Last night, Rowan developed another rash, completely different than the one we’ve been dealing with. We thought it could just be a bit of an irritation or heat rash from his bath, but as we got him dried off, we found yet more of his first rash. He had been on antibiotics for over 24 hours and it was still growing. I had put a call in with our doctor earlier that day, and it was right around this time of discovery that she returned my call. After chatting for a few minutes, she said she would happily get us in the next day around noon.

We dropped Dekker at school, took our time in the morning, and got to the clinic just in time. Being that we were an added appointment at the end of her morning, we waited quite a while before we got in, but it was ok. Just to slip it in here, Laela weighs 29 lbs, Rowan weighs 27 lbs, and Solly weighs 20 lbs 12 oz!!! I love learning their stats 🙂

When Dr. Guselle came in, she got into it right away. She checked Laela’s throat and unlike our experience at the walk in clinic, Laela cooperated perfectly! She wasn’t defiant at the walk in, to be clear, but she cried and cried through her entire exam. This time, she opened her mouth, hung her tongue out, and then answered all of the questions herself. She and Solly both had red throats, and Solly has a fever, but it seems like we all have a bit of a virus. Brady, myself, and Laela are all improving. Solly is just starting his cold, and Dekker still seems pretty healthy. (Though observing him trying to get into his winter gear at school, weeping on the floor, I think he’s pretty wiped out as well :/ )

Rowan was the main event today, and he did wonderfully!!! Dr. Guselle is so gentle with him while being super thorough. She looked over every single cluster of spots and bumps, pointing out their similarities and differences. We discussed the few things we’ve considered it could be, the diagnosis from the walk in, and a few other possibilities. She was incredibly knowledgable, as usual, and told me why she wasn’t convinced it was this or that. Her biggest suspicion is actually that Rowan has chickenpox! Yes, he has been vaccinated for it, but it can still happen. Because he’s been vaccinated, though, it presents differently than the chickenpox we all experienced as kids. That would be an explanation as to why its mostly on his limbs but not necessarily on his trunk.

A positive about this is that chickenpox aren’t terribly scary. They are contagious, but the masses of them that were on his legs (the worst area by far) are hardening and peeling off. This is great to know, because that indicates drying out and healing! So less contagious anyway.

I was SO proud of Ro. He had a few good blisters on his hands that weren’t entirely crusted over, and Dr. Guselle asked our permission to open one up and swab it so she could send it for some tests. Ro sat very still, and she just nicked the top of it and swabbed it up. Easy peasy, he didn’t even cry.

The new rash that he came up with last night is entirely different, and she said it looks like one of two things. Baby measles (which aren’t actually measles, don’t worry) or it could be a reaction to the medication he was taking for the impetigo that he doesn’t have. So to be on the safe side, we’re stopping the antibiotics. I really don’t want him to be allergic to antibiotics for his whole life, so Dr. Guselle said we’ll go forward with a small allergy test in a few years. No rush on that. Until then, its a “maybe” in his information.

All in all, I feel SO much better after todays appointment. And not for the reasons you might think. I am not 100% confident that Ro has the chickenpox. I’m not 100% confident that he is allergic to that antibiotic he was taking. But I am 100% confident that we are going in the best direction for his health. I know why Dr. Guselle is thinking what she’s thinking, and I know the results of the tests could show something entirely different. Once we had talked for a good long while, she asked me “So how does this all feel? What else can I tell you? What other questions do you have?” She didn’t want me going anywhere feeling uncertain or uneasy. None of this “This is your diagnosis. Trust me, I’m a doctor.” I LOVE that about her.

You guys are probably getting bored with these posts about what Rowan has or doesn’t have, and just watch us never actually find out! Hahaha! Oy, let’s hope we get answers soon! These are big days for us, and Brady is back to work tomorrow. The five of us will happily hang out in our quarantine for the next little while 🙂 Making the best of it!!

I took Rowan and Laela in to a walk-in clinic yesterday afternoon. Rowan’s rash was worsening quickly, and Laela had spat up some blood. They just needed to be seen, and I had some questions about how to do life with the rest of the kids without getting everyone sick.

While we were at the doctor, Brady took Dekker and Solly to Walmart for some medicine, cleaning stuff, and a few other things. It was really good that they weren’t stranded with us at the clinic.

The middles and I waited in the waiting room for two hours. I had left the diaper bag with Brady, so our group at the clinic were ill-prepared. We had no snacks, no toys or books, nothing. And this particular office has no toy area. I can proudly say my kids were absolute rockstars through the wait! They barely complained, minus Laela’s quiet occasional “Go home now?” Instead, they stood in a coat area and ran into chairs. Then back to the closet. Then back to the chairs. Over and over again. They weren’t loud or disruptive at all, so I let it happen, and it passed the time.

They even had another kid join the fun for a while, but she got called in before we did. That being said, we were finally called in shortly after that.

The doctor we saw was wonderful. He even sat on the floor to talk to the kids. I loved that. The one thing, however, that I did not like was his diagnosis. Ok, I actually am somewhat ok with it, but I don’t like it because it is totally different than what I was thinking, and what a lot of other people think, too.

*sigh*

The moment he saw Rowan’s legs, he said it was impetigo. In my research, it seems like impetigo and HFM are mixed up often enough, but impetigo comes from either the staph or strep bacteria. I’m happy about this diagnosis because impetigo can be treated, where HFM can’t be. So Rowan came out of his appointment with prescriptions for both a topical and an oral medication. Laela, on the other hand, was more puzzling. He said he didn’t think she had the bumps I thought I saw, and couldn’t see anything in the back of throat either. Like Rowan, though, she had a very red irritated throat. Because Rowan has impetigo, that could indicate strep, so its possible Laela has strep. So she was the lucky winner of a throat swab, which she didn’t much care for. So we’re waiting on those results. Hopefully we hear soon.

On top of all of this, I really hope the doctor is right and this can all be treated and no big deal, but if not, I don’t much care for medicating my kids for things that aren’t there. I understand why we got the diagnosis we did, but I’m uneasy to write off HFM so quickly, mostly because its really been rampant in my town this year! I wish I could just call my doctor and get her take on it, but I think that wouldn’t be smart until we have test results back. What else could she check? I’m just frustrated as I sit and wait.

As for stats on the kids, Dekker still seems well. He’s moody, but thats it, and thats likely because everyone else is moody and sick. Laela is in good spirits but has a pretty good cough. Rowan is happy, and only a bit on edge. But his rash is absurd. It hasn’t spread a whole lot further, but its blistering now. Its on his faec, shoulders, armpits, elbow bits, hands, tummy, bum, legs, knees, and ankles. Sooooo he’s practically covered. And Solly. Sigh. Poor Solly.

His voice is hoarse and he doesn’t want to drink anything. He feels awful.

So those of you who are praying, please keep on it! And anyone who has any information at all, or experiences to share, I’m ready and waiting to hear them! I welcome any input. We are new at this, and also super unhappy with it. *waves white flag*

I’ve been saying for a while now that a cold is coming. Its struck a couple of the littles more than the others, and we’re rolling with it. As much as its a pain in the butt to have it cycle through all of our little kids, but thats part of having them! I don’t anticipate that eventually adding more kids to the mix is going to somehow make it easier, so we try to roll with the punches.

Today, we’ve joined the elite club of those with Hand Foot and Mouth. At least thats what we think. I spoke with a couple of my friends who are nurses yesterday, and called the Health Line this morning. While no one can confirm anything, its pretty clear. Rowan and Laela have HFM. I learned that my kids are among the smaller percentage in the statistics. Neither of them have spots on their hands or feet. Rowan complaints of itchy hands and feet, but his face is a dead giveaway. Also, he has an awful looking rash on his legs and in his diaper.

That rash on his legs wasn’t there yesterday at 1:00pm when we put him down for a nap, and when we got him up around 4:00pm, it was open and sore like this. He also has little spots in his arm pits, elbow pits, and on other parts on his upper body. This isn’t as common as the obvious spots on hands and feet, but its also not unheard of at all. Poor guy is such a good sport, but he had practically scratched his diaper off this morning 🙁 Unfortunately, he is still worsening.

Laela has fewer symptoms, but we’re still confident that she has the same sickness. She has a light rash on her face and a spot or two on the end of her nose, but she has her sores on her tongue.

We left her a water bottle for night, which we don’t normally do. We want to encourage her to drink all she can muster. When we got her up this morning, she had barely drank any, but it appeared that she had coughed up water and blood 🙁 She isn’t complaining about much beyond her tongue hurting. I’ll head out and find her a liquid antacid as soon as our local drugstore opens.

I think the biggest challenge will be pushing fluids. Not only do the sickies not have appetites at all, but swallowing anything doesn’t seem pleasing to Laela especially. We’ll do our best to get creative today, whether that means drinking smoothies or eating popsicles or whatever we can manage to sneak in there. We have busy days ahead, basically running interference. Our kids are big mouth kissers, drink sharers, toy eaters, and face lickers. Laundry is being done, bedding is switched, cleaning products are at the ready, and Brady and I are trying to keep positive attitudes. Which is a challenge. But we’re sure trying!!!

If anyone has any good tips or info on Hand Foot and Mouth, feel free to pass it on to these first timers! We’re prepared to hole up and let this virus run its course, but any helpful tips would be greatly appreciated!!

Lastly, I want to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU to those of you who have tolerated all of my annoying questions and have listened to me rant and get frustrated. You are very much appreciated and loved!

I think our whole group is sick, but Laela and Rowan are feeling it the most. They’re both on the verge of tears 100% of the time, snotty, and exhausted. Laela woke up with a nice hot fever, and Rowan woke up around 10:30am, sobbing. Poor monkeys.

So we’re taking it easy today, obviously. The single thing I did get done was a bit of baking, which didn’t turn out quite how I wanted, but is still yummy. Hopefully it makes for a bit of a treat for the sickies.

Two out of four are napping right now, and the other two are watching some tv and relaxing. It will definitely be an accomplishment-free day, but I think those are necessary once in a while.

Forgive the boring post. I have a few small things left to do today, and then a lot of cuddles to give out. Snuggling my kidlets comes before blogging!

Wish us luck! Hopefully tomorrow is a better day!

I love a good list, but my list of things to do before Christmas has been chaotically spread across several pages in three different notebooks. Its dumb, really, because its a good way to lose things in the shuffle of life. I like to think I’d eventually come across them again, but likely not until I was up against a deadline or it was somehow too late.

Over the last little while, we’ve been chipping away at the ever-lengthening lists, and it seems the rush (our own personal rush, not the holiday rush) is starting to slow. Today, I sat down and consolidated my lists. They all fit on a single page now, which feels amaaazing! Some of the stuff is tiny and easy, but some of the smallest words on my list are the longest jobs. Send cards. That is a huge one. Bake. Also huge. But I think I’m going to try to make plans and actually schedule days to accomplish those ones, if I can. But really, I think things are under control!

I have a short list of purchases to make, a list of things do or accomplish, and a list of things to watch for in the mail. Thats it, thats all! Its so very nice to be ahead of the game this year! Hopefully we’ll decorate the house in the next couple of days. The outside already looks great!

How are everyone else’s Christmas plans coming along?

If you see us driving around in the next few days, you may notice that we’re back in our black minivan (that is still for sale, might I add.) We haven’t given up the bus for long, but it is back at Driving Force today. We’ve been getting to know our family bus better the more we drive it, and we’ve picked up on a few little sounds and things that we opted to get checked.

Brady called Driving Force about it yesterday and they were very quick to say they’d happily take it and get it checked out as soon as possible. They have been the best to work with, honestly! I recommend them with 100% confidence!

After I dropped Dekker off at school, I got the other little ones dressed and Brady swapped the car seats from the Transit to the Town and Country, and we convoyed into Saskatoon. After we dropped the bus off, we took the van around and ran a few errands that we weren’t able to complete on our trip in yesterday. Guys, we’re almost done Christmas shopping! I’m so thrilled to be ahead of the game this year. I always have such good intentions, and then the time just gets away on me. But this year, its going according to plan. So far, anyway!

Being back in the minivan has brought a somewhat hilarious perspective. It is TIGHT in there! Hahaha! Yet four children in a minivan shouldn’t be a difficult thing. Heck, you should be able to squeeze a fifth in there! But the Transit is much more roomy. We miss it already.

Anyone care to help us name our beloved bus?

Before I begin to tell you guys why we’re so lucky on this particular day, I want to thank you all for the HUGE outpouring of support on yesterdays post! I was unbelievably scared to take the class, completely elated that I passed, and then weirdly nervous to tell you all about it. You made it really easy 🙂 I’m very thankful for the lack of judgement, and instead, the encouragement! It was really, really awesome. A confidence booster, for sure. So thanks 💜

We are SO happy to have Brady home for a few days! However, I’m not surprised that we’re already booking up our days with things that need doing while he’s home. Poor Brady never gets much of a break, but he’s very reassuring along the way, so I’m trusting him that he’s happy and not overdone.

In the next couple of days, we have some shopping to take care of, some Christmas shopping to take care of, some Christmas to set up around here, potentially some fixing on the work van, and we need to bring our big van in to get a few things checked. Its not in any kind of trouble, but after driving it for a couple of weeks, we’re hearing a few sounds that we’re looking forward to having reassessed and fixed up. So its going to be not only a busy week, but likely a few days back in the minivan that we’re hoping to sell. *cough* buy it *cough*

We were going to wait and do all of the grocery shopping tomorrow but I think we’ll head out mid-afternoon today for some of it instead. Dekker is so sad when he doesn’t get to grocery shop with us if we go on a school day, so we’ll see what all we can fit in today! That, and then some music practicing with a friend this evening! Should be a nice way to wrap up the day.

I graduated high school in 2006, and I went to bible school the year after. Since then, I haven’t been back to school. No classroom, no hands-on learning, no training for a job, nothing like that. I hadn’t been “tested” since Spring of 2007. Its been a gooood long while.

About a month or so ago, I stepped out of my comfort zone and signed up to take a short, week long course. Its a good thing that the deposit was non-refundable, because I psyched myself up about it sooo much that I was fairly sick about it, and ready to back out. Not because I was sure I’d fail or anything, but because it had just been so long.

Three weeks ago, I took my course. Very few people knew. VERY. So if you weren’t one of them, don’t be offended. I was SO nervous.

Its been a couple of weeks since it all ended, and I finally have the hardware I wanted to show you guys!!

I PASSED!!! I am a certified professional makeup artist!!!

I took my course through Lia Reese Academy, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was a nice small group of us, and I think its fair to say I was the least qualified person there. A couple of the other girls had worked in the beauty industry for years, and others were just far more professional than I was. I just liked makeup! That was it! Thankfully, in my head and heart, I was pretty confident in my skill, but was really nervous to actually practice and apply product on other people’s faces. That was the scary part for me. It still is, to be honest.

We learned theory, background, science, and everything else about makeup “basics,” and to close the course, we did both a written and a practical exam. I just wanted to pass. That was literally the only goal there. And I did! With a surprisingly good grade!!!

If I can be honest with you guys, I’m not 100% sure what my goal is with all of this. I don’t desire to work at a salon, I know that. Whatever I do will be freelance. But I’m not thinking too big just yet. I want a LOT more practice. I have the tools, both literal and practical, but I want to put them to use and get more comfortable before I even try to market myself in any way. But this course was a great confidence booster for me, and opens the doors to all kinds of things. I’m SO excited to have done something hard, and finished it well.

So that is my news! Thanks for listening! And if you ever need makeup done for anything, you know where to come! 💄

Its very easy for us to ignore our yard work, since our “yard” is merely dirt and weeds at this point. We plan to save landscaping until next year, since we just got here, and even if we wanted to do it this year, it wouldn’t be wise. Because of that, we’ve barely looked at the ground around our house all autumn. And now, as snow comes and goes and threatens its return, I see juuust how bad our yard looks!

Our front yard is just weeds. Tall, crispy, ugly weeds. But honestly, thats the least of the problem.

When the house next door was at the framing stage, the framer had a zoom boom on site, and he left deep ruts right beside our driveway. The driveway area is still in tact, but still very much on our property, there were big ruts. We aren’t nitpicking, but in thinking about landscaping next year, we considered calling the home builder from next door and asking them to come even things out. But we didn’t, and not too long after, someone came out with a skid steer, and we figured they’d take care of their mess.

Aaaaand they didn’t. So Brady called and spoke to someone who was in charge of at least part of the build process. He was really understanding and said he’d arrange to have someone come and smooth the area out a bit. Before hanging up, he asked Brady “Anything else I can do for you?” Brady mentioned to him that he’s seen a lot of people drive across our backyard. They kind of agreed not a whole lot could be done about it, since we have no fence or barrier, and its very wide open, job site ish. But he said he’d mention it anyway, and the conversation ended.

Within the hour, a bobcat was next door, filling in the space beside our driveway. They even went above and beyond, and smoothed out our entire backyard! It was sooo even and uniform. They took a lot of time on it. It was pretty awesome.

Now I don’t remember if it was that day, or the next day, but when Brady arrived home from work in the afternoon, there were ruts beside our driveway, again. He went into the garage and grabbed a chunk of wood to throw on our property line to at least try to send a message to the trades. While he was doing this, he actually ran into a guy on site, and he happened to be the guy Brady has spoken to on the phone. He was apologetic and they had a short discussion. A very successful discussion! We agreed to look past the ruts and people in our backyard until all of the exterior and foundational stuff was done, and then someone would come out, fill in our ruts, smooth out our backyard, and even level our front yard and clear away all of our weeds! Hahaha! So our slacking off saved us from having to pull an entire front yard worth of weeds!

As I stand in my kitchen and look out my back window only to see a concrete truck drive across my backyard, then back up and readjust a couple hundred times, I’m SO relieved we made this deal! You’d better believe that, when their build is all over and our property is level once more, we’ll be putting up some kind of post and rope system at least so this doesn’t happen again (or at least to this extent) when people build on the other side of us.

Thats all I have for today! As I’m sure you know, it was a full moon last night. Plus all four of my kids are n the beginning stages of colds. And Solly cut his second tooth last night. So my hands are FULL this morning, and the laptop no longer fits !

We keep meaning to start Solly on solid foods, and we keep forgetting, or just haven’t prioritized it, I suppose. Today, Rowan headed for a nap while the rest of us (our family, and my parents) were still eating lunch. We plopped Solly into Rowan’s high chair in an effort to entertain him a bit better, and he seemed really comfortable up there! Without much forethought, I stabbed a chunk of cantaloupe with my fork and offered it to Solly to taste. Turns out, he’s a fan!

He was very happy with his new tasty treat, which I found really exciting! All of our children have broken into the solid food game differently. Dekker was an enormous barfer, and we were very gun shy to feed him solids, so he ate jarred baby food for many months. We did baby led weening with Laela from nine-ish months on, and fed her whatever we were eating right off the hop. Rowan had his reflux, and about eight months in, we fed him tons of oatmeal, and he very quickly picked up on everything else. He was exclusively eating solids and off the bottle already right after he turned one. With all of these experiences, we have no idea how it’ll go with Solly.

When he liked the melon so much, I broke the cardinal rule about introducing new foods, and opted to introduce another, right after the first one!

Turn out, he likes waffles too! Hahaha! Don’t judge! There was no syrup or butter or anything on this. Just waffle. He liked it more than the melon even. Just went to town on it, hahaha! He giggled and smiled at me while he chomped on it.

Today proved to me that Solly is nice and ready to get started eating table food. I’m so excited! This will not only be nice because he’ll join us at the table for meals, but it’ll likely help immensely with his reflux!!! Hopefully we’re not too far away from oatmeal breakfasts!