Ugh! The Sicks!!!

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.

11:00 on a Sunday night

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!

Change in Plans

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.

Sleep Sleep Sleepy

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!

Wordless Wednesday

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....

... 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!

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.

Two for Tooth

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...

Kansas City, Gonna take my baby there sometime!

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!

Half way

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).

I just wanted to shair this...

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.