Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

It has come and gone again. So many blessings this year, too many to count. This was the first year that we had a Christmas morning with the biggest of our blessings. And as she was so young this year it was not fully understood... but by the end of the day she was getting the hang of the opening presents thing. After our girl opened her gifts at our house. ( There were only 3 so it was relatively quick) we went to my parents house for breakfast. We all pitched in and 2 made a wonderful breakfast scramble with zucchini eggs cheese and sausage while 2 others put the roast in for dinner. Coffee cake for a treat. Shortly after breakfast my brothers started showing up. When all of us were there we opened a few presents and watched two very girls play all sorts of new fun things. Then we were once again gathered around the table this time to eat a roast and veggies followed by yummy pie. Then to help our meals to settle we all had a latte made with the cappuccino machine Dave got for Christmas from my parents. Then we settled in for the night on clean fresh new sheets ( a gift to me from my parents).
At no point, unfortunately, was there a good time to A down for a nap... and so our little angel became a demon seed before too long. So tired that when it was time to lie down and go night night she couldn't settle herself into sleep. A little after eleven o'clock she finally fitfully fretfully fell into sleep. Only to wake us again at seven thirty the next morning... or should I say wake mommy the next morning. Daddy can sleep through a freight train and so a small package like A is hardly likely to wake him. She was excited to come back out to the new toys and play all over again. And with an early nap she was back to herself. Which is generally an easy going and level tempered child.
This Christmas was marked by blessing and loss. My sister-in-law delivered a beautiful baby girl into the world on Sunday Dec 21st at 6:48 AM. Tipping the scale at 7 lbs and 1.8 ounces she was 19 inches long. She was only a little late and was a very very accommodating baby as she waited until her mommy's finals were done and mommy had nothing to do but wait for baby. This is the first niece or nephew that I have had since I had Ashlynn. All others have been born at various different stages of trying or being or having lost a pregnancy. ( Or were born before I started dating Dave) It was a new experience for me. You see with the rest of them I had a sense of joy that was more focused on a baby and being an Aunt etc. With our little M. for the first time ever I had an incredible sense of excitement and expectation for my sister in law. You see, for the first time.... I knew what it meant for Shannon that she was a mother. For the first time I was overjoyed because I knew that someone new in this world was on the road to discover that overwhelming love and gratitude that motherhood brings. She embarked on a journey that includes a great deal of self-discovery as well as the discovery of a new person. This world will be opened anew for her as she watches it being discovered through the eyes of a child. That wonder and awe will be transmuted into her and she will be blessed because of it. So Congrats to Shannon and M. May there be many many years of happiness.
Unfortunately on Christmas day my cousin lost her baby. They had been trying for several years and were overjoyed at the prospect of becoming parents. As I am many miles away I have been keeping in touch via e-mail and trying to keep her spirits up through it all. There are so few words that make something like this right. It seems so unfair. And of all days the day when miracles are supposed to happen. Strangely I have suffered with many friends during the loss of a baby or a pregnancy, this is again the first time since I have had a healthy baby born that has survived. It has hit me harder as I know now what has been lost. Before I had a loss of dreams and hope. I would be filled with a desperation of wanting a child and being terrified that I would never have one during my own losses. I felt the the loss the same manner for friends who were in the process of miscarriage or who were grieving a baby's death. This time it is slightly different. As I watch my cousin grieve in the same manner I did two and three years ago, I am heartbroken for the experiences that this steals from her. In so many ways it seems so unfair. The one solace that I have is that I have been through this loss and because of my own experience I can perhaps be some small bit of help and hope. So my condolences to J and B. May you always know how very much I love you.
The holiday is over now and I am grateful for it to be over. We focus now on the coming new year and the promise that it offers. My Dave's birthday is on New Years Eve so we focus in our household on Daddy having a wonderful birthday. We focus on getting a USB cord so that I can share the photos with you that I have been taking of my daughter..... I am about ready to break a leg or two as he insists that he knows where it is and to give him a bit and he will get it for me... but that it is in with his cords and stuff so that HE needs to get it.... This has been going on since roughly August and MOMMY IS RUNNING OUT OF PATIENCE.... especially as he has a port on his computer that lets him down load from the memory card. I may just hijack his computer.....But some how some way I will have pictures on this blog very soon.... by hook or by crook. ( that is fair warning to you David)

Ah the joys of pregnancy. Today I put on a pair of just laundered jeans that have been good friends for a while and I was faced with a startling discovery. They don't fit anymore. At ten weeks it seems a bit early for that ... especially when you consider that according to the doc's scale all I have done is lose weight. These jeans have been with me through most of my pregnancies and on two different occasions I was able to fit into them for the trip home. With A I was wearing them to my 6 week check up... but give me a break I got bigger with her. I have read that you get bigger quicker with each pregnancy... but that really wasn't the case with any of my other pregnancies. But then to be fair A was the only pregnancy that stretched my stomach to the limit and then some. I have also read that you get bigger period with each pregnancy. I guess we will see, though I was pretty sure that I couldn't possibly get bigger ever period end of sentence at about 39 weeks with A.
So I have reached it. You know that point of pregnancy where people start to think that you are gaining weight and you want to wear a sign that says "I'm getting bigger because I am pregnant. Its not the holidays taking their toll!" I have always been grateful to get passed this point to the one where people start to get questions in their eyes when they look at you. You know the point where you want to wear a sign that says " Yes thank you I am pregnant! Thank God you could tell!" So I suppose before long I will be hauling out those maternity clothes and taking stock of what I have to wear. One good thing about having so many pregnancies is that I have a lot to look over. One bad thing is that I DETEST those clothes! I have been in them for so long that it seems like they are starting to define me. Sigh but this WILL be the last time. I swear it.
I can tell you all with out a shadow of a doubt that this one is going to be a boy. No we haven't had a test that tells me. I just know. You see all of my pregnancies have been fairly close together giving me a great opportunity to be able to compare them with fairly good accuracy( as long as I am not mixing pregnancies up in my head. Hey don't put anything past me!) You see with the girls I craved sweets. All day long I was looking for sweets. So I satisfied myself with fruits and sweeter veggies ( like Carrots.) This guy however is doing similar things to me as my sweet little boy did. I want weird and nearly disgusting foods and I want them NOW if not sooner. We are talking sour kraut and Brussels sprouts. God the other day we had both in one sitting HEAVEN. The only thing that could possibly have made it better is chocolate milk with them. No I am not kidding... my mouth is watering just THINKING about it. And the other day I opened up a can of salmon for the cat and it was all I could do to not grab a fork and start shoveling. The only thing that stopped me was that I was feeding the cat that can because we had no cat food and it had to last until Dave's check. So this weekend when Dave went shopping and forgot that can of salmon I almost cried. Seriously I was as close to tears as a grown woman can get about that sort of thing. So I had to go back to the store today and my lunch was glorious. I had a can of salmon ( to myself Dave and A wouldn't touch the stuff) and saltine crackers, cup of diet grape pop and I went to town. Oh the bliss the marvelous bliss of it all. You tell me why that was so good to me and sitting down to a hamburger or a pork chop makes me run for the bathroom. I couldn't begin to tell you. You explain to me why this pregnancy has me SOOOO much more sick than ANY of the others... the only one that can begin to compare is Aidan's but it too paled in comparison to the bathroom trips I have made with this pregnancy. There was a point with Aidan where the only thing that I could eat was cocktail shrimp. GOD the thought I could just tuck in and come up for air maybe next week. I am weak at the knees just thinking about it. So yes I am really really convinced that we will be meeting a little boy in a few months. And I am thoroughly convinced that I am indeed pregnant. There is nothing in this world that could create the various food combination cravings that I am having except pregnancy. Because I am aware of how strange the combos are that I come up with... but they are sooo yummy together. Well I gotta go there are some snack sized pickles in the refrigerator that are calling my name.... they would go so well with some hot chocolate right now. : )

How has she changed me.... let me count the ways

The other day Dave was marveling over me cleaning up A's snotty nose, laughing about how two years ago I couldn't have done it. He wasn't joking. I can handle a lot of things with remarkable aplomb. A has handed me any number of truly gross and disgusting messes over the course of her lifetime. Most I have handled fairly well, if not without pause. There are few things that have ever stopped me in my tracks, but I learned with my stepson Keagan that snotty noses was where I had to draw the limit. Poopy diapers bring 'em on. Spit up and Puke No prob. Snotty noses....um stop..... I ah don't think so. Dave and I had an agreement with Keagan I changed all the poopy diapers and he wiped all noses.

That worked with Keagan who we saw every other weekend. It hasn't worked so well with A, who has really been my sole responsibility 24/7. So I have had to, well, adjust. I have had no choice. But the funny thing is that it hasn't been nearly as difficult as you might think. I have not just wiped snotty noses ( and more than I care to think about Thank You) I have also shared my drink with a little girl with a snotty nose. ( Just Ask Dave the sharing of the drink is big no no number two that had to go to the wayside) I have kissed a snotty slobbery teething mouth. I have kissed a candy cane sticky face. I have done a million things that I would never in a million years thought I could do.
I ask you though what can you do when the face you love most in the world is lifted to yours offering you a kiss with that tiny little mouth open. I certainly don't have what it takes to say no. Instead I assess the situation... man up and pucker up. I love my daughter so much in fact that I will indeed kiss her whenever she asks for a kiss. I would pretty much do anything for that little girl.
There are a million other changes that she has brought about... Physically and emotionally, mentally and psychologically. I haven't objected to a single one. The other day she put her foot up with a howl of pain and then tearfully made a kiss sound. You guessed it. I kissed that sucker. But then that certainly wasn't the first time that I kissed that little foot. In fact while feet never really were something I thought much about before I had my daughter they are perhaps my favorite part on that little girl. I play with and tickle and kiss and pretend to eat those little things until she begs for mercy. The little piggies have been not just introduced but are best friends of my daughter. Once again a change that I have made with little or no protest.
Motherhood has changed me so many ways. I love deeper now than I did before. I take life a little slower and I laugh at least once for every hour that my daughter is awake in the day. In short motherhood has changed me so much for the better that I can hardly measure it all. And I haven't so much as peeped in protest. As a matter of fact I owe my daughter an enormous debt of gratitude.

So I was reading the last few blogs and I have realized that I don't care for the tenor of said blogs. You see while I have a few challenges in my life I am not one that wants to focus on them for any great length. So I apologize.... even though it does feel good sometimes to get things off of my chest just like any other human on the face of the earth. I also don't in any way want to convey the thought that I am not enjoying motherhood... or that I am not excited about the new one to come. Both of those things could not possibly be further from the truth.
I LOVE motherhood. I mean like crazy deep love. The kind that no one can really explain we just know that it is there. I especially love being A's mother. She is smart and she is beautiful and she is my princess! Everything a mommy could possibly want in the world plus more than I thought that I could want all rolled into the cutest little package that somehow keeps getting cuter... explain that one to me.
I am also very excited about impending motherhood again. I've had my ups and downs about it. I have even cried tears about it... I have no idea how Dave and I are going to support a family of four... we are having a hard time with a family of three. There will have to be changes... I may have to go to work. Dave may have to get a different job. There are all kinds of things that still need to be ironed out. That if absolute... but the other day I went to the doctor and I cried a different kind of tears. You see the other day I heard his heartbeat for the first time. ( Yes I am convinced this will be a boy... no I won't be disappointed as long as he/she is healthy) It was a craps shoot to even try and as the midwife was trying she was warning me that it is really way too early and not to worry if we can't hear it. You see by doppler the earliest that you can hear usually is 10 weeks. I have yet to hit that point I am 9 weeks and a few days ( 2 days when we tried.) So we tried on the off chance that we would get to hear our little booger. We had already done an ultrasound so we knew he was there and fine. For a bit all we could hear was mine slow and steady... but then shuushh shuushh shuusshh There he was at roughly 130 beats per minute though it was hard to measure because of mine getting in the way. So there our little nugget was safe inside of mom with his little heart beating away. Paula was SHOCKED. She told me that it is a really good sign to have such a strong heartbeat so early. It says a lot that it was strong enough to be audible. So we have a few ( three and a few days) weeks left until I get a cerclage and then three weeks after that we start 17-P and from there well we keep our fingers crossed because it worked once before.
For the record my Dave is really really excited that we are having another so close to A. He told me that he really likes the idea of the kids being so close together so that they can be good friends. He said that he wished he could have been closer in age to his siblings so that he could have had that built in friendship growing up. I hated to burst his bubble but when Shawn and I weren't best friends ( the frequency of which varied from age to age) we were worst enemies. You see I have been with Dave for 8 years and he has made me mad a few times seeing red blistering hot mad... but no one and I mean no one on God's green earth has ever managed to make me as mad as my brother Shawn has a few times. Once he literally got me so mad that I jumped up and down screaming at him and completely forgot about the sprained ankle that I was still on crutches for. When the pain hit me like a ton of bricks I think Shawn would have done anything in this world to keep me from telling my parents that it was his fault... which of course it wasn't I was the one doing the jumping... but don't think I didn't have him hopping for the rest of the day.
There are a lot of reservations that I have about having another child, aside from the financial issues. I am so torn... because my little girl deserves all of her mama for a little while longer doesn't she. Isn't it better to have waited a bit and focused on her for a time longer? Wouldn't it be better for her to have waited so that she can nurse unhindered until she is ready to wean? Is she going to be able to make the transition easily to being an older sister? Are her feelings going to be hurt when mommy and daddy have another baby to love and care for? There is even the question of what if I like her better than him? Can I love them both? Stupid questions I know. I watch my parents with their three kids and I know that we are all loved intensely if some what differently. The relationship between myself and my mother is vastly different say than it is with either of my brothers. Not just because I was a girl, but because I am a different person. Those differences make for a richer and more dynamic family unit. There is the part of me that is so excited that my little girl is going to have the chance to have a brother or sister that she will be able to interact with. She is one of many being the fifth of Dave's children and the third of mine, but we don't ever see two and two others passed away. This will be a living breathing brother or sister that she will grow up with, and that can't be a bad thing.
I guess what I have been trying to say is that this pregnancy is fraught with questions and perhaps even a little bit of turmoil. There are a million questions and as per usual the universe is playing the hand close. I am constantly looking for answers and none are forth coming. So I feel like I am sailing with out a compass at times. But truly there is little time to ponder such things because my pride and joy my reason for being has woken from her nap and there are much better things that I must do. Like read the same book the millionth time, when your arms are full of perfect it really doesn't seem to matter how many times you've read the book.

What kind of day is this going to be?

I ask you what kind of day could it have been when I woke to the sound of my daughter filling her pants. Yes yes Too much info I know. How do you think I felt? So I drag my sorry butt out of bed to change the pants so she doesn't have to sit in the mess ( even though my strongest inclination was to roll over and snuggle back into the covers!) So out we go to the living room where I start the process of changing her little rump. Once her little rear is clean she pulls her usual roll and run while I am distracted with rolling up the diaper. No biggie I figure that I have something real quick to grab and what harm can a baby naked from the waist down do anyways.... HMMM.... Well my friends as I am rifling through her pants to find a pair for her to wear I hear an ominous sound.... Like she was filling her diaper only... S*&T! So I look over and there standing in front of my christmas tree is my half naked cherub who looks as innocent as can be, so I think maybe it was just a stinker..... Here's hoping as I see her starting to sit down to play with a present. "NO" I shout as I start running "Ash" I scream as I stumble across the floor. She for the record not used to hearing the panic in mom's voice thinks this is great fun and starts to giggle. In what really could only have been a few seconds ( no matter how long it felt) I was over there to assess the damage. Yes my young one had made a mess a HUGE mess! the onesie that she had on had gotten it all over and it was all over her legs and on the floor and I was aghast.
So I scoop up my messy daughter and haul her over to the area on the floor where I had been changing her and much to her displeasure started the process of cleaning her up, all to a chorus of screeching because she wanted to play at the Christmas tree. While I tried to clean up my child was twisting bucking and rolling and making it a decidedly difficult chore. I managed to clean her up and the floor and the clothes and was sitting in the aftermath of shock when my husband came rolling out of the bedroom. " What was all the ruckus?" he asks me casually. So I relay the whole sordid tale. His eyes get wide and he laughs hysterically and then says "Please tell me I am not sitting in the mess" I really wished at that moment I could have told him yes, but no I informed him I had already cleaned the mess up. "Good" he says and relaxes still chuckling.
So I ask you again.... What kind of day could I possibly have had when it started out like that!

I love you but you're irritating me right now!

I apologize in advance for this whine session. There is really nothing more irritating than a whiner I know. Today has been one of THOSE days.... you know the day that you think nothing else can go wrong only to find out that God took that as a dare and whoops there you go it gets worse. A large part of it all is my attitude, I am aware of this. But Dang some days you just want a break. I am tired of the constant struggle.... trying to figure out how to fit all the peices into the puzzle.
So here goes.... it is Christmas.... and we are broke. I'm not talking presents are a little light this year maybe next year will be better. No we are more in the how will we make it to next week boat. I am grateful that we had taken care of A in August.... but that is little solace when we are bouncing checks for dinner. ( Well no that's not really true... it is really good to know that she will have gifts to open.) And here we sit looking at the fact that we are having another in a few months.... and we haven't purchased a single present for a single person... in favor of leaving the bounced checks for dinner.
This puts me in a less than stellar mindset. Couple that with a teething baby who also has a cold and is just over an ear infection and a daddy who never lets anything bug him.... and there is disaster on the horizon. I am a worrier. I stew and worry and think things over until I have an answer and when I don't find and answer I just worry more. This leads to a little bit of depression over our less than stellar situation. So the house has been a little hard to be in today as I have been in a tough mood and so has A. Dave has been avoiding both of us..... which is impossible when your house is as small as ours.
So in total desperation Dave sent me to the store to pick a few things up.... in hopes of improving my mood by getting me out of the house. This was already a bust as I did a few calculations after writing my check and realized that we can't fill the tank with out overdrawing. F*&%K! So on the way home the car ( that we had to fix last weekend) kills on me not once but twice. Both times showing me that little battery light. Double F*&$K! Dave was really cool when I told him not only that we couldn't afford gas but that he was going to spend his Sunday trying to figure out what is wrong with the car.
That doesn't even get into the brand new pack of butt wipes all over the house because the kid found them.... or the full bowl of dog water that was dumped all over the kitchen because the kid found it.... or the fact that every time I sit down for five seconds I am supposed to have velcro baby in my lap. Nor does it touch on the fact that she got into my files today ( 7 years of check stubs all over the floor) or the 45 minute nap that wasn't NEARLY enough. As I sit here stealing five minutes to type I am listening to screaming that makes my fingernails hurt. And I'm going to have another one of these demons.
I have read about these days from other parents. The I love my kid but please save me from them moments. I've even had them.... but today has been a tough one for all of us.... and it ain't getting any easier for sure. Calgon Take Me Away! Gratefully these days are few and far in between. And hopefully we will all be able to wake up on the correct side of bed tomorrow. Right now I just want PEACE!
As I said in the beginning I do apologize. As a rule I try to complain as little as possible. We all have our struggles, and mine are really very trivial in the long and the short. I have a husband who loves me and a beautiful daughter. I have a family that does what they can and friends who are there for me. Nor are my troubles all that unique right now. It just felt good to vent. And now let me say I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and that you spend it with people you love. I will be and that makes me very blessed indeed!

Little new little old

Well I think we may have finally beat the ear infection. We had her in for a recheck today.... On Tuesday we had her in the office with a 101.6 temp but Doc wanted to give meds more time. So we toddled off to the doc today and were given the all clear... aside from the cold that she has picked up now. I guess it is always something. I myself was back at the doc today too. The antibiotic that I was given last week didn't cut it and I am sick again... or really still as I never did get completely well. I have been coughing and hacking for a week straight and I am SO TIRED OF COUGHING. Not to mention around about the third day of constant coughing it occurred to me that it could be causing problems for the little one that I am carrying as the reason for so many losses was an incompetent cervix. So I called MFM and guess what it could indeed be causing problems but we cannot do anything because it is too early in the pregnancy. So we are trying instead to control the cough. So we are praying that we can keep it under control until I am well enough that I don't need to cough anymore. Then we are hoping for no more colds coughs or otherwise until the cerclage gets put in. ( 4 weeks from now.)
Its been busy around here with every one getting sick. Dave finally started sniffling today.... but he will be over it in an hour, he always is. Both of my parents are on the second round of antibiotics too. Stay well if you can folks cuz it is UGLY stuff this year.
As to other news. We are still pregnant and spotting is minimal... although the coughing does produce some. I am also still nursing... although it is not an easy road to follow some days. I have to drink tons of water to ensure that I have enough for everyone and if I let myself get even a little dehydrated then the milk supply goes down. A doesn't like that. We found that out the hard way when a few weeks ago I didn't have any purified water around to drink ( we can't drink our well water we live in a Super Fund that makes you sick.) So I was drinking other things diet pop and the like. That evening while trying to nurse A there just wasn't anything there. So I sat there holding a crying baby sobbing about how this wasn't what I wanted while my mother got her a bottle of juice. Yes we resorted to a bottle but the child needed comfort in the same manner she gets from nursing so it seemed like a good choice. These days I do not let myself run out of water and everyone is on task to make sure I am drinking enough.
The other part of nursing that is tough is that these days there are times when it is excruciating to have her nurse. That gentle little tingle of milk letting down is now a nerve wrenching painful tingle and my nipples are tender from the pregnancy. God Forbid she should get on there wrong. I am in misery! With her teething right now there is also the inevitable little bite that causes serious issues for me. Not to mention with her new found abilities and activity has come some interesting and creative nursing positions. The other day her squirming had her falling off of my lap while still latched on. YEEEOWCH! There are definitely moments when I wonder if I am crazy. And then there are the times that I am certain that I am. The thing is that she needs this from me and for as long as I can do it. I am committed to giving my child the best that I can.... I won't let a new pregnancy get in the way of that... yet. There will come a day when I most likely will have to wean her or greatly limit her... but it hasn't come yet. Right now I am focusing on giving my little one everything I've got to give.
In the interest of doing just that I am going to go curl around my little one who is napping and offer the healing touch of love.... for both of us.

Been a while!

Wow how quickly time can fly sometimes..... and we weren't really even having fun. How it has been a week since the last time I posted I don't know. Last week I was at the clinic ( all the way across town) every day except Friday. We found out that A is allergic to the Amoxicillin that they put her on. So we were off to see the doc and get some more. I had several visits also including one where I myself was put on antibiotics for this stupid upper respiratory crap. Nearly every one in our combined households have been put on something in the last week or two. The only one so far that is unscathed is Dave. Punk! I was officially transferred to MFM at one appointment and all of my insulin was upped at another. And this weekend we looked forward to some much needed rest. Which sort of happened. But A spiked a temp to 101.6 and we are now wondering what the heck is going on because we are already on an antibiotic. Doc told me today that I should wait until tomorrow and if she still has a temp she has to go in.... here we go again.
Here's hoping it is viral and she will be her normal self tomorrow.
I know that all of you are looking forward to a real update both on A and on the new kid on the block. But truthfully..... as busy as we have been there has been very little forward movement. I do have to brag for a minute or two though. When we were in the waiting room for me on Wed. there was another little girl who was 6 days older than A. This child was all over the place giving her mommy a hard time. I had brought a few toys for A and she was playing quietly. There were several other people in the waiting room. There were a few girls who were stunned that the two were so close in age saying that they thought that the other girl was much older because of the running around that she was doing. I just smiled because I know my daughter and while she can certainly keep me running not in a busy place where there are a lot of people that she is uncertain of.
The other little girl was called into the office and then all of a sudden all of the attention was focused on A. She just kept doing the things she always does. She was drinking from a sports bottle of water... and then she wiped off her mouth. Stunned one of the women said I have never seen a baby do that. Then A proceeded to put the top back on the bottle and click it into place. "Oh My God that is amazing!" another woman says. She then took it off and it landed under the table she looked up at me and said " Get it" as clear as day and when I did so said " Thank you" also so clear that all of the women in the room could clearly understand her. " Wow" said a third woman " You have an incredibly clever child." A continued to do these things that Dave and I take for granted really and kept her audience enthralled up until I was called in to the office. The woman who remarked on A's cleverness stated that she was a teacher and that she saw amazing potential in A. You should have seen Dave light up. He was sitting there like a lit up Christmas tree.
When we left he mentioned the other girl and how much more active she had been. I just smiled at him and told him..." Our child sat and played at that office not because she couldn't run around and play like the other child.... but because she took stock of the room and decided that there were a few to many risks for her to get too far away from mom and dad. So she sat contentedly playing at our feet secure that we were there and that she was safe." That's my girl! Cautious to the bone.... and makes the right decision after weighing the pros and cons. Not a bad way to be.
Well until next time.... and hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.

Its all such a pain in the ear!

I hope that you all have had a wonderful holiday weekend, and that there were no casualties on black Friday. I myself did not go shopping ( I know, right!) Instead I sat in a chair with a stuffed up head wishing that I could take something and sighing with martyrdom. ( is that a word I think it is, cool) My daughter also was feeling somewhat less than stellar a situation that has continued through the weekend. We have waffled ( Okay I have) all weekend about whether a trip to the doctor was needed. This morn I am afraid it came all too clear that our little one needed to go to the doctor when after an extremely fussy night of tossing, turning and crying.... she cried for 2 hours straight tugging at her ear. A dose of Tylenol helped to stop the crying.... though not nearly fast enough for anyone involved in the situation. What that dose of Tylenol did do however was create a well behaved little angel who billed and cooed at the doc ( until he tried to look at her throat, then things got a little ugly.) Still and all doc looked into her ears and pronounced that both of them were red and sore and in need of attention. He prescribed Amoxicillin for the babe and sent us on our merry way.
So double ear infections and she still has the same cold that I have. It has taken down the strongest of men... but this precious little lady is running around with an impish smile on her face. ( So long as mom keeps the Tylenol flowing { in appropriately measured doses and times of course}) I have indeed been blessed with a child with the temperament of a saint. ( although you may want to check back with me when she is two and some change... and NO I do not want to hear my words back when the day comes!) We are dealing with a slight amount more of fuss than normal, but otherwise we are still smiling after all this. Gotta love her... I do!
Today is Dave and my anniversary! It has been tough on him living with me, but he has made it another year; barely : ) The trip to the doc was not in our plans, but hey thats parenthood for ya. We had big plans for this weekend. We had intended to go to a water resort in the Dells ( my parents would babysit!) and spend a nice weekend in a room with a jacuzzi and have fun. While we do not play the stocks the economy has had its own effect on Dave and I and those plans got whittled and whittled and whittled again. First we were just going to stay one night. Then we were going to just stay in town and catch dinner and a movie. Then it became just dinner. Well when all was said and done my parents babysat while Dave and I went to the grocery store and picked up a few discount steaks to bring home and cook. Flexible thy name is the middle class. In fact I'm starting to think that if others are in the same boat that we are... a grocery card would be the best gift to give for Christmas. Not mind you that I am complaining in any way about my anniversary. I am spending it with my two favorite people in the world.... and how could that ever be bad?! And I sure as heck wouldn't want to be anywhere but here with her when she is feeling so cruddy. No sometimes the plan for us is better than the plan that we make. Always a good thing to remember.