bribery

I am such a believer in bribery.

Miss C has slept in our bed her whole life with the exeption of a few random nights when she was moved by one of us (and ultimately joined us later). These days, I'm feeling a bit ready to have her move on, at least partway. She has a nice bed with a quilt I envy and removable princess stickers on her headboard that officially give her a princess bed. But that was not enough to convince her to do more than randomly nap in it when forced by sheer exhaustion.

And then:

This week her current love affair (a la Target) is the Furreal Baby Duckling:

She has the kitten and the blue and purple bird, but the duck is next on her agenda.

We're about to find out just how deep her love for this "duckie" runs since she has currently got a chart on her door with 2 pictures of the duck and seven (pink) squares. For each night she sleeps in her bed, she gets to put a sticker on a pink square. When the seven squares are full, back to Target we will go and the duckie will come home.

This started Thursday night. She would come out of her room every 3 minutes and ask if she got her duckie yet. Uh...maybe the concept was a bit above her head? She finally fell asleep in Daddy's arms much later than we'd hoped, but did indeed sleep through in her own bed! Tonight, she's out like a light. No fighting, nothing. I think she loves that duck.

I've already decided to find something else for the following week or 10 days after that just to keep it going.

mother's day surprise

Once in a while my brother and I like to surprise my mom on her birthday or Mother's Day. By this, we mean that she is a super low key person and does not care for much ado about days like these, almost preferring the quiet time to herself (well, as much as she can get with Dad around!), then having a good visit with us some other time when it's convenient. She's practical and kind and never presumes upon other's time. Some years, I have enjoyed my own Mother's Day quite fully, with a quick call to her at the end, but this year, we conspired against her.

Mom and Dad live about 45 minutes from us in a tiny town (near great outlet shopping...!). My brother lives a good bit farther out but drove over 2 hours to meet us at the new restaurant a few doors down from my parents' home. My dad arranged to have her there before us. We kept it very simple, with a vase of roses from our yard that Little B carried in. He simply sat next to her and handed them over, wishing her a Happy Mother's Day. She was very pleasantly surprised. My brother, holding his most favorite girl ever, Miss C, snuck around the side and let her kiss Grandma. When mom reached to hug my husband, assuming he held Miss C, she was shocked to see her own son with us.

The rest of the day was peaceful and full of restful visiting (and maybe a small trip to the outlets for a few of us).We got home, put the little ones down, and I managed a (not quite hot enough) bath for myself which in itself is a rare treat these past months. Now? I'm hoping for a good long night's sleep (Baby J might not let it be long enough, but I do forgive him). And when I wake, this awaits me with a brand new Starbucks travel mug boasting shimmery pink flowers. . .
(Okay, okay, I confess. This was a joint gift for my husband's birthday last week as well as Mother's Day...but we're BOTH loving it equally and I can hardly wait for morning! And I do have some new pens and pad of paper to jot down lists which is probably more exciting than you'll ever want to know!)

as promised:

Up to date pictures of my littlest confection . . . he is so sweet I could eat him. :) He is trying out his new Bumbo that accidentally rang up for $11.99 versus $39.99--I got a rockin' good deal is all I can say. (I even went back in the store thinking they rang up something else by accident, but nope, it was the tag on the box!! For the record, I tried to buy another one for a gift, but it was regular price.)

15,000-plus words

They say a pictures is worth a thousand words, so we'll just say this is my largest post ever: 15,000 words plus additional commentary! And now, by popular demand, pictures of the little people in my life:

We had joint a Build-A-Bear birthday for Miss C and Little B; here you see them "waking up" their animal of choice as well as the (undressed but otherwise) finished product.

Dressing up for Dr. Suess' birthday; can you tell?

Oh, the havoc that happens when a seven year old plays doctor with a three year old who has a new "boo boo" every few seconds...haha! And they were on her arms and legs and belly as well. Getting them OFF was not nearly as fun as being doctored, I assure you!

3/4 of my heart. . . need I say more?

I seem to have issues with red-eye, even with the red-eye reduction turned on. Argh!

Bright eyed and bushy tailed in spite of it, though!

Some new artwork for my kitchen in progress. It's hanging up now and I LOVE it.

My little dude.

He's so happy so often!

His favorite "pose", especially on the changing table. Fingers in mouth, hand to hair.
Okay, so this is almost a month old already! I will try to put up a good one really soon, I promise! He's growing WAY too fast...

My kiddos with their "Furreal" birds...Little B used allowance to get his longed-for Macaw at half price!! Miss C had to settle for a baby bird and both have been very happy. Cuties, no? (The kids, not the birds.)

I couldn't resist adding this...it's out my back window during my MOST favorite week of the year. Miss C thought it was snowing. If you look at the picture on my blog header, it's this tree last year. Yup. I take some every spring!

That's all folks...for now.

(virtual roll call:) "here!"

So I’ve had about 2,574 things to post about in the last . . . long . . . while. And I even tried to do a “bulletins” post just to put the thoughts and experiences out there and to avoid being a cyber recluse, but, well, I didn’t get it done. Somehow life seems a tad bit busier. Can’t imagine why: I spend up to 30 minutes after each nursing holding Baby J upright thanks to his reflux (yeah, even in the middle of the night or it’s not pretty). That’s a lot of hours. Not to count the diapers, the playing, the regular meals, the never ending laundry, and the dishes I loathe. You know what I’m talking about. As carbon said, I'm stuck in the real world these days.

In all my silent weeks my little boy turned seven. I am not sure when he grew up so much! He is gradually dropping that little boy look and becoming a big kid and we laugh together over the fact he’s still my “baby boy”. We bought him roller skates for his birthday and I swear he’ll wear out my floors this year. But, it’s worth it and they’re good for him and he does use the back patio sometimes as well. Our driveway is only flat at the top, then it drops off considerably, so I’m not ready for him to try that just yet. Maybe soon, when I park a car at the crest of the hill like we do for other play.

Miss C gets chattier every day. For a baby girl who started life in the 99th percentile for weight, I cracked up when she was barely in the 30th percentile last week—and 2 pounds of that was very recent! (And she was only 20th for height.) Growth spurts abound this time of year, around and after their birthdays, and I’m always a bit in awe of the changes that brings about.

Anyhow.
I’m still here. Still kicking and once in a while I bite. I mean uh never mind. Ahem. I can’t even begin to remember the myriad of things I wanted to post about over the past weeks, but for now, know I’m here. Thanks to those of you checking in on me. I do post often—in my head. It just rarely makes it to the computer these days. I’ll try to do better, really!

Now to find time to return a few emails today. . .hhhmmmm…

good, "old-fashioned" fun

Yesterday we took the kids to a skating rink. As in roller-skating.

It was the first time I'd been since way before Little B was a twinkle in my eye, and certainly a first for Little B himself and Miss C. I was so proud of both of them! Little B really gave it a great shot and said he had SO much fun! Miss C mostly waddled around on the carpet, but I think that was great and both kids were completely adorable.

We were with some friends and their two girls, so I left Baby J in the other mom's care for about 15 or 20 minutes and surprised myself by just how well I could skate after all this time. I was never an avid skater to start with, but I'm thinking this would be a great way to burn calories. And the rink is just down the street from the school, so we're talking super close (I think it's one of two roller rinks in our huge county).

Sunday afternoons are "Family Day" and prices were pretty decent--$6.50 per person including regular skate rental ($8 if you get in line skates). For two or three hours of fun, that's hard to beat!

And no, my voice has not returned and the crud is still in my chest. I'll most likely be seeing the doc this week. Sigh. . .

how do i love thee?

So the crud never left the house. I swear I tried to kick it out, tell it to leave, whatever. It just lingered. Mostly in my chest. Other than my congestion, we had three whopping days of health for everyone else before Little B got Strep. Oh fun.

As of tomorrow, if Miss C has avoided it, we are home free. This is because I’ve been on the two week round of Biaxin, which kept me safe (thank GOODNESS for that!!!). And, when my husband came home with a low fever and misery once more, I assumed he had gotten Strep as well. Nope. His doctor’s visit revealed severe sinusitis (AND a middle ear infection!) for which the old-school, most wonderful doctor he’d ever seen did an x-ray to verify and check it out. He also looked at my husband’s history and prescribed an antibiotic that he felt was most effective for his problem. There is something about a doctor that takes the time to really understand the problem and get down to it, versus prescribing something, figuring it will work or the illness will go away on its own in a few days anyhow. This doctor also told him to return in two weeks as he’d very possibly need further treatment! Yeah, that severe. Poor hubby. At least with his antibiotics he will prevent Strep, too. Woohoo!

But then, my congestion. Man oh man. I thought the snap, crackle, pop in my chest was finally about gone, then suddenly my sinuses opened up (I guess) and I felt like I was getting a cold on top of everything. My lungs filled once more and stayed tight and awful. My throat has had an entire family of frogs in it for two solid weeks now. I’ve avoided the phone because talking makes me miserable (try being heard by your kids like that…sheesh). Yesterday, I called my asthma specialist again and told him what was going in. His conclusion: my asthma is beginning to be a problem!

I was diagnosed with asthma exactly six years ago (to the month). Exactly five years ago I got pneumonia (again, to the month; February is SO a bad month for me!!), and that fall I began seeing this specialist. My asthma has been totally under control since that time and he always talks about how great my breathing tests are. The same day he decided it was my asthma beginning to be an issue, I’d spoken with a woman I’ve met only a few times and was mentioning how sick we’d all been this month (seriously, just speaking to me says volumes when that family of frogs takes over and I cannot even make some sounds to complete my words!). She looked at me and asked, “Do you have asthma?” Wow. No one has ever heard me talk/cough and “heard” the asthma. When I said yes, she asked if I was taking meds right now to control it. So, when the doc said it was asthma, I had to agree. Though in my head I kept thinking “sinus infection” or “cold” or whatever. I mean, come on, I was blowing green snot three times an hour to the point of making my sinuses bleed. (Yeah, TMI, but you’re reading aren’t you???)

So, he put me back on prednisone. He’d put me on it when he saw me for the flu as a preventive for bronchitis or the dreaded pneumonia (I saw him because the cough was so bad I thought I had pneumonia with my fever of 102-103!). Honestly, I’ve had years when my prescription would expire because I never needed it (he requests his patients keep it on hand for emergency use). I’ve used it now three times since Christmas. Huh. I’ve also had my rescue inhaler expire without my realizing it, but now I’ve got two running so I don’t lose one—I’ve used it every 4-6 hours this week.

But my point: the prednisone. I was in total shock by it. I’ve used it and been helped before, but never so drastically. Within one hour—yes, ONE—of my first dose, my voice felt stronger, my cough was looser and more disgustingly productive (like chunky, in a good way, though), my headache of two weeks was gone, and best of all: my snot stopped! Really. Suddenly I hardly have to blow my nose at all. It’s just more like post nasal drip now. I’m in total awe and love with my prednisone. I had no idea it was that incredibly powerful.

My voice is still improving, but only when I’ve, uh, lost my temper (me? Never!) does it start to aggravate me badly. The cough is still there and full of chunks, but again, it’s a good thing. The headache, well it’s hightailed it so far out of town I haven’t seen it since. Same with the nasty snot. Oh, and I’m not nearly as exhausted (probably a steroid side effect for that, but still…). Did I mention I love my prednisone?

He said he’d want to see me in the office if I wasn’t doing better in three days (which puts me at tomorrow afternoon…bad time to need a specialist, you know?). But honestly, I feel like I’m doing so much better that I am thinking I won’t need to call. If I do, then I just do. I may call and talk to the nurse to just let her know how I’m doing and how much better I feel. Then, if they don’t think it’s enough they can tell me.

Oh, I feel so alive. I even went to lunch with my mom, then she went grocery shopping with me. (Such a nice lady.) I could so kiss my prednisone. How do I love thee, indeed.