Everything always goes wrong when Rob leaves.......

So 2 weeks ago Rob headed to Virginia and the kids and I planned to meet my parents over in Savannah for some of the days he would be gone. He left out on the morning of June 6, a Monday and I planned on leaving on Tuesday. Well, when I took Preston to the bathroom that morning I noticed that his urine was really dark, almost tea colored. I didn't know what was going on so I decided to see what the next pee break looked liked and in the mean time I googled away. Well, around 10 his pee seemed to have a red color to it and I immediately got him and his sister dressed and headed to his doctor. I took him in as a walk in and we were seen pretty quickly. They needed a urine sample but he had just gone to the bathroom so after waiting for about 30 minutes I told the nurse I would bring the sample back. We live extremely close to the doctor so I went home and loaded him up on juice. I knew I would regret the number of bathroom breaks I was setting myself up for, but I needed that sample and i needed it fast! I think that he would have peed a lot sooner, but he had the urine bag collector tape to him, it's supposed to be easier to do it this way instead of a cup for his age. After about 20 minutes he finally went. I sealed the bag and loaded the kids back in the car and to Dr. Criscola we went. He was somewhat concerned because there was blood in the urine but also told me that it could be something as simple as a bruised penis. He also told me it could be an issue with his kidneys which sent immediate panic through my entire body. He sent us over to South GA for some lab work to just be on the safe side. Well, I was told by the nurse to go to the outpatient lab, when we got there I was told that we had to go to the main hospital and get registered there and then have the lab work done on the pediatrics floor. This meant that I had to load the kids back in the car seats, drive over to the main hospital and then unload them again. It was also 99 degrees out and I was beyond stressed. Once registered, which was a pain because the hospital didn't know the correct codes to put in on the lab request and could not get in touch with anyone from the doctor's office for about 30 minutes. We were finally sent up to the lab. This was honestly the most horrible part of my day...week...life! The regular nurse was out that day so that already was a bad sign. Nothing against the fill in nurse, but I would much rather a nurse that does this all the time to stick my kid over the girl who looked younger than me and seemed a bit nervous. She called in another nurse to help hold Preston down so they could get all the tubes of blood. He has never had lab work done and he is not old enough to understand what was going on. The process of trying to get enough blood from him went on for over an hour. We took breaks, they attempted to bribe him with stickers and juice, turned on the TV, nothing worked. With the first stick he peed on the table, I changed him and tried to calm him down and a total of 6 nurses tried to get blood. They did both arms, both feet and his hand. After painfully watching with tears in my eyes, i asked if there was something else we could do. The nurses agreed that none of them wanted to stick him again and had enough blood to do about 3 of the 6 test. They called the doctor and told him what was going on and he told me that I could bring Preston back in a week to complete the lab. I knew Rob would be home for a couple of days at the end of the week and I would have him there to help. Once we got home they day was over. I had not got anything done around the house and really had a bunch to do. Preston crashed as soon as we got in the car and his sister was still laughing. She seemed to find joy in his pain. The next time he peed it was normal and  has continued to be that way. Tuesday morning we headed over to Savannah. I was about 30 minutes out when his doctor's office called and told me that he would need an appointment with a nephrologist...I immediately started to cry, I already knew before she could explain that a nephrologist is a kidney doctor. My mind went to the thinking the worst, was there something wrong with his kidney, would he have to be on dialysis, would he need a new kidney....and then even more panic because I knew I had already donated my "extra" kidney.... what the hell were we going to do now?!?!?..... I called Rob in tears and told him what happened. He called to nurse back to get more of an explanation. We were told that anytime there is blood in the urine they are going to make sure there is absolutely nothing wrong with the child and that I could relax. He showed no signs of pain and had only peed 4 times with the blood in it, everything was now coming out normal. I relaxed a bit, and said a little prayer that everything would be okay. We headed on to Savannah and had a great week. My dad and his buddy buddy,( that is what he calls Preston) were two peas in a pod and Gracie, the girl that goes to know one really took to being with grandma. Anytime mom went and fixed a snack or had chips she let Miss Piggy have some, so I think that is what broke the ice. I was able to go out two nights in Savannah and spend time with friends that I don't see very often. I also went to my godparents and they were able to spend time with the kids. After almost a week, we headed back to Valdosta. It was kind of bittersweet to know that this would be the last time, at least for a while that I would do the most boring drive in the world, 84 East to Savannah and 84 West back to Valdosta.  

PRESCHOOLS the new college???????

So the search is on for pre-school, I feel that I am kinda stuck. I am pretty open with my parenting and not extremely strict with my kids, but when it comes to anyone watching them, the doctors they go to and baby gear that is for them I am a NUT. I research like crazy, I read reviews, I have a list of questions, I watch youtube video reviews, I go test it out, I google like crazy, basically if there is information out there I will find it! Like most parents I want the best for my kids and I want them to have even more and and even better opportunities than I had, which will be hard to top because my parents were and still are amazing, but I am trying. So like most parents, around the age of 3, it's time to really start thinking about schools and so on. My kids have never been to daycare and we don't really have a regular babysitter. It is not often that I leave them in the care of anyone besides myself, even their dad. CRAZY... I know, but as their mother, as the one who carried them for almost 40 weeks, who felt every kick and punch while in the womb and as the one who went through two natural labors, I feel that it's my job to protect them and keep them safe and it makes me seem a little loco it's okay. 
   With that being said I am STUCK! Preston turns 3 in September and I want him to be in preschool this Fall doing half days, at least 3 days a week! Well find a school you say, well it's not that simple. Being a military family we know that moving is always something we will have to deal with and I am okay with that, but right now I need to know where the hell we are going to be in the Fall. Rob is up for orders(means we will move some where) this year, actually any day now between now and June. Most really good preschools have waiting list and some kids have been on that list since birth! How can I compete with that, I can't! So yes, I am at the point of getting super stressed. If we were staying in Valdosta I would have him at Brookfield Academy with no hesitation, but I don't see that happening.
  When did school for a 3 year old become such a major event, is this college or preschool? Between the interviews and the waiting list and tuition, my kid would have better luck getting into Harvard... tomorrow! Yes, I know it may not be that extreme, but maybe it should be. These are people and other children that my kid will be around for a lot of his waking hours. Until I know where we will be living I have started to narrow it down to the type of school I want. I went to Montessori and so did my step-son, so Rob and I both agree that Montessori is at the top of the list, but there seems to be so much to really have to look at and not enough time. 
While I am grateful that Rob has a job that allows us to live in new places and experience new things, don't they know I have to pick a school! I am happy and looking forward to this next milestone in Preston's life, but I would like to have a little more control over the whole situation. I know some may feel that it's not a big deal and nothing to stress over, but IT IS! lol

YIKES, ALREADY SLACKING OFF....

Okay, yes I know that I wanted to have this amazing blog and really be able to sit down every day and write, but I don't live in a perfect world so it's not happening. I was bust towards the end of last week getting stuff together from my Stella & Dot Trunk Show. It was fun, message me if you want me to put one together for you. Anyways, the weekend wasn't too eventful, just caught up on a lot of TV shows with the hubby. But yesterday was one of those days, the kind when I ask myself do I really want to be a SAHM and I also strongly consider working outside of the house. Anyways, It started off with Rob bringing me coffee in bed, sweet huh? Well yes and no. He is not the one that usually makes the coffee and he just puts as many scoops as he thinks it needs, which was way more than I do. I couldn't tell how strong it was through all the creamer so I gulped it down and went on about my morning. I took a shower(amazing to do this before noon) and I was just in a very hyper/happy mood. I'm not a morning person so this was strange but I figured I would just go with it. I started doing some S&D stuff and suddenly started to get all jittery and anxious feeling. I knew it had to be all the caffeine. I texted Rob and asked how many scoops he used and it turned out to be almost double the amount I use. Well no wonder I had the shakes like a crack head. He thought it was funny, but not me. It is the worst feeling. I googled how to make this topic go away, apparently it happens a lot, because there were a ton of suggestions. I tried eating, but it made me feel queasy, the nap suggestion was not gonna happen because I was so wired and I have KIDS so I went with the water drinking suggestion. It helped a little but I still felt bad. Well I guess the kids decided they needy to join in the Monday blues. Gracie is teething and decided that she had to be held ALL DAY LONG, I put her in the Ergo and carried her around but that was not cutting it. She wanted to be in my arms completely. So while in the glider with her Preston decides to get jealous. He comes up and sits with us. I think things are going okay, but not with my little ones. Gracie starts hitting Preston on the head and he starts pushing her back and finally gets down but starts to whine.....The day continues with a lot of tears from all 3 of us(sometimes a good cry makes you feel better). Every time I would almost have Gracie asleep Preston would have to pee, which means she would start crying because she was put down lol. Preston also had 2 accidents yesterday, one on my lap!!! By the time Rob came home, I was ready to crash from the caffeine wearing off but he had plans to shoot pool. So may day pretty much continued to go down hill until 10:45 when he came home. This morning he said wasn't yesterday funny now that its over? ummm HELL NO! It wasn't funny then and it has not been long enough after all the events to find it funny yet. Oh sometimes these kids manage to push every button, but i don't know what I would do without them, although a nanny or mommy's helper a few hours a week maybe 2 days out of the week would be amazing! Maybe I should ask for that for mothers day this year. Anyways, have a terrific TUESDAY!!!