I am doing terrible

I am so not doing well at keeping up with my blog. The truth is, I am too damn busy. The saddest part is that I am not even busy doing something fun! Ughhh. It's just too hard to try to get a few minutes of time to blog, with the three kids and dog. So, here is what has been going on. Thursday (6-21) we went to dinner with my parents in San Marcos. It was a belated birthday dinner since they were out of town - my mom was in Galveston with my niece and nephew, my dad was in Eagle Pass for a coaching convention. Anyway, Landry was freaking out and wanted to sit on my lap. Then she had to pee, so I stood up and dropped my phone...the screen is now shattered - hmmm...so much for gorilla glass. luckily I have insurance, so I will only have to pay about $100 to get it fixed. On Friday, I went to get lunch, and was on my way back home. I rarely leave the house in the day...it's kinda of a hassle to get the kids loaded and unloaded, but also, I can't fit all three car seats in the car. So, I usually put Logan in the middle with just a seat belt. I seriously hate doing this, but as I said, I rarely leave the house...but we needed food. So, I am about two miles from the house when I get pulled over! SHIT! I was pulled over because when I stopped at the light, I only stopped for 2 seconds and a complete stop is defined as a 3 second stop. Yes, this is literally what the cop told me. Then he saw Logan, so I got a ticket for an unsecured child, I explained why I did what I did, he said that I needed to put him in his booster in the front seat. I thought that what completely unsafe, but apparently I am wrong. Seriously, there are so many articles and ideas of what is safe and what isn't, it's really hard to keep up. Then he decided to check the other carseats...Mark's was not latched properly...AWESOME so I got a ticket for that as well. FANTASTIC! Funny thing is, he didn't even fix it, or tell me why it wasn't latched properly...I checked it, it looked fine to me, so I took pictures, but you can't really see the hook attached...still I can't figure out what was wrong with it. Also, I got a ticket for driving on a suspended license...WHAT? Seriously, I got a tickett for this in Novemeber, I did what I was told, and got the special insurance for me to drive...apparently I need a special license as well. WTF??? I specifically asked these questions, I specifically asked the DPS what I needed and did what they told me. SO frustrated. So, we are going to hire a traffic attorney to help me out with all this. Hopefully he can get the stop and one of the unsecured child tickets dismissed, and hopefully the license thing too, but I doubt it. Either way, he can help me get exactly what I need in order to drive. Saturday we finally took the kids to Sea World!!! SO MUCH FUN! I will try to write more about this tomorrow...but just this shourt amount has taken me nearly two hours...seriously, I have to constantly stop to take care of one of the kids or the dog. I will say that we were there for 9 hours, the kids were awesome, I saved a child's life (YAY ME) and we are going back this weekend. I am glad we have the season tickets...we dont have to spend much money at the park - and since I am about to pay money out the wazoo for all the tickets and a lawyer, I can't afford to spend hardly any money! Ughhh

catch up!

So much has been going on, and I have been too busy to blog! Last Thursday (the 7th), My brother-in-law and his family came down to stay with us. Jason had a class to take so they drove in from Houston. The kids played great together, and we had a pretty fun weekend. I was able to take Friday off from watching Mark, and I finally went to the doctor. I did in fact rupture my ear drum. I had a sinus infection and upper respitory. The infection then moved into my ear, which caused so much pressure the only way for it to escape was by rupturing my ear drum! SO NOT FUN! My hearing has completely healed, but I am still dealing with a cough and congestion! Yuck! While the in laws were in town, we took the kids to the pool 3 days in a row, and Logan learned to swim!!! REALLY swim. It was so awesome. He is still in just the beginning stages buthe is doing it...definitely not ready for the deep end, but that will come. I boght him some goggles, and some diving toys, and he loves going under to get the rings and rockets! So much fun!Also, we took the kids to see Madagascar 3. We were abble to meet up with my parents who had Isabella and Isaiah with them, then they all came back to the house. We went to the pool, and Jr grilled later that evening. The kids all got to play together, and really enjoyed themselves! After the family left to go back home, we loaded up the car to go pick up JR's new dog, Ranger. JR has been wanting a dog for about two years now, but I keep saying no. I love dogs, I really do, but for a while there we didn't have a fenced in yard, so I said we couldn't have a dog, but the main reason is that, I don't want to have to clean up after a dog. JR is just like a kid. He promises he will be the one to take care of the pet, but I am the one that is home all day, so really, its me. I am the one who trains the dog, feeds the dog, waters the dog...really, he's my dog! Anyway, I finally broke down and got JR a dog for Father's Day. His mom is a German short hair pointer, and his dad is a black lab. He is a very good pup, and seems to be easy to train. We have had him for 1 week, and there have only been a handful of accidents - and only piddles - thank goodness. We bought a puppy gate...Ranger is NOT allowed upstairs or in the guest room, where there is carpet. I told JR that if we were getting a dog, we were also getting a shark (the steam mop, not the animal) We splurged a little and got the only that vacuums hard floors and then steams and sanitizes it. Ranger is now 9 weeks old, and I am afraid teething is right around the corner. He has been great with the kids. The kids love playing with him and he loves them back! All in all it was a good decision, but the dog is basically mine. JR gets a little irritated when Ranger only follows me or listens to me! So now I have 3 kids, and a dog! Speaking of the 3rd child...Mark's last day will be July 13! So only one more month...4 more weeks...20 more days to keep him! This means I get about a month with just my kids before Logan starts kindergarten in August. I am really happy about this, because there isn't much that I have gotten to do with them so far. Basically, I only get to spend time with just us on the weekends. So I am excited to get the week days back too! On Friday (June 15th) Jason, Lisa, and Davin came back into town as well as Brittany (JR's sister) and a friend of hers for our annual Father's day float. We went to a steakhouse Friday night for my birthday dinner, then Saturday we headed into San Marcos for the float. Sunday we went to the pool before everyone went back to Houston. Logan loved getting to play with his cousins two weeks in a row. I am a little worn out. The weekends are my time to rest up a little, and I haven't been able to do so in 2 weeks. Maybe, I can get a little rest on Sunday, but Saturday I am FINALLY taking my babies to Sea World and I can't wait!

25 years!

Happy Anniversary to my mom and dad! They have been married 25 years today! WOW! Sure, they probably should have divorced 20 years ago, but hey, they have found something that works for them! LOL Seriously, 25 years is a long time to be together, especially when those two people are polar opposites. I am really happy for them, no matter what, I know my parents love each other. They might not always like each other, but they do love each other. They are always there to support each other, vent to each other, share happiness, and cry on the other's shoulder. They may not be affectionate, but they each know that when times get tough or a celebration is in order they can count on each other. Anyway, happy Anniversary to them! When I was a kid, I always used their anniversary as the 1 week marker to my b-day! ONE MORE WEEK then BAM!!! I will be 29! Ha I still remember my parents wedding. Their are so many things I remember about it, but I remember thinking they would miss my fourth birthday because they left after the wedding (I didn't understand the honeymoon thing yet). Anyway, They went to Hawaii for a week, but they made it back in time to cut the cake. I remember my nanny put party hats on eeveryone, and said she was going to go get the cake, then my mom and dad came out of the kitchen, my mom carrying the cake, and my dad singing happy birthday. Nanny brought the candles! Anyway...it's a really sweet memory I finally had to buy a new coffee pot yesterday! Gah. My old one was terrible, sometimes taking an hour just to make 6 cups of coffee. Yesterday, it just refused to make anymore! Oh well...it was a great excuse to go to Target. I finally got the Shark I have been wanting. I love it. I steam mopped the kitchen last night! FUN! When we picked out our floors, I really didn't want glossy floors. I wanted them to just be normal. JR says it makes them look a little dull, but I like them. The biggest problem though is that when the kids play, the oils from their skin, or dirty hands, or what ever transfer to the floors and they look crazy. the only way I found to get it off the floor is by using dish soap and water and washing the whole floors by hand. NOT really an option for me! Luckily the Shark works excellently! YAY! I still have very limited hearing in my right ear. I really am going to try to make it to the doctor either tonight or tomorrow. We'll see. I won't have Mark tomorrow, by Jason, Lisa, and Davin will be here tonight through the weekend. There really isn't any pain left in the ear, it's a little uncomfortablt, and sometimes the pressure starts to build SLIGHTLY, but its really more annoying than anything else because the pressure is different in each ear, plus the muffled hearing is hard to get used to. I feel like such a redneck to because EVERY TIME someone starts talking to me, I have to angle my head (for my good ear) and I feel like I am constantly saying, "HUH". I was up again last night with the coughing fits. Ughh. I feel like my throat is never going to heal. My voice is back completely, and I have checked my throat, it's red, but not swollen and there are no puss pockets. I think it's just that when I lay down, the mucous builds up and causes the coughing. I also read about perforated ear drums online. It says to avoid blowing my nose...ummmm - well, I don't know any other way to get the mucous out of my sinus cavity, and I am NOT going to use a bulb syringe like I did when my kids were babies. No way! The ear has stopped bleeding though. There was only a smidgeon yesterday, so hopefully that means my ear drum is starting to heal itself. Yuck! Can't wait for tomorrow!! Taking the kids to see Madagascar 3 then swimming. It's going to be a large group. My two kids and myself, Lisa and Davin, My mom, Izzy and Bubba! Yay. Sounds like fun!

upcoming fun and ear update

So first, the ear. The pressure in my ear did actually dissapate a little over the course of the day yesterday, and yes, every time it released pressure it would bleed. I still have limited hearing, and the ear still feels like it needs to be popped, but there is no pain. My voice is almost at 100%, I would say it's at about 95%, but since I can't hear out of one ear, who knows. Try closing one of your ears and talking...that's kind of what it's like for me. I can hear, it's just muffled in my right ear. This morning, I felt fluid draining and I thought...oh goody, more blood! However, thankfully, it really was just fluid, so I am hoping this is a good sign. I am still hoping to go to the doctor on Friday. I have 3 kids with me on a daily basis. My two, which are 5 and 2, and my cousin's baby who is 9 months. I just can't see any good from trying to take all three of them to a doctor. Sounds like a disaster. While my ear pain has gone, last night I had a very difficult time sleeping because I couldn't stop coughing...which led to vomiting. I didn't vomit because I was sick, but because I was coughing so violently. As usual, when you really need something, you realize that you have run out, or can't find it. When I finally had enough time in between coughing fits, I went in search for the cough medicine only to find out we were out! AWESOME. It was nearly 2am. My options were to drive into San Marcos to go to the 24 hour Wal-Mart (about 15-20 minutes from our house) or try to get through the night. I had already taken tylenol pm so I didn't think driving was the best option. I had already eaten all the hard candy in the house the night before in an effort to fix my ear, so that was out. Water was making me cough more...so I found some NyQuill in pill form and hoped for the best. I finally fell asleep around 4. Amber was here to deliver Mark at 6:40...so, you can imagine how my day is going! :) I am REALLY hoping nothing else goes on tonight and that I can get some sleep. I am starting to think I could totally do without the whole ear, nose, and throat! ****Scratch what I said earlier...I just checked, and there is still a small amount of blood trickling out! URGHHHH**** I decided to buy the family season tickets to Sea World. JR wasn't really thrilled about this idea, but oh well..it's done now. Hold on, and I will tell you more on this in a minute. Jason (JR's brother), and his family, Lisa and Davin, are coming into town on Thursday evening. Jason has some certification classes he has to take on Friday and Saturday, so they will be staying with us. I was really hoping to take the kids to Sea World, with Lisa and Davin, but tickets are expensive, so I don't think we will be going. :( Maybe we can settle for the pool and Madagascar 3!!! **This all ties in together, hang in there!** Next weekend is Father's Day weekend (it's also my birthday weekend...my actual b-day is the 14th, but just like celebrating JR's b-day on Mother's day, my birthday usually falls close to Father's day! It doesn't really bother me, because I dont do anything special for my b-day...but NEXT year, JR and I will turn 30, and we ARE totally doing something big. Either and Cruise or a Vegas trip! Anyway, the whole family will be together at our house for our Annual Father's Day float! Woohoo The following weekend we are DEFINITELY going to Sea World. Then the following weekend I have a little friend turning 3! So here is the thing about SeaWorld...Logan and Landry saw the previews for Madagascar 3 about a month ago, since then they have watched a few episodes of "The Penguins of Madagascar" on tv. We also have a book about sea animals, and in the last month Landry has gone crazy over dolphins and she loves the "black whale" (Shamu, or any orca), sea lions, seals, and of course PENGUINS..oh yeah, and Landry thinks she is a mermaid (Thanks Disney!). JR and I have discussed taking the kids to Sea World before (well, it was last summer) and we decided we didn't think the kids were old enough to enjoy it and we didn't want to spend that much money for something they wouldn't enjoy. But put together their infatuation with sea animals with the fact that both of them would stay in the water all day if you let them, and what do you get?? Sea World! Because Sea World now has a huge water park called Aquatica that opened May 19. Logan is tall enough to ride every roller coaster in Sea World, except for 2 and every water ride in Aquatica except for 1. Landry is only tall enough for 1 ride in Aquatica...but there are so many pools, and kid areas, and a wave pool, and lazy river, she will love it! Plus, Sea World is open year round. They have a cool Halloween show, they go all out decorating for Christmas, not to mention the big 4th of July fireworks show! The season passes also give us 20% discounts on items from the gift shop and food and drinks, plus 15% off guest tickets..and free parking, plus some other stuff (like discounted tickets for interactive play and behind the scenes tours)! If we only go twice, the tickets are paid for! I am determined to go at least 5 times this summer! The other reason JR isn't thrilled about this, is that JR hates doing stuff like this. We went to the Houston Zoo once, and he swore he would never do anything like that during the summer ever again! It was pretty miserable, Logan was 2 and I was 8 months pregnant and it was August...in Houston! I am hoping that being in the proximity of the water park will help to cool off. Plus, with the season tickets, I think that we wont be compelled to try to fit everything in all at once. We can make a plan, such as seeing the penguins and sea lions, and a show, then heading to the water park. Then the next time we can see Shamu and the dolphins and a show and head to the water park! By the end of summer I bet they each have their own little favorite thing to see and do! I am so excited about it..and so is Logan! Can't wait to go! So that's what's going on!

Ruptured ear drum???

Last Tuesday I awoke with some sinus pressure. No big deal, I brushed it off as allergies. As the day progressed, the headache got worse. Wednesday, I woke up with all kinds of mucous going on. So I changed my self diagnosis to a sinus infecion. By Thursday, I was incapacitated. It was definitely the worst day. I felt horrible. On Friday, I was much better but started to lose my voice. Saturday, I woke up and other than all the mucous, and scratchy throat I felt okay. My voice was gone...but I kind of felt like Pheobe in a friends episode where she gets sick and has a "sexy" voice. Well, mine wasn't sexy but it was definitely different. I was a little weak, and my right ear has some pressure, it sounded kind of like being under water...but only on the right side. We ended up going to float the river later in the afternoon. We had a great time. The kids still love it, although I think that they get a little bored after a while. Still they were great. Afterwards we went to eat at Bikinis, because I hadn't brought any other clothes for Logan or Landry...and obviously, swimsuits are excepted as normal clothes at that establishment! LOL When we got back our neighbors were out. The husband (Rolando) was working on hanging some outdoor wall sconces, so JR went over to help, and I went in to talk with Nikkita and her family. As the night progressed, it was harder and harder to hear out of my right ear. There wasn't any pain, just felt like my ear was closed off. Sunday rolled around, I was fine, but my voice was COMPLETEY gone. I was having to yell, but my voice was only coming out as a whisper. I finally realized it was easier to just whisper. Less straining. My mom brought Isabella and Isaiah over at 5. She had to work last night, and my dad is in Dallas for my cousin's graduation. I was feeling fine, other than the fact that I had no voice, and I couldn't hear out of one ear...oh and my nose was (and is) chapped from blowing it so often. Around 7 the pressure in my ear started growing. I tried all the tricks...holding my breathe, closing my nose to try to pop my ears, chewing gum, sucking on hard candy. Nothing worked, but the pressure continued to build. By 8, I was thrashing in pain. I didn't even realize I was crying, but the pressure had built, I became very weak, and dizzy and I could do nothing about it. JR didn't really know what to do. I wanted to go to the ER but we had 4 kids, and I was hoping the pain would go away. I text my friend Dana (who is a pharmacist) for some advice on what to take. I sent JR to the store for some sudafed after the 4th round of searing pain. While he was gone I went through 3 more rounds and realized the were getting closer together. The pain was unbareable. The pressure would build up so much causing me to become disoriented and dizzy. I felt like the right side of my face was going numb and I was really weak. Then the pain would fade a little...not much...but enough to where I was no longer at a 15 one the pain scale, I was only at a 9...so still really painful. Then about 10 minutes later I would go through it all again. JR got home and opened the medicine for me. About 30 seconds after taking the medicine I felt a release in the pressure (obviously it wasn't the medicine since it didn't have enough time to take effect, but maybe it was the swallowing, or maybe the pressure had finally built so much??? I dunno) There was still a LOT of pain, but that small amount of pressure being released was awesome. I felt like I had some fluid leaking from my ear, but I was too afraid to touch it so I ignored it, until I could feel it trickling down my ear lobe. So I touched it. When I pulled my hand away there was blood on my fingers. YAY! That's totally normal, right? As the night progressed more and more pressure released, with each release came more blood. I finally got all the kids in bed, and went to sleep myself. I woke up with more mucous (of course), which also had/has a good amount of blood in it. My voice sounds like an alien and my entire ear was covered in dried blood. I put a towel on my pillow last night to procect it from any blood, the towel had a large blood spot on it! So far today, no more pressure has been released, and there hasn't been any more blood, but I still can't hear out of that ear. I am still weak, and very tired. But I have 5 kids today, so I am hoping the day gets better for my ailments! I also think it would be great to hear again! So I guess I ruptured my ear drum...who knows. I am going to try to go to the doctor on Friday since I wont have Mark. My brother -in-law ans his wife and son are coming Thursday night, so maybe she can watch my kids while I run to the doctor??? Hopefully!