Operation CrazyWoman: Day 9

So this is the part where I start looking wild-eyed and hunted.  I thought I was in a for a nice, quiet, relaxing day.  That was before Connor crawled into my bed at 4:15 this morning burning up with a fever.  I assume it's all part of this hand, foot, and mouth disease we all have.  I think Connor and Simon have had it the worst because they are so young.  The rest of us just have these painful little bumps, but no fever.  The words I heard the most today were, "Mom, hold me."  And I really, really wish I could have just sat and held him all day long.  Unfortunately, he had to spend a good bit of time like this instead:

Looks miserable, doesn't he?  Well, he is.  And he refuses any Tylenol to bring his fever down.  So sick child not withstanding, there were a few other things worth mentioning, though we didn't do anything new or exciting today.  I don't think there's anything LEFT that's new and exciting at this point in our visit!

However, lest you start thinking that our days are just a miserable drudgery, let me offer some proof to the contrary.  I took this cute little video when I was preparing lunch.  Connor was sitting up on the counter to be closer to me (since I couldn't hold him) and he was making Simon laugh.  It was so cute I had to grab the camera.

Nan, Olivia, and Kelsey have been working feverishly on friendship bracelets every chance they get since Sunday night.  Last night Wesley asked me if I would teach him, too.  Since it was too late to start teaching him last night, I promised him a lesson this morning.  He reminded me, too!  And he's actually pretty good.  If you look carefully, he's already got two finished bracelets on his right arm and he's working on a third.

And speaking of Wesley, Ben just told me a funny story.  He took the 4 oldest kids to see Hop at the cheapo dollar theater tonight.  On the way back he had the radio on and was listening to "Sideways" by Dierks Bentley when he glanced in the rear view mirror.  Wesley was just a-sitting back there wiggling his shoulders and car dancing to the music.  Cute, isn't he??  I think out of all of Niel and Julie's kids, Wesley had delighted me the most because he's so unexpected.  He seems like a really quiet, sweet boy.  And he is!  But behind that quiet exterior lies and very funny sense of humor and a slew of random thoughts.  He's often popping out with "what ifs" and other funny statements and often laughs at his own jokes.  I'm not sure if he gets it more from his mother or his father.  Niel is a goofball, but Julie's got her own twisted sense of humor.

In addition to making friendship bracelets, Olivia and Nan have started drawing a lot again.  Olivia brought me an eraser that she has completely worn through.  She was quite proud of the fact, and insisted that I take a picture.

And speaking of Olivia, I also let her go swimming again today as long as she wore her ear plugs.  She lasted about 10 minutes before she decided she was done.  I tried to take a picture of her in the ear plugs, but the sun was in her eyes.  At least they match her goggles!

As I already mentioned, Ben took the 4 oldest kids to the movie tonight, which left me home with the 4 younger ones.  This was supposed to be relaxing for me since most of the kids go down early.  For some reason, this didn't work out as planned.  Maddox woke up 5 minutes after Ben left and was fussy, so I decided to throw him in the bath really quick since he usually loves to splash.  While he was in I decided to bring Connor in and wash him down to help bring down his fever.  Before I had them out, Simon walked in and thought it looked like fun and wanted to get into the tub with the boys.

Rub-a-dub-dub!

I know the pictures are funny-shaped, but Ben insisted I cropped them to make sure all the privates were kept... well, private.

While I was in the process of getting the boys out, I asked Mallie to go watch Simon for a minute.  She decided the best way to do this was to get in the bath with him, so she got a bath tonight, too.  Afterwards, we braided her hair and got her into bed.

 

And finally, there's only one more thing worth mentioning.  Simon has finally figured out that there are things in this house that he can climb.  Like the changing table, for example.  Every time I turned around this evening he was on top of it trying to get into the baby powder.  Another example is the high chair.  After avoiding it like the plague for a week or so and absolutely refusing to sit in it any time we tried (like when he was going to eat yogurt), I noticed him climbing up in it several times today around dinner time.  I think he was trying to see what I was doing to get ready for dinner, and it gave him the best vantage point.  At one point after dinner, he even wanted me to put the tray on and give him raisins and some of Maddox's freeze-dried apple bits.  (In fact, this is where he was when I started bathing the other boys.)  When I went to take his picture, he apparently thought I wanted to see what was in his mouth.

So.  Nine days down and only two left to go.  Friday morning we're just driving down to Dallas, so I'm not counting that one.  However, I do need to contact Julie's friend and see if she minds us all coming to her house and possibly bringing a contagious virus.  I don't know if we're over it yet - the girls and I are still having new eruptions on our hands and feet.  Guess I'd better give her a call tomorrow...