Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Photo Bomb 13

Dear Hubby,


This week was a busy one.  It was a time for many a make believe adventure.


We tracked down clues

























We played King of the Mountain Plastic Toybox

























We drew lots of pictures




When we were tired we declared it nap time. For cars, tractors, books, blankies and little boys alike




We learned lessons about gravity the hard way...and got stickers and suckers from sympathetic nurses.





We made and played with new friends




We learned to Yo-Ho-Ho and Argh-Matey like Pirates


Who needs a patch when you have a black eye?
We controlled all the sea creatures and waves like Poseidon



We posed for Mommy and her camera

























We smiled, giggled, and played together




Mostly though, we missed you!















Friday, July 27, 2012

At Least He Has a Hard Head

Some lessons in life are hard to learn, some are painful, and some are bittersweet....for everyone involved.

2 Hours after the accident

Thursday night the Toddler was protesting my choice of stir-fry for supper and insisting he get cookies that Great Grandma sent home with us instead. He did consider accepting spaghetti as a peace offering, but his mean mother was determined the choice wasn't his to make.  When shoving his plate of food away from him didn't get a reaction, he decided to up the ante and try to push his chair away from the table.  He got more than he bargained for....I got more than I bargained for too.  His chair tipped over, with him buckled into the booster seat and everything fell to the floor in a CRASH.  His head bounced off the metal chair (that or the neighboring highchair) and as I unstrapped him he had a white and blue knot protruding about 2 inches from the side of his head. I have never seen an injury in that color before.

My phone was completely dead, I had just plugged it in to charge, but it didn't have enough juice to even turn on.  With the Big D still in his high chair I ran over to the neighbors,  banging knocking on their door, while holding the Toddler as he was sobbing.  No one was home. I ran back in to our house and plucked the baby out of the highchair and strapped both boys into their car seats and headed for the ER.  No pants, socks, or shoes and at least one soggy diaper.  Pieces of rice still stuck in chubby baby rolls and sticky hair acting as a lint trap. Me trying not to cry. I'm sure we were quite the sight to see.

Thankfully he didn't have a concussion.  He will have a nasty black eye for probably a month.  There is a rich blood supply to the face and not as much muscle, so the swelling is pronounced.  It is a good sign that there is outward swelling, inward could cause pressure to the brain.  It will look worse before it looks better.  Tylenol is fine to give for the pain. And other encouraging advice was given as we headed out the door.  I am so relieved he is okay, but so sad he was hurt in the first place. I had to take him in though, I couldn't put him to bed without knowing for sure he didn't have a concussion along with the contusion. I checked on him every couple hours the whole the night anyway.

Lessons Learned:
  • Always sit nice in chairs, ALWAYS.
  • ER visits come with a small silver lining.  5 stickers, 2 suckers and hugs from pretty nurses worth of silver lining.
  • Icing injuries for 20 minutes every 4 hours will not happen when the patient is a Toddler.
  • Mommies are pushovers when their babies are hurting.  
    • Unlimited Cookies before bed - YES
    • Cuddling on the couch and not having to pickup any toys - YES
    • Watching movies hours after bedtime - YES
    • Taking a minimum of 15 toys to be tucked in with you - YES
    • Mommy laying next to you in your Toddler bed, until you fall asleep (even though she really doesn't fit) - YES
    • Anything you want under the sun if you tell Mommy its makes you feel better - YES YES YES!
  
 

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Bête Noire


fear
[feer]

noun 
a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid. Synonyms: foreboding, apprehension, consternation, dismay, dread, terror, fright, panic, horror, trepidation, qualm. Antonyms: courage, security, calm, intrepidity.



pho·bi·a
 [foh-bee-uh]

noun
a persistent, abnormal, or irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid the feared stimulus.


a strong fear, dislike, or aversion.

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If you happened to pay attention to my facebook posts from a few years ago when the Hubby and I moved into our house, this post should come as no surprise. Fall 2010 was a bad one for mice...and we discovered our house had hollow, non-sealing closet doors instead of regular doors.  We were catching the buggers almost daily.

I hate mice, and am the stereotypical Mrs. Two Shoes when I see one.  (Think Tom & Jerry)
Though I'm not even brave enough to wield a broom!
Why yes I do stand on chairs and scream!

I do pickup my children and make them stay huddled on the chair with me....

Yes I have called my Hubby in the middle of the night begging him to stop the tractor, get home, and rescue me!  

I have called my BIL when the Hubby was gone (for Army schools) to empty sticky traps. 

I have cried at the thought of them in my home and considered moving into a hotel or getting a different house until the problem was under control.

I have hurled and thrown away items I thought they might have touched.

Yes, one of my biggest concerns that I shared with my husband before he deployed is "What am I going to do if there is a mouse?"  "Well I'm not coming home from Afghanistan every-time you need a mouse trap emptied. Just keep the door shut and the mice will stay out" {rather heartless reply actually}

I can't be in the same room with them...I actually grabbed the toddler (while pregnant with the Big D) and bailed out our front door (the one without steps) to avoid walking past the sticky trap in the kitchen....and waited several hours until I had received confirmation that the mouse had been disposed of before I would go back into my home.

The cold evil beady eyes staring at me, the squeaks, the moving the darn trap all over in trying to escape that it could be anywhere!  It sends a chill right through me.  What if I accidentally stepped on it....and then the trap would be stuck to my sock and the mouse...and erweadkahfdjhajgsd!!!  I can't handle the thought.  They are vile, dirty, disgusting creatures that only Walt Disney could love.

Before we replaced the indoor doors with the proper outdoor doors I did a visual scan and count of sticky traps before entering.  Bless the Hubby's heart he would empty and replace any in the morning so I didn't have to know.  After the door was replaced we have had only 1 mouse in our house....because I went to work and left the door open until lunch.

Truthfully though, this goes beyond simple fear and the common disdain for mice. I have self-diagnosed myself with mice-a-phobia, though a quick google search taught me the proper term in musophobia.  But, I prefer the former. The latter makes me think of moose....or mousse...now I am hungry and want to go hiking....but now I remembered we are talking mice.  Food no longer sounds good, and the outdoors unsafe.

But I digress.  Evidence has been left indicating a mouse has made its presence/possible home in my car.  I have vacuumed 3 times in the last week and little droppings keep appearing, on the front passenger floorboard.  I placed a sticky trap there last night, and today no signs or mouse caught. But I do still have a dilemma.  What the hell do I do if I catch it?




Monday, July 23, 2012

The Year of the Rash

Why let the Big D have all the attention on the rash front? That is apparently what the Toddler was thinking, as Saturday evening he developed one of his very own....of course also feeling the need to one up little brother.

I noticed he had been itching the back of his neck, so I went to check for an errant tag.  Instead I discovered some red nastiness going on.  On further inspection he had a rash covering his upper back and chest, it was slightly raised.  I recently had pinned 7 Rashes in Children  from pinterest and thought I would give it a once over.

The rash didn't really fit, but the advice was to look to the child.  If he is acting sick take him in, if he isn't acting sick wait it out.  Other than catching him scratch, he seemed fine.  So I decided to try out the wait it out route.  I had some Aveeno Eczema/Anti Itching cream and put some on.  Instantly he felt better.

That night the little stinker grabbed my hand (at about 8:15) and said lets go to sleep mommy. Intrigued by him wanting to put himself to bed I was all for it.  He led me into my room and crawled up on my bed "Sleep wiff me mommy?"  I had figured he would fall asleep and I would sneak back out and finish up some projects...but by the time Mr. Chatty wound down I think I had fallen asleep first.  Unfortunately not a lot of sleep was to be had.

Sleep Problem #1He sleeps like I do, he crowds his partner and pushes them to the edge.  With the tri-fecta attack of cuddles, kicking, and pillow pushing.  I ended up being afraid one more kick would send me over the edge of the bed. 
Sleep Problem #2The itching got worse.  He would wake up crying.  I would have him snuggle in and gently rub all over his back, giving some relief to the itching and trying not to aggravate the rash. He would fall asleep and the cycle would continue. I rubbed some more cream on it and finally gave up on sleep at 4:30am.  I moved to the couch and until I heard the Big D up for the day.

I felt like I was scrambling, but apparently was moving at a snails pace getting the boys corralled and ready for church.  Definition of embarrassment: Living directly across the street from the church and still walking in late for mass.  I made breakfast for the boys and debated putting them down for naps immediately after church...and thought to myself its a shame starting to drink at 9am is frowned upon. By the time I shoveled some lunch down in the afternoon I began to discover that my anti-itch cream was no longer providing the Toddler any relief.

He requested a shower and I obliged. I do know that after a warm shower most rashes will look worse, due to the warm water making the blood flow more...so I tried to keep it on the cool side.  Even so, after the shower it was evident the rash was spreading.  When drying him off I thought it looked like the bumps were turning into blisters.  So I called my MIL to watch the Big D and took off for Urgent Care/ER in the big city (why must the boys always have issues on weekends?) I was a little too zealous to get him in to be seen, at this point I was thinking maybe it was Chicken Pox, and I got pulled over for doing 81 in a 70.  The HP was painfully thorough.
HP:Your license says you were corrective lenses, are you wearing contacts? {removing his sunglasses}
Me: Yes sir (as he stares me down, I was about ready to pop one out to prove it if it made him feel better) 
HP: I can't even tell anymore 
HP: Your registration is current, but you haven't put your sticker on your plate.  The sticker on the plate says March 2012, but your registration is through March 2013.  I'm giving you a warning on that, because you don't have the sticker on your plate.....but your registration is current.
Me: Yes sir (I stuck with that because anything would come out snotty. I could also see I hadn't put my sticker on, it was still on the registration he was handing back to me) 
HP: Nice hat young man 
Toddler: Yeah, it my Daddy hat 
Me: His dad got it for him after he deployed, he is a bit obsessed with it.
HP: {awkward silence...crickets chirping}
Me: I am taking him in because he has a rash that started spreading really fast, and I thought it might be chicken pox. 
HP: I'm safe, I've had chicken pox before
Me:  {alrighty then...more awkward silence...me wondering if I can go now}
Apparently I am not cute enough nor smooth enough to talk my way out of a ticket.  I just can't bring myself to do the crying thing, and this was the first time I even thought about trying to get out of a ticket...not so much because of getting a ticket...but because I wanted to get to the hospital and get some relief for my little guy.

He did ticket me at 80 instead of 81, which he explained meant a $20 ticket instead of $40 and no points against me.  So I thanked him and heeded his "watch your speed" parting words of wisdom. I have never been so happy to get back on the road.

During  this whole deal is when the Toddler starts moaning, saying Owie mommy I hurt, and I need to go to doctor....whenever the cop went back to his car.  You already have my sympathy kid...if you could have shared your concerns with the officer the stop might not have taken as long.

Finally at the hospital we get checked in and are diagnosed with....a Rash.

Really she wasn't sure what it was, looked like a few things but the entirety of the rash wasn't consistent with anything, and wasn't normal for the symptoms.  What I thought were blisters she said were pustules. She said strep throat can cause something similar but he doesn't have strep, so she decided on calling it a staph infection of the skin and he will be on antibiotics three times a day for a week.  So any number of things could have caused the rash, including allergies, but whatever did cause it...this kind of rash is not a typical reaction. Supper.

The drugs seem to be working though and today the Mystery Rash is much better.  That is definitively worth it.
 So so much better!




Saturday, July 21, 2012

Bookworm Crushes

This is what I have been drooling over lately!  How perfect is a tree inspired bookshelf?  A nice cozy reading nook is wanting to find its way into my home, I am positive! I'm not ready to fork over the moolah just yet, but I have been perusing the internet for inspiration.  I'm thinking I might be able to talk a certain family member with woodworking skills to come up with something for me....maybe in time for the Toddler's 3rd birthday this fall? {*ahem*, hint, hint, Uncle D...*cough, cough*}

Babyletto Spruce Tree Bookcase in white or green:

























Tree Branch Shelf



Hanging chair from tree bookshelf




Friday, July 20, 2012

Photo Bomb 12


Dear Hubby,

I hope you had a good week.  We had a pretty good one here, although it has been hot. 100+ hot, which has meant that my evening walks and outdoor playtime have taken a hit.  The Toddler's new favorite way to burn energy at home is to count to a random number between 3-11 and then yell RACE!  He sprints back and forth between the couch and the drawers underneath the microwave.  It's a pretty straight shot, so it works well...as long as the Big D doesn't toddle into the "race track".  That can cause a major pileup.

Your mom had the boys Tuesday and Thursday, and they are in love with spending time at Grandma's house. The boys really do seem to like their new daycare though. I have been getting fabulous reports on their behavior.  We haven't been having any more diaper rash issues for the Big D, and the Toddler is enjoying the schedule.  He is so excited to bring home art, and today they got to run through the sprinkler...and because they are boys, it was followed by a swim in the sandbox.  You should have seen the tub when I got them home and hosed off!  I had to scrub a dirt ring off and the water actually seemed a bit muddy.  They loved it!

They have also been my big helpers.  The Toddler is fascinated with cooking and is my official "Pot Stirrer" and the Big D loves the dishwasher...he has limited options to help though.  He seems to like taste testing all the silverware, which is a bit counterproductive.

Love you with all my heart, and the boys send you hugs and kisses!






 Believe it or not...this ended badly!


 If that isn't laid back and comfy I don't know what is







Little Chef


 Dishwasher Loading Supervisor


The Toddler's cooking was a success!



Naptime at Grandma's house




Memorable Convos from Work: Peanut Butter & Monkeys

I shouldn't laugh, but my co-worker always has the sweetest, friendliest voice when she answers the phone. She politely thanks telemarketers for calling (after all they are just doing their job), and asks them if they please wouldn't mind taking us off their calling list and then wishes them a good day. Professional and friendly at all times.


Apparently there is also a different side. A side that isn't about to put up with rude people. A side that I find hilarious when it comes out. I was sitting over in my desk dying trying not to snort too loudly the other day while eavesdropping a phone call. 

"Hello, {Small Oilfield Trucking Company}, this is {Co-Worker}"

Telemarketer starts schpeel, wanting the owner's phone number
"I'm sorry he's not available, could I take a message?"
Telemarketer becomes increasingly rude
"Well he's not available to talk to you!"
Telemarketer gets nasty
"Do you really think you are going to get anywhere talking to me like that?"
Telemarketer went too far
"OK you're really not going anywhere now. {click}"
Note to self, never suggest anyone remove Peanut Butter from their ears.


One of the biggest benefits to being a working mom is getting getting that adult interaction and conversation, as well as working with fun people.  Getting to know people and their personalities better.  You never really never know what to expect as far as conversations go at my job, so I define "adult interaction" a  wee bit loosely. (Doesn't every talk about Pirate Monkeys?)  This is probably why I also occasionally get warnings about needing to  focus more on work and less on socializing.  Sometimes a little bit of office randomness helps balance the crazy of everyday life though.  It's little moments like these that make my day, and I know I would miss them if I were a fulltime at home mom. 

Lesson to take home: If you are a telemarketer, keep in mind if you try the vinegar approach to catch flies, don't expect honey...I'm just saying.