Our Elf on the Shelf 2013 Adventures: Day 5

In an effort to ameliorate for our failure from the previous day, this time I wrote a note from Eli to the kiddos.  The note read:  Dear T and M, I really like your house.  (Make sure your Daddy goes to sleep so I can fly back to the North Pole!).  Love, Eli.  With the note Eli was sitting in a bowl filled with marshmallows. T got a kick out of it.  Bonus:  she seemed to believe the letter too!

Our Elf on the Shelf 2013 Adventures: Day 4

Let's just say that returning to work after a five day hiatus got the best of us.  I forgot to move Eli while I was downstairs, so I figured that I would do it in the morning.  Problem: both kiddos woke up way too early and T saw Eli in the same place as the day before.  Ugh.  So, I came up with the only excuse I could think of: Daddy couldn't sleep and spent the night pretty much awake on the couch.  This meant in my convoluted explanation that Eli couldn't fly back to the North Pole for fear that Daddy would see him.  Lame I know.  T thought he could fly back while we were all out of the house, no dice.  Huge failure. 

Our Elf on the Shelf 2013 Adventures: Day 3

I decided to reuse a spot from last year - on top of Hubby's deer that hangs (quite unfortunately and against all of my senses) in the living room.  So, Eli clung to the antlers of this poor unassuming buck.  T noticed him right away and was pretty excited that he had returned.  Mad Man just kept pointing and saying "deer!".

Our Elf on the Shelf 2013 Adventures: Day 2

Day two came and I reminded Hubby that he would have to locate Eli and find a place for him since we were already late - which was complete news to him.  When I woke up I was shocked that he had followed through.  There Eli sat on the shelf of our dining room hutch.  T didn't notice him right away, but once I pointed him out she was so excited.  We had watched the movie on tv the night before so the rule that you can't touch him was fresh in her mind.  She freaked out if Mad Man even tried to enter the dining room for fear that he would touch him.  I would say we were successful...today. 

Our Elf on the Shelf 2013 Adventures: Day 1

The best laid plans...this year I was determined to be on the ball in terms of Eli (our Elf in the Shelf).  The precept, I believe, is that the elf is to arrive the day after Thanksgiving ( don't quote me on that as clearly I am a novice with this whole thing).  The day after Thanksgiving came and went.  No Eli.  I forgot.  So when T asked where I thought he was, I told her that he probably had a long trip from the North Pole.  Then I added that he might be a lazy bones.  Really?  Why even say that?  I am a self-professed lousy liar - case in point.  So Day 1 = Elf on the Shelf fail. 

Disney Vacay: Day 6

                                             

(photo courtesy of: disney.wikia.com)

Thankfully, the week was almost over at this point because I was just about done with everyone!  Hubby had games and was planning on meeting us after the games.  Auntie, her boyfriend and I, were taking the kiddos to Hollywood Studios for a character breakfast at Hollywood & Vine...early.  We managed to make it on time, although we pretty much ran to ensure we made it on time!  The breakfast was awesome.  The characters were great and the food was yummy.  T had a blast.  She got to dance with the characters and they came around to our table a few times.  It was so worth it.  She got to meet June from the Little Einsteins, Handy Manny, Jake, and Special Agent Oso.  Mad Man enjoyed it too (mostly the food!).  It was so much fun.

Then the fun quickly ended!  We saw a few attractions (we especially enjoyed Disney Junior - Live on Stage), but T was melting quickly.  She didn't even enjoy Voyage of The Little Mermaid, which is when I realized the day was probably not salvageable.  I tried snacks, to no avail.  I couldn't even convince her to keep it together to see Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage (which I should add is one of my favorite shows ever!!).  Auntie and her boyfriend were also feeling the stress of the two kiddos losing it, so I decided we should go back to the hotel.  I was really wishing Hubby was there to aide in cooling the meltdowns, but he wasn't.  I tried to convince Auntie and her boyfriend to stay at the park, but they insisted on helping me get back to the hotel.

We met up with Hubby and his team at the hotel.  There was much discussion between the group whether to go to Epcot or Hollywood Studios.  We didn't have a pass for T for Epcot, so to me that wasn't an option for us, seeing as how the morning and early afternoon went so poorly.  After a bunch of annoying chats and stress between Hubby and I, and Auntie and Hubby, and Hubby and the team (although he doesn't seem to really get stressed with them), we decided to stay at the hotel and let Hubby go off with the team.  That is after all what he wanted to do.  I will say that he continuously texted me how much T would have enjoyed Epcot.  Easy for him to say since he had missed the colossal meltdown.  

We went swimming.  The kiddos played in the sand, and we had a nice calm dinner.  Even though Mad Man fell and bonked his head on the concrete.  Poor little guy.  He was fine.  I think Auntie's boyfriend was more worked up, because he had been watching him at the time.  I was in the bathroom with T Bear, who has the hardest time pooping when we are not at home.  Poor little girl!  After dinner we headed back to Hollywood Studios to watch Fantasmic!.  I was dying to see it - it was one of the few things I had not seen before.  We met up with Hubby and some of his team, which was fine.  Although a few of the girls seemed to feel that we were infringing on their time with Hubby.  Gotta love teenage girls.  We tried to keep the kiddos awake for the show, but T was out like a light!  Mad Man made it through some of it.  The show is awesome!  Although the day was long and tiring, and we endured meltdowns and drama - it was a good day.  In hindsight, I would never have back to back days at the park with little ones - had we not been traveling with the softball team we probably would not have had to plan the week that way anyway.
 
High:  Watching the kiddos become entranced with the characters at breakfast and at Disney Junior - Live on Stage.
Low:  All the drama.

A Night in the ER

Note:  I started this post a year ago and just finished it - so my Mad Man is now two and a half. 

Is there anything worse than a little one being sick?  A couple of weeks ago my one and a half year old Mad Man came down with a fever around lunch time. The day before he had been a bit cranky, but I didn't think much of it. Thankfully my MIL had just gotten me a new thermometer - one that goes on the forehead and reads the temp digitally.  102.4. Oh my poor little guy. As the day progressed he was okay. He slept, he ate, he even played a little. I thought for sure that the Advil I had given him was working. I gave him a cool bath and his temp seemed to be under control. 99.1. Then I rocked him to sleep and sang to my T Bear. I was about to put him in his crib when I thought he felt warm. So, I took him downstairs and took his temp 104.3. Oh my God. In my panicked state I called Mima and she concurred that I should take him to the ER. Of course, Hubby was not home - he was coaching a softball game about an hour away. So, Poppi and Mima came right over so Poppi could stay with T while Mima and I took Mad Man to the ER. 

This was my first experience with a little one going to the ER. When we arrived the front desk asked immediately what happened. I had one of those cool packs adhered to his forehead and I think they thought it was a bandage. Seriously, had they never seen one of these little kids fever relief packs?  It had Disney characters printed on it for crying out loud. They took us right in. The male nurse was very comforting - you could tell he has little ones of his own.  He explained that he would have to take a rectal temperature. I am clenching my butt cheeks as I write this. Mad was a trooper. He didn't even flinch which just emphasizes how sick he felt. 104.9. Holy crap.  Then he put ice packs along his body and in his arm pits, and gave him a Tylenol suppository. The nurse also set up the IV port in his little arm, just in case they needed it. Ugh. It was awful to see and Mad was not feeling it. He was getting pretty miserable; I felt so bad for him. 

Then the waiting began. The nurse brought us a few toys, but M was not at all interested. Who could blame him really?  During this time we did get to witness some interesting ER action. We overheard a woman who seemed to be completely insane. She was arguing with the nurses and I believe they were trying to admit her. Lots of profanity. I think I was so overcome with stress that this scenario lightened the air in the room and caused me to fight back laughter. So, thank you crazy lady for fighting the staff. She seemed to be a regular in the ER. The doctor came in and let me say that bedside manner was not his strong suit. He could barely make eye contact or even speak loud enough to carry on a conversation. He managed to elicit enough information from me in spite of his less than stellar communication skill set. He left us to wait again. Finally, he returned and said that Mad Man had a virus and that within a day or so he should be feeling better. Blah blah blah. Treat the symptoms. The nurse removed the unnecessary apparatus from M's arm and we were free to go. I would like to say that I felt good or relieved, but I didn't. I was drained and frankly I was fearful that I wouldn't be able to control his fever. The poor little guy had been through such a harrowing night. 

Thankfully it was not anything serious, but when you get a virus diagnosis you don't feel like you actually have an answer. Let's face it a virus could be just about anything as far as I'm concerned. 

I have to say that I couldn't have hottest through the experience without my mom. She is super strong and was so helpful in keeping me as calm as possible through the whole ordeal. Thank God for mothers. 

The next day Mad Man still had a fever but was getting better. The day after I headed with my kiddos and my parents to the Jersey shore. Let's just say we survived the drive there - M was  not so interested in being strapped in a car seat. He just wanted to be held. The day after his face finally began to light up again and the fever was gone. Yikes. I am so thankful that he only had a virus, but geez was that a scary couple of days. 

High:  The night ended and Mad didn't have to endure anything too invasive; plus it was only a virus. 

Low:  The knowledge that M was so sick and I really couldn't do anything to help him.