Freaking out...just ignore me

When I went to pick Ellie up yesterday, they told me they had been trying to reach me and that she had a fever of 102.2. I was shocked because she had been acting completely fine and wasn't coughing or congested or anything. Even her teacher said she was happy all morning and had done really well in gymnastics. But I guess during naptime she noticed really flushed cheeks and took her temp. So, I wasn't really worried and I took Ellie back up to school with me so I could prepare a lesson plan for the substitute. I took Ellie to the bathroom and noticed this bizarre rash on her inner thigh. It looked like white ant bites surrounded by angry red skin. I have never seen a rash like that before so I freaked out and tried to get her into the pediatrician. Of course, they couldn't fit her in (must find new pediatrician), but I did get an appointment for the next day at 11:40. In the meantime, Ellie's rash magically disappears and she is running around playing and giggling.
This morning, Ellie was burning up. Her temp was 102 again and the rash was back, but this time there were patches on her arm, the top of one foot, her leg, and her lower belly. I went to get the camera to take pictures, but by the time I was snapping them, the rash was already lightening up! So frustrating. And now I have to wait til 11:40 (well, knowing the wait, it will be more like 1:00) to find out what is wrong with my child.
I should have gone to med school instead of library school. I am totally smarter than my two doctor brothers so I know I could do it (I kid, you guys, I kid). Besides, we all know that Mark isn't a real doctor. ;)

Update: Ear infection and hives. I am such a drama mama.

One of these things is not like the other

I had this post planned about how I think Ellie is totally OCD. To provide proof, I took a picture of her bath toys that she so neatly arranged on the side of the tub. But then something more important caught my eye.Where did that gun-wielding, shagadelic Austin Powers come from???

Sunday Best: Church Backpack edition

Every Sunday I pack Ellie a backpack full of snacks and colors to keep her quiet during church. But if I am not careful, she will find it before we leave and make off with the goods.

My church backpack!
Here's where all those free restaurant crayons went!
This is the best day of my life!
Hmmmm, she says to put them back in the bag, but I have a better idea.
Escape!

Confessions of a lazy mother

• Sometimes I don't brush Ellie's teeth.
• Or her hair.
• A lot of times we let her watch TV in our bed in the hopes that she will fall asleep and we can skip the bedtime ritual. It never works, but we keep trying.
• Ellie's favorite foods are "lazy foods." Like plain Cheerios in a bowl. And yogurt.
• I don't cook anything that requires a lot of steps or ingredients or time.
• I will often take Ellie to the park without swings because I get tired of pushing her "higher!" and "higher!"
• I once (or twice) put her to bed in clothes that she could wear to school the next day so I could avoid the time consuming struggle of dressing her in the morning. That was before her great love of "jammies."
  

Things I never skimp on:

• Baths
• Stories
  
• Hugs
• Kisses
• I love you's
  

A day off

Today has been such a nice day. My mom watched the kids while Daniel, Sabrina, Tom and I went to lunch and a matinee. There are really no good movies out so Sabrina and I dragged the boys to see Twilight. Sabs and I enjoyed our second viewing (minus the tattoos), but the boys were pretty lukewarm about it. Still, it was nice getting out of the house. And Ellie was thrilled to be able to go play with her cousins and grandma instead of going to school. Speaking of Ellie, as you can see, her face didn't turn black and blue after all...just a little marked up.

Sunday Best: Funny Face edition

See that goofy, yet injury-free face? I took those pictures before church. While at church, Ellie ran head on into the corner of the bathroom counter. In typical Ellie fashion, she didn't let it slow her down a bit, but I have a feeling she is going to be black and blue tomorrow.
This will only make sense to a few, but I was so proud of Ellie at church today. She is supposed to still be in Nursery, but since Kolby moved up to Sunbeams, Ellie insisted on going with him today. She seemed to like Primary way more than Nursery. Who would have thought?

Link List

I had a little mishap when changing my blog around and lost all of my links. So if I have missed you, please leave a comment so I can link to you. I went back to the back up I had of my old, old blog and I was a little sad to realize how many people I used to read that have completely stopped blogging. Something else I can't help noticing lately is that everyone around me, in real life and on the internet, seems to be having babies or is pregnant. I must not be drinking the right water.

On wheels

Yet another trip to the Pediatrician

Saturday night, when we were at my parents' house, I noticed Ellie coughing much of the night. Sunday evening she started running a high fever. Not wanting to make the same mistake as last time, I booked her a doctor's appointment for today after school. When I arrived at school to pick her up, she was still sleeping so I had to wake her up. She was cranky and refused to sit on the potty, so I just took her and drove to her Pediatrician's. Right as we get there, she says she has to go potty. This child can hold it all day long, but she couldn't make it from the car to the doctor's office. So I had to load her back up, drive to the nearest Target, buy her a new outfit and panties, and rush back to the doctor's office. The doctor spends 2 seconds examining her and declares her to have bronchitis. So she is on antibiotics and a little albuterol puffer.

Hmmm...this seemed like quite the adventure at the time, I mean I was rushing around like a mad woman, but now that I type it out it just sounds like the ramblings of a desperate blogger. Also, is it wrong that I was glad the doctor found something wrong with her so that I didn't waste my time and the $25 co-pay (not to mention the cost of the outfit and Dora panties)?

Weekend recap

Tom had a coaching clinic this weekend so Ellie and I drove out to Beaumont to visit my parents. They had some interior painting to do, so Daniel, Sabrina, and I were put to work while the kids happily played for hours. As it turns out, I am a fantastically bad painter. I kept accidentally hitting the roller on the ceiling. And when I painted the doors, I somehow didn't notice the paint running down. But the best was when I stepped off the ladder directly into the paint tray. I am sure my parents were really happy I came to help.

In the evening, I was able to talk everyone into playing my favorite game, Ticket to Ride. While I was there, I received a phone call from Jack in the Box's corporate headquarters. Anyway, the guy I spoke to was very nice (despite having to work on a Saturday night) and promised to look into the whole glass in my pita thing. Also? He is sending me a $20 gift card to Jack in the Box. I'm not sure if I really feel up to trying my luck with the food again, but I bet I could get quite a few chocolate shakes!

Oh, what a day!

I am so glad it is the weekend. We have finals next week and my students are getting squirrelly. I had a fight between two boys in my class this morning that resulted in an uninvolved girl getting knocked down and injured. I was so mad that I didn't even bother pushing the emergency call button. I just hauled those boys down to the AP office myself, ripping into them the whole way down. I couldn't help but think back to the first fight I ever had in my class. It was at the beginning of last year and I had only been teaching for one month. Two boys from rival gangs got into a pretty serious fight and they were blocking my path to the call button. I managed to get past them and pushed it for help, but I was so shaky and unraveled after that. It was all I could do to keep the tears in. And now it doesn't even phase me (except for making me mad about the disruption). I mean, it's not like I have fights every day or that my classroom is out of control, it is just that when you teach Reading to At-Risk teens, those sort of things occasionally happen.


Anyway...I was good and mad after that fight and I was really looking forward to getting some lunch during my conference period and settling down with a book. I have been trying to be really responsible and pack a healthy lunch every day, but I had decided to treat myself today. So I drove to Jack in the Box for a Chicken Fajita Pita. My second bite into it and I crunched down on something really solid. I pulled out a huge chunk of jagged glass that took up half the pita. Usually when something is wrong with my food, I just throw it away and sigh about my misfortune. But since I was still mad from this morning, I decided to drive right back there and show it to the manager. He was apologetic about it and offered to make me another one. I really didn't want any more food from there so I just took a chocolate shake and my money back. At least I got a free chocolate shake out of the deal, but I don't think I will ever be returning.
Update: All is resolved with the Jack in the Box mishap. See here: http://allellie.blogspot.com/2009/01/weekend-recap.html

Bullets about Ellie

• She is in love with Momma Mia! ...both the song and the movie.
• She still prefers to sleep on the floor.
• She is very polite. She always says thank you and will continue to say it until she gets a response. Clerks love this.
• She also says "you're welcome" with the cutest inflection. Like you're WELcome! I guess you just have to be there.
• She is not so great with the pleases. But if she does say it and you tell her no, she will say, "But I said PLEASE!"
• She moves her little chair around the whole house to get what she wants. For example, she snagged Tom's wedding ring off the counter the other day and carefully tucked it away under her toy kitchen sink. You can imagine how fun it was trying to find that.
• She loves to wear her "jammies!" She often will change into a pair as soon as we get home and then will try on a few more pajama outfits before we even put her to bed. She also makes me get in mine and do the "jammy dance" with her. Basically, we just twirl around in circles singing, "Jammy, jammy, jammies!"

My crazy family

When my family all got together for Thanksgiving, my parents hired a photographer to capture the occasion. We all look fairly normal, right?Riiight. This is how we really are: