God has shown Favor

Hot Blooded

2011-07-20T17:30:00.000-07:00

It is so hot here in the heart of Iowa, the HX is well over 115! I'm glad I don't have to work outside in this weather! Just being out the short time to let my brothers dogs use the potty makes me want to get sick.
With the weather as crappy as it it ( I thought I saw a guy outside dressed in red with a pointy tail and a pitchfork) I just want to remind y'all of how dangerous this weather can be.

DRINK WATER!! Not iced tea, not soda, water. Your body looses a lot in weather like this and dehydration is not just not fun, but deadly! Give it to your pets, kids and the elderly.
CHECK ON ELDERLY FAMILY AND NEIGHBORS - As one get's older, the body keeps less water in it's cells, has a harder time maintaining body temperature and has a hard time recognizing thirst. The elderly are at a far higher risk of heat related illness or death than others. Make sure they have air conditioning, if they don't get them somewhere that does, and OFFER WATER! Every time you enter or leave a room, offer them a drink. This was law at the nursing home I worked at.
KEEP PETS INDOORS - Dogs and cats can develop heat related illness in as little as 10 minutes. Keep your fur babies inside with plenty of water.
NEVER NEVER NEVER LEAVE A CHILD IN A CAR!!!!!!! - I cannot stress this one enough. I know that all it takes is one sleeping baby and one sleep deprived parent for an accident to happen, but please be hyper vigilant. A inside of a car is much hotter than the temperature outside and will get that hot in a matter of minutes. Babies and small children cannot regulate their body temperature as well as adults and will get very sick or die in a short time.

If you do see a child in a car without the motor running,

GET THEN OUT! If you have to break a window, do so, this child's life is far more important than the insurance clam you might have to file.
CALL 911! Explain what you found and what you did and request an ambulance and police right away.
GET THE CHILD SOMEWHERE COOL! Get the baby/child into the building and strip the down to their undergarments, then apply cool (not cold) damp cloths to the skin.When inside, have someone to find the parent/guardian.
RESUSCITATE IF NEEDED!!! If the child is not breathing or does not have a pulse, begin mouth-to-mouth and/or CPR. If you do not know how to do these, have someone who does administer. Child CPR is different than adult, so please educate yourself in both.
STAY WITH THE CHILD UNTIL HELP COMES!!! Even if the child's parent get's there, stay with them until the police arrive, they may need to take your statement.

I hope that none of you ever have to do any of these steeps, but it is better to know what to do and never use it then being in the situation and not knowing what to do.
Just to show how dangorus it is to leave a child in a car in this heat, the local weather crew here actually baked cookies in a car! SERIOUSLY! That's like leaving your baby in the oven!

Please keep safe everyone! Stay cool!

I'm not fat!

2011-07-07T15:44:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite lines to tell people when my weight comes up is "I'm not fat! I'm fluffy!" (thanks Miss Lime). But the truth is, I do need to loose some pounds. And I've been trying. My health is relitivly good, need to work on the trigs, but other than that, docotrs arn't too worried about it. But I have been trying.
My plan was, before the babino, to go on a bike ride on the trail by our hous after work at Cookies. That got blown out of the water.
I'm also having a hard time movin' and shakin' it recently because I'm just so tired! I was like this with Sean, where all the energy I have is just sucked out by the growing baby. That's how he got his nick-name.
Does anyone have ay advice on how do get some exercise in when I'm tired and preggo? Help?

It's been a while.

2011-06-29T10:15:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody! Sorry for the hiatus. Just a point in my life where blogging wasn't part of it. But I'm back and with big news.

I'm going to be a mommy again! We just found out!
Just like with Sean, Nate and I are both excited and scared, but mostly excited. I'm a little scared because I'll be doing my hospital clinicals 6 months along (where you can walk up to three miles in one day). Fun.
The approximate due date is March 6, 2012 and I'm about 4 weeks along.
YAY!

LOOK OUT!

2011-03-10T13:55:00.000-08:00

This blog is going through an over hall!
After who knows how long, I'm finally redesigning my blog. So sorry for the mess and check back soon!

Open Letter to Sean

2011-03-09T23:11:00.000-08:00

Dear Sean,
Hello, it's Mommy. I just wanted to take this time to asked you to please stop growing so fast.
I am very proud of you for for learning how to unzip and take off your footie jammies and then take them to your gate and through them out for the laundry; that helps Mommy out a little by letting her rest an extra five minutes so her back will feel well enough to get up. But I miss those little fuzzy sleepy sacks that your noodle legs would kick in and we would snuggle.
You amazed us the other day at lunch, when Granddad leaned across the table at Chicago Speekeasy and asked how old you were. You looked down at your little hand, heaqld up two fingers and exclamed "dwo!" All I can ask is "When did you learn how to talk, let alone figure out how old you are?" Wasn't it yesterday you just found you hands?
You and Daddy have played "So Big" forever, but when did you start saying "Soooo big!" with Daddy?
So I guess what I'm saying is; while I'm very happy and proud of you for learning how to count to five, sing, dance, color, get un-dresses, put your shirt on partway by yourself, and God only knows all the other things that I don't have the time to post here in your two years of life, would you please slow down? I don't think that I can keep up with you and I am missing my baby boy. However, I am having such a good time being your Mommy right now, as this very moment.
Please keep all of these points in mind as you continue to grow.

Love and kisses,
Mommy

Ugh! The Sicks!!!

2011-03-04T22:35:00.000-08:00

Lovely day today. (can you hear how thick the sarcasm is in that line?) Strep has been going around the city and lil' Sean’s daycare, only he's not the one who caught it. That's right. Me.
I just had strep real bad back in January (that required an overnight stay at hospital) and this case is pretty bad, too, but was caught in time. Doc says that one more case and he's pulling my tonsils.
The worst part is not being able to really function. With the fever and soar, swollen through and dizziness from the fever and not being able to swallow (so lower blood sugar) I just feel like a blob. Sean at least had a real good day with his great-Grammy and then with Daddy tonight. I just wish I could have done more when Nate's gone (had a little get-together) and Sean woke up and was mad. I don't want him exposed anymore than he already had been, and I don't feel safe holding him with the light-headedness. And boy was he mad!

At least he and I had a good time last night. We went to the mall to drop off some books (our library is temporally located during their renovations). We had a good talk with or three librarian friends and then went to play in the kiddy area. (I'm going to have to management about that they need to enforce the age limit rule. Honor system isn't working and kids are getting hurt)
But the best part was very unusual. There is a wild life educational center that opened up a couple months ago, so Sean and I checked it out. They had real live wolves and a baby cougar there! Don't worry, they were use to people and born in captivity, plus in their fence area, so we were safe.
They had all sorts of cool things, like fossil and skeletal remains that were found in Iowa. Sean really liked the Saber Tooth Tiger skull and holding the Mammoth tusk replica. They had lots of pelts that had been donated of native species that you could touch and feel; Sean grabbed everyone I showed him and gave it a big kiss!! It was the cutest thing in the world! He especially liked the mink and otter pelts.
His highlight of that visit was he got to pet a real live skunk! De-smelled of course, but still a real skunk! He thought that was super cool. And boy, was this skunk a big fella'! The last thing we did before leaving was pet a black ferret. Sean has been around ferrets before, so I know he likes them, but it was real close to bed time and he was getting tired and tried to grab this lil gal’s face. We left, and he didn't have a fit or anything, so I think he had a real good time. We're going to go back there with Daddy soon, once I'm done with this crud.

Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

2011-02-21T15:30:00.000-08:00

PRESENT!

Sorry folks, it has been a while. There's no regular internet access at my house, and since Nate decided to break our garden faucet (it was an accident) and have no water to the house for a while, I'm at my folks.

But really, I wanted to be at home. I've started picking up more hours between my two jobs, so I've pretty much gone form a stay-at-home mom to a working mother. Sean is fine adjusting to it. He goes to Great-Grammys three days and to day care one day a week (and he loves it!) and is just happy as a clam. It's me who has been having a hard time.

First, there's the guilt of leaving Sean with someone else, feeling like I abandoned him, even when he's perfectly happy and loved by a family member looking after him. I know he is okay, but I feel like it's my job to stay home with him. Even back when I wasn't working so much, we talked about one day at day care so he could be around kids his age, but this is just a little more than I had ever thought. Maybe it's a mother thing. Sean is okay and will be okay and it won’t last forever. I just need to hug him more when I am home.

Next is, the house is a mess and I was hoping to tidy it up a bit. The clutter is a two fold issue: 1) I have a two year old, 2) I have ADD as a result of other illnesses that I fight, so that makes the cleaning part harder. "Okay lets vacuum. I'll just plug in the -OHHH! Shiny!!" So, what I tell people is this: Keeping a house clean when children are growing is like shoveling snow when it's still snowing." It's not filthy or unsafe; it's just harder to find cretin things. I'll live. So, that's okay that I didn't get to to that.

But still, at the end of the day, when I'm tired and my feet hurt, and I come home to my cluttered, falling apart house and see my lil' man snuggling his daddy with a puppy at their feet.... and I am happy.

OT: Just now, Sean came to find me. He was in the kitchen having a little snace and he came to find me in the office, and fed me a Wheat Check! I feel so loved!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-29T23:41:00.000-08:00

JELL-O!!

2010-12-20T21:55:00.000-08:00

Oh, my gosh! That's a lot of Jell-O! Why so much you ask? Well, I only have two good reasons

It was on sale, and
I'm Lutheran

Now all I have to do is convince the LWML (Lutheran Women Mission League, if any of you were wondering) to endorse the 1978 publication of The New Joys of Jell-O.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-08T17:00:00.000-08:00

Tosty Varn... hopfully.

2010-12-07T23:17:00.000-08:00

Isn't it an odd feeling when you are so use to having lights off and noise turned down so that your little one can sleep undisturbed while you're still up - and then have a night where he's not there?

Sean is at Grandma and Granddad's tonight, along with Tobey. Tomorrow, were having insulation blown into our attic and walls (Praise GOD!) and the only thing that scares Sean is the latter that leads to the attic. I don't know what it is, but he looses it every time it comes down and will scream until it goes back up.
So were saving some heartache and split eardrums. Plus, Grandma had a wonderful time playing with (and spoiling!) him.
She took care of him today, to while I waited to go to the doctor. I got a really bad sinus infection (thanks Nate), so they gave me some super heavy duty meds... so heavy duty that they had to make sure I wasn't pregnant first. Already after my first douse, I'm feeling some better.

But hopefully this insulation will help with the frigid temperatures inside. Then maybe all of us will stop getting sick.

But I'm going to keep it short. Got to get to sleep so I can get up early for the isolation guy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T16:30:00.000-08:00

"I thank God for this day,
For the sun in the sky,
For my mom and my dad,
For my piece of apple pie!

For our home on the ground,
For His love that's all around,
That's why I say thanks every day!

Because a thankful heart is a happy heart!
I'm glad for what I have,
That's an easy way to start!

For the love that He shares,
'Cause He listens to my prayers,
That's why I say thanks every day!"
~Veggie Tails

What are you thankful for?

Wordless Wednesday

2010-11-17T10:00:00.000-08:00

The Trouble with Teeth

2010-11-15T00:22:00.000-08:00

Mark Twain said "Adam and Eve had many advantages, but the principle one was that they escaped teething. " And at this moment, who I wish that Sean could too.
Let's go through the list off teething symptoms and see which Sean has:

Irritability - Yep. Cranky all morning. Drives a knife through my gut knowing there's nothing I can do to make him feel better.
Drooling - How do you turn it off?!?!
Cold like symptoms (runny nose, etc.) - I just want to stick a wad of tissue up his nose to keep the snot from coming out.
Coughing - Yes, unfortunately. Combined with the previously mentioned, people think I'm bringing a sick child everywhere.
Chin rash - not yet....
Biting & gnawing - Oh my gosh! Everything! Seriously, nothing is safe, not even my arm.
Cheek rubbing and ear pulling - Not really; he'll stick his finger way back in his mouth and chew on it where the molars are coming in, though.
Diarrhea - Funny thing, Sean actually gets plugged up with teething. Always has.
Low-grade fever - Off and on.
Not sleeping well - Oh, of course! And that means that Mommy is not sleeping well, too.

So, here it is, quarter after midnight, I'm up just waiting for Sean to screech out in pain/discomfort/low grade/whatever, knowing full well that I have to get up at seven (I'm trying to get up at the same time) and work tomorrow afternoon. Not only is teething messing with his sleep routine, it's messing with my (newly established) routine, too. Gotta' love motherhood at night....

Goodnight world.

Instruction Manual on Second Birthdays

2010-11-01T23:15:00.000-07:00

What can a mother do when she sits down, reflects, and suddenly realizes that in ten days her little boy will be two? Nothing, that's what.

What should she do? Well, I'm glad you asked!

First, her hands should go cold and sweaty when it finally hits her that her baby's a little boy. Next, start hyperventilating, realizing that two means that potty training is coming faster than a Tobey Dog running for a treat. And potty training scares her.
When it finally sinks in that there are only ten days, her heart should start to race from the lack of 'party' planing she has done, and then be crushed with tremendous guilt that she has to work three weeks strait (and I mean strait, with no days off) - her sons birthday being too close to that stretch. To add to this guilt, she suddenly realizes that his birthday falls on his second day of daycare ever (At least he only is going once a week).
After her son bites her and she loosed her temper a bit, she will morn the baby days where there were snuggles and coos galore. And when that little boy comes running up to her when she gets home and plants a big kiss on her, she'll wish that this stage will never end.
After she has time to digest all of this emotional intake, she should finally takes a deep breath, decides to just roll with the punches and deal with the changes when one day at a time, blog about it, then go to bed.
She should repeat daily until one day after her sons birthday.

Work

2010-09-20T15:38:00.000-07:00

What is work? Most people will say it's your job, so if that's true, I have at least six job titles.

Sales and Assembly - Cookies by Design, my 1st part time job.
Bakery associate - the grocery store where my 2nd part time job is.

Now for the fun ones:

Professional chef
Nurse
Psychologist
Personal shopper
Clothing designer
Doctor
Dragon slayer
Veterinarian
Pop star
Author
CEO
Gardener
Laundress
Seamstress
Waste management expert (whichever 'waste' you decide to go with, I'm both)
Cleaning professional
Banker
Spiritual guide

But my favorite job title is the sweetest sounding of all:
Momma

11:00 on a Sunday night

2010-08-22T23:30:00.000-07:00

Hi,
I'm sure that the few of you who check this out are wondering "where is that crazy woman?"
Well, here I am. Right here, right now. I know it has been quite a while since the last post, and I'm sorry. It can be a little tricky when you don't have web access at your place and you usually only use the web one day a week. But the important thing is I'm here now.

So.... Sean is getting so tall! I'm 5'8" (173 cm) and he's too my hip! It seems everyday he sprouts up more, and not just height. He is becoming a little chatter box. Just yesterday he used his 'first' word combination. "No more." He's known the signs for "more" and "all done" for quite a while and has been saying 'more' and sometimes using the sign with it, but this was the first time he vocally said that he was all done. I think he's close to 10-12 words total. Wow!

Nate is.... well, Nate is not to happy whit work right now. 1) the work is not their 2) his employer has but a freeze on all raises. So now, even when the companies that he audits sends harder and more time consuming work, there is no plus for all the hard work. We've had some real low paychecks recently because of that and were hurting.

Me... well I had surgery about two weeks ago. Long story, but to sum it up: I had a screw in my right knee form a past surgery and it was wiggling loose, so doctors took it out. Needless to say, I've been out of work for it.
-rant-
As horrible as this sounds, I'm kind of hoping that one of the ladies that is also in the bakery (the one that causes drama) gets canned. I know! I'm terrible! But, she's schedualed to work 'till 1pm. I get there a little before noon and she tells me she's going on her last break. Fifteen minutes later, she comes back to tell me she's leaving. She refused to work weekends, refuses to close up for the evening and refuses to pick up any of my hours while I've been out. When our superious have talked to her about her needing to fill in with my med. leave, she's thrown a fit (but that's just what I've heard form the other gal. Wouldn't surprise me, thought). If she is let go, that means that I can pick up some more hours, and that might help.
-end rant-

What will really help is when I go back to school and am able to get into a hospital. Yes, this mother is planning on going to school for phlebotomy. Just because a lot of people have already asked "hu?" a phlebotomist is the person who draws blood. Only thing is I'll have to wait until spring, at the earliest. A full time phelbotomist can make up to $34,000, and even though I'm hoping to find something part time-ish, that would still help out tremendously.

Oh, I almost forgot to brag. Nate and I have a new niece. Elizabeth Ann W. was born on June 28 at 4:30am PDT after a 54 hour labor. She is so pretty! I'm just sorry that they all live so far away.

It's been my half hour, and I should be getting to bed. Sean is, and always has been, a morning person.... and I am not.
Good night and God bless!

Oh, Dear GOD!

2010-06-08T14:30:00.000-07:00

I almost lost Sean today.
We were at story time at the library (temporarily located in the mall) and Sean was just having fun digging through the balls they brought out for all the kidlets to play with. I could see him and kept one eye on him while I asked a first time mom about the necklace she was waring.
Five seconds. FIVE! That's how long I must have talked to here before I looked over and saw Sean wasn't at the ball bucket... He wasn't in the room either. I was standing by the frickin' entryway! How could he get out?
I fun to the corridor to see if he's there, as a tight panic gripped my chest. He's not there either. I look back quick to make suer he wasn't hiding in a corner, which he wasn't, and ran into the main library, screaming his name with two other moms following suite. All the while, the panic grips tighter.
As I got close to the front desk, I could see one of the libarieans at the entrance, blocking the exit of a little boy dressed in brown, walking away from her. Sean just looked up at me and smiled as if to say "Hi Mommy! Look how far I walked!" At that point I was too relieved to be mad.
I did tell him how naughty that was and how scared he made Mommy and "just wait 'till your father hears about this!"

The day got better after that. My friend, Danni (a.k.a. Danni the Nanny) and Sean's triplet friends, Audry, Katherine, and Maison, went to lunch at the Old Chicago. Thanks again Danni!
It was so nice to be able to talk to someone your own age and knows the ins-and-outs of kids (she doesn't have any that belong to her, but she's always around them!) - to just shoot the breeze and not have to worry about what they will think if Sean starts smearing applesauce in his hair (he didn't, thank God).
I really do like Danni; she's a good egg and when she has the three kids, I know that she appreciates it when I got her back to chase a baby or two. I know she's got mine and Sean's. Besides, sometimes the nanny needs a nanny! :) Love 'ya, Danni!

So now here at my folks. Sean was put in his crib around one and just now is starting to quiet down -not asleep, but not as talkative- and not talking to his 'pet tiger', Ty. I didn't go get him out of the crib, he's resting at least. And I'd rather him take rest then nothing.
We converted his crib at home to the toddler bed (just getting too tall!) and he hasn't been sleeping as well. So rest is rest at the moment.

All of you, take care and give all the people you love a hug!

They broke the mold - YEAH RIGHT!

2010-05-21T16:25:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling just kind of punk lately and not quite sure why. And let me tell you that if you're feeling ill and trying to keep up your house (even if it doesn't look like you are, you really are) cook and care for a toddler, you can get a little crabby (well, I do at least).
The ill feeling is probably allergies. When the weather is damp and with the amount of mold in our house (behind walls, mind you), my allergies just rum me down - sinus trouble, nausea, headache and stiff neck... how fun. So, I'm spending the day at my folks today after Sean spent the night. Nate and I saw South Pacific last, which was wonderful. Thanks Mom!
Anyway, back to my dilemma: I just feel that no matter how hard I work at it, I just can't do things right. I feel like a burden to my folks that I'm here.
Plus, Nate went on a mens retreat with the church this weekend and I'm also a little sad because.... I don't have many friends. There! I said it! I really don't. I have a lot of acquaintances and 'pals', but not a lot of friends whom you can call out of the blue for tea or just to come over and talk. I feel so lonely sometimes that I just hate to be left alone. That's why I wanted to come over to my parents. Someone is around.
I know that my mother has never understood that. 'Wouldn't you rather be at your own house?' she's asks more than once. Truthfully; no. 1)It makes me sick and 2)I'm there alone (well, Sean and Tobey, but they can't really talk to me) most days of the week. I have never done well alone.

Sorry for the mundane entry; it's been cloudy and wet the past few days and lack-of-sunlight and I don't get along.... plus the whole allergy thing. But I'm sure it'll get better, given the fact that the next three days are soppose to be dry and frickin' beautiful!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-14T20:08:00.000-07:00

NO NO NO NO!

2010-04-01T14:15:00.000-07:00

Sean has started saying his first word, we think.
Recently, he's been walking around the house just calling out "NO NO NO!" while shaking his head back and forth. He will also say 'no' and do a head shake at the dinner table if we're trying to give him a spoon full of something and he wants something else (like sweet potato).
Is this really is first word, or is it a new sound that's he babbling?....... I'm saying first word.
"No" as a first word... Lord help me!

I'm a bad, bad girl....

2010-02-25T10:30:00.000-08:00

How long has it been since I posted?
Let's think....
Sean had his first birthday
Sean started walking on his birthday!
Sean had a wonderful first birthday party and crammed cake in his face
I hate winter
Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa Mumm's
We crashed our car in a snow storm
Got car fixed
Sean's grabby stage
Sean got out of his grabby stage after taking him to the play area in the mall once a week
Christmas
SARAH'S HAVING A BABY!
Grandma and Grandpa come over for Christmas
Nate and I weren't able to preform in the Christmas eve service due to snowstorms
Christmas at Grandma and Granddad Davisons.
Davison Christmas.
New Years Eve
Sean likes to eat paper
Sean likes story time at the library
I HATE VALENTINES DAY
Sean's started waving

Wow. That's a lot. Not having internet stinks.

NaNoWriMo!

2009-11-02T00:22:00.000-08:00

Well, I am unofficially participation in National Novel Writing Month. The goal; write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. So far 67 words down - 49,933 left.
But, I'm tired and going to bed. I just thought I'd update, sim=nce Nate has been pestering me that I didn't last week. I may tell y'all later

Wordless Wednesday

2009-10-21T12:32:00.000-07:00

Mungu Yu Mwema!

2009-10-19T19:04:00.001-07:00

The title is in Swahili, which translated is "God is so good." And God is good!
This past week, God has shown Himself to Nate, Sean and me in His own little ways: nothing big and flashy, but quietly and subtle, just enough to let us know that it was Him.

First being that Sean took four, count 'em, FOUR steeps to me Monday! He had pulled himself up on a chair, saw me and decided to walk to his mommy. Nate and I were thrilled! I scooped him up, cheered, and that startled him! (sorry Sean...) He's been taking a few steeps and standing short periods by himself all week!
Mungu Yu Mwema!

Tuesday night was the biggest scare in Sean history. We recently rearranged our family room so we can cut down on clutter and have a better area for Sean to crawl/learn to walk it. All of us were out in the room getting ready for dinner (we were having an indoor picnic). I left to get dinner plated when all of a sudden I heard Nate use a 4-letter word, a loud thud and Sean scream.
I ran to the baby gate (our house doesn't have many doors) and saw Sean lying on the floor and the TV right next to him. Nate said that he pulled it over.
My mind automatically went into worst case mode; the TV fell on him! But, praise be to God, Nate saw it starting to tip and pushed it out of Sean's path. The screaming Sean was doing was from being scared, which is completely understandable.
Mungu Yu Mwema!

Last night, Nate went to teach Bible class at church, which is about a 30-40 minute drive. Sean went to Grandmas and Grandpas, and I ended up staying home (long story, don't ask). Money is tight, as it is with most everyone; but it's real tight for us. So, as I was at home by myself (which was nice, I have to admit) cleaning the cupboards, I prayed. I prayed for a miracle so that we could put gas into the car so we can get through the week without running out.
God answered that today. Earlier this month, I made a cake for my grammy's church. I thought that she had already payed me in advance, but this morning (I'm at her house till 3:30-ish) she gave me $10 for the cake. I explained that she already payed me, but she said that she wanted me to have it, since the cake was just 'exceptionally good'. See the power of prayer?
Mungu Yu Mwema!

And today there is another reason to rejoice. Nate went to the doctor for a follow up for the diverticulitis and was still having pain in his belly. We were both concerned that the infection was still there and that another hospitalization would be necessary.
At the doctor, the surgent found that the pain is caused form the fat around the colon twisted and the cells died off. The only problem that will cause is just some pain and discomfort, which can be controlled with OTC pain meds. All of the infection in Nate's colon is gone!
Mungu Yu Mwema!

I could be complaining right now about the cold rain were having, or that I haven't been feeling well lately, or any number of things. But after doing a mental review of this week, I don't want to. God had been faithful, God has been good to us. God be praised forever!

Not Me! Monday

2009-10-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

Oh, what a beautiful morning!
Sean is playing on the floor in our newly rearranged front room and I am not letting him pull the DVD jewel cases out of the holders. It's was so cute when he did not open Short Circuit and start smugging his little fingerprints all over it. I certainly was not tempted about letting him destory it be cause I do not hate that movie that Nate loves.
And I am by no means smelling a diaper that needs changed, but an letting Sean play with it on, because he's not fussing and, simply, I need a moment.

I did not stay up till 12:30 this morning getting lunch ready for Nate, boiling eggs for breakfast, finding that gas card and then finally able to get a shower, only to have the gas card left behind by my dear husband. At least he took the lunch and eggs....

I did not just change Sean's diapie butt and then left him in his room to crawl around in because he was just so happy to crawl in their.

And just for the record I am not feeling not guilty for abandoning cloth diapers once our washing machine broke and have not gone back.

Sean has not shown a sudden increased interest in nursing and I am not hungry all the time again. I am not hungry right now because I have (not) eaten breakfast, and I am not going to get some.

Toodles!

Photos from Omaha

2009-10-18T21:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, so they're super late, but I can't keep them to myself any longer:

Not Me!

2009-10-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm still waiting for the Mcklinky to go up, but even if it doesn't, I'm doing a "Not Me!" Monday. Remember "Not Me!" Monday was started by MckMama; any and all rules are linked in her side bar.

First, I did not forget to tell y'all that Nate is out of hospital, doing fine and feels great. Not me!

I did not miss the third Sunday church service in a row because I am so worn out by Sunday morning! Not me!

I did not give Sean some pizza crust at dinner Friday to keep him occupied at the pizzeria. Not Me!

I did not ask my visiting mother-in-law help us move furniture in out living room to re-arrange the space. Not Me!

I am not freaking out even though I'm 'late', and have been taking my BC every day right on time; and I have not thought about picking up a home pregnancy test, just in case, even though it's just my body reacting to the stress of last week. Not Me!

Lastly, I did not spend the night at my parents house last night so I could sleep in a bed that didn't hurt my back. Not Me!

Uhhhhhhhhhhggg...... Is it Friday yet?

Change in Plans

2009-10-07T23:00:00.000-07:00

I was going to do a Wordless Wednesday and blog tomorrow about how crazy the past two weeks have been; Omaha Zoo trips, birthdays, Broadway shows, surprise parties, and so on.
But all of that changed this afternoon.....
Monday, Nate was diagnosed with diverticulitis, which is rare in a 27-year-old. The doctor prescribed antibiotics and tool him to keep in touch if anything new came up. That night, he spiked a temperature with a splitting headache, vertigo extreme nausea (which we figured out was him not taking his meds with food). Tylenol brought the fever down, but it kept coming back.
He called the Doctor this morning about the fever and headache, and the Doc said to high tail it to the ER to make sure there wasn't an abscess. My grammy was able to shuffle the three of us to M----- Hospital and take Sean to her place. Nate and I were there for about three hours, and after some abdomanel x-rays, IV antibiotics and blood work, his temp was still slowly climbing; from 98.8F at ER admission to 99.1/99.2F an hour and a half later - on antibiotics. That got the doctors scratching their heads.... plus the fact that nate started to get a rash raised some red flags. The rash probably was from the hospital linnes (my hands were started to turn pink for handling them, too. Stupid sensitive skin...), the the doctors had to treat it as if it were the medications - just to be safe.
He was admitted at around three thirty this afternoon. His parents came in from Ill. and are staying with his brother for the night. Tomorrow we're going to make plans on who is visiting when and watching Sean, and to help me out. The stay is 24 hours at bear minimum, it could be longer if need be. A CAT scan is going to be done sometime tomorrow morning to see if they can find anything the couldn't the first time without the dye stuff.
I know that I shouldn't worry like our pastor told me, but where Nate hasn't been able to work all week we are going to be really hurting when we are already between a rock and a hard spot financially.
I know that not a lot of anyone reads this blog, but if you are one of the few who do, please leave a comment and say a prayer for Nate, Sean and myself. We need it.

Not Me!!

2009-09-28T15:30:00.000-07:00

For MckMama's "Mot Me! Monday" I thought that I should put my 2 cents worth in...

First off this is not my first entry for the project!

And during our family's weekend vacation to Omaha, I did not let my son eat a jar of pasta and roasted veggies and then ask the server for some sauce-less pasta for him! Not me!
I did not nurse him to sleep this morning in bed and doze off myself, nor did I do that two times, at 5:30 and 7am!
I most certainly did not royally tick him off by pealing back his lips to see the three teeth that came in today! Who do you think I am!
I am not letting him sleep with one of the lacy washcloths I knit because he likes to snuggle it and chew the corner! That is inconceivable! Who would let there child sleep like that!
And, of coarse, I am dressed and have my hair combed and teeth bushed, have a fresh sweep of make-up on and sweet smelling perfume! Who would want to lounge around in there pajamas all day after an eight hour car ride the night before?!? Are you crazy?!?

Just to clarify, this is all tong in cheek. I really did those things and I am not ashamed to admit it.
To understand this project better, check out MckMama's Not Me! Monday

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-23T22:25:00.000-07:00

Sleep Sleep Sleepy

2009-09-22T08:41:00.000-07:00

The theme of our house had been "I'm tired" for the past several days.

Tobey, well, Tobey is always lounging around. It's just part of his temperament, but also he's getting old (almost 8). And while he is lounging, he demands tummy rubs... and I am a sucker for an exposed tummy.
I really need to get him together with his dog cousins; they always give his a good burst of energy, since one is a terrier and the other a puppy. Plus, he really enjoys playing with them.

Nate has been tired form allergies. If it's green and grows, he's allergic to it; the main reason I haven't gotten flowers in over two-and-a-half years. He's feeling better now; the sinus infection has been killed with antibiotics and grapefruit juice.

I have conic insomnia, which always gets worse a week to week-and-a-half before.... um, 'that time' and I'll be up till sometimes 2:30am. It's not like I want to do it or I'm trying to stay up on purpose! I just can't shut off my mind and go to sleep. You think that I should see a doctor?

Last is Sean. Sean slept form 9:45pm to 7am and is now back to sleep at 8am. I don't blame him and I am not worried in the least.
1) Sean had a very busy weekend. Friends came in town Friday, Daddy and Sean ran all over town on Saturday, and Sunday, Sean went to his friend, Tommy's, first birthday party.
2) Sean got his flu shot yesterday. Yes, I vaccinate my child. Look at some of my older post on what I think about it. But tiredness is a very common side effect of the flu shot. I'm keeping an eye on him though, just to make sure nothing new shows up. (A slight fever is also common with the flu shot, but I know how to handle a low grade temp. ^_^)

I wish that I had some more newer photos of Sean... well, I do, but their on my phone and I have yet to figure how to get them onto my computer. But I do have this next one of Sean and Nate and my new nephew dog, Cooper.
~Say good-bye, boys!

Mini Monet!

2009-09-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

Hi there.
First thing and it's real weird; I was up at 6am, on my own, and feeling totally refreshed. I NEVER do that!

So, Sean was done with breakfast, but was still a little hungry. I needed to work on emptying the dishes (still need to re-load, though. Nate.... ). Did I give him Cheerios? No. Did I give him some puffs? No Did I give him the yogurt melts that he loves oh so very much? No! What did I give him? Baby finger paint.
Yes, baby finger paint. Just a simple mixture of fruit and cereal watered down some so it's nice and semi-runny like paint. Not only is it real fun to smear around, squish through fingers and make a huge mess, but it also helps get those finger muscles working so maybe one day he'll point (he has the concept of pointing seeing he'll look in the direction you're pointing at, but he has still to point).
Did we have fun Sean?

(Yes, he also ate some...)

And I guess that I should just bite the bullet and explain yesterday’s Wordless Wednesday photograph (Lord, help me…)
Sean figured out how to take is diaper off, again. I honestly think the first time was a happy accident for him caused by flipping a rolling around in his crib trying to find his corner (he likes to sleep with his head in the corner…). But this was a true, honest-to-God, he took the diapie off all by himself event……… and then proceeded to discover his boy parts.

He also saw the camera and decided to pose for the latest new installment of “Babies Gone Wild.”

It’s really not a big deal. I mean, he found his little baby boy parts; it’s just like finding his fingers or toes. It’s a part of his body and he should be entitled to explore it and figure out what it does, just like any other part of his body. It’s not a big deal, so I’m not going to treat it like one… until he starts undressing in public…

Other than dealing with a nude baby, how an I doing. Well, I have contracted Tiny Chicken Disease so my nose feels like a leaky faucet. Nate also had Tiny Chicken Disease,only his tiny chickens laid rotten eggs and thus has a sinus infection! Great.... He is feeling better, though. Sean also had this chicken disease, but only because those two front teeth are cutting in but don't want to poke through!
The inverters of Puffs tissues are my best friend right now....

Wordless Wednesday - Explanation Tomorrow...

2009-09-16T09:16:00.000-07:00

Word-full Wednesday?

2009-09-09T22:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I made a post on Sunday evening, I get it just about done, and the internet crashes and didn't save what I had written. GRRRR! And the icing on the cake (mmmm....cake....), the server isn't letting me upload a photo for Wordless Wednesday. But I guess it isn't that bad; I mean, I get to talk your ear off, right?

So, Sunday my darling mother -in-law (and that is sincere) came to visit her little Irish grandbaby. She and my sister-in-law had come down on Friday and stayed with my brother-in-law and his family right out of the city limits. She was suppose to come up on Saturday, but all hell (yes, hell. H-E- double toothpick. I said it!) broke loose and between co-worker's mothers dieing, and my sister-in-law using the only car (we never did see her...) and mother-in-law having to watch my nephew so brother -in-law could fill in for said co-worker... well, Sunday seemed to be better.
I was kind that Kathy (mother-in-law) was able to come, just her. I think that it's important that Sean has some one-on-one time with his other grandma. My mom get's a lot of it, but Kathy lives out of state and, well, it's hard to get together sometimes.
We went out for an after church lunch and Sean promptly took a nap as soon as we got home. "Ahh. Sean is resting. So nice, since he was up a lot the night before teething. We'll let him sleep for an hour and a half" Well, that lasted all of 45 minutes when he woke up pooping himself. He was MAD! He was fine it I was holding him, but not Daddy. And Grandma? Don't even go there.
He was fussy for, maybe half-an-hour, but after he woke up more, he decided that Grandma was okay to crawl around on the floor with him. I got dinner ready
Scott and Naomi came over for dinner, we are, we talked, we did dishes, the three left and the three of us crashed! Phew! What a day!

Well, tonight I had a cake class. Sean needed a sitter, so Auntie Naomi came to watch Mr. Monkey Butt! He was pretty good for her, I heard. He cryed for about 15 minutes but dozed off. He's teething and he's going through a groth spurt. I feel so bad for him! But this was the first time that Naomi had the chance to have Sean all to herself! I think that she really enjoyed it.

But, I'm tired now. I made a metric butt ton of baby food today and am now wiped.

Goodnight voiced
Goodnight air
Goodnight noises everywhere.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

I'm really not sure what to call this....

2009-08-31T09:05:00.000-07:00

Because I really don't know what to write about. Sean is happily playing in his play yard and I'm going to try to clean the living room.
Sean just loves to figure things out for himself, so I can set him in his play yard and not feel too horrible about it. He's real good at playing by himself and if there is any mother out there who says that I'm a bad mother because I let my baby boy play by himself and am not there to stimulate him every moment, she can kiss the planet that's on my back side!

Just look at him, he just loves playing that 'piano' so much! He works on it all the time, so much to the point that I've been tempted to take the batteries out and not put them back in until he's 10! But, I guess that some day, when I'm old and gray, I'll miss hearing the sound of "Skip to my Lou" starting over and over and over and then it plays all the way through.
I honestly think that it's a real good thing that he knows how to entertain himself. He can play nice for over an hour-and-a-half sometimes, and I can get some work (or blogging) done. If he gets too use to having to be entertained, how will he do when he has to play by himself when he's older? Why do parents think that to be a good parent that you have to fill you child's day with none-stop games and play-dates and every moment, you have to stimulate them? What will they do in "down-time?" They'll have no idea what to do!!
Sean is stimulating his mind just fine with "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Pop Goes the Weasel" in near succession and the keys lighting up (I tried to a photo of him playing with his feet, but he sat up when he say me stand. Such is life). He's just fine. He actually likes playing by himself!

That's my stand on things. I mean, just look at that smile and tell me that he's not the happiest baby you've ever seen.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-26T07:53:00.001-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Wordless Wednesday! I ~~stole~~ got the idea from MckMama and I decided to take my spin on it. After today all Wednesday post will be 100% word free.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words… Let’s see if their right…

If it's not one thing....

2009-08-17T00:02:00.000-07:00

... it's twenty others. That's the reason I've been absent for over a week (bout, come to think about it, that's kind of normal...).
Well the reason is, I'm a scatter-brain. Always have been. I'm doing something and I think of something else that needs done, and that leads to another, and that leads to another, and at the end of the day I have a dozen (at least) half finished projects.
A typical week plus the two days a week I'm working now) are as followed:

Get up at 8am to take meds and see if Sean is up. If not, go back to rest a little more.
Wake up with Sean
Get breakfast for Sean-realize that the dishes have been there for a while and try to get those done at the same time
Play-and if Sean is playing nice by himself, try to round up the laundry, but get distracted
Put Sean down for nap- do some laundry, but realize that the stuff to go is Sean's room has to wait and then totally forget about it
Sean gets up we play
Get lunch ready for Sean- maybe try to get some baby food made in her, too, or dished, or some more laundry in between spoonfuls (Mesh teething feeders are my HERO)
Play 'the foot game' in Sean's room- knit/crochet/sew or some other crafty thing, then realize that the front room is a mess
Let Sean play in play-pen and try to clean computer area- get distracted by email and Sean
Put Sean down for a nap (hopefully he'll sleep, usually does) and pray to God Nate gets off early
Nate gets off and I have done a lot, but nothing gets done!

(Tues and Fri. Get up at 6:30am get ready for work, drop of Sean at Grammys Work till noon-ish help Grammy around the house)

(You do know that this is just a short run down, right? I mean, I do change his diaper and there are snacks and letting the dog out and other stuff. I mean, I'm not that scatter-brained, am I?)

And, have I mentioned lately that I love my husband (even thought there are some times I want to wring his neck). There's no big, special reason to say that; I just felt like I should. I really love him so much; I couldn't think of a better man to be my husband or Sean's daddy and I really really appreciate him putting up with and understanding my crazy, scatter-brainy-ness.

Well it's photo time! Here we go

Sean one day before turning nine months old! I can't believe it!

He did this himself, I sware to God! I put him down for a nap and he had pulled off his diaper! He even lied down on it so if he peed, it would be on the diaper!

~~~~~~~~
Wendseday, Sean cut his eye toothe; tooth number three. So we gave him his dinner still in frozen form:

Don't worry, that's not blood! He tryed beets' for the first time that night! The camera just made the juice look more red than purple.
Now that I look at it, I can see how one might think he was bleeding. This almost looks like it chould have come strait form Sweeney Todd!

I would say that at the end of the night, it was a success. Nate, Sean and I all ate at the same time, Sean liked the beets' and liked getting purple, the purple-ness washed off in the tub and Sean slept all night. But the best part for me was: I now have over a dozen new photos I can use as black mail for when he's a teen-ager!

Say good-night, Sean!

Fun Outings with Sean!

2009-07-27T23:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, since last night was pretty serious, I'll post something more light-hearted today.
On Sunday, July 19, 2009, my little brother got married! i am so happy for them! I love my baby brother so much and his new wife is an absolute doll. I wish them all the good things in life.
Sean was very good at the wedding. I was standing up for D 'n' B so Sean hung out with my Aunt MaryJane and her daughter, Kaymie. Sean only lost it one time when he saw Nate come to sit down after being usher, but settled down once he was in Daddy's arms. It was a lovely day

Last week, Sean's grandparents, my in-laws, were in town. Dave helped fix the floor right under our toilet on Tuesday, and Sean and I were stuck at my folks after being there all week the week before. So, to make up for it, Grandma and Grandpa took Sean and myself to the zoo and met up with (Auntie) Amy and Austin.
We had such a good time! Sean was in awe of the tiger; it was pacing back and forth and Sean's little head just followed him wherever he went. I would bet anything that his eyes were as wide as saucers behind his sunglasses. Nate called when we were looking at the tiger, and just then, he started to roar. The look on Sean's face was priceless! It was saying, "What is that sound and where is it coming from?"
The only thing that would have made it better, was if Nate were able to come instead of being stuck at work.

The icing on the cake was when my mom took Sean (so that means me too, seeing we're basically tethered to each other) to the Heritage Carousel. We had so much fun! I honestly think I had more fun than Sean did; he was getting tired and was simply mesmerized by all the sights and sounds, it was just too much fun to watch him! All in all, we went around four times!
The carousel has all sorts of different animals, so Sean road two different horses and then the tiger, since he liked it so much at the zoo.

After the excitement of riding the tiger, Sean conked out. Nate was done working with his brother-in-law, so Mom said she would take Sean to their place so he could sleep and Nate and I got to go swiming, just the two of us.

I love my family so much. With everything going on with Stellan and the rest of the MckFamily, I see how truly blessed Nate and I are.
My heart still breaks for the MckFamily and I pray for everything to work out acording to Gods plan. I really hope that plan means that Stellan will be okay; but as hard as it may be to acept, I do understand that God may have other plans. I'm praying for his heart to be okay, but mostly, I am praying for peace.

God bless you, everyone, and have a good night.

Sometimes, I just don't understand God...

2009-07-26T22:41:00.000-07:00

I have lived my entire life reading, studying and being taught the Bible and God. How God created the heavens and the earth and all living things; that God is love; That God sent Christ, his only Son, to die a humiliating, painful death so that we may be saved. And as much as I'd like to say that I understand and 'get' God, I don't.

A wonderful lady who's blog I follow and occasionally communicate with has a son, Stellan, who is right around my little Sean's age. Stellan has Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT) which causes his heart to beet dangerously fast. Stellan in in the hospital tonight literally fighting for his life. Today his heart was racing at 224 beats per minute. Around 20 minutes ago, Stellan's blood pressure was at a dangerous 57/32. Anyone reading this, please pray for Stellan, his parents and three older siblings.

But like I said, I just don't get God. Both she and I did everything 'right' during our pregnancies. This was her fourth baby, and everything was suppose to go wonderfully. I just don't understand why my baby turned out to be the closest thing to perfect a baby can get and her baby is seriously sick! How does God choose who lives or dies or who is healthy or who suffers? I would just love to get the slightest glimpse of Gods ever present, omnipotent mind; I would just love to know that Stellan will be all right and that his mom would post on twitter that Stellan is cured and I wouldn't have to hit refresh every 60 seconds to see if there is any improvement and just know that Stellan is okay.
The only comfort that I can find is that everything is in Gods hands and that His plans are for hope and prosper. But my heart is still breaking for this mother! All that I can do is pray, so pray I will.

UPDATE:
Stellan is not doing well at all. Instead of me posting what is happening, as I don't know the story in it's entirety, pleas check out MckMama's blog or on Twitter.
Please, continue to pray.

Sleepless in... Des Moines?!?

2009-07-06T23:52:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but I have been having very severe insomnia. I just cannot get to sleep. Once I am asleep, I stay asleep; it’s just the getting there.

It really is frustrating. I always have been a night person, but not like this. There are nights where my mind doesn’t start to slow down until 2am… or later. Then the next day, I have no energy. Usually, I need to get 9 or 10 hours of sleep to function properly, always have. Since Sean came out, I’ve been fine with 7 ½ - 9 and can get through the day. It’s just the past few weeks I’ve been averaging 5-6…3 ½ last night, since Sean didn’t sleep well. And I’m still awake and NOT BY CHOICE!

It’s not like I’m staying up on purpose! I just cannot slow my mind down; it keeps running a mile a minute! I’ve tried going to bed earlier, but my mind will race and I’ll just get frustrated and aggravated if I stay in bed… and Nate get’s frustrated, too because I’ll keep him up. I would just like it if someone would ~~hit me over the head with a~~ rock me to sleep!

Does anyone else have this problem?

But, hey, good news id it’s ten ‘till midnight and I’m starting to settle. I may get to sleep before 12:30! YEA!! I’m booking it!

~ ’Night

Let Freedom Ring!

2009-07-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day, America!
I can hardly believe that in just one week, Sean will be eight months old! That's 2/3 of a year!!
But today, we celebrated the 4th of July in a fairly traditional way: we went to a bar-b-que.
Sean even got all festive for the day!

A friend gave us the cute outfit and the cap is a wonderful hand-me-down (I love hand-me-downs! I grew-up waring them... by choice!)
Some good friends of Nate and mine, Eric and Annie, hosted the barbie and we all had a wonderful time! Here's a photo of Sean with his "Auntie" Annie

And I have never been one to cook bland.

Yummy. Tapioca Cake! I'm real happy with how it turned out, both appearance and taste!

The only thing that spoiled the night were the fireworks. In the state of Iowa, it is illegal to own fireworks. Professionals come in to put on their shows, but someone like me could not go out and buy some. BUT, in Missouri, fireworks are legal. So most people will just cross the state line, buy a lot (some buy up to $1000!) and bring them back to fire them off.
Most people don't think it's a huge deal and the cops hardly do anything about it, but it is a bother to me. At the show by the lake, a lot of people were shooting off fire crackers/works/bottle rockets/etc. Some were shooting over the crowd! That didn't sit will with me, seeing that 1) if one tipped over after being lit or sparks falling down, there could be serious injury and/or death and 2) so many people were just shooting off one right after another, there were too many strobe-like flashes that it reeked havoc on my epilepsy. So, in the end, Nate, Sean and I missed the professional show and I was barely able to walk bake to the car.
You can see why I'm upset about this... I'm going to write to the local PD about this, seeing we saw three cops and they did nothing.

But... all-in-all, it was a wonderful night.

Food is Fun!

2009-07-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

WARNING: This post has an image of me nursing Sean. If you are wierded out by boobage, do not read.

I love feeding Sean! I know that may sound strange - but his main way of eating is still nursing.

It is such an intimate time for the two of us and part of me wishes that he would stay small forever so we could still do that... only part, though. The sad reality is, Sean is getting to be less of a baby and more of a little boy. It's getting harder and harder to nurse him simply because of how long/tall he is and how much he wiggles. But when he's getting tired and ready for a nap or bed; oh that is our time!
I also love feeding Sean from the spoon and even his mesh feeder (that's what we call it, I don't know the proper name). I love the feeder! It's a huge lifesaver for times when Sean is hungry and the dishes are piling up. Slip some avocado or squash in there and he will go to town!
It's also a great way to feed him when he is having discomfort from teething. I'll slip in the food when it's still frozen and he loves the food part as well as the 'it feels good on my toothers!' part. It also works great with ice or 'juicy cubes' (diluted juice that is frozen).
Here he is eating some sweet potato from it:

And if you haven't guessed I do make most of our baby food. We do have jars of store bought food for when were traveling/out and when he's at my Grammy's (I guess I could make some for her, but for now, this way works) It's real fun to see his reaction to new foods.
Today, Sean tried egg for the first time. He tried to pick it up by himself, but it crumbled too easily and didn't get any in his mouth, so I helped. He must have liked the tasted, but I think that the texture was weird to him; every so often, he would get a 'yuck!' face after some gumming, but still wanted more! I wish that I had my camera to catch that look!
And just the other day, Sean had his first taste of dairy that didn't come from me. My dad and I were hanging out and having some lunch and I casually mentioned that Mr. Sean was old enough to have cottage cheese (Dad was eating it, so that's what made me think of that). So Granddad scooped a little tiny bit on the end of his spoon and offered it to Sean, which he opened his little mouth for. He gummed the curds once and then got this look on his face that said "What in the world did you just put in my mouth?!" I think he was confused by A) the texture and B) it was cow dairy, not Mommy dairy.

Okay, totally off the food topic. Check out Sean and my new favorite hair style for him:

I fell in love with the look when he woke up form a car ride all sweaty and his hair got pushed up. So now, when I style it like that I just use some water to style it and a little bit of baby loation to keep it up. I just think he looks so super cute!

Okay, I'm calling it a night now. Keep it real!

EDIT:
I snapped a few photos of the "egg face" during snack time on July 3, 2009.

Why I Love my Family

2009-06-29T07:23:00.000-07:00

I can goof off and they thing nothing less of me.
I love to cook for Nate... and he loves to eat my cooking!
Two words: Tobey kisses.
The huge smile I get in the morning from Sean.
Most Saturdays, Nate lets me SLEEP!
Doggy and baby snuggles.
The laugh Sean makes when he's playing with his daddy.
All the help that my parents are so willing to offer.
Singing Theme From A Wiener Dog Riding A Skateboard in the car with Nate to settle Sean down.
They're MY family.

Theme From A Wiener Dog Riding A Skateboard has a 7 out of 10 success rate of calming Sean down.

Burnt Out

2009-06-13T21:55:00.000-07:00

I am burnt out.
I'm just going to do a quick review of the past two weeks.

Sean decides he doesn't have enough toys out in his room.

(Full story in later post)

Nate hates his job right now and I don't blame him.

Sean's pink eye cleared up. (Yea!)

My friend Lacy came to visit Sean, Tobey and me one afternoon. :)

I get the stomach flu.

Sean turns 7 months!

Sean keeps pooping out his diapers.

Nate and I messed the Tony's because the tape didn't record! (*cries*)

I find out that Tobey sleeps really funny.

Sean is fussy from his tooth.

Sean is trying to cut a top tooth.

I'm going crazy; nothing new.

Sean gets a new toy.

(A play yard! So much fun!)

So...

Sean had a tummy ache and teething pains yesterday, wouldn't stop screaming, wouldn't take a nap, finally settles down just in time to go get his shots! He slept well last night (we were at Grandma and Grandpas from baby sitting and we were traveling with them today), but woke up at 5am with poop leaking out of his diaper, running down his legs and between his tows, all over the porta-crib and then won't go back to sleep!
We traveled to Auntie Mary Jane's today to give her her retirement gift, stayed for about two-and-a-half hours, then turned around and came home... a six hour trip both ways. Sean is not happy! At least he's asleep.
And speaking of sleep, I'm going there now. Thank you for listing to me vent! :)

Two for Tooth

2009-06-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

Well, that other tooth of Sean's is stubborn, but it finally cut through today! Again, just the tiniest tip is sticking out and Sean is not happy about it one little bit!
On a better note, Sean's pink eye is looking a lot better today. He's had two rounds of eye drops and already a lot of the puffiness is down and the whites are less red.

On a completely different note - I have no Idea how he got into what he did!
All four of us were in the front room; Nate was half reading, half watching a movie I was on the sofa with Tobey, half watching the movie, mostly keeping an eye on Sean who was crawling around on the floor. We have some arias barricaded off with boxes, the ironing board, a suit case, things of that nature that we already have and he can't climb over.
Sean starts crawling over toward Tobey, wanting to play and just babbling up a storm. As he gets closer to the sofa, I notice that Sean is making a chewing motion and something is in the corner of his mouth. I wipe it off and pick him, and there is a big, mussy glob of blue paper stuck to the roof of his mouth! What in the world?
I have no idea where he got that! I was keeping a fairly good eye on him and I don't even remember having any blue paper! Anyway, we got it out of his mouth and in the garbage with no harm done.
I think this kid is going to like surprising him parents...

Eye See You!

2009-05-31T21:57:00.000-07:00

*sigh* Sean has pink eye... in both eyes. It just showed up yesterday when we had some friends over with their three-year-old daughter, so now I'm worried that she may have got it.
I was suspisios of it yesterday, but my mom and Grammy kept telling me it was nothing, even though my gut kept saying it was.
On the Ravelry group At Home Mom's I posted some photos that I took to get other stay at home mothers opinions. It was a unanimous 'pink eye'.
The doctor called in a script for him over the phone. Now I know that doctors don't usually see kids with pink eye, just call in a script. Hu? Who knew?
Sean is okay otherwise; he looks worse than he feels. He is still climbing up on things to stand, still crawling all over Gods green earth, still smiling and laughing, and he still loves his carrots!
He just looks so pathetic! What with his eyes all red and puffy and watery. At least he isn't acting like he's in any pain, other than teething.
The drops were started tonight. Nate is a wonderful daddy and drops the medication in his eyes while I hold Mr. Wiggle Monkey.
Now all we have to do is watch to make sure he didn't catch my mom's bronchitis....
Pray for us!

Kansas City, Gonna take my baby there sometime!

2009-05-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

We just got back Monday from KC (the Kansas one, not MO) to help my cousin celebrate her high school graduation and to celebrate Nate and my two year anniversary, which was yesterday.
It was a lot of fun to just get away from it all and we had a lot of fun! It was so nice to see the "Shawnee Six" as we call my aunt and uncles, plus kids. We went over to see them Saturday evening and Sean had to show off his amazing crawling skills. He's really getting this hands and knees crawl down, but still likes to do the elbow schootch a lot. Brenden, my youngest cousin, loved to stroke his head and Clara, my other youngest cousin (yep, twins) liked to make silly faces at him. Maria was tired from just getting off work and Laura, the oldest, was at a graduation party.
Dean and Patricia (with the help of Brenden) lead me through the photo albums of their France holiday. They were super cool. I love my family

Sunday, Nate, Sean and I went to the KC Crown Center, a huge shopping center/live theater and also the headquarters and visiting center for the Hallmark Card Co. I really wanted to see the Hallmark place, but that area was closed for the long weekend. But we still had a great time, Sean really liked taking in all of the new sights and sounds and smells and laughing at us. He did get lots of photos, more if the batteries hadn't died. My favorite photo is of Sean in front of the Crayola Color Wheel in the Crayola Store.

(The quality is real crappy, I know. I couln't get it sized right with it's resolution)

In the hotel, Sean really loved the pool. He loved being pushed around in his little boat and when Nate or I would just carry him in the water, those little hands were just splashing and splashing! We do have photos of him swimming that I'll post later, once I get the card from my father.

Sean did well in the car, but is happy he doesn't have to be strapped in his chair anymore at the same time. Yesterday, he was a holy terror. He didn't want to nap, he was wanting to nurse all the time and when he didn't want nursed, he just wanted held. I really do understand that he was settling back into things, but at the same time, I was tired too and ready to pull my hair out!
Yesterday was just pure chaos! The repair man can for the washer, Tobey was ballistic and Sean got his little chubber leg stuck in the slots of his crib and I couln't get it out. I finally did after a lot of loation and him screaming in pane and fear. You now see why I almost went crazy?
But, I love my life; however crazy it gets, I know I wouln't swap it for the world.

Sean's new trick!

My mom is starting him young!

2009-05-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

My Mom likes Pepsi, when I drink an occasional soda, I like Coka Cola.
My mom is turning him to 'the dark side' at a young age:

Don't worry! He's really not drinking that sugary soda. I myself don't drink much soda (I did get addicted to warm ginger ale when I was pregnant, though....), but my mom can't get through the day without a Pepsi. We were having our monthly 'girls night' with Sean.
He just so happens to love gnawing on plastic bottles. He was fussing and Grandma let him chew on her bottle top. We loved how it looked like he was actually drinking it!
And even though I don't agree with giving children soda with exception of a special occasions, I do think that this was adorable!

Another First

2009-05-15T21:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Alpha Omega (a Christian get together that my husband started years ago). We tried taking Sean along with us in the early days and lying him down to sleep in a side room, but he would get too excited or we would be too loud and he never slept well and would be up about every hour or so during the night.
My folks had been watching him over night and then I'd bunker down at their house after the event, but Nate and I wanted to give them a night off. Last week, some very good friends of ours, Rob&Lauren and Alex, moved just a few blocks up down the way from us and said that they would be more than happy to watch him tonight. Yea!
Sean was dropped off at 6:30 and We hung our for about 10-15 minutes so he wouldn't be to overwhelmed by the new environment, and help Rob and Laurens three year old understand that she couldn't hold him.
Everything went pretty smooth. Rob called once early on because Sean was hungry and he couldn't figure out what Baby needed. We said, mix up his bottle and that'll solve the issue (a mother knows her sons cries) and we would check back in a bit to see if that worked. It did and he was a good boy the rest of the night.
Lauren was home when we picked him up, Rob was out, and Sean had just woken up not knowing where he was. He had been asleep when Lauren got home at 9:30 and she let us know the Rob had changed a poopie and he had been good. Sean/I needed a nursing so Lauren did get to play with Sean for a little bit. She (and Rob) is going through baby withdrawal and are working of remedying that, but for now, the love Sean; so much so that they are 'Auntie' Lauren and 'Uncle' Rob, just like Nate and I are 'Auntie' and 'Uncle' to their little girl.
I told Rob and Lauren that I would pay them in brownies. Rob said that we didn't need to pay them, but they would still take brownies! I love those guys!

Earlier, the three of us went out to the kid’s consignment shop, right next door to where I work, as needed, so I got to show Sean off to my co-worker, Jenny. She and I have always gotten along well and she was all over the little boy! When I told 'Grandma Dee' (one of the consignment shop ladies) said "She was going to make you into a cookie and eat you up!"
Sean is so loved by so many people. I feel very happy for him.

Half way

2009-05-11T13:59:00.000-07:00

Six months old today! Where has the time gone? Everyday I fall in love with something new.
Sean is looking more and more like his daddy with each passing day, but the one thing he got from me that hasn't changed at all are the eyes. Every one says he has my eyes and I couldn't be more thrilled!
Sean is playing with Nate at the moment. It's always so much fun to hear them over the baby monitor. Sean just adores his daddy.
I adore Nate, too... but he does have his moments where I want to strangle him. That is why I made the promise to never blog in the moment when I'm irked at him. It's true that he may deserve my wrath, but the rest of the world doesn't need to know. I get over it, and I see that it's either: 1) so trivial that I don't know why I got upset in the first place; 2) I know what I need to do to work it out; 3) I was just so tired, I was crabby.

Nights are hard at the moment. Sean keeps getting up at 12 midnight like clockwork. I just went to the library today and picked up the book Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Dr. Richard Ferber, which was recommended by our pediatrician, and Nate and I are going to read it together. I think that Sean's problem is he has associated sleep with getting fed/sucking. When he wakes up he likes to nurse, and 80% hes not eating, he's just sucking. When he doesn't nurse to sleep, he just likes to be held until he calms down and can be put in his crib with minimal whining: he absolutely HATES Nate snuggling him to sleepy town. This makes me sad for two reasons 1) I'm the only one who can calm him down at 3:30 in the morning when I'm dead tired, and 2) there is no better feeling than a baby snuggling up to you and getting sleepy and I feel like I'm robbing Nate of that. We'll figure something out and start it AQAP (As Quickly As Passable).

CHOMP!

2009-05-06T13:23:00.000-07:00

Sean has his first tooth! Wow! He must have just finished cutting it today.
I was sitting with him, glancing at some piece of literature and letting Sean gnaw on my knuckle (he loves to do that) - when all of a sudden, I felt something hard.
I'm at my folks today, do I asked Grammy to hang onto him while I checked it out. Sure enough, he has the tippy-top of his left bottom front toother sticking out! And, if that isn't enough to make your head spin, I can see the other tooth coming up under his thinning gum! So I had to call Nate, my mom and my dad (who had just walked out the door) to let them know.
This really explains his icky cough now. My brother-in-law said that when their toddler was teething, he acted like he was sick; coughing, diarrhea, ear infections, and just plan-old fussiness. Except for the ear infection, Sean has been having all of these symptoms, plus some congestion that the teething may be causing (I also think that he is congested because he has his dad's allergies).
Wow... just... WOW! I'm was having a hard time believing that on Monday he's going to be six months, but this was a bit of a wake-up call.
Good thing I just finished knitting up his teething bib a.k.a. slobber catcher!

I just wanted to shair this...

2009-05-04T20:35:00.001-07:00

A week ago today was hard for me... or so I thought.
In preparation for my future sister-in-laws bridal shower, I had only gotten three hours of sleep Saturday night and on Sunday night, Sean slept poorly and so did I. Monday I was a wreck when Sean wanted to get up at 7:30.
I was beyond exhausted and crabby, so I sent Nate an email with maybe some forceful tones to let him know how I was feeling and to warn him that I may be snappy when he got home.
At ten, after Sean had some quiet play time and I had woken up a little more, I was feeling a little better, so I decided go give Nate a call to see how he was doing... he said that he was 10 minutes away from home and that he would take Sean for the rest of the day so I could get some of the sleep I desperately needed.
Have I mentioned lately that I love this man!
While I was sleeping, Sean and Nate ran some errands and some time during that time, must have remembered that I commented that there weren’t many recent photos of Mr. Sean and me. At 2pm, Nate brought Sean in, laid him by me to wake me and proceeded to snap a few photos.
This one is my favorite:

(Please ignore the mess on the dresser. I had been sick the week before.)

I just love this photo! It may not be the best quality in the world; but it captured and reflects a tender moment between my son and myself. It reminds me of the love and concern that my husband has for me that he took a rare day off work during a busy week.
Recently my hormones have been doing some weird things, and I sometimes have some distorted thoughts that Nate is working to avoid me... and that action just blue that thought out of the water.
I admit that being a stay at home mom is hard - especially when I have no form of transportation during the day. More often-than-not, I'm shut in the house most of the day, maybe getting out for a walk weather permitting; most of my friends work during the day and my best friend (who has a son that's Sean’s age) moved to the other edge of the state. It get's lonely sometimes. But then something nice, like Nate's surprise holiday, happens and I feel refreshed. And on a daily bases: When I don't want to wake up yet and Sean is making his "I'm awake and I've played in my cribby by myself enough so pick me up now!" whine and then when I come in and he looks up at me and flashes me a million watt smile... that alone makes it worth getting out of bed.

I have been blessed with the most wonderful family. We may not always be perfect - but we're perfect for each other. God has been good to let us begin and end each day as a family.

Wow...

2009-04-27T01:08:00.001-07:00

I'm having a hard time believing that it is taking me so long between posts! Then at the same time, I don't have a hard time believing it, because my life is crazy!
Sean is five months old now! What the F....!?! When did he get so old?! He's doing all of these new things everyday that just amaze me!

First off, he's sitting up by himself. We'll just set him on the floor in a sitting position, and he takes it from there.
Second, he's starting to crawl. He isn't doing a full out hands-and-knees, cruisin' around the house crawl; it's more along the lines of a slow, sloppy army crawl. He'll kick with his legs and push himself along with his elbows. My brother and his fiancee, who are both military, think it's the cutest thing! And let me tell you, he can get around!

Sean also had his first ER visit a few weeks back. Nate and I were getting him ready for his night time bath in his room; I was getting a sleepy sack and Nate was undressing Sean, My back was turned and all of a sudden I hear "Oh, sh*t!", a thud! and Sean scream: Sean had quite literally jumped out of his dads arms (around a four foot fall)! I turn around to see Sean face down on his floor (which is a blessing he fell there, because it has new carpet and carpet pad, so it was the softest break for his fall) and Nate with a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face.
So we run him to the ER and he screamed the whole way, but started to doze off right as we were turning into the lot... then got mad we moved him and screamed even harder.
We got in, got admitted, got checked out, x-rayed, diagnosed and released all under two hours! Everything was fine: no head trauma, no broken bones, no major injuries at all, thank God. They still told us to wake him every three hours to check him for any symptoms that may be new. So I did at 12:30...... and he screamed till 7:45!
My mom rocks for coming to drive us around at 3am! Nate had an obligation at church (the very first thing) and was thinking of staying the whole service... but at 5 I called him and said if he didn't come right after the opening that "I swear to God, I'll make your life a living hell!" That got his attention. He came. I love him. Sean didn't want to nurse for a week!

Sean is all better now and nursing again, but was run back to the ER again last week with a fever of 101F. That came down very quick, just a cold bug. He still has a little congestion and a wee bit of a cough left, but he gave it to both his dad and me. All last week, we all were whining for death. Thank God for my Grammy for helping with Sean so I could recoup!

Easter was wonderful! We went to Ill to Nate’s folks and then further to Wiss to see his grandparents and extended family. Sean was very well behaved during Dad’s services (FIL is a pastor) and his grandma and grandpa ate him up… so did their Husky!

But, it’s late, so I’m going to get this rounds photos up and hit the hay!
~Night!

Baseball with Grandpa

Grandma Loves me!

I love to sleep on Daddy

Doggy Kisses!

SOOOOO Big!!

Daddy and Me Lookin' sharp

I can Sit... And Crawl!

Holy Crud!

2009-03-21T23:25:00.000-07:00

Has it seriously been over a month since I last posted?

Sean has changes so much too fast. He turned 4 months this last week.

He is a really social baby who loves to 'flirt' with just about everybody. But out of all the people he visits on a regular bases, he talks the most to my mother. I honestly thing he’s going to be ‘Grandma’s Little Buddy” when he’s older. My mom just loves being Grandma.

I just love how we can see his own little personality sparkling in his eyes. He is so curious! Everything he looks at, he look at it with a sense of wonder... and “okay, how can I get it in my mouth?” and I mean everything! His feet, blankets, toys, our glasses... you name it, it’s in his mouth. Time to start baby proofing! Especially since he has figured out how to flip from his back to his tummy – then back to his back. He’s getting too big too fast, so I’m just going to love every stage while it last... True there are times where I need a break – either to get some things done or for a ‘mental holiday’ – but I have a wonderful support group of family and friends who are my God-sent angels – and Nate is my everything!

Nate is so good with Sean! Sean just loves his daddy’s fuzzy beard and pulling off his glasses. If Nate weren’t here, I most defiantly would be loosing my mind more than I already am.

This is going totally off the baby topic, but this is something that I feel pretty bad about and need to get it off my chest. About three and a half weeks ago, there was a severe house fire on out street. Everyone was okay, but their house in now uninhabitable. The night of the fire, I went down to the scene to see if they needed any help with first aid administration (since I know how to do that) and there were, I swear, five people, probably between the ages of 17-25, all with their camera phones video recording the fire. Two hours later, my husband found the footage on YouTube with things like ‘so cool’ and ‘awesome!’ in the description box.

I’m sorry, that makes me livid! I am tired of using other people’s devastation for a laugh or two. The next day while taking Sean and Tobey Dog on a walk, the family who lived there were trying to salvage what they could. I had about $40 of mad money stashed away and I figured that they needed it more than I did. The lady of the house was so overwhelmed and heartbroken. Those neighbors who were using that for entertainment just make me sick!

Back to baby.

Here are photos!:

Teddy Bear

I like Beef!

Sunshine

Chomp!

And this is because I am so tired of girls getting all of the cutesy outfits:

I took a 50¢ onesie I got at my friends store and an old cloth diapie that had a fun pattern. I’m very happy with how it turned out. Now what to do with the other one….

3 Months

2009-02-12T07:14:00.001-08:00

Where has the time gone? I know it's cliche, but it really does feel like it was just the other day when Nate and I brought Sean home. And now, yesterday he turned three months!
He has changes so much! At his last check-up he weighed in at 14lb, 10oz and measured in at 25 inches, the 97 percentile for both. Doctor says he's growing and developing very well. He also had his first round of vaccinations. it just broke my heart to hear him scream like that when he was stuck, but after we changed his diaper, he quieted down.
(I know that there are a lot of people out there who say that vaccinations cause autism, but I know that this is entirely false, medical research has proved it. I think that some parents found out that their child had autism and were just so angry because of the "this could never happen to my child" mind set, and they needed something to blame.)
Sean has started to 'talk' and coo; he's smiling at Nate and me, plus flirting with all of the ladies at my knitting group; and just this past Monday he flipped from his back to his tummy!
He is also one of the most hick up-y baby I know! He gets the 'naughty hick up's' at least two times a day, but at least he doesn't cry when he gets them any more; he laughs at them now!
He is a very happy baby. He loves his glow worm and to stand on our tummies and chests; he likes getting his diaper changed and getting dresses and um-dressed; he thinks The Wiener Dog Song is the coolest song in the world, and he eats like a little piggy! He loves his Mummy's Milk!
I love him so very much! Tobey Dog is getting more accustom to him being around and has started to acknowledge him some, but not all of the time.
But anywho, it's photo time!

I'm one cool dude!

Husker fan in training

I love to stand on Granddad

Having fun with my new toy

Buddy time with Uncle Derick

My mid-morning nap

The Late Show with Me

2008-12-21T21:49:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know it's almost midnight. Yes I know that I didn't sleep well last night. Yes, I know I have work tomorrow afternoon. And yes, I know Sean is going to want to eat in about three hours, but a girl needs some time to herself and reflect.

Sean is fighting his first cold; and I hate every moment he's miserable and I can't do anything to alleviate the discomfort. I feel so helpless. I mean, it’s not he is not going to get better, he is; but when he has a hard time breathing or coughs so hard he has a back arching, arm flaying, crying fit. But I’m doing my best. Lots of snuggles and kisses and baby vapor rub on his feet (for the cough).

But even with his cold, he’s still a very happy, very good baby. He’s started to ‘talk’ to us more and is so aware of his surroundings. I had my postpartum appointment a week-and-a-half ago and in the exam room he opened his eyes and smiled at me. Not a gassy smile; a smile. He is so pretty when he flashes that gummy grin. Also, the other day with his great-grammy holding him, he was looking around for my voice when I was talking to her.

It’s the small things like this that just milt my heart and make every sleepless night worthwhile.

Christmas is really close, so I did my holiday baking yesterday… but not for us. Every Christmas, since I was a freshman in high school, part of my Christmas present was to go shopping for necessities and donate them to the local homeless men’s shelter. This year, with the economy and lack of shopping time, I wasn’t able to donate my usual Christmas gift. This year, I baked 5-6 dozen cookies for the men, because everyone deserves a special treat.

This is just one of the tings I do for the shelter. And as much as I love that people give to these men at Christmas, it seems a lot of times this is the only time of year that they do give. My sr. year of high school, the a capella choir I was in sang for them and we were warned not to be upset if not a lot of men showed up. We were told that a lot of the men were upset that this was the only time of year they were thought of. That really struck me. Christmas may be a time to give, but the homeless just aren’t around during the holidays, they’re among us year round.

I have made it my personal mission to do as much as I can for these men and this shelter year round. From the 2 dozen cookies I get free from work at the end of the work week, to the travel toiletry I horde from traveling. Anything I can do, I do, because someone needs to do it year round: So why not me?

When I think of those men, I also think about Christ and how he relied on people like the shelter volunteers and people like me.

Jesus didn’t have a home. Yes, he lived with his parents and worked in his step-fathers shop, but when he left, he was just as homeless as these men. He traveled from town to town and didn’t have a BlackBerry in his Cadillac to find the closest Hilton Suite. He relied on the kindness of the people for lodge, food and transport.

If we say we would have done those things for Christ, then we must do it for these men, and women, as well. “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Mathew 25:40

A blessed Christmas to you all!

Love,

~Erin

Short and Sweet

2008-12-04T11:02:00.000-08:00

I'm going to keep this short because I'm A) exhausted and B) just coming off the stomach flu.

Sean Patrick Mumm was baptized on November the 30th, 2008 by his grandfather, Rev. David Mumm.
We are all very proud and happy for Sean.

Two Weeks

2008-11-25T07:11:00.000-08:00

Today is Sean's two week birthday; he is growing like a weed!
I can't believe how much he has changed in just this short amount of time! It's crazy! I can already tell he's longer and chubbier and half of his cloths don't fit him anymore!
He's starting to recognize day and night now. He gets up early (like his daddy) and is up most of the morning. He'll have a feeding around 9:00 then take a nap till the noon-ish hour and eat again. After that he'll be awake for a tiny bit, then nap right about till Nate comes home (between 3:30-4:30), eat, play with Dad some and then crash till evening. We'll eat and all watch CSI, Law & Order or Criminal Minds or something of that like, eat when the news comes on and head to bed. He get's up about twice a night now to eat; I take one shift, Nate takes one, so it's all good. (This account does not include all of the diaper changes that happen through out the day)
His 'schedule' may be a little off today. Yesterday, he was really fussy. I had some of my mom’s lasagna the night before last and she used Italian sausage instead of hamburger like she normally does. The seasoning must have gotten into my milk and upset his tummy. The only times he was comfortable yesterday afternoon was if he was held somewhat upright. He slept really well last night, though from all of the fussing.
His stub fell off this morning! It was right after a diaper change and I picked him up to pull his rubber pants over his bottom and when I put him down, his stub was gone! I was all excited (I don’t know why) and put it in a baggy to save with his other baby mementos. And, of course, I had to tell Nate right when I got back to bed. (Should I have mentioned it was a 5am diaper change?)

Right now, he's playing very nice and quiet on his blanky at my folk’s house. We're going to a 'Mommy and Me Breastfeeding' support group today and my dad is taking us. Sean and Granddad had some nice play time a little earlier while Sean was awake and all alert (he still is and is looking at the dogs toys and cooing up a storm). I’m so proud of my baby.

He and Nate and I are also going to his two week check-up this afternoon. I’m sure that he’ll pass with flying colours!

Happy Birthday, Sean! Mommy and Daddy love you!

The Joys of Motherhood

2008-11-16T15:09:00.001-08:00

Today, Sean is five days old and we're getting use to being a mommy and daddy.
Friday, I was able to go home from hospital, but not right away. Nate had to work Friday, so my dad picked us up and we went to their place for a little bit till Nate got off. I was dead tired: I had opted to keep Sean in my room after his feeding at 1:00am (we finally got this latch thing down!) so if he was hungry or anything else I could take care of it. I though that I could sleep okay-ish, that he may cry sometime; no, I was up with every little sniffle and hick-up. So, no sleep at all.
(The funny thing was Nate brought my going home clothes and chose a black sweatshirt. Me being as tired as I was, two nights poor sleep and recovering from an operation, I was pail; that black made me look like death warmed over!)

That night, we ate, we feed Sean, changed him and all of the other good things that parents do and headed to bed. Sean has his times mixed up; he thinks that day is night and vice versa, so he was up a lot. I was also paranoid because he was having some problems with spitting up earlier and I was checking with every noise to make sure he wouldn't choke. That was the hardest night
so far.
Last night wasn't much better, he was just fussy and wanting to 'play' and be alert and act like it was day time. I think tonight may be similar, he's slept a lot today. And, it's a little hard for me; i decided that I would take the 'night shift' so Nate could sleep because he goes to work at 7:00 in the morning. He starts to take over around 5-ish (normally he gets up at six, with no alarm clock, so it's not that big of a deal for him) and will keep Sean happy and fed and clean. Tomorrow he'll goes to work again, but my mom took this week off work to help out around the house and get Sean into some kind of grove. We're very lucky, we have a lot of help and we are grateful because not every young family does.

Today was Sean's first doctors visit. He's putting weight back on (he lost 14oz before we came home) and is pretty much healthy over all. He is a little jaundice-y but is still in the normal range, the high end; normal enough to not do anything yet, high enough to have him come back tomorrow for another heel sticking.
But I have to go for now, he's asleep and I should be, too.

HE'S HERE!!!

2008-11-13T04:58:00.000-08:00

Sean is finally here!
Tuesday they induced labor for me, thing number one that change our plans. When we got there, the doctor broke my water to get the process started (It felt like I was peeing myself for a long time). So with the induction, I was required to stay in bed the whole time hooked up to a monitor to make sure that Sean was okay, thing two that changed, not being able to move around.
After a while of smaller contractions, they introduced some pitosin in my system to get the the labor stronger. Oh, my God, did that hurt! I was able to handle them for the most part of nine hours, but after nine hours and not a lot of progress, I desided to get the epidural, seeing that I was already stuck in bed. Change number three.
Then the biggest change was when the doctor came in after 12-ish hours and no change had happed whatsoever, I was still at 5cm and having contractions that would normally dialate me to 7-8cm. He was still able to get his fingers between the cervix and baby's head during a contraction, so Sean was sitting really high and semi-sunny-side up. That meaning instead of being face down like he was suppose to be, he was facing up, and not just facing up, facing up at an angle. So, we talked it over and Nate, Doc and I desided that a cesarian was the best option.
The Operation was cool to watch; I could see it in the reflection. The birth took about fife minutes tops, and when they lifted him over the drap to show me his lil' face... I still couldn't believe it; something so 'tiny' and innocent came out of me, that Nate and I made... Wow.
Sean came into the world at 9lbs 15oz and 21 1/4 in with dark brown hair and steel gray eyes screaming like a banchee. He's a big baby, with cute little chubber cheeks, but not chuncky really. He's also really storng and loves to snuggle.

Right now, Sean is doing fine. I'm still having a lot of discomfort and some pain from the operation, but otherwise okay; maybe a bit of baby blues, but okay. Sean is having some issues with latching on for nursing, but we're meeting with a lactision today to try and work that out.
Nate is so good with him while I'm recovering (it's hard to get around). He's been helping changing and swadling him and walking with him. He's also been helping me out to; reaching and fetching things that are painful for me to do now, helping me up out of bed and chairs and being a wonderful rock of emotional support. I couldn't have gone through this without him.
But brakefast is here, so I better go, I'll be home tomorrow.

YEA!!!!

2008-11-06T15:19:00.001-08:00

Just got back form the doctor (today is my due date) and they are going to induce me Tuesday if he hasn't decided to come before then.
Yea!! I get to hold my my baby soon!

A glimp of the past

2008-11-05T10:46:00.000-08:00

I know that right now I should be ranting and raving about the election results, but I just can't. My mom gave me the most wonderful gift last night: the diary my birth-mother kept while she was pregnant with me.
It was the most amazing thing to read. It started on February 17th, 1985, the day she found out she was pregnant, and she was so excited. As I kept reading, the love for me and the struggle of the decision she made were clearly made; she did not casually decide that she was going to place me for adoption. On the first page she said that she always wanted a child.
In my reading, some of the similarity were kind of shocking: her and my favorite season is fall, We both love to swim, we both sing and play guitar, both love to read, and both feel the fulfillment of helping those in need (she was a nurse, and I have had some training to be one). I think the eeriest thing I read was, she played Sarah McLaughlin to me when she was pregnant and Sarah McLaughlin is my favorite singer.
I felt so bad for the woman when I read that I was two weeks late! Now that I'm at the end of my pregnancy, I know just how miserable she must have been! Sorry Mother!
It was the most beautiful, wonderful gift that I could ever receive or that she could ever give to my family and myself. She really did love me, and to love someone that much to let them go... that has to be the hardest thing in the world.
My mother is my hero.

Close, but not close enough

2008-11-04T12:15:00.001-08:00

Well, I'm technically in early labor. At the birthing class, we were taught to go to the hospital when the contractions are 5 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute each, for at least one hour. I'm having 1 minute contraction about 3;3.5 minutes apart... for the last three days.
There the right time apart, but they aren't strong enough to do much cervical change. We went to the hospital Sunday morning and they said that they could have kept me, but I would be more comfortable at home.
My grammy (a retired doctor) has been checking me out pretty much once a day and I'm at a good 3cm, but it's just progressing really slow.
I'm pretty tired of this at this moment. It's hard to get around and do the things I need or would like to do. walking is good to get things rolling, but it hasn't work for me yet. Nate and I will power waddle the mall once or twice and they start to hurt, gut then I'm too tired to keep walking (it's hard caring 20-30 pounds in just your belly!). After we get home, I try to take a warm shower to increase oxytocin, but that hasn't worked too well yet.
Apparently, when I am in "true labor", I won't be able to handle the contractions, they say. The problem, I'm pretty good with pain. I survived dislocating my knee six times before having the corrective surgery and a year with an inflamed gallbladder and stones before having it out, both without post-op pain medication (stupid pharmacist tried to give me vicodin, which can kill me). So if I do go into "true labor", I'm not sure that I'll be able to tell because of the high pain tolerents.
I was barely able to walk the dogs today with all of the pelvic pressure, I can't stay at home by myself because of a doting husband and overprotective mother to finish the
"nesting process", there's nothing anyone can do to make me comfortable, and it's still technically too early for the doctors to move this along! I mean, I'm due tomorrow and they won't do anything still! And to top it off, today's 7th Heaven was the one when Lucy went into labor! Just rub it in my face, why don't you universe?
I just want to be done!

Come Out!

2008-10-22T07:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been at my folks more the past two weeks more than I have in a long time. Basically after my brother got home from a.i.t, I dropped (baby settled into my pelvis). I was fine with that, less heartburn, more peeing; but last week, I went into a false labor at 12:00 in the morning. Oi! That was an adventure!
So, Nate and I decided that I should have someone close by, just in case he really decides to to pop. So most of last week, I was with either my Grammy, my dad, or B when I wasn't with Nate.
Oh, but the fun doesn't end there: Monday morning (around12:30) I started having contractions again. I figured that they would just go away, so I went to the family room and put in a movie to distract me. Half way through, it was getting harder to concentrate on Hairspray and by 3:30 I was so tired and frustrated, I woke up Nate, just for support. When the lights went on, my lips were white apparently, a good sign of dehydration. So we called the Dr. and explained the contraction thing-y and was told to come in to see if baby was okay.
Apparently dehydration causes contractions. After watching how baby was doing and getting some water in me (it was bad enough that I needed an IV) we were sent home, yet again, to wait. Fun fun.
At least I got a cool water jug out of the deal. It holds ruffly 900 cc (30oz) and I was instructed to drink at least three of the jugs a day to ward off dehydration again.

I'm so ready to have this baby! Unless you're a mom, you have no idea how uncomfortable I am and how anxious I am to meet him.

It's a baby....

2008-07-09T11:13:00.001-07:00

BOY!
Hubby and I went to the ultra-sound visit yesterday and we're having a little boy! He is so beautiful, even in see-through black-and-white. He was also quite a wiggler yesterday, so we found the culprit for the twinges in my bladder.
Hubby and I thought it was the funniest thing, whenever the ultra-sound tech tried to get a close up on his face, he would wave his hands in front of it or start sucking his thumb! But, after a bit, we got a few really good profiles. I’ll have to take them to the copy store; because 1) I don’t have a scanner and 2) the scanner my dad has uses a heat lamp (can’t expose the printouts to heat because of thermal paper that will turn black if we do). As soon as I get them on a disk, they’ll be right here.
I feel so blessed right now! I can’t wait to meet our son! Our son… I love the sound of that.

Very emotional hugs and yarn,
~em

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2008-05-13T11:51:00.001-07:00

Yeah, it’s one of those days.
My In-Laws are in town. Have been since Friday. Now don’t get me wrong, I love them very much, it’s just I’m tired and need to stop coughing.
The In-Laws are putting in new windows in the baby room, so that means a TON of dust. I’m really, really allergic to dust and have been fighting headaches, clogged sinuses, sneezing and coughing up a lung. It’s not pretty. I’ve been coughing so hard, it’s induced vomiting on more than one occasion.
It’s so bad I couldn’t go to work today. So I’m at my parent’s house, where it’s quieter and much less dusty.
The really nice thing is my MIL cleaned the whole kitchen. And I mean cleaned, like getting down on her hands and knees cleaned. You have no idea how thankful I am to her. The nasty smell in there is gone 100%. I was able to bake bread on Sunday! Thank you so much MIL! I love you!
(I really need to see a doctor. I think this cough is more than just allergies. I use to get really bad bronchitis in high school and it kind of feels like that.)

On a much better note, Thursday was so awesome! I went to the OBs office and there my hubby and I heard the baby’s heartbeat for the first time. It was one of the most magical and happiest days in our lives. Once the med-student found it on the Doppler, a wave of relief flooded over me.
There’s a condition called pseudocyesis where for mental and physical reasons, your body acts pregnant when you’re really not. It’s really a mental condition, and seeing that I have quite a few of those already, it was a fear in the back of my mind.
That heartbeat was just the thing I needed to know that it’s real. And when I looked over to Hubby, he had just the proudest look on his face. He even started crying when I called my mom to tell her (but he’ll never admit it).

So, here’s to Mothers and Mothers-To-Be everywhere; Happy Belated Mother’s Day!

Blurp!!

2008-04-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

If anyone out there has had a simply wonderful, nothing but sun shine and lollypops pregnancy…. I hate you all.

Okay, I don’t really mean that, but: I can tolerate the achy, pre-arthritic joints; I can fight through the fatigue most days; the mild cramping from the womb growing is nothing compared to my usual cramping, but God, make the nausea go away!

Most days, I wake up so sick to my stomach, I can’t even think of food until well after 1:00 in the afternoon. And every time I go into the kitchen, there’s this horrible rank stench of bad meat (that Hubby can’t smell by the way) I have to hold my breath or I’ll start dry heaving. And going to work… don’t get me started on how many times I’ve gotten sick there! Yes, even the nice smell of fresh baked cookies sends me into a tizzy.

And with the nausea, that just makes the fatigue so much worse! It seems that when I wake up in the morning, I lie in bed for around half-an-hour to an hour trying to find the energy to go to the bathroom.

Saltines are my friends!

The Week from H-E-double toothpicks

2008-03-16T09:09:00.001-07:00

Life is fine now, it was anyway, but the 'wonderful' health system wanted to screw it up a little.

When I was at our family doctor getting the OK for The Leach, he said that if I had any bleeding to go to the ER, even if I thought it was nothing, just to be safe. Well, Tuesday, I was having just some light pinkish spotting. I figured it was nothing, but since the Doc told me to, I went to the ER at 2:30pm with my hubby. He had a day off.
Well, we get there and after a weight (not very long compared to the 5 hour weighting room sit I had once) I went to a room and had my examination. The Dr. told me that sometimes that happens when the cervix is irritated, like after a pelvic exam or the S-E-X, because there is increased blood flow there. She told me I would be fine, but just to see how I was coming along; they wanted to do an ultra-sound.
Just routine, they had to do blood levels for pregnancy, which the time to get results is an hour. Those came back normal at 891. After the lab was done they called the ultra-sound tech on call and told me that she would be her in 20 minutes or less. It was another hour and a half till she showed up!
When she finally starts the ultra-sound by shoving the stick thingy up my hoo-ha, it was clear she really didn't know what she was doing. She dug around for about five minutes before she found the gestation sack, and even then, she wasn't sure that it was it. The thing she did find was a dark spot on my ovary.
I see it to and I'm like 'No big deal! I get cysts there every now and then, plus that's a good cyst that's helping The Leach grow.' The Tech has different, thoughts. She thinks it's an ectopic pregnancy. Stupid %&*$&
So, in two days, I go to the OBs office to have more blood levels done; if the 891 doubled in that time, everything should be fine. They called back Friday, telling me that my levels were well over 2000, but the Dr. wanted me to come back in for a second ultra-sound.
Let's just say this tech was 10000 times better than the last. She shoved the stick in and found The leach right away; and it was amazing to see how much s/he had changed in just two days! The Dr. came in telling me everything looked perfect and that they would see me on my scheduled appointment.

All that trouble for nothing? Well, not exactly nothing, I got to see our baby!

Baby at the ER:

Baby 2 days later:

The Leach

2008-03-09T11:31:00.000-07:00

So, we're trying to think of names to call the baby/fetus/bun/whatever you call it while it's still in the oven. Chicken Knit had 'The Bean' (go check out the pictures of her daughter!) and our music leader at church had 'E.T.'........ Well, you know when you say something once about something/someone and it just sticks? Ours is dubbed "The Leach". Let me explain...
So far, I really haven’t had very many 'negative' effects of pregnancy; I found a way to control the nausea and I've gone from having to pee every 15 minutes to every half hour. But the only thing that seems to be knocking me on my butt is the fatigue, I just have no energy! So yesterday, my sister-in-law and I are hanging out and we're talking about pregnancy stuff and I said, "Yeah, it's just sucking the life out of me, like a leach!" as a joke. Well, now I think that its name 'till I spit it out will be "The Leach" because, that's how I feel.
By the way, any other expecting mothers out there who are having morning/afternoon/night sickness try Preggie Pop Drops. You can get them at Motherhood stores. They're really good tasting, all natural (sugar, corn syrup, citric acid, natural oils, and natural coloring from vegetables’) and only around $5.00 for a pack of 21. It helps calm the tummy without all the artificial chemical crap!

HOLY CRAP!!

2008-03-07T10:16:00.000-08:00

So, let's talk.
I'm on the net yesterday and am doing some research on 'reasons-to-not-have-your-monthly-friend-without-being-pregnant' 'coz, well, I'm late. So, I stumble across this site that can create a calendar of your cycle and pregnancy and good crap like that. So I enter in the first day of my last normal period and how many days are in my cycle and guess what, it says the conception date is Feb. 14 and I start freaking out (I won't say why, you can figure that out)!
So, because I'm 1) paranoid and 2) a week and a few days late, I go to my local drug store and pick up a home pregnancy test.
I go home about 4:30; pee on the end of the stick and in 30 seconds, a little + sign appeared in the box! Ohmagod! I'm freaking out!
So, just to make sure that it wasn't a fluke test, I do it again this morning and again, there is the little + sign!
SQUEE!!!!!!!! I'm heading to the Doctors this afternoon to get the Docs positive and to get a referable to an OB/GYN for pre-natal care.
Looks like his boys finally found Wisconsin....

God has shown Favor

Hot Blooded

I'm not fat!

It's been a while.

LOOK OUT!

Open Letter to Sean

Ugh! The Sicks!!!

Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

Wordless Wednesday

JELL-O!!

Wordless Wednesday

Tosty Varn... hopfully.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wordless Wednesday

The Trouble with Teeth

Instruction Manual on Second Birthdays

Work

11:00 on a Sunday night

Oh, Dear GOD!

They broke the mold - YEAH RIGHT!

Wordless Wednesday

NO NO NO NO!

I'm a bad, bad girl....

NaNoWriMo!

Wordless Wednesday

Mungu Yu Mwema!

Not Me! Monday

Photos from Omaha

Not Me!

Change in Plans

Not Me!!

Wordless Wednesday

Sleep Sleep Sleepy

Mini Monet!

Wordless Wednesday - Explanation Tomorrow...

Word-full Wednesday?

Wordless Wednesday

I'm really not sure what to call this....

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

If it's not one thing....

Fun Outings with Sean!

Sometimes, I just don't understand God...

Sleepless in... Des Moines?!?

Let Freedom Ring!

Food is Fun!

Why I Love my Family

Burnt Out

Two for Tooth

Eye See You!

Kansas City, Gonna take my baby there sometime!

My mom is starting him young!

Another First

Half way

CHOMP!

I just wanted to shair this...

Wow...

Holy Crud!

3 Months

The Late Show with Me

Short and Sweet

Two Weeks

The Joys of Motherhood

HE'S HERE!!!

YEA!!!!

A glimp of the past

Close, but not close enough

Come Out!

It's a baby....

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Blurp!!

The Week from H-E-double toothpicks

The Leach

HOLY CRAP!!

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