I wrote this a few days ago so pardon how it seems outdated now….

Well, we survived the dreaded stomach virus around here….luckily only Quinn caught that horrible thing! I’m not sure how we all escaped it but I will tell you that I washed my hands almost constantly, used Purell on top of that and used Lysol and Clorox wipes throughout my home on commonly used surfaces like doorknobs, the phone, etc. I also used lots of Lysol and Clorox bleach on the barf bucket each time it was used to make sure the germs died! The other two families that had this dreaded thing both had the thing sweep through their entire homes and two even ended up at the ER with an IV for hydration. I kept Quinn drinking water and hopefully that helped him in that regard. Toward the end when he had a high fever but no more vomiting, he refused to take the Motrin so I was a bit nervous for a few hours while he just slept and slept. His fever probably reached 103-104 although I could only get a reading of 102 before he ripped the thermometer out of his armpit. My main worry was preventing Avery from contacting it – thank goodness we opted not to go to the party where Quinn picked it up! And the same folks that gave us that last doozy of a cold, gave us this thing too!

I’m having too much fun shopping for Avery. Let me explain….you see….she has received so much beautiful clothing from family members and hand-me-downs so I’m finding myself buying the most fun accessories. I spent some money at these two shops: www.hairclippy.com and www.hipclipsboutique.com and now I’ve found some adorable headbands at www.warmingtheheart.com. I truly am enjoying having a baby girl to dress up even if I don’t get to deck her out as often as I’d like.

Avery is getting into some nice sleep patterns, able to fall asleep on her own when drowsy at times. We’re trying to get into a routine again, something we had going last week but when her cold struck, I felt entirely guilty letting her cry in bed for any length of time. Recently when we’ve gone out, she has barely cried in the car – and that is a big change. When she’s overtired, the car can be a nightmare.

Quinn hasn’t peed his pants in over a week now – we know he is potty trained but the negative attention seeking, while perfectly normal, is annoying. He is such a sweet kid and we’re now giving as much effort as possible to give him attention and let him know he’s appreciated around here. We’ll see how it goes – so far, so good. T.J. was leaving for four days, starting last Monday but that all changed when Quinn became ill – while I probably could have handled it, it would have been close to a nightmare so I am grateful that he opted to stick around.

I have more new recipes I’m excited to try in the upcoming weeks. Now that Avery is in a better mood come dinnertime, I can actually try some fun stuff in the kitchen! Last week the apple cider chicken was excellent – one of Rachael Ray’s recipes. When T.J. travels we don’t eat nearly as well – leftovers, drive-thru and fast food made at home are all possibilities.

So now Holden has a seemingly mild cold that I am sure the rest of the house will catch (at least the kids will). As usual, I will try to keep Avery healthy and germ free but if I have to leave the room to use the bathroom and come back and see Holden kissing her or touching her, all bets are off! And coughs and sneezes in the backseat in close proximity to her are not helpful either. I am becoming obsessed with trying to keep her healthy and so far the viruses are beating me 10 to 1!

P.S. While the cold is not the worst ever by any means, it has produced yucky symptoms for the boys especially in the morning and T.J. has a nasty sore throat too. Avery is showing just mild, mild beginning symptoms so we’ll see where this goes. Now that we’re traveling to Northern California next weekend for services for my Grampy, of course we can’t be healthy!!!

A very Buzz Birthday for Quinn

Wow – what a day we had here Saturday. It was tons of fun, tons of work and there were a lot of folks here enjoying the festivities. I think it was a bit overwhelming just because of the sheer number of people in attendance – 17 kids which included 4 of the Mexican kids from across the street. 13 were here for the bulk of the time, swimming in the pool, jumping in the jump house, eating hot dogs, playing outside and inside and having a ball. The cake was good, the sangria was tasty and it was a nice day weather-wise. Two other families opted to camp out and the kids all thought that was pretty cool too. There was a sick kiddo that touched the baby before I discovered his hacking cough later in the day and surmised that he was not the picture of health L. I am hoping that she won’t catch the dreaded crud but I am going to be shocked if she doesn’t end up with it. By Sunday, his other family members had caught the thing and it wasn’t looking pretty. UGGH! It just annoys me to no end when sick people touch my baby. I might have to get a bit more forceful – I am just too polite because I don’t want to appear bitchy but truly, I have got to protect my family here.

Please read about Holden on his blog – I will say that he did exceptionally well and appeared to enjoy being around his friends the entire day.

Also check out Holden’s blog to see some pictures taken at the party – they upload much quicker onto his blog. I hope to have it updated by tomorrow.