PUKE!!!!!

I did it to myself...just this Saturday, I said..."we've been lucky so far, we haven't had to deal with vomit...I don't do vomit". Well...Today...I do vomit. YUCK!!! I heard Emilie fussing at 6:40 this morning which is early for her, then I heard her cough...huh...that's odd. Braden came in a little later with her (he gets her out of bed and brings her to me to nurse, and YES I said nurse) and says "she threw up all over herself." Nice. I don't do vomit so nursing a baby whose little hands smell like puke is not the way I want to wake up, in fact, afterwards I handed her to her daddy and said I'm going back to bed! LOL. I hoped I would wake up and all would be well in her little world. But we had to take several things into consideration first. 1. She's been on an antibiotic for a sinus infection that had been wreaking havoc on her little system. 2. She'd had diarrhea for almost two weeks due to said antibiotic, even with yogurt and a probiotic. 3. She is an eater...I mean an EATER...but she's not really eaten well in 4-5 days. 4. She finally ate a decent meal last night and then promptly threw it up this morning. 1+2+3+4 = phone call to Doctor = Visit. The Dr felt like it probably wasn't viral...too many things involved for it to conveniently be viral, but who knows. She also thinks her little tummy is just having some issues with the antibiotic and thought the vomiting was a one time deal (which was proven wrong the minute we walked back in the door). She's a little concerned about the cause so we've got to do some poop samples (can you say FUN?!) and let them know if anything changes at all. But its likely just her body telling us that the antibiotic was tough on her--at least that's my hope. But we also spent nearly every day this week with her playgroup buddies so it COULD be viral.

Since she's been sickly this month I've checked her temperature easily a dozen times. And I'm learning that holding down a toddler to try to get an underarm or worse...a rectal reading is near impossible. Emilie fights and screams through the entire experience. I'm tired of the fight. We had a Moby ear/forehead thermometer we got as a shower gift when she was born. It never worked right and now won't even turn on. I've been looking at forehead thermometers but never want to dull out the cash, but I think its time to get a good one, its an investment and we'll have it forever...right?? I did some research and found that the The Exergen TemporalScanner Temporal Artery Thermometer is the best rated one out there. I've found it on Amazon and Target for about $33 which is better than I expected to find them. I was going to order it on Amazon because I have prime and it would get here by Wednesday but I need to go grab some Lysol and more Gatorade anyway so I'll just get it at my local Target. Any excuse to go to Target is fine by me. Now I just have to wait until her Daddy can stay with her because there is no way I'm taking a puky kid out!!!

Here's a sweet (but horrible quality) picture of my sweet girl. I handed her the blankie and she snuggled up in her favorite spot with it herself. I got some other precious ones on my camera but haven't had time to upload them yet. I promise to do so before the end of the day because they are just too cute. She loves her blankie!

Emilie times SEVEN

Today was a new experience for Emilie. We had a playdate at our house with six of Emilie's little friends. Including Em we had SEVEN babies between 13 and 22months old. It was wild. It was also a LOT of fun. The kids all played very nicely and enjoyed their snack of fruit and cookies. Everywhere we looked there was a baby, Mommy or TOY. Toys were strewn all over the house, but everyone played sooo well. No fighting over toys or tantrums...it really was nice. I think one of the best parts of the playdates is the Mommy time we get. I know we do playdates to socialize our kiddos but I think its equally important for us Mom's to socialize. I'm so thankful for the group of ladies I've met because of Emilie.

After our playdate I fed Emilie quickly and then we went to my Aunts for dinner. It was nice to sit and visit with my aunt and cousin. Emilie played so nicely over there, she really is a good little girl. Some days she gives me a run for my money but days like today she makes me incredibly proud. We stayed a little later than we usually would so we had to come home and get her straight to bed. We even skipped reading tonight which we NEVER do. When we were saying our prayers before I laid her down she was practically trying to climb out of my arms and into her crib, to say she was tired and ready for bed, is an understatement to be sure. I laid her down and said my goodnights and when I came in to turn on the monitor I could see that she hadn't even rolled over, she just fell asleep exactly as I left her and almost immediately. I enjoy days like today because she's worn out and ready for bed and I know she had fun, but I'm equally ready for a slower day in the very near future so we can rest up a bit.

Now if we can just stop having to Shout several outfits a day I would be happy. Luckily tomorrow is the final day of the antibiotics and we'll continue the probiotics until things are back to normal. I'm hopeful it won't be long. Poor little girl :(

OH!! I learned something this week. Emilie comprehends a LOT more than I gave her credit for. I'm not sure why I didn't think she understood as much as she does. She's really good about sitting on her bottom when told to in her favorite green chair or after a bath, but the other night she was grabbing things off her Daddy's nightstand and I finally just said (more to myself than her) "Emilie please put that back" and I about fell out of my chair when the little toot walked back into our bedroom and put it back! I was shocked!! So I'm trying to talk more to her and she's talking back. It amazes me how smart they can be!! I watched several little ones signing to their Mommies today and know we need to work on her signing more. She'll tell me she's done in her highchair but that's about the only one she consistently uses...She is starting to talk some though so either way we're getting somewhere slowly but surely when it comes to communication.

Alright. I'm beat! NIGHT!!!

Was worried about Poop...what about the pee??

Well, I decided to let her run naked after her bath this morning since we have tile in the master. She ran around like she was FREE!!! She was loving it. I was getting ready for the day and standing at the sink when she walked up and basically straddled my foot and let go. She peed a HUGE puddle and I felt every last drop!! I was shocked at how much could come out of such a little body, but she had two cups of juice already at that point. When I looked down and told her what she had just done she smiled up at me with the biggest most rotten grin...I think she knew exactly what she was doing!

Unfortunately even with her nakey time her little bottom is still really bothering her. I went ahead and started a new course of butt treatment--Maalox. I still think this is crazy but have been told it works and works within about 24 hours. I used a cotton ball and smeared it on and then topped it with aquaphor (which I had to buy more of today...that stuff is EXPENSIVE!!!). I'm really hoping she gets some relief quickly, but I suppose she'd have to stop having liquid poo for that to happen too and today I changed eight of those diapers. Luckily she's drinking a ton of fluids so I'm praying we wont have issues with her dehydrating.

Otherwise she was a happy girl today, lots of love and kisses. She was a hold me baby this evening but I never mind those nights. We did some grocery shopping this morning and I had her dressed in a cute little red Minnie Mouse shirt and khaki shorts and several times at the store people approached me about my cute little boy. UGH!!! I just smiled and nodded, no point in correcting people who I'll never see again, but it drives me crazy. I guess it doesn't help that the child has less hair than most newborns! She might have enough hair to look like a girl by the time she's ten,lol!

Well I just read through a small portion of this and realize that my already poor writing style is worse when I'm tired. Its past my bedtime!!!

Night ya'll!

Poop on the floor???

Sinus infection = antibiotics = runny poo = sore raw baby bottom :(

So Emilie is feeling MUCH better thanks to her antibiotic, but the side effect of runny poo is a little well...a little yucky. Poor baby girl was hanging out in her WHITE pj's this morning with her Daddy when I walked into the room and her, again WHITE pj's, were no longer white from her bottom to her knees!!! Can you say EWWWWWW!!! I said "babe, do you realize she has poop running down her legs??". LOL--nope...he had no clue. Unfortunately she's had 5 more of those diapers today which has taken a toll on her little bottom. We've started a course of pro-biotics and she eats yogurt really well, so hopefully that will help her little insides and I'm doctoring her bottom with a thick shmear of Aquaphor and then Desitin. I'm hoping that helps but the last time I had to change her before bed she was miserable being wiped and it broke my heart. I was told to let her roam diaper free as much as possible to get her little bottom some air...but...I HAVE CARPET!!!! So here's the dilemma, let her run free and chance a nice mess to clean up (again...EWWW) or let her suffer. I know what the answer is but I'm honestly gun shy. Which I can't really understand because I have dogs. Heck, I fostered dogs and more than a few have pooped on the floor (different house though) and we even have the little steam machine to clean messes up. But I still couldn't make myself undo her little diaper tonight. A friend told me to "contain her to a blanket to play on or something" and then we both laughed knowing that my busy bee is not containable, lol!

**And how ridiculous is it that I'm sitting her giggling to myself about the double meaning in the phrase gun shy for this use, I think Mommy brain has kicked in for the night and I'm left with as much maturity as a teenager**

Other than lots of diapers we've had a really nice day hanging out at home together. She has been in the cutest mood and played so nicely all day. She did lots of independent play with her books and climbing in and out of her chair. I've slightly given up that battle. I taught her how to get down and if asked to sit on her bottom she usually does. I realize that she will eventually fall out of it and have to pray that she bounces when she does, but she's a toddler now and she's learning new skills and I have to let her practice them. I do watch her carefully and ask her to sit if she's getting too crazy, but several times today she just crawled up in it to sit and talk to a toy--super cute!! Not only was she super cute with me today, but she was really loving on her Abbey. She definitely prefers Abbey over Mac (she is so my kid!)and today after sharing a snack with me she took her last two bites and walked them over to feed Abbey. Abbey was a little confused and looked at me for an okay and then sweetly let Emilie feed her. It was cute. I'll attach a picture of the exchange but please forgive how Emilie looks. I gave up on pants after she pooped through two pairs and it was just a stay home and comfy kind of day.

And just in case you were wondering...yes...we're still nursing ;) We did drop another feeding this week so we're down to morning and night. I feel good about it because she's adjusted very well to losing her mid-day nurse, but when I ask her if she's ready at night she's practically freaking out with joy so I know she misses it a little.

Ok it's past my bedtime!! Gotta rest up so I can keep up tomorrow :)

Sick babies

I think the worst part of parenting has to be watching your baby be sick and be completely useless in easing their discomfort. I'm incredibly grateful that the worst illness we've dealt with are strep, reflux, teething, or sinus infections, but even though they are minor illnesses...its still AWFUL to watch your child suffer. My little one has been suffering for ten days with a summer cold/allergies that eventually turned into a sinus infection. Watching her struggle to breathe while she eats or NURSES (yup...still doing the dreaded N word)is awful, it really breaks my heart. But the little piglet presses on, even though it takes twice as long and she's really uncomfortable she's doing her best to eat me out of house and home. Now if she'll just sleep tonight I'll be happy. Lastnight she had me up from 4:45-6:15am crying, it was pathetic...she didn't really want me, she just wanted to lay in her crib and cry. I felt so bad for her. I thought she'd take a great nap today but nope...40 min tops. Thankfully the Dr. felt like she definitely had a sinus infection and was able to start her on some antibiotics. I'm praying that this will finally bring us some relief. I am a little concerned that this is her second sinus infection...my Mom and I are both prone to them and I'm really hoping that Em isn't.

Even though she hasn't felt well for the last week, she's really been active as usual. She's perfected her walking and is everywhere! Today she walked all over the Dr. office and they ate it up...they chased her all over the place, sometimes I think they make me bring her in just to play with her, she gets lots of attention at her visits, lol. Not only has she perfected her walking, she's climbing!!! We have some chairs that apparently are reasonably low that she's figured out she can climb into. I think she's encouraging early graying with all her climbing lately. I'm terrified she will fall, but I did teach her how to safely get down and she's doing that well.

Last week I worked a lot and enjoyed it! I was doing some work that was fun to do which is of course the best kind of work. I had another meeting about other new work, but I don't think that will start right away -- and its not fun work, lol...I don't think. I'm hoping to get some more fun work soon :) I need to get my sewing machine out and do a couple of the projects on my list and see what comes of that. I've considered doing a few and putting them on etsy just to see...but I've been all talk about it for months and months. I want to actually do it, but just can't seem to get it done. I'm hoping to push it up further on my to-do list. I need something to push me to do it. Maybe an incentive. I'm good at working with an incentive hanging over my head, lol. I always give myself little incentives to do things I don't want to do. Have to go to a function I don't want to attend?? Ok...do it, but after I get ice-cream!!! Maybe my first step is to figure out a good incentive...then start my projects :) Now...what's a good incentive??

Peek-a-boo

Today we played lots and lots of peek-a-boo. We seem to do this any day that she's a little out of sorts and needing extra blankie time. She woke up from her nap and grabbed her blankie when I reached to pick her up, so I knew she wasn't feeling quite herself. She LOVES her blankie, which honestly...I totally love. I don't know about you, but I had a security item and its a constant I reminder from my childhood and something I still smile at just the thought of. I was a blankie baby as well, my grandmother- Meme, made me a blanket when I was born and that poor thing has seen better days, but it's still around tucked away safely in my hope chest. Emilie's grandmother, Grammie Becca, knitted her a blanket and she's had it since before she was born. She's been napping with it since she was three months old (it has holes in it and we have a video monitor...take a breath!! LOL) and sleeping with it at night since six months old. In the last several months she's become more and more attached to it and now I find her snuggled up with it in the night instead of just leaving it draped over her. I love seeing her snuggle her blankie and it makes me so happy that its something her Grammie made her much like the one my Meme made for me.

I feel like I just wrote in circles about absolutely nothing! Sorry about that! I was thinking today about how much being a Mom has really changed me. A girlfriend and I were talking this evening about life changes. Specifically work changes. Both of us are in the midst of our work lives changing and we discussed that we used to care a lot more about the WHAT we were doing. Titles used to be so much more important. In fact, I can honestly say that when it comes to work/career...I only understand labels and titles. My grandparents were teachers, my mom a nurse, and I am a designer. My degree is in Interior Design, I've spent years working in the various parts of the industry but am not at all where I would imagined, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, its just different than I planned. Plan...I should just laugh at that word. My mom said it best when she said "the best way to make God laugh...is to make a plan". How true is that?! ANYWAYS...We both agreed that although its hard for us to wrap our heads around the feeling...neither of us care as much about what we're doing anymore. Its just about doing what it takes to provide for our family in the way they need. And that need is different for every family. I have no idea what the future holds for us, but if I've learned anything at all in the past few years I've learned that my plans for our future might as well be written on toilet paper and flushed straight down. I'm being completely serious about this. If you had any idea what kinds of things we've faced in the last four years you'd agree with me. I'm a planner. I'm an OBSESSIVE planner. So this is a VERY difficult concept for me to grasp...but I'm working on only taking one day on at a time. To make the best decision for our family I can on that day and just pray and trust that it will take us where we're supposed to be. Because I have NO CLUE where we are supposed to be...that much is clear. My plans of where we were supposed to be have been proved wrong, wrong, and wrong again. So my new plan...my new goal...is no plans. Take each day as it comes, put one foot in front of the other, make the best decisions we can make on that day, and learn to trust. So instead of making plans or pulling the blanket over my face and hiding...I'm going to take a note from my daughter and just smile.

First Temper Tantrum

Mind you she's only 13 Months old...but yesterday we had our first full out temper tantrum! And I couldn't help but crack up! We had gotten her dressed for her boyfriends first birthday party, she was in a cute pink onesie and an overall jumper from her Grammie. I THINK that the jumper was too long and it bothered her when she crawled and then would pull the metal at the shoulders down bothering her shoulders...but since she can't tell me, that's just a guess. What I do know is that she sat in the floor yelling and pulling at the shoulder straps! She would not stop yelling and tugging until I finally undid them, then she was perfectly happy. It was hysterical!! Luckily we had another equally cute denim jumper to put her in that was a little shorter and didn't seem to bother her at all. Needless to say...my one year old already has an opinion on her clothes! OY...we're in trouble!

On another random note, I had a conversation with a friend Friday that has stuck with me about faith. We were talking about the big life changes we were facing and I mentioned a favorite part of the Ruth Graham book I've been reading. She talks about worry and anxiety in not knowing which direction to go when faced with a life change. Her advice is to just walk through the open doors until one closes, then walk through the next open one. Even if we don't know what's on the other side He does...and we need to have faith that He will point us in the right direction, even if it isn't the route we would have chosen to take. I told my friend that this is an incredibly hard concept for me, I like to have a plan. I've been told that I was bad about this as a small child, its just how I've always been. So I tend to want to stand on the outside of the door peeking in to see what's inside instead of taking the leap of faith and just walking through. Again we're back to the fact that I'm a CHICKEN! I was faced with having to take that giant leap this week and walk through a door. I won't know for a while what the effects of that decision will be, but I have faith that it was the right decision. I'm proud of myself for just moving...its so easy to stay stuck in fear and I didn't let that happen.

Oh...and we're still nursing :) Get used to it! We talked to her Doctor this week and she said Em is doing wonderfully and I'm doing everything right for MY baby. So we're down to 2-3 time daily and I'll drop them when we choose. :)

On a less happy Emilie note...we found out she has a peanut allergy this week. Can you say SCARY?! She's had two noticeable reactions to peanut butter, the second was atleast 10x worse than the first which worries me. We took pictures and headed to the Doctor (after drowning her in Benadryl). By the time she saw the doctor the hives and rash had disappeared and just a little swelling was left. Luckily I'd thought to take pictures so she was able to see how bad it had been. She said that we have to avoid peanuts for sure but really ALL nuts for Emilie for many years. When Emilie is older (like late grade school) we can try an oral challenge and see if she has outgrown it or is possibly a candidate for desensitization therapy, but for now prevention is key. We sent out a mass email to family asking them to help us protect her by not having peanut products in her presence and to let us know if they can't be avoided at a function so we can choose to stay home. We built a stock of allergy fast action strips, pre-meausured liquid doses, and purchased her first epi-pen. I hope she never has to use it. But aren't we the pair with our almost matching epi-pens everywhere we go, lol. The more I learn about a peanut allergy the more worried I become, it can be a very serious and potentially life threatening allergy, but already having one of those myself I'm hopeful that we'll be able to protect her from any future incidences. And sadly you won't find peanut butter in my home anymore...its one of my favorite foods, but its not worth the risk.

One last note...She's walking! It's about 50/50 walking and crawling, but she can walk from one room to another so I suppose that means my baby is officially a TODDLER?! OY!

Here's a picture of the allergic reaction:


And here is her just being cute :)


And last, one of her with her blankie :)

Today was all smiles!

Today was all smiles for everyone here!! It started off with a wonderful blast from the past. I found myself very grateful and reminded that God is in control and that we will be taken care of. Things are starting to really look like they may be falling into place for some wonderful opportunities. After my awesome blast from the past we headed off to Kindermusik to enjoy class with our Mommy and baby friends. It was a great class as usual and I'm so glad we're doing it. Its not only wonderful for Emilie but its a great reminder that there are other Mommies out there going through the same things. We have almost as much fun together as the kiddos do!! We'd only been home a few hours when the phone rang again with more encouraging news for us...that's about the time I took this picture of Emilie, her huge smile is the perfect picture of how I am feeling today. And I guess the extra pep in my step was great because I was incredibly productive and am ending my day feeling really good about everything I've done today. Which by the way...is a pretty fantastic feeling! So today I'm borrowing a friends catch phrase, because today it really is true. Life is good!!!

On another note Emilie was a walking fool tonight!!! She tends to walk the most when no one is paying attention, we've even seen her walking and then the minute she sees us watching she drops to her knees. I think it's hilarious. But tonight I was finally able to get the camera in time and catch a few steps. Unforunately she'd decided to drown her dress playing with her sippy cup so she's looking a little on the ghetto side, but still perfectly precious :)