The Blessing of Quarantines
If you would have asked me before last Monday how adding a third kid has been, I would have sheepishly answered, “Great, actually.” It’s been an unnervingly smooth transition so far. Maybe it’s because my last newborn shot vomit across the room 873 times a day and this one doesn’t. Maybe it’s because having 2 boys is already insane enough that adding a third is no big deal. Maybe it’s because kid #3 is completely immobile. Whatever the case may be, the first 4 weeks were a breeze. Truly. And then Monday. A while back a friend of mine shared with me about the existential crisis he experienced after his third baby was born. “I couldn’t physically…
Froggies & Weighty
This is what happens when you make a joke about your dog being the only family member on prescription medication: 1 week later, and 3 out of 4 family members have new prescriptions. Ear Froggies It was fun to jokingly bemoan how terribly that trip to Kansas went last month, but seriously…it’s still sticking with us. We’re now on round 3 of antibiotics for Beckett’s ear infection. I see some tubage in our future. I finally took him back to the doctor last week (and yesterday. We basically live there.) because he was still…slightly grumpy. Could be 2 year molars, could be liver failure. You just never know with a…
Kansas Extravangaza: 2 Parts Fantastic, 7 Parts Terrible
If you ever need advice on how not to take a vacation, hit me up. I’m your girl. My family is really, really good at taking bad trips. A little over a year ago was the beach trip from hell. You might wonder what could go wrong at the beach with the ones you love. Apparently everything. Jogging into fishing lines, hitting deer on the way to church, strep throat, ear infections, stomach bugs…you name it. What better way to commemorate that special time than to replicate it a year later? Just trade in those sunny skies and sandy beaches for some crisp, fall weather and grandparents. Just me, my…
ER Trip #245: "Ask Me" Edition
Once upon a time, Tuesday night, we were volunteering at our church’s Vacation Bible School, rebranded as “Summer Spectacular”, when I got that dreaded text from the children’s ministry saying that we needed to come get Beckett from class. I immediately started to panic because a) Beckett loves Bible class where he learns about “Jethuth” and b) he never ever ever ever cries there. Like, ever. As in, they’ve never paged me in the entirety of his childcare experience. As in, sometimes when class is over and we pick him up to go home he screams like he’s being kidnapped. So I knew something bad had happened. He ran away?…
New Year, New Virus & Romanticles
New Year, New Virus Probably my favorite time of 2013 so far were the 5 days we weren’t stricken with some virus. Would you even believe me if I told you Beckett was sick again? This month is sort of starting to feel like the Beach Vacation of 2012, minus the whole running-over-a-deer thing. Timeline of recent events: Friday 1/11: flu symptoms start Sunday 1/13: DAY OF TERROR / ER / SEIZURE / EAR INFECTION / FLU / NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE / TRAUMATIZING OF ALL CHILDREN IN URGENT CARE WAITING ROOM / $1300 AMBULANCE RIDE WITH $52 “MISC” CATEGORY, PRESUMABLY THE COST OF THE TWO BEANIE BABIES WHO NEEDED TO…
Flupidemic & Santa Daddy!
Flupidemic Remember that flu shot Beckett had 2 weeks ago? I want my $20 back. 7 sleepless cough-attack nights, 893 Fresh Beat episodes, and 1,422 popsicles later, it appears that team Brooks is on the mend. And we finally had a good photo shoot. (I know you were all worried.) We’re now just waiting on the ear infection(s) to clear up. At the follow-up appointment with our pediatrician, he informed us that the infected ear had gotten worse and the previously healthy ear was headed towards infection. @%*#$ He gave us new antibiotics so it should clear up this week. If it hasn’t, we do x-rays and blood work. I…
Beach Vacation: 2 Parts Fantastic, 7 Parts Terrible
Why, yes, I do have a glow about me, don’t I? Thanks for noticing. No, this is not a pregnancy announcement. We just came back from a week and a half at the beach. The end of September/beginning of October is a perfect time to finally get a summer tan, amiright? We’ve had a Sparks family beach vacation on the books for a while now. I’d like to report that it was a relaxing, carefree time full of laughter and shrimp. But unfortunately enough, it just wasn’t that kind of get away. It was this kind: Saturday: Arrive in Cape Sans Blas, Florida, no thanks to Apple maps. Run around…
