Saturday, October 16, 2010

What a week!

On Monday, I took Korben to the doctor for a cough that has been lingering for over 6 weeks. It hasn't been terrible that whole time, but its never really gone away. Last weekend it got really bad again, and by Monday it was awful. Dr. Beene prescribed an inhaler, and said the cough was allergy related. I totally agreed. It doesn't sound anything like asthma. It is a very wet, productive sounding cough as opposed to a dry, wheezy cough. I was really expecting something to show up on the chest x-ray, and get a prescription for antibiotics. But to my surprise, the chest x-ray was clear. Sooooo, that means, the cough is the result of post-nasal drip. Which explains why it was the worst when he was sleeping. After two days of the inhaler, he was getting worse and not better. On Wednesday she prescribed a steroid to reduce the allergic reaction happening in his lungs. We are on day 4 of 5 of the steroid and he is just NOW better! She had me under the impression that he would be better by day 1 or 2, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. The steroid took my already hyper child and turned him into a circus act. He has been literally climbing the walls ever since he started the pills. He was already not sleeping well at night or napping before the steroid, so my exhaustion level was already sky high. Then, the steroids came and I thought I wasn't going to make it through the week. Not being able to leave the house is hard with a very, very energized 2 year old boy. He begged to go outside everyday, but since allergies are the culprit of this cough, that wasn't an option. Some days I thought that Korben felt like equivalent of 6 children. I used to say I wanted a dozen kids (It was those "cheaper by the dozen movies" Ha!), but now I'm thinking that if Klaire has anywhere near the energy of Korben, maybe two kids will just FEEL like 12 kids!

I was on the verge of breaking down yesterday afternoon. I hadn't left the house since Tuesday morning (I realize that is only 3.5 days, but these weren't normal days), and the lack of sleep was about to do me in. Thankfully, Aaron picked up on my desperation when he came home yesterday afternoon and swept Korben away for an afternoon/evening of indoor fun...chick fil a, the halloween store, the mall, and a movie! Not only was this a great time of rest for me, it was great memories for them! Aaron is officially the best husband and dad ever. Good thing he isn't anyone else's husband because I would covet him...Ha!

My morning was officially made this morning when Korben came in our room at 6:50 a.m.! I never would have dreamed I would be so thrilled to get up before 7 on a Saturday, but in context of our sleepless week, I was SO HAPPY to see that time on the clock! He was proud of himself too...He said "Its light outside! I feel all better! Go outside and play today?" That made my morning. Of course, we still shouldn't go outside, but he had a better day!

Aaron went to an early morning men's breakfast at church, then I went to a really fun baby shower luncheon (great fellowship for my soul...needed that!), then Aaron attended a funeral, and late in the afternoon we watched the Razorback game (recorded, so we could zip through the commercials)!

Aaron went for a run tonight and when he came back in he brought the mail. I guess the time has come in our lives again that we will receive TOY CATALOGS before Christmas! It was very nostalgic for Aaron and I to look through the toy catalogs with Korben. Is it just instinct for children to get how all this works? HOW MANY TIMES tonight did I hear "I need this one", "I like THIS one best", "Dad, get this for me?" Yes, he actually said "get this for me." Ahhh, the time has come ALREADY!
When it came time to read a book before bed, you'll never guess which "book" he requested...Oh yes, the "toy book!"

I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel! Korben is sleeping again, and his cough seems to be subsiding. However, we have got to get on a new allergy regimen. I'm pretty sure his body is immune to Zyrtec after a year of taking it. I'm praying for the right answers, even if that means we need to see an Allergist.

Everything with my little Klaire seems to be going well! Some days I feel more pregnant than others! Some days I feel like I could take on the world and tackle every errand and household chore, and some days I have aches and pains everywhere and feel like I am days away from labor! She kicks more and more all the time! It is hard to believe how big she is! From what I've read, she is probably already 15 inches long and 3 pounds. I just wish I could see her little face! I am DYING to meet her! Every day I try to picture what life is going to be like with her here. Sometimes it makes me really nervous and overwhelmed, and sometimes it makes me squeal because I'm so excited. The things I am most nervous about are: Being exhausted due to all night feedings, nursing (in general) with no help in that department, and most of all...not being the mom I want to be to Korben due to the first two things I've listed. In hindsight, the REALLY tough times with Korben didn't really last that long. By 4-6 months old he was on a GREAT schedule, and sleeping through the night. I will try to keep that in mind with Klaire, knowing that it won't last forever. My goal is to enjoy our middle of the night snuggle times, and realize this is just a short phase of her life. I pray God will give me the ability to thrive on even the littlest sleep, and still be a fun mommy to Korben.

Just for record keeping purposes, I must record here about my dream this past week. I dreamed that Klaire was kicking me very high and very hard, which is totally normal. And all of a sudden, her little toe nails came right out of my skin under my ribcage! The weirdest thing about this dream is that it wasn't weird at all! It was a charming, "aww, Klaire" moment. Now that makes it weird!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Random Korben Stories

I've gotten really bad about blogging and really good about writing down a couple sentences a day on facebook when I have a funny story to tell. Here are a few things I've put on facebook lately about Korben.

Conversation between Korben and me:

Korben: Hey Mom, How are you?
Me: I'm Sleepy!
Korben: Don't be sad, be awesome like me!

Korben really loves to ask ANYONE "How are you?" these days! When they return the question, sometimes he says "I'm good!...but most of the he says,"I'm AWESOME!"




He woke up from his nap this past sunday and said "Hey Mom, Korben slept for two whole days!" I'm thinking, that was hardly an hour, and it felt like 2 whole minutes!

He still speaks 60% of the time in 3rd person! He is slowly, but steadily venturing into the world of saying "I." We are so used to it, but everyone who hears him talk thinks it is so funny.









The other day he was really struggling with staying in his bed for his nap. I said "Korben if you get up again, I'm going to spank you." Well, three minutes later he comes zooming out of his room with a "helicopter" he just made from his legos. I said, "Korben, now I'm going to have to spank you." He says "Okay...do it GENTLE, just pat my bottom like this" (*Motions a gentle tap-tap on his bottom*)

I could have died laughing.






There are multiple funny stories a day around here...I've got to start blogging more!

Bullskie

I've been meaning to write a Korben post for...OH...7 months or so. Today is the day. Something pretty monumental happened this week, and I figured I better type it out, or I may possibly forget it!

The Korben I wrote about back in March said lots of words. I would have ventured to say that my two year old Korben said every word! I've always thought he had a great vocabulary for his age. However, it is amazing what 7 months can do. Now he speaks sentences and can have a full-blown conversation with anyone. This makes life super fun!

One of my favorite things to do on our way home from church (whether that be sunday morning, sunday night, wednesday night, or MOPS meetings) is ask Korben what he learned, who he played with, etc. Well, the past few weeks on Sunday morning he has been telling me about a Diggity Dog movie that he watches at church. "Diggity Dog" is a character who teaches them Bible Stories on a video. Well, Around the same time he started watching Diggity Dog, he also started talking about someone/something named "Bullskie." I just figured Bullskie was another character from that video. He began to tell me often how funny Bullskie was. So, this past Tuesday, I saw our Preschool Minister while I was at our MOPS meeting, and asked her if there was another character on the Diggity Dog videos named Bullskie. I told her that Korben had been talking about him a whole lot! She had no idea what I was talking about, but she said she would look into it. Well, on the way home, I thought I would ask some deeper questions about this Bullskie character. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: Hey Korben...Tell me about Bullskie
Korben: Bullskie is SOOOO FUNNY!!!
Me: Really? Thats great! Where IS Bullskie?
Korben: In our backyard
Me: OH, Korben! You're talking about our neighbor's little white dog that we call "Bolt", right?
Korben: NO...Bulskie! He's a black dog!
Me: (A little freaked out) Can you show me Bullskie when we get home?
Korben: YES!!! Bullskie is SO FUNNY!

We get home, and I can not walk to the back door fast enough.

Me: Do you see him?
Korben: YES, THERE HE IS!

I'm REALLY freaking out at this point. There is NO dog to be found! Korben walks to the middle of the backyard and says

Korben: Bullskie, where are you? (pats his legs) Bullskie is not here anymore.


It hit me right then and there that Korben has an imaginary dog. Wow, I thought the day might come that Korben would have an imaginary friend, but I sure never pictured an imaginary dog at the age of two and a half!

I have tried to not "dig" about the Bullskie issue, as much as I would like to. I just let him tell me things when he wants to. In the past two days he has told me that he was building a Bullskie with his legos, and that Bullskie is a black dog, with white dots (i love that...dots, not spots), and has a long tail! But most of all, He just tells me how funny Bullskie is and dies laughing!

I couldn't wait to call Aaron and both of the Grandmas that day and tell them about this!