A Few Days in the Life of a Sick Mom

Being sick is never fun, but being sick as a parent is the worst! No matter how awful I feel I have to suck it up and take care of my kids, whom of course always come first. Luckily Chad didn't have to travel this week while I've been down. He is so great at picking up the slack and taking care of me. I hate when he needs to because he already has so much on his back, but I 1000% appreciate that he is here for me. Our kids are usually pretty good about being helpers when I'm down too. I feel like a jerk because I cancelled a two day sub job (luckily someone else picked it up within minutes so the teacher wasn't out the help) and had to cancel lots of plans with friends, including my Bunco group. While I know I'm complaining, I also feel very fortunate to have the ability to stay in bed to recover and my biggest problem being canceling plans. This is also one of those weeks that I'm super grateful that all of our kids are old enough to be in school so I can rest during the day. There is always a silver lining :)
I spent Monday and Tuesday in bed all day until my kids came home from school. It made for nothing really fun to talk about, but I'm thankful for the opportunity to recover. Wednesday was early release for my kids from school but when they came home I had to take Orin to see the ENT. Last month on September 24 Orin was diagnosed with croup. If you or your kids have ever had it you know that barking cough and how NOT fun it is. While Orin recovered he still hasn't stopped coughing and has been snoring like a freight train, so Chad and I decided he needed to be seen. This was his first time seeing an ENT, we took him to the same one that did Grace's tubes 10 years ago, Dr. Scott Franklin of Georgetown. He checked Orin out and had Orin's hearing tested. Orin has so much fluid behind his ear drums and is still so congested (which has been causing the coughing and snoring) that he has hearing loss. We scheduled surgery before I left the office. On December 1 (2015) Orin will have his adenoids removed and tubes placed in his ear drums, the tubes should solve the hearing loss issue and the doctor expects his hearing to be perfect after surgery. We are waiting until December 1 instead of doing it as early as next week because Orin is still so congested that Dr. Franklin started him on antibiotics and an allergy medication to make sure his lungs are totally clear and healed from the croup he had last month so there is no issue with anesthesia. Orin will also be given orders for an x-ray the week before his surgery at his pre-op so that they can make sure his lungs are in fact healthy enough for the surgery.
I'm very confident in the physicians ability being that Grace had the same surgery with him, but I'm nervous about how Orin's autism will effect his reaction to the anesthesia and his mood while he is healing. I'm sure he will do just great, but it is definitely in the back of my head. I'll keep everyone posted on him and his progress. If you're the praying type I would appreciate you sending some his way, or good juju or whatever you're into.
Grace's first 7th grade band concert was last night! She plays the flute in the Concert 1 band. She did so great! My MIL, Michell, was able to come watch her performance which I know meant the world to Grace and to us! Our kids love an audience and they really work hard to do their best. Grace has basketball tryouts coming up (I think they're next week...I don't have my planner in my face but I'm pretty sure), after try outs she will be starting weekly private lessons for her flute. We really hope that with the extra attention and help that she will make a higher class of band for 8th grade. She is such a natural musically talented kid, Chad and I are really happy to give her some extra tools to excel with her flute.
We have our annual family portrait coming up this Sunday. I am SO excited! If you really know me or have ever been to my home you know that our annual family portrait is a BIG deal to me and something that I am adamant happens every single fall. In our "new" house Chad begged me to only display the pictures (each year's pics are framed and hung) that we've taken since Orin has been born, since we were our complete family. I always display the annual family portrait and then one of all three kids. I did what he asked and the first 8 years are still framed in a box in our attic. I have each of their infant picturess out and one day may take the others out, but I'm ok with it like it is for now. My portrait wall is already full and about to be expanded to another wall. This year we are hiring the super talented Christel Grall, she is a fantastic photographer and I'm so excited to see what she captures!
I have zero fashion sense (I lie, its getting a little better but still has a long way to go). Chad and my middle daughter Abby have to tell me when I don't match or look homeless before I leave the house. Abby has been a huge help in assisting me to pick out what we will all wear for our portraits this year. I don't want to give away too much, but I think it is coming together really nicely! We are by no means a "country" family so my original idea of the kids wearing plaid got thrown out the window. It looked cute but doesn't fit our family's style at all. Orin will be still wearing his plaid shirt because it is something that suits him, and now we are all planning our outfits based of of the colors from his shirt. I can't wait to see how the photos come out!! On Saturday while Chad and Orin get a haircut, Grace Abby and I are going to get our nails done. I get mine done every two weeks but it is a real treat for the girls and they are looking forward to their appointment. On Sunday the girls and I are all having our hair done for the pictures too. Their hair is naturally so straight and they're getting it curled. They were so giddy when I told them I had made them an appointment. We're all going to be feeling our best for the photo shoot and I really hope it shows in the final product! Ahhh! Can you feel my excitement!?
Yesterday (Wednesday) our new mattress arrived, we also got a new dining table (not formal, for the breakfast area) that seats 4 (really 6) but can expand to seat up to 8. We got four seats and four stools that go with it, it is so much better than what we had out! Its very cute and super functional, I'm very happy with our purchase. We also got two new awesome Beauty Rest pillows for our bed. We had memory foam pillows with the cooling gel, but its very thick and I never end up actually sleeping on it so we gave those to our daughters and now have our new ones, they're SO comfy!! The last thing that we ordered that showed up yesterday were two really cool looking comic book pillows to go in our comic book themed game room! Once it is clean (my house isn't in the shape I usually keep it in this week since I've been sick) I'll try to figure out how to post pics on my blog and show you!
Well I guess that catches everyone up to our fairly low key week! I hope you all have a great halloween and weekend!
Until next time, count your blessings! :)

Sara