Joys of Motherhood.

It's 4:30am and I've been up for an hour and have been puked on. I have wireless internet in my house now so I can get online and post about it! :)

I changed shirts and layed down with her in my bed for a bit, but Joe's snoring go to be a little much so now she's in her swing. Poor girl still has a nasty cough and sounds AWFUL. Why do babies have to get sick? It's just not fair. And I don't mean my having to get up with her, but just her little self being all icky. I would love to take it away and let me be sick instead. :(

Our tile is progressing. My hubby taught me how to cut tiles with the tile saw last night and I cut a dozen or so! I felt like the HGTV crew jump out of the bushes (okay, tree) and start filming me in my safety glasses and ear phones (we didn't have plugs). I was SO nervous about having my fingers so close to a spinning blade but eventually realized that as long as I paid attention I probably wouldn't saw them off. Ever seen the movie Walk The Line? Made me think of that scene where his brother comes home all bloody. I didn't want to get all bloody.

God Bless that swing. Bayley has been falling asleep in it every naptime and at bedtime for the past couple of weeks. It works so much faster than if we sit with her in the glider (which is now in Z's room because the chaise is in Bay's room). She doesn't try to stay awake longer to talk to us and after she's asleep I just unbuckle her and love on her for a few mins and finally put her to bed.

I think she's asleep. I'll let her sleep a few more mins so she doesn't wake up when I pick her up. I gave her Benadryl to help her with the sneezing and a side benefit is that it makes her sleepy. The AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics, who all pediatricians are associated with) has a blanket recommendation now to not give cold medicines - including Benadryl - to babies under 2 years old. They say it doesn't help and it can speed up or slow down their heart rate. Yes, this is a new recommendation, as of a few months ago, but whenever I give it to her I keep a close eye on her. She's had it a few times and she's been fine, but I still check on her even in the middle of the night as I do with or without medicine.

I'm not sure if this post is making sense, because well... it's now 4:51am. I've been up since 3:30. And I think now I'm awake. I'll probably get sleepy sometime around when Bay wakes up at 7. Figures. I'd just watch tv (even CABLE now -- we got it Friday with the wireless internet!!! Luxurious Living, I tell you!) but our couch is in the dining area with the loveseat on it. And with our other living room furniture because we're still not done tiling. Bleh.

I think we'll be able to finish laying tile later today and then Monday we can start grouting after work. FUN STUFF. Then maybe Tuesday we can put the furniture back. All this means I was unable to cook my Thanksgiving dinner yesterday because I have nowhere to put food. I am thinking about doing it another weekend so Z will have his Tgiving dinner with us, albeit late, and then I can have room left in my cabinets and fridge for everyday foods. :) And stretching out Tgving is never wrong. :)

Okay, I'm babbling and still not sure if this is coherent so I'm gonna go check on Bay and put her to bed. I might try going back to bed or reading Twilight. I'm about halfway through.

A couple more pics.

My cousin's wife Amy, their son Tyler, my cousin Jason holding Bayley (they wanted to take her home with them. lol), and Jason's daughter Savannah the day before Thanksgiving at my grandmother's house.


Little Miss Boo Bear at my Dad's house on Thanksgiving.

Just Some Photos because I'm leaving to get Bay from daycare. She has a fever and a bad cough. And did I mention 4 babies in her class have croup?

Boo Bear asleep last night.

Z asleep last night.

My wonderful, sweet hubby laying tile in our living room. I get to grout it after it's all done and then I get to paint the trim a bright white.

Z playing with Bay last night before her bath. Sitting up BY HERSELF. :)

Dirty faced Bay the night before last right after dinner and just before her bath. Sitting up all by her big self!!!

Luxurious Lifestyle.

This morning I decided to order our phones. I got the Samsung Rugby for Joe since he is always outside and is very hard on his phone and I got the Blackjack for me. It's burgundy. :) I ordered this morning and the phones should come sometime tomorrow. Pretty exciting! If you want to find super sweet deals, go to Wirefly.com and you can do your existing account (through ATT, Verizon, etc) upgrade or you can get a new account. The benefit is AWESOME customer service and much better selection of phones for cheaper. Joe's phone cost $99.99 but mine was free PLUS I get a $50 rebate just for going with the Blackjack, so it's like Joe's only cost us $50. Yay!!

Aaaand. We have gone without internet at home for a few years because the last we had was dialup in our area. Now broadband is available and we're getting it! FRIDAY!!! I'm off work that day and they'll be there between 8 and 10am!! On top of that, we're getting expanded cable! I miss tv because I missed out on all the election coverage. I'm so sad. :( But NOW I get to watch Grey's Anatomy and House and Animal Planet and HGTV!!! Yay! We got the HBO package for $5 a month more and Joe wants that to see True Blood. I haven't seen or heard of that series but he's a vampire/werewolf fan.

I figure with us not really being able to go out much and since we rent movies like nobody's business, it's okay to splurge a little since gas has gone down to $1.62/gallon. We will rent fewer movies (which means less late fees) and we need the internet for his classes. So the only luxury is cable. Sorta. :)

We have started on the tile on our living room and hallway. We had to pull up our carpet over a year ago because the washer that came with the house decided to overflow one day (the timer that tells it when to stop filling up went out, I guess) and ruined the carpet. So we pulled it up (it was old anyway) and have been walking on our foundation for over a year. We're classy peeps, ya know. We finally got the funds together to get tile put in and it's looking awesome so far. I will take some pics tonight. I'm so excited!!

The bug man came out today and sprayed. Yay. Chemicals.

And now I'm trying to get all the receipts for my med flex account that has been questioned. It's doc office visits that I have to get a copy of the superbill for. Fun stuff.

Guess I'll get to that and writing checks for medical bills. FUN STUFF.

Bono Bay.

Just some pics..

This is the bib I got for Bayley at my work's gift shop. The floppy ears is/are (I can't figure out which to use!! AHHH) a removeable washcloth. Genius! Now I just need to figure out how to keep that white collar from getting stained orange.



This is a pretty tree in front of where I work. I took this pic with my phone on my way home one day. Thought it turned out pretty well.

Random Mumblings 2...

I am eligible for an upgrade for my cell phone and I definitely need it. Hubby does too. I have several options to choose from for me and am having trouble deciding.

Anyone have any helpful advice on: LG Vu, LG Shine, Blackjack II i617 or the Motorola Q9 Global?

Bay is still sick. I ended up picking her up from daycare around 1pm yesterday because she was extra fussy. I brought her back to work and she was slobbering all over one of my doc's badges. That doc has 3 girls, the youngest of which is just over a year old. So she didn't mind. :) Now my throat is sore too. I just hope we're better by Thanksgiving.

My diet is going well. According to the scale this AM, I've lost a total of 8.5 lbs in a week and a half. I hope that's right and not just a weird scale confusion thing.

My fingers are cold. They have a weird cold sensation. As I type this, I feel like gusts of cold air will swoosh out of my fingers. Weird, I know.

I want a HUGE mug of apple cider. Can't, though, because it has a ton of sugar in it...and I don't have any packets with me anyway.

I haven't been able to roast the pumpkin seeds or work on laundry or anything because by the time we got home last night, Bay was fussing up a storm, then I got her bathed, fed, and almost asleep. When I layed her down to go cook some rice for dinner, she was fine for 5 mins and started screaming. I ran back there and she was balled up in pain. I scooped her up and she had this "I'm choking, " look on her face. I took her to the changing table and ready to start suctioning and she started vomiting. Poor thing. It had a ton of mucus in it and she was NOT happy. Her little tummy hurts and she was exhausted from all the crying. She eventually went to sleep in her swing after whimpering herself out. Then I carefully got her out to put her in bed and that woke her up. She cried and whimpered until I rocked and sang her back to sleep. Poor little baby, she is just miserable. I was crying with her at one point. :(

Oh, and that pan with the rice in it? Burned to a crisp. Stunk up the house. Almost ruined my new Wolfgang Puck pan. I got that set for my birthday this year.

Anyway, she slept peacefully through the night and my mountain of dirty laundry remained just that.

How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways...

This morning I was listening to the radio show that I usually listen to on the way to work and one of the DJs recently got divorced. He and his wife have two kids, a son who is 10 and a daughter who is 6. This will be their first Christmas living apart; however, they had a very amicable divorce and have decided to all spend Christmas together and open gifts, play, etc.

So their "call in" topic was "What do you hate about Christmas and Thanksgiving?" A lot of divorced people called in and said they hated being alone, others hated the commercialism, etc. It made me realize just how blessed I am to be happily married to a wonderful man who is my best friend and soulmate, despite sometimes irritating the mess out of me. :) I have a beautiful, sweet happy almost 8 month old daughter who will be mesmerized by all the lights, sounds, and smells of her first Christmas, and a 6 year old stepson who still believes in Santa, loves his family, says, "This is JUST what I WANTED!!" no matter what you get him, and has a heart of gold. On my drive this morning, I realized just how special this Christmas will be to me, as it's my first with MY child (Z is mine too, but not biologically. There is a special bond with your own child that nothing else can replace.) and it's HER first and although she's not old enough to remember or understand it, she's old enough to get excited and squeal and giggle with delight.

We were at Target on Saturday and Joe was like a little kid in a candy store while looking at the baking supplies for holiday goodies. He looked at me with a sparkle in his eye, knowing I'd want to buy something to bake it. Of course I got several things and started holiday baking early. Joe is in the Christmas spirit early this year. I think having Bayley has done it. We are always happy with Z, but we only get him every other year and last year we didn't have him. Joe and L's mom had a falling out just before Christmas last year and that put a slight damper on things. We still had an amazing Christmas, especially since I was pregnant. Every night Joe and I would stand outside in front of the house and stare at the Christmas lights on the house, realizing how far we've come in 5 years: we got married, bought our first house, and had a beautiful baby.

I'm just thankful for my family and how happy we are. I am so looking forward to going home and baking goodies and cooking the comfort food aka holiday food. :)

No Rest for the Weary.

Did anyone else's baby sleep well last night? Everyone else I've asked says NO. I find it odd/comforting that Joe and I were not the only ones up with a fussy baby. She has a cold and is congested but I don't think that was it. I put numbing drops in her ears so that wasn't it. I gave her Tylenol... that didn't help. Gas drops didn't help. Singing and prancing around the house gave way to giggles but no sleep. This was also the same scenario Saturday night. Saturday we went to sleep at 11pm and last night was midnight. Bayley woke up at 6:45am bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and I look/feel hungover.

The planets must be out of alignment or something. :( That, or possibly teething.

Holiday Scheduling Nightmares.

Does anyone else have multi-family holiday options that turn into a nightmare scheduling session? We have my mom's family, my Dad's family, my Dad & Stepmom, and my husband's family to consider for the holidays. Hubby's family picks a day and time a week or so before Christmas and his entire family goes to that. I love being around his family and they LOVE having Z and Bayley there since they're the youngest.

For Christmas, my mom's family is my mom, her mom, and an aunt. The rest of that family always bickers so they don't come. Fine with the rest of us. My brother occasionally makes an appearance. (Yeah, the same guy who wrote me the A-hole email.) My mom's mom is almost 80 and is the cutest, sweetest lady EVER. So I love going to see her, and especially since I know she won't live forever. They'll get together probably on Christmas Eve or something. My Dad's family gets together a couple of weeks before Christmas to eat dinner and socialize. This never conflicts with any of the other family things, so that's always great and easy. So three of the four are covered. Well, a few years ago I offered to do Christmas dinner at my house for my parents and Joe's parents as a gift to them since they had everything they needed (that we could afford..lol). This worked out well. Less driving for us and my brother (they live an hour and a half away), my Stepmom didn't have to do any cooking or cleaning, and Joe and I got to entertain in our cozy little house. This has been great.

My Dad told me today that his stepdaughter and her husband are coming for Christmas and so my Dad and Stepmom are doing Christmas at their house. My Dad is very sensitive when it comes to everyone being together for the holidays so it's not like I can just not go. However, I don't want to drive that far out and change my and Joe's parents' plans just because my "stepsister" that I never talk to is showing up with her husband. I honestly don't care if I see them or not. We have no problems, I just see her every few years when she comes into town. She's sweet and whatever but we have NOTHING in common. And she calls MY Dad "Dad." This bothers me, because dammit...he's MINE. She has her own. He passed away, I think, but that's not my problem. Yes, I'm a bittyhole, but it's MY DAD. Other than that, she's okay I guess. Her dream growing up was to be a truckdriver. Mine was to be a doctor. And I don't mean our dreams as of 6 years old...I mean into our 20s and beyond. She became a truckdriver. I am not a doctor but I work in healthcare.

So. This is just Christmas. Well, Thanksgiving is going to be the same way, minus my Dad's family. My mom's mom is having something the night before. Can do that. My husband's family is doing Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving. Probably at noon. My Dad told me today that he and Stepmom are doing Thanksgiving at their house at noon (an hour and a half away). I just mumbled, "We'll figure something out."

As much as I love the holidays because I get to bake, decorate, and spend time with family, I hate the stress of getting together with different families and trying not to hurt everyone's families. My Stepmom is the most understanding, but that doesn't mean my Dad won't get his feelings hurt.

Sigh.

On to other things:

Turns out that Walgreens was mis-reading the screen. The "Try Prilosec first" was for the Prevacid, the first prescription. My ped's nurse called me and said, "You can get the Zantac for $10." Yay! Got home and gave it to Bay who made a squinchy face and then shuddered after she swallowed. So I tasted it and EEW. No wonder. This morning I mixed it in with formula and hopefully she got it all that way.

And...stepped on the scale this morning to discover I've lost 4.5 lbs since Monday. WOO HOO! I know it's probably water weight still, but I'm definitely going in the right direction. Yay me!

INSURANCE COMPANIES SUCK

THIS POST WILL BE IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE I'M PISSED. SORRY.

I HAVE COME TO REALIZE THAT BAYLEY HAS "SILENT REFLUX." THANK YOU, GOOGLE. MY PED'S OFFICE HAS BEEN QUITE HELPFUL IN CALLING IN A NICE RX OF PREVACID FOR HER. I GO TO PICK IT UP AT WALGREENS LAST NIGHT ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT THEY REQUIRE HER TO TRY A DIFFERENT MEDICATION. SO I THOUGHT, WELL, I'LL JUST PAY FOR IT OUT OF POCKET. IT'S $98 AND I ONLY HAVE $80 ON ME. SO I GO HOME, PISSED. BAY CONTINUES TO SUFFER. THIS MORNING I CALL THE PED'S NURSE AGAIN AND THEY VERY NICELY CALLED IN THE MEDICATION THAT ALL BABIES START WITH: ZANTAC. (THIS IS SUPPOSED TO TASTE BAD AND ONLY WORK SO-SO, SO THAT'S WHY WE STARTED WITH PREVACID.) I CALL WALGREENS THIS AFTERNOON TO FIND OUT THE PRICE, ONLY TO FIND OUT IT'S REJECTED AGAIN BECAUSE MY INSURANCE SAYS WE HAVE TO TRY PRILOSEC OVER-THE-COUNTER FIRST. UHHH....THERE'S NO DOSAGE FOR INFANTS! SO I HAD TO CALL MY PED'S OFFICE YET AGAIN TO ADVISE THEM THAT WE NEED A PRIOR AUTHORIZATION. IF I SHOW UP TONIGHT AND MY INSURANCE WON'T PAY FOR IT, I AM CONSIDERING GOING INSURANCE-AL (KINDA LIKE POSTAL) ON THEM. WHY DO INSURANCE COMPANIES THINK THEY SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO DICTATE HOW PHYSICIANS PRACTICE MEDICINE?!!?!!?!? AREN'T WE THE CUSTOMERS? WTF HAPPENED TO QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE???

Okay, done with caps. Seriously. This pisses me off to no end. I work my butt off to pay my damn insurance premiums only to get hassled by the damn insurance company about my damn medication. I knew Joe and I should have never gotten married and we could just have babies out of wedlock so I could get Medicaid. People work the system like that, so why shouldn't I? ^%$%$#^)(*)(*I)(*)

I'm just irritated. Sorry.

So I am leaving early to go to a job interview (shhh...) and then I'm going to go to the pharmacy. Actually, I may go by Walgreens first to make sure I can get her med before the insurance company closes for the day so I can call and bitch if I need to.

I HATE EFFIN INSURANCE COMPANIES!!!!

Holiday Dresses.

My Dad looooves to buy clothes. He has always had great taste and can pick out a classy outfit for a man or a woman. It was really cool growing up because I would come home to a bag from a store with an outfit or something. Usually something that I would have never picked out for myself (I have very little to no fashion sense whatsoever) but always looked good on me.

So yesterday my Dad calls me at work and tells me to meet him out front because he has something for Bayley. I go up there, knowing he has probably gotten Bayley a Christmas dress -- only to discover he has gotten her TWO. He got the green satiny looking one first (shown below in red)

This is her IN it. Couldn't get her pic standing up because the little bloomers were WAY too big and would fall to her ankles.

So then he and my stepmom decided it needed some red, so he went shopping again and got her this one:

I like the look of the green one on the hanger-- but ON her, I like the red one. My stepmom told my Dad, "That's not a Christmas dress." I told him I liked them both, thank you, and she could wear them both in Christmas pictures because she gets one outfit change. I also said that she could wear the red one for Thanksgiving and then the green one for Christmas. My family gets dressed up somewhat for my Dad's family's Christmas dinner. Cousins, aunts, uncles, etc all show up at my cousin's house and we eat, socialize, and go home.

Now I just need to find some shiny black Mary Janes for her to wear. That's appropriate, right? And some tights...what color, though?

Day 3 of Diet.

I started a new diet and I'm actually doing pretty well. Granted, it's only day 3 but I'm not grabbing a bag of Doritos and shoving them in my big mouth. I am not following it strictly but I am eating low to no fat foods and am counting my fat grams. And portion control. And TONS. OF. WATER. I feel like I'm pregnant again by running to the bathroom every hour. I count that as my exercise for the day. heh.

This morning I stepped on the scale and was a little surprised. I have lost 2.5 lbs and I trust that scale because it's really consistent. I also realize that this weight is probably water weight and not my blubber, but hey...I'll take it. :)

Anyway... my goal is to have lost 5 lbs by Thanksgiving and 10 by Christmas. It's not asking for a lot, but I just want something to be noticeable. I usually lose in my face and chest first and that's fine by me! Anyway... I'll be brave someday and post a picture, but I want to make sure I can stick with this diet before I get all blog happy about it. My goal is still to do the half marathon in March, but I'm not registering for it until I KNOW I can do it. I don't need to be wheeled off the course in a stretcher. :)

But YAY for 2.5 lbs! (Water or whatever...)

What I found in Z's backpack yesterday...

Weekend Update with Jiff.

Went to ATU this weekend to see my husband's niece in Homecoming. There were around 40 girls nominated by their peers all over campus and it was narrowed down to the top 5. Chelsea was in the top 5 and was the most gorgeous one, of course, but she didn't win. :( She's the blonde in the back row with the white top and black belt and skirt.

She was homecoming queen her senior year of high school and I am very proud of her for being smart, sweet, and the girl-next-door. She has never lost sight of who she is and has never had a big ego.

It was Bayley's first car trip and we rode with my in-laws. Bay was snuggled during the ceremony and the first half of the game. We watched Chelsea perform at half-time (she's on the dance team) and then we all left. Bay was passed around and smooched and hugged while wearing fleece and wrapped in a fleece blanket. She was toasty warm. The rest of us were not.

On the way back, she threw up her bottle. Then an hour later was hungry again and she held that second bottle down... for 20 mins. All back up. When we got home we had to take apart her carrier and throw everything in the washer along with her clothes, blanket, and my shirt. She's been spitting up a lot more and a lot more often. She was fine yesterday and held everything down except when she threw up and decorated my pullover. It sounded like a burp until I looked down and WOAH. My mom was surprised too. I am thinking about calling her doc because she has been doing this anytime I cannot or don't give her baby food in addition to her bottle. I have noticed her arching her back every now and then...and that's a sign of reflux. So we'll see what happens the next day or two.

I'm off work tomorrow -- Yay for Veteran's Day! (Thank you, Vets!)

Fall 2008 Photos.

Been home with a goopy-eyed Bayley. Not pink eye, thankfully, just a cold. I got it cleared up with warm compresses, despite Bay's squirming. I did take some fall photos of her, Z, and Joe during goopy eye, but I tried to get it all off prior to picture time. Here are a few of what I took (with my stupid delay camera and no professional training, obviously):

Halloween 2008

Ironman and the Bunny on Halloween 2008. What you don't see are the bunny slippers I put on Bunny's little feet when outside. I was nervous she'd get hot, but then I realized she was being carried around not huffing around a huge neighborhood with a 15 lb baby in her arms. I had her trick or treat bag and people gave her candy...and Dads handed out more knowingly. They all knew Daddy would get Bunny's treats. And now we have two HUGE bowls of candy that we cannot possibly all eat.

** Update: I just noticed something that probably needs to be photoshopped out of this pic. **