Our Week - The One with Covid Vaccines and Strep

Well, this week was pretty uneventful until the end, but here I am recapping the whole thing anyway.  Haha.  I still love doing these journal style posts, though, regardless of how mundane they are.

Monday, November 8

Monday morning, I dropped the kids and headed straight to Publix to do my bi-monthly grocery shopping.  After that, I headed home to work all morning, and then I went for a visit with my therapist.  By the time I got home from my appointment, it was time for lunch, and then I worked for the rest of the afternoon. 

Olivia had dance Monday afternoon right after school, and after Jacob and I dropped her, I ran him home and got some stuff done around the house until it was time to return to pick her up.  By the time we got home it was dark outside… always such a weird feeling those first few days after a time change. 

I cooked dinner, and by the time we were done, it was time for the kiddos to get ready for bed.  Once they were showered and ready, we all sat down and read together for a bit… Monday night’s choice was Home Alone.  I just love reading children’s books and holiday books are always my very favorite!

After the kids went to bed, B and I watched Ordinary Joe from two weeks ago and we finished an episode of Saturday Night Live, and then we called it a night.  The time change always kicks my butt, so I was struggling to stay up past 9.  Haha. 

Tuesday, November 9

Tuesday was another day of work for me… doing the holiday gift guides for the blog take so much time, and most of my day was spent doing those.  After school, B and I split up and took the kids to their respective extracurricular activities, and then when we got back home, I cooked dinner.

After dinner, we all hung out for a bit, and then I worked out while the kids got ready for bed.  The kids did some drawing and coloring as they always do, and they also made paper snowflakes.  I loved all of their projects so much, I wanted to share them.  Jacob loves to color the patterns on paper towels, and he did this super colorful one.

And Olivia made this card for our family of four that had me rolling.  That fun fact, her signature ("your nice child"), and the "dig in, Jacob, Dad, and Mom" had me in stitches.  Lol.  Where does she come up with this stuff?

Jacob also made paper snowflakes.

We ended the evening with an episode of The Fresh Prince (a Christmas episode!!) and then B and I watched another episode of Ordinary Joe and then started The Bachelorette episode of the week while I fell asleep on the couch.  Lol.  I never fall asleep on the couch during the week, but I’d had a glass of wine at dinner to knock out a tension headache I’d had all day, and that wine did me in.

Wednesday, November 10

Wednesday was another day of the same – work, lots of work – and then I picked up the kids from school at 3.  They had snacks and finished homework and then headed outside to play all afternoon while I went for a run.  Now that the time has changed, I can’t run after dinner because it’s dark.  And I’m not a huge fan of running in the morning because that’s when the humidity is typically at the highest point, and that doesn’t agree with my asthma which makes my runs torturous.  Plus, it’s cold in the morning this time of year and I don’t like running in the cold.  I sound like such a diva.  Haha. 

So anyway, I went for a quick run at 4:30, and I got back just in time to start cooking dinner.  

After dinner, the kids made hot chocolate with marshmallow and candy canes because… ‘tis the season!  Or at least it is in our house, anyway.  Haha.  One of Olivia’s favorite things ever is a cup of hot chocolate, so B had grabbed some on his Walmart run earlier Wednesday morning, and she was thrilled.

After they were done with their hot chocolate, they decided to make a Christmas craft.  Jacob had come across a bunch of Christmas craft ideas on the internet, and he wanted to make a sled out of popsicle sticks.  We had all of the items on hand, so both of them got to work, and their sleds turned out so cute. 

By the time they were done crafting, it was time for them to get showered and ready for bed, and once that was done, we all sat down and played a spelling game that Olivia had brought home from school until it was time for them to go to bed.

B and I finished up watching The Bachelorette, and then we started watching some of Shark Tank and then we headed off to bed, too.  By 9 it felt like a million o’clock because of the time change, so I was struggling. 

Thursday, November 11

Thursday morning, I dropped the kids at school.  They had a Veterans Day parade first thing for all of the family members who serve (or have served), and they were so excited to wave their flags and thank them all for their service.  They also had Mass with the Bishop for our Diocese Thursday morning, so it was a big day!

I worked all day and got a ton done and then grabbed the kids from school, but not before snapping this picture of the view outside my office window.  The leaves have finally starting changing here and it's just been lovely.

We had nothing going on for the rest of the day, so they spent some time outside after they finished homework, and while they were out, I deep cleaned all of the floors in the house.  I started using Go Clean Co’s Tide method of floor washing with a spin mop a few months ago, and it is just SO satisfying! 

Dinner was ready at 6 and we all sat down to eat together.  Jacob had learned two new games in Drama class that morning, and he wanted us all to play while we ate, so we did that, and it brought on lots of laughs.  The first game is “Fortunately, Unfortunately,” and you go around the table taking turns saying sentences.  The first person says a sentence that starts with “fortunately” and the next person says a sentence that starts with “unfortunately” and you alternate between the two all around the table to tell a story. 

The second game is simple – the first person says one word and then the second person says one word to build on the first person’s word and then you continue that way to ultimately form entire sentences and tell a story.  Again, lots of laughs with that one, too. 

After dinner, the kids got showered and ready for bed and then Olivia popped into my bedroom and said, "Mommy, show Instagram all my pink – pink headband, pink nightgown, pink watch, pink slippers and socks!"  Sure enough, she was covered from head to toe in pink.

We watched an episode of The Fresh Prince, and then they headed off to bed.  B and I finally got caught up on Shark Tank and then watched some more of Saturday Night Live, and then we headed off to bed, too.

Friday, November 12

Friday morning, I was feeling ambitious, so I made a loooong list of things to do and then I hit the ground running.  I spent all day checking things off the list – I mailed a Poshmark shipment, paid some bills, did some Christmas shopping online, ordered some winter clothes for Jacob, started addressing our Christmas cards, and I finished a couple of blog posts and started several others. 

SO productive. 

I also downloaded Taylor Swift’s new version of Red, and I listened to that on repeat all day.  Those new lyrics in All Too Well – oh. my. word.  SO SO GOOD, Y’ALL.

At 3, I picked up the kids from school, and then they spent some time watching Minecraft how-to’s on YouTube (their newest favorite screen activity) while I got the house all tidied for the end of the week. 

The kids played outside while B went out to pick up dinner – food from our favorite pub + Dairy Queen Blizzards to put in the freezer and save for later.  After dinner, we all got in our PJs and we watched the newest Home Alone movie on Disney + called Home Sweet Home Alone.  It’s basically the original Home Alone reimagined, so it has the same concept with lots of tweaks. 

I have to say, I did not have high hopes for it, but it was actually somewhat entertaining simply because of all of the Home Alone 1 references, throwbacks, and nuggets sprinkled throughout.  And there’s a surprise guest that shows up in the movie, so that made it worth the watch.  I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, so I won’t get into details.  But the movie, overall, was pretty funny.

After the kids went to bed, B and I ate our Blizzards and we watched the newest episode of The Morning Show + some of the newest episode of Shark Tank, and then we headed to bed.

Saturday, November 13

Saturday morning, Olivia came in our room before daylight and said her throat was hurting, so B gave her some medicine and sent her back to bed.  After that, I wasn’t able to sleep much more, so I was up a little earlier than usual, and I got to making homemade waffles. 

The kids had an appointment at their pediatrician’s office to get their first dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine at 10:10 AM.  The vaccine was approved for kids ages 5-11 on October 29, and their pediatrician’s office was doing a drive-through vaccine clinic on Saturday, so we made our appointments. 

Both kids had started having scratchy throats on Thursday and Friday, and Olivia’s was bothering her a lot Saturday morning, so I wasn’t sure how to proceed since they usually tell you not to take your kids for vaccines while they’re sick.  I called the office, and they told me as long as they didn’t have fever then it was fine for them to get it, so we decided to keep the appointments since they had no fever.  Just to be on the safe side, we gave both of them at-home Covid-19 tests before we left, and as expected, they came back negative, so we figured it was safe to proceed with the vaccines. 

The kids and I arrived at the office right on time, and there were at least 15-20 cars ahead of us already.  It was slow-going at first, but then things picked up, and we were done and pulling out of the parking lot exactly one hour after we’d arrived.  Everything went smoothly – the nurses were super kind, both kids were so brave, and the vaccines were virtually painless.  Olivia HATES getting shots, but she was such a boss, and I was so proud of her.

Afterwards, we had to pull over in the parking lot and wait a few minutes just to make sure the kids didn’t have a reaction, and once the time was up, the nurse brought over their vaccine cards along with some lollipops since they had been such good patients.   

I was a bundle of emotions when it was over – I was mostly relieved and grateful, but also still a little bit anxious about the whole thing.  When the vaccines came out for adults, I didn’t even think twice about getting it.  I trust science and I believe it’s so very important for us to protect ourselves as well as others, so it was a no-brainer. 

However, when you’re having to make the decision for another human being, it’s a little more complicated.  Ultimately, we chose to continue to trust science and to make sure our babies are protected… we’ve never second-guessed any of the other vaccines, after all.

When we got home, I let the kids each have a piece of their Halloween candy to have as a little treat for doing so well, and then they watched a couple of cartoons while I worked out and watched the last hour of ESPN College GameDay. 

The kids got their laundry folded and put away and I got a couple of other loads of laundry done, and then B got home with lunch.  He’d been at a tennis match all morning, and he swung by a new local chicken place (similar to Zaxby’s) for us to try.  This place has been around for years and years, but the location we had closed a few years ago, so we were excited to see that a new location had opened.

After lunch, the kids played outside for a bit, and then they settled in to play video games for a bit while B and I watched the Georgia vs. Tennessee game.  Olivia came downstairs looking miserable and complaining that her throat was really sore and that her body “couldn’t get comfortable” so I knew something wasn’t right.  Sure enough, I took her temp, and it was 101.5.  Sigh.

Naturally, she started the fever right after the vaccine, so we weren’t sure if she was, indeed, coming down with an illness or if she was running fever from the vaccine.  We gave her some Ibuprofen to take the fever down and then she was back to her old self again, where she stayed until bedtime.

We had pizza delivered for dinner since the game was still going at dinner, and then after dinner, the kids got in their PJ’s and watched a movie upstairs while B and I finished the game. 

After the kids went to bed, we watched some more Saturday Night Live as well as some more football before calling it a night, too.

Sunday, November 14

Sunday morning, Olivia came in our room at 6:45 saying that her throat hurt so bad.  I took her temp, and it was 99.5, which meant that she didn’t have a fever anymore, although, that’s still a little warmer than she normally runs.  I gave her some medicine for her sore throat and sent her back to bed, and she was happy as a clam when I got up about an hour later.

We did our cinnamon roll breakfast (pancakes for Olivia as she decided a few months ago that she doesn’t like cinnamon rolls… WHAT?!) and virtual church, and when that was over, I did a weight-lifting workout.  Olivia wanted to paint her toenails after that, so we did pedicures, complete with tiny little stickers in each of her little toenails.

Because of the potential sickness, my mother-in-law decided to cancel Sunday lunch with us, but she went ahead and cooked and she brought us some lunch to eat at home.  Just as we sat down to eat, Olivia started saying that her throat was hurting “SO BAD” and she was whining a lot, which isn’t in her nature… she’s usually so jolly all the time.  She also started saying that her ears were hurting when she swallowed, so I took her temp again, and it had crept back up to 100.7.  Sigh. 

I decided then and there to take her to a pediatric acute care place.  I called ahead and they said that they weren’t very busy at the moment (which is a miracle in and of itself), so she and I got in the car immediately and headed straight there.  Thankfully, there was only one other mother and child in there when we arrived, so I knew the wait wouldn’t be terrible.

We were in a room within 20 minutes, and the nurse immediately did a strep swab based on the fact that her throat had been hurting so badly.  Sure enough, the strep test came back positive, and we were all shocked.  Lol.  Both of our kids have been tested for strep oodles of times in their lifetime, and neither of them has ever been positive, so it was truly unexpected.  The doctor was shocked, too, because she said that she had done numerous strep tests that day and all of them had been negative… except for Olivia’s.

Thankfully, her ears were clear, and the doc said the pain she was having in them was just referred pain from the sore throat.  She called in an antibiotic and we were out of there in less than an hour round trip.  Praise be!  It was a Sunday miracle!  (The last time B had to take her there a few months ago, they were there for almost FOUR HOURS.)

We swung by CVS on the way home to see if, by chance, the prescription had been filled, but it wasn’t ready yet, so we went home.  Olivia’s meds had kicked in good by then and had taken her fever down, so she was in good spirits for the rest of the afternoon.  We scrapped our plans to go to the park and walk so she could rest, and she and Jacob played video games and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon while I got some stuff done in my office. 

By Sunday afternoon, the leaves in our front yard had changed even more, and the view out of my office window was just GORGEOUS.

We canceled Sunday dinner with my parents so we wouldn’t bring germs to their house, and then we spent the evening at home.  I cooked baked ziti for dinner, and while I cooked, Olivia felt well enough to play outside with the boys.

After dinner, they got showered and then we showed them some of our pictures from our old trips to New York City.  We've been toying with the idea of taking them next year during the Christmas season, and we wanted to show them all of the things they'll have to look forward to!

After the kids went to bed, B and I watched the Saturday Night Live from the previous evening since Taylor Swift was the musical guest, and y’all.  My gosh, her performance was incredible.  That song gets me every single time.

Happy Tuesday, y’all!