and then I used my mommy voice.....

The other day I had to take the boys to the pede's office for Ben's 4 month check up. I usually pay my copay and schedule my follow up appt's (for well visits) on the way in...the office is usually quiet and then I can just take my kids directly to the car when they are antsy at the end of the visit. This particular day I was unable to do that because the secretary was very busy on the phone. On the way out Will walks directly to the door as we usually do, but I was stopping at the desk.

Now this is something I take issue with, why in the world would a pede's office have this style doorknob on an outside door? that goes to the parking lot.


Is it only my kid that can reach this knob and easily open it? It just doesn't seem very well thought out.

Anyway Will makes a bee line for the door, has it open, and is partially out of it, while I am carrying my purse, the diaper bag, my coat, Wills little backpack of toys, and my 14lb baby in his carrier (screaming bloody murder cause he just had three shots). There was no way I was going to reach this kid in enough time to stop him, so in my sternest mommy voice I yelled over the now packed waiting room, "William David, stop now", it worked, he stopped, I told him to come back and he did.

Now here is the funny part, the entire waiting room stops talking, all eyes are on me, you can see everyone is a little shocked. uncomfortable silence........I turn back to the secretary and say "I'm sorry for the yelling", she says, "that's ok, you got his attention." I pay my copay, make my appointment, and calmly but quickly walk my kids out of there....

always fun to be the mommy!


hopefully I didn't scar them for life!

it's potty training time!

Lord help me! I have to potty train this kid, but it is the last thing on earth I want to do! I would like the option of putting him into preschool since he's getting kid of bored around here with me all day, it would be nice for him to be around other kids. But for him to go to preschool he really needs to be potty trained-never mind the crazy diaper bill around here!

so far so good, this morning he used the potty( with the promise of a new matchbox car) and he tried once and went a second time before his nap. once he tries he gets a small prize, once he goes he gets big hugs, dancing singing and a prize, sometimes we call family members to brag.

but picture this, me in my pj's, will in nothing at all, dancing around the living room and singing

pee pee in the potty!
pee pee in the potty!
pee pee in the potty!

it's all very silly, and it's getting a little easier to get him on the potty, because he has been refusing completely, still insisted in pooping in his diaper but oh well-at least we are making progress!

i have found there are surprises in parenting, like the terrible two's, you think you know what that will be, asserting their independence and all that, and then you get there and realize you had no earthly idea your angelic child could turn into spawn of the devil and switch back again so quickly and yeah it sucks worse than you thought it would. with potty training i thought that i would then make a big show of potty success for will, positive reinforcement, i had no idea i would actually be that happy and so proud of him! holy crap-he actually did it! and then i want to dance around my living room singing ridiculous songs.


oh yeah and i needed to get him interested in letters somehow, cause if he isn't interested he isn't doing it at all, that's just will. so we dug out the mouse, hooked it up to the computer and went onto http://www.starfall.com/ -that's a great free site that teaches, letters how they sound, has games, all the way up to kids who are reading, check it out. well he loved that! using the computer like a big boy!

poor ben has a fever due to his shots yesterday, and i'm in the middle of some huge allergic reaction to something that has caused me to be covered in a red itchy rash-arms, legs, torso ,backs of hands, tops of feet, a little on the face-and earlobes! no i have no idea what i'm allergic too, yes it has happened before-that time due to a med, yes i have asked to be allergy tested but they want to wait until ben is done breastfeeding.

so yeah, me jacked up on benedryl (or should i say down?-makes me sleepy) itchy red and bumpy, potty training my toddler, teaching him to use the computer, making homemade spaghetti sauce, and taking care of a sick baby. Nothing but glamour around here!

overheard at my house

This morning Dave was dressing Ben, I handed him a onsie that snaps together totally differently than all of our other ones. He said "What's this?" I told him "It's a onsie", he said "No it isn't", he looks inside at the tag and says, "It's a carters!" I stare at him for a second trying to figure out if he's kidding, I don't think he is, I said "Dave does the tag in your pants say pants? Does the tag in your underwear say underwear?"

boy that man is tired!

wills room pics-finally

I cleaned Wills room the other day and decided to take some pictures of it, and since I mentioned redoing his room here ( http://ali-rnmom.blogspot.com/2007/10/mommy-needs-time-out.html#links) I figured I would share them. I have to say though it looks a little better in the room, the pictures just don't give the full effect! oh and yeah-still not curtins, but i think just plain red valances-if i ever buy them-Here they are!








there should be another plane on this wall (after the william) but he peeled it off, and i haven't stuck it back on yet.


from the back of plane like smoke writing(didn't show up in the other picture)

pretend play

i pick up the baby who is fussing on the floor-tummy time you know- i tell him what a big boy he is and that he did a good job,as i'm talking to him i sit on the couch. Will says-whoa mom, get up your sitting on the bones! he looks very distressed and animated waving his arms at me and saying "get up! shoo, shoo! go sit down there! and points to the other end of the couch covered in his bowl of cheerios, his blanket, his binky. I ask him to move his stuff then, he decides instead to move the imaginary bones to make a place for me, he picks them up and throws them on the floor, he tells me to hold on, he has to move the dirt too, and throws armloads of imaginary dirt from the couch to the floor. he says look! a tiny bug and holds up his empty hand to show me, i pretend to eat it, his eyes get very wide and he says no, spit it out! and holds his hand up to my mouth.

just another exciting afternoon at my house!

heh, heh

we've decided to refinance our house, just to get a leg up you know? the house is being assessed today, and i spent several hours while my boys were at my mother in laws decluttering, so the house shows the best that it can, we have done tons of work in the last three years and i want credit! plus the market has changed, so what it would be worth three years ago when we bought it isn't what the market is today.


anyway...i asked dave to carry stuff upstairs and down to the basement as well as vaccuum and mop the downstairs, which he did a great job of with no complaints, he went to put his boots on to go to work this morning, and suddenly he noticed the clumps of dried mud he is leaving all over the floor as he walks!!! i have been complaining about his boots for ages, but when he cleans the floor.....now it matters!!

he grabbed the hand vac and cleaned it up while i thought to myself, heh, heh...i told you so!

boys rule! (your life)

As the mother of only boys to this point in my life I guess I have a few things to contribute!
It starts when they are newborns, this tiny little guy with his fuzzy little head charms you. Then you bring him home and sooner or later this happens:

For me though it was usually my lap, my couch, or my bed, and at least on a few occasions my face or my sons face-my older boy peed in his own face and then was really upset about it, I thought it was kind of funny until he got me! and that firehose reference? yeah, that much force and wetter than you would think! when it comes to keeping it clean, well neither of my boys want you poking around down there too much!

as far as peeing on things intentionally so far it has just been my floors, my bed twice, and in the tub. but he's only two and just figuring out that he can aim it at things, and its still cold outside, but give us some time and i'm sure i'll have my share of this:

The other big thing I've noticed about boys is they are always on the go, boys throw things, climb things, use the couch as a jungle gym, play hard, hug hard, kiss hard and definitely get into things, thankfully my kids have never done anything like this:


but the baby can't even sit up yet, give them time!


and last but not least, they have no appreciation for things that are important to the woman in the house, be it things you don't want ruined, cups of tea, quiet time, chatting with friends, or more importantly:

No this kid is not freakishly blue, this is my attempt at making the picture a little more decent for blogger!


No matter what though little boys rock! (I'll have to let you know about big boys) You find yourself playing trains, crashing matchbox cars, wrestling, standing outside in your pj's with your hair a mess so your little guy can waive at the garbage men, and even taking driving directions from the back seat driver ( in a car seat). Farts are hysterical,(especially squeezed out well timed ones.) burps are funnier, and all problems can be solved by throwing them in the air or onto the couch, the higher the better!


I cherish my guys while they are small, cause they are only small and soft for a little while, they grow up to be big, stinky, hairy men! (trust me I'm a nurse-I know these things! We won't discuss how many naked men I've seen in my line of work!)


*photos came from a joke email so I don't know how to credit them, but if you know who to credit them too, I'd be happy to post it!


my little boys:

whats the point part two

just to make the point further-i stopped by M.D.O.D.(http://docsontheweb.blogspot.com/) after i posted and found this:



i think it sums up my point nicely. just think this guy will be sedated, admitted to a floor, and when he wakes up and continues to behave like an asshole, either because he is withrawing, or he wants another fix, or another drink (or pain meds and ativan since it's availabe to him)...he's all mine! another lovely shift!

what's the point?

i had another long, annoying, frustrating weekend at work.

we get five patients and 4 of my 5 had issues going on.

patient one refuses to do anything for themselves, i mean won't hold a cup of water, reposistion themselves in bed, sit up, stand up, nothing. even though they walk at home. and when pushed by the doc, was able to stand ( with assistance) and sit in a chair.

two came in with nausea vomiting and abd pain, but it had cleared up on it's own, and the pt was pretty much fine but being monitered. very bored, walking the halls.

three has been in the hospital a long time, is quite elderly, and does not look anywhere near their age. but keeps having complications.

four is withdrawing from alcohol, hard.

five is odered for insane doses of pain medication every two hours, i'd be giving too much away to say why, lets just they have a tolerance noone should have, and it would be enough to kill most people, so anyway - due every two hours but calling every hour and half, and then every five minutes until i get there.

on saturday patient three who has been on our floor for a while is not acting like themselves and will not wake up, call to md, every kind of lab work and culture you can think of, then wait for results. deal with nervous family, several calls to doctor.

patient one is complaining of pain no matter where you touch them, and refusing to do anything at all. deal with family who is waiting on them hand and foot, but none of them speak english.

patient four is needing medication every hour to control their symptoms (which are getting worse) every hour. deal with family who doesn't believe they are withdrawing.

patient five is calling non-stop, i get about two people done for my morning med pass, three to go, and they are already calling me back for more pain medicine. the whole day goes on like this, by the end of the day i don't even like my patients anymore, and i am all set with giving five medicine, but the doc has been in and increased his dose!!!

i come in sunday to a worse situation then i left. patient four really got into the dt's last night, wanted to leave against medical advice, called their family something like 20 times in the middle of the night, hallucinating, had to be restrained, got out of restraints and into the hallway, called 911 from their room. right now they are snowed(given enough meds to make them sleep) and now has a sitter in the room ( since they have proven they are not safe to leave alone someone is sitting with them at all times)

patient five is still calling constantly for medication

patient three is doing great today, awake alert visiting with family

patient two is bored and wants to chat with me in the hallway

patient one has a heart rate in the 150's, several calls to doctors, primary comes in and writes orders, teaching intern writes orders, they finally speak to each other, i push lopressor, heart rate comes down some.

pt five called constantly for meds the entire time this was going on, and is pissed by the time i get to the room, but called every five minutes the entire time i was busy. i am now giving 8am meds after 10am.

pt four is waking up, but their iv access is no good so i can't get meds into them, the iv nurse comes and puts in a new iv, i go to use it, it isn't good either, we have to wait for the iv nurse to come back(poor access). finally get access, pt is awake but ok.

did i mention my husbands grandmother is a patient on my floor right now? so in between this i'm trying to go check on her.

i finally catch up by late afternoon, i'm trying to get charting done, but it just isn't happening, now its time for afternoon meds, i have to find 20 mins to go pump because i last fed ben at 5 am, it's now 4pm.

i finally get my afternoon meds out i head to patient 5's room to tell him that i'm coming, as they has been calling me for an hour. the patient is not in the room, or the halls, or the family room, or the kitchen, not on the floor at all. this patient has disappeared before and knows they can't leave the floor, due to what is wrong with them and the meds they are taking. call the doctor to report it, call security to find them.

meanwhile pt 4 is losing it, wants to leave against medical advise, wants to walk home since the spouse won't come get them, it's sub-zero outside and now dark, i try hitting them with meds every hour to get him calm, it isn't working. i call the doctor who comes and says the patient shouldn't leave, not stable yet, pt calls spouse repeatedly, saying that they can't trust their spouse.

we find patient 5, in the cafeteria using a computer, ( a long walk through hospital tunnels in a different building) security sends them back right before we can discharge them for elopement. the patient walks back onto the floor and is not in his room an entire minute and calls for pain med. funny though how the pain went away so they could leave the floor.

it sucked, the entire weekend. and i left thinking what is the point? keeping druggies drugged up, killing myself for 24 hours in two days, for what? what did i accomplish? so not worth 26.00 an hour, i would gladly have told them to keep the money so i wouldn' t have to deal with all this.

i need to work, we need the money and benefits, i don't know another job that i could work two twelve hour days and be home the other 5 with my boys, and still have a decent paycheck. i'm grateful i have this option and i know plenty of moms are out there busting their hump for a lot less. i'm not going to leave my job-it's just a really good think i have days off in between to forget how bad the last shift was.

i just keep going back to bigger question what's the point? what does a nurse really accomplish?

a quiet moment

i've been working a lot lately, the hospital that i'm per diem at has a really great incentive going on so i've been trying to take advantage of it!

i have several large important projects for today, but right now i am taking a moment to enjoy a calm beautiful morning.

here is the view from my bed looking out the window:

and here is the view in the bed:

and here is the view of the two year old who didn't want his picture taken:

hope you have a beautiful morning too!

changes

ok, i know i'm not posting, i'm just busy. there is plenty to write about though!

my son who is not three until april, is most definately already three in his head. this week he has started using words and sentences he never has before, he talks back like gang busters, he is super helpful, is willing to help pick up, follow directions, cook supper whatever i want. some things he has said lately:

"you're killing me mom"

when i had built him a car out of blocks and he wanted me to modify it i told him to wait, he made the meanest face he could muster, and said " you never make a car!" i told him he was in danger of a serious time out, and he was not allowed to talk to me like that, he decided to knock it off.

he is drawing pictures and for the first time telling me what they are! "a lion"

can you see it? i darkend the picture to make it clearer

he's so proud of himself! here he is hard at work:


lets not forgot Ben! he's up to all kinds of new things too! like this:




he fell over right after i took this, he can only hold it for a few seconds, but how cute is he!
and yesterday we started this:


he's a little confused by the experience, but he did well. can you see the red peach fuzz? i hope he keeps it!

on a more serious note we have had two immediate family members be hospitalized within two days of each other. one has since gone home and the other may be placed in a nursing home which no one is happy about but it has become a safety issue.

house projects like crazy, behind on the laundry, need to pay bills and go grocery shopping.

so that is what i have been up to!

evil mom

i'm an evil, evil mom. i asked for this for christmas:

it's a dirt devil handheld vac-it's pretty, it cleans up messes.

i just taught my two year old how to use it! while i blog and hold the baby, he is running around like a little mad man vacuuming up dog fur! he's happy, i'm happy!

now what chores can i get a three month old to do?

updates and sick kids

i know, i know, i went missing for a while. between christmas and working at two hospitals again, and new years and kids who are up all night i just haven't had the time or energy to write anything.

we all have this horrible cold thing that just sucks the life out of you, will has been sick for about a week and he is just getting worse, dave has been the most sick, but he is on an antibiotic now and rebounding, i would say i am mildly sick, sometimes i have a sinus headache and congestion, sometimes i don't. but i think the baby has croup, last night he started with this weird chesty cough, and a strange noise while he cried, he was still able to eat comfortably, and didn't seem to be in any distress when breathing, but i looked it up this morning and i handled it totally wrong. i should have done the steamy bathroom, call a dr right away thing, instead i just kept him near me and kept an eye on him, it got better as the night went on, and gone this morning, but with two sick kids we are going to the pede today.

christmas was wonderful, our families are way too generous, i have about 200.00 worth of stuff for the boys that i just put away for later.

ok i need to start calling the pede's office to get them in today, i'll try to post more later.

UPDATE
will has an ear infection he is starting antibiotics, they thought they heard something in ben's left lung, but called in the other doc and it was clear, no meds for him, just saline for the nose, mist for the congestion. here's hoping that doesn't happen again!

UPDATE AGAIN
ever heard of a kid who didn't like bubble gum medicine? my kid spit it all out even after i let him dose himself! so i put it in his chocolate milk, mission accomplished, he drank it all down!