Let's Play Catch Up!

Man oh man, it’s been a while, and I’m sorry about that. I’ve been swamped!

Let’s play catch up! We’re going to do a Chloe AND Rayne update that goes all the way back to October.

So, yeah Halloween. We had a freaking blast! Mike and I decided to do Batman and Harley Quinn, and the kids were Anna and Elsa!

 

And did I mention the 23 lbs of candy? Because… 23 lbs of candy.

November, mostly uneventful. Happy late Turkey day, by the way. Unfortunately November and Early December are my busiest times, hence why no new updates. But we had a few things.

First off, Chloe got a diagnosis, finally. She is definitely IGA deficient. All of their tests showed unreadable levels of IGA in her blood, meaning she has none. Makes sense, when you think about it, and fits everything. I’m just glad that almost a year later, we finally have an answer.

However, the downside is that sometimes, kids with IGA deficiency and ending up on the Autism spectrum go hand in hand. She’s being tested for that this month. That, also, makes sense… she has begun a lot of behaviors typical of a child who has Autism, specifically what used to be known as Asperger’s. She lines up toys, flaps her hands when over excited or stressed, rocks obsessively in her father’s or my grandfather’s rocking chair, doesn’t sleep well, and has sensory issues, such as texture problems with soft, mushy foods (she chokes on them) and issues with things like water touching her head (Bathtimes are no Bueno once we get to the hair…). She is in therapy though, so we’re hoping to get better as time goes on.

Rayne on the other hand has been in school, and has been hell on wheels. I hate that school… she is picking up some poor habits from her classmates… And her behavior has suffered for it. Maybe part of it is the age, but my little girl has become a complete sass mouth these last few months, and I do not like it.

That said, the last five weeks have been hell in their own right.

Chloe has been sick again. What was a cold, is now close to pneumonia. And I’ve taken her to the Dr. for it about 4 times… only after the last visit to a new pediatrician (her old pedi is closing her doors) did we get some relief in the form of Bromfed and Clairithromycin. You see, her old Dr., love her to death, was not a believer in medicines for children… so Chloe was just suffering through these viruses… and while I see her point, I was also tired of my baby suffering… and this time, she needed the meds that her other Dr. was simply not prescribing. Clairithromycin is an antibiotic that is so strong, it’s commonly used for Cystic Fibrosis and AIDS/HIV patients to fight off infections and keep them from getting pneumonia. It’s stronger than Azythromycin, Amoxicillin, and Cefdinir, all of which she is becoming resistant to. And the Bromfed is actually to dry up the mucus, because apparently her IGA deficiency also causes abnormal mucus production in her nasal passages.

Luckily, she is now perking up, but she was very close to a hospital stay. And that would be the second time in a month that she almost ended up there, because 2 weeks ago, she had a stomach flu so bad she was puking and had diarrhea for 48 hours and refused to eat or drink, and was throwing up water. She ended up in the Danville ER, passing out in my arms, and they told me it would be ‘a while’ before they got to her… aka, a 10 hour wait. I grabbed her, and my other half and I rushed her to South Boston/Halifax. It’s bad when the best care is 30 minutes in ANY direction away from the hospital that is literally 2 minutes down the road from me…  Rayne had the same thing at the same time as Chloe, so she was puking up her guts at the same time, but nowhere near as severe.

Chloe needed fluids that day in the hospital, and meds.

I AM planning to get back into this while on my winter break from classes! So expect some updates for the next month! I need to do this and get back to writing my fanfiction!! (Don't judge, I like to write.)

I’ll update on how Chloe’s doing soon! In the meantime… stay awesome, people! 

Momfessions: Confessions of Real Moms

First of all, welcome back to Mom to 2 Munchkins! Kinda got busy with school, and then other things related to the youngest's health, but we are back! Follow us on our vacations, trips to the doctor, specialists, and more. Get a glimpse into our day to day life, with a child who has special needs (man that is hard to say) and a preschooler (that's tough to say too) and a mom in college!

We all have some things we aren’t super proud of as parents. Be it a lack of healthy dessert options, spanking, not spanking, vaccinations both pro and con, what we feed them, how we handle the stress. But in the end, we’re all just trying our best to do the best we can. And we should be lifting each other up... educating on things that have factual research, but not being pushy, being polite, and helping one another. Instead, I see so much general animosity and hate...judgment against one another about things that really do not concern us in the slightest. Does it effect you if your neighbor's kids spend too much time on that darn game system? No, it's their kids.

Below are some anonymous confessions from real moms off an awesome facebook group called The Mommy Diaries. Despite the perfection we feel we have to display on the internet, these moms came out and were bluntly honest about the things they did that other may judge, or understand. They lift one another, and this group is literally one of the best mom groups I've seen on facebook.

Remember, as you read this… we’re all mothers, fathers, parents. We’ve all made mistakes or do things other parents would judge in a heartbeat. So, just keep that in mind… those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

• Sometimes I get so exhausted that I just turn the TV on and let the kids watch Dora so I can get just 10 minutes of peace and quiet.

• Every morning I do the same thing. My kids wake me up. I put the tv on for them in the living room and get each of them their bowls of cereal (they are almost 7 and 4 1/2) then I get my 15 month old out of her bed, change her and get her a bottle and a frozen waffle. I have a play yard in my living room. I put her in there. And then I go back to bed for 2 more hours. All 3 just watch tv and play and the baby is confined in the play yard and safe. My older kids come in and tell me if anything’s wrong but that almost never happens. I feel guilty I don’t get up with my kids. But I badly need the sleep. I normally go to bed at 12-2am and then I get up at 5am to get my boyfriend off to work so I can't fall back asleep till like 6am... So when they kids wake me up at 730am, I badly need those extra 2 hours. I normally get out of bed at 930ish.

• I got my almost 4 year old and 17 month old a bunk bed, and the oldest is on top, even though the warnings say not to get one until they're 6. We had no room and she climbs the ladder like a pro and sleeps like a log.  She hasn't fallen out of bed since she was 2.

• I don't feel guilty that my husband and I don't sleep in the same bed..... I co-sleep and my husband is not comfortable sleeping with our baby. We still get in plenty of intimate time so I don't feel bad for him.

• We've had ice cream for breakfast more than 5 times! Oops!

• I've let my oldest go to bed hungry. I am not a Burger King, you don't get it your way. She has only tried it twice.

• Once... or twice I didn't give the kiddos a bath because they were in the pool and I said good enough!

• I curse in my house... I don't curse AT my kids. I teach them which words are naughty and they are only allowed to say them when they are 18.

• I kept smelling poop one day. Found out my kid ninja pooped through my shirt to my bra, didn't even know she had pooped on me.

• One time when I took my bra off a binky fell out. A freaking binky.

• My 8 month old daughter LOVES South Park. One time, just so I could FINALLY finish the dishes and fold the last load of laundry, I put her in her bouncer and popped in a whole disk of it. 

• Sometimes I feel like a total mess and a failure as an adult, but as long as my little one is cared for and loved, I couldn't care any less about myself.

• I let my son watch The Waking Dead with me sometimes! He loves it and has never been scared of it. But I'm constantly told I'm a horrible parent because he's too young. He's 3. I only let him watch the ones I've already seen and I try to cover his eyes if a part gets too gruesome. But I don't see anything wrong with it because he doesn't get scared and doesn't have nightmares.

• My daughter watches tv. I don't think it's a bad thing, she still plays outside and does normal kid things, and we don't do video games at all. She's only 5 and knows how to turn Netflix on to her shows, and she'll let me sleep for about hour or two, then she comes and lets me know she is up and tells me to go back to bed.

• My youngest has health issues, which I've mentioned... and I still want another child before I'm 35. (I'm 28 now). We want one more shot at a little boy. I've been told so many times to just be happy with what we have now, that it's selfish to have another when our youngest may be behind for a long time, but... we do. We want one more...

• I let my kids run around naked if it's just me and the kids here. They're both girls and my youngest will be 2 tomorrow. She's getting better at potty training with panties and shorts on, but I still feel like she needs a little more help on being able to pull them up and down. Plus, why have extra clothes to wash if they take them off most of the time anyway? Win-win to me lol

• I have a confession....sometimes I get so mad at the kids for fighting or not listening to me when I have repeated myself 50 times that I scream at the top of my lungs to get my point across.

• If we're basically confined to the house for the week, my kids don't bathe the whole week because I don't feel like dealing with it. They change their clothes and undies on their own, so that's a plus!

• Sometimes, okay... a lot of the time lately... I'll just tell my 5 year old to feed herself and her 3 year old sister. She can make peanut butter sandwiches, microwave chicken nuggets... or they can get into the dry cereals and pop tarts. ...this is mainly because I want to nap, I'm watching something. Or I just really don't feel like getting up.

• I have three kids. My girls are 5 and 3. My son is 8 months old. My husband and I will have our 5 year old watch the baby (while he's in the playpen asleep or awake) and we will run off upstairs to have sex. (; ...Usually, by the time we go to bed, its 1 or 2 in the morning and I'm too exhausted for any adult playtime.

• I'll be downstairs, and I will call for my 5 year old who is upstairs in her room... she will come downstairs, then I'll ask her to get me a drink or to get my cellphone charger from upstairs. I'm more of a child than she is on these days. Ha!

• This may be a bad one... Sometimes, I've just completely had it with my girls (5 and 3) and their attitudes, and around bedtime it's a lot worse. They'll use the restroom... then want to brush their teeth and wash their hands... They take forever, so I tell them to just go to bed and forget about brushing their teeth or washing their hands... and I tell them they can do it in the morning when they wake up. Ooops.

• I have an almost 3 year old and an 8 month old. I am also a smoker. Sometimes when I am at my wits end... I put the baby in her bouncer or swing and have my almost three year old sit there and talk and play with the baby so I can go outside and smoke. My hubby freaks out but my older one is an amazing sister and doesn't try to pick up the baby or anything. She just makes funny faces and weird noises at the baby so she laughs until she hiccups. It's cute, they bond, mommy gets her cig. 

• When my daughter was about 4 months old she got a stomach virus her doctor told me she could send me home with meds or we could admit her to the hospital. I choose the hospital because it would give me a reason to call of work.

While some of these confessions may seem just plain wrong to you, I want you to think of something. Have you ever just snapped at your child? How about yanked a plate of food away and replaced a whole, perfectly good meal for a child who was simply picky? Swatted a hand? Just leaned back in your chair and groaned because damn it, bed time isn’t here yet.

How many of you would gladly admit the things you do that you don’t want others to know?

Probably not as many.

I commend these moms for their bravery in being bluntly honest and just confessing the things that so many would judge for. We’ve all had those days, and some people don’t have the luxury of having help to take care of the kids so mom can get some sleep.

Ladies, and Dads, start lifting each other up. Stop judging about decisions a family makes that doesn't effect your family, and instead, support each other. You'll win over far more people with sugar than molasses.