Extension.

I have to beg for an extension to my blogging sabbatical.

This month I have had a son's lungs shut down.

The other son has had three ear infections - making 13 (or 14 - depending on how you count) total.

I was sick during that. So sick Mark had to take sick leave for me.

Then we saw a light at the end of the tunnel.

Some fat dude sat in the way of it.

I have pink eye.

Braxton has pink eye and an allergy/mild virus issue.

I'm sure Kieran will have pink eye here in the next day or two.

I'm just so stinking exhausted.

I'm sorry folks, I need a little more time than two weeks to recover apparently.

Sabbatical.

I'm tired.

I won't be blogging for a while, because I'm tired.

Bear with me and check back in about two weeks, because I won't be blogging, because I'm tired.

When I come back, rejuvinated and not tired, expect the following posts:

Mother's day with 27 preschoolers and kindergarteners.

When houses get messy.

Mark's Toy, and how I often feel like destroying it. (A tie in to the "when houses get messy".)

Until then, goodnight. Because I'm tired.

I so most definitely stole this from rants from mommyland

I love you, Mom.

I think you rock.

Even if your feet are little,

and don't fit in a normal sock.

It was me and you for many years

You taught me mucho,

and wiped my tears

The best part was you did it with gusto! (horrible rhyme, sue me)

You enabled a strong addiction

The smell of shoes I can't resist

Because of this my marriage sees friction

But never once did you say "desist"

You taught me to cook and clean

amidst much protestation

To sit up straight and not be mean

You'd smack my head without hesitation

Your hugs I miss most often

The love you gave was unwavering

You didn't sleep inside a coffin

I think that's cool. (seriously, nothing rhymes with unwavering)

This poem is horrible

But it's the best I can do

I didn't want to be smorrible

Or all gushy on you.

I love you tons Mom,

and am Thankful everyday

'Cuz you da' bomb

In. Every. Single. Way.

Happy Mother's day. To my Mom, My gramma and My Mother in Law. You are all fabulous ladies, and my life would be much less awesome without you.

The Blog Hop

So, I got on this bandwagon a few days late. You can thank the petri-dish I call preschool for that one. I have a stockpile of drugs now, and can type most of the things I want to say. With minimal spelling errors! *high five*

Anyway, this is my little bio for the blog hop put on by the Wife at Riding the Roller Coaster. Such a great idea! She's probably gorgeous, too. Some girls just have all the luck...

I'm Mommy McD. As myself, I'm not that interesting. Add my husband, A Naval Reactors Nuclear Engineer and my two trolls, B-rox and Kenny - my life becomes a circus. That's what I write about here. Sometimes, I like to add a little of what's on my mind. On the days that I can find it anyway...

We live in the greater DC area and minus the traffic, smog and living 3,000 miles away from family - we kind of like it. My husband's job here is pretty much classified out the wang, so I'll sum it up by saying he does black-ops for nerds.

We met at Oregon State University, where he volun-told me for swim team. Our meet cute? Not so cute. It went something like this:

Hubband (who wasn't hubband then, he was nerdy boy in glasses): "Hey, Holding! You're a female! Want to join my swim team?"

Me (who was thinner, but didn't have as many shoes): "Gee, thanks for noticing - and no. I don't. Have a nice day."

Later that day:

Gunny (who happened to be a scary SOB): "Hey, Holding! I hear you joined the swim team! Good job, way to be involved."

Me (now, very confused as I was pretty sure I had said no...): "Uhm, I'm pretty sure I said no."

Gunny (remember - scary SOB): "Too late now, you're on the list."

I got all scrunchy faced on hubband the first few workouts - just so that he knew I wasn't happy.

It didn't work. I fell in love (with a boy in a speedo - we're going to last fo-evah folks.) and married him.

Then we had our first son, B-rox. Who is now four, and scaring me with his intellect. His favorite superhero is Thor, because they both have "long, yellow hair".

23 months later, we had our other son, Kenny. Who is now two, and the exact same size as his older brother. His favorite superhero is "Hulk Smash". Probably, because at two - smashing things is fun.

Now, me. I am a stay at home mom, which means I don't stay at home very much. I love to run for fun, and subject my family to torture - otherwise known as sitting in front of the camera.

I was born and raised in Oregon. So, after that statement I'll answer a few questions I know are brimming in your head:

Yes, I love to eat granola.

Yes, I love recycling

Yes, I love the rain

Yes, I love trees

No, I didn't know what smog really was until I moved to the east coast.

No, the "mountains" on the east coast aren't really mountains. They're hills.

Yes, I shave my legs.

Yes, I love shoes.

Alright, you probably, actually, didn't care about those last two...

That's about it for now... If you want to know more, come on back!

I live.

So, I'm alive. Thanks to a really nice doctor last night, I have my own stockpile of drugs to help me stop sounding like an 80 smoker lady.

It's hawt.

The boys. They're fine. Thankfully.

Braxton returned to school just in time to see the butterflies come out of their chrysalis', and is pretty sure the coolest thing that's ever happened to him is the get well cards his class sent him.

Being sick and tired, I cried over every single one. Until Braxton stopped letting me read them.

"Mom, you can't read them if you're going to cry. Because that's silly."

This Mother's day, I really wish I were with my mom. I see a skype session in my future.

Miss you mom.

I wrote all that just so I could put "Miss you mom" in my blog. I'm *such* a dedicated daughter.

A Little is Better than Nothing.

Braxton can climb the stairs without turning purple and looking like Violet from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Minus the bloating, because lets face it - that kid has never been fat in his life.

This is a huge improvement.

He still hacks at the top like an 80 year old with lung cancer but, a little is better than nothing.

And now I spend every other second wracked with guilt over the fact that I didn't notice he was blue.

Let me reiterate: HE WAS BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I have butt-lock. From sitting on the couch non-stop. The only breaks I get are to go to the bathroom. Because my kid can't get active. When he does, he chokes and deprives his Pac-10 bound brain of precious oxygen. (GO BEAVERS!)

Or answer the door to some very friendly friends, who took pity on my couch/housebound self to bring me coke.

If it were legal in Virginia I'd marry those ladies.

How many rules could I break with one union????

Braxton is improving. It's slow, and he's ready to beat me with his mask and chamber - but he'll live.

That's good.

What a Fun Afternoon....

Only, it wasn't.

Braxton has horrible allergies. I've tried to get him in to see a specialist, but Tricare is awesome and all I have yet to get is a scrip for zyrtec.

Did you know you're not supposed to give allergy meds when your body is fighting off a bug?

I did.

So, when Braxton got sick last week, we exchanged zyrtec for tylenol and motrin.

Which, is fine.

If your kid gets better.

After a week B-rox still had a fever, and now had a horrific cough - where if he did more than shuffle along, he started choking. Last night we had an awesome public puking event as a result...

This morning it was worse. Luckily, I was up at the butt-crack of dawn to make appointments for both boys. (Kieran has his 15th ear infection...)

{This is where I feel like dropping an anvil on my head as recipient of "The worst mom ever award"}

We are checked in, and back in the vitals station when the Braxton starts his hacking. The nurse notices he's turning blue...

Unless your kid has recently eaten m&m's, sucked a marker, or eaten a blue raspberry dum dum - this is no bueno.

The thing is - what she was pointing out - has been there ALL weekend.

I chalked up the blue circles under his eyes to lack of sleep and the cold. I couldn't really tell his lips were blue because they're so chapped from breathing out of his mouth and wiping his snot.

and who looks at their kids' fingernails? All you're going to see 98% of the time is dirt. And that is gross.

So, neb treatment at the FHC - so that I could transport him to the hospital without an ambulance.

That treatment brought his blood/ox level to 91/92. Slight improvement over the 88 at the FHC.

After the improvement to 92 - and some consulting between docs, they sent us back to the FHC where B-rox had his third neb and got him stabilized at 95.

Which is still low but they're "comfortable" with that.

Supposedly it's going to go up as he gets over this bug, and has more treatments.

They don't lend out their little blood/ox machines for peace of mind. I asked.

So, he'll live - I just have to shove this stuff in his face all the time.

We did however, score the potential for a referral. It just took my kid nearly suffocating for it to happen...