September | 2013 | Adventures in Crazytown

Hello from crazytown! Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to post a new blog but life has seriously been crazy around here. I’ve been spending all my spare time decluttering and organizing this house. The playroom has a new look, the boys closet is so clean I cannot believe it, and a bunch of other little tasks have been completed. I promise to share some details soon!

In the meantime, I thought I would give myself (and hopefully some of you) a little pep talk. I’ve been alone with the boys all day long. They have been all sorts of special crazy which is of course totally my fault. I was working so much I didn’t let them have outside time and I broke a ton of my own rules about how to keep them sane while I try to get stuff done. So as I finally sit down tonight I’m feeling a little defeated. This was not my best mommy day! In an effort to be more positive and to hopefully inspire all of you to do the same I’m going to give you 5 reasons I totally rocked today!

My children are alive! No seriously, if you think about all it takes to keep a kid alive it really is worth giving yourself a pat on the back. Not to mention two of them! And that doesn’t even take into account two of them that are constantly trying to kill each other in one way or another! So… GO ME! The boys are still alive!
I did 4 complete loads of laundry. They are folded, put away and DONE! I’m normally pretty lucky to get a half a load done so this is major!
I ate all three meals at home! We did not do our normal meal planning and grocery shopping this week because we knew it was going to be a crazy week and we don’t like to buy food we wont use. Normally when I’m exhausted, spent, and just done with the day I will cave and go get some fast food. Tonight, I did not! In all honestly my dinner sucked but hey, I’m just eating to live, not living to eat!
I built a Lego Pirate Tree House… well, I helped. I made sure to spend some time on the ground playing with the boys tonight even though all I wanted to do was sit on the couch and stare at the tv.
I read to the boys before bed. This one is probably the most important on my list. Every night since the day T$ was born I try to read to him (and now Buggy too). Some nights we are all just too exhausted but tonight we got in one Bible Story and one funny story. It helps us all unwind and it makes the boys so happy. I know these are memories we are making and they are the important ones.

So, tell me why did you rock today?

Doesn’t matter how big or small the accomplishment was I want to hear about it!

A few weeks ago Buggy appeared with a small rash. Little did we know when we first saw the rash that we were about to battle the chicken pox. A little back story here… Our boys are on a delayed vaccine schedule that excludes certain vaccines we feel are unnecessary. The Chickenpox (Varicella) Vaccine is one of the vaccines our boys do not get. So yes, we could have prevented this illness but we chose not to for various reasons I won’t get into here. If I had to re-do it all again would I change my mind about the vaccine? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Really the chickenpox was not that big of a deal. The worst part of it was that we couldn’t venture outside and we all went a bit stir crazy. Read on to see how things went down.

Saturday: T$ had soccer and Buggy was playing in the grass. After his nap we noticed a small rash on his head no big, right?

Sunday: A little rashy but again nothing I was worried about.

Monday: We got home from work and our nanny pointed out the rash was spreading all over his face. I put some CJ’s Butter on it and figured it would be gone by morning.

Tuesday: The rash was not itchy and mostly on his head and neck. I applied lotion and coconut oil a few times throughout the day. I also gave Buggy extra Raw Milk and greek Yogurt to get extra probiotics in him.

Wednesday Morning: The rash had spread all over looking more like blisters and very obviously itchy. I took him into the doctor to have the rash diagnosed. Honestly at this point chickenpox hadn’t even crossed my mind! The doctor immediately recognized it as chickenpox and sent us on our way to get some calamine lotion.

As soon as we got home I started a luke warm oatmeal bath with a chamomile tea bag in it and 2 drops of Lavender Essential Oil. After he got out of the bath I used calamine lotion mixed with 2 drops of Lavender Essential Oil and 2 drops of Melaleuca Essential Oil. I repeated the bath twice more that day and the lotion with every diaper change. I used Lavender and Melaleuca Essential Oils as they are both anti-viral and soothing for your skin.

Thursday: The rash spread farther on his legs but had already started clearing on his face. I did the calamine lotion mixture at every diaper change and gave him two oatmeal baths. By bedtime I felt he was super itchy and uncomfortable. I gave him one dose of benedryl to help him sleep. This is the only time I used something un-natural but I was desperate to give him some relief. I am all to familiar with how uncomfortable constant itching can me.

Friday: The rash was clearing some and I continued the calamine at every diaper change and two baths. This was a super itchy day. So instead of giving benedryl I applied the Lavender Essential Oil directly to some of his itchiest spots. I noticed instant improvement.

Saturday: Buggy woke up with noticeable improvement and scabbing had begun. I continued the calamine at every diaper change and reduced his oatmeal bath to once a day.

Sunday: The rash was still improving but Buddy did wake up with blood on his sheets from one of the scabs he broke open over night. The itching was super improved! I continued the calamine at every diaper change and his oatmeal bath once a day.

Monday: Woke up with a HUGE left gland (size of ping pong ball). I must admit I have NEVER seen a gland so swollen in my life. It scared me enough I called the doctor. She assured me this was a totally normal part of the virus. I applied 2 drops Oregano Essential Oil (diluted with coconut oil) to the bottom of Buggy’s feet. Oregano is a super powerful oil and is known to knock out a virus quickly! I could tell the swollen gland was bothering him as he was super fussy and clingy on this day. Luckily for me he slept well! I continued the calamine at every diaper change and his oatmeal bath once a day.

Tuesday: We were at the one week mark! His gland was still swollen but smaller. It was another very clingy day and there was NO good sleep to be had. I spent most of the day snuggling Buggy. The scabs were falling off and clearing so that was a positive. I still did the calamine lotion just not as often and I did an oatmeal bath at night.

Wednesday: Buggys’ glad was still swollen this morning. He was clingy, cranky and up way too early for my liking. His head was super itchy which was strange because almost all the scabs had fallen off from there. About half way through the day I noticed he was drooling an insane amount. I immediately started searching his mouth for scabs as I had read a ton about getting the pox in your mouth. I found no scabs but two molars breaking through. Yep, that’s how my kid rolls! I rubbed some Lavender Essential Oil (1 drop maybe) on his jawline to help with the teething.

Thursday: We woke up to an almost completely clear face. His chest, arms and legs were far improved as well. Buggy’s gland was still swollen but I could only tell by touching it to feel it. We also woke up to one of the two molars breaking skin. Ya, it was a long day.

Friday: Skin was basically clear at this point. I started a whole new routine of using Lavender Essential Oil mixed with my CJ’s Butter to really hydrate all that skin had been dried out. I applied it every diaper change.

Saturday: We finally felt like Buggy was over the chickenpox. We celebrated by all going grocery shopping. Oh yeah!!!

Buggy in his luxurious oatmeal, essential oil, chamomile bath.

It wasn’t a walk in the park but I have to admit it was not a huge deal either. Of course I felt bad for my little poxie baby but he was still mostly happy and playing and his normal funny self. The only exception to that were the days he was teething which is always a nightmare anyway.