Where to begin. The end of last week Cassidy missed 2 days of school to have some testing done, which was quite a process. We ended the weekend a bit drained, but this week started well enough. As you may know from my Valentine's Day post, last year's "V-Day is as much fun as VD" nightmare, which you can read about here, did not repeat itself, plus I got to make some cute clothes for the kids. On Monday, the 3 younger kids delivered their valentines to preschool, and I didn't even forget the cupcakes I signed up to bring for River's class. The afternoon went well despite Mark and I having stomach aches, I got my V-Day blog posted and when I took Cassidy and Chloe to ballet I got to chat with my friends at the dance studio. Their daughter is in Chloe's ballet class, and they share my sarcasm and lack of subtlety, so that is always a treat. Probably more so for us than for those sitting around us, but whatever. Chloe is having some significant health issues and has some appointments coming up, so it was nice to unload some of that stress on someone as well...thanks, Tricia!
At this point, I should add that if you are really only here for the martini recipe ,more power to you, just scroll down to the bottom of this post. If you want to know why I needed it in particular this evening, read on.
Then it started. Exactly 30 minutes after I packed up the girls and left the dance studio, River and Chloe stood on opposite corners of the living room rug (the only area rug in our hardwood floored house with the exception of a little heart shaped throw rug in the girls' room) and literally took turns puking towards each other for a full minute. That might not sound like long, but for 2 vomiting kids, it's plenty long enough. They were like a matched pair of fountains. Fountains of nastiness. So we dealt with that and got their hair washed and everyone into pajamas. Both of them wanted something to drink, so we filled up their cups and put all 4 kids to bed. Chloe was in our bed, and Quinn was snuggled up in there with her. River and Cassidy were in their room, and since River wasn't feeling well, Cassidy offered to stay down (she sleeps in the top bunk of the bunk bed, Chloe is usually in the bottom, River has the trundle bed) and read to her. As soon as Mark and I finished steam cleaning the rug, putting the nastiness from the clean-up effort in the washing machine and sat down on the couch, River threw up again. This time all over the only other (tiny) rug in the house and all over Cassidy, poor kid. I helped Cass get cleaned up, Mark put River in the tub (again) and as he was dressing her in clean pjs and I was cleaning up the rest of the mess and getting ready to set up the Stomach Virus System (seriously, we have it down to a science. It's a post in and of itself, but one for another day..."How to Survive a Stomach Bug with Small Children"...), Chloe hurls all over our bed. Luckily, Quinn dashed out of the way in time and into the dry safety of his own room. This time, Mark cleaned the room while I bathed the kid. Then he dressed her and cuddled with her while I tucked River back in and set up our room to survive the night. None of the 4 of us got much sleep, as it continued through the night, but at least Cass and Quinn did, and they never got sick.
The next day, Tuesday, Cass went to school and by 10am, the sick girls were perking up some. Then Quinn was standing on River's bed (which is not allowed) and he fell, landing with his chest right on the corner of the trundle drawer. We seriously thought he may have cracked a rib, but after examining him and keeping an eye on him for a couple of hours decided it was just badly bruised. An hour later, when he finally started moving around again and came running down the hall, he slammed into the corner of a table with his hip, laying himself out flat on the floor. Another ice pack and rest, and we moved on. Before Cassidy even got home from school, he had tripped in the living room and busted the whole side of his lip open. More blood, note to self-get RED washcloths for these accidents, like my mom always told me to, so he doesn't see the blood on it, more ice in the form of a popsicle, then Cassidy got home. Mark had to work late, so I was solo for dinner and bedtime again. Chloe fell asleep on the couch, so I just moved her into bed. By the time I was getting the other kids' teeth brushed, she had woken up with a nightmare about medical testing that she will be having in the next month or so. She ended up waiting for Daddy to come home from a late job before she could sleep again, and even then it had to be in our room with me. At least this time there was no vomit involved.
She woke up 4 more times that night crying and shaking. It sucked for her the most, and both of us started Wednesday off with very little sleep. Despite this, all 4 kids went to school/preschool, and I managed to get my oil changed, ship out some packages to customers of mine from my Etsy shop, stop at the grocery store and finalize the details of the donations that I have planned for the preschool fundraiser next month, all in the 2 hours that the little ones are at preschool. Things seemed to be looking up. When I picked the kids up from preschool, the twins' teacher noted that they had a special treat, cupcakes, at snack time, and Chloe had refused to eat. She was withdrawn all the way home, and didn't start to come around until she got to snuggle in her Daddy's lap for almost an hour. What it boiled down to was that the pain in her throat, chest and stomach (part of the reason for the doctor's appointments coming up) is now so bad that she didn't want to swallow. I coaxed her into a snack, and Mark dropped Cassidy off from school then went to work for the night.
In the 4 hours between Mark leaving and bedtime, Quinn took a header off the couch while playing tug of war with the dog and landed squarely on the back of his head on the hardwood floor, Cassidy threw an uncharacteristic and huge tantrum which included screaming at her currently emotionally fragile sister for trying to comfort her (seriously, what the hell?) River fell off the kitchen stool and limped for almost an hour, Quinn stood on one of River's new birthday gifts, breaking it and hurting his leg (not the one he slammed into the table on Tuesday, the other leg), I tripped and fell on the basement stairs (I freaking HATE those stairs), and Chloe, poor, sweet Chloe, calmly and sadly explained to me that until her nightmares stop, she just isn't going to sleep anymore. I swear, I couldn't make this stuff up. It was like a parody of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. But when you have kids, shit happens and you have days like this, hopefully not often, and sometimes you just have to suck it up. Everyone goes to bed. Tomorrow is another day, plus I'm working, so Grammie (that's my mom) is taking the 3 little minions while Cassidy is at school. Thanks, Mom! Again with Chloe's nightmares all night, but the world doesn't stop for this stuff. On to Thursday.
The day starts with another freak out from Cassidy. It turns out a kid at school is giving her a hard time. We offer coping strategies, but she still has to go to school. She has already missed so much this year, including last week, with her own health issues, procedures and trips to the O.R. for scopes. Mark manages to have her laughing by the time he drops her off, scoring major daddy (and husband) points. Mom picks up the other kids, early even, and the rest of the day starts. It goes pretty well, I got some work done despite a migraine creeping in (is it any wonder at this point in the week?), and Cassidy had a great day after all. Then I talk to my mom when I pick the kids up. She is aware of Chloe's physical concerns, which include pain, fatigue and not having gained any weight for 17 months (she's 4 1/2, so that is a major concern. It even won us an expedited appointment with the gastroenterology specialist at AI DuPont). Mom was ready today with some of Chloe's favorite foods. The problem, however, is that Chloe is now experiencing distinct episodes of dysphagia, or food getting stuck in her esophagus. She had complained of the sensation recently, but now it is happening to the point that she is gagging and coughing and the food isn't moving. It hasn't blocked her airway yet, and it has eventually moved down on it's own, but it still isn't good. My mom is a nurse practitioner and has worked in women's health as well as pediatrics (the 2 sort of go together), and she is alarmed and concerned by this development, as am I. The 3rd time it happened with bacon, she took it away and gave Chloe macaroni and cheese. That got stuck for a while, too, the only thing that Chloe swallowed easily all day was applesauce. The experience was understandably frightening to Chloe. Remember that she is afraid to sleep right now because of nightmares about testing procedures that are related to her pain and physical issues. Now, she is also afraid to eat. She refused all food until 9pm, at which point she ate a little applesauce. I made some chocolate pudding, but after a few bites she was afraid that it was too thick, and she said that she was too tired anyway and went to bed. But since she was afraid to sleep, she just laid there, exhausted and hungry, until Mark came home at 10:30. He brought more applesauce, yogurt and pudding for the next few days, and she finally felt secure enough to fall asleep in my arms. A few nightmares later, and it was morning again.
I woke up to the Billie Dog limping badly on one hind leg, but it seemed to get better as she moved around and has resolved now, thank goodness. Mark worked all day again, from 9am-10:30pm, only coming home for lunch. Chloe ate no solid food all day, only yogurt and applesauce in small amounts. Quinn managed to avoid hurting himself, but River somehow slid face first off the couch and had a whopping bloody nose. Cassidy didn't have much appetite and by bedtime needed her medication to control the muscle spams in her lower abdomen. Now everyone, including the dog, is asleep, and Mama needs a drink in a serious way. I've earned it today, and the whole week. I'm not sure when we will have some concrete answers for Chloe, or when Cassidy's pain will be better controlled, or when Quinn and River will learn a little more caution. But I am sure that I will enjoy a couple of my delicious Blueberry-Pomegranate Martinis. I also feel better having dumped all of that out in the open, so if you read through all of it, you deserve a martini, too! Even if you just scrolled down, I hope you enjoy the drink :)
Blueberry-Pomegranate Martini
In a cocktail shaker with ice, combine:
1/2 cup vodka
1/2 cup blueberry-pom juice (I use Pom brand, usually in the produce section)
the juice of 1 lime
a splash of vermouth
Shake it up and pour into a chilled glass. Feeling fancy? Rim the glass with pomegranate sugar and add some fresh blueberries for garnish. You deserve it. As for me, tonight, I'm considering drinking it straight out of the shaker...
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