Tagged again

Here are the rules:

Grab the nearest book. Find the closest book...Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one. Pick the CLOSEST. Open the book to page 56. Find the fifth sentence. Post the text of the next two to five sentences on your blog along with these instructions. Tag five other people to do the same.

Okay, nothing is closer to me than what is on my bookshelf, so I grabbed what was physically closest to the computer, which happened to be "Chicken Soup for the College Soul".

Page 56 was a little comic of sorts, so it's not gonna make sense without the picture. The ONLY written words on page 56 say "Yes, Dad, I suppose I could've been more specific when I asked you to mail me a big check". It shows a dad holding a large piece of paper with a check mark on it. Honestly, it's really not even funny IF you see the sketch. LOL.

Okay, I'm tagging whomever else hasn't been tagged!

Speaking of Fall....

My local news announced a "cold front" coming to the area. Who are they kidding?

Riverview Weekend Weather Forecast (33569) - weather.com

Anyway, I might legally be insane, but I've decided to take the boys to experience some actual fall weather. My mom came across a cheap flight that I had to jump on immediately. It really gave me no chance to think it through, so I'm a little nervous (okay, a LOT nervous) but I'm sooooooooooooo excited. The three of us (myself, Tyler, and Jason) will be going to NJ from November 12th to the 18th. I can't beat the price ($120 in TOTAL for the 2 purchased seats) so hopefully I don't have to use all that extra money I've saved to purchase sedatives for myself to survive the flight.

Brotherly Love

I got out of the shower this morning to find this:
And, what is hugely impressive is that Al was actually taking pictures! He never willingly picks up a camera. He's learning slowly....

Welcome Fall

No, not the weather. That's not fall-like at all (at least not in my book).

Tyler had his "Fall Festival" last night at preschool. He had tons of fun decorating a cookie, completing a scarecrow craft, making a bracelet out of fruit loops, competing in a ring toss, etc. However, the absolute hit was the moon bounce. I would not have thought he would have enjoyed it, considering he's usually not very adventurous...and you certainly would not have thought he would enjoy it after he screamed bloody murder on his first attempt at entering the moon bounce...but my brave little boy stood in line again and LOVED it this time. I also think it something to do with a little girl named "Tiana" (I don't have a clue how it's spelled) who held his hand the whole time as if they were in line to buy tickets for their first date at the movie theater. Too cute. Wish I had pics of that!

The Good and the Bad...

Lets start with the good....

Tyler is doing sooooooo much better. His rash has almost completely cleared and the swelling has gone down quite a bit. He only has one more day of his steroid. Phew! Oh, and he's back to sleeping fairly normally and even went back to school today!

Jason is just precious and is currently napping in his daddy's arms.

Al is home. They did NOT send him to Oregon...at least not yet.

Now for the bad...

Tyler is still itchy and the steroids have made him very erratic. He can be quite an angry little boy and even threw golfish crackers across the room last night when I told him it was bedtime.

Jason no longer likes his sling and has decided he will sleep nowhere but in someones arms or occasionally in the boppy pillow (which I can only allow him to do while I'm awake).

Like I said, Al is home. Why? Well, because he has bronchitis. Lovely, huh? Oh, and in case anyone is curious, he's currently wearing a mask, is covered in sanitizer, and is feeling MUCH better (he was diagnosed yesterday morning and started medications immediately).

another update

As requested, I'm providing another update.

Tyler FINALLY fell asleep this afternoon after his dose of steroid and Benedryl. At that point I fed Jason and handed him off to Al so I could get some sleep. I managed to get almost a 2 hour nap before Jason needed to eat again. I fed him and then left to take him for a walk (because he didn't seem to want to be quiet) around the neighborhood while Al napped (and Tyler continued to nap). I got home and Tyler was STILL asleep, but luckily he had woken up and peed while I was gone! He proceeded to sleep and sleep and finally woke up at 7:00PM after a 5 hour nap. So, it should be a long night, but he seems to be doing much better. The swelling in his face has gotten MUCH better and his welts are still decreasing in size. He is still itching quite a bit (so much so that he had scratched his skin raw on the back of his neck) but is doing significantly better than when I last posted. Oh, and he's eating and drinking. He requested McDonald's when we woke up, which of course he got! He ate a chicken mcnugget, most of his apple slices, some fries, and a little juice.

Oh, and in answer to a question, yes, Al still has to go to Oregon. Stinky timing, but I am thankful the initial reaction happened when it did instead of after he had left for Oregon. Hopefully Tyler should be a little better before he leaves, and with any luck be able to be back in school for at least one of the days he's gone.

Tyler's update...

Forgive me if this is rambling and nonsensical. No one around here (except Jason) has really gotten much of any sleep in the past 50+ hours.

After Tyler's trip to urgent care, we proceeded to use his cream and give him Benedryl as prescribed. However, he just continued to worsen. He had a long and horrible night and by the time he woke up (after maybe 2 hours of broken sleep) he was covered in grapefruit sized welts and his hands and eyes were starting to swell. At this point we put him in the car and took off for the ER. He was taken immediately to triage and brought to a room, but then we proceeded to sit waiting for a doctor for over an hour. Finally his hands started to swell so much that it was cutting off circulation where his hospital bracelet had been placed. At that point Al went to ask for scissors to cut off his bracelet as well as a blanket since Tyler had started shivering. A nurse came in immediately and paged a doctor. He had spiked a fever and his swelling has spread drastically in just that short time, so they gave him a large dose of a steroid, Benedryl, and Tylenol. Then Tyler FINALLY fell asleep. He was thrashing about in his sleep and was combative when touched, but they said it was normal. We had to wait a long time to see if the medicine would work, which they finally determined it had been beneficial. We were discharged after close to 5 hours in the ER.

Yesterday he continued to be uncomfortable throughout the evening, but it seemed as if the rash was clearing up a bit. Here are some pictures AFTER improvement (the worst was his thighs, but he wouldn't let me get a picture of that).
Unfortunately then the swelling (from the steroids) started. He kept asking why I made the floors slippery. I guess he had no other way to describe the swollen feeling he felt when he walked, and he limped when he tried to walk. He could barely close his hands. His face looked like it has ballooned. He had another horrible night (even worse than the first) in which we don't' think he really ever truly slept. IF he did sleep, he was sleep talking almost the whole time. Regardless he wasn't coherent and was talking about non-sense, wasn't aware of his surroundings, and would go back and forth between a combative angry state and almost like a manic happiness. It was actually quite disturbing and we contemplated numerous times bringing him back to the ER. However we knew he was breathing okay and they wanted us to follow up today with the pediatrician so we waited.

The pediatrician is in total agreement about the diagnosis. Unfortunately all the side effects (mood disturbances, sleep talking, insomnia, and swelling) are completely "normal" for steroid use, so we just have to let it ride it's course. We have to push fluids and if he doesn't pee by 5:00pm we will be back off to the ER. Wish us luck (and hopefully eventually some sleep).