It's been a long week...

As I mentioned earlier- it's been a rough week. Peyton has/had been super sick starting about Saturday the 20th. He had high fevers and abdominal pain. Of course I made him "tough it out" for a few days thinking it was just a bug. Finally on Tuesday, we'd had enough! He was too sick. I will fast track through 3 pediatrician appointments on Tues, Wed, and Thurs. No one could really figure out what was wrong with my baby! He tested negative for Flu, Strep, ect...
On Thurs the pediatrician told us to take him up to Primary Children's Hospital for blood work and x-rays...
Again, long story short... His white blood cell count and CRP (inflammatory marker) were very elevated, with the high fevers and severe abdominal pain, all signs pointed towards Appendicitis. Mark and I were all prepared for surgery. But, a CT scan (this was torturous! They filled Peyton's bowls with contrast...) showed his appendix to be fine.
They sent us home.
Thursday night was hell.
MY BABY WAS SICK! He was in soooo much pain.
Mark and I took him right back to the ER.
Finally an X-ray series of his abdomen showed his intestines to be seriously enlarged. His upper intestines were so swollen they were pushing on his diaphragm and lungs.
Peyton was admitted with Gastroenteritis and an Ileus. Poor baby. The IV and meds helped a ton. We had to carry him back and forth to the bathroom, he was so weak. And, as strong of a gal as I am; I cried.

Peyton and his IV. Curious George got to be a patient too!

Finally, some rest! Not for Mom/ Dad though- we're exhausted!

The bright spot was Peyton got a lot of attention! We gave him whatever he wanted and we discovered Peyton LOVES LEGO'S. Mark is such a sucker (loving dad) He went right out and bought Peyton the most expensive LEGO set he could find. And Grandma Taggart made sure to get him lots of LEGO'S as well.

In other news... This weekend is Mark's and my 5 year anniversary. We had an amazing trip to San Fransisco planned and were very excited for some romance. Obviously, that didn't happen! But we both had all weekend off for the trip, so that was convenient!

I was telling one of the nurses that it was our anniversary and that we had missed our trip. She said "Oh, that's so sad. What were you 2 going to do in San Fransisco?"
It was late-
I replied, without thinking, "Have sex."

Of course this got passed around in nurses report and every new nurse teased us.

I'm sad we missed our trip. But seeing my amazing husband be such a loving father to our sick child, made me love him more. Kindness is the measure of a person. My husband is a sweetheart and was super attentive to me (and Peyton) for the whole stay. He even somehow found a pint of chocolate ice cream at 1-AM for me, after I causally mentioned/ freaked out for some chocolate to take my mind off all this crap!

Peyton funnies

So Peyton is in the hospital- more on that later... I just thought I should share some of the funny things he has been saying!

I should note that Peyton is OCD and also extremely obedient. When told to hold still he will. He has now been through 3 IV s, and held perfectly still for each one (just a few tears) He also thanks everyone who comes into his room :) Super cute.

So a nurse comes in and says "Peyton, I m going to give the straw in your arm a little drink."
Peyton responds "what?"
the nurse holds up a saline flush and Peyton says-
"Oh, you re going to flush my IV?"

He know too much...

He also knows to push his call light and he asked the nurse who came to check on him- "Will you check my temperature? I think
it s going up..."
To which she laughed!

Silly boy!

Peyton has also learned the name of his medications and will ask for them by name.
"I think it s time for more Toradol..."

It was recently time for more lab work and the nurse came in to draw his blood, Peyton started to cry and said "No, no nurses! I don t like nurses! Go away if you re a nurse!!"

(Thanks son... You know mom is a nurse- right??)

It has now officially been 7 days since Peyton has eaten anything. Every time the doctors come to check on him and ask if he needs something he asks for a donut!
To which the response is always "no."
After the last time, Peyton responded- "is that because I m NPO?"

Actually, it is.....

So there is a dose of cuteness courtesy of Peyton! Hopefully he feels better soon! And then maybe he can have that donut...

Explosion of crap-"literally"

Before I had children I never called in sick to work... there was no need. Even if I stayed up all night- I could still swing a 12 hour shift- no problem.
Then I became pregnant. I knew I would throw up, I knew I would be tired. But no one told me I wouldn't be able to handle it. And this, my friends is where it all began...
Now two kids later- I REALLY can't handle it. I'm, of course, tired all the time. My house is in varying stages of disarray, and my (gray) roots have grown out 2 inches because there is just no time for me to get my hair colored.
This week has been the cherry on top of the sundae of life as a parent. Ryker has RSV (possibly pneumonia) Crap...
Fevers at 104 for 4 straight days. Wont eat, just cries.
Peyton also has RSV, high fevers and NOW--- The Flu. Crap...
Vomit all over the house! The washer never stops. No one will eat anything. And of course all night long it's either "I want mama!" or "WAAAAA Mama!"
And then a few hours of fitful sleep in the rocker with a hot little feverish body smashed into me. And THEN- I'm supposed to get up, go to work and listen to women complain about how much they WANT to have a baby today! REALLY- change your mind people! Kids are too much work! (only slightly kidding here...)
Oh yeah- this week gets better. Our crapper exploded. (our toilet broke)
We kind of need this toilet with the sick kids and all- so.... ta da!

Not what I wanted to add to this crazy week- and definitely not what mark wanted to install for 8 straight hours-
Once upon a time I couldn't wait to grow up and be an adult. Have my own life and family...
But, Hindsight is 20/20 people. Because adult life and family is a lot of unforeseen expenses and hard work. Dang mortgage and kids...

The bathroom is still in disarray- and when I washed the bathroom rugs- for some strange reason (Karma?) one came out bleached white... and the other blue...
Hmmm... They both started out green.
I'm just going to leave them as they are; as a small daily reminder that life usually starts out one way and ends up completely different!

Let the good times roll!

Happy V-day

Happy Valentine's Day!

Love Peyton and Ryker Taggart!

The Cheese Wheel

Forget the "4 basic food groups"...

Forget the "food pyramid"...

If you are the mother of a 4 year old; you use only the
"Cheese Wheel"



Occasionally: Yogurt, Chocolate milk, and Ice cream may be substituted and will be eaten by a 4 year old.

But deviate from the standard "cheese wheel" and you are sure to have a temper tantrum and a hungry child.

Crazy like Mom...

Despite the fact that Peyton looks just like Daddy and is dubbed "little Tag" he has his mothers crazy personality... he runs around the house singing all day long and will always make up the most outrageous stories to tell me. He thinks he is the boss and at night after I tuck him in he says some variation of "sleep tight mom, stay in your bed all night long..." or "good night sweet pea mama... don't let the bed bugs bite!"

And the other day, when picking him up from preschool he runs to me and says "Hi sweet mom- how was your day? did you have fun?" (Hey! that's my line??)

He tells me when Ryker needs a nap, and when it's time for him to wake up and play... He can make his own Ego waffles and the other day I caught him up on a bar stool with the fridge open and he was drinking apple juice right from the carton!! (K- your not a teenager yet! get a cup!)

The other night while the kids were in the bath Peyton says to me, VERY seriously:

" Mom, I need some medicine."

"Why baby?"

"My tummy hurts. Becuase my Daddy plays so much X-Box it makes me sick..."

(Wonder where he heard that one!)

Peyton will tell me all the time, "Mom your crazy!"

"Crazy fun? or just crazy?"

"Just crazy!"

Peyton saw me with a towel wrapped around my wet hair the other day after a shower, and he COULD NOT stop laughing... "Oh my goodness Mom!" "You are so crazy!"

So- last night as I am walking up the stairs to go to bed (it's almost 11...) Peyton scares me to death because he is just sitting cross legged at the top of the stairs. "What are you doing?!"

"Mom I can't sleep because my bed is messed up..."

This is what we found:

How did he get his mattress off the bed? It took both Mark and me to put it back on!

"What were you doing Peyton?"

"I was trying to get a toy from under the bed."

"by moving it completely!?"

"I'm just a little crazy mom!"

Yes you are!

Taggart Fam

For your enjoyment!
This is the Taggart Family minus the 17 grandkids!
Aren't we a nice lookin bunch?!