Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Snot Rockets and Sunshine

I know it's Halloween and I should have some really cool Halloween themed post, but that will have to wait.
I'm so far behind on blogging, it's ridiculous.

These last few weeks have been the most trying times I've had in a while. Maybe I'm being a little over dramatic, but in the past any time I needed a break or had so much to do, I would just take Adelei to Nanny's. I haven't had that here, so I've found ways to make it work. While I think it makes me stronger and more resourceful, it can be hard and frustrating at times.

Moving on...
Last Friday after play group, Adelei would not take a nap. Usually I just try to do activities that will make her tired [going to the park, playing outside, dancing, chasing the dogs around....you get the idea], but that day, everything was making her cry. She wouldn't eat anything to save her life. Even her favorite show was making her cry. I checked her temperature and it was only 99.8, but I decided to give her a small dose of Motrin anyway. I also gave her milk and rocked her, thinking that if she slept it off she'd be okay. Except she didn't sleep. And after 8 hours of fighting her trying to get her to eat or drink, soothing her a million times, and trying [but failing] to get her to sleep, we ended up at the ER.


Her temperature had gone from 99.8 to 102. They gave her a large dose of tylenol coupled with a large dose of motrin, and within the hour she was drinking all of her milk AND all of her water while eating some snacks. She was tested for strep throat, and we waited. And waited. And waited. And when we got home 3 hours later, the test had came back negative and they told us to take her to her pediatrician on Monday.
Awesome. Luckily they did give her some antibiotics, so we didn't have to go the whole weekend getting worse.
 
I called the doctor's office first thing Monday morning, and they called me back around noon asking me to bring her in. We got there and saw the doctor, and he was appalled. Apparently, babies this young aren't able to develop strep throat. Also, they told me that her ears looked fine [I told them she had been digging in them, which she usually does when she has in infection]. He looked and said that one was definitely infected, and looked like it was on the mend thanks to the antibiotics, but it was most likely infected when I brought her in Friday. He prescribed lots of medicine, suggested I buy a vaporizer, and sent us on our way.
I'm happy to say that, even though she still has a nasty cough, Adelei is feeling so much better. She's sleeping more normally, she's playing, she's eating [a little bit!], and she's pretty much back to her curious little self!
\
I want to give major props to single moms, to moms whose husbands are gone for business or deployments. This is the hardest [but most rewarding] job I've ever had!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Wisdom, but not wiser.

I went last Wednesday to have my wisdom teeth pulled. I was assured that it was an easy process and that I would be fine. I wasn't that nervous.
It was a fairly quick, painless procedure [thanks to the numbing shots and nitrous].
Afterwards was a different story. 
They told me the medicine the prescribed would probably make me sleep all day, and I was totally okay with that. However, it did the opposite for me. It wired me. I could not fall asleep to save my life.
And because I was awake? I thought I was starving. Guess what y'all? Those mashed potatoes and soup just weren't cutting it. Add to that the fact that the taste of blood was making me nauseous, this whole recovery process was starting to suck.
On Saturday, I felt well enough to start eating solid food. Thank God! 
On Monday, things just didn't feel right, so I called the dentist's office. I spoke with the hygienist who helped with my procedure, and she basically told me that I was overreacting and just to keep an eye on it. Awesome. Monday night/all day Tuesday was spent in a sinus medicine induced dazed. And today, the pain was so extreme that I called again, and asked them to please work me in.
And they did.
Turns out I have a dry socket. They had to flush the extraction site and put in some really, really nasty medicine in it. But guess what? It worked. I feel so much better already.

So there's the reason why I haven't been around lately. It's hard to get the energy to blog when you feel so craptastical. Things should be looking up from here on out, though.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

The Rocking Chair

When Adelei was about 3 months old, I made the decision to not rock her every night before bed. Several of my friends convinced me that rocking her was a bad habit and when I asked her doctor about it, she agreed. The baby needs to learn to put herself to sleep, she said. I understood, and I tried it.
Some times it worked, some times, especially when she wasn't feeling so good, I'd give in and rock her. I loved it and felt guilty all at the same time. Was I setting her up for failure? It's something that I've struggled with over and over again. A few weeks ago, I read about a baby back home that passed away. She was just a little older than Adelei. From what I understand, there was negligence involved. My heart was broken for this innocent child. I couldn't help but hug Adelei more, tell her how much I love her, even though she doesn't really understand my words yet. And that night when she woke up crying, I rocked her. I have continued to rock her every night. I've decided for myself that this is okay. Life is too short. I don't know how many days we have together, and I don't want to take these moments for granted. Until that week, that rocking chair was just a chair. I could count on one hand the number of times it was used. But now, that chair evokes special memories. We rock and sing, we talk and cuddle.  It's our chair. It's our tradition. And I wouldn't change it for the world.

Monday, October 15, 2012

What I didn't tell you...

What I didn't tell you is that...
about 2 months ago,
I threw all of my inhibitions about getting my hair cut out of the window and set an appointment.
What I also didn't tell you is that, 
while I was having lovely conversation with the hairdresser, my hair was suffering.
Gapped up is actually the best way to describe it.
Trust me, when my husband notices that I'm having a bad hair day month, something is seriously wrong.
Don't worry, I got it fixed & my faith in hair dressers [some of them] has been restored.

What I didn't tell you is that...
my husband was in the field last week. As in, left Tuesday morning and I didn't get to see him or talk to him until 11 pm Friday night. It went by surprisingly fast because Adelei and I stayed busy, and I wasn't nearly as scared as I thought I was going to be about being in the house by ourselves at night [I'm weird, I know.]

What I didn't tell you is that...
I'm getting my wisdom teeth pulled on Wednesday. Or maybe I did mention it. But I'm just now starting to get nervous about it. Yikes!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Spooktacular Swap Link Up


A few weeks ago, Sara and I decided to host a Halloween themed swap. Several lovely ladies signed up, and today is the day to show off what we got!


My partner was Sarah from Embracing Chaos. I was so excited when the package showed up at my door, I could hardly wait to open it. 




Sarah sent me some of the coolest stuff! Cute little decoration bottles [which are now sitting on my mantel], a halloween card, a halloween themed [cupcake!] post it note pad, a mini coffin with the cutest earrings inside [she made them!], some jack-o-lantern confetti, and a cute little pen.

This was such an awesome package, and such a fun swap experience! I want to thank all of you who participated, and I'm looking forward to the next one :)

Don't forget to link up!





Friday, October 12, 2012

Over It

I can't understand for the life of me what it is about children and babies that makes strangers open up, but I'm completely over it.

If that sounds a little rude, I'm sorry I'm not sorry.

I'm okay with someone commenting that my baby has a beautiful smile, or even stopping at our table at a restaurant to say hello. What frustrates me beyond words and makes me fuming mad? Is when someone touches my daughter without permission, and when someone feels the need to tell me I'm doing something wrong in regards to my child.

This has been going on since the first time I took Adelei out in public 15 months ago, but this week it has gotten out of control.

On Tuesday, while at the commissary, one of the cashiers came over to speak to Adelei while I was checking out. Adelei was grumpy & the lady kept trying to make her smile. Adelei was not interested and I made sure to let her know that she wasn't feeling it. The lady touched her leg. I'm not sure if she was trying to tickle her or if she pinched her, or what, but Adelei started crying in full hysterics....
I was beyond pissed.  The only thing I could say was, 'Seriously?' Who does that? Really?
I had to completely stop what I was doing to comfort my child, who was FINE [grumpy, but not out of control] before this woman, this stranger, began messing with her.

On Wednesday, I dropped Adelei off at daycare for a few hours. When I got back, the first thing the teacher said to me was 'Does your daughter not like black people?'. Again, another 'seriously?' moment.
I said 'Excuse me?' and she proceeded to say that every time she got close to Adelei that afternoon, all she would do is scream and cry. This was after Adelei's favorite teacher left & there was only one other child in the room. Was there no possible way that she was just hungry? thirsty? tired? Oh you're right. It was none of those things. My 15 month old daughter was totally discriminating towards you.
Ridiculous.

On Thursday, a lady at Hobby Lobby made the comment that she could tell my daughter was so full of herself. I'm not 100% sure what she meant by that, but the tone in her voice [combined with my lack of sleep] was enough to piss me off. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure all babies think that the world revolves around them.

I like to think I've done pretty well up to this point about grinning and baring it. But, like I said before, I'm over it. I'm not going to stand for it anymore. If someone feels like they have the right to say ridiculous stuff to me, I hope they're prepared for the backlash.

Just for future reference, if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all. And never, ever touch someone else's child unless they specifically tell you that it's okay.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

It's a boy!

Meet Kaiser, the newest addition to our family.
He's an 8 week old Airedale puppy and he's as sweet as sugar!
Not long after we moved into the house, we realized that, even with a yard, Kami still just wasn't herself. I would take her to the dog park from time to time & we would play with her outside every night, but that just wasn't cutting it. Moves can be hard on our pets, too! So after much deliberation, we decided to go ahead and get her a companion.
Yep, that's right. We got a dog for our dog.
And I'm so glad that we did! She has so much more energy now. She's not just laying around all of the time.
Kaiser has brought her back to life.
We love him. He is so smart, and is getting the hang of things around here.
Not to mention Adelei is obsessed...
I think we'll keep him ;)

Friday, October 5, 2012

Pay It Forward

When I saw this post on Meagan's blog, I thought it would be a fun way to interact with my readers.

Here are the details... Pay it forward. 
 Within 3 months I’ll create something unique to share with the first three people to comment on this post. But, in order to receive your present you have to play along. Spread the love on your own blog promising to send a little special something to the first three people who comment on your post. You get 72 hours (that's 3 days people) to re-post, or I’ll have to move on to the next person. Please only comment if you’re willing to pay it forward! Who doesn't love getting mail? Especially when it's "just because" mail! If you love getting goodies in your mailbox and enjoy spreading joy to others, be one of the first 3 to comment below (if you're a noreplyblogger, you're automatically out). 

Who's up for some fun mail?

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Breaking My Heart

Disclaimer: This post may be a little ridiculous [see title]. Also, spoiler alert.

A few weeks ago, when I saw the commercial for the new show Breaking Amish, I knew I was going to be a fan. Crazy? Maybe. But I'm a sucker for reality t.v.

After watching the first episode, I can honestly say I was intrigued. We set it to record every week & so far, I've been pleased. Some things annoyed us [the whole sushi scene], but for the most part we didn't have a lot of complaints. Last night, Aaron and I watched the fourth episode, and we started questioning things.
The obvious--How did these people sign up for a t.v. show? How do they know curse & slang words if they are so religious & have little interaction with 'English' people? How does one girl have her ears pierced? One guy is 32. Why is he not married with kids in the Amish community? How does the one girl know what a stripper pole is much less how to dance on one?

I only thought about it for a few minutes after the show. Until Aaron came home and said that him & some of his friends got into a discussion about the show & they said it was a sham.
Of course I had to look it up. I found several articles about it online, but THEN I came across this gem.
The blog of an ex Amish guy. He talks about the show from the Amish stand point & tells all the reasons it's completely staged.

Like--
How pretty much all of them left the Amish several years prior to taping. 
Kate has been on a modeling website since 2010.
Abe & Rebecca, who seem to have just met & started dating on the show, are actually a couple with a child together in real life.
Jeremiah and Sabrina both were married. Jeremiah has kids & has supposedly been living an 'English' lifestyle for the past 14 years. 

So yes, this bums me out. Maybe it's not a big deal to anyone else, but I feel like I was lied to. 
I probably still would have watched if they would have just said to begin with that this was a show about ex Amish young adults experiencing 'English' culture. But the fact that they've repeatedly said that this is the first time they've left the Amish & that this is the first time experiencing all of these things, really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

If you want to see more of the lies exposed, go here.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Drama in Suburbia

Growing up, I lived in a very small town. There was an entire acre of land standing between our house and our neighbors. Pretty much everyone had animals of some sort whether it were the usual dogs & cats or cows & goats. I never knew I'd miss 'country' life so much.
The past 5 years, I have lived in an apartment. It was fun at first, but got old quick. The lack of space and no yard to call my own was something I was ready to leave behind.
When we moved into the suburbs, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. 
I had never lived in a housing area before. My husband had, but even still, the houses weren't this close together. I was just ecstatic about finally being in a house. A few weeks after we moved in, the high that I was on began to fade. I still love this house, but getting used to neighborhood life is taking more time than I would have imagined. 
Yesterday morning, as I was in the kitchen getting the coffee started, we hear a knock on our door. Aaron answered, and it was one of our neighbors. She proceeded to say that if we didn't get our dog's barking under control, she was going to call the cops on us. As soon as she said that, my blood started boiling.
First of all, my dog rarely barks. She does bark at people she doesn't know, in situations where she's scared, and when she's being protective. So yes, from time to time, when she's outside, she will bark....especially when she smells an animal or person close to our fence. What annoys me most [other than her threatening to call the cops on us]? Is that the lady said that she has 'tried to be nice to the dog & feed her treats'. UMMM, hello! Obviously if you're trying to get at the dog through the fence and she is BARKING at you, she doesn't like you or she thinks you are trying to endanger her family. If she doesn't want your treats & continues to bark/growl at you, take a hint. She's also claiming that Kami wakes her up at 3:30 am barking, which I know is untrue because Kami sleeps in our bedroom! I don't let her out in the morning until Adelei wakes up, which is usually 8:30 or 9.  I just honestly don't see how this is possible when I am home 90% of the time [in other words, I know if my dog is barking to bring her inside!]. I don't know whether it's true or not, but she says some of the other neighbors have complained as well. She also told us that we needed to keep our dog inside [she's an inside dog, but obviously I let her out to do her business & get exercise], and that we need to video tape Kami while she's outside. Getting the cops called means we'd have to pay a fine, and if they reported it to our real estate company, we could get evicted. I miss living in a place where, if a dog barked or rooster crowed, no one got their panties in a wad.

p.s. Did I mention there are other dogs in the neighborhood?