Are you kidding me??

So I finally took Mikey back to the Dr.'s yesterday since he wasn't getting any better and was not eating or drinking a thing. We had to resort to feeding him baby food and forcing him to drink some Ensure. So....the diagnosis.....double ear infections! So yet again Mikey is on Amoxi for 10 days to clear up his ears. And then today was Thorin's 6 month check up and I wasn't expecting anything to really be wrong with him since he seems to be getting better but guess what.....double ear infections! Now Thorin is also on Amoxi for 10 days along with Darren! He went to the Dr.'s today also and found out he has pharyngitis. Great. Now all the boys in the house are on antibiotics, lets hope the girls luck out this time!

3 Sick Kids

This has been a very trying week for me and I'm sure for Darren as well. All 3 kids have been sick since Tuesday. Mikey was so bad that I took him to the Dr and confirmed what I thought they had....croup. I know it's really not that bad, it just means the cold settled in their throats instead of their sinuses or chest but it sounds so horrible! It scares the heck out of me when I hear them coughing and gasping for air in the middle of the night. Thankfully that only last 2-3 nights but those are very, very long nights especially when it goes through 3 bodies at different times. I hope we're nearing the end because there's 3 people who really need Mommy, there's only so much of Mommy and she's getting very, very tired. It would be great if Mommies were equipped with as many arms as she had children. God knows where they'd come out of but I would welcome them with no questions!

Geez, what a weekend!

So last week including the weekend are kind of a blur! Friday was calling hours for GG. It was really nice to see people I haven't seen in years, some might even be close to 20 years! I wish it was under better circumstances which every one always says but obviously it was GG's time to go. We're so glad we were all together December 27th and that she had a WONDERFUL time at Mimi's (Jan's) house with all her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Amazingly every one of was there on that day and like I said GG had a great time which isn't always the case. Anyways, it was nice to see so many people come out and pay their respects to our GG. The funeral was beautiful and a huge "Thank You" to Mary Alice from Grace Church in Attleboro for giving the eulogy. I don't think any one of us would have been able to stand up there and do it.
Later that night Darren, Holly, Stacy and Lou went out to celebrate my birthday. We crashed some one else's birthday party as a great way to celebrate mine! Actually it was a friend of Darren's from back in college. We had a great time and there was someone else there too that was celebrating her birthday so that was 3 of us with birthdays within days of each other! I don't think we got home much before 1am which is very rare these days! We paid for it though when we got home. Honor forgot to put her pull-up on and was sleeping in our bed so you can guess what happened. Also Mikey was sleeping next to her so he was all wet too. Honor was coming down with a cold so she was coughing constantly after being woken up by us coming home. Thorin also woke up but it was his normal time to wake up anyway it was just three times more complicated since everything else was going on. So he got upset too along with every body else and there was lots of crying and coughing and "Moooommmmyyyy"'s going on. Oh well.....if that's the price we have to pay for having a good time I'm fine with that.
At least we had a reasonably quiet Sunday and I was happy not to have a hang-over for my 30th birthday!

Rest in Peace G.G.

We just got the sad news today that my Grandmother, affectionately called GG (Great-Grandma) by the kids, has passed. She would have been 88 years old this Thursday and even though she made it this far it's still tough to hear that she's gone. She was always a huge part of our lives growing up even if we liked it or not. She was always a reliable source of Stelladoro breakfast treat cookies and a big kiss on the lips. She was tough to deal with at times but at the end of it all we just say "Well, that's Gramma for ya" She will be missed greatly, she was the true matriarch of our family. I'm glad we have many pictures of her with the kids and I hope Honor is old enough to have some fond memories of times with GG.

Changes for Honor

Honor changed preschools not too long ago and she went in with the 4 year olds at the new school. We decided this week to move her down to the older 3 year olds even though she'll be one of the oldest kids there. I hope she makes some good friendships, it doesn't seem like she's really made any strong bonds with any one so hopefully that will change in the coming months.
Thorin and Mikey both had ear and eye infections last week. It was the first time that both boys were sick at the same time. Thorin was the first to start showing signs of being sick but I thought it was just because he was teething! The bottom 2 front teeth finally broke through and he's been very miserable through the whole process. Anyway, he woke up the other day with his eyes glued shut and swollen...it looked like he got into a fight a definitely lost! Thankfully Stop and Shop is offering free antibiotics right now until March so I only had to pay to see the doctor and the meds were free!
Thorin's getting so big already! Like I said before he's got teeth now and gobbles down a stage 2 jar of food at lunch and almost finishes a stage 3 at dinner on top of about 32 oz of formula a day! He's definitely the biggest of the 3 kids, it'll be interesting to see when he and Mikey get older how that all plays out.

Where the heck did December go??

So December went by in a flash since there were so many things going on. Let me recount them for you in case you missed some of the details.....
Dec. 3rd we left for Philly for Chris and Megan's wedding which was on the 6th. We figured we'd make a vacation out of it and enjoy the time down there instead of being rushed. It was very nice that the Double Tree gave us the $99/night for our entire stay when they usually charge $199 or more per night! While down in Philly we took the kids to the Please Touch Museum. It was a lot of fun....kind of on the same idea as the Boston Museum for Children but I thought it was geared towards even younger kids so Mikey really had a good time too. My favorite was the very well done Alice in Wonderland exhibit in the basement. There was a maze and imbedded in the walls of the maze were different memorabilia of Alice in Wonderland like tea sets and dolls, etc from the past. There was also a maze of mirrors and a room that made you look taller as you walked into it....great for pictures! And of course there was a tea party with the Mad hatter and March Hare, very well done!
The wedding was beautiful and perfect (and short)! Honor did a great job walking down the isle with her new friend "Big Caitlin" We had to make the distinction between Kaitlyn and Caitlin and that's what Honor thought worked best LOL! Honor was a big hit on the dance floor at the reception....everyone kept asking me where she learned her moves! Half the time I didn't know what she was up to because everyone wanted to dance with her, I even lost her at one point and some one told me she had gone to the potty. Amazingly she made it there and back my herself!
The day after the wedding was Mikey's birthday so we had a cake for him. I guess it wasn't really a cake, more of a very large chocolate chip cookie. I figured if no one ate it it would transport better than a cake! Also since we were staying across from a Dave and Buster's (and those of you who know me well know that I can't help myself when it comes to D&B's) we took the kids over there to play a few games and win some prizes. And then it was time to head back home.
We had our Christmas/Mikey's birthday party with our friends on the 13th. I got pretty buzzed on wine but I guess that's what happens when you go over to Rachel's for a party ;) The girls always have a great time when they get together and now more than ever it's great to see them all together. Mikey got his first of many Imaginext toys which I have to say are great toys for boys who like dinos and dragons! Honor got her "prized" Christmas Carol Barbie and Thorin got lots of great baby toys that he's just starting to play with.
Christmas came and went so quickly I still can't believe it's over. (I guess I can't let it go since we still have our tree up). This was a great year because Honor really had a grasp on who Santa is and what he does. He did forget to leave one of her toys, the cupcake maker, under the tree and left it at Mimi's house by mistake. Mikey got all he asked for.....a green football and a dinosaur. Honor got her castle and cupcake maker and Thorin got his boy dolly with a smiley face. It was the cutest thing when I opened up Thorin's doll and handed it to him, he smiled and screeched, grabbed the doll and started gumming on it's face immediately. It was a hit, Santa!
We then had our traditional Tonge Family Christmas Party the Saturday after Christmas. This is when Mimi's side of the family gets together and exchanges presents. I was excited to get a juicer and Darren was very happy to get the bone conduction headphones he's been wanting forever. Mikey got more Imaginext Dinos and balls and trucks, Honor got more girly things and Thorin got clothes which was very much appreciated since he's already in 9-12 month clothes when we was barely 6 months old.
We didn't do anything for New Years again. Darren and I did stay up to watch the ball drop and to see Dick Clark's last broadcast on New Year's Eve. We had some wine to celebrate and then went to bed. Maybe some day we'll be more exciting :)