First things first! The winner of the Toadily Handmade Beeswax Candles giveaway is….Kristen! You’ll be receiving an email from us soon about your prize. And since the Carrots readers were so excited about Toadily Handmade’s products, they are offering you a special coupon code (CARROTS) which gets you a 10% discount on ANYTHING in the store until 11/15. So if you were eyeing those Advent candles, now’s the time to order! A big thanks to Carrots sponsors Toadily Handmade Beeswax Candles, Angela Thomas-Shaklee, Mama’s Notebooks, and Mandi Richards-Lila Rose! You are the best!
Now, why has it been so quiet around here, lately? I’m glad you asked! (Oh, you don’t want to read through a tirade about our horrible couple of weeks? You should probably scroll down to the end.) I caught you up on the various illnesses we were fighting off and the pink eye situation…
Our little froggy, tiger, and pirate went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood with Daddy while I wallowed on the couch feeling crummy from the cold/flu Lucy gave me.
It was a super miserable bug, so no wonder Lucy looked like this most of the time she had it:
Did I tell you that she woke up the day after we got back from Allume, covered in ticks? Well it was awful and I took her to the pediatrician to have her remove them all and since she had an ear infection, pink-eye, a horrible sinus infection and now at risk for Lyme’s disease, the Dr. promptly put her on antibiotics which quickly cleared everything up. Pest control came and couldn’t find a single tick, so they said she probably had them on a clothing item and brought them inside (at least our house isn’t infested with ticks, right?) Then on Halloween evening I noticed that she had what I thought were mosquito bites. I figured she got them while they were trick-or-treating.
But then more little bug bites kept popping up, so I took her back to the pediatrician who guessed that from the ticks or from somewhere else, she had gotten scabies. “WHAT IS THAT?!” was my response. Apparently, they’re little mites that live in your skin and multiply and jump on other people and on everything and if one person in a household has them, you all probably have them. YAY! So we all got treated with scabicide (doesn’t that sound nice?) and I got to disinfect every surface and wash EVERYTHING in hot water which was a blast while I was chasing three kids and had a horrible cold/cough and just wanted to A: Move Away and let the bugs die or B: Spend the rest of the week at the White Sands Hotel and let the bugs die.
Will tiny nasty bugs stay out of my house, please!????
Luckily, I had a helper, because Dad was out of town.
Why was he out of town? Oh, he was just RUNNING 100 MILES!!!!!!!!!!! Yup, Daniel ran 100 miles. ONE HUNDRED. He started running at dawn last Saturday and ran across the finish line that Sunday morning. And at the very beginning he got stung by a bunch of yellow jackets, got some benadryl, and kept running. So, the trail was probably a lot like The Hunger Games. Or it is in my head. Yes, I asked him where his life insurance info was before he left. But he did it! And survived! 100 Miles! That’s like 4 marathons in a row.
So recap: colds, coughs, sinus infections, pink eye, ticks, scabies, dad out of town.
BUT: I’m starting to feel way better, no new bites on Lucy since we put the treatment cream on her, and Daniel’s legs are starting to work again. So things are looking up!
Now that you’re bored to tears, let’s move on!
Book Love:
Reading a good book in the bath tub is the way I deal with stress. Also, there was a glass of gin on the edge of the tub. Also that. I love Waugh so much and Scoop was hilarious. I didn’t love it as much as Brideshead or Sword of Honour, but Waugh is just the cleverest writer. And I also finished Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, so will someone please tell me what it means?
Food Stuffs:
(Bacon, eggs from our hens, and oven roasted sweet potatoes from our garden. Coconut oil blended in the extra-strong coffee.)
I decided to jump on the bandwagon and try out the Whole30. Basically, for 30 days you remove grains, dairy, legumes, and sugars from your diet. I get addicted to sugar VERY easily and then my immune system plummets and I catch every cold I come in contact with. I just can’t live like that with three babes to chase around. I need my health and energy. AND I want to be sure that all the work I’m doing trying to improve my B vitamin and magnesium levels (so that morning sickness isn’t so extreme if we’re blessed with another pregnancy) isn’t for nothing. I need a healthy gut to absorb those good things and a sugar addiction won’t be my friend in that department. I’m not doing a REAL whole30 because of the horrible past two weeks and my milk supply taking a dive after Day 4. So I’m having some rice and legumes every two days and I’ve been taking honey for my cough at night. But, to my great surprise, coconut oil blended in coffee….NOT BAD. Same for coconut milk. And I even think I could learn to drink it black. So far, I haven’t had any extreme sugar withdrawal symptoms and I’ve had a boost in energy and no headaches in the afternoon (the giveaway that my sugar addiction is out of control.) We’ll see!
Thankfully, this little gal did NOT get sick. She is soooooo sweet.
Amirite?!
OK, gotta cut this short and get back to work on the ebook! We’re close, friends!
Love,
Haley
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What an adventure you’ve had the last few weeks. :-/ I’m glad things are on the upswing. Thank you so much for the coupon code! I’m going to go over to Toadily Handmade and pick up those beautiful advent candles.
Oh my gosh oooof! Such a rough time! I hope you’re all feeling better and that you get some quiet, settled-down time to all relax and get back on a calm routine!
Oh her hair! So. Much. Hair! Gwen is adorable! Well, all your kids are adorable 🙂 Poor Lucy – just reading about those ticks/scabies made my skin crawl.
I need to cut sugar from my diet. I don’t even know where to begin though! What are your favorite resources? The problem is, I know that sugar is in just about everything I eat. Even hidden.
Wow. Slow clap. And you still have your sanity intact?! If those bugs had infested our home… mhm, mhm, MHM. Finger wag.
YOU DID IT, HALEY!!!!!! And serious kudos to Daniel for running 100 miles, if that even begins to express my awe.
Man, what a week! Hope this upcoming one is better for you guys! I’m doing no sugar but I can’t bring myself to do the dairy free. I can’t live without cheese…I can do the milk but not the cheese.
Wow! What a week! Well done Momma!
What was that about Vitamin B and magnesium? I have been completely zapped by this pregnancy (my third) and landed myself on a drip a few days this week. Not easy when the two little boys get more mischievous each day I am “mom down”!
God bless you supermom!
Bored to tears? Hells no! I was on the edge of my couch perch reading about your week, it was like watching a show where things just keep getting crazier and crazier but it’s ok because it’s only a show but this was actually your LIFE last week– YOU ARE A SAINT.
And your husband running that many miles… I am speechless. I am off to tell my husband about it so we can both stare blankly at each other in awe.
Lastly- Gwen might be the cutest baby ever.
Ok, I haven’t even finished reading yet but I am totally self-proclaimed ADD lady – so here I am with my first comment – Oh my LUCY and Oh my GWEN!!!! The Lucy pic is TOO much – I know the face all-too-well and it’s not funny but you made it relatable and therefore a little humorous to go with the “poor girl, poor momma” eye brow grimace and slow head shake. Know it well. Poor dear.
And GWEN – your girls are JUST GORGEOUS! I didn’t even READ that part yet but on my way down I was like, OH! Look at her! 🙂
Blessings on your week, Haley! Pax Christi.
ps – darn you for making me reconsider Whole30 for ALL the reasons you state. Ugh. I am a sugar addict for SURE! And would love a baby in not-too-long. And get sick more easily than I used to. Maybe maybe. We’ll see. How do you blend the coco oil/milk? In a blender or just stir?
pps – I was saddened by your scabies story, but to make you feel better – my mom is a dental hygienist and cleans like OSHA is in the house, and my sister had them as a 2 year old via her playgroup buddy. Also, 2 years ago 6 skunks went into hibernation under our porch and it was a mild winter and skunks are semi-hibernators, so when a sneaky cat snuck under said porch during a streak with night temps above freezing, guess how many skunks sprayed their stenchy oil right into the under-kitchen breezway, into the cellar and up into our 100 year old drafty bungalow??? SIX. Guess how it smelled? WRETCHED. Guess who moved out and into a weird long-term stay “suite” that was cheaper than extended-stay hotels? US – mom, dad, 3 year old boy and 6 month old girl. Guess how long we were out? THREE WEEKS while the house aired out and we waited for the exterminators to trap the darn things ONE AT A TIME on the mild nights which were few and far between once the ARCTIC COLD FRONT came back through Northern VT. 😀 It was a blast!
That was NOT a top-your-story story, btw – that was a “crazy things happen to you when you trust God and welcome children and the messiness of life and we have all been through them, so smile, cry, shake your head, pray, scream, laugh, and/or do what you gotta do to get yourself and your lovies through it!” story!!! If we survived skunks you will survive sickness, ticks and scabies! (But honestly, I hate bugs, so I might – well, no – well, maybe – take skunks again over those guys! 🙂 ) Hang in there Haley – you are a tough lady, I can tell. 🙂
i love stories like these.
It is so hard but what makes the spice in life!
Oh you poor thing. What an ordeal.
Did you know that cranberry juice is a great cough suppressant? I had what was known as the 100 day cough Down Under & by accident I discovered that I stopped coughing for an hour or so after having cranberry juice. You only need a mouthful & it was costing me a fortune in cough medicine.
Hope this is the end to your trouble weeks. Xox Jayne
I just really wish I could hug you right now. 🙁
Oh. My. Gosh. Haley, what a week! Reminds me (though suddenly my story seems quite pale in comparison) of when I was pregnant, feeling sick-and-bone-tired-in-that-first-trimester, working in a school, with preschoolers, and caught lice from them. Cleaning and vacuuming and washing everything, every night for a week to be sure we were rid of them…thought I was gonna die.
Anyway, so hoping this week brings a little peace and calm. {Hugs.}
Uck. You are a champion of all champion moms to have dealth w/ TICKS (my least. favorite. bug. ever.) AND FLIPPIN’ SCABIES. AND no Dad. Wow. There is a gold medal in there. 😀
…plus no sugar? Please keep us posted; I’m scared of how much I need to give up on sugar… :{
You mean. He ran. For a DAY?
This is beyond all my capability of comprehension.
Keep the food goodness coming. I’ve been battling some wicked viruses in the past two months–like, pummeling me–and I know that getting off the gluten, sugar, and most/all dairy will help . . . so I need lots of alternative suggestions. Please and thank you!
Wow, you are my hero for trooping through such a week! Good gravy. So glad things are looking up though. You need about a dozen nights of bath, book and gin, hahaha. 🙂
Is your White Sands Hotel reference per Anne of Green Gables? Or am I a nerd, and that’s a real hotel near you? Haha, if it’s the former, you’re my favorite! 🙂
Totally an Anne reference, Jen! 🙂
(((hug!!!)))