Birthday Boy

Today: I am still rash free. However, I can still feel twinges of the rude migraine. That kind of bites. It was a pretty ordinary Monday with packing school lunches, teaching, going over our standardized tests to get them mailed off, staff meeting, pizza dinner, packing lunches again, and snuggling on the couch. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday get a little busy, so it was nice to enjoy a pizza groupon deal.

Birthday Boy

Hudson turned four on Sept. 13. He truly understood his birthday this year and was quite excited for his big day.


At our school, you get to wear free dress on your birthday. Hudson's teacher made him a birthday crown.


Close up of my monkey boy.

I bought birthday cookies for Hudson to share in class. I popped into his room at recess to be with him while he passed out his cookies, and the kids sang Happy Birthday to him. I LOVE it that I don't miss these moments, especially while the kids are small.

By the end of the day, I wasn't feeling very good. I just didn't have it in me to make dinner, much less a cake. We decided to go to Togo's for dinner and ice cream cake.

Of course, Hudson wanted the biggest (read: most expensive) Transformer cake in the display case. We talked him down to a little $20 number and had the girl write his name on the cake.

As luck would have it, or not have it, she dropped the cake on the floor! That, no pastrami, and Hudson's giant puppy dog eyes led to the man giving us a significant discount...and we ended up getting the Transformer cake after all!


Opening his presents. People were giving us funny looks. They were probably wondering why we chose Togo's for the four-year-old's birthday party.

We took the cake home, sang to our baby, finished opening presents, and called it good.


Just about to blow out the candles.

Then I got sick. Hudson spent late Saturday, Sunday and Monday sick. I caught it on Tuesday and stayed home from school on Wednesday. Eric got it on Thursday and Evan got it on Friday. Puke everywhere. It was fantastic. Trying to squeeze a birthday in among the sick germs was challenging.

Anyhow, it's hard to believe my baby is four. I'm not really sure when he went and got big on me. He's our sweet, caring, sharing, beat-to-his-own-drum kid. He still idolizes his brother, but he is not going to let Evan walk all over him. He's taking to school with gusto. He like to dance and sing. He never walks, he runs...or skips...or shimmies! His eyes and smile can light up a room (or get us discounts!).

Happy Birthday Chicken Little! We love you!

Rut and Shingles

I am in a blogging rut. I convince myself that I have nothing interesting to report. That leads to being lazy even when I do have things to report. I need to report things frequently, whether they are interesting or not, or else life is going to zip on by.

All sorts of nifty things have happened since the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, but I'll have to slowly catch up. I can't back track an entire month.

Hudson had a birthday. He's now four. And very proud of it.



He got the crown at school. Poor kid had his birthday smack in the middle of all of us having the stomach flu...one after the other. But Hudson can't gripe too much because he GAVE it to us. I'll recap his birthday another day.

Let's start with this weekend.

On Friday I was dealing with a really bad headache in my left temple and eye socket. I figured I had a sinus infection. Hudson was coughing like a baby seal. At 3, I called the allergist to get us both seen. Love our allergist. They can almost always fit us in at the last minute.

Hudson is now on a preventative inhaler to get the upper hand on his winter asthma.

The doctor looked up my nose and declared my sinuses perfectly clear. Then he scared the pee out of me when he told me I was presenting with classic symptoms to develop shingles!! Good grief. Then he went and got a book and showed me horrifying pictures of people with disfiguring rashes on their faces. Oh sweet Jesus. I was terrified.

I thought shingles was always on your back. Um, apparently not. The way I was describing the type and location of pain (and the fact that I don't have migraines), the doctor said it could be shingles and the rash would show up in a few days. Then I'd be off work for two weeks, have a horribly painful rash, and need to stay away from old or pregnant people.

Needless to say, my hypochondriac self didn't take this news very well. I went home and put myself to bed and waited for the worst.

We had to wake up early Saturday morning to drive down to Moorpark for the wedding of the oldest cousin on Eric's side. Jason is 26. Hudson is the baby cousin at 4. It was a beautiful wedding. My face was still hurting pretty badly, but there was no rash. Ibuprofin wasn't helping.

Alcohol at the reception helped. Dancing helped. It took my mind off the stabbing pain in my temple.

It was pretty neat to be a part of such a happy family event.

We stayed at a hotel after the wedding. I woke up feeling better. No rash, and the pain had subsided. I am cautiously and optimistically calling this a migraine. Awful. Just awful. At least I won't be in hiding for two weeks.

I don't think I should see that particular doctor ever again!

We are home, laundry is laundering, suitcases are unpacked, and we are just relaxing and watching tv. Here's to the start of a new week.