On top of influenza everyone has conjunctivitis (except J) In the morning we peel everyone from their pillows and begin the soak and wipe to clear their faces of the eye and nose boogers that cover their faces.
Once cleaned this is what they look like.

The 3 who have it the worst.
In this corner, weighing in at 42 lbs and 16 lbs, they look as though they are losing the fight.....Sydney and Ryan.













I swear child protective services would think we abuse and don't feed this kid.
He rubbed his eye so much it made it bleed. He is as sick as the other 2 but you wouldn't know it by the way he acts, he is as tough as nails. Spencer.

No one was spared.

I've been hit by a Mack truck.
More like, run over 3-5 times and parked on.

Diagnosis done prognosis bad state of mindosis exhausted

Ryan and Syd didn't sleep last night. Sydney screamed out in pain all night even doubled up on Tylenol and Motrin. Ryan was so sick he cried and moaned and thrashed around.
They both sound raspy and hoarse and their fevers reached that oh so familiar 103 mark.
I saw what looked like a blister in Ryan's mouth and decided to make an appointment.
I took Syd in to have her throat swabbed.
Strep negative.
After clearing up some confusion as to what age a child can be given sleep aids and or alcohol to help them sleep. The confusion part being the doctors. I felt like 6 months was just fine and felt something red and winey could help with the constipation their iron fortified cereal is producing. but alas.
She mentioned swabbing them for influenza. I agreed. Syd didn't. Ryan got swabbed.
The test takes 10 minutes and because my children have always been eager overachievers the results came back after only 2 minutes. Positive.
Spencer didn't go with us but too has all of the classic symptoms. High fever. runny nose. no appetite. clingy. MISERABLE.
Oh and the blister thing....Ryan also has a case of thrush.
This has to be the worst my little people have felt. Well Syd got an UG-el-EE case of hand foot and mouth once and was almost this sick.
PLUS. Syd has croup.
YA ! We're doin REALLY good over here.

My mom called me today and actually offered to come out. SHE NEVER OFFERS to come out. Even if I use my outside voice and suggest it. I don't even ask her any more. She got here with both babies screaming. She took Ryan, Syd screamed for me and as I entered her room she coughed, cried THE most pathetic "mama" you've ever heard and then like the exorcist threw up 8 oz of liquids, 1 1/2 tsp. of Tylenol and a tiny corner of a cracker.
I threw her in the tub, got her dressed, made Cam lunch with Spencer crying at my leg, Nathan was impatiently bitching to be held, and Syd's rhythmic and repetitive crying with a hoarse voice, "mama....mama...mama..." was faint but heard.
Ryan cannot be put down and you are not allowed to lay down with him. I honestly don't think I could have made it today if my mom hadn't come over.

While in line at the 4th pharmacy looking for this rare drug that doesn't seem to be resistant to this strain of influenza (I never did get it)...I called a friend and asked her to come over and hold babies tomorrow. I NEVER ask for help so you must know how badly I really need it. J is so busy at work right now and isn't able to take any time off. In fact she's been going in early and missing lunch. Her staying home to help isn't an option.

(DEEP SIGH)

I didn't expect to go on and on. In fact, neither did J....I asked her to hold Ryan while I quickly updated and posted :) hee hee
Pray that everyone gets better....PRAY that I don't get sick.
Amen.

lotto info, little bitty post

Nicole came.
J got sick fever 103.
Thanked God over and over that Nicole was here.
1/2 sibs came.
Nicole went home. we were so sad.
Nicole came back.
Played.
J still sick.
Friends over.
Played.
Nicole left. (flight cancellation)
Nathan sick fever 103.
Ryan sick fever 101.
I'm sick.
Thanked God again that Elyse was here.
Jumped.
Climbed.
Played.
Spencer sick fever 100.8.
Cameron is probably sick or will be sick.

aaaaand.....illustration.














































































(oh no I din't. oh yes I did. as wonderful as I look here....I wanted to show you the bounce houses and slides behind me. The jungle is this huge climbing area that has seated rope swings, trampolines and a zip line. It's all surrounded by a skating rink. SO much fun for the little ones.

SO no comments on the I'm an ass post. I didn't say I wasn't an ass before, I said that it was only OFFICIAL yesterday. and by official I mean that I accepted and announced it.
J is at work today. The fever broke. She still sounds like crap but knows life must go on.

GUESS WHAT I DID !!! I got ALL 5 KIDS TO BED BY 9 pm last night. NINE P-M PEOPLE.
That NEVER happens. I think I was so scared about an 11 PM night that I over killed it. ha ha
Nicole did read with Syd but that was all the help I required in putting them all down.
(break in to song chorus)
I am the champion, my fre-hends.
And I'll keep on fighting till the end
I am the champion
I am the champion
No time for losers
Cause I am the champion of the wooooooorld.

Our show is coming back on. It's supposed to be played in March some time. If and when they put it on their schedule I'll update everyone.
We had talked about my sending the DVD out for those of you that wanted to see our show and didn't have Dis.covery Health. If you are still interested please leave me your email address.

It's official......I'm an ass !

My wife has a temperature of 103. Well 102.9. it's been down as low as 101.7 and she feels like SHIT ! Or like she's been hit by a Mack truck, which is what she kept telling me yesterday when I assumed single mother for 24 hours straight position and walked away with no sympathy as she took to the bedroom.
I now have 6 children and one is REALLY sick. and all congested and headachey. Mostly I just get her food, drink and meds and she stays pretty quiet. Not too bad. Maybe the rest could get sick ! hee hee. NOT REALLY. I WAS JUST SAYING IT AS A JOKE. TOTALLY RHETORICAL. don't go all....well you asked for it, on me.

Putting 5 kids to bed by myself was challenging. I'd like to say that I didn't do such a bad job. They were all asleep by 11 pm. That's not so bad. right ?

I'm SUPER good at gliding, holding one baby in a cradle position, the other over my shoulder with 2 boys on each of my legs. The hardest part is putting binky's back in the babies mouths when they'd drop them. but I did it. their heads clinked together a few times while reaching, but it's all good.

Let us all say a quick prayer for J.....that her recovery will be quick. That she will be full strength and ra-ra-raring to go. Is it too much to ask that this all happen by 5 pm. ok 5:30 pm today.
Amen.

6 month stats

Nathan :
Height 28.8 inches 98%
Weight 17 lbs 5 oz 45 %
BMI 14.8 (I wish mine were so low)
Head circ. 17.6

Ryan :
Height 28.5 inches 98%
Weight 16 lbs 8 oz 30%
BMI 14.5
Head circ. 17.5

both boys had a reaction to their shots and have been NIGHTMARES today. Fevers and all.
Did I tell you Nanny Nicole is here. :) I honestly couldn't have done this without her.
Her playing on the floor with the older 3, or taking Syd to her room and letting her play games on her laptop for an hour while the big boys napped so that I could be CONSTANTLY holding one if not BOTH babies. aaaaah.
SO NICE TO HAVE SOMEONE HERE.

All that this has done is made me realize that no, I can't do this on my own and two, how have I done it this long without becoming an alcoholic or an abusive mother. and C, who will help me when she's gone ?
(it doesn't help that J is sick AGAIN and is right now sleeping it off. GAWD. I want to get sick)

OH, good news. Our 1/2 sibs from NJ are coming to stay for a few days. yes I know we just saw them, but she has connections in the world of flying and so one of the moms and little Olivia are coming to play. They get here Saturday and Nicole leaves Sunday which MEEEANS that I will have adult help until NEXT WEDNESDAY !

Ok, 3, who will help me when THEY are gone.

Can I get a raise of hands.
Anyone. ANY-ONE...have anything good to say about this seasons L-word ?

I didn't think so.
(there was that one sex scene that was pretty believable...BUT THAT'S IT)

Ok, by a raise of hands. does anyone agree that not only the story lines but the acting seems to be SOO-HO-HO-HO bad this season that it's almost unbearable to watch ?

Ya, me too.

It's the last season for fark sakes. COME ON !

Nicole's here and the kids are loving on her and that means that they aren't loving on me and that is WONDERFUL ! aaaaaaaah.

Nanny Nicole is coming today. She has a week off of school and decided to come visit.
Sydney is BESIDE herself with joy. She can't WAIT to see her and has been talking about her non stop. Our spare bedroom is still known as Nicole's room.

For some reason her returning is making me LONG for Summer weather. I want to go outside, to the park, for a walk. More than that I want to send my kids outside, to the park, for a walk :)
This is just a visit. It's not like I can put her to work ! DAMN it !
Oh the things I could accomplish if I had a nanny for a week. or some duct tape.

Would you like some sugar on that.
3 lumps or 2
















P.S. I won. I have all of you wonderful people to thank.
I will take a picture of my picture and post it when it comes. (contented sigh)
I LOVE winning.

24 hours later

What a difference a days dose of antibiotics will do.
I just want to help those of you who might be starting this journey later than I and might need to know this important bit of information. You can give Tylenol and Amoxicillin in juice, milk, water, whatever. WHATEVER you need to do to get them to take it.
You learn this after several times of being spit on and it taking both of you holding flailing arms and legs, squeezing cheeks and blowing in faces, usually at 2am to get the medicine down. And then you are all sticky, jammies and necks and the floor usually suffers too. I remember when Cameron was just over a year old and his fever was 103. We fought with him through probably 4 doses before we surrendered and figured the coating in his mouth was probably close to a full dose. I wish I knew this then. It's always when they need to take it that they won't. That's how I gage how sick my kids are. If they are asking for medicine, chances are they don't need it :)
Consider this free advice. Next time it's gonna costcha.

Something to smile about

A blonde and her husband are lying in bed
listening to the next door neighbor's dog.
It has been in the backyard barking for hours and hours.
The blonde jumps up out of bed and says, "I've had enough of this".

She goes downstairs.

The blonde finally comes back up to bed
and her husband says "The dog is still barking,
what have you been doing?"

The blonde says,

"I put the dog in our backyard,
let's see how THEY like it!

Help, I swallowed a golf ball !

*******update*******
by the time we got to the doctors both boys were hot and Spencer's neck looked like Cam's.
It was confirmed....they have strep. OH PULEEEAASE cross your fingers the others steer clear of it.

Cam acted as if his ears were bothering him. With the fever and everything else going on with him I made an appointment (today at 3:20 pm) and then last night after dinner I noticed this. (see red arrow by his neck)

















The other side from the back. Poor kid can't turn his head.













He apparently had eaten a couple of golf balls and that's why he hasn't been hungry.

This morning Spencer woke up with a fever and has the swollen throat sound when he talks. His appointment is at 3:10pm. (why risk not getting a prescription for both)
I'm sure they are fine....I just want to rule anything that can be medicated out. PRAY that it's not strep.
No wait. Pray that the other 3 don't get it. NO WAIT ! Pray that I don't crack under the pressure when the other 3 get it. because we all know they will.

And then, cute cute cute. My babies got their first big kid bath this morning.
They had so much fun and splashed like crazy. The pictures don't show Ryan splashing as much because I had to wait for Syd to grab the camera and then he kind of fizzled out (he was TI-RED)
















Because I took it, and it was too cute not to share.
Is this thinking inside the box ?!
I'm a livin in a box, I'm a livin in a cardboard box.

Pork chopsh an appleshaush

Help me add this up.....24 oz a time 2 times a day, so Thursday night, Friday morning, Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday night, Sunday morning.
That's 24 x 6 which is 144 oz. right ?
Guys that's only 1/2 of what I used to and should produce to feed both babies.
I was a little scared when everyone patted me on the back. My math skills have never been suh great.

Speaking of babies and eating. Guess who had baby food for the first time last night.
It's funny. With Syd we were so anxious to feed her that the day of her 20th week she was eating baby food. With the boys we thought we had to feed them in their 5th month. With these babies we were holding off to feed them :) ha ha
We would have held off longer but Sydney has been SOOOOO extremely excited to feed them she was asking every day. We told her that when we got back from the big apple we'd feed a big apple to the babies. Every time I called to talk to Syd she would ask me when we were feeding the babies....and as I picked her up from Grandma's after midnight she wanted to go home immediately and feed those boys. :)
Who needs a Baby Alive when you have the real thing.

Here they are in all of their glory.

Ry-guy

YES !!! FOOD !!!














Gross !! Food !!















Here maybe if I just sip it.















I DID IT !!!

















Nathan
TOTALLY ready for this. I've been waiting for this for WEEKS now. WEEKS I tell ya.














Like a trained professional.














I couldn't possibly eat another bite.

















GOTCHA !!!















I love this stuff !

Warm my nuts please.

(this post and it's entirety must be read with much vibrato...much like the musical genius that unfolds on BROADWAYYYYYYY (however this is nothing like the musical genius that unfolds on broadway))


We went to New Yooooork first claaaaass where they fed us warm nuuuuuts and we saw some cool peeeep-uuuuhl and I got my knock off baaaaag and then we came home and this is where we'll stay foreh-vaaaaah.

First day. SO COLD my eyeballs NEARLY froze shut. Seriously.
And then, in from the cold.......we got to meet in person. THESE PEOPLE. and their darling little girls and all I wanted was to pick them up and squeeze them but the sign on the door said don't squeeze my kids so I just made due with their little sweet hands that would hold on to my leg for balance and the smiles and giggles that quieted the yearning to hear my own kids laughs.
REALLY cool people. So nice. So weird how natural it felt to hang out.
I wished we could have hung out longer and talked until that little Madeline warmed up to me.

And then.....on to the show. WICKED !!! So very wicked. Seriously so very wonderful. I had heard how great it was and sometimes when I hear how great stuff is, it aint so great after all.
And pardon my saying so, but I'm gay so of course everything is gay to me...but I so got a gay vibe between the witches.
For real.
(p.s. Jen and Nicole, I really liked the music, mostly the voices behind the music though...WOW !)

The 2nd day was warm enough to unzip our coats. Beautiufl.

And it wouldn't be NY if there weren't a famous sighting and what's NY without Mathew Broderick. J saw him coming out of a toy store. The same one we
were leaving from with our Crocodile, bottle of bugs and Hello Kitty bag.
yes I know....not New Yorky but the kids love them and Cameron is sleeping with his alligator right now.

We finished off our trip in New Jersey with family. We spent the last day with our 1/2 sibs.
Love them.
I spent a lot of time trying to convince them both to leave their kids with us...you know, in case of their sudden demise. (I love those kids like my own)
WHAT ! OH come on. Everybody has to plan for the unexpected for hell sakes. It's not like I WANT them to die. I just want their children. IF they die. suddenly. without warning.
No really, I don't want them to die, but I really want their children. dead or alive.
NO ! Not the children dead. The parents dead. Not that I want them dead. I just want the kids. PERIOD !
GAWD ! I'm all jet lagged and mixed up.
my head is starting to get all foggy.

Ok, back out of the clouds.
I missed my children so much and it wasn't fun without them and all I wanted to do was come home but I tried to be in the moment even though the entire time I was thinking about them and all I wanted to do was hug their bodies and bury my nose under their chins and smell their smell and every time I thought about them my collar bones ached and my milk let down and my mind wandered and that was a lot and then I would ask J to call and check on them, PLEASE JUST CALL, I just need to hear their little voices and I can't sleep, AT ALL, and if we get overnighted in Chicago because of equipment problems I'm going to come UNGLUED !

So I guess it was a little harder to leave my kids than I thought.

I dumped a total of 150 oz of PURE GOLD this weekend. Pumped and dumped. UGH !
I wished there was a baby that was ok with my alcoholic mixture of vitamins and minerals that wanted to drink it while we were there. I hated dumping it.
(I pump 2 times a day now. It is enough to supplement my babies with 1/2 of their eating needs. 1/2 breastmilk, 1/2 formula. I will do this until my boobs call it quits)

One more star sighting. WHILE waiting for our delayed flight in Chicago we saw THE best of the best and cutest of the gayest designers Nate Berkus. Oprahs Golden Child.
He was only a few feet from us. We talked about getting a picture. I of course backed down. He is just as cute in real life.

Sydney didn't go to sleep until almost 2am and was up for preschool, Spencer is sick, Cameron is REALLY CLINGY, both babies were held ALL WEEKEND NON STOP (thank you girls) and I couldn't be happier. (contented sigh) I love my kids.

I leave you with another picture. The obligatory Time Square picture. Our room overlooked all of time square. It couldn't have been more perfect. (other than the pubic hair in the tub that first day)
I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of the girls. and our family. :(
That is SO unlike me.
Any way. Here you go !

no time to say hello good-bye I'm late, I'm late, I'm late....

If you haven't already please click -> here <- and leave a comment. I'm in direct competition with a woman who has a SUPER CUTE newborn baby. We're neck in neck and damn it, I NEED this free picture.
You know it's all about winning now, right.

We leave for New York tomorrow morning. I'm packing half of my kids off and have someone coming to watch the other 3 at the house.
Which means exactly this, I have a house to clean and bags to pack and lists to go over and that's just for the kids. Then there are the clothes and breast pumps and the laptop to worry about :)

I told J last night that if something happened and we weren't able to go on this trip that I was totally ok with that.
I HATE leaving my babies. I have this anxiety that travels through my stomach, lands in my collar bones and makes my ears hot.
All I want is out when I'm here and then when I have the chance. When I see the light and all I need to do is go to it, I back down.

We're going. OH hell yes. And I'm looking forward to it. but there is this feeling...ope, there it goes.....aaaaaand in my collar bones, and the ears are hot, that keeps me from thoroughly appreciating the time away.

I'm sure after a few of those free first class cocktails my mind will slowly forget that I'm leaving my kids and after a few more my mind will slowly forget that I have kids. :)
I'm pretty sure that my ears will still be hot though.

winna winna winna winnner

6 months old. My babies are 6 months old today. Where in the mother hell did the time go. Did anyone miss months 2, 3 and 5 because they seem to have been skipped or something. Either way, here we are...6 months old, 1/2 way to the year mark. Oh that blessed year mark where we mothers of multiples receive medals for making it.

















Yesterdays game was as disappointing as this season of the L-word. GAWD !(I threw up in my mouth a little watching the L-word last night I'll have you know)
And how many FRIGGIN' penalties were they going to hand out. I am not one to usually bitch about the officiating in NFL games, but COME ON !!! I remember at one point Arizona had 15 and Pittsburgh had 3.
The commercials were lame. You would think that spending THAT MUCH money for the time slot, that they would spend a little bit on the actual advertising.
I did get a kick out of the LMAO commercial. If only it were that easy, I'd start watching tv. :) ha ha ha



(sigh)
ok, for the most important part. I need your help. I have to get the most comments on this post . The one with the most comments wins free pictures. I NEED FREE PICTURES PEOPLE.
You can look at her blog to see what a great job she does. but right now you need to just click here if you haven't already gone and comment.
And THANK YOU....because I know with your support I can win :)
now go..go..GO !