As I sit here on the sofa next to a sleeping Jackson and next to a pack-n-play with a sleeping Nathaniel, I think back to 5 years ago when I was in Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland ready to give birth to Jackson. That sure was a long night, but lead to the (albeit tramatic/dramatic) birth of a great kid. I really can't believe that was 5 years ago and that I have a child that is 5 years old! Crazy.

So, it's late and Jackson is still downstairs on the sofa with me, sleeping...sick. Yep, the day before his birthday I had to take him to the pediatrician to see what the situation is for him. He started off with some hive like symptoms on one knee, which spread to the other knee, than got larger on those knees...than went to the fact but looked different and got worse and swollen as the day went on. So...I took him in for a sick appointment and the end result is that while we don't really have a clue what the hive/redness is, we do know he has strep throat. They looked in his throat to see if that was okay, saw redness, did the strep test and it came back faintly positive. That means he's on a 10 day regimen of antibiotics and at this point also on kids benedryl for the hive/rash. There is a chance that I'll have to get him some steroids for the swelling and rash. The big concern is that it's surrounding his eye so badly and causing puffiness of the eye. Again, it's it great that it's the day before his birthday? Poor kiddo.

Of course it meant he couldn't play with his friends tonight, since he's not supposed to do stuff with them for 24 hours. Great. Try explaining to a kid that loves being outside with his friends at night that he can't go. Plus, it alters my night too because it's fun to get out and play with the adults too...lol. I felt horrible for him though, he was so sad and needy because of it.

We went to get his Rx filled and even though there was no way it was going to be ready we did some groceries too. I let him pick dinner and he opted for sandwiches, so we picked up more deli meat and I let him pick from some chips of which he wanted. Plus, as a special treat he picked out a donut and I brought one home for my mom too. I didn't get one and Joe is working the closing, so we didn't get.

Tomorrow for dinner we're supposed to be taking him out to whatever restaurant he decides on. Not sure if he'll be up to it since the benedryl seems to knock him out, but we'll see. We are going to be doing some stuff over the weekend with his friends and he's also getting a party when we're in Michigan, so he's not being completely denied.

This morning Joe went to get another casting of his teeth done. Even though he's not getting a bottom plate put in, he still needed to have it done so that the top fits properly. Our fingers are still crossed for him to have the top plate before heading to MI, but I'm not sure at this point, I can't tell.

Other interesting things of note is that our neighbor/ex friend had his Lexus SUV repo'd and there is talk that the paperwork has been started for foreclosure of his house. I guess when you're selling drugs you kinda forget to pay bills and stuff like that. He must be doing more using than selling though, because if he was good at what he did he'd have more than enough money. What a shame that the girlfriend just moved in, hope she doesn't take too much time to unpack...especially since his sorry self isn't even divorced yet!

The other neighbors are still in the midst of their struggle. The wife is home alone for a while since he took the kids to see his family in CA, a trip that was planned long ago. She's supposed to be taking meds but we all doubt it. She's made things very awkward outside a few nights by deciding to show up. We're all on the side of their daughters and just want her to get the help she needs to be a decent mom so it was hard to know what to say to her, my instinct was to want to pull her to the side and give her a piece of my mind (ever so gingerly) but I kept shut when it came to her.

Nathaniel is growing like crazy and I can't believe he's already 3 months and 1 week old. Oh boy! My babies are growing up too fast and I'm feeling mighty old and tired because of it.

Okay, I still have to make Jackson's bed, wait for Joe to come home and get both boys upstairs for bed at some point (although I plan to wait for Daddy's help on that one).

Oh, my biggest news is that after a slight (more than slight) food binge after stopping my pumping, I lost weight this week! Enough weight to make me get my butt moving to keep it up, which is great. The stopping of pumping was hard emotionally and psychically (can you say hurt?!?!) but the process is almost done and Nathaniel is doing okay with the formula so far. It's allowing me far more time during the day and way less stress. Plus, I'm not having to drink those horrible Guinness's anymore! Bonus.

I hope everyone had a nice 4th. Joe worked, so it was a pretty normal day for us but he did come home for dinner and than we did some fireworks later, so it ended up okay. Stunk he worked, but I guess someone has to and it gave him a comp day for later use.