We’ve been doing a lot of hanging out in our pajamas and sweats, trying desperately to not go stir crazy the last 2 weeks with this ridiculous mega cold of near death visiting our poor little home.  Samuel had a great time with the blocks, and he did not want any help building his “BIG tower for all my race cars!”

I thought it was so adorable to see how proud Samuel was of himself!

Sam wanted to show me that the tower was almost as tall as him.  “But I’m still bigger!”

And then it was time to kick back.

All in a {sick} day’s work!

We have been so icky sick around here for almost a month now.  Coughs, colds, sore throats, fevers, and snotty snotting snotters.  One after the other.  We’ve been a pretty pathetic lot.  It’s hard on all of us.  But it might be hardest on Owen who can’t eat, can’t sleep, and can’t tell me what’s hurting him.  I hope this all clears out soon.  I’m starting to miss my happy little sugar pie.

. . . the camera don’t lie . . . when the fever comes down he really won’t mind . . .

Yesterday was uber rough.  I don’t know if it was the shot, or the infection peaking, or what.  But it was not an easy day for Sam.  He tried to play and be happy, but then he would stop to cry and smack his ears.  I don’t know how many times I heard, “Ears ouch!  Ears hurt, mommy!”  Sam went out like a light for an early nap, but woke up barely an hour later crying, miserable, and scorching hot.  He spent the next several hours sitting on the sofa watching movies.  Seriously, Samuel did not leave the sofa for at least 3 hours!!  He even made himself a cozy little fort in the corner to snuggle in.  Sam mostly just stared at me, probably thinking, “Seriously Mom, I know I’m adorable and your heart is breaking for how cute-ly sad I am, but get that flash out of my face already!” but I couldn’t resist.  I did manage to get one half-hearted “Cheese.”  

Today was better-ish.  The night had a few wake ups and a high fever, but it broke by morning.  We ran a few errands, and Sam went down for his nap right away again.  I had to wake him up for his doctor’s appointment that lasted a long time, with Sam snuggling on my lap and burrying his head in my chest the whole time.  One of Sam’s ears still has fluid, but no more puss.  The other ear still looks bad.  Sam got dose 2 of his shots (which was really two shots, poor little guy was not expecting two pokes, and boy was he sad!)  and we are scheduled for dose 3 on Saturday.  In the meantime, I get to schedule Sam with an ENT specialist.  The doctor sort of chuckled while he was checking Sam and commenting about how Sam has not once fit the bill; he is always the exception to the exception to the rule!  “Your next one will be the easiest baby in the world.”  I’m not counting on it!! 

Sam is being his usual trooper self.  His legs were pretty tender and swollen for a while, but now he is up and playing, granted he will only tip toe!  He has even eaten some hot dog and is sharing homemade blueberry muffins with Erik.  The hardest part of all of this is not being able to make it all better.  Because I tell ya, I’d do anything to make it better.  Anything for this little boy.  Anything!

Who knew THIS was just the start?!  Let’s recap . . . Sam had a nasty cold that started before Thanksgiving, and he just couldn’t shake it.  Before leaving for CA, I considered taking Sam to the doctor, thinking perhaps an ear infection was involved.  I waited.  We came back, went to Sam’s 2 year well check on Dec 2 and found out he did in fact have a double ear infection.  Start the amoxicillin.  One week later, start the horrendous allergic reaction to the amoxicillin.  Next step, $110 non-penicillin antibiotic.  Come Christmas, Sam wasn’t as congested, but still coughing.  I was supposed to take him back in 2 weeks after the last appointment (which would have been Christmas) and sort of pushed it aside . . . until yesterday.  Samuel has still been off.  Unhappy, cranky, not sleeping, whining about his ears every once in a while.  That brings us back to yesterday.

I took the car so I could get Sam’s ears looked at.  The doctor barely got the little thingy (what the heck is it called?) in Sam’s ear when he said, “Oh yeah, still infected.”  Next ear, “Yep, definitely still infected.”  Conclusion: Even $110 Omnicef won’t clear up Sam’s ear infections.  So, after all the prepping I did with Sam for our “quick” visit {“We’re going to the doctor.  We get to look at the fish and see the big Woody and Buzz on the wall.  And guess what?!  You don’t have to take your clothes off, or even your shoes and hat!  All the doctor is going to do is look in your ears!!  That’s IT!  He’s only going to look in your ears!”}  we got put in a room, stripped down the Sammers, and waited for his shot.  Dose one of 3 antibiotic shots.  We go back Thursday for dose 2.  The antibiotic shot is a last resort, and something that’s usually avoided.  It’s a pretty strong dose, and it’s very broad for what it kills.  But at this point, it was the only (hopefully!!!) surefire way to finally got these ear infections OUT . . . a month and a half later! 

The implications of all of this?  Even though this is the first time Sam’s little ears have ever been infected, next ear infection means TUBES!  Oh yay.

Oh! They would put me in the zoo, if they could see what I can do.

We like all the things you do.  We like your spots, we like you, too.

But with all the things that you can do, the circus is the place for you!

Yes!  This is where I want to be.  The circus is the place for me!

A double ear infection last week, followed by 7 days of amoxicillin.  Cue the nasty rash.  These pictures were from last night.  By this morning, the rash had spread much more over Sam’s face, down his arms, legs, groin, and bum.  We headed straight to the doctor, to learn not only was Sam most likely allergic to penicillin, but one of his ears still had a ripe infection.  Next step, a $110 non-penicillin antibiotic.  It’d better be a mircacle worker.  Maybe it is; we are already seeing a small improvement tonight.  Sweet little Sam, what a trooper.

I’m pretty sure it’s not.  Because it’s not even one tiny bit funny.

Sam didn’t want to eat all morning.  He was mopey and whiny.  I noticed his hands were freezing and his head was warm.  By noon Sam was whimpery, snuggly, hotter, and . . . barfy.

Three stomach viruses in 2 months.  Are you kidding me?!  Boo.

Diarrhea still? Yes.  Vomitting again? Yes.  Infection gone? No.  Pain? Yes.  Fever? Finally, no.  Sleepless nights? Yes.  887 loads of laundry? Yes.  Lots of extra snuggles? Oh, yes.  Broken garage door? Not anymore.  Leaking ceiling? Yes.  Again? Yes!  In more than one place? Yes.  Arrests? Not yet.  A week worthy of daily blog posts? Heck, yes!

 Usually one blanket is good enough.  But not when you’re feeling yucky!  That is a pile of 5 blankets all underneath sick Sam.  And do you love the corners?  No, it’s not barf.  It’s just permanently stained from being chewed on for the last year.

 We made a quick trip to Wal-Mart last night.  Just doing our part to make life a little more bearable for Samuel.

Yesterday I took Sam to the doctor.  He was still running a fever and hadn’t kept anything down in over 2 days.  No surprise that the doctor couldn’t offer much; just that it’s a virus, his fever should break by Wednesday, and keep pushing the fluids.  I did very much appreciate our doctor’s approach, though, and his added concern because of Sam’s tummy history.

 Sam didn’t want to sit up anymore, so he slid himself down until he rested like this.  It was a little bit funny.

We had a good hour last night.  Sam even ate a bit of food and his fever seemed to have broken.  The night ended up not going, well, though.  After a rough night of lots of diarrhea, Sam woke up very early with a massive explosion, painful sobbing, and a very swollen and scary looking lower region.  Back to the doctor’s!  This time for a few ointments to hopefully get things looking and feeling normal down there.  The doctor did promise me that it was a good sign Sam had a few good moments the evening before, and we would probably see this whole thing cleared up by the end of the week.

I seriously have never ever seen Sam so miserable and unhappy, poor little tyke!  Today has been the worst so far.  Samuel did not even want to move.  He spent the morning sitting on the sofa watching TV.  He did get a little bored and tried to get his trucks, but the moment he moved he started crying.  So I sat him back down and brought him every single truck, train, and car I could find.  He sat there the rest of the morning until we left for the doctor’s.  There, he literally sat on my lap for 1 1/2 hours, without so much as trying to get up once.  He just whimpered every time I had to reposition myself.  Do you know Sam?  Have you ever spent more than 10 minutes with him?  Sitting still is not something he does at all.

After a nightmarish diaper changing experience for both of us –Samuel did not like me putting the ointment on, and I did not like dodging or cleaning up the diarrhea fireworks–  Sam is finally asleep for a much needed nap.  I am confident this will all be over soon, and we will all be happy when it is.  But I certainly could not have asked for a better little trooper than my Samidoo!

There is no hiding the fact that we are homebodies.  Our weekends are low key to say the least.  A trip to Wal-Mart and Del Taco for dinner is pretty standard . . . or Costco and Cafe Rio if we are feeling particularly adventurous.  The last few weekends have kept us abnormally busy, though.  Between house hunting and neighborhood shopping, ward and Primary activities, graduation, birthday, moving away parties and barbecues, visits from family and a friend, and another barf-fest, we’ve stayed on our toes.

So a few weeks ago Erik got the idea that it’s time to move.  He isn’t ready to leave his current job, so we started playing with the idea of finding another home locally.  We have several (picky) issues with where we are now, and it was more than fun to explore some options.  Sam was an excellent sport, and had so much fun running around at least 10 different model homes all in one weekend.  He even got a gigantic Richmond-American balloon.  Of course driving around looking at homes meant there was a lot of this . . . naps sans crib and entertaining ourselves in the car.

So tired from house hunting all day.  Thank heavens for a “bah-ooooooo.”

 {1} Sometimes Mom’s glasses are way more fun. {2} Sam saying “Eyes” then grabbing his foot to say “Shoe.” {3} What’s up Dawg?

My parents came into town for a quick visit one weekend recently.  Sam gets to see his Mormor regularly, but he was excited to spend some time with his Grandpa Dubs.  I might be bit presumptious, but I am pretty sure my parents are absolutely smitten by Sam.  My dad had his camera phone pointed at Sam several times!   Of course Grandparent visits are also fun because we get a lot of this . . . free dinner and spoiling of the grandchild.

Barf-Fest ’08 Part II began last night at about 7:30.  Sam was less interested in dinner than usual, and by the time Erik was brushing Sam’s teeth, the little bit of dinner that did make it down came back up.  After a rough night and maybe 6 1/2 total hours of sleep for Sam, he was awake and throwing up again by 7:15.  He spent the morning absolutely miserable with a fever of 102 and throwing up anything that he swallowed within minutes; even just a couple sips of Pedialyte couldn’t stay down.  By 1 this afternoon Sam had napped a whole hour, but he was at least able to eat a slice of pear and a couple bites of pizza.  He even felt well enough later to hand us his shoes and play outside for a bit.  We took a walk, came back in, munched a couple mandarin oranges, finished Shrek, started Nemo, and at 4:30 Sam was back asleep for another hour.  Of course Barf-Fest II isn’t going to stop me from taking pictures.  We’ve seen a lot of this . . .

We saw a bit of this . . .

 This picture is so funny sad to me.  Sam’s get-up is fantastic, isn’t it?  Even feeling pretty awful, Sam still wanted to be outside, but I can totally tell from this picture how awful he was still feeling.

And we finally saw some of this . . .

It’s 7:45 now and I’ve put Sam down for the night. {Hopefully!}  He still isn’t keeping anything down, and his fever is still high, but we’ve got our fingers crossed!  I don’t ever think we’ve seen him this miserable, though.  He spent maybe a total of 1 hour today not snuggling on the couch with one of us.  I don’t necessarily mean to end on a bad note.  Of course we will survive, our life will be back to normal, and soon enough we will probably be seeing more of this . . .

And, if we’re lucky, more of this . . .

 Oh yes, another story for another time.

What a fun last 5 days!!  Thursday night (Friday morning, I guess) at 1:00 am the fun began.  Samuel woke up and fussed for a couple minutes, and even though it’s not common for him to wake up, it’s not unusual, either.  He sometimes talks for a minute, then goes right back to sleep.  This time it lasted a bit longer than usual, so I was awake enough to go downstairs to get drink.  When I came back up I heard Sam choking and smelled the wonderous odor of barf.  Three and 1/2 hours, 4 new sets of pjs for Sam, one change of clothes for me, 6 blankets and 3 clean crib sheets later, Sam was back asleep.  The next morning started way too early (8 am!!  I thought for sure Sam would sleep in since he was up for a good 3 hours during the night!) and with several diarrhea diapers.  One more big barf during naptime, a couple more runny poopers, and Sam was almost feeling better by Friday night. 

Enter Saturday night.  Around 5 that evening, Erik’s stomach started bothering him.  When I put Sam down for bed, Erik had a burning stomach that he chalked up to some serious gas.  (Not really anything new.)  By 11 pm it was pretty certain Erik had caught Sam’s bug.  So Erik spent the whole night up sick, and around 6 am he was finally feeling well enough to drink some water.  An hour later, I was hunched over the toilet.  I’m a baby, and I don’t handle this kind of stuff nearly as gracefully as Erik, so it was such a blessing that he was mostly better because he stepped in and totally covered for me all of Sunday and most of Monday.  It was actually a good thing for me, because it reminded me how much I need Erik and how much I love him when he pulls through for me.

So, Tuesday afternoon, we are almost back to normal.  Seriously, no fun at all!!!  But at least we survived.  Phew!  Now the house is a serious disaster, but once I get a hold of things again, I’ve got some pictures I’ve been anxious to post from the last few days.  And none of them are barf, I promise.