Swine Flu- no, we don’t have it!

Filed Under Asthma, Church, Second Pregnancy, Sick | 3 Comments

I have to admit that I am keeping Bailey home a lot more in hopes of not getting the swine flu. Normally I am NOT one of “those” paranoid moms who doesn’t go to public places for fear of germs. But I feel like we have two strikes against us already with Bailey having asthma and me being pregnant. I am still not sure whether we will get the vaccination if/when it becomes available. I am leaning toward NO but I am not 100% decided. Please don’t turn this into a vaccine debate, thanks. But so far we have kept her out of church nursery and just stayed home the past two Sundays, and we plan to stay home again this week. Also my mom has been watching her on Tuesday mornings so that she doesn’t have to go to church childcare. I love our nursery and I can’t say enough about how clean and well-run it is, but two year olds are just so stinkin germy. I am hoping that if we can avoid this for another week or two it will have run its course in our area and our church. Please pray for us that we stay well!

Rockabye Baby Lullabye CD

Filed Under Baby Gear, Music | 1 Comment

A few weeks ago I was sent a great CD by Rockabye Baby. This company makes lullaby cd’s with instrumental, soothing versions of familiar songs. You can choose which artist you are interested in, and get a whole CD of “their” music.

The one that I chose was The Beatles. The CD includes songs like “All You Need is Love” and “Penny Lane.” Instead of singing and guitars and drums, the music is made by bells and what sounds like perhaps a xylophone. I was curious to get the CD and see what it was like. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but I was very pleasantly surprised. The music is so relaxing and doesn’t get on my nerves like some kids songs that I hear over and over. Bailey seemed to like the music too. She is not used to sleeping with music on but she still didn’t try to stay awake to sing along or anything, since it was just instrumental. We will probably use this CD in the new baby’s room once he is born.

We might order a few of these, too, so we can have a variety. I like the idea of playing music for babies. Rockabye Baby has a really wide variety of artists available, including Metallica, U2, Bob Marley, Nine Inch Nails, Queen, Green Day, Coldplay, and Led Zeppelin. The CD prices are comparable to what you would find in a retail store and the shipping is really reasonable.

Puckin Patch

Filed Under Family, Outings, Two and a half years old | 2 Comments

Last weekend we went to the Pumpkin Patch… or as Bailey says, “the puckin patch.” We thought it was going to be chilly but it ended up being sunny and a really nice day. There was so much to do. She was SO excited!!

She wanted to explore all the dark hay bale mazes and I was wishing I brought a flashlight. She did the tire swings and big slide over and over with Daddy. I tried to get her to wear her sunglasses so she won’t need wrinkle cream when she gets older…

She rode on the little tractor-

Just like last year! Remember this?

There were tons of great photo opportunities. She didn’t want to sit still for too long, though!

We rode on a hayride through the fields and saw the different crops. I tried to explain that we were on a farm and the farmers were growing vegetables.

We shared a funnel cake (well, I think Jonathon and Bailey might have gotten a few bites anyway) and barbecue beef brisket sandwiches and lemonade.

Bailey got to choose her own pumpkin and then insisted on pulling it all the way to the car all. by. herself. in the wagon. Which took quite a while.

But she was in a great mood all day, and we really had a nice time. The bigger she gets, the more Jonathon sees that it is actually fun to go do activities as a family. It’s much easier to convince him now than it used to be.

We’re ready for the zoo!

Filed Under Halloween, Holidays, Talking, Two and a half years old | 4 Comments

Tomorrow we are going to the trick or treat event at our zoo. Bailey is so excited. We tried on her costume tonight (yes, for the first time!) and it is a little big but it looks cute anyway. It is a Cinderella costume but she has no idea who Cinderella is- she just wanted to be a princess. She keeps saying “I want to wear my princess!”

I think we are going to have to layer it with a shirt and pants underneath. It’s supposed to be chilly but that’s not going to keep us home. She was so excited to put her jammies on and go to bed so that we could wake up and go to the zoo sooner. Let’s cross our fingers that she doesn’t get up at 3 a.m. now. She keeps saying “It’s a holiday Mom!”

Here she is all jammied up and ready for bed. Nite nite, princess Bailey.

My Girl Detective

Filed Under Clothes, Two and a half years old | 2 Comments

I have to admit, I am slightly obsessed with this line from Gymboree. It’s called Girl Detective and it’s from 2007. I know I don’t talk much about kids clothes on here because I know most of you aren’t as crazy as I am. But I seriously cannot pass up a single baby girl thing from this line. This was my much coveted sweater dress which I first bought in 2T and then sized up to 3T because of length. Since I put so much effort into tracking down this outfit I figured I better share a picture!

Or two.

What’s not for dinner

Filed Under Complaining, Cooking/Baking | 3 Comments

Well let’s see… I have forgotten to thaw any chicken, hamburger, pork chops, etc. Our pantry and refrigerator are both fairly empty. Our grill is out of gas or whatever it uses (HONEY- PLEASE REMEMBER TO GO GET MORE! THIS IS NOT A GIRL JOB!) I wish I could enter “spices and dry pasta and frozen meat and lunch meat and canned veggies” into allrecipes.com and have them actually suggest a dinner to make. That’s about what I have to work with. So barring a creative miracle, we’re having spaghetti and canned peas and garlic bread. Not too horrible but I’m pretty sure we had that last week too…

Bucket List

Filed Under Random | 1 Comment

Just a fun list passed along from a family member…

Put an X next to the things you have done at some point in your life. Feel free to copy and play along on your own blog!

(x) Shot a gun
(x) Gone on a blind date
(x) Skipped school.
( ) Watched someone die
(x) been to Canada
( ) Been to Alaska
( ) Been to Europe
( ) Been to Las Vegas
(x) Been to Mexico
(x) Been to Florida
(x) Been on a plane
(x) Been on a cruise ship
( ) Served on a jury
(x) Been lost
(x) Gone to Washington , DC
(x) Swam in the ocean
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
(x) Played cops and robbers
(x) Played cowboys/girls and Indians
(x) Recently colored with crayons
(x) Sang Karaoke
(x) Paid for a meal with coins only
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t
(x) Made prank phone calls
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose.
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(x) Danced in the rain (played)
(x) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(x) Been kissed under the mistletoe-
(x) Watched the sunrise with someone
(x) Blown bubbles
(x) Gone ice-skating
(x) Gone snow skiing
(x) Camped out under the stars.
(x) Seen something so beautiful that it took your breath away?
(x) Are or have been Married?
(x) Children?
(x) Have/had a Pet?
(x) Been skinny dipping outdoors
(x) Been fishing
(x) Been boating
( ) Been water skiing
(x) Been hiking
(x) Been camping in a trailer/RV
( ) Flown in a small 4 seater airplane
( ) Flown in a glider
( ) Been flying in a hot air balloon –
(x) Been bungee-jumping or sky-diving
(x) Gone to a drive-in movie
(x) Done something that should have killed you
( ) Sold whole life insurance

2 1/2 Years Old

Filed Under Being a Mom, Food, Learning, Talking, Two and a half years old, classes | 3 Comments

Bailey Bug,

Happy “half birthday” little sweetie! You are the love of my life. You have a strong little personality (hmmm just like your mommy!) and you are so smart and funny. You are becoming more affectionate and even more independent! You love going to your classes at the early childhood center and at The Little Gym. You are very brave at gymnastics but you always want to do everything by yourself. You know now that we are getting a baby brother at our house. Sometimes you are excited about this, and sometimes you don’t want to talk about it. I am trying to follow your lead and not make too big of a deal about it.

Two weeks ago you had your first ambulance ride. You tripped and fell into the kitchen doorway. Your forehead split open and you ended up getting glued back together at the hospital. You still talk about it, and how you don’t want to bump your head. You say “I rided in the ambalance” and will tell anyone your hospital story. You still won’t let us peel what’s left of the bandage off. I keep telling you that I am cutting your hair and clipping little parts off since you don’t want anyone to touch it.

In the last few months we have started calling you “Bugle Bug” and you laugh at all your nicknames. If we ask “Where is Muffie?” You say “Right here, Mommy!” If I make a comment like “I’m cold” you say “You’re not cold, you’re Mommy!” and you laugh. You have also started interrupting when I am talking to Daddy, and saying “Mommy stop talking to Daddy!” and waving your hand at us. We are trying to correct your behavior and manners but sometimes it’s so hard not to smile. Today you had the biggest fit EVER when it was time to get dressed. You were saying “No take off my pants Mommy!” and kicking and it took everything I had to wrestle you into your clothes. Age two can be quite a challenge for both of us. Fortunately you have more sunshiney moments than difficult ones!

You still amaze us with your vocabulary and your counting and letter skills. You know the sound each letter makes, thanks to your Leapfrog Letter Factory video. You love to learn and figure out new concepts. You also- just like your Daddy- love to watch tv. Your current favorites are Franny’s Feet, SuperWhy, and Barney. You are kind of over Elmo (sad, but I don’t miss it… yet…) and you hate Dragon Tales- which for some reason you call Dinosaur Train. If it comes on you freak out and find me to change the channel. “No no I don’t like Dinosaur Train! Turn it off Mommy, I don’t like to watch it!” I have banned your father from watching the news when you are in the room because you are just way too observant and you also get scared easily.

Your new favorite food is crackers with peanut butter. You still love cottage cheese and fruit snacks, of course. We are learning about healthy foods vs. junk snacks at our house so that you can start making good food choices. With my help, of course. You can tell us “Junk snacks don’t give my body energy. I need energy!” You also have a love for orange juice, which definitely did NOT come from me. I still water it down a lot and you only get one glass a day.

I love having a “helper” when I deliver my Avon, put the laundry in the dryer, and clean up toys. You love to help me and you love to clean. I guess you didn’t get that from me, either. You have a very loving personality. You always want to share your snacks and treats. Just today you offered me your last fruit snack that you spent forever digging out of the package. You like to do “noses” at bedtime (Eskimo kisses, I think is what it’s called) and to pray before you go to sleep. Last night you thanked God for all your family and friends by name, and then for your lunch, your animal game, and your class. So sweet!

Speaking of class, here is a picture of you today at your music class. On your actual half birthday… You are now closer to three and I can’t believe you are growing up so fast! I love you so much. You are the baby who made me a mommy, you are the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen, and you hold my heart in your hand.

Love, Mommy

Live Chat on Blogs

Filed Under Blogging, Technology | 1 Comment

Has anyone done/hosted a live chat on their blog before? I am not so much interested in doing it just for my blog readers (because let’s face it, I know I’m not famous) but more as a way for a group of people to talk online. I have no idea how to go about setting it up or anything or if I am too technically challenged for that. I am also looking into doing conference calls that you can set up online.

Miami and Nassau

Filed Under Avon, Cruise, This Rocks, Travel | 2 Comments

I wanted to try to at least post some pictures of my Avon cruise. This is the trip I won over the summer for my sales. Thanks again to everyone who helped me out!

We were flown into Miami and had a welcome dinner. There were over 950 Avon reps on this trip. We stayed at the Downtown Hilton and it was really nice. I spent that first afternoon at the pool until I had to get ready for dinner.

The view from my hotel room… I love cities where all the buildings downtown are white- it just looks so much cleaner! My city has kind of a crummy downtown area in a lot of spots.

Me with one of the “Avon Celebrities” at the dinner. There were a few president/ceo/important type people there and we got our pictures taken. I am just leaving her name out for goo.gle reasons.

One of the pools on the top deck of our ship. It was 12 stories high and my room was on the 9th floor- which had the biggest staterooms except for the suites. It was still only something like 160 square feet! Rooms on ships are tiny!

On the island of Nassau

Straw market

Snorkeling- the snorkeling here was the best snorkeling expedition I have ever been on. The water is SO clear and beautiful. It was 15-20 feet deep where we were and you could see straight to the bottom and see every detail on the coral. There were thousands of fish- all different kinds. It probably helped that our guide was throwing Cheetos off the boat to make the fish come!

I know I am so behind on posting and I have millions of pictures to wade through but at least I got started…

It’s a…

Filed Under Doctor Stuff, Gender, Second Pregnancy, This Rocks | 13 Comments

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BOY!

We’re so excited! I didn’t even realize how much I wanted a little boy until I found out! The ultrasound took over two hours- after it got started a full hour late- because they were training someone. This isn’t my regular doctor but the women’s center for fetal something or other at the hospital. Then the longest ultrasound ever, then the big doctor came in to check the baby’s heart because I had heart surgery as a baby. Everything looks great and there are no abnormalities anywhere, all body parts are present and accounted for. God is so good!

19 week ultrasound…

Filed Under Second Pregnancy | 8 Comments

Is tomorrow! Do you think Baby #2 is a boy or a girl?

My Avon Cruise

Filed Under Travel | 2 Comments

I am leaving tomorrow morning for my cruise! I was hoping to post again tonight and share some more pictures but in case I don’t get a chance… bye!!

Have I told you how much I love her?

Filed Under Being a Mom, Random, Two Years Old | 1 Comment

This girl… I love her so much.

So this week has been fun…

Filed Under Allergies, Are you kidding me?, Asthma, Difficult Stuff, Doctor Stuff, Firsts, Sick, Two Years Old | 8 Comments

We started out with a visit to the pediatrician on Monday because Bailey had trouble breathing during the night. Once again, her lungs were fine, ears were fine, nose was fine, etc and no explanation for the breathing or chronic coughing. They assume it’s her allergies again. Meanwhile I am getting much less sleep than I need to be.

Tuesday her coughing seemed to be getting worse. Then Tuesday night she fell and busted her head open… resulting in an ambulance ride and a night at the hospital. The reason we called the ambulance- other than the massive bleeding- was because she started falling asleep right away. I actually sat on my front porch to make sure the ambulance could find us. It’s funny the things you do when you panic. I had the sense to change my shirt and grab my phone and charger on the way out the door too. The police and firetruck showed up first because the ambulance came from another district. She started calming down right away because she was excited about all the sirens and lights. Silly girl. We rode with the lights on but not the siren because they didn’t want to scare her. She had to sit on my lap on the stretcher- the other option was them strapping her down alone which was just not going to happen.

They were able to use glue instead of stitches or staples on her injury. I was glad because it is supposed to scar less. The worst part was holding her down to get it washed out- it took the doctor, two nurses, and Jonathon and me to do it. Then after we were released she started throwing up so we had to spend the night at the hospital. Several drugs, an IV, and a ct-scan later, we were released. Her results were all normal and we were told to keep her head dry for a few days, limit her activity, and don’t let her bump anything. That was Wednesday morning so my mom picked her up and let Jonathon and I sleep and get stuff done around the house.

By the way if anyone knows how to get blood out of your carpet, please let me know. Of course it’s right at the top of our stairs near the entryway. I have gotten it to fade but not a whole lot. I have been looking for something also to pad our doorway with. She needs some kind of fall protection or corner guards. The spot where she hit her head was in the doorway to our kitchen. It’s one of those cut out doorways that doesn’t have a door frame in it- basically drywall with metal in the corners or something. Probably the hardest place she could possibly have hit her head of course. So we need to fix that. The things that you don’t think of babyproofing until your child gets hurt…

Wednesday she seemed to be recovering from the head injury but she started coughing until she threw up. Back to the pediatrician on Thursday morning about the coughing (again) and to get her head checked. Her ped ran a test and had us do a chest x ray. The conclusion is that she most likely has cough-variant asthma which would explain why she coughs all night long for weeks at a time. We are borrowing a nebulizer for two weeks and if that stops the coughing then we will talk about a preventative treatment plan and visit a specialist. They think it is allergy-induced because it’s much much worse in spring and fall, and seems to come along with a runny nose. Yesterday we did her breathing treatments every four hours, once during the night, and today we have spaced them back to every six hours. She has only coughed a handful of times (even in the night) since starting them. So I think this is working!

As much as I hate for my child to have asthma- it could be SO much worse. I know someone whose three year old just got diagnosed with CF, and I kept thinking of all the crazy things that could be causing the coughing. I am thankful to have an answer and that it is getting better now.

The first few treatments, she hated it. Now she will hold the mask herself if I let her sit in front of the tv while we do it. That’s a small price to pay to avoid two of us holding her down for the entire treatment!