The Inevitable.

I started getting a scratchy throat right after church yesterday. Yeah. Uh Oh. THEN my nose stuffed up.

I tossed and turned all night, couldn't sleep. Now I'm a zombie, with a sore throat and stuffy nose.

I THINK it's just a cold. I can handle that. But I'm curled up on the sofa, feeling like a big loooong nap is in order. (When the baby goes down for his nap, of course.)

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday and weekend. I'll blog again when I'm feeling better.

WHEW!

My team seriously cut it a leeeeeetle too close for me tonight. But a win is a win! GO COUGS!

I'm Thankful For...

Get your No Doz out, because this is quite a list: (In NO particular order)

--Healthy, beautiful children
--A Fantastic Husband
(I know, I could stop here, but...)

--The men and women who serve our country and keep our freedom (and us!) safe
--Friendship--I have some GREAT friends! (You know who you are!)
--Being an American
--My Faith
--Miracles (because they DO happen, people, with more regularity than you think!)
--Books
--Computers
--My church calling
--A roof over our heads, clothes to wear and food to eat
--Classical music
--My health, and a healthy family
--A fairly drama-free existence (except when I go to visit the in-laws but that's only a few times a year!) ;-)
--Chocolate
--Kinkos
--Hobby Lobby
--Nice people
--Hugs and Kisses
--Cars
--People in my kids' lives who influence them for good
--My Parents and siblings
--Pretty much everything

Yeah, okay, I copped out at the end. But I'm feeling particularly thankful this year. Hopefully all of you are too, while you enjoy great food with loved ones! Happy Thanksgiving!

I Love Technology.

I seriously do. Technology rocks. We have come a long way. But I also believe my kids are SPOILED ROTTEN because of Technology.

For example: My daughter, Thing One, has an ipod Nano. She can watch movies and videos on it. She can RECORD VIDEO with it. She can get on the computer and with the push of a button, download any song she wants (until her giftcard runs out bwah ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!) and listen to it and it's perfectly clear. Which I kinda resent. Why?

Cut to when *I* was twelve years old. Okay, seriously, no laughter, please--I had this stuffed dog, with a radio in it. (I had no other radio.) Yep. A dog, with two knobs on its underside--one for tuning and one for volume.

On weekends, I would tune in to Dick Clark's top 100 countdown, and I would sit, for HOURS in my room with the door closed, waiting for the songs I wanted with this stupid stuffed dog radio sitting next to a circa late 1970's cassete tape player on my desk. The tape player buttons were set to record, so as soon as Dick stopped yapping over the beginning of the song I wanted, I could hit the button and I would get my song recorded on tape, barring any outside noise. Noise as in, perhaps, me SNEEZING, or my stupid brother knocking on the door and yelling loudly: "LARA --MOM WANTS YOU!" (I was sad beyond sad when my taped version of Thompson Twins' "Lay Your Hands On me" had my brother's voice at the end saying "LAAAAARRAAAAA!" really loudly and the song abruptly cut out, because at that point I had to stop recording.) Boo.

Gone are the days of sitting at my desk waiting FOREVER and praying for quiet during the recording of my favorite songs. Nowadays, I just load up the ole' ipod. But I remember how it was when I was a kid. It kinda sucked.

This is why I love technology. For instance, my favorite "happy" ipod song right now is Owl City's "Fireflies." I bring my ipod in the car and hook it into the car stereo and voila--I get to hear it whenever I want! Take that, Dick Clark. ;-) I don't need you, any more!

*sigh* I love Technology!!! I can only wonder though, how my GRANDkids will be getting their music. They'll probably get it downloaded in their HEADS, and all they'll need to do is "think" of the song and immediately get it streaming into their brain, or something.

Okay, that sounds kind of scary. But I still love technology!

Are Men Disruptive??

I don't mean that in a bad way. Let me explain. As most of you know, I stay home and take care of our four children, ages 12, 10, 8 and 2. (Yeah, I still chuckle over the gap ;-) I am usually a very busy person. BUT I do have some sort of a "system/schedule" down, that works for me. I know what I have to do during the day, and for the most part, I get it knocked out.

Except when Hubby is home sick. Seriously, I don't get a THING done! Case in point, Hubby (who is back to work today but was sick since Thursday last week) stayed home yesterday. I had lots to do. Errands to the Dry Cleaners, Grocery Store, Car dealership oil change, music store to have a broken trumpet valve fixed, post office. I had to finish my thank-yous and get them in the mail, tidy the house from the weekend, and frankly, I WOULD have gotten it all done...but HUBBY was home. He wanted me to help him pick out Christmas gifts for all his work people. (yes, it's getting to be that time!) He wanted to get caught up on our DVR shows (we're about two weeks behind.) He wanted to plan our post-Thanksgiving Shopping Strategy, Etc. Etc. Etc.

What did I get done yesterday? NOTHING. Well, okay, I went and had the oil changed, but only because I forced Hubby to take a nap before lunch, because I'm 600 miles over my maintenance schedule.

THAT'S IT. I didn't even have time to get on the computer until evening. Granted, it was nice to hang out with Hubby, but I felt bad/off kilter at the same time because I'm used to doing certain things on Mondays, and I DIDN'T. That's why I think Men are disruptive. Don't get me wrong, I actually enjoyed our time together yesterday, because it was a rare thing, but I felt anxious because I have so much to DO, and it never seems to get DONE, when Hubby is home from work. Does that make any sense?

I've noticed this same phenomenon during weekends. Does anything *I* need to do, get done? Nope.

Now that things are back to normal, and we're all healthy (thank heaven thank heaven thank heaven knockonwookknockonwoodknockonwood)--I'd better get GOING!!!

Finally...

...we're running out of family members for the H1N1 to attack! Hubby is now down for the count. The kids are all better, but he's in bed.

I, miraculously, have not gotten sick. Hey, I'll take it. I've been able to take care of everyone else.

Heh. Watch me get it.

Conflicted About New Moon.

Warning: If you don't want to be spoiled on the New Moon plot, STOP READING NOW!!

Okay. I saw New Moon tonight with Thing One. I enjoyed it WAY more than the original movie. It was still a tad melodramatic, but hey, it's the Twilight franchise, that's what you sign up for!

Here's where I'm conflicted. After reading the books, I am absolutely TEAM EDWARD. Seriously. Let's not be liars here, and say we wouldn't be swayed by a gorgeous, perfect, sweet-smelling vampire, who pledges undying love to us. *sigh*

Frankly, I detested Jacob Black in the books. He's annoying, hard-headed, weasely, immature, and stubbornly stuck on Bella to the point of OKAY ENOUGH ALREADY. Seriously, I don't like him at all.

But the MOVIE Jacob, is, for want of another word, Perfect. He's sensitive, kind, brave, loyal, funny, he and Bella had chemistry in SPADES and can I just pay homage to the abs?? (I had to keep reminding myself that I was drooling over a seventeen-year old.) I felt myself get emotionally involved at one point. I kept wanting to shout at the screen ARE YOU ON DRUGS, BELLA?? HE'S WARM AND GORGEOUS AND HE LOVES YOU, YOU DIM-WITTED #&**!#$%^&*!! Of course I know who she chooses but I found myself actually rooting for Jacob. It was heartbreaking when Bella rejected him!

See? Conflicted.

So, although I confess to being solidly "Team Edward" from the books, I have to say I am a sound Team Jacob fan from the movie. Or, maybe I'm just TEAM LAUTNER. The kid can act. The kid is adorable. I mean, who else feels the same way I do?
I can't wait until Eclipse! (Okay, someone kick me, I sound like my giddy 12-year old daughter!!!)

Star Trek and New Moon!

I've heard nothing but good things about New Moon, as in, it's LIGHT YEARS better than Twilight. Which is good, because Twilight was embarrassingly cheesy and lame.

If I wasn't taking care of a very sick, very clingy two-year old, I might have gone last night. I actually had the chance to go with some friends, but the tickets were completely gone. At least Thing One and I have tickets for tomorrow--reserved seating! Woo! I've heard the second movie is much better, bigger, and the actors seem to have "gotten it" this time around. Hooray!

I have half a Christmas tree up. Pathetic, I know. And fake pine needles everywhere. I will at least finish the tree today. And tonight should be fun. We're ordering pizza and watching Star Trek (I love love love LOVE it!). J.J. Abrams is awesome. He made a movie that I finally feel the same way I feel about movies like...Indiana Jones and Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean. Nostalgic, engaging and just all around FUN! And I have to say I LOVE Chris Pine as Kirk. I fell for him when I watched "Princess Diaries 2" with Thing One. He's a cutie. And don't even get me started on how perfect Zachary Quinto is as Spock. And Karl Urban absolutely NAILS "Bones." Okay, as do Scotty and Uhura and Sulu and CHEKOV!!! Ha! They're all perfect!!!

Can't tell I love this movie, can you? *wink* I'm not a "Trekkie," but I grew up watching the show with my parents and I LOVED the movies. So I guess I'm "Trekkie Light." As in I "got" all the little nostalgic stuff and terminology in the movie.

*SIGH*

I'll let you know what I think of New Moon on Monday. Tonight, it's all about a date with the U.S.S. Enterprise.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

I'm Being Calm.

Not sure what else I can be at this point. I'm on my fourth child with H1N1, and he's developed this barking cough that is NOT what the other kids have, so off to the doctor this morning we go.

I was up all night with him, because he would cry pitifully if I left him (he's two) and he begged me to sleep with him. Which I told him I'd do, because there's a queen bed in his room. Well, the little cherub kicked me and barked/coughed in my ear the ENTIRE night, and I had to get up every few hours to check his temp and give him medicine anyway, so NO SLEEP for me.

Thing Two, happily, is over the Swine Flu. His fever broke and he'll be back to school tomorrow. He's going to help me with the baby because I need a serious nap. He's ten, and he actually plays quite well with Thing Four, so that's good. The rate we're going, Thing Four should be better by Sunday or Monday, which means we'll be GERM FREE for Thanksgiving! We really want to invite a family over because it's just "us," but we suspect people might be afraid of germs or something. ;-)

Had a heart-attack moment yesterday, because our claim for Thing Three's 8-day icu stay came back denied. As in ZERO payment, ineligible for benefits, period. I called this morning and inquired (very politely) what happened, and apparently the biller at the hospital put my Husband down as the patient, and not Thing Three. Of course it was denied. So I called the hospital this morning and of course they apologized profusely and they're fixing it and resubmitting with the RIGHT name on the paperwork...

Yeah, we have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Thank heaven we have great insurance, and thank heaven all my kids have survived this nasty H1N1.

We are in need of some serious holiday cheer--but I've been too tired to get the Christmas decorations up. Yes, there are people in my neighborhood working diligently on getting the lights up, and I know it's not even Thanksgiving, but I need some CHEER, dang it! I'm sure everyone I know thinks our house should just be raised and burned out and rebuilt or something--I mean, it would have been different if my kids all got the H1N1 at once, but nooooo...it has to be dragged out for FIVE STINKING WEEKS! (Okay, shut up Lara, you're thankful, you're grateful, shut up shut up SHUT UP!!!!) At this point I have the tree stand up, and that's it. Yep, that's really it.

Thing One and I have tickets to see New Moon this Saturday. I am excited, but I just hope I can keep my eyes open. I'll need one of those mack-truck sized cokes...

GUESS WHAT...

Thing Four suddenly has a cough and a fever. Just started an hour ago.
Can I just jump off the roof, now???

I AM OVER THE #!%*&#**!! SWINE FLU!!!!!!

GLEE!!!

And no, I'm not talking about the show, although I do love it. I am talking about the sheer glee I am feeling, over the fact that November is already half over and we haven't had any SNOW!! (Quick, where's some wood? ;-)

Hooray! Sure, it gets frosty in the mornings, but it's been in the 50's and 60's. Definitely NOT snow cold. Loving it!!

Of course now that I've blogged about it, you know what's bound to happen...

Had a good weekend. Well, as good as we can with a sick kiddo. Thing Two stayed in his room, but he's got the old NES system hooked up to a tv in his room and he's been playing Castlevania, Dracula's Curse and Simon's Quest. Not to mention the fact I have the original Super Marios Bros/Duck Hunt and SMB 2 & 3 and my personal fave: Paperboy. *sigh* I love my NES!

ANYWAY, I have two new favorite things. The first thing? My Braun Thermoscan Ear Thermometer:

I LOVE this thing! No more washing thermometers, no more sticking them in the mouth, armpit, rear end, you name it. I just turn it on, pop on a plastic ear guard, stick it gently in the ear and voila! I have a super accurate temp in SECONDS!! This pic shows celsius, but I have mine set to farenheit. It is SUPER easy and wonderful. Well worth the money.

My next favorite thing? I got an authentic Molcajete from Williams Sonoma. And I made the BEST fresh guacamole in it on Sunday: Here's a crappy picture I took with my cell phone. The lighting is terrible, but you get the general idea. I picked my molcajete up at the mall (didn't want to wait for one to ship in the mail) and it's a monster. It probably weighs about 13 pounds! But it's carved from volcanic rock, and it's authentic, so of course it's weighty. And it took FOREVER to season (grinding with rice) but was worth it. The Guac was delish. Yummmmm!!!

Today is surprisingly quiet. I have two kiddos at home, and basically I only have one dry-cleaner run and a grocery store trip. And basketball practice. Luckily my sickie is old enough to stay home by himself. :-)

I probably should get my driveway stakes up. Because it's going to snow. Because I blogged about how grateful I am it hasn't.

You know how it works.

Ah, Life's Little Ironies...

After the Hospital Experience, they highly recommended that we find some H1N1 vaccine for Thing Two and Thing Four, because they hadn't gotten sick.

Yesterday the kids weren't in school. I had a follow-up appointment for Thing Three, just to get an x-ray of his lungs and make sure he was pneumonia-free. All the kids wanted to tag along, except Thing Two, who said he had a headache. But he didn't want to be alone, either, so he came with us.

We all trooped into the doctor's office, and after a harrowing fifteen minutes where I had to chase my two-year old all over the foyer while we waited for Thing Three to get his x-ray, they had the results. Clear and healthy. Hooray! The Dr. reassured me the radiologist even got out his magnifying glass, and looked for any pneumonia, and didn't find any. :-)

Then, they happened to mention that they had TWO doses of the H1N1 nasal mist. I was surprised and relieved. "Let's give it to the kids now!" While they were having me fill out consent forms, Thing Two, who is ten, started complaining that he felt dizzy and his throat hurt.

Uh, say what?

The nurse came back in, and gave my two-year old the vaccine. Just before she was to give it to Thing Two, I asked her to take his temp.

101.5.

Needless to say, she didn't give it to him. The Dr. came back in, checked him out, and asked his symptoms. Fever, sore throat, cough. (In my defense I hadn't noticed the cough because I am so used to hearing one these days.)

Swine Flu Strikes Again. I was seriously like, ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

So, Thing Two is now quarantined to his room, and I am keeping him comfortable. THANK HEAVEN he can breathe just fine, so this looks like we're in for five days of fever, and hopefully that's it. And I can handle that. Truly, it will be nothing.

I can't help but wonder at the Irony of the whole situation, however. JUST as he was about to get the vaccine...

Good Luck Day

I don't care what anyone says, Friday the 13th has always been a lucky day for me! :-)

My kids are going to hate me. I've already forewarned them, but I suspect they may only half-believe me. I told them, since there's no school today (conferences), BEFORE they go on the computer, video games, or play outside, they get to clean their rooms and clean the basement.

No fun stuff. Work first. Thing One's room is already clean, so she didn't complain much. Thing Two, however, had an out-and-out mutiny and told me he was going to stay in his room all day and not clean it. To which I replied, "Fine, I will just set the timer for 20 minutes and if there's no progress I'm going to SWAT YOUR BEHIND. And I will continue to swat it every 20 minutes until the room is clean!"

He simply looked at me. I think he realizes I'm serious about the cleaning thing. I have to clean my own room, as well. It's amazing how clothes seem to "be fruitful and multiply" in my closet.

Thing One begged me to watch Twilight for the umpteenth time with her last night. (My third time, HER umpteenth). I have to say, it really is a BAD movie. The lighting is bad, the music is corny, the CHEESEY LINES these poor actors had to utter borderline on the ridiculous--and I still detest how Edward meets Bella and after a few tense words and a mulch-dump field trip they are proclaiming their love for each other. WAY TOO FAST!! The book at least drew it out a little.

Looking forward to New Moon. (We have tickets for the 21st!) I really liked The Golden Compass so I think this director will have made a more emotional movie. Twilight reminds me of "Star Wars" where the pretty actors had more wooden, corny lines than the droids.

I'm sure all the Twihards will be sending me hate mail, but there it is. I have a feeling there will be a marked difference between the two movies. I'm just sayin...

I got all the conferences knocked out yesterday. Kids are doing great, and I think we need to get out and enjoy the sunshine today. Oh, and my two year old has started being SUPER polite, lately. "Thank You, Mommy." "You're Welcome." "Please?" "Sorry, Mommy." And my personal favorite: "Bwess you, Mommy!"

Crazy Thursday. *Grin*

Yes, it's 8:45 and what have I already done today?

--Woke up (A feat in itself since Thing One ran downstairs at 2am because she'd had a nightmare--I had to go re-tuck her in and soothe her--shoot me now)
--Drove the kids to school
--lugged out the stroller and took the baby into school with said kids, to buy books for the school Book Fair
--Bought Books
--Back to the car and to the gas station because my car told me I only had 55 miles to go until I was empty. (oops!)
--Got Gas
--Mailed a package
--Ran to the Cleaners
--Dropped off a prescription refill
--Went to the bank
--Grabbed a bowl of Mini-Wheats and sat down at this computer.

WHEW!!

I still have to mow the lawn (ONE last time!), run to the store, and go to parent/teacher conferences. Oh, and a basketball game, ACROSS town, later.

I'm loving it! Normal is good!

Wednesday Out of Nowhere...

Happy Veteran's Day!

*Sigh* What a crazy two weeks!

Thing Three went back to school yesterday (we kept him home on Monday because he was still a little weak) and it was like a Rock Star returning to the school. Seriously. I hadn't realized how much his hospitalization had affected the school! All the students outside came running, yelling "(Thing Three) is back! He's back!" and they literally rushed him. We had about 100 students crowded around us in no time, asking if they could carry his bag, welcoming him, etc. All the ladies in the office cheered when I brought him in. I didn't realize how popular he was! (Thing Three has always been our "charmer" and he unabashedly gives out compliments like the BEST brown noser in the world, but I suspect he's sincere.) So, it was a bit of a shock. But it was nice to see his big grin and the sparkle in his eyes back. He can't do Phy Ed or recess until he's cleared by his doctor at the end of the week, but he's glad to be back with his friends and back to school.

And I'm glad of it, too. It almost seems surreal, all we went through those eight days. I think I got lucky--I was almost too exhausted during the ordeal to be hysterically upset, and now that it's over and he's out of the woods, I'm just grateful. Sooooooo grateful!!

Call me crazy, but I am doing something a little early this year--since we're going out of town for Christmas, I'm going to put up all my Christmas decorations next week! Next week will be Throw Every Christmas Decoration Possible Up Week. I am going to get all my trees up, my garlands, my STUFF, and play Christmas music. You watch. I am going to have the most cheerful house ever!

I am so in the Christmas spirit, now! Although a friend of mine and I agreed we need to move Christmas to January 25th, because it's always so DEPRESSING after Christmas when you take all the decor down and everything is plain and empty and you still have THREE FERSHLUGGING MONTHS OF WINTER to get through.

Anyone vote for Christmas January 25th? It would be evenly spaced between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day. I think it sounds fabulous.

Who's with me???

;-)

And Now...Back to Normal...

...pretty much.

Thing Three came home from the hospital on Saturday. It was good to have him home! He's still a little weak (we're keeping him home from school just today) but he sat in a wagon while we took a family walk (it was beautiful weather this weekend, in the 70's!) and he sat in the grass and watched us while we raked leaves and bagged them. He wanted to join in, but he still gets short-winded just walking up the stairs, so I told him to hang in there a few more days, and he'll be back to normal.

Which is what we'd like to get. We are doing something today we haven't done in a while--we're going SHOPPING! :-) Hubby is staying home one more day to hang out with us and Thing Three, and MIL and I will be at Target, Boston Store...and...the hospital...because guess who, like an idiot, left her only phone charger plugged into the hospital room? *wink* Yeah. That would be me. (I could have sworn I'd gotten EVERYTHING!) I guess just not that one thing. So, we have to go back. But we had such a good experience (despite the bad circumstances) because the nurses were the most caring, awesome bunch ever.

Thing Three can't do phy ed or any recess until he's cleared by the Dr. We'll meet with her in about a week for a follow up. So, things should start getting back to normal! Which means back to crazy, but we have a sports break coming up soon. Thing One only has two more weeks of basketball, then we are on a break until January. Then we have Basketball for Thing Two, Volleyball for Thing One, and Indoor Soccer for Thing Three. I will be living in my car.

Yep, normalcy. Happy Monday everyone!

Best Day Ever.

That's what tomorrow will be!! We are spending our LAST night in the picu, and Thing Three will be going HOME!!! WOOO!!

They took him off his breathing machine this morning, and he's been on oxygen, walking around the halls, but he's improved so much they took him off oxygen and he's good to go tomorrow! They want us to see a specialist for a follow up. But that's fine. He seems to have improved 100% in just one day. The H1N1 lasted about five days, the pneumonia part just got better today, so seven days. SEVEN DAYS in the icu! Craziness!

The best part is, (and yes, I'm being sarcastic here)-- his two other brothers could STILL get H1N1, because we don't have the vaccine! They don't have it at the hospital, at the local clinics, nowhere! Talk about LAMENESS.

I've washed everything on sanitary, wiped/sprayed down all the surfaces in the house, and hopefully all the H1N1 germs are gone. One can only hope. All I know, is I'm grateful to have my little Thing Three back home where he belongs. A lot of people out there haven't been so lucky. They have children who have died from H1N1 and respiratory complications.

We have SO much to be thankful for! (We may not feel that way when we get the hospital bill, heh heh, but there are worse things!)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

The Chest Tube Is Out!

We are very excited about this. Having a tube leading into my son's lungs wasn't exactly an idea I was in love with. But it was necessary, and since he stopped draining they took it out this morning. Wooee!!

And I have to share a PRICELESS card my son was given by a classmate. His whole class made cards for him, and one girl wrote this: (Original spelling intact):

Dear (Thing Three),
I want to tell you a story about me going to the hostptel.
I was about one or two years old. I had a Seasher.
A seasher is when your eyes role back into your head.
That's when I went to the hostptial.
Get Well!!

The things kids say. PRICELESS. It was hands down my favorite card.

His color is much better, he's joking with (and charming) his nurses, and I just ordered him waffles. Hopefully in a few days he'll be asking for waffles at HOME.

:-)

Update on Thing Three.

JUBILATION!!! Yesterday started out badly for us, Thing Three had gone off the bi-pap machine because he had an air leak in his lung, and with the pressure from the breathing machine, air was starting to fill the cavities in his body. So, they'd taken him off the machine and put him on oxygen, but he started complaining of pain and not being able to breathe. They decided he wasn't ready to breathe on his own, yet, so he had to go back on the bi-pap machine. Much to our chagrin, of course, because he already resembles the Stay Puft Marshmallow Boy. Seriously. He has so much air in him, he looks like the Michelin Man.

BUT, his ct results came back promising--the "mass" they'd seen on his lungs turned out to be an accumulation of fluid in the collapsed portion, and it's slowly draining out. So, no growth, or anything scarier than what we already knew. We are SO relieved!

Last night was probably the best night for him, he got about 3 hours of sleep (coughing up gunk keeps him awake) and we only had one episode of The Freak Outs at 2am. Although I was sort of not happy because he finally fell peacefully asleep at 4am and not five minutes later they wanted to come take labs (blood) and x-rays. Poor little guy.

So, relief and joy. He still has a ways to go, but at least we don't have to deal with eventual surgery on top of everything else. Hooray!!

Thanks again for everyone's support and love, and prayers. It means the world to us.

We Have a Lot to be Thankful For.

I have to say, these last few days are days I hope to never repeat. I took Thing Three to the Dr. on Thursday, because he had a fever and a cough, and she told us to call if he got worse. Well, he got WAY worse. His fever spiked and he couldn't breathe well, and it hurt. Turns out he had a partially collapsed lung, and pneumonia, and H1N1.

We went in an ambulance to Children's Hospital, where he's been in the pediatric ICU since Friday. He's in isolation, and everyone has to suit up like astronauts just to come in and take his vitals. Poor kid. He had tubes coming out of everywhere (and going "in" everywhere) and two IVs and a feeding tube and he had to be hooked up to a bi-pap machine. Then they inserted a tube and drained a liter and a half of fluid from his lung. THEN it turns out he has an air leak in his weak lung and with the pressure from the breathing machine the air was escaping into his body and he puffed up like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Boy. Only with a fever of 104.

Four days later, he's a little better, although he's suffering from what the nurses call "ICU Psychosis" at night (which resembles good old-fashioned Night Terrors) and he is coughing up FECES (I swear, that's what the crud looks like). And he is having a ct tomorrow because they found something "suspicious" on his lung, that apparently doesn't belong.

In short, we're ready for him to be all better and come home, and it looks like we've got a long road ahead of us. But he's getting better each day, and that is something to celebrate.

I appreciate the outpouring of love and well wishes you all have sent, in emails and phone calls. I know we have a lot of people pulling for Thing Three and we have faith he will recover from this and be back to his active, happy and slightly annoying eight-year old self once more.

We love you, Thing Three!!