Stomach virus, impetigo, and flu-like symptoms... oh my!

I've had one doozy of a week so far. It almost feels never ending with what is infesting my family. Last Friday, Keira came down with a stomach bug, and Ayla developed a fever that evening. The next morning, I noticed that Ayla had these strange blister-looking bumps around her mouth and legs. I bring her to urgent care and the doc doesn't know what the heck she has. He looks at her ears and says they are infected - prescribes antibiotics. The next day, they call for a follow up, and I tell them that the blistery lesions are getting bigger and spreading. The doc wants her to come back in. I bring her back in and he is still confused on what they are. He decides to refer me to her pedi. Luckily, I was able to get an appointment that evening, and the pedi said that she had a manifestation of hand, foot, and mouth disease. She said that both of her ears were infected and that she needed a different antibiotic. So, I go home thinking, finally some answers!

Ayla with impetigo around her mouth

Well, Tuesday comes along, and I manage to run a fever with horrible body aches and chills. I call the MIL (since hubby was in the field) to come and help me with the girls. It literally hurt to talk and get up. She comes over and helps with the girls and puts them to bed. I sipped on my Tom Yum soup as it soothed my aching throat. She finally went home around 9. I get up to go back upstairs to hear Ayla crying and fussing, and of course I am thinking she had misplaced her paci in her sleep. I was dead wrong! She was covered head to foot in vomit and looked to pitiful. I felt soo bad because she has never had this sickness before. I pick her up and place her into a cool bath. She gave me this pout as I was pouring water over her head to get the crud out. I gave a squirty toy to keep her occupied.

As soon as I got her into a pamper, I called my MIL again and told her that I believe Ayla has a stomach bug. The first thing that came out of her mouth was, "Oh I hope she didn't give it to me!" Really?! How selfish does that sound? She is a 11 month old, and how was I to know that she acquired a bug? A sensible grandmother would be concerned over her grandchild, and selfish thoughts would come last. It is normal to have those thoughts, but don't express them verbally to the mother that has already had a rough week. Then I proceed to tell her that I need to find someone to house sit Keira while she slept so I could bring Ayla to the emergency room. (She had loose bm's all day, and I didn't think much about it at the time.) She goes, "why are you bringing her to the er?" (???) (wow) -- I tell her because infants that lose a lot of fluids are in danger of dehydration. So, she tells me, "well, I just got home." Ugh. So, I get off the phone with her and called a few friends and let messages. It was close to 11, and I don't blame them for not picking up. I went next door and amazingly the minister was able to help me out.

I got Ayla ready and took her to the hospital. I found out that she lost a bit of weight since Saturday, not good. Turned out that she had impetigo- a bacterial skin infection.. not HFMD. I nearly passed out (I am still sick) when she was getting her chest x-rayed. They put me on the gurney and told me that they were going to check me in too. They didn't do as much for me as they did for Ayla. (She was my biggest concern anyway.) They just took urine and a rapid strep test from me. Those both came out in the clear. Then, brushed me off and told me that I probably had what she had. It has been a couple of days.. and no, I don't have what she had! Yesterday, I layed around in pure misery. Dizzy, severe chills, and body aches. I have even managed to lose five pounds from this. My tonsil feels horrible as well. I don't know what the heck is wrong, lol. Although today, I don't have the fever or the aches and chills. I feel like I am seeing the light of this never-ending sickness tunnel in the house.

Ayla in a baby hospital gown in the E.R.

I am just thankful that I have an understanding professor that will allow me to take my test on Monday, and not to stress out. Whew! I bet you thought that was a bit much! If you read this, thanks for reading through. Comments are always appreciated!

Oh, and for all the mother's and wives out there.. Isn't it ironic -- or maybe Murphy's law-- that when the hubby is gone, all hell breaks loose? lol.

I heart blog awards! :)

I am still fairly new to blogger, and I look at all these wonderful blogs for some inspiration on how I can make mine more user friendly and vibrant to my followers. I really appreciate all my readers out there!


In order to accept my award, there are several things I need to do:

1. Thank and link back to the person that gave you the award.

 

I want to thank Audrey from Standing By Him , for including me on this award! This really made my day! :)

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

• I just recently watched the "Blue Lagoon" for the first time the other night, and I teared up!
• I love ice cream wa-ay too much! The hubs needs to keep it out of the house, lol.
• I am super assertive, and sometimes that gets me in trouble!
• My daughter is turning 3 in nine days, and it makes me sad that she is growing up so fast.
• I really need a vacation right now! Somewhere alongs the line of Banana Pancakes and macadamia sauce with a pina colada, lol. (I texted that to my husband and he goes, "In Hawaii, huh?" Of course!
• I am an island girl, although I was born three days before Christmas in Texas, lol.
• I am still trying to figure out how I can make a cute signature for my blog, lol - I might have my graphic designer of a dad do it, hee hee.

 

3. Pass the award to 9 fellow bloggers that inspire you. Okay.. I have eight..

 

4. Let them know about the award.


The 8 bloggers who receive this award from me are:

• Katie @Diary of a Disgruntled Marine Bride to Be
• Karie @Wife of a Wounded Marine
• Rachel @ A little Pink in a World of Camo
• Mrs. Jambizzle @ Life as a Sailor Girl
• Mallory @Painting My Canvas
• Jordan @Southern Hospitality
• Paula @The 2010 Smith Family Chronicles
• Elizabeth @Elizabeth Queen of his Castle

 Thank you for producing some lovely blogs! I love hearing about your day to day up's and down's! :D

Who makes pretty signatures? :)

After doing some blog hopping lately, I have noticed all the pretty signatures posted at the bottom of each entry.. Would someone like to donate a signature to my blog? :D

I will make you an upcoming guest blogger. :)

Thanks!

Summer vacation or Not so much...

I try not rant about personal things that are going on.. but why not? Today I am!  I started back up with college this past spring because the job hunt last fall after having baby number #2 was not looking so great. I have Marine Corps experience, but apparently I need my degree on top of that- no brainer. So, I finally applied for the post 9.11 GI Bill and got approved. I was a dummy and over-motivated and took 15 credit hours while taken night classes. Ugh, that was a horrible idea! Ayla was not sleeping through the night and I was overly exhausted. I decided to take day summer classes and put the girls into childcare.

It was a Naccarra (military childcare subsidy) approved facility and it was hopeful that I would not have to pay over $300 a week in childcare. Who the heck can afford that much and attend college full time?? So, I applied at the end of May, and sure enough they've dropped the ball. I was told in mid-June the amount I was estimated to receive, and I have pretty much been holding everyone's hand through out the process. It should not have taken this long to get things through, and when I checked up on the matters, they told me that just last Friday they made the decision to have everyone on a waitlist. A freaking waitlist?? I asked the case worker how long it would take, and she had no clue. So, my summer classes end at the beginning of August and it appears that I am going to be taking night fall classes once again. Ugh.

Bobbing for Apples (Pt One)

If you are just following my blog this week, I am doing a boot camp edition to celebrate 6 years since I went to the Marine Corps. Feel free to click the link at the top of my blog "My Marine Corps days" to catch up! :)

The first night...

So after we formed our very first formation, we filed it into the depot, and what happened that night is merely a blur. I remember sitting in these desks and were told to put our heads down until further instruction. By now, I was adapting to the booming voices, and my nerves weren't so shot. Next, all the recruits and I filed quickly into a huge classroom and had our "effects" searched through. Not really thinking - maybe nerves or sleep deprivation from being up since 3:30 the morning before- but, I managed to throw away my SSN card. Somehow I knew that this was foreshadowing that my brain relocated and stayed home for the next 13 weeks. I don't remember much with the classroom, except maybe being told to put our heads down a lot. Which was bad news because we were all exhausted and just wanted to snooze- which was lethal for us to do.

I believe at some point we were all told to file up to these rows of telephones and were demanded to call family. It definitely wasn't going to be a leisure call with drill instructors breathing over our shoulder and you had only seconds to speak rehearsed lines to them. I, unfortunately didn't get a hold of my family because my mother's phone didn't accept collect calls, and my dad's phone was a cell phone. The drill instructor told me to try again, and I did disappointingly. (Ironically, my mother was upset that I hadn't "called" her. I told her that she shouldn't had her phone block collect calls.)

Then, the male and female recruits were separated - the males had to get their heads shaved. When we saw them again, it was quite a change from the guys that were on the bus. We were then told to grab cammies, boots, and covers. We also had to be fitted for "tennirunners" (running shoes). It was a mad rush, and you hoped that the Marines were giving you the correct size. After this, we (females only) were escorted to a large squad bay. Males were taken to another one.. We were told to put on a set of cammies and have our new runners on. Our civilian attire was to be put into a brown bag and stored away until we graduated. 

Next came our no longer civilian hair. I had to grab my long, blonde lock and tie it back into a bun and slather gel and hairspray into it. I was soo terrible at it at first! Rolling up sleeves for the first time.. we all looked like a hot mess. There was a pure distinction that we looked like "lost childs"... because we were! We were brand new recruits, exhausted, and clueless.

(Part two will come later this afternoon- I have to get to class! :) Stay tuned!)

The Yellow Foot Prints

It has been exactly 6 years since I landed on Parris Island. I will never forget how rapidly things changed when I got my orders from MEPS, and how quickly I was escorted to the nearest taxi to the airport. I remember getting meal vouchers to use on the way, and to my dismay not being able to use them at all. I knew that my civilian days were about to be over. 

When I arrived at the Charleston airport with two other female recruits, we were rudely escorted to an open area waited to be seen by a short, stocky male drill instructor. My blood ran cold as the drill instructor barked out orders in front of random civilians, and I jumped mindlessly. I had a 20 oz bottle of Dasani water in my hand as we were being rushed down the "ladderwell" and was demanded to face the "bulkhead". What the heck was a "bulkhead"? I looked at the drill instructer confused, and he grabbed my bottle and chunked it at the nearest wall. Next thing I know, I pressed my nose against the wall, and thought, "What the heck am I doing here??"

Next, we were told to go into a room filled with long tables and were told to eat our "trash" and then put our "eyeballs" on the "knowledge" on the table. The "trash" wasn't literally trash, it was a sandwich and a bag of chips or fruit. I decided not to eat my food because my heart felt like it was about to pop out of my chest. We were the first three recruits to arrive, and it would be hours before all the recruits showed up, male and female alike. You could cut the tension in the room in half.. and of course the other Marines in the room poked fun at us. A lot of yelling, "Sound OFF!" More yelling, and a lot of acronoyms to be learned in a short amount of time.

When the remainder of the recruits were brought to the basement of doom, we finally were escorted to the buses that lead us to PI. It was dark about this time, and sat in my seat silently with unease as the remainder of the recruits exhanged stories and asked questions of the unknown. I had a bit of a cough, and I brought cough drops to soothe my throat. I remember thinking that I was going to be in trouble for having them on me. I just remained silent, listening, and thinking about what was about to happen next. I enjoyed the ride because it was moment of peace and not worrying about the D.I. that jumped us at the airport. The bus ride seem to last forever, and I manage to gaze at the front gate with Marines in delta's...and I knew this would be the point of no return until graduation day.

When we made it to the depot, another male drill instructer greeted us with his husky, bellowing voice,"Get off MY bus!!" I didn't hesitate, I grabbed my belongings and ran onto the infamous yellow footprints. This was the first formation of many to come.

~I will continue the bootcamp memories with a post a day... stay tuned! :)

Mamarazzi Monday: 4th of July

Finally! I am doing another Mamarazzi Monday with Household 6 Diva ! I am exciting about this week because she wants to know what the 4th of July means to us. If you are stumbling upon my blog for the first time, and would like to follow her "meme", just click the link above! :)

What Independence day means to me:

The Right to have a sassy personality

The Right to bear arms.. (even if it is a bubble blaster)

The Right to have a sister who has your back and is your best friend..

The Right to always be a daddy's girl..

Furthermore, to have a free country with natural unalienable rights that our Creator has given us.. and no one can take that away! Our forefathers and men/women have fought and shed blood for those very liberties. I am proud to be an American and to protect/preserve our Constitution. :)