Comedy of errors

It all started yesterday. Well maybe it all really started this past Monday when BL left for his business trip. It's his first with the new job and he was scheduled to be away until returning late tonight. Of course the day he left was the day we found out MR had pneumonia, and so started our week of containment and crankiness. It was generally bearable, aside from the extra tantrums and poopy diapers, until yesterday morning. I decided that we needed out of the house, even if in some small way, so I prepared us for an outing to grab some starbucks and go for a drive. The getting ready process finished we got out the door, which I promptly locked, and I started the car to defrost. While waiting for this to happen the kiddo and I walked to the mailbox and spent some time wandering around in the front yard. The car started looking habitable so I went to open the door. It didn't open. The car was running, and the doors were locked. With my purse, cell phone, extra set of keys and everything else that might have possibly saved me from this awful situation. It was a frosty 8:30 am and I was locked out of house and running automobile with my sick kid. Great. The one small fortunate thing in this all is that we only live about a mile from where my mom works, so I headed out with MR and walked to her work. This in itself was no small task as the MR is currently in a no-hand-holding phase so I had to carry him the whole way. Hello braxton-hicks, which by the way have already started. Fun thing about second pregnancies. We made it to her work, called AAA and half an hour later I was once again reunited with all my worldly possessions. We still went for starbucks.

Stickers, Raisins, and Pneumonia

MR decided that having a regular ol' cold was for babies and went for something a little more interesting, like pneumonia. Fortunately it is a small case, but the poor little bug still has some nasty bacteria hanging out in his lungs. Hopefully not for much longer as the doctor has him on some antibiotics which should rid him of the cough he has been saddled with for the last two weeks and bring back our happy, healthy boy. Considering his already compromised immune system, we are on house arrest for the next couple of days. Seeing as 'outside' is one of MR's top most iterated words, this prospect is highly unattractive to him. Today's highlights: discovering he likes raisins, and rediscovering his already known love of stickers.

I know his face doesn't seem to be expressing enjoyment of the raisins, but he kept going back for that red container several times during the day. It was one of the few things he was willing to consume. Sick boys are picky. So here's to rest and recovery, and hopefully no more pneumonia.

Catching up

Sorry for the lack in posting, I have been sick, tired, and generally uninspired this last week. No pictures for this one either, we all have been sick (with several colds) the last two weeks and none of us has been picture-worthy as of late. To play catch-up and help me feel a little less behind here is what's going on, in list form to make it easier.

-My grandma was doing really well for about two days and then she went downhill again. Her circulation pretty much disappeared in her right leg and yesterday they did have to amputate below her knee. This has been a big shock for my family as this grandma has been the very picture of health for quite some time, and lead a very active and independent life. This is going to mean some big adjustments, especially for her.

-We started out last Friday with a cold for me, and then Saturday the mister caught it. We spend the rest of the weekend miserable and snotty and only started feeling well again around Monday. Then BL brought home a new cold and, hooray, now we all can share! Blech.

-BL's first week of work went really well. Exhausting, but well. He really thinks he is going to enjoy this line of work, but it is taking a lot of brainpower and hard work to take on all the new information and tasks being given to him.

-Daycare, well yesterday was MR's start back to his second week of daycare. Monday and Tuesdays he will be spending with my mom, the rest of the week he goes in with us to daycare. BL finally got to drop him off today for the first time, and reported back that MR was a little upset but was showing him around and said hello to the caregivers. Small steps here, but hopefully we are getting closer to better.

-Little Bean had another check-up yesterday and I am happy to report that despite my feeling like a bloated balloon I have only gained two pounds so far! Two!! I think that by this time last time I had gained about twenty, hopefully experience does help a bit. Especially since I am really hoping to avoid the gestational diabetes this time around, which I get to test early for next appointment (yuck). But to counter that, next appointment (Feb. 11th) we will hopefully get to see what we are having. I am really excited for this because I think that with this I will really be able to start preparing for this baby, especially knowing which direction we are headed. The Bean itself is doing well with a very healthy heartbeat of 160.

So you can see, some ups and downs in the list but generally I am hoping we are on the road to normalcy - or our version of it.

Why I hate the stomach flu

I don't suppose the title really requires more explanation, I am pretty sure nobody really likes the stomach flu. Nobody in my household does, especially after this past weekend. It started out fairly innocuous this last Thursday. We had noticed that the MR had started grabbing at his little tummy and making sounds of discomfort, we had an inkling then that things might be going downhill from there. You never know though, the kiddo has started practicing some pretty strange new skills lately- running around with his hands held back like he thinks he might take off, trying to walk around on his knees, etcetera. I hoped, in vain, that this might just be another new quirk. Not so. By the end of the day he had entered full fledged tummy bug status, all unpleasantness that that entails included. I don't need to go into details, you all know what a stomach virus does to a little intestinal tract. Unpleasant. Noises that I never thought possible came out of my poor little bug, and to make it even better he shared the sickness with his father. So that was my weekend, taking care of my little man and my big man, both felled by a highly uncomfortable griping of the bowels, incorporated with a fever to boot. They are both now on the mend and seem to be feeling much better. I can only hope that this doesn't signal the beginning of flu season in our house. Blech.

Big bang and the aftermath

The bigger they get, the harder they fall- right? Or perhaps with kids it should go, the bigger they get the more often they fall. MR had his first big bang-up today when he and the side table had a throwdown. I'm pretty sure mister came out on the worse end of the fight, though he didn't seem to notice or mind. In fact, right after the initial crying from impact he continued to be as happy as a clam and didn't even seem to be aware that he had a large swelling protuberance above his right eye topped with a bright red slash. Not quite a gash, but a little worse than a scratch. Bets are on that it will be a black eye by morning.


I think our parental psyche was more damaged than the kiddo, in any emotional sort of way. We will have to see if he takes notice of his battle scar tomorrow. In other news, things are looking a little bright around here. MR's cold seems to be in retreat (knock knock KNOCK on wood), and so he has been slowly returning to his sweet and independent self. The house stuff is also getting better too. We did put an offer on a house, had it accepted... and then we turned it down. It was a beautiful house and it was in a lovely location BUT we realized after much heartwrenching discussion that it simply would not meet our space needs for more than four years at the most. It was only a four bedroom, the fourth being a study space located on the main floor next to the door. Not exactly ideal for ever being used as a bedroom. So as much as we loved the house, we just had to let it go. We are hoping to stay in this next house for atleast the next six or seven years, and we need it to comfortable accommodate any expansions we might have in this family of ours. I said things were better though, right? Well we do have another house, a five bedroom, in mind at present. All that remains is to put in an offer for this one and see where it leads us. Here's hoping we keep moving forward with all this, and in a positive direction. We're ready for a home of our own.

Running low

It's been a week, a weekend, heck even a day. Whatever the increment, it has been long. We had some great things happen this week. We had our anniversary, for which BL gave me an incredibly thoughtful gift and we did get to go out and have a lovely dinner. We also found out that we have the means to buy a home of our very own, so we have been experiencing the highs of searching for a house. Then again, we have also been suffering from the lows of that search too. Fortunately we are both much of the same mind as to what we want out of a house, but the physical and mental aspects of all the looking has really taken it's toll. Not to mention that we (willingly) opened our choices up to the criticism of our parents, so that was fun. The cherry on top of this, MR is sick. He is pushing through some more molars, and I thought that his congestion was at first because of this. What he has now is some full blown phlegmy coughing and a very runny nose, all leaving him a stage five clinger and never more than a step away from another tantrum. Again, fun. I am exhausted.

It was supposed to be a fun weekend too, I had some old friends come into town for Portland's brewfest and some general catching up. We did manage a quick dinner and a short hello when the kiddo was still in decent shape, but other than that the weekend was largely a loss. I felt bad for my baby and I felt bad for me. Sad, right? Right now I am just hoping for a happier boy in the morning and some good news on the home front tomorrow.

So...very...tired

Yet I am still sitting in front of the computer typing. You'd think I would know when to call it quits, right? We're still back visiting at home staying at the in-laws and the trip thus far has been pretty trying. The flight went really well, MR was a sweet, smiling man and fell asleep for the last leg of the flight. We got in and got to the house no problem. Then we noticed he was feeling a little warm, which led to us realizing he had a mild fever, which has left us with a very unhappy and pretty irritable little guy for the last twenty-four hours or so. And when baby isn't happy, well you all know how it goes. This is the first time MR has really had a temperature so it is generally just alarming and worrisome for me. We are fairly confident it is just related to his cutting two more teeth on his bottom row, but still I just feel so bad for the little guy. His temp hasn't gone above 100.6, so nothing too concerning. He's just been so manic, one second he is happy the next he is clinging and screeching. He had his worst sleep night ever last night, I think he was up every couple of hours (if not less) and at times he was just inconsolable. So today was met with two very exhausted parents and one cranky kiddo. If I knew it would help I would pack us up and head back to our neck of the woods right now, but the flight would only add to our issues. So we are here for the next day and a half and hoping for the best. The one consolation is that I have gotten some pretty cute pictures here and there between the crazy-baby spells. Oh, and the TON of clothes MR's nana got him for his birthday. I'll take my wins where I can get them.