Things Are Changing....

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE for everyone who followed Grab Bag and 4 Little Monkeys to come check out my new blog venture. It speaks to my life as it is now, and hopefully alot of yours. Hop on over to Sneaky Green Blog and start following me there. There is so much to come!!

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Happy Hunger Games

The plan is to go see Hunger Games at midnight. Who else is going?

Sick Monkeys

It never fails. As soon as I carve out time to do something for myself there is always a large unavoidable hiccup. My last post was about shots, lumps, and ERs (oh my!). That has now morphed into bronchitis, ear infections, and fevers (oh my!). My little man is on an antibiotic, steroid, and cough medicine until this sickness clears up. Which I hope is sooner rather than later. His sleep has been almost non-existent and he has become my shadow. If I dare to leave him in the room along he has a complete meltdown full with kicking legs, flailing arms, and high pitched screams. He also just got into super glue. Thankfully I was able to get his fingers rinsed and the glue set before he touched anything, but he's currently having a fit because his fingers feel funny. So pray for me. HA! But seriously.

We should be back to our regularly, newly, scheduled programming once he is on the mend.

Let's Meet

What A Difference A Day Makes

Friday I posted a small teaser on my Facebook page referencing the running of the bulls. That was my intended subject for Friday but, as usual, my monkeys had other plans. It was supposed to be a leisurely morning of getting my big boy off to school, then taking our time picking out cute outfits and getting ready for a twice yearly consignment sale that resembles the running of the bulls in Pamplona. But

If you remember, on Thursday my two littlest monkeys had their well visits, and both received sets of immunizations. My 2 year old recovered pretty quickly, being soothed by some snuggles, but complained immediately that his legs were hurting. Par for the course. That night he had an awful time getting to sleep, and woke up continuously through the night limping out to the big gorilla and I. Friday morning, his temp was normal but he was extremely sluggish, clingy, and willing to watch Elmo... this kid doesn't sit still for anything, not even Elmo's fuzzy cuteness. He started whining and grabbing his neck saying, "Ow, hurt" (it was heartbreakingly pitiful) so I started feeling around his neck. I felt several small pea-sized lumps on either side of his spine at the base of his head. Commence mommy freak out.

I immediately called the pediatrician, who promised to call me back in a few minutes. Commence idiotic googling. I know better, I really do. But I did it anyway. At first all I could find were references to dogs. Great, my primate has turned into a canine! No, but really, have you ever been scouring the internet for a particular subject and can't find anything? It's maddening! Then I started looking for lumps and spine together... I know, I know. Did I actually expect to find anything reassuring? Of course I didn 't. I reached out to some dear friends of mine at The Mamasphere who offered up their are and concern. When the pediatrician finally called back they pretty much told me to go straight to the ER, neck pain was nothing to mess with. I asked if it could just be a reaction to the shots, but with no clear answer and very clear instructions to head to the hospital that's where we went.

At this juncture let me say that I love my big manly protective gorilla. He is hardworking, handsome, and stupid good at math. Really, I'm jealous. But he does not have the type of job that he just leave at the drop of a hat. So, in this instance that means packing up all 3 monkeys and preparing to spend the next couple of hours with them in the ER. I packed diaper, and wipes, and granola bars, and squeezy applesauce (one of my favorite inventions EVER), juice, extra pacis, blankies, my phone, tablet, and chargers and off we went.

Amazingly as soon as I filled out the initial paperwork we were called back to triage. Little boy turned into the exorcist when the nurse tried putting the pulse-ox on his finger. We went back into a room and within minutes the nurse-practitioner came in to see us. She felt his neck and said, "Yep, it's just lymph nodes. After shots sometimes their lymph nodes swell as the immune system fights the shot and builds immunity." My immediate reaction was relief. But then, I'll be honest, I was a little irritated. Obviously, the most important thing was that my baby boy was ok, but then I couldn't help but be put out by the fact that the pediatricians office never said anything as simple as, "It could be an immune response to the shots, but go get him checked out to be safe." I still would have gone, but it would have toned down the amount of worry I had churning my stomach until the np talked to us.

3 bored monkeys, 2 hours, and 1 dose of Motrin later we were out of there. Just in time to go get the big monkey from school and hit up the consignment sale where I got babygirl a brand new pair of Pedipeds for $16! When you're a few hours late to the opening it doesn't resemble Pamplona in the least.

Be Still

Happy St. Patty's Day

Talk about Irish gold! Have a great weekend, enjoy your green beer, and don't forget to pinch the humbugs!

Training Monkeys

Have you ever tried to train a monkey? They're wild, unpredictable, and loud - not to mention the bug eating and poop throwing. Everything is bound to be more interesting *coughchaoticcough* when there are monkeys involved.

On the upside, moneys are smart, resourceful, and darn cute! See?

Today I have to try to keep 3/4 of my brood in line while we go to the doctor for well visits. My monkey girl is getting her 6 month check, even though she turned 7 months old yesterday, and my littlest boy is having his 2 year done. This should be interesting. Coughchaoticcough Sorry, don't know what happened there. Maybe I should see the doctor?

I'm back!

Hello, blogosphere. It seems like ages since we last met. Actually, it has been 2 years and some odd months... so ages isn't exactly an exaggeration. I've missed the readers, I've missed the outlet that blogging is for me, and I've missed connecting with so many amazing people across the globe. As my family has grown, my world has shrunk and become a small hub around me. I want to open myself back up to all of you. Today my kitchen is (mostly) clean, the littlest monkeys are napping, and now looks like a great time to reconnect!

When we left off,my husband and I only had 2 little boys. Like I said before, our family has continued to grow and we have been blessed with 2 more children - the 4th, a girl. We've also come back home to the south, although to a city we had neither explored nor lived in. Life is it's own adventure, I suppose, and my monkeys keep it interesting.

So keep your eyes (and bananas) peeled, because there is so much fun to come!