Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Hallelujah!

Our white trash neighbors' house is up for sale! I pray we get pleasant, quiet neighbors. Ones without loud-ass cars tearing up the road all hours of the day and night with the thump-thump bass wide open. Ones that don't run a sketchy body/repair shop out of their garage. Ones that don't keep a couple of jacked-up mud-boggin' trucks parked in their yard.

Hallelujah #2:

The rumors are true. Dr. Evil has a job offer across the country. It's not official as she only has a verbal offer, but it looks like all systems are go.

Merry Christmas!

***
The W.T. neighbors have been a ball of fun since they moved in 5 years ago. Air horns honked every night at 11ish as the driver arrived home (which stopped after friendly neighborhood cop, aka Hubby, had a chat with him about our county's 24-hour noise ordinance).

Screaming fights in the driveway, again usually around 11ish, complete with luggage and other detritus tossed into the road.

The family dog allowed to roam around unleashed. W.T.s in a yelling argument with other neighbors when other dog goes running after W.T. dog, runs into W.T. child, and knocks her over. The child was not hurt. Yes, Hubby and I laughed.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Wow, life has been busy.

Mom is out of the hospital. She was released shortly before Peanut's birthday and is living at the same ALF she lived at about 6 years ago. The owners have vastly improved the place. She's being managed by a community treatment team who visits 3 times a week. A physician comes on one visit to check BP and deal with any general health issues and a therapist comes on another visit for her weekly therapy. She had a rough few days in the beginning, including one scary day when I thought she was going to end up back in the hospital. I called around until I found the correct team and they made sure to visit her and get her going.

We see her once or twice a week. She usually comes over for dinner one night and we've (gasp) been going to church and bringing her when she wants to come with us. She came over for Peanut's birthday. He was so excited to see her and is happy every time she comes over. Bean has warmed up to her and gives her lots of smiles.

I try to focus on the positive, but I know things could change. Lately she's been talking about moving into a mobile home with a roommate. Where? Who? Bad idea.

She wants a job and has asked her treatment team to help place her. Again, I think it's a bad idea. Volunteering with little pressure would be great, but I'm not sure she can handle the stress of a paid job unless it's through one of the mental health groups that can work with her limitations. She also does not have reliable, regular transportation.

She's also back to asking about babysitting the kids. Hubby and I are not comfortable at all with it. Her vision and hearing are poor and she can't keep up with the kids. We're considering letting her watch the kids for an hour at our house while we go out for coffee, but that's it. I need to know she can take care of their needs, especially Bean, before I'm willing to go there.

***

Peanut's birthday was fun. We had a party at the local arcade/play place with BF's daughter and several little friends from Pre-K. A fun time was had by all, including little Bean.

***

Bean is finishing a course of antibiotics for his eleventy-billionth ear infection. He's scheduled for tubes in early January. I'm always apprehensive about anesthesia, but tubes were a miracle for Peanut and I expect they'll be the same for Bean. Damn shitty eustacian tubes. I may have teh crayzee in my family, but Hubby's got the crappy ear infections, allergies & asthma in his.

Bean runs like a madman all over the house and is talking/babbling like crazy. The best is when we read "The Very Busy Spider" at bedtime and he does all the animal sounds. He tries to snort like a pig, says "doodle-loo" for the rooster, "Kak kak" for the duck and yells "BAA!" for the sheep.

He constantly cracks us up. He runs to the frige yelling "Lo-ney" (bologna) and will bring his glow-doodle to you and say "feet" when he wants to make footprints on it. He's also been known to grab his chest and state "beebees".

***

One of my aunts (Mom's sister-in-law) was recently diagnosed with lung cancer and had roughly half of her right lung removed. She will undergo four chemo treatments as a precaution, but the doctors think they got everything. We've been praying a lot.

***

We love the church we found. It's the local Methodist church and is about 7 minutes from our house. The minister is so nice, gives great sermons, and the congregation is very welcoming. The kids have their Christmas pageant this Sunday and Peanut will be a shepherd. He is so psyched about the whole thing. They're doing a family movie night tomorrow and we're planning to go. I think Hubby and I are both in shock that we actually look forward to church and that it's really not a big hassle with both kids.

***

Hubby has gone back to general crimes detectiving. He loses his weekdays off, but is on a regular 8-5 schedule with weekends off. It's nice to have weekends together.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009



Five years ago tomorrow, Peanut was born 6.5 weeks early. We were very, very lucky. He was well-developed, a fighter, and needed only 9 days in the NICU with minimal interventions.

Prematurity is a leading cause of neonatal death and sadly, the US has one of the highest rates of premature births in the developed world.

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Another Halloween is gone. Peanut wasn't feeling up to par and had fits over his costume. We eventually convinced him to wear it and all went out for a little trick-or-treating fun.

When we got home, I noticed this in his bag:


Why do people feel the need to give this absolute crap to children? Why? I respect that some Christians feel obligated to spread the good word. I respect that some feel Halloween is a pagan holiday to be avoided. That's fine with me. Please, turn off your porch light and don't participate. Don't instead say "I"m out of candy, but I have a book instead." My child is already terrified that he is going to die. We've had horrible meltdowns about it. The knowledge of a happy afterlife where we'll all be together is of no comfort to him. All he knows is that someday we die and that's VERY SCARY. So please, do not put your hateful shit into his bag, telling him his dog will be euthanized if he doesn't pray.

***

Weirdly I had lunch with several friends the day before Halloween. Two are devout Christians and one is like me, she's not church-going but was raised with religion. One is a very good friend and practices what she preaches. She's not judgmental but talks about God and her beliefs out of love. The other is a bit judgmental so I usually let the two of them talk with an occasional comment. AS we were discussing something relating to afterlife she looked at me and said "selzach, we've never really talked about your beliefs, what do you believe?" Talk about being put on the spot. I was honest. I told them I was raised Protestant and that I'm not completely sure of my beliefs. I pray, but I'm not always certain I believe in God. I'm not certain of heaven - I'd love to believe there is one, but I feel that when we die our energy dissipates and rejoins the rest of the universe.

I'm really glad I didn't ask what I was thinking when they were talking about near-death experiences: what if the feeling of peace and the light seen during near-deaths are actually a biological function of dying and not a spiritual experience?

I'm sure the more judgmental friend feels bad for me that I don't fully believe. And it is kind of sad. I would love to be convinced in God and that a wondrous afterlife is waiting for me. But I can't force myself to believe. Nor do I want to force myself into belief out of fear of hell. I think God wants us to love Him fully, not out of fear of the alternative.
Hubby and I may gripe about the stupid calls he takes for work, but he does get valid ones, too.

He was home for lunch break with the boys and me. A call came on the radio, Hubby replied and dashed out the door. I heard the siren wailing as he hurried down the street. He called a short while later to let me know he was OK. A two-year-old child was drowning in a pool and he was the closest unit to the scene. EMS was already there and had revived the child and were readying for transport to the hospital.

***

He's recently had a lot of calls dealing with unruly teenagers. There was the boy who was acting belligerent and threatening toward his mom. Hubby's method of dealing with him: "It doesn't take much of a man to threaten a woman. Why don't you try someone your own size - see what happens."

Another family with a troubled teenage daughter who was refusing to go to school: Hubby read her the riot act. It sounds like she has serious emotional problems and the parents are in the process of getting her into a residential program. Good for them.

The best was the tweens with 'tude. They were riding up and down their rural road on a 4-wheeler and yelling obscenities at a neighber. The neighbor got fed up and called the police dept. Hubby took the call. Driver girl starts in with the attitude "This is my 4-wheeler and I can ride it where I want..." Hubby cuts her off with "I'm not your Daddy and I'm not your friend. Give me your parent's phone number now, and your friend's too. If you keep up the attitude, you're going to JAC and I'm impounding the 4-wheeler." Her Dad was surprised to discover she wasn't riding on their driveway, alone (the girls were a couple miles from their house, with no helmets or other safety gear, illegally riding on a public road). While waiting for the dads, another neighbor shows up to speak to Hubby. She's a bus driver and the girl ignored flashing red lights to pass her bus while kids were crossing the street. Both dads got an earful and a recommendation to take the keys away.

Seriously, who lets their 12-year-old ride a 4-wheeler without a helmet or supervision?

Friday, October 16, 2009

So, my work. I've really been enjoying it. I've learned a couple new techniques and have been participating in some exciting research projects. The good post-doc and coworker are intelligent and a lot of fun to work with. Bad post-doc, who I've started calling Dr. Evil and her helper, Mini Me have been tolerable, although we get the feeling that discord is brewing.

Things weren't so great a couple of months ago. Dr. Evil and Mini Me were up to their old tricks of trying to monopolize lab equipment and acting surly toward the rest of us. We implemented an online calendar shortly after Good Coworker arrived, to help resolve conflicts over scheduling high demand equipment. The rest of us do well with it, but Dr. Evil has a habit of ignoring the calendar, just plain not using it, or running over into other peoples' time. It all came to a head when Good Coworker scheduled several days on the equipment (a month in advance). Dr. Evil suddenly decided she needed to do a time-limited study the week Good Coworker was supposed to use it. She had already been warned by Big Boss not to get nasty with Good Coworker, so she sent Mini Me to do her bidding. A couple of heated exchanges followed, overheard by me. Mini Me threatened to take it to Big Boss and Good Coworker agreed that was a good idea. Good Coworker was able to speak to Big Boss first and explained the situation. Mini Me sent a pointed email to Big Boss explaining how unreasonable Good Coworker was and that they had an IMPORTANT TIME LIMITED EXPERIMENT TO RUN (all of our experiments are time-dependent to some point, but nevermind that). Big boss replied and forwarded to reply to everyone and basically asked us to cooperate with one another. By that point, Good Post-doc had enough. He'd been bumped by Dr. Evil numerous times and had always let it slide. He wrote anamazing response basically stating that the whole point of the calendar was to avoid such conflicts, that he was tired of others in the lab not respecting the calendar, that all our experiments are important, that disregard of the calendar had resulted in sub-optimal experiments for him, and lack of planning was the fault of the planner and should not be an excuse to upset everyone else's experiments.

At that point, Big Boss realized how bad the problem was and scheduled a lab meeting. He was preparing to go out of town on a family emergency, so the meeting was to be a short one at the end of the day. He clearly stated that he wanted to discuss projects first and then we'd get onto other issues. Dr. Evil immediately started yelling about the scheduling issue. Big Boss shut her down, told her not to raise her voice, and that we'd get to that after discussing projects. The meeting quickly devolved into her again griping about how the rest of us shouldn't even be using that piece of equipment since it's in a special area designated for the research she does. I guess she forgot that Good Coworker works on the same project. Big Boss corrected her and stated that all our equipment is for the whole lab's use. Then she went on about Good Post-docs email and how it offended her by calling into question her scientific capabilities. (He never named any names). She then tried to blame Good Coworker for the heated conversation with Mini Me. I chimed in that I overheard the exchange and that Mini Me wasn't using a very nice tone and that we all need to be respectful to one another. (Something the two of them are not.) Yeah, it was entertaining.

I did not want to go into work the next day with Big Boss gone and not knowing if Dr. Evil still had a big chip on her shoulder. It turned out OK. She avoided/ignored Good Coworker for a couple weeks after that and was surprisingly nice to me - I think she realized Big Boss and I were on the same side and it wasn't a good idea to treat me the way she treats Good Coworker. Mini Me pointedly gave the rest of us the silent treatment for a few weeks (which none of us minded).

Things have slowly gotten back to normal. For now.
Hubby and I regularly laugh/bitch about the stuff he has to put up with at his job. He was called into court twice last week, something he doesn't really enjoy since many times it falls on his days off. The first was for an armed robbery and the defendant pled and received 10 years in prison and 10 years probation. He was a prior offender, yadda yadda.

The second date was for a b.s. traffic ticket. A kid was speeding and Hubby clocked him with radar. Rather than paying the fine and doing traffic school to avoid points(online or by renting a DVD and completing a test)the kid had to waste everyone's time and taxpayers' money by taking it to court. The judge always starts with the same schpiel: if you were clocked with radar/laser, the officer is present, the officer is trained on said equipment, the equipment is calibrated and the officer has the calibration paperwork, then the burden is on you to prove innocence. Several people before the kid pled and requested points be withheld (again, you get the same results by doing traffic school). The kid didn't get it. He wanted to fight the ticket and, unsurprisingly, lost. So not only does he pay the ticket, he pays court fees and now has points.
Mom's place is sold! It's such a burden off my shoulders. Hubby and a friend moved the heavy pieces into storage yesterday (she's down to a bed, dresser, and TV plus clothes, and some mementos/decorative things.) I signed the title over to the new owner today. She paid in cash, so I got to the bank as fast as I could to deposit it. Mom's still having ups and downs, but seems to be staying the course on discharge status.

Bean had both ears infected this week. He and I have had a yucky cold for about a week and a half. I'm actually surprised it took so long, as congested as he's been. He was sent home from daycare with a fever on Tuesday. We hightailed it to the peds office on Wednesday, figuring it was either an ear or H1N1 (one kid in his room has had the flu, although I'm not sure if he was tested and one of the ladies in the office has confirmed H1N1 now). The visit was rough. He wants nothing to do with medical professionals, they forgot us in the exam room (for about an hour), and he required ear washes for the nurse practitioner to get a look in there. Poor little guy. He was a trooper, though.

The boys really missed each other. Peanut was so sad when I dropped him off at Pre-K without little brother. Bean kept pointing at his carseat and asking for "Peanut? Peanut?" when we left for the peds appointment.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Bean had his 15 month well-baby check yesterday. He's back on the charts for height, in the 10th percentile and is meeting all his milestones.

Other than that, the visit was awful. He cried as soon as we crossed the threshold into the back examining area. He cried/screamed any time the nurses would so much as look at him. Then came the shots - 4 of them. It was so bad Peanut started to cry, too. When all was done I patted both boys and asked Peanut if he was OK.

"That was killing me, Mommy."

Me, too.

God, I'm glad my kids are healthy and here.
I went to the hair salon last night for a cut. All the stylists were busy, so I sat an waited for a while. Two of the customers seemed to know each other and were talking. The one woman's son is in critical condition at a specialty hospital. He was riding with a friend and their truck was hit by a friggin train. The crossing mailfunctioned and the arms never came down, so the boys had no idea. Her son is doing well, but not out of the woods. The driver needs surgery but has swelling of the brain and probably will not survive. I said a prayer for the boys and their families and have been constantly thinking of them. I can't imagine what those moms are going through.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Hubby completed PIT (P.I.T.?) training a couple of weeks ago. I so want to do that. They got to ram other cops off the track.

He went into the class worried about back injuries. Several other deputies have complained of sore backs after the class. Hubby was pleasantly surprised that his back felt better after it.

***

My work situation has been interesting. The shit hit the fan a few weeks ago with the coworker who gives us all problems. Thing seem to have settled down for now.
I'm having one of those poor me days and I'm not sure why. I have loving family & friends, a home, a job, and my health.

Some possibilities:

I'm sad my parents' visit is over (they were here for the weekend and are now enjoying a few sunny days at the beach).

I'm exhausted. Bean is waking 1-3 times a night coughing and choking on snot. It's the neverending cold.

Peanut was upset that I'll be picking him up from Pre-K today. He wanted Hubby. We had (another) little talk about how saying things like "Not again. I don't want you." is hurtful. I'm sick of the whining and bitching that pours forth from his mouth. Hubby and I are doing our best to work on his attitude and ingratitude.

Mom is on discharge status. Her mobile home needs to be sold, sooner rather than later. I cleaned it on Labor Day, then had the joy of more cleaning at my house. I'm so glad Mom is doing better but very, very apprehensive about her discharge and transition to living in the ALF. At least it's at a place she lived in before and she specifically requested it. Money is also going to be an issue.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

We had another awesome vacation visiting with Hubby's family. Nanna and Papaw spoiled the kids rotten. We played at the lake on their Sea-doo. We picnicked at the creek with Nana and Hubby impressed Peanut with his stone-skipping skills. Hubby and I were able to go on a date while the granparents watched they boys.

The familly drama goes on. Youngest SIL was convicted on her DUI charges and has a conditional license for a year. She can only drive her vehicle with an installed breathalyzer. The problem: she works for DOT and must drive state vehicles. Somehow, medical leave for knee surgery coincided with the whole mess and she is allowed up to 1 year of leave to recover. Meanwhile, she's not wearing her knee brace and is either going to eff it up even more or will be accused of falsely taking leave.

We had a weekend visit with Mom that went surprisingly well. She may go onto discharge status next month and is hoping to return to the mental health ALF she stayed at several years back. I'm all for it. She's made some mention of wanting to eventually return to her mobile home. No longer an option, IMHO.

Mom and I were nearly hit by a careless/reckless driver during the visit. We all were out for a walk and crossing the intersection at the end of our street (it's dangerous - the street curves right before the stop sign, so there's a bit of a blind spot and people fly through and run the stop sign all the time). Hubby had gotten across with the stroller and Mom and I were right in the middle of the intersection as a car came flying around, the driver on his cell. I grabbed her and stopped - we didn't know which way to go. Hubby yelled and the guy swerved as he noticed us. Hubby shined his flashlight at the car and yelled for the guy to stop. He cruised through the intersection, with Mom and me still in the middle of the road. Hubby and I both got a good look at the driver and his tag #. Hubby ran it as soon as we got home, got the driver's info and had an on-duty coworker issue a citation for running the stop sign. Of course, the dude said he's going to fight it in court. When the cop explained that he had nearly hit pedestrians and was told to stop he came up with a story about being scared because Hubby was yelling and shining a light at him. That still doesn't make his reckless driving right.

It'll be interesting if it goes to court. I think the driver will be very surprised when Hubby testifies as a witness.
Life's been busy since the last post.

Bean started vomiting later in the day after the infection diagnosis (we think he had a tummy bug). It was exacerbated by the Augmentin. At a follow-up on Monday we were told to discontinue it and there were no signs of an infection. Viral? Misdiagnosis? Who knows.

Since then we've had several rounds of illness. Mysterious fevers. A Sunday night trip to the ER for Bean with a 105.1 temp. Nurse and Dr. both agreed it was an ear infection and gave IV antibiotics. At the peds follow-up the next day, no sign of an ear infection (again). WTF? Five days later, another peds visit for fevers in both boys and a mild rash on Peanut. Negative Strep tests. Next day we figure out out - Peanut has the classice Fifth Disease "slapped cheeks". Bean follows a few days later. A week later, another after-hours ER visit, this time for Peanut with fever, head and neck aches and photosensitivity. Tylenol does nothing. Not meningitis (thank goodness). They don't run any tests since he just had a Strep test. Fever continues on-and-off for about a week, so I take him back. We see the awesome Nurse Practitioner. She does Strep test and a urine culture. It's Strep. We leave for vacation that night. Luckily the antibiotics do their trick. Two days after we get back, Bean comes down with tummy bug and pukes all over his bed and ours. Hubby and Peanut come down with it this weekend. Peanut wakes in the middle of the night, crying and stated "My tuuuuummmmmyyyy huuuuuurts" before hurling all over our bed. The screaming and crying wake up Bean. Hubby washes Peanut while I strip the bed and comfort Bean.

Now I'm waiting for my turn. And daycare just called - Bean puked all over his bed at naptime. Great.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Bean has another ear infection. Poor little dude. He tossed and turned all night and was plain pitiful this morning. He zonked out on his Boppy only a couple of hours after getting up. I'm so glad the peds office has Saturday hours.

He's a sharp guy. He says hi anytime someone is talking on the phone. He has learned "Uh-oh" which is frequently used after he throws a toy down (not quite how uh-oh us supposed to work...) He can almost say his brother's name. He understands "blow kissies" and "love on Peanut" (he crawls over to Peanut and lays his head on him. So cute!)

Work's good. I've been very busy, which I love. If only the nast post-doc would change her bad attitude. 3 out of 4 of us can't stand her. I think person #4 flip-flops on her opinion. Right now they're getting along thick as thieves, but we have a feeling that will change as a late-July deadline approaches...Post-doc is procrastinating as always and our coworker will likes receive the brunt of hostility as tension builds.

The 3 of us vent our frustrations by discussing what mean/stupid/bizarre crap comes out of the post-doc's mouth. It's pretty funny. The new employee is awesome. She will not tolerate the crap the post-doc lays on her and has no problem with going to the big boss if things get out of hand. So far the post-doc has tried to lay blame on her for something she let sit around for a week, then claimed it was the new employee's fault that it was late. She's supposed to be turning a bunch of projects over to the new employee and that has been a circus. Everything is half-assed and disorganized. The other coworker and I have been helping out wherever we can.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Bean is a year old! How did the past year go so quickly? His birthday was Friday and he celebrated by getting over a very nasty ear infection. We had several rough nights, including at least one night with a temperature of 104.5 F (this was with Motrin every 6 hours. As soon as he'd hit that 6 hour mark, the temperature would spike.) He was feeling better on Saturday for his party and a good time was had by all. We had just a few friends over to celebrate. We had time to sit and chat while the kids amused themselves. It was relaxing and a whole lot of fun. Bean enjoyed shredding the wrapping paper. He was less sure about the cake, but did make a mess! He got a bunch of adorable clothes and a couple of really cool toys. Hubby and I caved into Peanut and bought the boys a water table later in the weekend. It's been one of the best gifts ever. Both boys love it and make a huge mess playing with it. Thank goodness for tile floors and towels!

On Sunday Bean developed a rash. It turned out not to be an allergic reaction but is indeed a reaction to the antibiotic. The ped checked him on Monday and gave the all clear to finish the course of meds.



Work's been busy, the annoying post-doc still gets on my nerves, Mom is still a mess, and mosquito season is upon us. In other words, things are moving along as usual.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

MIL did visit us for nearly a week. It was great to see her. I still feel terrible about the visit, though. Bean woke up vomiting the morning she was due to arrive. He took it really well. He'd puke, cry, then be fine. He was mostly over it in a day or two. She and I came down with it a couple days later and had it worse. I felt better after about 2 days, but she felt lousy until her departure.

SIL had her baby last week - a gorgeous little girl. MIL will be with SIL and family for a while to help. MIL actually made a recent comment to Hubby about how we're the neglected ones of the family. I wouldn't say neglected, but I'm glad she acknowledges the discrepency.


We have to be ever vigilant of our conversations around Peanut. One day when Hubby was picking the boys up from daycare Peanut commented how Bean favors Daddy. So Hubby pointed out that Bean sometimes (more like rarely) prefers Mommy and asked Peanut some thing about Mommy. Peanut's reply "Mommy's pretty and smart and she says 'dammit' when she's mad. She shouldn't say that." Busted! They talked about how I shouldn't say it and decided I need to say "fudge" instead. Hubby hasn't let it die down.

He got his yesterday. I took the kids grocery shopping and decided to pick up a 6-pack for Hubby. I stopped in the beer aisle to look over the stock and rhetorically asked "Hmmm, which kind does Daddy like." Peanut trots over to a 12-pack of Miller Lite, points to it and says "Daddy likes that kind." I agreed. A lady walking by chuckled.

So I may have a potty mouth, but Peanut knows Hubby's vice, too.
So, I'm still here. Not writing, but here. The work computer likes to lock up whenever I get online and the home computer is often occupied by Hubby or Peanut. When it's free I'm usually busy entertaining Bean(keeping him out of trouble) or too tired to think.

Let's see...Bean will be a year old in a week and a half. Holy crap. He's this close to walking. He can get himself up to standing without any support and will occasionally take a step or two. He cruises like mad, reaches for anything he can grab, climbs like a monkey, and is loving eating solids. He has 5 teeth and 3 more on the way. He has added "Hiiiieeeee" with manic waving and the dog's name to his repertoire. He's still not sleeping through the night (zzzzzzz). One of these days we'll work on it. Or not.

Peanut has grown taller, but is still a wee one. He's as full of vinegar as ever and never misses an opportunity to argue...which lands him in many time-outs. He still wants to marry BF's daughter, but held hands with another friend's daughter this weekend (so cute). He loves pink and purple and has created a series of pretend super heroes including Orange Arrow, who shoots orange arrows and wears an orange costume with "a star shield like Captain America" and Star Thrower, a ninja superhero who throws exploding shuriken (sp?).

Work's going. The one coworker still drives me crazy with her attitude and poor organization. I've been able to work more with the other coworker which has been great. I'm learning new-for-me techniques and he's great about explaining the theories behind them.

Hubby's busy dealing with our county's finest citizens. He was called to a domestic situation to Baker Act the family's adult daughter, nearly arrested her brother and father, and finally told the mom they all would benefit from counseling.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

I hate confrontation. I may talk the badass talk on the blog, but IRL I’m a wuss. My stomach clenches up and I get shaky. I recently felt obligated to speak to another lab’s supervisor about a situation with one of his employees who had brought a child to work and had him in a less-than-safe place. The person who notified me wanted to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. I really wanted to cover my ears and sing “La-la-la-la” but because of my position and a particular certification I hold, I felt it was my duty to notify the person in charge. I did and the child was taken home. I hope the parent was not punished as that was not my intent.

***

On a happy note, it looks like my MIL may come visit. She’s been waffling due to family drama and a bad financial situation (a couple of her appliances broke and had to be replaced and our niece and her kids are still living there and apparently running up bills and not contributing anything financially). Hubby’s good sister called last night to fill us in on the latest drama with the nieces and youngest sister. MIL is getting fed up but just can’t seem to say no to them, so they run all over her. Hubby decided to ask again if she’d like to visit and get away from the craziness and reminded her we’d by happy to pay for gas and whatever other travel costs might come up. The visit is back on for now.

Youngest sister has been running her yap (as usual) and pissing everyone off. She was trying to boss FIL around and he had enough of it.

The niece who’s living with MIL is not working and expects MIL to do the cooking, cleaning, and babysit the kids. I think at one point she gave some money to MIL and her husband got pissed. Hello? Your wife and kids are living for FREE with your semi-retired, limited income grandmother-in-law and you’re pissed that your wife, for once, did the right thing? Whatever. Grow up.

Hubby is still hurt that MIL wasn’t going to visit yet she’ll jump for all the other kids/grandkids/great-grandkids. There have been times when we could have used help (when Bean was born and when he was hospitalized) and we didn’t have family to bail us out. We sucked it up, took time off work, and did our best. I still thank our lucky stars Bean’s labor and delivery all happened during daycare hours so Peanut was looked after. That’s the price we pay for being self-sufficient. Hubby has always been the responsible one, so I guess they all assume we can take care of ourselves. We can, but every now and then it would be nice to get a break.

We’re both jealous of the time MIL spends with Good Sister and her kids. Hubby jokes about it with her, but we are green with envy. She’s so lucky to have that bond with MIL and that she can rely on her to take care of the kids. As for the other two sisters and the nieces, I just want to kick their asses. They’ve come to expect that MIL will be there to watch their kids and clean their houses and it’s just wrong. The niece who’s living with her can’t even be bothered to postpone dinner when MIL has to work late (honestly, I’m surprised she doesn’t wait – I figured she’d expect MIL to cook it, too).

I’m a bit apprehensive about the visit, though. I know MIL needs a break and will want to rest and read her books. I’ll try my hardest not to be resentful when she spends time outside smoking and reading. Peanut was so sad when she did that the last time she was here. It’s hard not to be bitter when she bends over backwards for everyone else and our kids get left out because she’s worn out. Dammit, why can’t she tell them to back off and take care of themselves for once so she has the energy to be engaged with us?

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

My parents arrive Friday for a weekend visit. Woo Hoo! Peanut is as pumped as I am. Every morning he asks “Is it this day? How many days?” He was so very sad yesterday morning when I told him he had three more days to go. He pouted and hung his head.

In keeping with their usual awesome-ness, they decided to buy a swingset for the kids. Hubby is picking it up today and will attempt to start assembly. I have a feeling he’ll be in for several frustrating days (at least that’s what the reviews say). Dad has offered to help, but Hubby is working all weekend. Maybe they’ll get some time in on one of the evenings.



We spent last weekend at my Aunt’s little place a few hours away. She winters at an RV park and has the cutest little mini mobile home. We spent some glorious time at the swimming pool. Peanut is learning to doggie paddle. He did a great job but isn’t ready to try without someone holding him. Bean just loved the water. I was afraid it would be too cold for him but it wasn’t at all. He splashed and kicked and tolerated a couple of older people fawning over him. After a while I cradled him in my arms and let him float. He just laid there, completely relaxed and happy as a clam. I think he would have fallen asleep had we stayed any longer.

A front came through so we never made it to the beach. Maybe next time. We’re planning to ask Auntie if she’d rent the place to us for a few weekends when she’s up north.

Peanut was a little sad not the be allowed to play in her yard. It was because of her cranky neighbors – a nesting pair of hawks! Their nest is in a palm tree next to her place. They’re gone after the man next door a couple of times and we feared what damage talons or a sharp beak might do.


Bean is doing great. He has learned to hold his bottle. A new baby at daycare uses the same style bottles and the two boys have stare-downs when the other is feeding. The other boy has tried to snatch Bean’s bottle away! I guess they’re territorial over what they think is their food. It’s funny that they recognize the bottles. Bean has never been interested in the other kids’ bottles.

He’s working on tooth #4. I think he’s regained whatever weight he lost, plus some. His little tummy is looking very round. Peanut calls him the snowman baby because he’s round like a snowman.

The two boys will sometimes hold hands in the car. It’s so sweet. It settles Bean down and is just the cutest thing. When he knows Peanut is reaching over, he’ll work at grabbing his hand
Hubby deals with a plethora of characters through his work. Some of the stuff he sees is downright funny. Some of it gets his blood boiling. Some of it is just sad.

He took a couple of DV (domestic violence) calls that were out there. The first involved a pregnant woman who was punched in the stomach by her boyfriend. Hubby arrives and can smell beer on the woman’s breathe. She’s also puffing away on a ciggie.

She was so distraught over the possibility of losing her fetus that she HAD to down a couple* of beers. Hubby took the DV claim seriously but yelled at her for the damage that alcohol and smoke can inflict on an unborn child.

The next call was for a woman whose husband punched her during an argument. Hubby pulls up and sees a woman standing outside, blood dripping from her mouth. As he approaches he realizes the “blood” does not have the consistency or color of real blood. I loved Hubby’s response: “Ma’am, what IS that? I’ve seen more blood than you have in your entire body and that’s not blood.”

She used FOOD COLORING because her husband didn’t leave any marks and she was afraid of not being taken seriously. The only reason she didn’t go immediately to jail was her two distraught small children that were in her care. She’ll have her day before the judge soon enough.


*In cop-land (and in medical-land) “2 beers” can be anywhere from a 3 on up

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Hubby spoke with the insurance agent yesterday. He emailed several photos and a diagram to her. He asked if she had spoken with the body shop. She had, but seemed unaware that the damage indicates we were hit by the other car. Hubby made sure to fill her in. It sounds like she is going to offer the other driver 30% of his damages.

Hubby and I are confused and wondering if we went about this wrong. It sounds like the other guy's insurance isn't involved and that the agent is dealing directly with him. Should we have filed a claim against his insurance? Did we screw ourselves unknowingly?

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Thursday night did not get any better.

Hubby spoke with our claims person. The other driver had already called and bitched at her, wanting his repairs paid in full. With a check cut that day. Whatever. We hope his craptastic attitude works in our favor.

Our vehicle ended up with just over $5K worth of damage. We need a new hood, bumper, radiator and some other bits. Our car should be ready in about a week and a half. For somebody who claims he wasn't at fault, the other driver sure caused a lot of damage. Hubby estimates he was doing about 35-40 mph. Hubby was going 5-10 tops. The other guys was going fast enough that he still travelled past two parked cars after hitting ours.

I noticed Bean wheezing pretty badly that night. He had an @lbuterol treatment and continued wheezing with the addition of rapid breathing (anywhere from 60-80 breaths/minute). He and Hubby took a trip to the ER. He was doing better by then, but they still gave him a couple more treatments and steroids. He follows up with our pediatrician tomorrow. We never know how serious it is because he's such a happy and active baby. Even when hospitalized with RSV and not-great oxygen sats he was still pink and active.

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Bean is 9 months old today. He is such a little love, full of warm baby-smell, smiles, cackles, and tongue-sticking-out cuteness. He’s so close to cruising. Not that he needs to – he can crawl like a flash. He’s so funny when he’s in a hurry. He gets ahead of himself and his knees go askew.

Hubby and I can’t help but compare and contrast him to his older brother, who at this stage was scooting, not crawling, had no teeth, and wasn’t even pulling up (I think). Big brother also needed much more attention and cuddling. Bean likes to be held, especially when he’s tired or not feeling well, but he quickly wants down so he can play. He loves to eat, as did his big brother. Come dinner time, he will let you know he wants food, not a bottle. He sometimes fights sleep, but not like Peanut, who only in the past year or so has gotten better about going to bed.

I also can’t help but contrast their births. Both were good, just different. Peanut was early, Hubby was out of town, and I was frightened, especially not knowing if Hubby would make it to the hospital in time (he did). Once I got to the hospital I had horrible nausea and vomiting that was only somewhat controlled until I had the epidural. Afterwards, I felt so much better and in control. I was able to relax and focus on the good. Pushing was a joke, since I could barely feel, but the end result was fine. Being allowed to hold Peanut before he was taken to the NICU was a time I’ll always cherish. We didn’t know how he would do at birth and we were so thankful he was strong and healthy.

I’m glad my mom was there to witness the birth of her first grandchild. That she was able to meet him as he entered this world. The room was full of people, the OB, nurse, neonatalogist, and the neonatalogy team. It was abuzz.

Bean’s birth was so different. Only Hubby, the OB, and 2 nurses were present (I’m not sure if the second nurse was even in the room when Bean was born. He was in and out during labor). I didn’t have the constant horrible nausea. The pain was overwhelming, but the nurse was wonderful at helping me breathe through the contractions. Shortly before pushing, I remember my belly vibrating during the peak of each contraction. It was an incredible feeling. And the urge to push – something I never had with Peanut. There was no way not to do it. With each push, the pain subsided. Amazing. Once Bean was close to birth, I could feel him moving down. Again, something I didn’t experience with Peanut.

The room was so quiet and peaceful with Bean’s birth (other than me groaning while pushing). Once the OB left, the nurse left Hubby and me alone with Bean, who had easily latched on. We spent a good 30 minutes quietly together, getting to know one another.

Happy nine months, little guy.
To say the car has bad mojo is an understatement. It’s roughly 3.5 years old and so far:

I rear-ended someone. Barely scratched his fender and caused some cracking and buckling on mine. Other driver didn’t want to involve police or even trade info. Went our merry ways with no further problems.

Hubby ran off-road to avoid a stopped car and hit a mailbox, scratching up both doors on the passenger side.

I was rear-ended. We traded info, but didn’t call the police. That accident resulted in enough damage that would have warranted a police report. What initially looked like minor damage to the back cargo door ended up with the door and innards being replaced to the tune of several grand. All paid for by his insurance.

And today. Hubby was at the bank with Peanut, on their way to the zoo. As he was pulling out, a kid came flying through the parking lot and hit his front. Everyone is OK. Apparently the hood and front end are messed up. Am awaiting a follow-up call with more details. Damn straight Hubby called to report it. I hope the kid has insurance and we get a loaner car during repairs. We're not sure how the fault will sort out being in a parking lot and all. Sigh.

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

We had a close call with Bean last night. Hubby brought him over to me and I noticed he was drooling like a faucet. Wet face, big wet splotches on his jammies. He rarely drools much, even when teething. I commented on it, so Hubby stuck a finger in his mouth to feel for a new tooth. Instead, he found something foreign in Bean's mouth. He quickly flipped him over and whacked his back. Nothing. So he reached in and swept around. Bean gagged, puked, and out came a little twiggy-looking thing. He was fine.

We still don't know what it was. Maybe the dog or Hubby tracked it in? Peanut and I took our shoes off before going in the "baby safe" area of the house, so I don't think either of us brought it in. I have no idea where he picked it up. It's so hard to be vigilant.

Bean is smart, too. Part of his free-range area includes the hallway to the guest bath, office and the kids' rooms. Peanut's door doesn't latch unless it's pulled firmly shut. Bean knows to sit in front of the door and push/whack on it to check if he can open it.
Dear Coworkers (this goes out to two of you),

Please do not tell me I need to do something for you. Instead, ask. Throwing in a please would be acceptable. One of my personality quirks is that I hate being told what to do, especially by subordinates. And it's kinda rude.

If the phone is ringing, and you're closest, answer it. I pick up plenty of your calls when you're busy. I could just as easily ignore the phone or decide not to pick up when your calls pop up on the ID screen.

Post-doc coworker: if you need my assistance, ask. Don't send the other coworker to do it for you. Or have her tell me I need to help you. Again, rude. I don't understand why you can never directly ask anyone for anything. I have to relay requests from you to our other hourly worker. Now you have someone relaying your messages to me. The two of you are getting on my last sleep-deprived nerve.

If you have questions about the new equipment you just got, call the manufacturer. I grilled the rep with as many questions as I could think of before we ordered it. You're the one who will use it; I can't read your mind to figure out what you need.

This is for the faculty couple in the other department: get over yourselves. Yes, I realize you both have PhDs and feel superior to those of us too lazy/hick/stupid/slow/worthless to also have PhDs. Honestly, the rest of us see you for what you are: snobs. We may be uneducated (relatively) but we're not dumb. And some of us have been working here for a decade or two. We may lack in education, but we're full of experience. You might want to listen to us once in a while. You might just learn something. When one of us has the audacity to say "hello" or make small talk with you in the hallway, the appropriate response is a polite one. Inappropriate responses are ignoring the person, giving an icy, brusque reply, or stating "I'm working".

Me

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Stacey, I promise I'll do the 10 Things soon!
I've been assimilated into one of the "social networks". I held out for as long as I could, knowing it would be a complete time suck and not sure if it was something I'd be into. I've rediscovered so many old classmates and friends. It's crazy. Some of them are from elementary/middle school - people I lost touch with after we graduated from 8th grade (parochial school). I've also found a bunch of my sorority sisters who I never expected to be in contact with. I have a tendency to lose touch with people once I graduate/move/whatever. I'm terrible at emailing and phoning.

I think my biggest reason for holding out, though, was that I love the blogging world. I regularly read a group of blogs that just blow me away. They are (mostly) written by women who are intelligent, funny, articulate, and are doing some fascinating things with their lives. I was afraid the networking would disappoint. It's definitely not food for thought, but it sure is fun.

Friday, February 13, 2009

I've been itching to post, but just haven't had the time. Hubby has a trainee which means he's usually home late and has been teaching a lot of weekend and night classes at the community college. This is the first 2-day weekend we've had together since my ice skating debacle. The house is a disaster and needs some serious decluttering and cleaning. Fingers crossed that we will finally have time to steam clean the carpets tomorrow. We need to take the Christmas lights down off the bushes and cut back a bunch of plantings killed by the hard frosts.

My face is looking much better. I still have the bruise under my eye and some red on my eyelid. I'm also still fairly tender on that side of my face - I must have bruised the bone. But it's so much better than it was.

Bean is crawling like a fiend, pulling up on anything and everything and very close to cruising. He's babbling more now. I think some "ma-mas" and "da-das" will come soon. He's cute as can be, almost 18 lbs (more than half Peanut's weight), getting over a second ear infection, but tolerating Augmentin much better than big bro, and still waking a couple times each night. Zzzzzz...need sleep.

He seems to be hitting the separation anxiety stage. He cried a couple of mornings when I dropped the kids off. Normally he would crawl off and get into the toy bin. Hubby took them in this morning and he said Bean howled and buried his head in Hubby's neck when he tried to hand him over to the caregiver.

His favorite place at daycare is under one of the cribs where they keep a toy container. I peeked in on him the other day and all that was visible was a cute little diaper butt poking out from under the crib.

Peanut is a hoot and a pain. He's been super hyper lately. I think a lot of it is attention-seeking since Hubby's been at work so much. He's quite the little singer. He loves "Mamma Mia" (a Christmas gift to me) and is really into drawing aliens. He often names his creations. The last one had a bunch of arms and legs and was called "Tentace Buckus". I love it!

He and I had some good bonding time this week while driving to a nearby city for a urology appointment. I hardly get to spend any time alone with him anymore. Thankfully everything is fine, the appointment was unnecessary. Peanut proudly announced to everyone at daycare that he went to his "Peepee Doctor" and everything is good.

Work is work. I tried to arrange with the rep from a supply company to try out a cool doodad for an ongoing series of experiments. Said doodad is designed for human medical use but could potentially work really well in our setting. Unfortunately, their liability department decided our application was too risky and won't let us try it out. Not surprising, but disappointing. WE may buy one and hope it works.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Back to the events on Saturday…

Peanut was invited to a birthday party at a skating rink. He had never been ice skating before and was excited to try. “Mommy, ice skating is my favorite!” And even more excited to see BF’s daughter, the birthday girl, whom he plans to marry once they’re both grownups.

We had all planned to go, but Bean was diagnosed with an ear infection on Friday. (Even though the drive to our daycare’s new location sucks, their excellent staff makes up for it. Bean’s caregiver noticed him yanking on the infected ear and called Hubby with an FYI. She was spot on.) Hubby and Bean stayed home while Peanut and I drove out to the rink. We hung out with the party crowd, ate some pizza, and headed for the ice. BF’s husband took Peanut around the rink along with a couple of the other kids. I teetered along, dodging the other skaters. I took a couple pictures of Peanut on the ice with my camera phone and hung out with BF and her daughter in the middle kiddie area.

I headed back out for another lap or two when I lost my balance. “Oh shit, I’m gonna fall. I bet it’s gonna hurt.”

I open my eyes and realize a paramedic is leaning over me asking questions. “Do you know what day it is?”

“Sometime in January?”

“Do you know who is president?”

I think we recently had elections and someone new was elected. Have they been inaugurated yet? “I’m not sure.”

I hear discussion on my confused-ish state.

I’m cold and start shivering.

BF is there, too. I ask where Peanut is, if he’s OK, is he scared? Her husband hustled him off the ice and back to the party area when they realized I was hurt. He doesn’t know. Thank goodness. BF has already called Hubby who is on his way.

They put a c-collar on, load me onto a backboard and take me off the ice. I hear applause as we leave. Embarrassing.

So, I had my first, and hopefully last, ambulance ride. A CAT-scan showed no internal bleeding or breaks – they feared I fractured the orbit to my right eye. A few hours and four stitches later and I was good to go. I thought for sure the Lidocaine would hurt like a mofo, but it wasn’t bad at all. The Rocephin shot I got for mastitis was a helluva lot worse. Hubby and I talked and joked with the doc (resident? intern? He seemed young) who stitched me. I could feel his hands shaking while he worked. Hubby took several pictures of my lovely boo-boos.

I had mild headaches for a couple days. I still get dizzy every now and then, which is likely from the antibiotic. I’m sporting lovely pinks, purples, greens, and yellows on about half of my face. On Friday I went to Urgent Care to have the stitches taken out. My primary care doc won’t touch the stitches since they were done by a doctor outside of the clinic. Ummm….yeah, I had to go to the ER to make sure I didn’t have a serious closed head wound.

Apparently, BF didn’t see me fall, but came over just after it happened. She made some jokes then realized it was bad when she saw blood. She and a rink employee stayed with me while they cleared the ice and called an ambulance. I have no recollection of any of that although I had my eyes open and was somewhat responsive.

Poor BF feels bad about the whole thing. It’s not her fault I’m a klutz who can’t skate. I feel terrible that I scared her and the kids at their birthday party. I’m so thankful that she and her husband were there to take care of Peanut and Bean while Hubby was with me at the hospital. Peanut enjoyed his extra time with their daughter and didn’t want to leave their house. BF’s hubby pulled a baby swing and bouncy seat out of storage for Bean. Both boys had a great time.

Hubby, true to his self, had to make a few smart-assed remarks. “Don’t think a concussion and some stitches is getting you out of making dinner.”

“When other people ask what happened, tell them ‘You should see the other guy!’”


One week later:

Sickening. Literally. Studies show that high-fructose corn syrup frequently contains mercury due to the way it's processed and the FDA has known for years. Why isn't this in the mass media? I watched the local news this morning and listened to NPR on the way to work and heard nothing about this.

Thanks to Moxie and Gwendomama for writing about it.

Huffinton Post article

How HFCS is manufactured

Washington Post article

List of detects/non-detects in foods

Update: Apparently the mercury is in very, very minute amounts, much less than that even in canned tuna. Still, it's scary. I wonder if other "alkali-processed" foods such as cocoa also have traces of mercury? Lord knows, I eat enough chocolate products.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Peanut visited the pediatrician last Thursday. She confirmed he had drainage from the ear, but the eardrum looked good. We're continuing with his eardrdops. The eartube on the other side appears to be coming out. sigh I really, really hope we don't need another set.

Everything seemed fine on Friday until daycare called at lunchtime. Bean was fussing and poking at an ear. Back to the peds we went. He has an ear infection, too.

The big excitement came on Saturday though. I'll write about that later when I have more time.
Happy birthday, Mom.

***

This is her second birthday in the state hospital. We won't be visiting this year. It's too much of a trip to bring the baby and with the ongoing illnesses and Hubby's extra shifts, we can't make it. I feel guilty and relieved.

Peanut and I will call Mom tonight. He's sad because he thinks he's missing her birthday party. I tried to explain that there is no party since she's still sick. Sweet innocence of childhood.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

At Peanut’s 4-y.o. checkup, one of the checklist questions was “Can your child draw a stick figure?” Hubby wasn’t sure, so he called me. I didn’t know either. Most of Peanut’s drawings are scribbles or letters.

Three days later, he came home with a drawing of his teacher. He says she’s very pretty. A couple of days later he drew a picture of our family and Wall-E and Eve.

Last night, he decided to do some drawings on his whiteboard. He drew a good alien, with a happy, smiley face.




Then he said “Mommy, I’m going to draw a bad alien with 4 arms and 3 legs.




I guess we have our answer.

After the aliens he asked Daddy to draw some pictures. One request was “God defeating a werewolf.” I wish I had taken a picture of that one. It was awesome with lightning bolts and flowing robes. I have no idea where Peanut go the idea for that.
Hubby sadly had to use his rifle at work. A cow got loose along the interstate. She had already gotten onto the travel lane before hubby arrived, but ran back onto the shoulder. Hubby, several other cops, and an ag officer tried to corral her away from the road for darting. As the ag officer tried to get a clear shot, she spooked and ran back for the road. Hubby put her down with several bullets to the head. He felt bad about it, but knew it was better than the cow causing a pileup on the highway which would have had the same outcome with the possibility of human fatalities as well.

It happens more often than a suburban girl like myself ever imagined. We have vast expanses of rangeland here, much of it along roads and highways. Hubby hates loose cow/horse calls. The animals are often scared and unpredictable and there is always the possibility of being charged at or kicked.
Peanut won’t stop singing! The little boy who would never sing breaks out into the ABC song multiple times a day and throws in some Jingle Bells, too. It’s so cute.

He’s really figuring out phonics. He’ll say a word, then name the letter it starts with. “My name is Peanut. P starts with Peanut. P says Puh Puh Puh. Peanut.”

He’s on a napping strike at daycare. He frequently comes home cranky and will cry at the drop of a hat. We’ve talked about the importance of sleep, how boys need sleep to help their bodies grow, and how much better we feel when we’re not in a bad mood from being tired. He’s always hated taking naps, even as a baby. He tells me he doesn’t want bad dreams, so that’s why he doesn’t sleep. He has a vivid imagination and I think he does have frequent nightmares.

He’s especially afraid of monsters, which seem to recur in his bad dreams. Hungry Bean started to cry on the way home from daycare. I made the usual soothing sounds and told him it was OK, that Mommy and Peanut were right there. Peanut looked over at him and said “It’s OK, Bean. There aren’t any monsters. I’m right here.” Then he told me Bean was crying because he thought a monster was outside.

Later, Peanut and I were snuggled on the couch when the dog got a drink of water. Peanut jumped and asked “What’s that noise.” I told him the dog was drinking. “Oh, OK. I thought it was a monster.”
Bean is crawling in earnest now. He’s still wobbly, gets trapped under tables and such, bonks into things, and often falls/rolls over. Every once in a while he’ll get stuck with his legs stretched behind him and he’ll do a little hop to get back onto his knees. It’s the cutest ever.

He can sure get to something when he wants to. Something usually is the dog or a power cord. He discovered speaker wire the other day (we have surround sound and ran the wiring under the couch and loveseat rather than attempting to mount the speakers and make Swiss cheese of our walls.) I found him wedged between the couch and loveseat (they’re set at a 90 degree angle) munching happily on the wire. He made quite a protest when redirected at something less dangerous. When not going after electrical hazards, he finds his way to the nebulizer, which I really should put away, but fear that would bring bad juju and another round of wheezing. Apparently the tubing feels great on teething gums and fits nicely in his mouth. In short, we really need to get the baby gates out of storage and baby-proof the living room.

He’s going through some sort of lovely sleep regression. I’m not sure if he’s at one of the “classic” ages, but I think he has some sort of teething-just learned to crawl-growth spurt thing going on. He’s waking up once or twice a night plus his usual 5-ish am for bottles. Dear Lord, I’m beyond exhausted. Hubby and I were complaining that he went from sleeping 10-11 hours a night down to 8-9 hours after his RSV hospitalization. Now we’re back to newborn-style wakings every 2-4 hours. I hope this passes soon.

He gained about a pound in the past week-10 days. The little guy is solid.
Chez selzach recovering from our eleventy-billionth round of the respiratory crud. We’re a hacking, snotting, sneezing bunch. Hubby wound up with viral bronchitis and an ear infection. Peanut came home yesterday with crud draining from his ear. At least the tubes are doing their job.

Thursday, January 01, 2009

Fireworks stands pop up around here like mushrooms before New Year's Eve and the 4th of July. I'll never get used to them. I grew up in a state that banned all fireworks. Mom and I used to cross the state line to buy contraband sparklers for the 4th, in a state only slightly less restrictive than ours.

One stand is next to a produce stand Hubby & I occasionally shop at. The last time we went was sometime around the 4th. During our perusing, we noticed the fireworks proprietors smoking just outside their tent. That was the fastest veggie purchase ever.

We were waiting at a drive-through the other night when we noticed some mortars going off. I commented on how pretty they were. Hubby paused for a minute and replied, "They look like they're coming from the fireworks stand. You know, the one where the owners were smoking."

We sat the whole time waiting for the sky to light up, accompanied by BOOM-BA-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM.
The kids have been tag teaming Mr. S. and me with colds. Bean is on breathing treatments yet again. The wheezing started the day after Christmas and has continued. If he's still wheezing by tomorrow, the doc wants to see him again. Hmmm, think the wheezing will clear up over night? Me neither. He has something else cooking, too. He was up crying for most of the night (which meant I was up, too)and had a fever for most of today.

Hubby and I have also had the cold. Peanut, too (that goes without saying). I have felt like crap since Christmas night with a scratchy/sore throat, runny nose, painful sinuses and aches. I'm thankful I was off work this week, but it hasn't been much of a restful week off. I pray we're all healthy by Monday so I can go to work as scheduled.