Best Valentine’s Day EVER!

Oh goodness…it just keeps getting better. No, now don’t start feeling queasy or anything, I’m not about to get mushy. I promise. Although I do love my husband and feel like I’m the luckiest woman in the world, I won’t bore you with all of that. Some guys start V-Day big when you’re first dating and then it falls by the wayside (like other aspects of romance) after you’ve been together for a while. Well, this is the fourth V-Day that Brent and I have spent together…and it just keeps getting better.

Not that he outdid himself.  Not that we enjoyed a romantic dinner for two and everything was all hearts and flowers.  Here’s what made it special to me…I laughed so hard that I nearly peed in my pants.

Yeah, you read that right. But come on, be honest with yourself…you had to know something like that was coming…this is ME!

I seriously can’t remember the last time that I have laughed as much, as loud, or as long…and my husband made it all possible. Let me tell you about it.

We typically have at least one of the kids on V-Day. Some years, it’s been just T, sometimes just Jenna…very rarely is it just Brent and me. But either way, kids or no kids, Brent goes out of his way to make the night special for me. He always sends me flowers. And he always takes me out to eat. Every single year. And just like the creatures of habit that we tend to be, we always go to the Texas Land & Cattle restaurant. I don’t know why…no, that’s not true. I do know why. It’s one of our favorite restaurants – the food is always good, even if the service lacks a bit…and it’s a little pricier than the normal places that we eat out at (think Chick-Fil-A, Whataburger and Taco Cabana)

So it’s sort of our V-Day place. Rain or shine, cold or hot, kids or no kids, that’s where we go. This year was no different. We knew that we would have Jax and Jenna, so the reservation was made for a party of 3.5. I received flowers, chocolates, a small teddy bear, and a bath set at my office earlier in the day to start the day off right and make me feel special.

We had arranged everything around Jax’s schedule, because let’s be honest here…he’s the most important part of making last night a success or a failure. If he was having a bad night, then we would all have a bad night. And vice versa.  Although we didn’t time the commute back to town quite right, and arrived almost an hour before our reservations, we killed some time carefully strolling up and down the aisles of a local grocery store trying to let Jax finish his evening nap. Let’s face it, things go better after a baby gets a nap, right? He woke up right before we were going to walk over to the restaurant and was in a great mood for most of dinner.

I say most, because he’s a baby and he can only be good for so long. Especially not in a high chair when there is so much going on around him. Since it was a busy night, service was a bit slow…which led to a few moments of panic here and there as we wondered if he was fixin’ to start a big scream-fest. I mean come on, if a parent with a small child asks for more bread, do you think that she’s asking for herself? Same goes when she quizzes you about the size of all of your spoons for almost two full minutes, settling on one specific option and has baby food jars on the table…I shouldn’t have to ask twice. You should want to help me keep the peace by providing me with those items right away…but maybe that’s just me.

Either way we had an enjoyable dinner. Everyone got to eat some of their food while it was hot. Jenna only complained a little bit about the “spicy-ness” of her food…problem solved by me trading steaks with her. Jax only started to throw a fit in between jars of baby food when I was trying to snag a few bites of my garlic mashed potatoes. And he only got antsy towards the end of the meal when we were all pretty much done and just waiting for the dessert menu and our bill.

Here’s where the funny parts come in. When he started to fuss a bit, Brent took him out of the high chair and tried to entertain him. Well, it sort of worked. He was entertained up to a point, and then he started to entertain us. At the point when he got tired of Brent’s antics, he started to protest in his baby chatter. When he was ignored he got louder. You see where this is going, right?

He got louder…and louder…and louder. Other people were starting to look around. It wasn’t crying…they were just trying to see what on earth was happening to the child that was babbling so loudly. So to make him be quiet, Brent blew in his face. This had two effects: 1) it did make Jax be quiet momentarily and 2) when he got quiet he was making the most comical face we’ve ever seen him make. Sort of like when babies are first exposed to wind and they freak out a little. Except add in a little “what the hell?” look to it. Less startlement and more “Dude!”. As soon as he recovered because the breath blown in his face was just until he got quiet, the baby chatter came back. Just as loudly as before.

Which triggered another breath to the face. Which was followed by another comical look…you get the pattern, right?  Repeat said pattern about a hundred thirty-two times.

Well, pretty soon we (Brent, myself and Jenna) were laughing so hard that the people who had previously been craning their heads around to see what Jax was doing were now looking to see what those crazy fools were laughing so loudly at. And it was contagious. Before long, the table that could see Jax the best was giggling and pointing…and it spread through our entire little area of the restaurant.

Needless to say, we ordered our desserts “To Go” just to make sure that we didn’t overstay our welcome.

And here’s where the peeing in my pants comes in. Keeping in mind that I’m already in a giggly sort of mood from the antics inside the restaurant, we walk outside and head around the back of the restaurant to where we parked. At this point, I ask Brent how his pants were fitting.

Oh wait, let me back up. Remember this post about men losing weight faster than women? Well, it’s still going on. And he forgot his belt yesterday when he went to work, so his pants were…a little…baggy. And by a little, I mean a lot. Think teenage, punk, hipster style…you know the one that I’m talking about…where you purposely wear your best and brightest boxers because everyone’s bound to see them? Got it in your mind? Well, now put my husband’s face on that mental image. And you’ve got the sight that I was walking behind. He’s carrying Jax, I’ve got the diaper bag/purse and Jenna has our leftover bag and in response to my question, he raises his shirt up.

So that I can see that his pants are halfway down his butt, just barely staying up…and his black underwear is showing. Nice.  I jokingly tell him that if he’s having such a problem keeping them up then he needs to walk like those young punks that we’re always making fun of walk to keep their pants up.

And. He. Does.

The whole rest of the way to the car.

I had to stop several times for laughing so hard. He’s carrying a baby, walking with his feet spread at least a yard and a half apart, stopping every few feet to yank up his “britches” again…and I lost it. Just way, way, way too funny.  I wish that I had thought to snap a picture with my phone! 

As I kissed him goodnight that night, I thanked him for the best Valentine’s Day ever. He questioned my sanity for thinking that it was the best one ever, but my answer to him stays the same: “I’ve never laughed so hard and had so much fun on a Valentine’s date before! It was perfect.”

Thanks honey – you’re one in a million!

Worst Phone Call…Ever

Parents, you know the one that I’m talking about. It’s the school calling you, and they’re calling to tell you that your precious child got hurt at school. Who cares that the “precious child” is 13 years old? To a mother/father, it doesn’t matter I tell you. Whether it’s the day care calling to tell me that Jax is running a fever during the middle of my work day, or a call about one of our older children, it’s alarming all the same.

Today the call was about Tanner. And we’re furious about what happened. I’ll fill you in on the deets and then you can be all furious with us, and you’ll need to comment below and tell me that you’re also furious so that I don’t lose my own steam…ok?

Yesterday another cold front hit our area…temperatures dropped out of the 60’s (don’t hate us) and the winter coats went back on when the sleet started falling from the sky during the early morning hours. Life went on, nothing came to a screeching halt (except the blasted Austin traffic!) and everyone went on their merry way. Staying in the 20’s all day though, leads one to believe that it’s also going to remain cold all night. Let me be the first one to clue you in: freezing temperatures and automatic sprinkler systems do NOT mix well together. Think oil and water and you’ve got the right idea.

So Tanner goes to school this morning, and being in Athletics, shows up at the gym first thing in the morning. His basketball coach, in all of his infinite wisdom, decides that for practice today the boys should go outside and run some laps around the track. Right now you should already be scratching your head a little bit…I’m just letting you know.

Before going outside, several of the 12 and 13 year-old boys who have more common sense than the Coach apparently has question the Coach about whether it’s too cold to be running outside, but he tells them to do the laps like he said and to stop questioning him. (Bright idea…real bright idea, she says in a voice that literally drips sarcasm like a leaky sieve.)

And the idea is made even brighter by the discovery that the maintenance man/men did not turn off the automatic sprinklers that water the inside or middle of the track last night…the water came on and doused the entire track area…and then froze. At this point, I don’t know if the boys tried to talk to the Coach again or not. If it were me and I’d already been told once not to question him, I probably wouldn’t have mentioned it, but that’s just me.

I’ll go ahead and jump to the middle of the story for you since no, this story does NOT end when three boys fell and got hurt. Yep, you read that right. Three kids fell down on the icy track that they were forced to run on outside in the 20 degree weather…thanks, Coach! And obviously I wouldn’t be telling this story if one of the boys wasn’t ours. Tanner fell down on the icy track, landed on his face and got not only a mild concussion, but a split eyelid. And let me give you enough further gory details to say that his eyelid split in a spot where they can’t stitch it back up because of the proximity to his eye.
So the immediate effect/consequence in Tanner’s world is that #1 he is rushed to the hospital and #2 gets to go home for the day with some good drugs and a cool eye patch. The lingering effects? He’s out of the rest of basketball season…and potentially might not be healed enough to play baseball this summer. Which he has played every.single.year since T-ball. Bummer.

And another lasting repercussion? Hospital/Doctor bills. Yes, we have insurance on Tanner, and hopefully most of this will all be covered under it (once the deductible has been met)…but is it our responsibility to pay for this? I think not. Now, before I go any further, let me say with all clarity that I am not one of those people who thinks that everyone needs to sue everyone else for the wrong that was done to them. I also don’t believe that you should get rich off of a big corporation or company when something happens to you. I don’t believe that at all.

But I do believe in doing the right thing. And in this case, the school is clearly responsible/liable for their Coach’s actions. He sent the kids out in bad weather. He didn’t check the area he sent them to – making sure that it was a safe place for them to be going. His decision. This wasn’t Tanner goofing off, slipping and falling on his own whim. He was following the orders that a teacher gave him when he got hurt. In my opinion, the school is clearly in the wrong here.

Yet, despite all evidence to the contrary, when Tanner’s mom called the school to ask if they were footing the hospital bill she was told that “they don’t do that.” We told her to call a lawyer. We also advised her that although she doesn’t need to seek/expect a financial windfall for what’s happened to her son, she should at least be compensated for the medical bills. What if he has damage to his eye? A good check-up wasn’t really possible with the lid being so damaged right now, but what if? Then he might be out of sports period, not just sitting out for a month or two. To a 13 year-old boy, being told that you can’t play sports might as well be a death sentence…that’s all that they care about! Or maybe I should say that all that this boy cares about.

Either way, we’re really upset by the school’s response of this not being “their fault.” If not the school, then who’s fault is it? Clearly 30 boys didn’t decide on their own to put on their gym shorts and go run a mile outside when it was sleeting the day before…if it had been snowing, then maybe I could see the interest of a snow ball fight or something. That’s not the case here. The Coach gave a bad order, the kids followed it, and several kids were hurt. And now the school wants to take the stance that they’re not responsible? I don’t think so!

Now it’s your turn to chime in…what do you think about this? Are we over-reacting? Do you think the school should cover these three boys’ medical bills? Or are we just becoming part of an insane growth in society (that we personally loathe) where everyone sues everyone else for the smallest thing?

My Daughter, the Hypochondriac

Yes, I’ll freely admit that my daughter is a raging hypochondriac. She comes by it honestly, and for once I’m able to say that this is something that she did NOT get from me. Her father is the same way. One little dot/mark on his skin could be anything from malaria to skin cancer on any given day. Some people might find this odd behavior…but not those of us who grew up with a hypochondriac for a parent. Or a step-parent. Yes, my step-dad was/is the world’s worst hypochondriac. This man should not own the big book of medical diseases and symptoms…but he does. It’s very worn from all the times that he’s looked something up and then read all about it, I’m sorry to say. I wonder now in this day and age if he still uses that book or if he googles his symptoms...there are those of us who have been banned from googling medical symptoms.  Cough, cough.

But that’s not because I’m a hypochondriac, I promise!

Anyway, back to my story. So my daughter’s like this. It’s something that I just accept naturally and deal with as it comes up. “Mom, there’s a mark on my arm. Can I have some of the itch cream?” “Mom, I fell today at school and hit my knee and there’s a bruise. Can I have an ice pack?” You might be surprised at all the ailments that an ice pack can cure…I keep several on standby. Most days, this is just normal stuff for me that I listen to with one ear barely tuned in and treat as I see fit. Yes, I dispense Children’s Pepto like candy in extreme circumstances…don’t judge. One little pill can’t hurt her and it eases her mind enough for her to go to sleep. Which brings peace to my household…

But that’s most days. Then there are the REALLY good ones that she comes up with. She hit a doozy out of the park the other night, and I just have to share it with you. I wonder if she’ll ever read my blog one day and be SO mad that I share all of this non-sense with you? Oh well…it’s too funny not to share. Even me, with all of my jaded-ness towards her ailments really had to struggle not to laugh at this one!

So, we were giving Jax his bath the other night. Normally this is something that Brent does nightly and really looks forward to, but he was feeling a bit under the weather, so Jenna and I stepped up to the task. Now, for the back story information that you’ll need for this all to make sense: Jenna has really dry skin. Especially so during the winter months. Like so dry that the backs of her hands are actually roughened from being so chapped. I try and try to keep her hands doused in healing lotion while she’s at my house, but it’s a never-ending job. Trust me. So her hands are dry. Now you’re all caught up.

We get the water running and as I’m getting Jax undressed, I ask her to check the water temperature for me, which she does. Then as I’m finishing up taking his diaper off, I notice that Jenna is scratching her hands. Repeatedly. When I ask her what the problem is, she says that they really, really, really itch. Bad. Naturally thinking about the chapped state of her hands, I dismiss the problem and go about getting the little squirmy worm into the tub. She gets right beside me on the floor and proceeds to start to play with his bath toys, entertaining him while I soap him up and start the cleaning process. Before I know it, she’s no longer playing with him, but scratching her hands…and halfway up to her arms. I ask her again what the problem is and she again tells me that her arms and hands really, really, really itch. Bad.

Since this is the second complaint in under 5 minutes, I take a look. Sure enough, her hands are red and blotchy-looking (from the scratching) and there are scratch marks now on her forearms where she’s been scratching. I explain to her that she HAS to use the special lotion that I bought her for her hands more often to avoid this state that she’s in now. I explain that when you’re skin is really dry like hers is that water can irritate it and make your skin itch. That's all, nothing to worry about.

My daughter, being a normal eight year-old who knows WAY more than her Mom, begins to argue with me. (This is also normal behavior, just like her being a hypochondriac.) I listen with half an ear and again repeat what I think that it is. If she chooses not to listen or to disagree with me, then please do it silently.

Fast forward to the end of Jax’s bath. Now it’s Jenna’s turn. We let out his bath water and I start the shower for her to bathe in. As I’m getting Jax dried off, lotioned up, diapered and dressed in his pjs she gets in the shower. I’m intently blowing raspberries on his tummy, trying to cheer him up (read other posts about why he’s down in the dumps this week) when I hear a shriek and hollering going on from the other side of the shower curtain. I immediately panic and poke my head into her shower to see what the problem is. Where I’m immediately informed that the water is stinging/burning her hands and arms painfully and she can’t shower.

Some kids will try anything to get out of bathing, huh? :)

I tell her to finish her shower, that she’s not getting out of bathing and to deal with it. I think to myself that maybe this will be a good lesson for why you should listen to your mom and use the special lotion that she spent $7 on for you…

Ten minutes later, I’m sitting in my glider, giving Jax his bedtime bottle and then his breathing treatment when a clean and fresh Jenna comes in to tell me Good Night. I can tell that she’s troubled by something, and ask what the problem is. In a voice that is so serious it’s not funny, she tells me that she thinks she knows why she was having so much problems in the shower and it’s NOT because she wasn’t using her lotion on her hands like she’s supposed to.

I can do nothing more than sit back and wait to witness the stunning revelation, right? And then these words come out of her mouth…

“I’m allergic to water, Mom.”

Seriously? That’s the best you can come up with? Well, given that she’s only eight, I guess that I have to give her some props for creativity. I literally bite the inside of my lip to keep from smiling, laughing or anything else and calmly ask why she thinks she’s allergic to water.  I mean, I try to treat all of this stuff with a little bit of seriousness so that I don't scar her for life and end up paying for the therapy later. 

I’ll sum up the rest for you, because it was a pretty long, lengthy and drawn out explanation of sorts that fell back upon itself a time or three. Here it is in a nutshell: people itch when they’re allergic to something, and they break out in spots – she found 4 spots on her stomach and there’s a LOT more on her back. It only happens when she touches water.  Thus, she’s allergic to water.

Now…because I’m a good Mom, I asked to see the spots. Then I asked her to turn on a light. BECAUSE I COULDN’T SEE ANY SPOTS. Then I asked for a magnifying glass…apparently being a good Mom only gets you so far! Literally they were the smallest little spots you’ve ever seen in your life. I promise. But there were actually 4 little, bitty, teensy, weensy spots on her stomach. I never found the ones on her back…still looking for those.

Anyway, I had her turn out the light and then come back for an equally long and lengthy discussion about why a person can’t be allergic to water. Since she’s only in the 3rd grade, I’m pretty sure that a lot of my brilliant lecture on anatomy and physiology and cellular make-up was lost on her…but trust me, it was truly stunning. It was an open and honest discussion – she argued her points and I told her she was wrong. Like any good Mom would do.

I’m just kidding. I didn’t destroy her self-confidence by telling her she was wrong. I actually told her that her points were good, but I really felt like I was right on this one. And then we compromised by theorizing that she could be allergic to the soap. (Since it couldn’t possibly be the water.) She went to sleep happy…and I dissolved into gales of laughter.

Which is how Brent found me when he came up to ask what I needed him to do before he went to bed.  I quickly explained the scene to him and we both had a good laugh. She’s definitely come up with some good ailments/diseases in her time, I’ll give her that. But being allergic to water? That’s got to be the best one yet!

** Oh, and just on a side-note so that you don’t think that I’m the meanest Mom EVER for laughing about her theory…she’s been showering in the same water for over two years now with no problems what-so-ever. And she took a shower the next two nights without any of the itching either, so I think that I’m safe in poking a little fun of my favorite little girl!

1 + 2 + 5 = 1

Do you like my math skills?  I excelled in my math classes when I was younger, I promise...and I worked in accounting for a few years...shocking, huh?!?!  Let me break down my little equation above so that it makes sense to more people than just me...

1 Ear Infection (still...this is the third week!) + 2 (or possibly 3) Sleep Deprived People + 5 Medications
1 VERY CRANKY 6 mo old!!

Yep, you read that right.  If you remember we went to the doctor the week before last and found out that the poor little guy had not one full blown ear infection, but another just below danger territory.  So we went on antibiotics and treated it as best we could.  It seemed to go away and clear up, except for some strange almost flourescent green eye booger things coming out of BOTH of his eyes.  I was slightly worried about that, but since it looked like the goopey stuff that starts coming out right before you get pink eye, and we already had medicine for that from when we had it a few months ago, I just treated that too and went ahead about my business.

And then he turned 6 months old over the weekend, which means that we had our 6 month check-up yesterday.  Ironically, on Saturday night he was up screaming for a few hours, and I wondered if maybe it was his ear again.  But he wasn't running any fever and he seemed very happy the next morning, so we slept in and took it easy...especially knowing that I had a doctor's appt for the next day. 

The irony part comes in when we're at the doctor's office and the check-up is going well, until she grabs the little ear-looker-thingy.  Yes, that's an official medical term - look it up!  She looks in his right ear first, which was the one that wasn't quite as badly infected and made good noises.  Then she moved on to the left side...and the good noises stopped abruptly. 

Yep, we're still infected. 

Or maybe not all the way infected, but according to the doctor "it should look better than it does."  Which doesn't really tell me anything.  So we're on antibiotics again...along with a few other things.  This is where the 5 in the equation comes in...

We're taking Cefadrin for the ear infection.  We're dosing his eyes twice a day with Vigamox to stave off a pink eye infection because his secondary tear ducts aren't fully developed yet and that's what keeps leaking the freaky-looking mucus stuff.  That's also a technical medical term.  Because the Cefadrin gives him really bad diarrhea/upset stomach we're also taking Florastor to offset that symptom.  And just to make the party more fun, the doctor wants us to keep up the steroid treatment for his cough/rattle for the next 30 days.  The good news is that we can drop down to just doing the breathing treatments once a day of the steroid Budesidine. 

Yes, if any of my readers are actual medical people, I will apologize for butchering the spelling of any/all medicines.  You know what I'm talking about, it's close enough.  Remember...I'm sleep deprived.  I won't apologize for the vast amount of medical technical terms that I used...LOL!

Oh, and just to make the party MORE fun...he got 5 shots yesterday.  And he's been running a fever since midnight of at least 102 degrees.  So we're at home today...bunkered down and trying to weather the worst of the storm.  The good news is that he's sleeping alot...two hours and counting right now.  So the laundry's getting done, the kitchen got cleaned and the living room floor got vaccummed.  At least something productive has come out of this sick day!  I hope that your day is better than mine...mine can only get better from here.

The Difference Between a “First Time” Parent and Someone Who’s Been There Already…

Something funny happened this weekend. T had a basketball tournament out of town, so we ventured off to watch some ball games with the other two kids in tow. PePa and Grandma also ended up going, which is somewhat relevant to the story. After T’s first game, there was a 3 hour wait before the second game was to start, so we all took off to kill some time. Jenna went with the grandparents and they went driving around, while T and Jax stayed with us and we went to Home Depot and looked for a Target. I needed some supplies for this and Brent needed some stuff to fix our fence where the dogs got out three weeks ago…more on that later…maybe.

Anyway, we all decided to meet up at the Wendy’s in town (one of the only eating places in this little town) for lunch before heading back for T’s second game. While there, I tried to feed Jax and eat my own lunch at the same time – a feat that should be noted was met with limited success. He did manage to gnaw on some Wendy’s fries though (his first!).

Apparently, we weren’t the only ones with this idea of killing time at Wendy’s. While we were eating there, there was another family at a table off in the corner. It was a Mom all alone, with an older-teenage-ish age kid, another child somewhere around the tween years…and a toddler. She was managing fine on her own, with the help of the older kids – I can attest that they DO come in handy when corralling youngsters! We all observed this family as the little toddler (girl) ran away from the table and around the open area in the restaurant in a “Catch Me!” type of game with the middle child.

Corralling the toddler once successfully, they sat back down to resume eating when the toddler “snuck” off again. This time, the Mom went in pursuit and when she “caught” the toddler and picked her up to carry her back to their table, it happened. The girl apparently lost all bones in her body, just went limp and sort of yelled out. I wouldn’t call it screaming, but it was loud just for a moment.

Now…there were two reactions to this scene at our table. You could group us into two distinct groups – those that have been there and done that…and the one that doesn’t know any better. I’ll try not to name any names…to protect privacy and all…let’s just see if you can figure it out.

There were two people at the table that watched the scene and laughed. Then looked at each other with a “that’s typical” look passing between them, thinking nothing of what had just happened. You could tell that they had raised a child (or two) and knew that the scene before them was pretty minor for that age and well-handled by the Mom.

Then there was the other person. The one that looked horrified by what had just happened and proceeded to scoff at the two others who had laughed about the scene. The words “My child will never do that!” were heard coming from this person’s mouth.

It was at this point that the other two people again exchanged looks…or smirks, at this point…as if saying to each other “Just you wait and see, Buddy!” for they knew that these things happen. They knew that children don’t like to sit still for long. That they tend to get antsy and impatient once they’re done eating and think that “escaping” from Mom/Dad is a fun game to play. And once caught and told “No more!” they can sometimes react loudly and vociferously, showing anyone and everyone their displeasure at the end of the game.

And compared to some scenes that I’ve witnessed (or experienced first hand a time or two) the reaction of this toddler was very mild and what you might even call well-mannered. I’ve seen kids be drug from the store kicking and screaming at the tops of their lungs the whole way…while the Mom copes as best she can. This scene was nothing like that.

So two people left the table that day with a laugh and a smile for the Mom, eagerly anticipating the day that the other one’s child attempts such a feat. Because as sure as the sun shines in Texas, the wind blows across the flat plains, and the snow falls in the mountains…there will come a time when that one’s child WILL act out in public. I just hope that I’m along for the ride that day. Not to say “I told you this would happen”. I would never do that. I might think it…but will bite my tongue to avoid saying the words, I promise. I just want to witness the scene when it’s my kid. That’s all. LOL!

Do you "Arm Dance"?

Jax is on the move. No, not crawling and such, but we're getting closer with every day that passes. Right now, he’s starting to exercise what one day might possibly turn into his “smooth operator” moves…you know, dance moves. Or the beginnings of dance moves. When a baby starts to get mobile, it seems that the first thing that they figure out how to move all around is their arms…thus the arm dance is born.

Whether he’s sitting or laying down, when Jax gets super-excited about something these days, he starts flailing his arms up and down, up and down. And with some force – in fact, if he’s laying on his back when it happens, his arms actually hit his own stomach, making a loud, thud noise. Whack! Whack! Whack! When he’s sitting or “standing” these sudden motions can throw him off balance, making him topple over or sway around crazily in our arms.

Oh, and the facial expressions that go along with the arm dance…priceless! Don’t believe me? I enter the following photographs into evidence for your consideration…





Notice that I'm moving my own head back out of the line of fire???





This is about where he lost his balance on my lap and sat down with a thud...





The grins come out in full force and he starts "arm dancing" while sitting...














Yeah…it’s pretty funny to watch. But didn’t you just love that toothy grin that he gave somewhere in the middle of all of that?!?! Melts my heart everytime!

Too Much Cuteness!!

I just had to share this photo of Jax with you all...isn't he getting so big? It's basketball season now, and we went to big brother's game this past Thursday night...and although I dedicated most of the camera time to Tanner, I just couldn't resist getting some shots of Jax too! What a cutie pie! Then again, I'm somewhat biased... :)

Sick...Again...le sigh...

Yeah, this is not so much fun.  Just in case you were wondering.  I'll have to tell this one to you short and sweet as I'm literally running on empty as I type...

The last time I slept really good?  Last Thursday...

Symptoms of said sick child?  Cough, mucus, rattle in the chest...and then today, fever

Number of trips to the doctor?  One

Number of calls to the nurse to make sure that I'm putting the right medicine in the nebulizer in the past week?  I really am too embarrassed to admit...see the answer to the first question though, that might shed some light on why there might have been more than one call...

Official diagnosis?  Full blown ear infection on the right side, and building up to a good one in the left ear.

sigh...

So I'm tired.  He's tired.  He's cranky and fussy, which in turn makes me cranky and fussy.  I would really like to inject the antibiotic straight into his bloodstream or ear canal (whichever would be the most effective) to get him well and sleeping again.  And back in day care.  LOL! 

Then I hear how whiny I sound.  An ear infection?  That's nothing to be so upset over.  Yes, he's been sick a lot in the past three months, but we ARE in the cold/flu season and we've so far managed to avoid bigger, nastier diseases and ailments.  By that line of reasoning, I should be thankful that he's got an ear infection only and that it's not something worse. 

And then he starts fussing again and it's really hard to say "thank you"...hopefully he'll be better tomorrow or the next day and I'll be back soon!

Five Months

5 months…150 days, give or take…150 nights of little sleep…time flies when you’re having fun, huh? There are days that it seems that time drags on and on…and then there are the days where time seems to be moving at warp speed. Days when you don’t know if you’re coming or going between feedings…and days when you cherish something close because you know that the time of them doing this or that is coming to an end soon.

So many changes are happening in Jax’s world right now. He’s learning so much, being exposed to so many new things, and going through some rough little pains as he moves from the “baby” stage to the “infant” stage of this first year. Looking back at my daughter, I thought that this time passed so quickly, as I suppose that it would eight years later. This time around, at 34 years old, time seems to be moving a bit slower. Maybe that’s because I know what to expect and am anticipating the change? I don’t know. Either way, it’s an exciting time in our house right now, that’s for sure!

I decided that I might need to organize these monthly posts a bit…Lord knows there are days that I need help remembering my own name, much less all that I’d like to cover in these posts! So here goes:

Stats – Weight/Height, etc.: We don’t go to see the Dr until next month, so I’ve just got guesses. I think that he’s grown about an inch in length from last month and put on maybe a pound or two. It seems to me that he’s “evening” out where his weight is…like his height is catching up on his weight gain, which is a good thing!

Bedtime: 8-8:30pm. Our routine is to start feeding him around 7ish at night, then he gets a bath right before 8ish and is out and dressed and ready for bed shortly thereafter. Some night vary, depending what’s going on, but he does MUCH better when we manage to stick to that schedule…and we’re all about doing our part to help him sleep at night!

“Wake-up!” time: This month I’ve seen a marked difference in his waking time. He managed to drop down to one nighttime feeding within the last two weeks and due to that, he’s up and awake a little bit earlier, usually between 6-6:30am on most mornings. On the weekends, I can sometimes convince him to “sleep” a little longer by bringing him into our bed, but that doesn’t always work. I’m not really sure why he wakes so early now…he’s not hungry, he’ll wait until closer to 8am before wanting his bottle, but he’s awake – happy and playful at this time! He usually does poop right around 6:30-7am, so maybe that’s it!

Naps: Jax still takes about three naps a day, ranging anywhere from short “cat naps” lasting about 30 minutes, to longer stretches of sleep that might run an hour and a half. There’s usually one long nap and two shorter naps in a day…and we’re trying really hard to keep him awake in the evenings, in the hopes that making him tired helps him sleep better. Hey – don’t knock it…I’ll take whatever help that I can get!

Bottles: He takes 6 ounces in his bottles now, eating 6 times each day. Four during and throughout the daytime (about 3 hours apart), one right before bedtime and one around 2-3am.

Meals/Solids: Jax started eating solid foods this past month – with much success! I had started him on cereal with juice a little before the magical 4 month mark, in hopes that it would help the sleeping situation at that time (it didn’t), so starting solids was somewhat easy. We’ve almost finished all of the 1st simple foods with no allergic reactions to anything yet. At this point, he’s taking a tablespoon of fruit in his 3 tablespoons of cereal (along with juice) in the mornings around 10am and then he’ll eat anywhere from a jar and a half to almost two full jars of baby food in the evenings around 7pm. We always start with the vegetable, to make sure that he finishes that one, and then if he finishes or doesn’t finish the fruit, that’s ok. Only one time has he come close to eating both containers. I’ll have to do another post about the joys/pitfalls of making my own baby food (which I DID do for the first few weeks)…let’s just sum it all up by saying that I now support Gerber wholeheartedly. Oh well…

New Foods: Everything! Sweet potatoes, apples, green beans, bananas, squash, peaches, carrots and pears.

Developmental Milestones and “Firsts”: Oh goodness – SO much is happening and changing for Jax right now. He babbles constantly – the teachers all remark on how much he talks for a baby of his age. Of course, none of it is more than baby babble and sounds, but it’s SO cute! And the noises range from quiet, soothing baby sounds/babble all the way to listen-to-me-women-I’m-talking-to-you types of conversations! He can make all sorts of noises, but the newest is figuring out how to make the “b” sound (which is just funny watching him struggle to get it out!) and he’s figured out in the last week how to blow bubbles with his spit. Yes, he’s very advanced – we’re perusing collegiate applications at the moment! Just kidding.

In terms of mobility, he’s freely moving back-to-front and front-to-back and attempting somewhat of an army crawl while on his belly.


He can hold his massive head up for quite a while now, although I haven’t timed it, and turn each way to see everything all around him.


When left alone on a pallet on the floor, 9 times out of 10 he will NOT be in the same spot 5 seconds later when you come back. He can turn a full 360 degree circle on his back to see that much more. He’s figuring out hand-to-eye coordination fairly well as he’s now able to pick up what he reaches for I’d say about 50% of the time. Of course, once the object is in his grasp it goes straight to his mouth…just a little taste test to figure it all out, I suppose. After not liking his high chair so much the first week we tried to use it, he’s settled himself into it and has discovered how fun it is to make toys and spoons fly off of the tray…of course, this is a total accident when it happens, but it’s funny none-the-less.

Another new trick? He’s almost sitting. By himself! He started this about a week or so ago (which was right on time according to when his big sister did stuff – she sat a week before she turned 5 months) but was pretty wobbly. Now he’s starting to correct his positions and brace his hands out to catch himself when he starts to topple over. Am I ready for this stage? Yes and no. Yes, because what a cool age – I remember this being when Jenna got really fun. No, because I remember with clarity this stage…and although lots of fun, I needed an extra head to watch her with and an extra limb or two to keep track of her and hold her down. I missed the immobile stage once she got to the mobile stage…so I know it’s coming.

And oh my goodness - we've got hair! This might not sound like much to you, but Jenna (and I) didn't have hair until almost 3 years old...check out all the hair...ignore the dazed and confused look on his face...



Favorite Toys: Exer-saucer is still a go-to favorite. But he got a new toy from Aunt Tiffany this past weekend that might eclipse the exer-saucer given some time. It’s a long caterpillar with chimes and rattles and all throughout it that is soft (read chewable) with lots of little doodads on it. Loves it. Oh, and then of course, there’s his hands and feet. He plays a lot with his feet when they’re uncovered and bare…not so much when they’re tucked away in sleep n’ play outfits, which amuses me, and makes for fun diaper times!

I think that covers all the main stuff. We’re entering a new stage – the mobile stage – and we’re so psyched about it! Apprehensive, nervous and excited all at the same time. Lucky for us, he’s sleeping so much better at night…we’re going to need the energy just to keep up with him soon! And being only 5 months old, he’s still my little snuggle man at nighttime…that bedtime feeding is still my favorite time with him during the day (other than the early mornings when he’s so extremely happy!) and I don’t even mind the 2am feedings since he’s such a snuggler during that time too. Of course, what mom wouldn’t mind getting that extra 30 minutes of sleep, I’m not gonna lie to you…but I enjoy the snuggles too!

Where, O Where Has Sandy Gone???

Logically, in my head, I know that I’ve been a little MIA from this blog lately…like the past two months. But I didn’t really realize how little I’ve been around, until I was trying to fix a button on my sidebar and noticed that I have only posted 7 times in December. And I think that it showed only 9 posts for November. Dude, I used to post each day!


So what happened?

I guess the best explanation (which is usually the simplest) is that I’m tired. Having a baby is hard work…and I thought that I was doing so good right after Jax was born when I still posted almost daily. Sure, I did good then, but start the teething process, prolonged sleep deprivation as it became four months of little sleep, add in a few rounds of sickness and I just disappear! Whew!

Well, I guess that can be another goal of mine for the New Year that is right around the corner…to be “here” more. Mentioning which, am I the only person who doesn’t know what happened to my 2010? I mean, I feel like I’ve just gotten used to dating things with the 10 on the end…and now I have to re-adjust to putting an 11 instead?

Well, hopefully things will improve. Jax is becoming congested again, but the glories of having a nebulizer at home is being able to start the breathing treatments a little earlier this go round. Maybe before he gets too bad. He’s not getting worse, so maybe it’s working…but who knows? And remember when I wrote last week about a little “surprise” or early Christmas present? Well a couple of my readers (who are smart mommies) knew exactly what I was talking about – or they came close, anyway.

Jax dropped a nighttime feeding!

I didn’t want to say anything for fear of jinxing the whole darn thing, but he went from two feedings during the night down to just one feeding. And I can’t honestly tell you why he changed. When it first started he was still taking in the same amount of solids during the evening as before, but whatever did the trick I’ll take it! Now (about a week later) he’s eating one whole container of vegetable solids each night plus about half of a container of fruit. Maybe once he gets to the point where he’s finishing both containers (fruit and veggies) then he’ll drop that last nighttime feeding. Keeping my fingers crossed…

Either way, I’ll take one nighttime feeding between 2a-3a any day over one at 1a-2a and one at 5a! It’s not a perfect process yet…some nights he still wakes up around 12:30a-1a and cries for a little bit, but I’ve learned that he’s not really hungry right then. He’ll take his pacifier (even if he doesn’t like it at first) and eventually settle back down…you just have to be patient. It’s not the same sort of cry that he gives at 2a-3a when I know for a fact that he’s starving and “needs” to be fed NOW!! Ask any Mom out there…she’ll back me up – there IS a difference!

So it’s been a week now…and I couldn’t be happier. Some nights he doesn’t even do the waking up early thing so I actually get more than 2 hours of sleep in one stretch…something that I almost can’t remember doing before! Like I said, I’m still looking forward to the night when he doesn’t have to be fed at all, but I’ll take what I can get for now and be completely happy with it. I’m trying not to be too greedy and ask for more…but it’s hard!

So that was my big surprise. Not that great of a surprise to some of you ladies…but still a welcome relief for me. Now if I could just channel this “extra” energy that I’m getting from more sleep into wrapping Christmas presents and finishing up the teachers’ gifts, I’d be good to go!!! LOL!

Where Does the Time Go?

I have a confession to make…


Please, pretty please, don’t hate me for it…

My Christmas tree isn’t up yet.

And I have three kids.

Yeah, no Mom of the Year award being given to me this year! I meant to get it up one night last week. Really, I did. And to give Brent his credit, he did get it out of the storage unit last week. But it’s still in the garage.

I just didn’t have time last week. Between getting stuff ready for Jenna’s Christmas party and our weekend trip to my Dad’s house for our Christmas with them…time got away from me. So I promised myself and everyone else that we would leave early and get home in time to put up and decorate the tree last night.

Yeah, that didn’t happen either.

So I’ll try again tonight. Maybe today will be my day. I mean, I’ve only got 4 more days…surely one of these will work?!?!

We did the same thing last year…I was pregnant and feeling bad all the time, so the tree went up the week of Christmas. I swore that I’d never do it that way again…but here we are…

Anyone else running behind? The good news is that I’m done with all of our shopping as far as I can remember…gifts just need to be wrapped. But what’s the fun in wrapping if you don’t have a tree to put the gifts under?!?!? Maybe tonight…wish me luck!

Tis the Season...

Have you ever had something happen (a good thing) and you feared talking about it because you didn’t want to jinx things?


I think that this is especially true when you have a blog. You talk about all sorts of personal business here on the internet that’s open/available to anyone with half an interest to read all about it. Sooner or later it’s bound to happen…you talk about something good…and immediately afterward, it goes away. Because you opened your big, fat mouth.

At least, that’s how things work in my life. So, I’m currently sitting on a “secret” that I don’t want to share just quite yet. No, I’m not pregnant. Just get that thought out of your head. And can I ask why must you hate me so much to wish that on me with a nearly 5-month-old at home? I didn’t do anything to you!

But really. I think that if you talk about things happening with your baby the first time it happens (as I’ve done in the past) then that event might never happen again. Or at least not for the next month. It’s sort of like when the baby learns a new trick and you tell all of your family and friends about it…your family and friends come over to see this amazing trick in person with their own eyes…and the little snot won’t do it anymore. No matter how much you beg and plead.

So, my “thing” has happened once. Last night it happened again. That makes twice, if your math skills are a bit fuzzy in the mornings. But I think that it will take several more days to make a “pattern” worth talking about and sharing, don’t you?

Therefore, I’m not talking about it…not even thinking about it…and yes, my nose is growing as I type out these lies!

In other news, since I feel like I can’t talk about what I’d really like to talk about, is anyone else feeling a bit “overcommitted” this holiday season? I know that I am…and I did it to myself. You see, like most other people that we know, the crunch of financial strain is being felt at our household. It’s expensive to have a baby…especially one that likes to continue getting sick and make mommy and daddy miss work. In response to this financial crunch, I decided that the best gifts to give our teachers/day care providers/co-workers was homemade gifts. You know, that personal touch.

So I collected recipes and projects and have been amassing a plethora of photoshop gift tags and labels that are just as cute as can be. Everything is all arranged in my head into neat little piles and stacks of how it will all be: the gift bags, the tags that I painstakingly slaved over, the treat bags with their little tags, etc, etc…you get the picture, right? But in reality, I still have to make all the stuff…which takes time. Time to bake. Time to sew. Time to print out all of these god-forsaken tags and cut them all out. Time to tie them all on, just so. And time is something that is hard to come by with a little one in the house. Especially when it’s the 14th of December and my husband and daughter are just now putting up the lights outside! Don’t even ask me about where our tree is…

In the meantime, I’ve also been working on our family gifts…and was so impressed with how quickly I wrapped up all of the shopping for my nieces and nephews this year…forgetting that I still needed to finish up our kids and one all important person – Brent! Luckily for me, lots of places are doing site-to-store now, which takes most of the work out of it for me. Now if only the UPS brown truck will hurry up and deliver everything to me on time…all of my fingers and toes are crossed!

And then cue the crazy music as I realize that school ends THIS WEEK, which means that the teacher present that I was making for Jenna’s teacher? Yeah, I have to have that done this week…not next week, when everything else can wait until. Hello crazy life, I’d like to say that I’ve missed you…but you haven’t gone anywhere, you’ve been here all along. Hiding in the background, just waiting to pounce!

So, tonight I made fudge. At 10 o’clock at night. Because that’s the best time to make fudge, didn’t you know? And tomorrow night I’ll make something else. The following night will be another thing. And lunches? Well, they’re all present and accounted for this week as I run from store to store collecting all of my baubles/packages or cutting tags and such out of the special cardstock that I ordered and should be arriving today or tomorrow. Luckily, I can stalk the UPS site from my phone as I do all of this and fret and worry over whether my stuff will get here in time.

There’s really nothing like waiting until the last minute! Don’t believe those people that tell you that it’s best to finish BEFORE Thanksgiving…it’s really best to wrap presents the night before Christmas…trust me!

I guess since I’m complaining about the lack of time…I should get on to bed before I’m adding lack of energy to accomplish all of this to my never-ending to do list, huh? Okay…you convinced me…Good Night!

Four Months

Where has the time gone, Jax? This last month passed in a blur of doctor’s visits, breathing treatments, sleepless nights and a sick household. It really seems like just the other day that I was writing out your 3 month update…oh well. Time flies when you’re having fun, right? Right!

Despite the sickness and exhaustion that have plagued our house this month, you have been such a trooper Jax! Being sick is never easy (just ask your Dad!) and you handled it like a champ, just getting fussy a few of those days. Luckily for us, your stuff was mainly congestion and there were just a few days where you ran a fever and felt really bad. Hopefully, we’re all on the mend now!

What are you doing this month? EVERYTHING! LOL. In the past few weeks you have discovered SO much…your hands are still your favorite thing to chew on…although you’ll gladly chomp away on most anything, including everything that is within your reach! Blankets, burp cloths, my fingers, sister’s hair…just whatever you can get your hands on – you’re not picky. That’s probably because in the last month, you cut not only your FIRST tooth, but also your SECOND tooth! You are a drooling, smiling, little snaggle-tooth baby these days…chomping happily away on whatever you can reach!


Speaking of your reach, it’s getting better and better. You’ve figured out some of your toys this month, including a rattle and how it works. You’ve also discovered that big sister and I have hair and you think that it’s SO much fun to pull on! We, of course, don’t agree with your definition of “fun.” You’re doing better in your Bumbo chair, not quite so top-heavy…and you’ve moved on up to your Exer-saucer this past month, which you love, love, love! And we love that you love it…those 10-15 minutes that you’ll sit in it a few times a day give Mommy/Daddy the helping hand to rinse off dishes, sweep the floor, fold laundry or just relax if we need a minute.


Little guy, you’ve also discovered your voice. You are a little chatterbox…telling us what-not and all…sometimes you make noise just to make noise and other times you “conversate” back and forth with us. We can make your day if we’ll speak baby-talk right back at you…it’s like you’ve found your long-lost friend and you really get to talking then! The teachers at day care are constantly telling me how impressed they are at your vocal abilities at this young age…I smile and tell them that you come by it honestly!


Sleep? Well, that’s still a struggle for us sometimes. You do NOT sleep through the night yet, won’t even think about it. You usually wake up sometime between 12:30a-1:30a for your first nighttime feeding and then want to be fed again anywhere from 3:30a-5a…it just depends on many factors. You do still like to sleep in your swaddle blanket, although I’m wondering if we need to start seeing if you can sleep without it. And you still take really good naps during the day…usually a good, long nap either at 11a or 2p…and then short cat naps the rest of the time. It never fails that if I get you to sleep while we’re getting dinner ready, you wake up as soon as I try to eat my first bite! It’s like you know when Mom’s about to eat and you say “Oh no you don’t!”

We’re branching out a bit on your feedings…trying new things to see if you’ll sleep better at night, but you just keep right on reminding us that you’ll sleep through the night when you’re good and ready to do it, and that’s not yet. You started cereal this month…both rice and oatmeal. You prefer the rice cereal, and you like it mixed with apple juice better than formula. Some nights you’ll take almost the whole tablespoon that I mix up…other nights you want nothing to do with it. Since you’re not sitting upright on your own yet, it’s taken me a bit to figure out this whole feeding business. You wiggle around a LOT, and even food won’t keep you still. You always start off in your Bumbo chair for our feedings, and quickly move to my lap. (I don’t know what I was thinking buying a high chair that doesn’t recline…I clearly wasn’t thinking!) By the end of the feedings, we’re usually both covered in cereal and bath time has become much more intense due to the cleaning that is now needed. I can’t wait to start you on real food this next month…you’ve done so well with cereal…and I’m hopeful that real food will help the sleeping situation, but I’m not crossing my fingers or holding my breath!

Jax, you’ve started to laugh this month. Real laughs that are prompted by something specific are so cute! You smile all the time, but you smile the biggest for your big sister…you love her SO much right now. She loves you too, but she’s really ready for you to start talking in real words…not a day goes by that she doesn’t tell me what you were trying to say…it’s so cute. Your feet are a little ticklish, but the best spot to get that laugh out of you is low in your sides…that’s the golden spot that will make you wiggle away from me and laugh the hardest!

Mentioning wiggling away – I nearly forgot! You learned how to roll over this month. You can go from your back to your front and also go back the other way…but you don’t do it on command. It’s totally when YOU want to do it (much to Grammy’s dismay) and no one can entice you to do it if you don’t want to do it. It’s been nearly a week now since I’ve seen you do it, but I know that’s just because I’m watching for it!


I think that sums up the past month…there were fewer pictures this month since there were just fewer days when we felt like taking pictures! Sorry. You’ll still a cutie pie, and if I’m not mistaken, your hair is thickening up a bit and your eyes will turn colors this next month…can’t wait to see those changes!


Love you, baby boy!

Baby’s First Tooth

Yes, you read that right. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. We have a tooth. Which explains SO MUCH regarding the last few weeks…

It explains the drool, which really wasn’t as bad as I seem to remember, since I kept telling Brent that it was going to get worse when he started teething.

It explains the bouts of crankiness spread here and there when he’s an otherwise totally happy child.

It REALLY explains the lack of sleeping. The loss of the sleep schedule and everything else that happens at our house between the hours of 8pm and 7am.

So, in one week, we’ve managed to learn how to roll from back to front. We can also roll from front to back. We’ve cut our first tooth. And…yes, there’s more…wait for it…we got up on all fours yesterday.

Once again, no, you didn’t misread that statement. Your eyes are still not playing tricks on you. But my eyes are a little weepy and my mind is going ninety miles a minute. Why, you ask? Because he’s not supposed to do these things yet. I thought that I had a few more months to enjoy this stage. The still a baby, but more like an infant stage. The stage where you can put them in one spot and when you look back (after taking your eyes off for only a few seconds) they’re still in the same spot/position. Yes, I’m immensely proud of my son who seems to be ahead of “the curve” developmentally. But I weep for the parents who have to keep up with him! LOL!

I know that the books are just guidelines…points of reference, if you will. A guide to use for when a baby “should” or “can possibly” do something and not a hard and fast rule that something’s wrong if your little one isn’t doing ABC at whatever age. I also know that every baby’s different, each developing at their own pace in their own ways. What works to help one baby will not necessarily work for the next baby.

But like I told my Mom last night on the phone…I’ve already paid my dues with my daughter. You know how they say that you’ll have one child that is just like you? Well, that’s Jenna. She didn’t sleep. She walked early, skipping the whole crawling stage pretty much. I can’t honestly remember when she started cutting teeth (and I think that makes me a bad Mom!), but I would assume that it was a little early based on how she did everything else. I’m convinced that Jenna did all of these things early to A)pay me back for the havoc that I rained upon my own mother during my first year or two on Earth and B)provide my Mom with amusement. Seriously. I’m not kidding.

Then again, I guess that it’s better to be doing things sooner than I had expected rather than playing the waiting game of when is ABC going to happen? I know that my step-mother was so totally consumed with worry about her daughter (my step-sister) not teething that she took her to the dentist and asked them to do x-rays to prove that she did have teeth and she was just going to be a late bloomer. I can only imagine the look on the dentist’s face when she made that request, by the way…

So here we are. Ahead of pace just a smidge. We’re rolling over. We’re getting onto all fours. And we have a tooth. I’ll have to wait for it to push up a bit more before attempting to take a picture of said tooth for you…right now you can feel the corner of it easier than you can actually see it. Plus, to even get a look at it, you have to convince Jax that he doesn’t want to chew on his fingers for a few seconds…which is next to impossible! I suppose they taste good…

Can We Spell Rough – R-U-F-F?

You know how sometimes you think to yourself how it might be nice if one of the kids got a little bit sick so that you could squeeze in a three-day weekend?  What’s that?  You mean to tell me that I’m the ONLY Mom that’s ever had that thought? 

Now, to clarify, I certainly don’t mean to say that I would wish illness on my kiddos.  Something small like a cold.  They run a little bit of a temperature – just enough to keep them out of school and sort of tired, but not high enough so that there would be something really wrong with them.  No, you’re right…no matter how I try to say it, it just sounds wrong.   Well, don’t worry about hating me…I got what I deserved these last two weekends!

First off, Jenna got sick.  To make a long story short, she complained about a “bug bite” early during the week before last and I blew it off and chalked it up to the typical drama that goes along with my eight year-old girl.  (She’s sort of a hypochondriac…)  Well, by Friday it had gotten red and was hot to the touch, her whole throat was swollen and the actual “bite spot” was leaking pus.  Yeah, say it with me…EEEEWWWW!  Double eeewww.  After a quick trip to the dr office on Friday afternoon, I had the sh*t literally scared out of me when the dr uttered these words: staph infection.  I took the dr with the severity that the situation called for and Jenna got a double shot (one in each leg) of a strong antibiotic.  We made an appt for the following morning, and were actually pre-admitted to our local hospital in case she worsened over the night.  Oh wait…I was supposed to be making this short, right?

We went back to the dr on Saturday.  Followed again by another appt on Sunday.  We started oral antibiotics and a steroid.  She improved, and it turned out to be an actual bug bite and not a staph infection at all.

But it made for a pretty crappy weekend. 

Then you know about my week of sleepless nights…

And on Thursday when we picked Jax up from day care, they were concerned about the goop in his left eye.  He wasn’t running any fever…or maybe it was low grade, he wouldn’t keep the pacifier/thermometer in his mouth long enough to truly register…but he was cranky and seemed out of sorts.  I also noticed that the left eye seemed red and swollen.  I called the after-hours clinic and made an appt for the first thing the next morning with our regular doctor. 

We showed up…after an ok night…and found out that he has pink eye.  Nice.  So I got my Friday off of work, but had a sick little man to take care of.  He really wasn’t too bad…but still.  And then Brent got sent home from work for the afternoon since his boss was worried about Brent also having pink eye (knowing how contagious) it can be and so we were both home early.  Which was nice. 

But by today?  I’m tired.  I’m ready to go back to work to get a break.  He’s cranky, he doesn’t feel good, but doesn’t really feel bad either.  And the sleeping?  Oh last night was SO much worse than he’s been for the last 5 nights or so…

Oh, and he’s got a bad diaper rash from the antibiotics giving him diarrhea…like his little butt is so raw that it’s bleeding every once in a while sort of bad.  And we’re only on day 3 of the 10-day cycle of antibiotics…

But on a less complain-y sounding note – our boy can ROLL!!!  Yep, you read that right – he’s mobile.  Day care told us either Wednesday or Thursday that he was rolling from back to front, but the little stinker waited until today to show us his cool trick.  But we’ll one-up the day care ladies…not only did he finally show us how he could roll from back to front, but he also pushed WAY up on his forearms…AND…rolled from front to back.  Of course, I don’t really think that he meant to do that last trick since he looked as shocked as we did! 

But now that he’s done it once, it’s only a matter of time before he’s doing it all the time…which means that he’s mobile.  And no, I have no pictures of the great event since we were doing a bit of nakey-nakey time when he did this to try and treat the above-mentioned diaper rash.  Oh well, maybe next time I’ll take pictures and we’ll just let it be our secret that those pictures aren’t really the real first roll over pictures.

You know, sort of like when you dress your kids up in the outfit that they wore the first day of school two weeks after school started because you forgot your camera that day…since no one but you will ever know, right?  Note to the masses: that trick only works until the kids get old enough to tell on you…and they WILL rat you out.  Trust me on this!

So here’s to long weekends and going back to work on Monday mornings…I’ve never been so glad to see Sunday night!

From the Mouths of Babes

Kids say the darndest things, huh? Anyone who’s had at least one child (let alone more) can attest to this fact – they will say ANYTHING that pops into their little brains. They don’t edit. They don’t hold anything back. And they certainly don’t take into consideration WHERE they are, or how LOUD they’re talking when the thought pops into their head and comes out. Many, many Moms and Dads across the world could tell you countless stories about their darling son/daughter doing something that embarrassed them in public…

As funny as those stories as, this isn’t one of those. HAHAHA!! I mean, it’s a funny story about something that Jenna said to me the other night, but it’s not one of the embarrass you in public stories…sorry if I got your hopes up!

So we’re driving home from school the other day and Jenna and I are having one of our many “deep” conversations. I’m really not sure how we got on the subject of kids becoming adults…but this is how conversations with kids sometimes goes – you listen with half an ear, nodding and saying “Uh-huh” every so often and before you know it you’re talking about s-e-x or something equally as alarming.

Here goes:

Jenna: Hmmm…I think that I just noticed a pattern…

Me: (they’ve been studying patterns for an AWFULLY long time now in school – wonder when they’ll move on?) Uh – huh.

Jenna: Yep, it’s a pattern. That’s for sure.

Me: (realizing that Jenna’s wanting more than just the standard Mom answer) What pattern did you notice, Jenna? (asked with WAY more enthusiasm than I was actually feeling at that moment in time…)

Jenna: Well, first Tanner will be an adult. Then I’ll be an adult. And last, Jax will be an adult.

Me: (really wondering where this was going and what brought this up?) Yeah, you’re right that’s a pattern.

Jenna: So, first will be Tanner, then me and then Jax. Neat.

Me: Yeah, and then once all of you are adults and have moved out of the house, Brent and I will PAR-TAYYY!!!

Jenna: (with 100% honesty and sincerity in her little voice) But you’ll be dead by then!

So…apparently my child either thinks that I’m already REALLY old or she finally believes what I’ve been telling people for years – these kids are gonna be the death of me. Literally. And we all know that nothing is more literal than an 8 year-old.

As I start laughing about her pronouncement of my impending doom, I tried to explain to her that I wasn’t that old…

Me: Jenna! I’m not THAT old…jeez! You know, Jax will be an adult in only 20 years… (rounding up to the nearest whole number for convenience) That’s not that far away.

Jenna: Yeah, I know. That’s why I said that you’ll either be dead or close to it. It’s really not that far away if you think about it, Mom.

Me: Well, if you think that’s not that far off, then exactly how old do you think that I am?

Jenna: Sensing the danger in answering this question honestly, promptly answers “32?”

I just laughed harder. I mean, she was acting like I was currently 65 years old with a bad heart and a foot already in the grave. That me making it another 20 years just might not happen.

32, my ass. That’s a PC answer if I ever heard one!

I assured her that I would be around for quite some time…or that’s my plan anyway. Then I told her how old Grammy was…just to even the scoreboard a little bit. She was shocked to say the least. So either my Mom looks younger than me, or she’s just shocked that Grammy looks as good as she does considering her advanced age (according to Jenna). Either way, I laughed all the way home…

We’re Like the Walking Dead

Those are zombies, right? I hope so…otherwise I just referred to my husband and I as dead walkers…creepy!

Anyway…my child doesn’t sleep. No, that’s not true. He does sleep. He just doesn’t sleep for longer than 4 hours at night. Seriously. That’s three feedings between 7p-7a. And that’s not so much sleep for us…since we share in the feeding duties now that it’s all formula all the time. I really thought that once we switched to formula that it would last him a bit longer than the breastmilk was lasting, but not so much. Maybe it’s an urban legend that formula is more filling?
Either way, Jax used to sleep from his 8p feeding (after bath time) until 2am. Like clockwork. You could have actually set a clock by that schedule. Then he would go from 2a until 5a…not so long, but ok since we got a good stretch of sleep during the first part of the night.  Then, without any warning, he switched the schedule up on us, as babies are prone to doing. One week it was 130a and 430a…and the next week it was 1a and 4a…and now some nights it’s midnight or even 1130p when he’s waking up to be fed that first time.

I don’t know what happened. I thought that it was the cold that did us in…you know, too much snot, not enough suckage with the booger-sucker-thingy? But he’s a lot better on that front and still hasn’t gone back to his old sleeping schedule. He’s gone as long as 4 hours…maybe 5 hours one night…but no more 6 hours stretches. And if he does (by some miracle) end up sleeping longer, it only happens one night…there’s no repeat or encore performance for us to enjoy.

So we’ve had to start sleeping in shifts. You know, one of us takes the first part of the night and the other goes into our extra bedroom (Tanner’s room) and sleeps like the dead. Then in the middle of the night, we swap. It works for us, except that there is a big disconnect with your spouse when you don’t get to sleep next to each other. And when you’re trying to do a 30 Day Intimacy Challenge, it’s even harder. I feel closer than ever to my husband, and can’t enjoy one of the best things about our relationship…sleeping together. In the literal or figurative sense.

I’m really not complaining, or I don't mean to complain. I understand that this is part of having kids...they don't sleep.  I was a horrible sleeper as an infant, a fact that my Mother reminds me of often. Especially when I’m complaining about how my own children are or are NOT sleeping. She tells me that I could speak in complete sentences before I ever slept through the night. At least I know that she understands, right? I suppose, except for the fact that back in those days, they at least let you do rice cereal or solid foods SO much earlier…heck, even with Jenna, the norm was to start solids at 3 months. Now, it’s 4 months if you’ve got a wayward doctor…but more likely 6 months if your doctor keeps up with his/her medical stuff. Lucky for me, I’ve got a 4 month believer…and I feel that Jax is ready as he stares at our food intently now when we eat.

But no one can tell you for sure that eating more than just formula/breast milk will satisfy their bellies and keep them sleeping for longer periods of time. I remember Jenna being a difficult sleeper. I want to say that she got better after starting solids…but mostly I just remember how bad the whole bed-time routine with her was. So I intentionally started sleep training Jax from a young age…and he does well with putting himself to sleep – I just rock him until he’s drowsy and then I put him down. He usually wakes up when I lay him down, but soothes himself back to sleep with either his paci or his fist (no, he still hasn’t gotten the hang of just the thumb!).

Given all of that, I don’t think that it’s sleep training that we need to do. When he wakes, it’s a hunger cry and he eats the whole contents of the bottle. I can’t increase the amount of formula in his bottles, because if we do, he doesn’t eat any more than he’s currently consuming so it’s just wasted formula. He’s obviously filling up when he’s eating...at least, that's how I interpret him not finishing his fuller bottles.

When it’s not a hunger cry we soothe what we can and let him cry out what we can’t soothe. I think that we’re tackling it all okay…but maybe you have suggestions for me? Maybe we’re trying too many different things?

I don’t think that it’s a growth spurt…as it’s been going on for almost a month now. That’s one hell of a growth spurt if that’s what it is! He’s starting to drool more and more, but I don’t think that he’s quite into a teething stage, so that isn’t the problem either. At least, I don’t think any of this is the problem…

Can you tell me anything to try that I haven’t already tried??? The magic crack baby blanket does still work…and he’s adjusted to using the larger ones now too…so I no longer fear the day that he outgrows that one blanket. And we’re also sometimes getting him to sleep without being swaddled at all. Sometimes he likes it, sometimes he doesn’t. We play it all by ear…

So what are we doing wrong? Or am I just destined to have those kids that just don’t sleep? I’m sure it’s payback in some form for all the stress that I caused my own Mother…don’t you just hate that evil woman? (Payback, not my Mom…just to clarify!)

Now I understand why some employers groan aloud when a woman employee announces that she’s expecting. It’s not just the pregnancy that you have to get through…or even the maternity leave that causes problems. It could be the first year of parenthood that so many parents get through on little to no sleep, barely functioning at their “day jobs” while drinking 18 cups of coffee just to get through the 9 hour day. Yep, that could be it!

Don't forget to click over here and enter the give-away for a $20 CSN Stores gift certificate...the entries are still fairly low, which increases your odds of winning!!  The give-away ends tomorrow night - 11/4 so hurry up and enter!

Halloween 2010

I'm too tired to write much...but you just want to see the pictures anyway, right?  That works for me too!

So here you go...we had a witch and a puppy at our house...and at the last minute, Brent decided to join in on the fun as a wounded Marine.

Which made me odd man out...oh well, maybe next year!

Our little puppy didn't even make it to the first house...

Yep, he slept right through his first Halloween...

At least, he slept until it was time to eat...then the whole neighborhood heard him!

I hope that your Halloween was just as good as ours was!  Hey - on a side note, did anyone get "tricked" instead of "treated"?  Jenna actually got a few empty wrappers/boxes of candy.  We're pretty sure that it was these two teenage boys that "shared" their candy with her...which was SO mean...but we don't know for sure.  She was SO upset that someone would do that!  Just wondered if it happened to anyone else...

Jenna’s First Halloween…

Well, that’s what I was going to write about today…not really her first Halloween, but the first one that she remembers. She was dressed up like a clown and it was hands-down THE cutest costume she’s ever had! So I was going to write about how cool it was for her to understand Halloween this year and talk about how she had more fun standing in our driveway passing out candy than she really did when she was walking around trick-or-treating herself. Yep, that’s what I was gonna write about…

But you know what? I can’t find one stinking picture of her! Seriously. I’m talking loud colors from head to toe…a black felt hat that had yellow yarn-hair sewn in…full clown face make-up and all on a toddler! SO stinking cute! And I can’t find a picture…does that earn me the Mom of the Year award? Hope not…

So instead of writing about all of that…here’s what I DID find when I was looking for those pictures. One of Jenna’s favorite past times is dressing up apparently…here’s some Halloween costumes that she COULD have used over the years…

Silly Snow “Bunny” Jenna

Cheerleader Jenna

Cowgirl Jenna

Swimming Pool Monster Jenna

Butterfly Jenna

Princess Jenna

California Girl Jenna

And my personal favorite… No Clothes Jenna

Yep…all of these were just normal days. I guess you could say that we like Halloween just a little bit around our house. So much, in fact, that we celebrate it more than once a year! Hope you have a happy and safe Halloween this year!