Croup and Stuff

Saturday night we went to Tanya and Jonathon's for dinner and came home for the Rose's to come over for a game of Cranium. We talked rather than starting a game and we had a very nice relaxing do nothing but be grown ups time. They left about 11:30 and we fell asleep around 1ish. Addie had a cough so we set the humidifier up in her room and I was prepared for her to wake during the night. Since Lily just had the shots, I got Addie's ears checked and knew she didn't have an infection. Around 11, we heard a really weird cough. It was Lily, but she seemed fine and asleep, no biggie. At 1:26am the same cough woke me and I was startled by Lawrence yelling SHHHHHHHH from our room to Lily's. He came back announcing that she wanted me. I went in and the poor girl could barely breath, she was wheezing and barking. I got some steam in her and some cough medicine, tylenol and water. She was crying and panicking so I laid down in her room to settle her.

I lay there and lay there and lay there...she did not go back to sleep, she didn't talk, but she tossed and turned and breathed her Darth Vadar breaths of sicky sick right into my face. I wondered what it must be like for most parents, whose kids will just go to sleep when pulled into bed with mom and dad, or laid down next to. After the age of 4 months neither of my children will sleep with me sleeping next to them, my bed or theirs! Why I keep trying it out of true desperation, I'm not sure. I laid with Lily until around 4:30am, maybe catching a few minutes of sleep. She got up to pee several times and started to cry and freak out several more as I tried to leave. I thought for sure I'd only be in my bed for moments before I heard her cry for me again, but I didn't care, I was so tired and my bed felt so great at 4:47am. Lawrence snored soundly. I was woke by Lawrence at 7:15am. "It's your morning to get up with them.". WHAT? WHO? HUH? Addie's up? Oh, yes, let me get my lazy a$$ out of bed. He gets up 20 minutes later after catching sports center in our room. We all know he can't sleep past 7am anyway.

The day was started. We had made plans with the Chappelle's to go to church that morning, me and the girls, because Lawrence was going to be in Seattle. When his plans got canceled, he volunteered to keep Addie so Lily and I could go. Lily was devastated that we couldn't go, because "we never got to go there before" (meaning their church), but she was wheezing and I knew she had croup. Lawrence questioned me and said I was no doctor, but I knew. After nap time, which Lily slept, I did not (I organized cups??) she woke up wheezing and chest retracting worse than before. I had called the advice nurse in the morning to see if we should come in and she said if we had left over prescription, just give it to her. We didn't, but Tanya and Jonathon did from Nathaniel, so Lawrence went to get it. After sticking her head in the freezer in the garage (while I organized) yesterday, last night Lily slept better and we've kept her window WIDE open for the freezing air to come in. She seems to like it. Today she still seems pretty wheezing, so she may have to take her first sick day from school tomorrow.

Addie continues with the ULTIMATE shoe obsession and an insanely running nose. She blows it well and is usually smiling. But she is so rarely barefoot that it has started to look weird when she is shoeless. It is the first thing she asks for when she wakes. Since we don't wear shoes in the house, we have to have inside shoes and outside shoes. Since I have to wear my shoes in the house, I can't really argue with her. She started getting "time outs" for pulling hair and biting. She likes to laugh at you and run away. She LOVES to dance. I'll have to get some dancing of her on here to post because it is FUN-NNY. She gets her feelings hurt easy when you say no, she wrinkles her brow and puts her head down, looking at you from beneath her eyebrows.

She is now in a size 3 shoes and can wear a 4, tho pretty big on her. Lily moved into a size 3 around 7 months! And the shoes that are too big on Addie were Lily's before a year.

While we haven't had a full week of good sleep from Addie since we got back from vacation, she continues to go down easy for bed and naps and has good nights 4-5 nights a week, with one killer, up all night, night. I still consider her a pretty good sleeper, of course don't ask me the morning after an up all night, night. But I would have given a limb for Lily to sleep like this.

Work is good and busy, I'm in the process of interviewing software companies to choose a new accounting software for the company. The revenue recognition rules around software is very complex (you think other software companies would get that, but few do), so it is a very tedious, time consuming process. I'm not looking forward to doing my first reviews for my employees coming up in December. "Luckily" there are no raises this year, so I don't have to worry about that portion. There was a lay off a few weeks ago, so I am just grateful that no one in my department was affected by that. My industry isn't largely affected by all the economy issues, but the marketplace for our software has slowed marginally. We were estimating a 40% growth as in years past, but are now forecasting 15%. So we are still growing, which can't be said for a lot of companies out there. I guess pharmaceuticals are still in big business and they need my companies software to make those drugs, so we are still going strong.

I stepped too hard last night on my foot and pain went shooting from the spot of the break. I just froze there on the stairs for about 2 minutes, afraid to step and again and see what it meant. It was sore today, but not tender to the touch on the break and not bruised today, so I hope it is fine. I wore my cast home on the bus, just to be safe.