7 Year Olds Should Never Need An Ultrasound

Yesterday was a LONG day. It was a day of confusion, studpitity, sympathy, fear, pain, love, compassion, karma and guilt.


It began with a hangover from afternoon drinks with the cousins on Sunday. I never drink. And I was quickly reminded why.


Then I spent 3 hours in a place I never should have been... with a person that should have remained in my past... doing things.. that well, I guess I don't entirely regret. 


I received a call around 11:00 from Drew's dad saying that Drew was sick: fever, vomiting and stomach pain. He said he was going to take him to urgent care and call me with an update. 


He thought I was at work.


After he called a few times to get Drew's insurance info from me, he finally called me with news that literally brought me to my knees. The doctor at urgent care said Drew needed to be taken to the emergency room ASAP for a possible appendicitis. They called and ambulance, but his dad didn't wait around for it. He picked up our baby boy and drove him to the closest ER.


I left immediately to meet them at the hospital. I cried the whole way there. My son was in pain.. and I wasn't there. My son needed me.. and I wasn't there. I have a clear understanding of how a person can literally die of guilt. 

We spent 5 hours in the hospital yesterday. About 20 people came in and poked at his stomach. They drew blood. And I cried again. Finally they did an ultrasound... and we waited. Drew was tired and thirsty. He laid in my arms for a few hours, then eventually moved to the bed. His skin was so hot. 


The ultrasound was inconclusive. 


But Drew was doing better. The pain was minimal and he had an appetite. The doctor advised us to take him home, and just keep a close eye on him and bring him back if the pain came back. Drew was begging to go home... so we did. 


When we got home he ate one cracker and took a sip of gatorade and passed out. His temperature was up  and down all night. He woke up around 8, had a few bites of soup, and went right back to sleep. We survived the night. 


He woke up this morning still not feeling great. He said his stomach is fine, but he just feels yucky. I'll take yucky over an appendicitis any day.


Yesterday was a LONG day. I hated seeing my son in pain and not being able to fix it. 


Yesterday the 3 of us were alone in a room for 5 hours. Drew, his dad and I. That has never happened. I wish none of us were there... but that time together was good for us. I saw a side of his dad that I've never seen. I let him be in control.... and when it comes to my son, I am ALWAYS in control. But yesterday he took care of us. The 3 of us. 


When we left the hospital, Drew's dad went to the store to get Drew some juice and crackers then he came to the house. Again the 3 of us were alone together. Sitting on the couch watching cartoons.


The 3 of us are not a family. But we are Drew's family. And although yesterday was a LONG day... some good things came from it. 

Meanest Mom Ever

So far I've kind of sucked in the Mom-Department this week. 


Of course Drew loved me on Monday when we had our great Valentine's date... but yesterday and today... not so much.


Monday and Tuesday I asked Drew to do his homework during the after school session since I knew we had our date on Monday and basketball practice on Tuesday. I hardly ever let him do homework there since I'd rather do it with him, but both nights I knew we'd be super busy. Since he does the homework with his teacher there I knew it was complete and didn't bother to check it. 


Yesterday Drew mentioned needing a shoe box for school. His teacher hadn't said anything to me and he didn't have a note about it so I said we'd talk to the teacher today and find out what's going on. When I dropped him off this morning I asked about the shoe box. She said "yes, he needs one, it's due today....." and gives me this look like "hmmm.. thought you were Super Mom...." so I said, "oh well I didn't see a note or anything about it so I didn't know. Sorry we didn't bring one." To which she replied "I wrote a message on the front of the homework packet... didn't you read it?"


Drew just looked at me with his "I told you so " face..... way to go Super Mom.


And last night was the worst (in his opinion).
First I made him go to basketball practice even though he had a headache. I told him if he truly wasn't feeling good he could just sit and watch. But as soon as the coach handed him a ball he ran out on the court. He came to sit with me for a minute, but the second his dad walked in he was back out there. Freaking daddy's boy.... 


And then we come to the loose tooth issue. Drew's top tooth has been loose for the last few day.. and just getting looser each day. I tried to pull it out over the weekend, but he refused and was literally in tears, so I just left it. But when his dad say how loose it was at practice he told Drew is was dangerous to play with it like that in case it fell out and Drew choked on it. He told Drew that if we didn't get it out that night then he was going to pull it out himself the next day when Drew came over. So last night we were on a mission to get it out. Drew tried for a little bit, but it wasn't working. And every time I went to touch it he cried.... seriously.. my little drama king. Once I pulled on it and that kid screamed so loud.. and then threw up. WTF?? 
He is beyond drama some times... so I let him try again on his own... but after 20 minutes, tons of tears and way too much arguing...I just had to do it myself. There was absolutely no blood.. but it was a bit tough to yank it out. That kid threw up again... 3 more times!!! 

He does not handle stress well at all.
After all I had to go through to get that stinking tooth out, I felt the tooth fairy owed ME some money!!

Not A Fan Of Buttercream

Saying I have a sweet tooth is an understatement. 


Desert is mandatory in our house. Ice cream is often an acceptable breakfast food. Granola bars are only consumed if covered in chocolate. 


So this weekend when a friend and I stumbled upon a new cupcake shop I was in heaven... and my wallet was in tears. 

Some how I managed to narrow my selection down to six of these beauties. Oh yummm.... my mouth was watering just looking at these. The flavors I chose were: Stawberry Cheesecake, Oreo Cookie, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Hot Fudge Sundae, Mint & Chip and Animal Cookie. 

It took everything in me not to shove one in my face on my way to pick up Drew. But I wanted to surprise him with the full selection. Of course he was super happy at what I brought him.... but declined my offer to dig into one... saying his belly was full. And honestly mine was too.... 

This should have raised a red flag right then. Something was wrong. We had a box of yummy cupcakes and we weren't even going to taste them??

That night we finally gave in and tried the Mint & Chip which is my absolute favorite flavor of ice cream. 

I was disappointed. Cake part was good.. nice and moist. Frosting however, no thanks. I shouldn't have been surprised.. I've known for years that I'm not a buttercream girl. But I was still disappointed.. I wanted to love these cupcakes!!

So we tried another one:

The animal cookie one was just adorable!! But again.. buttercream. Of course Drew loved them both and would have gladly eaten them all. My tastebuds were not happy..... so I had to simply settle for just eating the cake part. 

Next time I buy cupcakes I'm asking about the frosting first. I'm clearly a whipped cream or cheesecake frosting kind of girl. 

And just because my puppy is too adorable.... 

This is how you will find Mr. Franklin Joseph Jackson the third... every morning while I'm getting ready for work. Nice and cozy in my bed!!

Valentine's 2011

Oh Valentines Day... 
I am very glad I got to spend at least part of the day with the love of my life. He had his Valentine's party at school during the day while I sat at work....boring! But we had big plans for the night... except when I left my office one of the guys at work pointed out that I had a flat tire.


 As soon as I heard him I remember thinking in my head "I can't possibly have a flat tire.. I have plans tonight!!"... and I was very serious! Until reality hit, and I saw the damn tire for myself. The guys at work changed the tire pretty quickly and I was glad to be on my way out of there, until one of them said, "Go straight to the tire shop and get that thing fixed. You can't drive around long on that spare. Oh and don't drive over 55 MPH".... ok, first of all, I HAVE PLANS!! and they do not consist of going to the tire shop (why was nobody understanding this??) and second, driving below 70 MPH on the freeway is basically impossible for me.. and he wanted me to stay under 55?? not likely.. 


Needless to say, I skipped the tire shop, stayed as close to 60 MPH as I could, picked up the munchkin and headed out to our Valentine's date. Drew and I spent our Valentine's night at Pump It Up, a place that has a bunch of HUGE inflatables for everyone to jump around on. 

And lucky us, we got a private dinner for two... of pizza and juice. We are so romantic like that!

We got home a lot later than normal, so we did quick showers and headed straight to bed. 


**Side note: I am WAY to old to jumping around at this place. I was so exhausted and couldn't hang with my crazy 7 year old. How in the world that kid has so much energy is beyond me. That was enough exercise to last the entire year.... next time we're taking a friend for him to play with so mom can sit out!

Since When Do Camels Wear Bras??

Part of Drew's nightly homework is to read for 20 minutes. Usually it's no big deal. He'll grab whatever chapter book he's in the middle of and just pick up where he left off. Last night he decided he wanted to read a few poems from "A Light In The Attic." So he's sitting next to me in bed, reading each poem aloud to me while I'm on the laptop searching Ebay.


All was going well... until I hear my son say "They've put a brassiere on a camel, so that her humps wouldn't show."


I turned my head so fast towards him that I hurt my neck. I'm thinking "WTF are you reading??", so I asked "what did you just say?" and Drew repeats himself, then points to the words in the book. I looked at the words then glanced to the picture on the next page and started cracking up.
My 7 year old son was reading about a camel with a BRA on!! What the heck was Shel Silverstein thinking when he wrote this poem??




They've Put A Brassiere On A Camel    -Shel Silverstein

They've put a brassiere on a camel,
She wasn't dressed proper, you know.
They've put a brassiere on a camel,
So that her humps wouldn't show.
And they're making other respectable plans,
They're even even insisting the pigs should wear pants,
They'll dress up the ducks if we give them the chance
Since they've put a brassiere on a camel.
They've put a brassiere on a camel,
They claim she's more decent that way.
They've put a brassiere on a camel,
The camel had nothing to say.
They squeezed her into it, i'll never know how,
They say that she looks more respectable now,
Lord knows what they've got in mind for the cow,
Since they've put a brassiere on a camel.

Needless to say there was a lot of laughter and very little reading taking place after this.... 

Thanks a lot Mr. Silverstein.

Even at Her Worst, She Ain't That Bad...

*Lunch today was beyond disgusting. 


*I've learned that the only time I like blue cheese is in the form of dressing and accompanying buffalo wings. 


*Last night I was home by 4:30. Had dinner and fed the dogs. And was in bed by 5:30. FYI: I love my bed.


*Contemplating a trip to Lego Land with Mini-Me this weekend. I have an appointment for dental work Saturday morning, but it's supposed to be 80 degrees in San Diego... how can I pass on that weather??


*There is a man in my office that feels the need to speak every second of every day. He is an expert on EVERYTHING and has personal knowledge of any and everything you've ever been through. I am BEYOND over it.


*I will never see the point in making your bed. It's just going to get messed up anyway.


*The mother of my BFF from high school passed away on Tuesday. My heart hurts.... more so for my friend than anything and I wish I could make her tears go away.


*The mother of my BFF from junior high is battling a brain tumor. My friend is in town for a few weeks to help care for her mom, so I'm headed up to see her on Sunday.


*Both of these moms have been moms to me at one point.. and always were. 


*There is a mint & chip ice cream clown in my freezer right now at home... I'm trying to figure out how I can eat it without having to share with Mini-Me tonight. Wish me luck.


*The thought of drinking wine makes my mouth hurt. It's just yucky and I'll never understand how people intentionally consume it. 


*Finding out you have a 38 year old cousin that you never knew existed is a pretty huge shocker... especially when you're part of one of the closest families ever that consists of about 60 people.


*Knowing that your uncle wants nothing to do with his new 38 year old son (conceived during an affair) is very hard to swallow.


*Knowing that there is no way in the world I'll ever have any illegitimate children popping up in my future is a huge relief. Being a woman does have its advantages. 


*Spending 7 out of 8 of my hours at work with absolutely nothing to do gets old after awhile. I am oh so thankful for my paycheck.... but boredom is boring.
  

February Diet

At the rate I'm going I'll double in size by Christmas....

And I'm completely OK with that...

Oh, and if you happen to see these cookies at the store, Don't buy any!! I need as many as I can find, and our 3 Wal-Marts are all out!

Life Isn't Fair... when it comes to cookies

Last night Drew and I were laying in bed... in MY bed.. in MY room.. which is apparently OUR bed. Anyway.. he had just come in from brushing his teeth and it was officially time for sleep (8:00pm) for both of us. 


But my sweet tooth kicked in.... and I was shockingly surprised that we had made it into bed without Drew even mentioning dessert.. so I opened my big fat mouth and said "hey, we didn't even have dessert" (Dessert is pretty much mandatory in our house)... BIG MISTAKE!


Drew says "oh ya... Mom, why didn't you remind me? Go get us some ice cream." I immediate give him my WTF look and say "excuse me, but first off all, don't TELL me to do something.. EVER.. you ask nicely. And second, it's too late, we're already in bed, and you already brushed your teeth."  but I didn't stop there.. my sweet tooth was going strong at this point... so I said "but I didn't brush my teeth yet.. so I get to have some cookies!" Now Drew gives me his little WTF look and says "hey, no way! that's not fair. If you get to have some than so do I." I proceed to explain to him that life is not fair.. like how I have to go to work and he doesn't... when the bill comes for the car payment, I have to pay it and he doesn't.


Drew wasn't having any of my logic... he didn't want to hear it. "Mom, I'm your kid.. your SON.. and you have to be fair with me. It's your job. And you're supposed to be teaching me to be fair. How am I ever going to learn to be fair if I see you eating cookies and I can't have any?" 


His 7 year old debating skills had me laughing.


Through my laughter I explained to him that his speech just convinced me that he already fully understood what being fair meant... so nice try!! But I knew that if I brought even a single cookie back into that room while he was awake, I was doomed... to have to share.


So I did what any other cookie loving Mama would do.... 
I waited till he was asleep and grabbed a handful of cookies.. and ate them right next to him while he slept.


Fair is fair.