I think I’m one of the rare people. I don’t mind Mondays! Mondays mean back to schedule to me…my kids don’t sleep in so the weekends aren’t a time for me to sleep in, and Jeff has crazy work schedule he don’t always go back to work on Mondays (although this week he does….but he’s been home for 3 days so I’m ready for him to go back to work lol) Mondays mean a slightly quieter house for a little while…no fighting for a little while…and NAPS!!!! It also means I know what is going to happen next…there are times the kids go to school, get out of school, and after school activities. There are no times for the weekend…yes it’s chill and I don’t have to worry about going anywhere but my kids (and me too) thrive on schedule and knowing what’s going to happen next. When it’s just a free day, it’s hectic, kids screaming, fighting, asking a million questions about when it’s time for lunch, dinner and if they can do this or that (mostly video games that they need to earn their time on) After so long together, the kids can’t wait for Monday either so they can get away from each other and me (since I’d probably told them a million times to stop fighting, to clean up, or whatever else they didn’t want to do lol)

Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids…but they just fight when together for too long on the weekends and we’re ALL ready for school and Mondays!

Mondays also starts my craziness…Just this week: Monday is Girl Scouts, Tuesday Justin and Jaxon have an appointment, Wednesday Justin goes back to the ENT and Jeffery has Boy Scouts, Thursday is Jeffery’s birthday, Justin has a doctor’s appointment, and Jeffery has karate, Friday I don’t think there is anything planned….yet!

What do you like or dislike about Mondays?

My kids love gummy snacks. If we pass them in the store they always ask for some, and most of the time they pick one that has their favorite character on it and it is just pure sugar, no vitamins, fruit juice or very little fruit juice. So when I got the opportunity to review Ocean Spray Fruit Flavored Snacks and read a little about them I was happy to and knew my kids would love them!

Ocean Spray Fruit Flavored Snacks (3 Berries and Cherries, 3 Assorted Fruit)

As soon as the kids saw what they were, I couldn’t get the box open fast enough to give them each a pack! I barely looked away for a second and then they were throwing the paper away, they had already eaten their packs! The next day both Jeffery and Jaylin wanted some for their snack in school so instead of the usual cookies or chips they choose from, they got Ocean Spray Fruit Flavored Snacks! Little do they know that they were getting 100% of their daily value for Vitamin C!!!!

The kids weren’t the only ones who liked them, I happened to see an EMPTY box on Jeff’s desk. One of his nights off he wanted a snack, so he took one of the boxes and snacked on it…and eventually ate them all! We got 6 boxes (3 of each flavor Assorted Fruit and Berries & Cherries) and the kids/Jeff loved both kinds!

Did I mention they are only 80 calories and gluten free??? Great snack for those who are watching their weight or who’s new years resolution is to lose weight. Made with real fruit juice and natural colors and flavors (These Fruit Flavored Snacks are made with apple, pear, and cranberry juice concentrate. See package for a list of complete ingredients. They are not intended to replace fruit in the diet).

I know these fruit flavored snacks are going to be in our house as a quick snack for the kids and I can always throw a few packs in the diaper bag for while we’re out! Click Here for a coupon $1.10/2 Ocean Spray Fruit Flavored Snacks!

Ocean Spray Fruit Flavored Snacks also come with year round DOUBLE Box Tops!

The Giveaway: 4 of my readers (yes **4**!!!!!) will EACH get 6 boxes of Ocean Spray Fruit Flavored Snacks (3 of each variety)!!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: Ocean Spray® Fruit Flavored Snacks, information, and giveaway have been provided by Ocean Spray® through MyBlogSpark. All opinions are my own and not influenced by anyone or anything.

On Wednesday night…well Thursday morning (it was at 3am) I woke up to Jaylin coming in the room wanting to use our bathroom, so when she cut the light on I glanced over at Justin who I had realized wasn’t making his usual breathing noises…I then noticed he was a little pale and I couldn’t see his chest moving up and down, or even hear a quiet breath. My worst fear ran through my head…my baby might be dead. Just typing that brings tears to my eyes. I finally got up the nerve to touch him, and as soon as my finger touched his hand he jerked and I could hear his “normal” breathing sounds. I wasn’t sure if he had completely quit breathing or if it was just too shallow for me to see without my glasses on…either way I think I lost a few years off my life with worry.

Throughout Thursday we didn’t have any more problems, but the closer it got to bedtime, the more my anxiety rose. What if it happens again? What if I don’t wake up to stimulate him? What if my worst fears come true the next morning when I wake up and find my baby not breathing? Ever since I was told his epiglottis could obstruct his airway, I’ve been on pins and needles. Finally when Jeff got home we agreed I should take him to get checked out, just to make sure there wasn’t something more going on and to put both of our minds at ease. I called 911 to take us. For one, just so he could be monitored on the way over, two, so Jeff could have the van in case we did get transferred again to the bigger hospital and three, because I didn’t want to wait 5 hours in the waiting room again!

Cuddled up to Mommy in the ER.

For once we had a WONDERFUL ER doctor. She actually did tests, xrays, rsv/flu and blood to see if she could find anything other doctors didn’t. When she didn’t find anything wrong she said we could be transported to UVA or released if I felt comfortable to take home…I did not. So she run a few more tests and was going to set up transport once the results were back. After a lot of tears from me, them poking Justin multiple times for blood and me trying to think rationally…I decided I wanted to ask the doctor more questions. I asked her HONEST opinion on what should be done with Justin (to transport or to go home) she said with his history it WAS justifiable, but she didn’t feel it was necessary. She did understand that I didn’t want to transport him because they were just going to monitor him and send us home again…I did not want the stress of being in PICU again just for monitoring. She offered to call the hospital’s on call pediatrician to see if he would take Justin on and admit him to their pediatric unit to monitor him for the night…at first he said Justin should be released…then after another phone call (I love how persistent she was about trying to get him admitted to this hospital) he agreed to come in and check Justin out for himself (Just so you know, Justin does have his own pediatrician, but they only do office visits and not hospital stuff).

The doctor on call happened to be my old pediatrician and the older 2 kids’ pediatrician (we moved to a doctor closer, just to end up at a doctor back in the same city a few years later lol) He recognized me and called Justin, Jeffery. He sat down and we actually talked, and I felt like I was listened to. He understood where I was coming from about not being comfortable taking him home after the episode the night before…I can watch him during the day but I do need sleep at night. He said if I didn’t want to take him home, he would keep him there and monitor him…insert huge sigh of relief.

Justin in the pediatric unit in his little gown, he's always such a happy baby!

I almost cried when I walked into Justin’s room for the night, they had made up the bed for me (linens and blankets on there and turned down…looked like it was inviting me in!) and had everything set up and ready for Justin. After putting him on the heart monitor, and being fed…we were out for the night. I could sleep sound knowing if he stopped breathing or if his heart went too low for too long…there would be nurses in there to take care of him.

The next morning a nurse come in and offered to give him a bath (older lady, I think she just wanted to hold him and play with him a bit lol) then the doctor from the night before come in and sat down, spoke to me like a human and asked if I was ready to go home. I was…and I told him Jeff and I were going to look into getting our own heart/oxygen monitor for Justin. He interrupted me and offered to write orders for Justin to have a sleep apnea monitor…it would be covered under his insurance and we could get it that day! You can not imagine the weight lifted off my shoulders at that second. It would be a little bit of a long process, but we would probably be released when the doctor made rounds that evening. They had an educator come in and teach me about infant CPR as well as what to do if a baby is choking…that way I would be prepared if the apnea monitor went off and Justin was unresponsive. Later the medical place arrived to show me the monitor and teach me everything about it, it’s a lot and it was a little scary/intimidating…but I knew it would give us all peace of mind.  At 7:30pm the doctor made rounds and said as long as I felt comfortable with the monitor, we were ok to go home!

Justin's apnea monitor, the wire goes to 2 things on either side of his chest that monitor his heart rate and that he's breathing.

So here I sit at 2am…listening to my baby breathe and knowing when I do lay down to sleep, if something were to happen, the apnea monitor would wake me up instantly (it’s set to go off if his heart rate goes to 70/200 for 20 seconds or he stops breathing for 20 seconds) The machine is loud as it is, but Jeff made sure that it’s right by the head of my side of the bed (which is right beside where his bassinet is) And I know what to do if it is an emergency.

I sign off here…feeling as though someone was looking out for Justin that night. I feel blessed. I feel as though things could be completely different right now. I never want to feel that way I did that night ever again…I wouldn’t wish that feeling on my worst enemy. My heart goes out to those who have lost little ones.

Justin peacefully sleeping...in his bassinet right next to Mommy's bed!

I do love living in an area that gets snow, what sucks is that we haven’t gotten much snow this year!!!! We got some before Halloween and since then we’ve only got a dusting or two and a little bit of ice, nothing we can go out and have fun in BUT, when we do get some snow, the kids will be able to have a blast with their newest Uncle Bob’s Snow Tube from Aqua Leisure (yes, they sell more than just pool/swim stuff!)!!!

We got the Uncle Bob 48″ Air Penguin Snow Tube and it’s so cute! I love the little snowboarding penguins!!! The thing is huge too, we’ll be able to go down with 1 adult and a kid on our lap no problem or the kids can go it alone!!!

• Unique transparent top
• 2 heavy-duty color coordinated handles
• Extra heavy duty vinyl construction
• Special K-80 cold crack additive
• Accommodates up to 2 riders
• Weight rated up to 220 lbs

You can tell by just picking it up out of the box it’s heavy duty, because well…it’s heavy! I can’t wait for snow so we can get this blown up and head out, we live in an area that has a lot of hills so we’ll have no problem finding an area to tube

You can buy an Uncle Bob 48″ Air Penguin Snow Tube at your local Walmart since it’s being shown as out of stock online, prices vary by store There are also other designs and sizes from Uncle Bob’s you can get even double tubes!

The Giveaway: One of my readers will win their own Uncle Bob 48″ Air Penguin Snow Tube from Aqua Leisure!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received products for the purpose of reviewing at no cost to me. All opinions expressed are of my own and not influenced by anything or anyone.

Scrappy isn’t necessarily “old” he’s almost 3, but in dog years that’s what…21? Not exactly young, but not ancient either. We didn’t get Scrappy until he was about a year old and he was house trained but that was it, no basic commands or anything. We’ve started with the most basic, sit. Now, with Justin’s surprise PICU stay, it’s thrown our training off a little, but we’re still working on it.

I posted about shopping for dog treats last week, and we’ve been training a little, so far Scrappy’s favorite treat is Milo’s Kitchen Jerky, he prefers the Beef but will eat the Chicken too.

Scrapping getting a Milo's Kitchen Chicken Jerky for sitting.

Snuffles the pug puppy is stubborn…I tried to train him and all he did was go and lay down on Jeffery.

Snuffles laying on Jeffery instead of listening to me.

He’s still a puppy and is going to take a LOT more training. Like I said, I was gone for a few days in the hospital so I need to get back into being more persistent with training. I plan to use the Milk-Bone® healthy treats for Snuffles due to the weight issues pugs have, I’ve given him some to see if he likes them and he does, so that will be no problem once he stops being so stubborn!

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias All opinions are my own and not influenced by anything or anyone.

Waiting in the waiting room at RMH

I’ve posted before that Justin has a problem with a part of his throat and may need surgery. It’s come to be our “normal” to hear him make noises while he breathes 95% of the time, there is barely a minute that goes by that he’s not by my side or in my arms so I can make sure he’s still breathing (not necessary, but I’m paranoid). For a few days I had noticed Justin’s hands turning a greyish color while he was nursing…one of the signs his ENT told me to look out for. They went back to normal quickly and he was fine. Monday, he was inconsolable, wouldn’t take his paci, wouldn’t nurse, couldn’t get into a good sleep (any slight noise would wake him up and he would be screaming again) so I panicked and  got all the kids dressed and out the door, I made a call to Jeff at work and told him to ask to be dropped off at the hospital to get the big kids and the van. Justin’s oxygen level was at 95% so they weren’t concerned and sent us to the waiting room. Jeff arrived shortly after and got the kids so I could focus on Justin. We waited HOURS (total of 5 hours) in the waiting room. While I sat alone in the children’s play area (I just stayed there when Jeff took the kids since it was quiet and the chair was comfy lol) an older lady had come over and asked what was wrong with him and after talking for a few minutes she asked if she could hold him, I let her and we went over to a bigger seating area so we could sit together. She was with her pastor who’s mother was being seen and I was thankful for someone to talk to and someone who give my arms a break so I could snack…she happily rocked him and when he would fuss she stood up and walked and bounced him (she never went more than a few feet from me) We just talked, and it was nice to have that company. Eventually she left and I was left alone again, thankfully a family friend offered to come sit with us and give us a ride home when we were released…I couldn’t be more thankful for her, she didn’t hesitate to offer to sit with us even though I just asked if she would be willing to come get us when we were released.

On the stretcher in the squad on the way to UVA

After multiple times to the desk to ask when Justin would get a room, one rude nurse and my family friend almost going off on the nurses asking why her “grandson” was being made to wait over 4 hours when he is having trouble breathing! Finally after 5 hours in the waiting room (we arrived at 6pm, got called back at 11pm) The nurse was quick to come in and ask the normal questions and the doctor followed shortly after…he immediately said the best place for Justin was at UVA (a bigger hospital over an hour away), now this was always in the back of my head since his ENT is based out of that hospital and the hospital has the necessary doctors to deal with a baby as small as Justin with his problems. It was still scary to hear. While the doctor was making the necessary phone calls I fed Justin to make sure he would be ok for the trip, while nursing his hands turned colors and we had a nurse come into the room and put an oxygen thing on his foot…his levels were fine but when I went to burp him, they dropped…I changed his position and tried to stimulate him to breathe normal and they went back up. By 11:45pm the transport team was there and were being given Justin’s details and informed them about his desat (oxygen level going down…I’m really learning too many medical terms!) They strapped him into his car-seat and strapped that to the stretcher as well as made sure he had a heart monitor on and the oxygen monitor on his foot still. I said bye to the family friend and thanked her a million times for sitting with me for those hours. The paramedic give me a long speech about if something were to happen to Justin on the trip for me to stay out of his way…no problem, he’s the professional not me! We were out of the hospital by midnight. They put the lights on “Priority 2″ so they could get through lights and go faster than traffic, we got to UVA in 55minutes.

Long day...he was so tired after they finally got the IV in

UVA has it’s own pediatric ER which is where we were taken to first, multiple nurses and doctors come in to get his information and to find out what was going on, I was informed his ENT had been called and was on his way in. At this point I had lost track of time, I was in and out of sleep and just plain exhausted. One of the doctors who worked with his ENT come in and said they were going to just move up his surgery to that afternoon/evening instead of waiting until February. I signed consent forms for it and that was the hardest thing, to sign a piece of paper that said one of the complications could be death (that’s on all surgery consent forms, but still!) and he could end up with a tracheotomy (because it was in the throat area) We were being admitted to what I was told was Pediatrics, but when they wheeled us (I was on the stretcher holding Justin) we went into PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) and my heart sunk! I stood on the other side of the curtain while they stuck my poor little baby to get an IV put in and hooked him up to a heart monitor. I think they finally got a cot for me to sleep on around 5 or 6am and I was up around 8am. I was hearing conflicting reports on if he could nurse or not but finally was told he could. That day was sort of a blur, I know they stuck him a ton of times trying to get blood and they just couldn’t get enough out of him I was standing in the doorway when the chaplain was making her rounds and she introduced herself and asked me how I was holding up, as I went to answer her I just started crying…my baby was behind me crying from having a needle go into his arms multiple times and I was lacking sleep

After a nice bath the 2nd night, he was listening to the TV.

and food not to mention one nurse told me if he was on a no feeding order I wouldn’t be able to stay the night with him again (I was not a happy mama to hear that but just waited it out because I was going to refuse to leave). I was then getting conflicting reports on if he would have surgery or not…when the ENT come in around noon and said that morning when he saw him his heart rate was low until he scratched the top of his head. His thought was there may be more to the issue than just the throat thing. Scary thought that there may be something wrong with his heart! Again, after waiting…his oxygen levels stayed up and his heart rate stayed up so we were told he could be released the next day (today) as long as everything stayed good. He didn’t want to do unnecessary surgery. We saw a nutritionist and a speech and language person who luckily come in while I was nursing so she could hear him sucking and swallowing and said he sounded great.  Overnight he did great with no desats and his heart rate stayed good (I was also allowed to stay with him since he was allowed to feed!)

Today he was released. I was so happy! We’re happily home relaxing, but I’m still on edge watching his every movement!

Yep, just an update for Jackies readers…Justin is currently at UVA, he was at RMH last night but they transported him to a larger and better hospital because RMH didnt have the resources necessary to deal with the problems Justin was having.

Heres all the Facebook posts straight from her wall, including her comments and everything else since she left, its a lot better to just post what she said rather then trying to explain it all:

– I will, I’m just sitting here watching his hands, they turn grey then back to normal and he just cries like he’s in pain, won’t nurse, don’t want the paci. He’s pale now…Jeffery just woke up so we’re heading out as soon as everyone gets dressed. I’ll pick up Jeff on the way from work (he gets off in 50min).

– His oxygen is 95% and that’s just barely good. He’s still only 10lbs we’re in the waiting room….waiting. they are packed tonight.

–Been waiting for 2 hours and there is still 5 ahead of him!!

– Going on 3hours and there are 3 people infront of him now….grrrrr! Good news is they checked his oxygen again and its 100%

– Update: they are transporting him (and me lol) to UVA (to those who dont know, thats a much bigger hospital) so we’re waiting on phone calls to be made and the ambulance to arrive to take us. Please pray for Justin…this is scary.

– He changes colors sometimes meaning he’s not getting enough oxygen. I just now went to burp him and his sats dropped down to 86.

– They are getting him on the stretcher and he was explaining things and i almost broke down. Im on the verge of tears….this is hard…im trying to hang in there as much as possible.

– At uva, his ent is on the way in. Plan is to at least admit him for the night…more details once dr early gets here.

– Justin is being admitted to peds here at UVA, he will have surgery later this afternoon.

– He has some anatomy issues in his throat…causes problems breathing…doing surgery sooner rather than later. As soon as his dr is out of the office today he’ll do the surgery.

– He’s taking it a lot easier than I am. They put him in PICU and put an iv in he hasnt cried a bit! Me on the other hand am a blubbering mess.

Sleeping at UVA

– Ok, 2 hours of sleep later….he’s allowed to eat until noon (although there are conflicting reports) and surgery might be this evening (different opinions on that too) the nurses here are amazing and last night one went on a mission to find a cot for me to sleep on instead of a chair. They are hoping to move him to a room with a bed for me later. He’s doing awesome, only cried when he was hungry!

– Just found out if they cant get him a room with a bed for me, i wont be able to stay the night with him i cried just thinking about it. The only reason they brought a cot in was cuz we had just gotten here…i hope they get him a room!!

– you know i’ll be sitting my happy butt in a chair beside his bed if need be and refuse to move! They said they’d call the ronald mcdonald house for me….im not leaving this hospital!

– They said i could either go to ronald mcdonald house or sleep in the family waiting room which is across the floor. I stayed up all last night, i’ll stay up again tonight if need be. He’s bf and refuses to take a bottle, i need to be with him.

–They said a few patients are leaving today so the likelyness of us getting a room are good.

– Im already on the brink of a emotional breakdown, my baby is sick, i havent had but 2-3hours of sleep, i miss my big kids im here alone dealing with it all and now they want to tell me i might not get to stay the night with him…thats a good way to push a momma over the edge!

– I’ll go off once they try to tell me to leave!

– Yes! Because he’s bf they cant kick me out tonight! They are looking for me a recliner to sleep in tonight. Insert sigh of relief!

– They are having a hard time getting blood from Justin i hate standing here hearing him cry. They did it earlier but it clotted and they have to redo it

– This is how close to the edge I am…chaplain come making her rounds while i was standing next to the door to avoid seeing Justin be poked, she simply asked me how I was doing and as I tried to answer her I just started crying.

– No, its just me. Jeff is home (over an hour away) taking care of the kids

– He’s hooked up to a heart monitor and he mentioned doing a echo on him.

– Surgery is put off for now. Dr wants more data because Justin’s heartrate drops way low(70) and there may be more to this than the original diagnosis.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————

And thats as far as its gone, Im sure Jackie will be making a post about this shortly after everythings done with, and Ill try to keep this post updated.

About a month or so before Christmas, I got myself a gift…a pug puppy I named Snuffles With a new puppy, comes training! I’ve given him enough time to get used to the house and us before we start really training him.  I will also be doing basic obedience training of our other dog, Scrappy (our toy poodle). The time has come, so I had to go shopping for dog treats for positive reinforcement.

I went to WalMart in search of some yummy dog treats for my pups. I was on a mission to buy Milk-Bone® Treats, Lean Pup-Peroni Treats and Milo’s Kitchen Treats. The dog treat section of WalMart was crazy big and had so many options of flavors and treat size and sizes of packages!

Dog Treat Section of WalMart

Since pugs have a tendency to get overweight real quick, the Lean Pup-Peroni was something I was really happy to get, so we can keep his weight under control as he gets older. There was a few varieties of Pup-Peroni, their original flavors and then the Lean Beef Flavor, which is what I ended up getting for Snuffles.

Pup-Peroni Flavor Varieties

I also found the Milo’s Kitchen area and was shocked at how many flavors there were and how the names sounded like delicacies for dogs! Flavors like Chicken Meatball, Beef Jerky, Chicken Jerky and Beef Sausage Slices! We ended up buying a package of Beef Sausage Slices, Chicken Jerky and Beef Jerky (yes, I bought 3 packs because I couldn’t decide on just one!)

Jeffery helped me pick out some Milo's Kitchen treats for the pups

Then we went to the Milk-Bone® area to pick up a few more treats…a good variety is nice, change it up once in awhile for the pups. Milk-Bone® had so many treats to choose from, a lot of different sizes, flavors, shapes and types (like the Healthy Favorites and Essentials Plus as well as their original treats) I couldn’t help but buy a box of Milk-Bone® Crunchy Original treats with real bone marrow, since both my pups are small, these are the perfect size for them. I also couldn’t pass up getting a box of their Healthy Favorites (again, because we have to be careful how much Snuffles eats so he don’t get overweight) which has vegetables, one has carrots and one has sweet potatoes as well as rolled oats & flaxseed and real meat (there are chicken and beef varieties). Also on select boxes of Milk-Bone® treats you can find a coupon to purchase Pup-Peroni and Milo’s Kitchen treats, although I didn’t find any coupons on any packs in the WalMart I visited, they do exist!

Some of the Milk-Bone® selection.

The Crunchy treats I bought for Snuffles and Scrappy.

The Healthy Favorites flavor I chose for Snuffles so he don't get too fat!

I think we got plenty of treats to last us at least a little, 6 packs/boxes of treats! I think my 2 pups are going to enjoy their training, especially with the great flavors I chose!

My cart with all the dog treats I chose

I have already started the training, and hope to be able to share some results with you next week! Be sure to check out my entire shopping experience on Google+.

Be sure to join the Twitter Party on Thursday January 12, 2012 at 12:00 CST by following along #ILoveMyK9.

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias All opinions are my own and not influenced by anything or anyone.

Today I was asked to take some pictures of Justin, so tonight while he was in a good mood I took a few quick shots. He’s so photogenic, I love it! BTW, I’m saving the best picture for last! You can click on any picture to make it bigger.

He don't like to be on his belly much, but this is such a great shot!

Even pouting, he's adorable!

He looks so chubby in this picture

Last, but definitely not least….

No words can describe how happy this picture makes my heart!!!!