I woke up on Valentines Day to a dozen red roses and some chocolates from Erik! They were a nice surprise since he didn't get home from work until 4am that morning and I was still awake with a sick baby when he walked in the door. I saw him come in and go to bed and somehow he got these flowers out on the counter before the morning without me seeing. I'm so thankful that even though he was coming home from working all night and very sleepy, he still took the time to stop and get the flowers I've been begging for for years! :)
The flowers were a bright start to a very loooooong day. The night before, Torsten was having some breathing problems and sounded like a barking seal whenever he tried to breathe or cry or cough. It was very scary and with Erik working nights, I had no idea what to do. Another resident physician who lives close (and is very super nice) came over around 10:30pm to check him out and make sure everything was okay. He diagnosed it as Croup (which we've never experienced with any of the other kids) and assured me it'd be alright. I spent most of the night either outside in the cold night air or laying on the floor in the mist from the humidifier. By morning Torsten sounded better, but had a few more scary breathing attacks during the late morning, so I decided to head into the pediatrician to get a steroid to give him some relief.
Of course the only appointment of the day the clinic had open was at 3:40, which meant I had to take Maida out of school a little early. I was nervous that Maida was going to be upset about missing some of her Valentine party, but luckily she was happy and felt privileged to be called out of class early. 
The appointment went as most appointments go with four kids. Out. Of. Control. We weren't seeing our normal pediatrician and I'm sure this doctor (who happened to be a resident) wasn't prepared for what she walked into when she entered our room. When my kids are hyped up on sugar, plus excited to be in a new place, they play off of each other a little more than normal and have a way of turning a quiet, sterile exam room, into a very loud and crazy circus act. My kids were laughing, screaming, climbing on the exam table, jumping, spinning around on the doctor's stool, unrolling the exam table paper, and throwing the complementary crayons from the waiting room up into the air like confetti. It's a miracle that the doctor was even able to do an exam with all the commotion. Even though the stethoscope was right in her ears, I can imagine that it was hard to hear anything with the background noise. Luckily Croup is pretty easy to diagnose and it was hard to mistake Torsten's seal barking breathing for anything else. I was happy to hear that she was prescribing us a steroid, but very confused when she told me it would come in pill form. When I asked how I was supposed to get him to take a pill, she said, "Just put it in ibuprophen or pudding," neither of which Torsten can have, yet! When I questioned giving him things meant for a six-month-old or older, she said, "Well, just give him something he regularly eats." Ha! Torsten doesn't eat food, yet. I left, leaving it hanging as to how I was going to get Torsten to take a pill. At that point, I figured it was the least of my worries.
We arrived at the Target about dinner time, so before stopping at the pharmacy, I decided to get the kids some food at the Target Pizza Hut. We took our time eating as we talked about their Valentine parties and let Torsten have a good nap in the cart in his car seat. A half hour later we made our way to the pharmacy where they told me it would be another half hour before the prescription would be done. Normally when a doctor calls in a prescription, they fill it immediately, however, Torsten has never had a prescription before, so I had to do some paperwork before they would fill it.
An hour later, after several trips to the bathroom, a couple panic attacks after kids went missing (only to be found hiding under clothes racks), and one small injury after I hit one of the kids with the cart, we picked up our pill. Since it had been so long, it was time to feed Torsten again (which I did the first time in the parking ramp of the clinic after the appointment). So, I bought some Valentine donuts to keep the kids busy while I fed him in the Pizza Hut area. It was a long day and when we finally got home, I was so ready to get the kids in bed and sleep myself. After wrestling the kids in bed, I decided I'd try to crush the pill and put it in some Tylenol. It was easy to crush, which made me happy! My happiness was soon shattered when I made the poor decision to pour the pill powder into the syringe before the Tylenol, without covering the hole in the tip of the syringe first. I didn't notice that the pill powder was going out onto the floor through the hole until I was done pouring. When I finally realized what had happened, I wanted to stomp my feet, cry, and say bad words. The whole day seemed wasted... taking Maida out of school early, all the fighting with the kids to sit still at the doctor, an un-enjoyable three hours at Target.. and all for nothing.
Luckily I just happen to be married to a doctor and not only did he surprise me with beautiful flowers on Valentine morning, he surprised me with another steroid pill for Torsten on Valentine night. What a sweetie.
We actually found the time to make our own Valentines this year. We decided to go the non-sugar route because I figured everyone else would be giving candy and the kids would have plenty! I bought a couple packs of 15 glowsticks for $1.00 at Hobby Lobby and we used paper we already had laying around the house.
Here are the Valentines Skogen made for his classmates:
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| "Yoda one for me." |
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| "You make my heart glow." The glowsticks also turned into bracelets! |
We continued our family's Valentine tradition sitting together and taking turns telling things we love about each other. This is one of the only times during the year that Maida professes her love for her brothers, which makes the time extra-special sweet. Here is what we love about each other this year...
Mommy love...
- "I love that Mommy takes care of me and loves me and takes care of my three brothers." (Maida)
- "I love that Mommy takes me to fun places and that she loves me. And what I love the most of Mommy is she takes me to REALLY fun and cool places. I like that Mommy draws little words [as he glanced down at me writing down what we were saying]." (Skogen)
- "I love when Mommy colors and when I eat with her." (Klaasen)
Daddy love...
- "I love how Daddy works so hard for us." (Mommy)
- "I love how he works really hard for us and makes money and buys us birthday presents and loves us and really really really likes working so that he doesn't quit his job. He only quits if he gets a broken arm or leg. He is the best dad in the whole world!" (Maida)
- "I love how he loves me the most. He brings me to REALLY SUPER FUN and cool places. He takeS me on rides at the Mall of America. He takes care of me. He loves me the most when he's home with with me." (Skogen)
Maida love...
- "I love her curly hair, how she helps me be a good mom, and when she takes care of her brothers for me." (Mommy)
- "I love how she loves me the best and plays spies with me and when she asks me to play with her." (Skogen)
Skogen love...
- "I love his curly hair and that he's a great skier!" (Mommy)
- "I like that he lets me play cars with him, that he loves me, and he takes care of me when I need him." (Maida)
Klaasen love...
- "I like that he is a good eater and has a great imagination." (Mommy)
- "I like that he shares a room with Skogen and I like his imagination." (Maida)
- "I love him the most because he loves me the most. He plays with me a lot and plays a lot downstairs or anywhere." (Skogen)
Torsten love...
- "I love how happy he is." (Mommy)
- "I love that he is my baby brother, he's healthy, and he sleeps with me." (Maida)
- "I love that he loves me the most because he plays with me the most." (Skogen)
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