I'm just a Momma on a "mission"...

Ever have one of those weeks? It seems that when it rains here it pours! This week started out pretty rough! The other morning we had a burglary, yes someone invaded MY privacy & rifled through the 'burb, aka the "quadmobile". They did this in front of our house, in our own driveway! Like there was much to be had anyways but what they took was stupid stuff! When it was all said & done they took the tribe's diaper & bib bag, my bag that I take to work & 2 wallets. The funny part, if you can find the humor, is that there really was NOTHING of value in the wallets for a thief to take!A $20 bill, could be considered life savings for this quadmomma, LOL, some family photos & a few OLD gift cards. And I mean OLD! They were from the time BEFORE children when I actually had time to shop! LOL! After scolding myself for letting this happen I then had a good scream on the inside. Just another event to cap off my already CRAZY life! Next I called the police to report it. Just in case other people in my area also had their vehicles broken into I wanted there to be a record of it! Needless to say my day started out BAD! ugh! This should set the stage for my "adventures" the rest of the day. First stop was to see my new GP, general practitioner in medical lingo. I FINALLY was going to see a Doctor other than my OB/GYN, YAY! Ever since I made my appointment my track record with their office has not been good. - Here's a brief re-cap of my first visit to their office - {I showed up 2 weeks earlier for what I thought was my appointment only to be told it was actually the day before! Get this they don't call to remind you! My life is a blur, I need reminding! Michael had taken off work & met me there. He was with them in their waiting room while I spoke to the receptionist. As I am standing there talking to her the tribe proceeds to stand up in their quad stroller & it tips over! Yep they all go flying to the floor! Do you think the receptionist got up out of her seat to see if my children were OK? Nope! After I make sure they did not suffer a concussion I then ask her if there is any paperwork I can fill out ahead of him, ie: insurance, etc. She then said no, you do it the day of the appt. I wanted to scream! Like I said it was a BAD week! I had to explain to her how it would just be me with them at my NEXT appt & would like to fill out the paperwork now so I did not have to concentrate on anything but them while I was waiting. After what I consider TOO much prodding she hands me one basic form. YAY! Any form is better than no form} So fast forward to the SAME day as the break in, I am at my SECOND visit for my FIRST appointment with my NEW Doctor. I told my hubby if things don't get better I may just seek out a different Doc. It's terrible but the office staff really can make or break my relationship with a Doctor. This time I gave her all of my insurance info & she tells me what my co pay is so I proceed to give her my credit card.Before I get my butt back to my seat she tells me quite loudly, "We don't take credit cards! We only take cash or checks and we do not bill!". HUH!? What kind of Doctor's office does not take a credit card, a debit card at that or bill their patients!? CRAZY! I felt like all the other patients were looking at me even more than they already do with my tribe! What makes matters even worse is that my own hubby has been to this office last week & even he did not tell me to bring cash! ugh! My day just seemed to get worse! I wanted to just pack the tribe up & leave! After shedding a few tears & having a chat with dear 'ol hubby they called me back to a room. It was not until I actually made it into the room did I break down & share with the nurse how bad I felt. There I was ALONE with 4 kiddos in a HUGE stroller that barely fit into the doorway & I had to tell her why my experiences there made me upset. Let's just see, I have 4 CRAZY children at home by myself! They constantly fight & better yet BITE one another! Avery bit Lindsey on the face while swimming in the pool! ugh! After much venting she turned to me & said if you need ANYTHING please skip the other lines & leave a message for me! I will help you! I cannot tell you how great that felt! Jokingly I told her that I hope the Doc makes up for the CRAZINESS of what I dealt with prior to her! My time with him was short but I felt better in the end. The VERY best part was that when I needed a RX for my eczema he got out this electronic contraption & sent the RX to the pharmacy of my choice! Yep, No paper RX that I had to take to the pharmacy & then wait to get filled. He sent it directly to the pharmacy of my choice electronically! WOO HOO! That made up for the other stuff I had to deal with in spades! Any little thing that can save me time is AWESOME! After leaving his office I decided to take the tribe on a few more "adventures". I know what was I thinking?! We stopped in to see their Perinatologist, the guy that I credit for getting them here healthy. He is AWESOME & I like to visit him so he can see how well they are doing. Their momma maybe not so good, LOL, but they are healthy, ACTIVE, two & a half year old children! After saying our "Hi's" & "Byes" we were off to Target, one of my favorite places, to get some storage stuff for our garage.Now most momma's know if you bring your kids inside Target or any store for that matter, you pretty much can NOT use your stroller & shop at the same time. The strollers are just NOT built to carry it all! I tried this ONCE & will never do it again! hahah! I was pushing their stroller & pulling a cart, ahh... Call me CRAZY! SO I now load all 4 into a cart & we shop! They were actually doing rather well that is until an employee comes up to me to say something about them in the cart. What can I say they do not have shopping carts big enough for my tribe! After this encounter I decided there really needs to be a voice for mommas like me. People need to know how hard it is to do this alone. Me & my missions! After loading up all of my purchases & getting the tribe into their car seats I decided to call Target to get their policy on helping momma's like me. For all you momma's out there, got your hands full? Target will let an employee walk around the store with you as you shop! Yep, they are moving up in the ranks like Publix has been doing already! I cannot tell you how happy I felt when that store manager told me their policy! Now if I can just get other businesses on board! I just want to make things easier on the momma's that come after me. And this is ANY momma with a butt load of kids no matter the age & no matter if they are multiples.

I'm just a Momma on a "mission"...

Buccal Cellulitus...

This is the latest ailment to affect our household. It actually sounds worse than it actually is. It is a fancy name for a skin infection & it has called Lindsey "home" for the past few days. Luckily we caught it early because it could have turned into an abscess which we do not need! This all started with a small spot on her cheek that looked just like a bug bite. Being in FL we often get mosquitoes and for some strange reason they LOVE to bite her, probably because she is SO sweet! LOL! Well I gave her some Benadryl & she continued with her day as normal as could be. It was not until AFTER her nap that we knew there was a problem. You should have seen her face! Half of her cheek & chin was all swollen, warm to the touch, pink & hard! It looked TERRIBLE! She still had her cheery disposition but her face looked like it belonged on an ALIEN! When she smiled half of her face would not cooperate and basically it looked distorted. Poor Linz! I knew I had to take her in to see the Doc. I had to think fast since it was already 4pm. Michael arranged for Aunt Kara to come over & LUCKILY, Grandma & Aunt Pat were able to watch the others until she arrived. Off we were, 45 minutes away, to see Dr Stout. I make it in record time & did not even have to wait once we got there. YAY! Dr Stout took one look at her & said I believe this is Buccal Cellulitus. Like I know what that is! LOL! She then said it is basically a skin infection caused by bacteria getting into the skin & causing an infection. Now I need to tell you there was no scratch or cut this was just a raised pink bump. She said it could be VERY miniscule for the bacteria to get in, possibly in her mouth. Luckily we caught it in time because she did not have any fever yet. All she needs is 7 days of antibiotics and then should be as good as new. YAY! Before we could leave she had to outline the swollen area on her face so when we came back the next day the Dr could tell if the meds worked. Once the appt was over you would have thought she was a cranial/facial patient with all the marks on her face! LOL! I'm telling you the things these children expose me to! I can now say that I have heard of ...

Buccal Cellulitus...

Nursemaid's elbow

Ok, I have to admit that before children I NEVER heard about or knew what Nursemaid's elbow meant. I can now say that I am sort of an expert on it! My Camryn has now been to the ER twice due to this ailment. This time it was my 5 year old niece trying to help her back up on Grandma's bed that possibly caused it. Camryn can be VERY dramatic & of course she ONLY wants her mommy. So, once I got home from work my niece Katie, Camryn & I were off to the ER. I was not looking forward to the wait but I needed to make sure we made the right diagnosis. This time she would not move her right arm at all. In the waiting room she was pretty good but still cradled her arm. I think she was more afraid of feeling the pain she had earlier so she kept it still. We tried EVERYTHING to get her mind off it. She would stare at all the other patients waiting to be seen, even give a smile now & then but once we touched her arm she would cry. I decided we needed to stay & get a doctors opinion. After waiting about 2 hours her name was FINALLY called. They took us back into the "minor" care section. Dr. Finegold took very good care of her. He ordered some X-Rays & gave her some ibuprofen. She continued to be one WHINY girl. It was now 9pm & Cam Cam was getting VERY tired too! We changed her into her PJ's & waited for the results. FINALLY, no breaks, nothing! She just had...


Nursemaid's elbow...

oh, lucky day....

Today is suppose to be a lucky day, 8 8 08. I do not know if there is that much truth in that since I woke up EARLY to a screaming baby! Miss Linz decided to wake up an hour & a half before the rest, SCREAMING! This is the 3rd day that she has had a fever. I think it is teething but I just do not know. She just wanted to be held, by only ME! IT was rough. Her twin also woke up with a cough & some congestion so I decided I better take them in to the pediatrician just to make sure. Luckily Grandma had the morning free so we loaded up the babe's & off we went to the doctor's. Only having to take two babies in is a treat! Whenever they need shots I try to line up EXTRA reinforcements to help comfort them. You never think of those things when you have just one baby. Well there I was in the waiting room with them clinging on to me like glue. I guess that was better than letting them down to roam through the germ infested "sick kid" area. We waited about 20 minutes & YAY they called our name! They got weighed in & I am sad to announce that they are still under 20 lbs. No wonder we still call them "peanut"! We saw a NEW doctor to the practice which sometimes can be hard when you are so accustomed to seeing their regular one. She was great! She made sure they did not cry when she listened to their lungs & checked their throats. Let me tell you for all that we had to do to get them there you would think we woud leave with some sort of diagnosis. NOTHING! No ear infections, sore throats, congestions, etc. They were as healthy as can be. I guess I should have listened to my intuition & realized it was just them teething their molars...

oh, lucky day!....