this man!
*January 6- took Stella to the ENT because she snores horribly. He is sending us for a sleep study(Feb.9) and she will likely have some sort of surgery. I know she has some Sleep Apnea, depending on how bad they find it to be, then they will determine a treatment plan- likely she will have her tonsils out which normally, not ill touch her uvula!
*January 7-8 Sweet Mercy! Snow days. I had so much fun with my kids. We watched movies, made crafts, made lots of jewelry, decorated gingerbread houses- oh how lovely!
*January 8- Gosserfest 2010- what a blast! It was so nice to go out and hang out with friends- some I hadn't seen in years. Isn't it amazing how even tho you can not even talk to some people for years you just seem to pick up just where you left off? (hi Jill & Jenny!) Back when I was a child my cousin Kay really annoyed me. Now she is a few years older than me so this could be a combo of her being in the midst of the teen years while I was observing her. She was always beautiful and confident, and for a girl with self esteem issues that is hard to take. And for years I thought she was superficial and kind of snotty. Then...something changed- I changed. I got married and had kids and found my own confidence and the years that separated us seemed to not matter anymore- and we have become friends. I love her, I enjoy her, we can hang out and drink wine together(white for her, red for me) or beer for her, wine for me:) What a blessing to find a friend in the family. Anyway, she was at Gosserfest and it was great to just BE and to hang out with everyone.
*January 9 I did something I never do. I took the kids swimming at the YMCA. I hate swimming- they all love it. I did it for them. I was so enjoying them the past few days and I was so appreciative of all the help they had given me cleaning up the house earlier in the day- I just wanted the party to continue- so much that Saturday night we had party food for dinner- BBQ smokies, Bagel bites, veggies & dip and of course, dessert
* Then January was its typical busy getting back into the routine after Dan is gone & back from drill, getting the kids back into their routines for school, and preparing for our trip to Arkansas to see our dear friends. I was going around for days cleaning like a mad woman( I hate coming home to a dirty,messy house), making sure there were meals for my mother in law (who lives with us in case anyone didn't know)- she was staying behind, and getting things and people packed(hello laundry) for our trip.
*January 16- I get a call from a friend's son asking if I can take him to Boys club that night- both of his parents were ill (http://catholicboysclub.org/content/). I do. When its 8:30 and I am driving to pick up the boys, I get a call from Laura-friend's mom- and she asks me to please take her to the ER. She is violently ill with the stomach flu. I drop off the boys, pick up Laura and we head to the ER. I stay with her until 10:30, then go home to get some sleep- but tell her to call me when they release her and I will take her home. I just could not fall asleep until about 12:45. The phone rings at 3:30, its Laura- they have released her- she sounds so much better. I pick her up, take her to Walgreens and pick up her medicines. I drop her off at home- her husband, bless him, was also ill, so ill he didn't even know she was gone- so I had to call and wake him out of a dead sleep to let Laura in the house at 4:30 am! I got home and back in bed at 4:45, took awhile to fall back to sleep and then was up at 6am to get the kids off to school for the day. It stinks to be low on sleep when you are traveling, but I knew that Dan would drive a lot of the trip(6 hour trip) and I would be able to rest in the car. Instead of fretting, I am thanking God for allowing me to help perform corporal works of mercy and help my friends in time of need.
** We were to leave Friday when the kids got home from school. I had been baking double chocolate dream cookies, I had chili in the crockpot so we could dine(in paper bowls and plastic spoons, no less) and dash off to Arkansas. Two batches of bread in the works- Whole Wheat and Challah. The whole day was just cruising by.... and then the phone rang.
*January 15- my dad's cousin calls. My dad and her husband, Jack, are buddies. Jack takes my dad shopping and they just chew the fat- they are very different from each other in many ways, but very alike. I am often very grateful that my dad has Jack. Anyway, Jack's wife- Jackie calls me and says " Your dad called for Jack and wanted him to being him some water- he has been without food and water for 3 days- what do you want to do?" My dad has diabetes- the reason he had been without food or water for 3 days was because he has horrible open sores on his legs and feet and the pain to walk was more than he could bear. (My dad later said it was like Chinese torture laying there- he had food and water, maybe 6 feet from him- he just could not get to it. ) I told Jackie obviously he needs to go to the hospital. there is no way I(with my slipped disc) or Jack & Jackie could get my dad to the hospital- so I called an ambulance. LONG story short- they finally get him to the hospital about 1:30 pm. He gets to the ER and it seems like forever until they let us see him. It was probably 2.5-3 hours. I know how long it takes to make an assessment, I couldn't figure out what was taking so long. But my dad is a hoarder- he smells yucky pretty much all the time- add to it he had been laying there for 3 days- he was not a pleasant picture when he came in. When they allowed us to see him, he didn't smell- except for the stench of his legs- GANGRENE. They spent A LOT of that time cleaning him- just so they could treat him. GOD BLESS THEM! We were told he would 100% chance lose his right leg and there was a 50% chance he would also lose his left leg- but that was being generous. They admitted him to the ICU- mega antibiotics, lots of wound care and basic rehydration. His blood sugar was 532, his kidneys had almost completely shut down, and he would likely lose his legs- but he chose to make that call- at some point- he CHOSE to live- that is vital.
*January 18- Dan's uncle(his mom's twin) had a stroke. He is expected to regain most of his previous abilities. This really has shaken Dan's mom- they are extremely close. I just love uncle Ed and I was beside myself that all off this was happening.
*January 20- my mom has surgery to repair a hernia. Our adopted sister(hi Kim!) was so good to her and us and took my mom to the hospital. She took off work for the day and stayed with us while we waited to hear how it all went. It was supposed to be a laparoscopy, and simple recovery. When they got in there things were a bit worse than they anticipated and they had to do a laparotomy instead to repair her hernia and remove the adhesions she had. This meant a longer hospital stay & bit of a harder recovery for mom. The plan was that she would come over here after she got out of the hospital and stay here for a few days.
*January 21- After days of antibiotics, wound cleanings and dressing changes, whirlpools and lots of narcotics for the pain, today my dad went for surgery on his legs. The plastic surgeon scoffed at him losing his legs. I admit he had great improvement with proper care- they ended up doing grafting- using cadavar skin to help his body heal up those sores. This I found out days late because I waited...and waited...and waited for the surgeon to come talk to us after the surgery- and he never showed up! But, he did save my dad's legs and instead of aggressively amputating, he is aggressively working to save them- so I forgive him. Dad remains in ICU.
*January 23- I go to a birthday party for my mom's best friend, Leona- Happy 65th birthday. Dan was unable to go. I was blessed with seeing Leona- it had been a couple of years and then I was also blessed to feed my baby love and hold my friend's granddaughter for most of the time I was there.
*January 24- my mom is released from the hospital. Shockingly (LOL- not!) she decided she felt good enough that she did not want to come to our house, she just wanted to go home. I guess she didn't think she would get much rest here? I think she made a good decision:) And then again, she chose our adopted sister, Kim to take her home. Sometimes I wonder if she likes her better. I think she really just wanted to give Kate & I a break after all that was going on with our dad. After so many of our friends and their kids coming down with the awful stomach bug going around I decided to stock up on insurance against the stomach bug- crackers, ginger ale, convenience foods, etc. This night we went out to dinner w/ dear friends to Amigo Joe's. It was so nice to have a little time to let down and I brought my mom over dinner when we were on our way home. Somehow when the kids and I walked in the door there was a Scrabble game starting up in our house! What? Its a Sunday night- tomorrow is school-whatever- who cares- our life has been so crazy, so hectic- lets just embrace a little us time and say screw the schedule! We played teams- Me & Beth, Dan & Gus, Grandma & Greg and Anne & Meg. We had a blast and we went to bed late, but just thankful to all be together. Stella starts feeling a bit warm and groggy- I chalk it up to the late schedule and put her to bed.
*January 25- Gus and Stella wake up with fevers. I think Beth was ill this day too. I thought oh great- now we are going to get the bug. Then the coughing started....
My dad gets moved out of the ICU onto the Med/Surg floor.
*January 26- I got the pleasure of spending the whole day (a good 5 hours at least) looking over Medicare part C policies and picking a new one for my dad.I call to check on my dad and let him know I found him a policy and I find out from his room mate that he is sleeping- they had given him blood that day and he wasn't responding well to it. I find an agent to help us sign him up and arrange that for the next morning. I call to check on my dad and let him know I found him a policy and I find out from his room mate that he is sleeping- they had given him blood that day and he wasn't responding well to it. Stella and Gus are still ill and laying around with low fevers, coughing, and resting.
*January 27- Get to the hospital to sign up my dad for this new Medicare part C, go over all of that with him. He signs the papers, etc and that goes smoothly. We meet with a bunch of doctors- they are ready to move him to rehab soon. The diabetic doctor tells us my dad has nine lives. The plastic surgeon tells us about the cadavar skin and how he needs to be seen in Senior care at least once per month once he is healed(more until he is fully healed). My dad goes for an endoscopy & colonoscopy to see where he is bleeding internally that his blood levels were low and he needed blood. they did find a small polyp that was bleeding, but nothing remarkable. They start the process to get him on to Rehab. I go to a local thrift store and buy him some clothes for his rehab time and head home. Stella has been laying on mom all day- coughing, miserable. Thank God we have Dan's mom with us- what would we do without her? Stella goes to bed at 6pm- unheard of for her!
*January 28- Stella cries out at about 6 am- I expected her to be improved after 12 hours of sleep- boy was I wrong! She was crying- a weak cry, eyes barely able to focus, occasionally coughing, not herself. Normally she sees daddy and all she wants is him- he lights up her world. Today she only wanted mommy- she was miserable. I hurry and get the kids off to school and quickly get over to the ER at St. Anthony's. I was there by 8:15am. They have a satellite Cardinal Glennon ER there- they are fab! They assess Stella- she is dehydrated, he oxygen saturations(will be called sats) were low- really low- 86 on room air when she was awake- which wasn't much, and as low as 80-82 when she was sleeping. Now due to her very large tonsils and sleep apnea- I have no idea how low she typically gets at night- I know I can not watch her sleep- it freaks me out. They do an Xray- they think she has pneumonia. They do blood her blood counts were all good and normal. They do give her a dose of Rocephin(IV antibiotic) before the blood work comes back. They think they are going to admit her. They give her some supplemental oxygen(which she hated) then her oxygen sats were 98-100%- which is what they should be... and we waited and waited. They said maybe if we give the Rocephin some time to work and keep her on the oxygen she will improve and we could take her home. We were there beyond the length of the shift. New ER doc comes in to assess her- takes off oxygen- she quickly goes back to 86 when awake. She then says- why don't we get an albuterol treatment on her- what could it hurt? After that(which, of course Stella hated) then the doc could hear wheezes! They did another treatment and then Stella was able to breathe! Her oygen sats were now 92-94% on room air! They gave her some juice(which she sucked down) and they prescribed Albuterol treatments every 3-4 hours, steroids- predisolone(they gave her a dose before we left). We took her home at about 8:15 pm- 12 hours in the ER- but YAY for ER docs who were cautious, and patient and helped us escape an admission :)
*January 29- Gus goes to school today. I think its questionable to send him, but he has missed all week. Stella is still a pretty limp rag and just lays around and nurses all the time and when she isn't nursing- she cries. Before this illness she was almost weaned. 10 am- School calls, Gus can't.stop.coughing. and they take his temp- its 101.5. I tell them I am coming to get him. He had already had breathing treatments that morning- I figured he had what Stella had and he needed to be seen ASAP. I call our pediatrician's office- he is not in the office that day. I figure we are back to the ER, when my guardian angel tells me to call Dr. Warrier- Gus' allergist. He is fabulous. They have an opening at 11:40am. I take a shower, pick Gus up from school(a miserable Stella in tow) and go to the doctor. Mega albuterol treatments, and prednisone for Gus. We come home and I collapse! The kids come home from school- Meg & Greg coughing- Greg with a raging fever- great! At times I had 4 kids back to back to back to back getting breathing treatments. At the first sign of coughing I just started giving Meg & Greg breathing treatments to try to help them fight this and keep them off steroids. This date happens to be the one year anniversary of us moving into this new house. Hard to believe it has only been a year- it feels longer! We had planned to celebrate and have a family over for dinner & games- but of course that got canceled- no body wanted what we have and they ended up with the stomach bug going around!
*January 30 & 31- I spent my whole days/nights listening to Stella cry mercilessly & constantly nursing- poor baby was miserable. Greg still had a high fever. Meg was fine(~whew!) Gus was much improved. I almost didn't make it to Mass on Sunday because I wasn't sure if I could leave Stella because of her crying. Luckily, my guardian angel helped me and I got her down for a nap. She slept so Dan could keep her so I could go to Mass- and what a great Mass it was. It was the gospel about the man who was hiring workers in the field- and even the ones who only worked one day recieved a full days wages. I used to think how unfair that was- until one day Dan told me to look at it like the person who converts on his deathbed getting the beauty of Heaven- just like the person who lived a good, holy life his whole life. Then I was able to embrace this story- in fact now its one of my favorites- it always makes me think of my dad- and my hope that he changes his heart toward God before his number is called. If Stella had been well, likely I would not have heard that gospel and remembered to offer up my Mass for my dad's conversion.
*February 1st- take Gus & Stella to the pediatrician- seems the prednisone was giving her horrible gas- that is why she had been crying for 2 days non stop- poor baby- it remionded me of her colic days :( Gus has a sinus infection- joy- antibiotics for him.
My mom is doing really well with her recovery :)
*February 2nd we get the word my dad is moving to Skilled Nursing Facility.
*February 3- My sister & I visit him at the new facility. He is really crabby this day. he does tell us that he expects to need to go to a Assisted living apartment when he leaves the rehab facility- he admits he will never go back to his house. I had taken Stella with us- that brightens his spirits some. I then later get a call from the administration that they think he is told he is too young to be in the skilled nursing part and they move him to the Rehab floor. They do PT & OT for at least an hour a day to start with. I think this is great.



If you made it through all of that- BRAVO! That's it- that's the update and where I have disappeared! Please keep praying for my dad and my mom, Uncle Ed and our families health. Oh, yes, now I am ill too- joy:/