Foto Friday–Favorite

Foto Friday has moved from Mom Tried It to La La’s Home Daycare.  I’ve only known Lori since I’ve started doing this Foto Friday challenge, but I immediately ‘liked’ her blog when I first found her I and love her activities for pre-k aged children.  I’ve stored a bunch of her ideas in my favorites to use later. She’s very creative.  You should check her out!

On with this week’s photo.  Lori’s first assignment for us was to find your favorite photo.  You can probably imagine that I take a TON of pictures.  Narrowing down to just one favorite is hard.  I’ve loved so many photos in the past two and a half years (since Jack’s been around).  My living room wall is full of my favorites.

Instead of going back over the years to find my favorite favorite, I went with a favorite that I took this week.  Jack had a cold this week, and he spent most of his time laying on the couch next to me watching videos and sleeping.  He had a fever of 100-102 for about three days.  He is now back to his regular energy level with occasional coughing fits and tissue emergencies. 

While he was sleeping, I was able to get some pretty neat shots of him.  I can still see my little baby when he sleeps. 

Needless to say, Mommy and Daddy are now coming down with a cold.  I have a feeling this weekend will be a Miserable Competition with Rick and I both feeling more miserable than the other.

Have a great weekend!

February Date Night

There wasn’t one.

The last two weeks of February were pretty rough for us.  Jack got pretty sick, then since he’s learning how to share, he gave it to Mommy.  Then, being the good example to my son that I am, I shared it with Daddy.

(We watched a lot of Bob the Builder that week!)

We were supposed to visit Rick’s parents in Florida last week, and we REALLY could have used a warm, sunshiney vacation, but it was not in the cards for us.  19 hours in the van would not have been fun for these sickies.

So, we’re planning to have two date nights in March.  Yippee!!  We may try out a new Bistro I heard of recently.  They have a farm in my town and use whatever is in season for their menu each day.  It looks great, and we’re excited to try it out. (It also looks expensive, so we’ll need free babysitting that night. Hint! Hint!)

We also may go to a shooting range and shoot some stuff one day.  Rick loves shooting and since I’m a Woman in the Outdoors, I enjoy shooting a gun every now and then too.

I need to write these ideas down because there was a third idea that came to our minds the other day that I can’t remember now.  Shoot. (naaa, I already mentioned that one) :)

We’re off to IHOP tonight (with Jack) to enjoy some free pancakes.  Today is National Pancake Day, and since it’s one of the few foods Jack is sure to eat, we're going to celebrate it tonight for dinner.  I can’t wait!

(picture from Amanda’s blog I Am Baker)

Weaning??

Jack is 14 months old now.  I knew I was going to breastfeed as long as I could, but I didn't know how or when it was going to come to an end.  I thought I was going to be happy about it, given the fact that it has not been a pain-free experience for me.  But I never thought I would finish nursing by going ‘cold turkey’. 

(2 weeks)

We’ve been down to three nursing sessions for a few months now.  One before bed, one sometime in the middle of the night or early morning, and another right before his one nap.  It’s been going pretty well, except for the pain.  A mysterious blood blister showed up one day, which had me Googling all over Kingdom Come to figure out what to do about it – to pop or not to pop, that was the question.  (I popped)  A few clogged milk ducts here and there, and always teeth marks or holes from teeth.  I constantly try to work on Jack’s latch and position, but it usually just ends with me giving in to the pain. 

(5 weeks)

It hasn’t been a completely painful adventure.  A long time ago, I figured out that nursing is a great time for me to read a book!  I can go through 2-4 novels in a month in no time flat with this added reading time.  I found that it helps me to remain patient if my mind is engrossed in a book.  I can spend as much time as Jack needs me to spend if I’m not thinking of everything that needs to be done around the house. 

(3 months)

Back to weaning.  When Jack got sick recently, he started throwing up after every feeding.  I think it was because of the phlegm building up, which would make him cough until he would vomit. All. Over. Me.  Poor little guy.  Poor Mama!  It was after our third change of clothes in one day that I finally decided to stop letting Jack nurse.   It worked well for a day or two.  No more vomit, and Jack didn’t seem to miss the nursing.  I was a tad uncomfortable, so I did pump just enough to relieve some pressure.   Things were going great!  ‘Cold turkey’ was working.

(3.5 months)

But then my hormones decided to revolt.  I started crying and sobbing about losing this precious part of my baby, and I just couldn’t do it! I missed it so much!  I missed snuggling with him.  I missed the bond we shared.  I missed running my fingers through his baby-fine hair.  I missed him falling asleep in my lap.  I was shocked about these feelings, because I thought I was going to love being FREE and having my body back to myself.  But BOY was I wrong!! 

(8 months)

I immediately went back to three feedings, and haven’t looked back since.  It helps us while Jack’s molars are coming in, and it helps  him to fall asleep for his naps. I realized that, even though I’m reading a book while he nurses, I’m still connected to my baby in a way that I’ll never have again.  I am not ready to give that up, and I’m okay with that.  I won’t be nursing him when he goes off to preschool, so this will end eventually.  But for now, I’m happy to have this quiet time to connect with my baby. 

(11 months)

You Know You’ve Been Sick for TOO LONG When….

I remember a post I wrote back in October, explaining how my son realized a fate worse than death.  Well, no more my friends.

You know you’ve been sick for too long when you (as a 1 year old)  stand there willingly while having your snot sucked out of your nose! 

Jack came down with Pink Eye last week, and it turned into a full blown cold.  We’ve been using Vick’s on his feet at night, and a cool must humidifier.  We also give him Benadryl  to help with his congestion.  Since we’re a sharing family, he gave me this cold.  I think it’s strep throat, but I’m not quick to go to doctors for colds, so we’ll just ride it out for a while more.  Now it seems that Rick is sharing in all this wonderful sickness too.  Let’s just say that we’re going to make it through a big  3-pack of tissues in no time.

I have to give Jack a ton of credit.  He has to have eye drops in both eyes three times a day, and he also has to sit through a nose sucking every so often.  He has been a champ!  He’ll sit still through the whole thing.  He even leans in a little for the nose sucking.  I think he figured out that it really does help him. 

So, we’re all out of commission for a bit.  Hopefully I’ll get to the store today and come home with good medicine and some herbal tea.  I’m praying that this doesn’t move into a full blown ear infection for Jack.  He’s starting to tug at his ears, so we’re scheduling an appointment with his doctor as soon as we can get in.  

Thanks for your prayers while we try to get healthy. 

Where Did the Time Go?

I didn't blog through the whole Christmas season!  I know why.  I was busy.  Plain and simple. 

My first time being a SAHM for the holiday season turned me into a nut job.  I decided that I was going to make 10 different cookies for Christmas this year.  TEN!!  Who did I think was going to eat all of these cookies?  I gave a lot away as presents, but I still had a ton left.  Next year,  maybe I'll do just 3 or 4 types.  Or maybe I'll cut down the batches of the 10 I did this year, so I don't have so many left at the end of the season.

We had a GREAT time during our many family Christmas celebrations.  I loved having my sister's family and Mom down for Christmas Eve.  I love hosting them, and we always have such a good time being together.

 

After that, there are no pictures of family visits.  No more Christmas celebration pictures.  There was little celebrating for me. On Christmas Eve, Jack came down with the pukies.  He got sick around 2am and didn't go back to bed until around 4, after having rid his body of everything.  Then the diarrhea hit him.  We left a day late for our next family Christmas celebration, hoping to give Jack enough time to recover from whatever it was that he had.

While we were at my husband's family's house, I came down with whatever it was.  I stayed the entire evening upstairs in bed, while my family opened gifts and enjoyed each others company.  I was miserable.  I didn't even get to see my brother-in-law at all!  I want a do-over!

When we got home from the weekend, I found out that my mom had gotten whatever it was as well.  She was down for a few days because of it. 

Nice Jack...thanks for the Christmas present!

We spent the next week recovering, and enjoying our little family.  Jack came down with a cold on New Years day, which he's still hanging on to.  I'm glad to get back to a regular schedule.  We still have one more family Christmas gathering to do, and I'm hoping we'll all be well for it!

A Fate Worse Than Death

And by death I mean SLEEPING.

Because my little Jack has a snotty nose (sorry), there is a need for me to help him out with that snot (sorry).  I have now found something that my son hates worse than sleeping:

Having me suck out his snot (sorry) with this thing is a fate worse than death for the little guy. 

He hated it before I bloodied his nose with this weapon, but now I'm sure he hates it even more. Sorry, Jack!!

For the record, I think I must have scratched the inside of his nose getting in there.  It's not like he's calm and cooperative when I'm going at his nose with this weapon.

He's okay, really. A couple of wipes with a tissue, and it was fine.  Please don't call Children's Services.