Brainwashing, Asthma, & Valentine's Day

Saturday night I fell asleep on the couch. The tv was on and it was the worst sleep ever because the infomercials became part of my dreams. I seriously woke up convinced that I needed to order some Proactive as soon as possible. It entertained my thoughts all throughout the day. And then it got me thinking...with as much influence that marketers have over our subconscious thoughts, why in the world haven't Rick and I made some home video "commercials" to brainwash our children? I mean, it is a genius idea. Mix in a few subliminal messages here and there in between Caillou and Clifford about how they need to eat their vegetables and pick up their toys and listen and obey. Wonder if it would work???  ;)

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Harper had her first appointment with her asthma specialist today. It went great -- he was super nice and informative and took lots of time answering my questions. She was supposed to have the dreaded allergy testing done today, but since she is currently in the "yellow zone" of her asthma symptoms and needed her rescue inhaler last night and this morning, he didn't feel comfortable exposing her to any allergens that could potentially cause an attack. So we rescheduled her testing for 2 weeks and in the meantime he upped the dosage on her steroid inhaler and wrote out an official Asthma Action Plan. This gives me some peace knowing that in the middle of an episode I can turn to this plan and have objective steps of what to do and when to do it (versus straight up panicking).

He also referred us to an ENT to discuss some sleep apnea issues she has. Ever since she was a newborn, as she is falling into a deep sleep she has always sighed a deep breath out and then pauses about 7-10 seconds before breathing again. She does it intermittently through the night as well. For some reason this never occurred to me that it could be a potential issue. Why I never considered this to be apnea is beyond me. I just thought it was a cute (and nerve-wracking) little quirk in her sleeping habits. Mom fail. Thankfully it was one of the questions he asked when going over her medical history. Apparently sleep apnea can be an issue in preemies, and coupled with her asthma it could potentially be dangerous as it can affect her oxygen levels. Another common cause of apnea is enlarged tonsils/adenoids. So now it looks like a possible sleep study and/or tonsillectomy could be in her future. This poor girl can never catch a break.

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And now for a little Valentine's Day recap!

They had a party at their school on Thursday so we started our festivities a day early. I saw the Pioneer Woman cook what I think she calls "Egg in the Hole" and I've been wanting to try it. I figured heart-shaped cookie cutters were fitting instead of just a circle. I love fried eggs but my kiddos were skeptical. It was a 50% success. Harrison ate his and Harper wouldn't even touch hers. 

 

Here are the valentines that I put together for the kids. Harrison was adamant on Army men. Thankfully I found a big bag of them at Dollar Tree where I also found some heart straws. He couldn't stop laughing at the puns -- I guess cheesy is in his genes :)

They had an early dismissal and we all drove over to a local nursing home so the kids could sing and pass out handmade valentines to the elderly people. I LOVED this idea!

I tried to get a picture of my sweeties but Harper wanted no part in posing for a picture. Scratch that -- she was happy to pose, but wanted no part in her brother's affection. Which he offered completely on his own. I think they are swapping personalities here lately.

get your arm OFF OF ME!

I was CRACKING UP at my kids during their "performance." Harrison was passionate about singing his song and was so sweet about it. Harper, on the other hand? Let's just say that instead of singing, she A) sat down with her finger up her nose for a good 30 seconds, yanked out a jewel, admired it, and then ate it (barf, barf, BARF); B) laid down with her legs up in the air, spreading them and swinging them all around (in a skirt); and C) stood back up, took her shoes off, and dangled them through the banister taunting the people below her. Hahaha! That girl is such a mess.

Another reason to believe they are swapping personalities momentarily: upon leaving the nursing home, my compliant little girl decided to bolt. She's never done this before up until the last couple of weeks. She trucked it through the door and into the parking lot. I screamed for her to stop and she just turned around and laughed at me and continued to run. So I'm chasing behind her and dragging Harrison with me and he trips and falls. At this point I abandon him in hopes that he can fend for himself because she is almost to the street. I was SO. MAD. I'm pretty sure I had laser beam eyes and flames coming out of my mouth. Thankfully I got to her before something terrible happened. I carried her kicking and screaming all the way to the car and Harrison had the biggest eyes -- even he was scared and surprised. Hopefully the experience resonated with him since he's usually the one doing the bolting.

By the time we got home, this was what was going on in the backseat:

I sat there in the driveway for an hour so I wouldn't have to wake them up. I haven't done this in ages. It was only a couple of years ago where car naps were such a common occurrence and now it felt so foreign. It was such a reminder that we are venturing into a new season and my babies are growing up.

When I was unpacking their backpacks and folders I came across this on the back on one of Harrison's crafts. He's already doodling girls' names. When I asked him about her, he told me he likes sitting next to her because she's funny and she has really pretty hair. Oh sweet Jesus. Rick asked me if I'm planning to beat little Ava up next time I see her. Hahaha!  (maybe)

On Friday I offered to cook heart-shaped pancakes with bacon for breakfast and Harrison responded with, No thanks. I'd rather go to Whataburger for an egg sandwich. Well okay then, my sweet dear child, thank you for your blunt honesty. It actually wasn't a bad idea after I thought about it. Sometimes mom can use a little break from cooking and cleaning up a kitchen. So Whataburger it was!

He tried to give her a kiss on the cheek but she wanted no part in that.

no means no!

he asked me to take this picture...

my little birdies and I split a cinnamon roll. YUM!

when Rick got home he had flowers for his ladies

We made heart-shaped pizzas

And we played with Play-doh. She mixed the colors. ::cringe::

It felt a little wrong cutting this in half.

For dessert, we dipped stuff in chocolate. Including lots of fingers and a couple of tongues.

our goodies (that made it through the dipping process undevoured)

Nothing beats the sweet sugar high of Valentine's Day with the people you love most in this world.