We're Still Here...

Where to begin? I haven't made a post since JANUARY! I was thinking I'd just update to the twins' second birthday, then quit blogging since I can't seem to keep up these days. However, this blog forces me to document our everyday lives, and I love that I have this to look back on. So, here goes yet another massive attempt at catching up. It might take me a few weeks, but it WILL get done :)

Here's a little summary of what we've been up to since my last post in January... Sofie and Jackson turned two on March 2nd. My babies aren't babies anymore! They are energy-filled, sentence-talking, awesome little toddlers. Brian left for a 2.5 month trip to the Middle East in late February and returned home in mid-May. Of course, we missed him more than ever! It was a challenging two months, but we survived just fine. The day after Brian left, my dishwasher broke. Over the next few weeks the following things decided to follow suit and cause me trouble: dryer, hot water heater, and air conditioner. Then there were the little things like the busted sprinkler heads, the broken lock on one of my doors, and the clog in my kitchen sink. I know it's all little stuff and stuff that can be fixed. And it could always be worse. Much worse. But oh my goodness, This.Stuff.Never.Happens.When.Brian.Is.Home. I am so grateful for our handyman... he is the best and saved me hundreds of dollars by not having to call appliance or A/C people.

The kids had a fairly rough time adjusting to some of the changes, but they were troopers. Right after Brian left, my mom came to stay with us for 3.5 weeks which was awesome. Thank goodness she was here because Jackson started having sleeping issues where he would wake frequently (and by frequently I mean 5-10 times) in the night screaming for me. He just had to see that I was still there and then he was fine. Poor guy thought mommy was going to up and leave since daddy was gone and Nana was there. Like everything, it was a phase and his sleeping eventually returned to normal.

Our amazing nanny had to quit to start her student teaching this Spring, so my mom kept the kids for me while I worked my 2 days a week. After Nana left, the kids started daycare for those 2 days each week at a local child care center and preschool. This was another adjustment on many different levels, but they grew to really enjoy it. They still ask me all the time if they can go back. Unfortunately, they were sick a lot, which is to be expected, I guess.

Grammie Jindra came to visit for about 3 weeks in April and the timing ended up being perfect (for us, probably not for her!) because we were sick, sick, sick for much of March and April. My exhaustion level was probably where it was when the twins were newborns. First, the kids each had a nasty case of strep. We had a few colds here and there. Sofie had salmonella which was absolutely awful! We'll never know how she got it since it really could have been a number of things: we'd been out to dinner the night before, we'd been to the zoo that day, she'd been eating a lot of eggs, she had been to school that week, we have a dog, etc.

Possible causes aside, she was sicker than she'd ever been. When it started, she woke up just before I was heading to bed. Her fever was 102 and she had diarrhea. I figured she had a little tummy virus, so I gave her some water and some Advil and she went back to bed. A few hours later, she woke with a 104 fever, blood-streaked diarrhea and she was vomiting. I immediately had that mommy intuition that told me this wasn't "just a virus" and I took her to the ER at Wolfson's Children's Hospital. Long story short, we were there for almost 6 hours, didn't sleep a wink, and they thought she likely had a UTI based on preliminary urine cultures. We went home exhausted and I called our doctor to make an appointment for the next day. Sofie didn't get much better. We visited our doctor and got the final lab results which said it was NOT a UTI and started over with stool samples. I did learn that it is very hard to collect a stool sample from a diaper-wearing toddler with diarrhea! We had to wait 5-10 days for the stool sample results. During that time Sofie got a little better, but was still pretty sick. She developed a respiratory infection in addition to the salmonella. Our doc thought she might have pneumonia so back to the hospital we went. No pneumonia, thank goodness, but the respiratory issues, continued low grade fever, and tummy troubles made for a pretty weak little girl. We eventually learned that Sofie did indeed have salmonella and after being sick for well over a week, she started to take a turn for the better. This mama was worried sick!

We were sad to see Grammie go back to Texas, but my mom came back a few weeks later to stay with us until Brian's return. Sometimes it is so hard to not have any family living close by, but we are SO lucky to have moms who are able and willing to come stay with us when we need their help. Grammie and Nana - You two are the best!

Needless to say, February through May was pretty much one big, sleepless blur.  But through it all, the kids continued to amaze me and keep me smiling and laughing every single day. It was so hard to see them so sick and missing their daddy. Kids are so resilient, though. We all got through what I would like to call a ROUGH couple of months, but when I really think about it, it wasn't that rough in the scheme of things. Daddy came home and the kids bounced back from all the curve balls thrown at them, and we went on with life. I guess if those couple of months are the roughest I've seen in a while, then we sure do have a lot to be thankful for!

The end of May and early June consisted of a work trip to Dallas for Brian and a much-needed girls weekend in KC for me. We went to Orlando for four days and did the Disney thing with our good friends, the Parsons. June also brought the end to my school year and I officially started "summer." Job sharing and teaching 2 days a week was a perfect fit for me and our family. I enjoyed getting back in the classroom, and still getting to be home with the kids most of the time. However, this Spring made me realize that it is HARD to be a single parent, and it's even harder when you have to balance that with work. Oprah always said that being a stay at home mom is the hardest job in the world. No doubt, it's hard, but I really want to write to her and tell her she's wrong. Being a single, working parent has got to be harder. It's hard to leave your kids and go to work when they don't feel well, you've been up most of the night with them, or when they are sad. There is no napping with the kids during the day. Or getting your laundry done during the day. Or no fitting in your errands before evening hits. Then you also are in charge of everything else outside of kids and work that comes with running a household. Single, working parents have the hardest job in the world... I have so much respect for them after getting a little, teeny, tiny taste of it this Spring.

The rest of the summer has brought lots of play and pool time for us. We don't have big plans for the rest of the summer... just trying to enjoy as much as Florida has to offer before we move this fall! I will post pics from this Spring and Summer over the next few weeks. Promise.