It's the virus

So the update is that I have a viral infection. Doc said since I had
the symptoms since Sunday that I couldn't take tami.flu, so I am on a
nasal steroid spray and amoxicillin, drinking fluids and resting. Temp
spiked to 101 yesterday afternoon but after resting and Tylenol, it's
back to normal.

Miles is at the sitter's and Dean is at the cardiologist's office for
his bi-annual follow up. Thank goodness for DVR!

Sent from my iPhone

FREAK OUT

As I type this, I am waiting for my husband to come and pick me up from work. I started to get some sinus crap this weekend and this morning I could barely breathe through my nose. Took some Clarit.tin and Muci.nex (scrares me because its a decongestant and can dry up my boobs AND my nose). I have blown my nose 12 times already and now a little cough.

Of course I asked Dr. Google what he thought of my symptoms, including tiredness and a headache for 2 days, and he told me they were "flu-like symptoms."

How f'ing fabulous...

During flu season, H1N1 season....I develop flu-like symptoms. Can you say scrared shitless? I have tons of friends of friends or family of friends that have either the flu or H1N1. Haven't taken my flu shot this season because work's vendor has been delaying them for a month and a half in shipment. As of yesterday, the clinic has a sign posted "no flu shots until further notice."

GREAT

Did you remember that I have a 5 1/2 month old at home who is too young for the flu shot? And that my sister works in the PICU at Texas.Children's and has several patients on ventilators with the flu?

COMPLETE AND TOTAL FREAK OUT. That is what I am doing right now.

Highchairs are for Babies

At the last minute, we decided to go out for dinner last night to Cracker.Barrel. By the time I got home, pumped (Miles had just eaten), got our recipes together for the shower this weekend, it was almost 6:45. Everything we have to cook is frozen, thus a really late dinner.

Anyway, we headed to our new Cracker.Barrel for some grub. Packed Miles' bottle and food. Drove the 8 minutes to CB and realized...we can't feed him from the car seat and we didn't bring the Buggy.Bagg for the highchair. I think he's still too small to fit comfortably in a highchair without a little cushion. (Plus the buggy.bagg comes with a little attached pillow to put in front of or behind him for more support!) So 8 minutes back home to get it, and 8 minutes back. Thus, a really late dinner after all...

Me: "Table for 2 plus a highchair, please" - WHAAA? Did I just say that?
CB hostesss: "Sorry we don't have any."
Me: *looks to Dean* "They don't have any highchairs?"
CB: "Sorry. We don't have any AVAILABLE right now. They are all being used."
Me: *thinking to myself* considering this is a brand new restaurant in a booming suburb full of young families with lots of new babies, shouldn't you increase the number of highchairs so you don't "run out?" Seriously...
CB: "We could seat you and just bring you a chair when it's available."
Me: "Ok, that's fine." *mumbles to myself* Feeding a hungry baby from a lap who is new to solids in a public place should be interesting....

After we are seated, Dean actually holds and feeds Miles. He did SO good. Opens his mouth when the spoon comes, swallows and wants another bite. Dean said that he would give him a bite and after he swallowed it, he would slowly start to kick his legs against Dean's legs then getting faster. When the next bite was put in, he would stop kicking, swallow, kick, bite, swallow, kick, bite. It was like it was his signal that he was ready for the next bite. Too funny!

So after he finishes eating and we have ordered, I go ask for a highchair because you know they haven't delivered one yet. No, sorry. still being used. UGH But I will go check to make for sure.

CB boy returns to my table with only a booster seat. Not your typical plastic booster. More like a mini version of their wooden chairs, with arms and a back, that sits in a regular chair.

CB boy: "This is all we have right now."
Me: "OK we'll give it a try."
CB boy: "Well let me know if it doesn't work so I can come get it."
You know, for the next parent who comes in looking for a child seat because apparently they only own 3 boosters and 3 highchairs. WTF?

At this point I am wondering if the Buggy.Bagg is even gonna fit because this little booster is so small, but Miles will be flopping around if we don't have it for the extra cushion....It fits, thank goodness. We strap the booster to the chair and the bagg to the chair and Miles to the bagg. Tucked in the little pillow behind his back and VOILA!

My 5 month old in a booster seat at the Big Boy table!

Weedy Rash

So on Sunday, randomly, I pulled some weeds from the flower garden in
the backyard. I only went back there to see the new trellis we bought
a few weekends ago from a cool wright iron store. The bouganvilla is
really liking it. Well, next to that is a plant I transplanted from
my Great Aunt Viaud's (pronounced Vee-Oh) 2 summers ago, called 4
o'clocks. Now I have no idea if this is the real name of this plant,
but the flowers open at 4 AM and 4 PM. ANYWAY....we have an empty lot
(STILL) behind our house so all these crazy weedy, viney things like
to take over the flower and veggie garden and were all intertwined in
the 4 o'clocks. I can't have them killing this plant because it means
too much to me. After pulling the weeds, I now have this weedy rash on
the backs of both hands. Red raised bumps. Doesn't itch, but ugly
typhoid looking hands aren't something cool Moms sport these days....

Fail Blog!

Came across this blog FailBlog today. There are some pretty classic pictures and videos of every day screw ups...from something as small as a typo to anchorman flubs. HILARIOUS.

For example, wouldn't you want to buy this lovely artwork for your son's room?


see more Fail Blog

or how about this for your Dad?


see more Fail Blog

Praying for Sara

Readers - I have a request. Please pray for Sara Sullivan. I do not know her personally, but read about her in 3 friend's FB updates. She found out she was pregnant and shortly afterwards was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a hard pregnancy but praise the Lord, had her baby girl two weeks ago. They went home thinking everything was fine but shortly afterwards Sara started having seizures. Her situation has taken a turn for the worse and they are not sure Sara will make it. Testing today could determine if she is brain dead. Lets rally around this family, pray for a HUGE miracle and bring awareness to her situation! Thank you!

Click badge on right sidebar to jump to the Sullivan family blog. Her husband has been keeping it updated.

Peas & Pac-Man

So this weekend, I finally made some homemade baby food - Go Mom! I made sweet peas and peaches. It really wasn't too difficult at all. Just cooked them on the stove till soft, (threw the peas in ice cold water to help soften the hulls), added a bit of water, whirred it up in the Magic.Bullet and VOILA!

I made this:

I have no idea why this picture refuses to be landscape. It is saved as landscape but weirdo blogger wants to reformat it for me.

And Miles made this:

He is doing SO good with eating. Just earlier last week, he wasn't getting the whole concept down of opening his mouth for the spoon and now, when you come at him, he "Opens BIG" (Mom repeats this over and over and over while feeding) and retains most of it in his mouth with an audible swallow. SO.CUTE! So for the next few days its oatmeal cereal for breakfast, chicken and peas (not mixed) for lunch and dinner! He is such a big boy I can't even stand it!

On Friday, for 10 hours, I made this:

It's a birthday cake for Stacey who was having a surprise 30th birthday party, 80's style. Her mom said I could do whatever, so thanks to some ideas on cakecentral, this is what I came up with. Rub.iks' cube on top, Straw.berry.Shortcake, and Pac.Man! I had made a SS figure out of fondant/gum.paste, but her head was top heavy and Thursday night fell over and broke. I was very sad because I worked several hours over several days to make her :( So I had to just print one out on card stock... Her mom really liked it and everyone was thouroughly impressed. I gave myself a good pat on the back for this one. I liked how it turned out, even though Dean said I didn't center the middle layer on the bottom one - and of course this is what I looked at all night long...that and my uneven Rub.ik's color squares...

Here's the fam rockin' to the 80's: Mom in her sideways pony, god-awful earrings, and hanging off the shoulder shirt. Dad in his AC/DC shirt ($4 Good.will find) and Miles in his...yeah supposed to look like some dude that Steph picked out from the 80's. He did have a headband on and Drew matched him...hmmm... hopefully she'll comment who they were supposed to be. What I really wish you could see is my LEGGINGS! They were so old school it was not even funny - they were white (wishing I could have found black for SO.MANY.REASONS) even with the little lace at the bottom of the legs! A good time was had by all. Stacey was truly surpised and I hope she enjoyed the party and the cake!

So I have been having milk.production issues as of late. As in, only like 2 oz per pump. Seems kind of pointless to me when I am not even making enough for one bottle....but after this weekend I am going to try even harder to get what little I am making into my little boy.

When he woke up from his morning nap on Friday, he had snot running down his face for the first time. Then he started this little hack, hack cough - like so pitiful it sounded fake. Called the pedi and the nurse said we could come in, but with him being so young, all he would suggest is home treatment anyway - humidifier at night, saline suction his nose. Call if something changes.

Saturday morning the snot was yellow. Call to on-call doc. Again, same thing. Was worried I would have to send the cake with Steph (and she was way nervous about cake travel!) and miss the party. Luckily it changed back to clear snot, so we were a go for the party. Just when I think I'm going to give up on the BF'ing, I have more reason to keep at it. We're getting into flu season around here and 9,000 people I know are sick with something. Miles needs all the antibodies and strength he can get for his little body so I will keep on truckin'.....

5 months

Today, I have a 5 month old. I can't even believe it even as I sit
here staring at his pictures. This time last year, I was only a few
weeks pregnant, praying that it would stick. Now, I am practically
counting the days to when he becomes mobile - walking or crawling. (I
still have a strange feeling it's going to be walking first!)

Today Miles is:
~eating solid foods-just meat for now
~a scooter bug when on his belly. Kind of an army crawl but more like
a snake slither. He definitely gets from point a to b.
~jabbering up a storm and laughing all the time (outloud unlike some
people's laughing mutes MB!!!)
~wearing 6-9 month clothes.
~drooling as if he was cutting a tooth but no pearly whites can be
seen quite yet!

Happy 5 month birthday little man! I love you a bushel and a peck and
a hug around the neck!!!!

Bookworm

Yesterday the sitter took her girls and Miles to Barnes.and.Noble for book reading. They haven't been in quite a while. She said it was eating time for Miles so when the girls settled down, she gave him his bottle. As soon as the lady started reading the book and showing the pictures, he pulled off the bottle and turned around to see the book and listen! She has never read to him so she didn't know that he likes books. And she said you know he's interested when he stops eating because he never stops eating! When we read him a book at bedtime, he totally takes in all of the picture on both pages of the book. He doesn't just stare at one spot, but gazes over the entire thing. I think he'll be a reader like Mommy - and definitely a smart little cookie!

I stole this from Nikki cuz it's damn funny....

BIG!

Here are some Miles pictures, sure to make you smile.

Otherwise known as, Mom can't think of shit to write about....

Sitting up BIG!

This face always C.R.A.C.K.S me up!

EWWW I don't know if I like turkey or not...

But I do love me some cereal!

9/11/01

*Picture stolen from here.

Labor Day Weekend = Fun Times

**I know most of you only come here to see pics of Mr. Cuteness, so please forgive me for not dumping the camera for the past.....oh week or so. Hopefully you will continue reading anyway. And make do with a pic of me and Hubster!**


Weekend Recap:
Friday was my day off so Miles and I met my sister, her 2 BFF's and one of their kids for lunch. It was the first time I'd seen both of them in quite some time. One was at my baby shower, but the other I hadn't seen in probably 10 years - post jail, post marriage, post baby. WOW times have changed. Anywho, the other lives in OK and is have fertility issues as well. Her OB recomended "the best" RE in her area. Neither her or her husband have been diagnosed with anything other than a little motility issues and she doesn't ovulate (but can on Clomi.d). They did IVF last November and got about 13 eggs that fertlized. 7 made it to blastocytes. The transferred 3 (none took) and frozed the rest. In February, they thawed the remaining, but only 1 made the thaw. They transferred that one and it didn't take either. Her doc said there's only like a 15% chance of having a previously frozen embie take. Does this seem right to you? Also, he is not recommending or even suggesting IUI for them. He said, "well it might take 3 tries and by then you're back to the cost of IVF so just do IVF again." They do have some financial strains, but why wouldn't you at least let them try to do it? Because in my opinion, the first try COULD take and that would save you 10K..... She won't push the issue with him at all. They just roll with whatever the doctor says, well because he's the doctor. I tried suggesting my RE (LOVE.HIM) but she says the cost of travel (driving or flying) from OKC to Houston for all the many appointments would eat away at their available fundage anyway. She wants kids so bad and is an awesome aunt, but it just tears me up that they won't push it any more.


Saturday we ran some errands, cleaned the house, had some seafood and went antiquing. Bought a pretty wrought iron XXX for our bouganvilla to climb on. Then we went to Haak.Winery. It's the closest winery to our house. We have been there a couple times before. They have some cool events and you can chill on the patio with a glass (or bottle!) of wine while listening to a band play. This particular day (of course) there was nothing going on, but we wanted to visit and get more wine! We did a wine tasting, bought a glass and took the winery tour. After the tour, we bought another glass and sat on the patio. It was a really pretty day. Oh and did I mention we came home with a CASE?


Note: Reason why there was no entertainment is that Alivin.High.School was having its 35 year reunion on the back patio...And you can see little man's foot sticking in bottom left of picture. He was zonked after shopping and drinking! I mean....it was nap time.

Sunday, we took the boat out to Lake.Houston with our niece (HA -she's 45!) and her husband. It was their first time on our boat, or should we call her Mrs. Thought-she-was-fixed-but-still-having-motor-issues-which-might-or-might-not-be-electrical. UGH. We still had a good time though. Just sometimes when we were driving fast, suddenly we were driving not so fast. We drove the boat to Cedar.Landing.Restaurant and had some good seafood (weird we had seafood both days!). While we were eating there was a thunderstorm coming across the lake. We started back slowly to try and miss it and then there was a thunderhead coming up behind us so then we had to hurry. Caught between 2 storms! Never fear, though Mrs. Finicky-Pants decided to work correctly on the trip back. I even got me a little sunshine! First time all summer!

Monday - Labor Day = ZERO LABOR FOR US...actually it was zero effort for anything actually. I stayed in my pj's all day long! We watched some good old HBO and Lifetime movies! Very restful. Like so restful I was praying I had one more outfit left to wear to work on Tuesday becasue we didn't even do laundry all weekend!

Now suddenly its Thursday. We're going to do our civic, ok not civic, but volunteer duties tonight and help out at the sign shop at the rodeo grounds. Our committe makes all the signs for the rodeo. Like ALL.OF.THEM - entrance, exit, cowboys here, beer tokens, sponsor signs, etc. For example, we made all of the ones shown in the background of this picture which I stole from the PLSR website.

Miles started turkey this week! It's kind of weird because its grainy but looks, smells and tastes like turkey with gravy! He is warming up to it. It's his first food other than cereal. I know some of you are GEEKING because "you're supposed to start babies on vegetables first" but not according to our American.Association.Of.Pediatrics book. There is lots more protein in meat than veggies and the recommended order is meat, veggies, fruit. Meat, however is the one category of baby food that I don't think I want to cook myself. But thanks to the great Allison with step by step instructions and pics! we are going to attempt veggies and fruit on our own. Next week - CHICKEN!

*I have taken photos of this, I promise. Again...on the camera.

Yesterday, my dear friend Steph's grandma passed away. She had been fighting for quite some time. I am sad for her because tomorrow she, Drew, and her mom were flying to Ohio to visit her as she has been in and out of several hospitals. Now, they will be attending her funeral. This makes me very sad. But it also reminds me of something my mom says about everytime God takes an angel home, he has to put another one on Earth in her place. Yesterday my friend Erin gave birth to a 6 lb 8 oz angel named Sydney. And even though they don't know each other, I know they will each hold a special place in my heart for having both graced us on that blessed day, 09/09/09.

Wordless Wednesday

Stats About Me - FB style

According to statsaboutme (Face.book app)...

You have 431 friends, 311 more than average. 37% are male, 63% are female. 58 are single, 296 are dating or married. If you contracted a deadly variant of flu, you would likely infect 12 people, 2 of whom would die. If you died today, an estimated 516 people would try to attend your funeral. Based on your Facebook profile, you have a 92% probability of getting married. You are likely to earn US$2.7 million and have 2.4 children over your lifetime.

So my apologies to those 2 people I could possibly infect and kill.
I pray that 516 people show up at my funeral.
Pretty sure that 92% probability of getting married is a little off... by like 8%.
And when are that remaining 1.4 children going to show up?

Wordless Wednesday

Baby Rump cake I made last night for a practice run for a shower later this month...


***Updated to add: Here's my afternoon snack. Weird, but yummy!