This week: 2 migraines and 4 trips to the pediatrician

This has been a banner week for the Payne family. I'm just glad we all made it out alive. (That's a little dramatic.)

Monday night I had an awful migraine and Georgia chose that night to wake up at 3:30am and stay up until 5. When we woke up for the morning, I still had a migraine and could barely functions so I decided I should drop the kids off at the sitter's and come back to try to sleep off my headache before going to work. Blake happened to be taking my car to the shop that morning, and he texted me to say he couldn't find anyone from work to pick him up so I was going to have to go get him after I dropped the kids off. Ugh, I just wanted to sleep!

So I dropped off the kids, picked up Blake, took him to work, and set out for home to go to bed. On the way, Bekah called to say Georgia was not acting like herself and, just as I suspected, she also thought she might have an ear infection. She offered to take her to the doctor, but I knew we would have to have a discussion about tubes since this would be her 5th ear infection since December. So instead of going home to bed, my migraine and I went to pick up Georgia and take her to the doctor. No one dared question why I was wearing sunglasses inside. :)

She did have an ear infection, and had it been earlier in the winter, we would for sure get tubes. But we hope since spring is springing, maybe this will be her last one for the year. He wanted to get very aggressive with this ear infection (last time she needed 2 rounds of antibiotic to get rid of it), so he gave her an injection of a very strong antibiotic. I later found out this is how they treat meningitis, so yes, very strong! It really hurt her and she was limping around after it. We had to wait around for 20 minutes to make sure she didn't have a reaction to it, then I took her back to the sitter's, so my migraine and I could go take a nap.

Blake called and wanted me to come get him to take him back to the shop because they didn't have our part today, and I said I was sorry but no! Leave it there overnight, I'm going to bed. So I went home and laid down in my dark room and just dozed off for about 10 minutes ... and out of nowhere, SOMETHING mysterious started alarming in my house! I still don't know what it was, but it just lasted long enough to scare me to death. Forget it! I'll sleep tonight.

At this point I still had a headache and was in a daze, and I knew I would be worthless at work, so I just took a whole sick day. Blake and I had planned to go buy him a suit that night, but now that Georgia was sick and pitiful, I figured we should do it before I went to pick them up. So my migraine and I went to pick up Blake, went to the mall and bought a suit. Men are so easy. He tried on one suit, it was on sale, done.

After I picked up the kids, they were so tired and whiny, and I finally texted Blake to please come home because I couldn't handle it. He texted back: I don't have a car. Ahhhh!!! So I had to put the kids in the truck and take them to pick him up again.

It was the most annoying day ever.

Anyway, for the next two days, I had to take Georgia back to the pediatrician's office for injections, and poor thing cried every time and limped with a hurt leg afterward. On Wednesday night, she again woke up from 3:30-5:30, and I again had a migraine, only not as bad this time, but this time I skipped the frustration and just suffered through the day.

Friday, I was happy we didn't have to go back to the pediatrician's office for another shot, and I was having a busy day at work when I got a call from the babysitter. She was crying, and she called me at work! Who is hurt? It was Nate. He had fallen off the couch somehow and hit his head on a sharp part of her coffee table. She was checking the back of his head for a knot, and her hand came back with blood on it. She said she thought he might need one stitch. Okay, I can handle one stitch! She was so upset about it.

I went to get him and took him back to the pediatrician's office, and the doctor decided he needed a staple. She said it was quicker than making him lay still for a stitch. Nate was actually feeling great. He had been dancing around the doctor office and was very polite and brave with the doctor. But she ended up putting 2 staples in, and they had to hurt. No numbing, just two staples in his head. He was crying and saying so pitifully, "That is hurting me! Please stop!" He was so polite about it. And then I made him thank her as we left. :) He has felt fine ever since and has only mentioned it a couple of times.

It was not our best week around here. But the kids are feeling better, and I currently don't have a headache, so I think we'll make it. :) Hoping we're all well next week!

Georgia's First Time Out

This morning I was getting Nate ready for school, and Georgia walked over and popped him on the head for no reason at all.

Georgia! No, no! Go sit in time out.

I made her sit down a few feet away from me against the wall. I expected her to immediately stand up and start running, but this girl has seen many a time out and knew the drill. After about 30 seconds she hesitantly started to get up, and I told her to sit on her bottom and she sat back down.

A one year old gets a one minute time out, so when a minute was up, I told her to go over and tell Nate she was sorry. She walked over to him and just stood there very close to him for a long time.

Then she said, "Sowwy."

Nate said, "Awww, Georgia, I love you!" He was so proud of her first time out. She learned from the best.

A conversation with Nate

I am not a morning person. Ask my husband. His best bet is to just steer clear of me until I've had some caffeine. I get along okay as long as I don't have to speak to anyone. My brain is not awake, and it takes way too much energy to form words.

Having kids has made this more difficult. Parenting requires so much TALKING. They are constantly asking questions. Lately I've found myself telling Nate, "Shh, Mama doesn't like talking in the morning." Which only leads to more questions. This is a conversation from a few mornings ago.

Me: (tripping) Ow
Nate: What happened?!
Me: Nothing
Nate: What happened, mama? Why did you say ow? Did you hurt yourself?
Me: Sigh. I tripped.
Nate: Oh! What did you trip over?
Me: Nothing, Nate.
Nate: What was it, mama?
Me: ....
Nate: Mama! What did you trip over?
Me: A ball, Nate!
Nate: A ball? Oh ... was it that blue ball?
Me: Yeah
Nate: Yes, or no?
Me: Oh my gosh, YES!
Nate: .......... Did you say a ball or a bowl?
Me: SHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Nate: Why do you say shhh? Is Georgia sleeping?

I never post enough pictures

Honestly, it's kind of a pain to upload photos because I have to do them one at a time. So I don't do it often and then if I have a free afternoon I'll upload a bunch at a time. So here goes.

We went to a Go Fish (Christian kids band) concert with my friend Jammie and her kids. Nate and Jaycie got along great, especially with the "Talking Carl" app on my phone.

Georgia was so excited to be at this concert. You can see it all over her face.

For my birthday, I decided we should all go bowling.

Here's my dad. It's really hard to bowl while holding 24 pounds in your other arm.

This must have been a really exciting point in the game.

This is the only picture I have from Blake's dad's retirement party. What a cute family.

Oh, remember me getting all misty eyed at Nate standing at the trains at Vanderbilt? Here's a pic.

The kids are constantly playing hide and seek behind these curtains. They twist themselves up in them, or they run straight out until the curtain goes over their heads, or they play peek a boo. It drives me crazy, and I'm constantly saying, "Stop pulling on those curtains, or you're going to pull the whole thing off the wall!!!"

Okay, this is the cutest. One day Bekah texted me to ask if she could paint Georgia's toes because Mia (her daughter, Georgia's girly girl mentor) wanted to do makeovers. I told her sure! I never have because I didn't think she'd sit still long enough. She let Georgia pick the color, and she chose blue. :) Not what I would have picked, but maybe she's just a little UK fan. Ever since, she has been SO PROUD of her toes. She comes up to us, holds out a foot and says, "Blue feet."

Nate got his new braces in, and I found a pair of slipon shoes for him to wear over them. I can tell he is less stable in them, and his ankles wobble, but that's the point--to build up strength there.

Here are a couple from when Nate was in the ER a few weeks ago.

And this is from when Georgia was sick. Can you see the blue lips?

In the ER they brought in a couple of infant toys, and she got bored quick. I asked them to bring some "babies" for her, and she had a great time with these Little People.

 Georgia loves playing dress up. And babies. Here she is dressed as a princess pretending to grocery shop with her baby.

Here's her Easter hat.

Pretty girl

 One day, both kids decided they would wear hats. Nate said, "Mama, when I grow up, I'm going to be a conductor, and Georgia will be a gardener!" (Based solely on the hat selection.)

Oh, Georgia has started wearing hairbows again! Mia is a good influence on her.

One day Blake sent me this pic on my phone, and I said, "Did she grow since last night?"

Today we went to Steak n Shake. She was wearing the paper hat and cleaning the table. I see another potential future career!

This baby doll is as big as her.

Oh, there's a new baby, Carson, at the babysitter's house. Georgia is fascinated by him. She thought she was so big getting to hold him one day. Bekah told me the other day that they were waiting in the school pick up line and Carson started crying, and Georgia said, "No No, baby Carson!"

Here's Mia. She and Georgia decided to be "Christmas Princesses" one day. :)

This is awesome.

Today I had to go to Frankfort for a work thing, and I took the kids. While we were out, I decided to stop in at JCPenney to find those shoes for Nate and see if they had any sales. But I didn't have the stroller with me, and both kids decided to run WILD. It was insane--they would be right there, and the next second they were gone. Fortunately, this was a very small store and it was not terribly crowded. Finally I picked Georgia up and carried her, which she was not happy with. But Nate decided he was going to run laps around the store. It was awful--I kept losing him! I was walking around the store looking for him, and other customers or employees would tell me, "Are you looking for the little boy? He went that way." Finally I caught up to him and made him sit by my feet while I shopped. The whole time I was mortified and equally proud. :) I just wanted to explain to everyone that although he wasn't behaving, it's awesome that he can physically run away from me. :) The greatest was when one man said, "Oh yeah, he went that way, yelling 'Excuse me!' the whole time." Hey, at least he's polite!