I went to my endo and had my a1c test, it was very very high, literally double what it ought to be. I was not happy that despite my meager efforts I had gotten worse since A was born. I got into gear, began checking again and decided to give minimed, and their carelink system a second shot as well as getting back on the CGMS. I spoke with my endo's office today and learned that a test was done incorrectly and they needed to re-run it with a fresh sample. Getting more details from the nurse I learned that it looked as though I had developed a new complication from uncontrolled diabetes, as there was significant protein detected in my urine.
Later this morning I go give a new sample for a slightly different test to see if I need to go on a new medication the rest of my life. Naturally I went through lots of feeling from shock, anger, fear, despair, and now am just anxious. This is not a 100% guarantee that the new test will show I need a medication but I am so very scared I will.
If anyone is reading this as a newly diagnosed diabetic, here is a glimpse into your future if you choose my path, and don't follow doctor's instructions to watch your diet, take your medicines, and CHECK YOUR BLOOD! This is happening because I let taking care of everyone and everything be above me and letting the testing and the daily maintenance of diabetes slide to last in my priorities.
This is a pathetically needed scare to get me on track. My first motivation after nine years with Type 1 was learning I was carrying my daughter. This time I want to be in control because of me and my life, not just because another life depended on me.
So, here I sit in the wee morning hours, unable to sleep. My mind won't slow down. I'm scared, anxious, and upset. Hell I halfway believe I don;t deserve to feel so bothered by the inevitable complication because I went so long letting it all go by the wayside.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
A little girl.
There once was a little girl born to a mommy and daddy who at first were convinced they were having a boy. When the nurse showed them that a little baby girl was going to be born, they laughed and cried and the mommy knew the little girl's name instantly! They named her that very instant, and began to prepare for the girl to arrive. Months passed and the parents got everything ready. One fall day, the mommy went to the doctor and was told that the girl looked like she wasn't growing anymore and she needed to arrive immediately. The next day after a long labor and finally a surgery the girl was born, but she had a little trouble. After a rocky start, the little one went home with mommy and daddy. There she grew and thrived. A few months later, her heart doctor (whom she had because of that rocky start) noticed something on one of the special pictures the doctor had taken of her heart. he noticed there was something that should not be there, and the girl had to see another few doctors. Eventually the mommy, daddy, and doctors made the choice to do an operation, so the little girl would stay healthy and be able to grow normally. That was done, the doctors and the parents were happy. The girl once again continued to grow. She learned to sit up, to crawl, to feed herself, and to jabber, sounding much like a murloc and a wookie combined!
Now this girl, whose mommy and daddy love her so very much, are just as happy as can be. This girl who they thought was boy has brought so much joy to their lives. The daddy comes home from work every day and sees the smiles and hears squeal of happiness from his little angel. Every morning the mommy wakes to the same smile and squeal. They are living right in the middle of their happily ever after!
Now this girl, whose mommy and daddy love her so very much, are just as happy as can be. This girl who they thought was boy has brought so much joy to their lives. The daddy comes home from work every day and sees the smiles and hears squeal of happiness from his little angel. Every morning the mommy wakes to the same smile and squeal. They are living right in the middle of their happily ever after!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
The Boog and Genetics
Booger had her appointment with a geneticist today. It went quickly and nothing in her physical appearance made the doctors think anything was going on. However, the RCDH was a bit of a red flag, so they decided to order some blood work done. Her other congenital anomalies are not noteworthy according to them. So, we are now in the waiting period for the results from a chromomal test to see whether or not she has anything extra, missing or if everything is normal.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
My own personal diary - for the world to see.
I feel like this place is ignored except for my visits to randomly ramble on about whatever happens to be floating through my mind. I'm cool with that.
I've been reading different blogs. I will go to one that catches my eye, go to the beginning and read the posts in chronological order. I enjoy this very much. The current one is from a mommy who has a child with special needs. She is anonymous enough to keep her privacy but open enough to share her life with the blogosphere and I love it that she shares her kids' triumphs and the little things.
If I were a decent writer, this blog would be organized, a fun/interesting read, and be bringing back followers. Alas I simply have an online journal that the world can see.
Onto Booger. Booger is doing well. she can crawl-and crawl forward!! She is no longer stuck in reverse gear. Go my little angel! She like eating fruit chunks from a can with only juice, no heavy syrup for her. She is only eight months and does not need all that extra sugar. She has had a taste of mommy's Splenda sweetened fruit pop and loved it. She is a puffs fiend. She's go through a full container if we let her. Her favortie food is sweet potatoes, but has her daddy's appetite and love of all foods. There's nothing she won't try so far. she even had canned mixed veggies with lima beans sans skins and enjoyed them. Go A!
She has her nine month checkup at the beginning of August so we get to see her current stats. My only concern will be her head shape. Her head is still flat on the back, despite only reasting on her back while in the carseat. Her left side bugles out and the right seems okay. You don't notice this unless her hair is wet and slicked down. I think I'm going to give her a wep mop of hair during the visit so the ped can see just what has mommy concerned.
After her surgery for hernia repair, she has gone from not rolling over to crawling!!!!! She is a happier girl, even mre so than she was pre-repair. I am amazed at her babbling, her consonant sounds and every thing she has learned so far. She *knows* how to hold her bottle but chooses not to. She knows how to use a soft spout sippy but again chooses not to. At this point, being that she is under a year, I am happy with this and not concerned. We will transition when the time comes.
My prediction for her ped's appointment is as follows:
-Her head circumference is still below the growth curve but following it
-He'll say her head will be alright, but I will challenge this because a head is not supposed to bulge.
-She will be less than twenty pounds but more than 16
-He will be happy overall with how she is progressing.
I've been reading different blogs. I will go to one that catches my eye, go to the beginning and read the posts in chronological order. I enjoy this very much. The current one is from a mommy who has a child with special needs. She is anonymous enough to keep her privacy but open enough to share her life with the blogosphere and I love it that she shares her kids' triumphs and the little things.
If I were a decent writer, this blog would be organized, a fun/interesting read, and be bringing back followers. Alas I simply have an online journal that the world can see.
Onto Booger. Booger is doing well. she can crawl-and crawl forward!! She is no longer stuck in reverse gear. Go my little angel! She like eating fruit chunks from a can with only juice, no heavy syrup for her. She is only eight months and does not need all that extra sugar. She has had a taste of mommy's Splenda sweetened fruit pop and loved it. She is a puffs fiend. She's go through a full container if we let her. Her favortie food is sweet potatoes, but has her daddy's appetite and love of all foods. There's nothing she won't try so far. she even had canned mixed veggies with lima beans sans skins and enjoyed them. Go A!
She has her nine month checkup at the beginning of August so we get to see her current stats. My only concern will be her head shape. Her head is still flat on the back, despite only reasting on her back while in the carseat. Her left side bugles out and the right seems okay. You don't notice this unless her hair is wet and slicked down. I think I'm going to give her a wep mop of hair during the visit so the ped can see just what has mommy concerned.
After her surgery for hernia repair, she has gone from not rolling over to crawling!!!!! She is a happier girl, even mre so than she was pre-repair. I am amazed at her babbling, her consonant sounds and every thing she has learned so far. She *knows* how to hold her bottle but chooses not to. She knows how to use a soft spout sippy but again chooses not to. At this point, being that she is under a year, I am happy with this and not concerned. We will transition when the time comes.
My prediction for her ped's appointment is as follows:
-Her head circumference is still below the growth curve but following it
-He'll say her head will be alright, but I will challenge this because a head is not supposed to bulge.
-She will be less than twenty pounds but more than 16
-He will be happy overall with how she is progressing.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
A Good Time
I awoke to the screaming demand of my child for her soothie. The Mister was downstairs starting laundry, and the babe wanted out. I gave her the soothie, and crawled back into bed. She went back to sleep. All was well. I dozed for a few more minutes, just long enough to gather my wits and be able to move without stumbling around. The husband and I enjoyed our coffee while the wee one played with her toys. Boog had her lunch then went down for her afternoon nap. We went outside and worked (don't worry, we had her monitor on and could hear her if need be). There's a storm creek next to my home, and our neighbors to the south had a tree limb lying in the creek. After two weeks, no progress was made, so we took the wood after trimming the limbs and stacked it for fall firewood. (This was not theft. The neighbors had already taken the firewood they wanted and left the rest for the city to clean up.)
On and off today we worked outside chopping the wood into manageable sized lengths and stacked it. Tomorrow I get to work on the wood given to us from another neighbor. We will have so much this fall for our outdoor burn sessions. yay,
At the day's end, we went to a local ice cream place that sells handmade soft serve and got some lemon and raspberry flavored stuff. Yum!
Now it is bedtime for the Boog and we so need to get her down. I'm off to feed my Tyrant and tuck her in afterwards.
On and off today we worked outside chopping the wood into manageable sized lengths and stacked it. Tomorrow I get to work on the wood given to us from another neighbor. We will have so much this fall for our outdoor burn sessions. yay,
At the day's end, we went to a local ice cream place that sells handmade soft serve and got some lemon and raspberry flavored stuff. Yum!
Now it is bedtime for the Boog and we so need to get her down. I'm off to feed my Tyrant and tuck her in afterwards.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Not so wordless Wednesday
I found a new blog. Ellen over at Love That Max has a amazing writing style, great humor and one pretty awesome set of kids. I've been reading her stuff for the past few days, getting caught up at whatnot. I had to share. Through, her I've found a LOT of other wonderful people, (and it makes me even more aware of just how lame I am here in my own little dark corner of blogdom). I simply had to share the latest thing to occupy my reading time.
Monday, July 18, 2011
On doctors, coding, and other bull hockey
Boog went to the neurologist in late April. she was examined and diagnosed as developmentally delayed according to the words of the doctor. He prescribed physical and occupational therapy to help her get on track. I fought with insurance and finally found somewhere to take her that was equipped with staff who knew what she needed. Cut to this past friday, the fifteenth of July. We get a bill stating several hundred dollars was due by 7-31-11. Naturally, I called to find out from the doctor's office and from the insurance company just what was going on. After two brief phone calls, I learned the official coding for the appointment was "Early intervention" and that was A's diagnosis. Insuracne refuses to cover early intervention anything. I called first thing this Monday morning, and was given the run-around by the nurse for that neurologist. I call back at twenty minutes before the office closes and it turns put the nurse lied to me about speaking with their billing person, as she was out today.
The nurse told me she would speak with the lady in billing and have her call me back. She did not disclose that the billing person was on vacation still.
I will not be paying this bill. Insurance will or the darn doctor will eat the cost because I'll be damned if I am paying fro 15 minutes of time with a guy I could barely understand when he spoke, and who seemed to not give a rat's butt about proper terminology and wording when speaking directly to him much less in coding and billing.
I am beyond ticked off. This is not right. We did not go see him because A was suffering from "Early intervention" but from "developmental delay". Argh!
The nurse told me she would speak with the lady in billing and have her call me back. She did not disclose that the billing person was on vacation still.
I will not be paying this bill. Insurance will or the darn doctor will eat the cost because I'll be damned if I am paying fro 15 minutes of time with a guy I could barely understand when he spoke, and who seemed to not give a rat's butt about proper terminology and wording when speaking directly to him much less in coding and billing.
I am beyond ticked off. This is not right. We did not go see him because A was suffering from "Early intervention" but from "developmental delay". Argh!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Could this be how it is for the Wee One?
This morning, I woke up, I looked around, saw the brown mesh covering the slats of my sleep prison. I whimpered-nothing happened. No tall ones came. I cried louder, as surely this would have them in here to tend my every need- still nothing, though..... Finally I took a big deep breath and wailed at the tall ones. Oh yes, I hear floorboards squeaking, and the shuffle of feet, the door opens and - DADDY!- I see him and grin so big because he makes me happy. Awesome I get some time in with Daddy! I get the wet heavy diaper off and a fresh clean dry butt, and some fresh clothes. I'm ready for my day people.
First up, I go to my spot, with all my toys and do a bit of serious play and investigating my limits, exhaust my entertainment and now on to breakfast. Time to inform Daddy- "wahgrahble-ah-uh-ooooh-agh." Ooh-he's getting up, score. I only had to tell him once. Into my high chair for my meal. yummy pears and rice cereal.
What next? I'm going to cuddle with Daddy and watch some Battlestar Galactica. Um Dad, not the floor, cuddles. I said CUDDLES. "WAHHHH AJH OOh Unh!" Much better. Hmmm, this is comfy, I think I'll nap.
*Yawn* That was a good power nap. I want down now Daddy. Down, please. "Grrrr, grblegrble gah." Thanks. "Bababa-aahh ba" Hey, my Pooh-bear rattle. Hey look, it's Mommy! "Eeeeeeee-ah ha ha" Yay more cuddles! I think I'll just rest my head here a bit.
*Eyes crack open* Why are the warm furries yelling so sharply? Why am I back in sleep PRISON?! "WAH Agh! Waaaaaaaaaaaaah?!" Daddy, there you are. I need a new diaper and some food. More floor time and some new toys. But that power cord looks much nicer than this noisy piano. My only problem is I can't reach it. I need to climb over the warm furries' sleep pillow. Off I go- one hand, then another, next the knees and oof. Try again. Ha, already there, now to see how this tastes-wah? Um Mommy why are you picking me up? And you stink! Eww, you're all sweaty?! What have I missed why sleeping.... Oh well, you'll do for keeping me happy. Oh, a bottle, good thing as I'm thirsty. Yummmm....
*Eyes open* Again with the sleep prison? Ugh. "Wahhahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!" Daddy! Good to see you! Hey, I'm getting a new outfit and a new diaper again already? Outside too, how fu- HOT! "Whimper" Really Daddy? It really will be okay? If you say so, then I guess I'll let you strap me into the moving prison. Oh Mommy's store! It is awfully bright in here, but at least everyone smiles at me so I can smile back. This is fun Daddy.
Hey, we're home! Mommy! More smiles for Mommy and cuddles too. Now it's real fun. Tickling, I'm all for that. "Heeeeeheeeeeee-ehehehehe" Hugs, smiles kisses, oh my! This has gone on for hours now, I'm getting tired. A bottle and some food. Mommy time for you to hold me. There now I can grab that colored thing with the string on your hip. What? What do you mean I can't have Mommy's pump? But, Mommy, it's so colorful and there's a string! WHAT?! That tubing isn't for Booger? *Whimpers sleepily* "Aaeeennhhhh" Ooh, the sucky thing! Hey why am I back in the sleep pris- oh the mobile is on. I like the mobile. I need to get comfy. Onto my belly, tuck my knees in up under me, fist my hand around my blanket, tuck it under my chin. There we go.......
First up, I go to my spot, with all my toys and do a bit of serious play and investigating my limits, exhaust my entertainment and now on to breakfast. Time to inform Daddy- "wahgrahble-ah-uh-ooooh-agh." Ooh-he's getting up, score. I only had to tell him once. Into my high chair for my meal. yummy pears and rice cereal.
What next? I'm going to cuddle with Daddy and watch some Battlestar Galactica. Um Dad, not the floor, cuddles. I said CUDDLES. "WAHHHH AJH OOh Unh!" Much better. Hmmm, this is comfy, I think I'll nap.
*Yawn* That was a good power nap. I want down now Daddy. Down, please. "Grrrr, grblegrble gah." Thanks. "Bababa-aahh ba" Hey, my Pooh-bear rattle. Hey look, it's Mommy! "Eeeeeeee-ah ha ha" Yay more cuddles! I think I'll just rest my head here a bit.
*Eyes crack open* Why are the warm furries yelling so sharply? Why am I back in sleep PRISON?! "WAH Agh! Waaaaaaaaaaaaah?!" Daddy, there you are. I need a new diaper and some food. More floor time and some new toys. But that power cord looks much nicer than this noisy piano. My only problem is I can't reach it. I need to climb over the warm furries' sleep pillow. Off I go- one hand, then another, next the knees and oof. Try again. Ha, already there, now to see how this tastes-wah? Um Mommy why are you picking me up? And you stink! Eww, you're all sweaty?! What have I missed why sleeping.... Oh well, you'll do for keeping me happy. Oh, a bottle, good thing as I'm thirsty. Yummmm....
*Eyes open* Again with the sleep prison? Ugh. "Wahhahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!" Daddy! Good to see you! Hey, I'm getting a new outfit and a new diaper again already? Outside too, how fu- HOT! "Whimper" Really Daddy? It really will be okay? If you say so, then I guess I'll let you strap me into the moving prison. Oh Mommy's store! It is awfully bright in here, but at least everyone smiles at me so I can smile back. This is fun Daddy.
Hey, we're home! Mommy! More smiles for Mommy and cuddles too. Now it's real fun. Tickling, I'm all for that. "Heeeeeheeeeeee-ehehehehe" Hugs, smiles kisses, oh my! This has gone on for hours now, I'm getting tired. A bottle and some food. Mommy time for you to hold me. There now I can grab that colored thing with the string on your hip. What? What do you mean I can't have Mommy's pump? But, Mommy, it's so colorful and there's a string! WHAT?! That tubing isn't for Booger? *Whimpers sleepily* "Aaeeennhhhh" Ooh, the sucky thing! Hey why am I back in the sleep pris- oh the mobile is on. I like the mobile. I need to get comfy. Onto my belly, tuck my knees in up under me, fist my hand around my blanket, tuck it under my chin. There we go.......
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
How our Bug has been since surgery
When our Wee one was diagnosed with a Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia of the right side, we were concerned. Then I used Dr Google, and became simultaneously thankful and scared spitless. Thankful because our girl was lucky in that her hernia was mild to the point where she was only mildly affected at birth and then not at all. Scared spitless because from the time she was born til her diagnosis, the hernia grew.
We saw a surgeon for a consult, got a second opinion out of my fear that she would suddenly have the hernia do something and it would become a serious condition quickly. The second opinion suggested a sooner surgery as he saw no benefit from waiting. We went with the second guy, and a week later, A was pronounced hernia free and on the mend. It has now been two months since surgery and while she has four small scars on her right side from the laparoscopic machines and the chest tube, she is like a new baby. We'd never realized how much she was developmentally delayed due to the hernia, but as soon as she started PT and OT, we saw a marked increase in her mobility, and development.
She was at a two month old development level at six months. Now that she is eight months old, she is beginning to crawl, can go from laying down to sitting up and pulling herself sort of up towards things, and is grabbing at everything. Before surgery, she didn't grab at toys or put things in her mouth. Now she is a terror for anything not bolted down. I am so proud of her!
We saw a surgeon for a consult, got a second opinion out of my fear that she would suddenly have the hernia do something and it would become a serious condition quickly. The second opinion suggested a sooner surgery as he saw no benefit from waiting. We went with the second guy, and a week later, A was pronounced hernia free and on the mend. It has now been two months since surgery and while she has four small scars on her right side from the laparoscopic machines and the chest tube, she is like a new baby. We'd never realized how much she was developmentally delayed due to the hernia, but as soon as she started PT and OT, we saw a marked increase in her mobility, and development.
She was at a two month old development level at six months. Now that she is eight months old, she is beginning to crawl, can go from laying down to sitting up and pulling herself sort of up towards things, and is grabbing at everything. Before surgery, she didn't grab at toys or put things in her mouth. Now she is a terror for anything not bolted down. I am so proud of her!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Netflix and Gran Tourismo.
I enjoy television shows that are currently running along with some that have been released to DVD and Netflix instant queue. The Mister prefers shows that have been released to DVD/IQ with maybe two that are currently aired. We have a routine set up.
This begins with Mr K getting up when A does, makes coffee, starts and episode of Battlestar Galactica, and having coffee and quality time with the wee one. I get up put it on Baby 1st TV (awesome for babies, mind numbing for Mommy) until I awake after my millionth cup of coffee. He goes to work and so do I, but my job involves human, feline, and canine waste; human, feline, and canine dirt and messes; various other household maintenance needs and chores to be run outside the home. As my day progresses, will find programs on TV to watch, and then put it on a Netflix show or movie, if I've gotten a DVD in the mail that day.
When in town, my sweet husband will come home, do his thing with chores/maintenance, and sit down to an episode of something science fiction or educational, and then go play an hour on the Playstation 2. Usually it's Gran Tourismo. Fun for him to play, and A will get to watch Daddy play racers.
In this event, I get to sit down with a cup of something yummy, maybe a sugar free popsicle, and watch mind-numbing teen girls become mothers.
Our routines change up a bit on weekends and when Daddy is out of town for work, but this has become a nice routine.
This begins with Mr K getting up when A does, makes coffee, starts and episode of Battlestar Galactica, and having coffee and quality time with the wee one. I get up put it on Baby 1st TV (awesome for babies, mind numbing for Mommy) until I awake after my millionth cup of coffee. He goes to work and so do I, but my job involves human, feline, and canine waste; human, feline, and canine dirt and messes; various other household maintenance needs and chores to be run outside the home. As my day progresses, will find programs on TV to watch, and then put it on a Netflix show or movie, if I've gotten a DVD in the mail that day.
When in town, my sweet husband will come home, do his thing with chores/maintenance, and sit down to an episode of something science fiction or educational, and then go play an hour on the Playstation 2. Usually it's Gran Tourismo. Fun for him to play, and A will get to watch Daddy play racers.
In this event, I get to sit down with a cup of something yummy, maybe a sugar free popsicle, and watch mind-numbing teen girls become mothers.
Our routines change up a bit on weekends and when Daddy is out of town for work, but this has become a nice routine.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Baby's first.
This July 4th was A's first Independence Day. She is still teething without result, so poor kid had a fever, looked bad for a bit, then reintroduced a liquid version of breakfast and was happy once again!
Mommy had fun too, she got to ride a horse, went shopping, and Daddy grilled chicken for dinner. Yumm!
Mommy had fun too, she got to ride a horse, went shopping, and Daddy grilled chicken for dinner. Yumm!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Unexpected road trip.
Monday the twentieth of June was a good day. We went on a family bike ride and enjoyed a nice supper. At twenty past seven central time, Mr K recieved a phone call from a family member who lives up in North Dakota. It was his dad, and he was letting K know he was being evacuated due to flooding of the Mouse River. K asked four or five time if he wanted us to bring the pick-up to help move out the stuff. My father-in-law repeatedly said no thanks, he would be pkay. As soon as he got off the phone, we talked and decided we HAD to go help. And we did.
We packed up both our family van and his pick-up to make sure we had a place to sleep in the event that there were no beds available once we got to Minot. Mr K, A, and myself all piled in for a long drive overnight from Monday night to Tuesday morning. We set out at 9pm, drove with frequent stop in order to make ourselves wake up, stay comfortable, attempt a nap, get gas, and generally make our way for this fourteen hour drive. Arriving about mid-day, we immediately began loading and unloading furniture. By the day's end, it was still light out at nine pm, twenty four hours after beginning our trip, thirty seven hours of being awake, and we crashed on the sofa still at my FIL's home. The next day we moved the rest of the items out and the last load was being put on the truck as the civil service sirens went off.
The home was empty, we were out of there. One more night in Minot spent at Mr K's uncle's home and we went over to visit my MIL in another part of the state.
What a crazy crazy week! We arrived home Sunday night after being in ND since Tuesday morning. I think we will be happy to not go anywhere for a while yet.
We packed up both our family van and his pick-up to make sure we had a place to sleep in the event that there were no beds available once we got to Minot. Mr K, A, and myself all piled in for a long drive overnight from Monday night to Tuesday morning. We set out at 9pm, drove with frequent stop in order to make ourselves wake up, stay comfortable, attempt a nap, get gas, and generally make our way for this fourteen hour drive. Arriving about mid-day, we immediately began loading and unloading furniture. By the day's end, it was still light out at nine pm, twenty four hours after beginning our trip, thirty seven hours of being awake, and we crashed on the sofa still at my FIL's home. The next day we moved the rest of the items out and the last load was being put on the truck as the civil service sirens went off.
The home was empty, we were out of there. One more night in Minot spent at Mr K's uncle's home and we went over to visit my MIL in another part of the state.
What a crazy crazy week! We arrived home Sunday night after being in ND since Tuesday morning. I think we will be happy to not go anywhere for a while yet.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Meh Monday
Father's day was yesterday and we held true to our plan of me not asking Mister K to do anything he didn't wnat to do, therefore we sat and watched many episodes of Battlestar Glactica, with breaks for some Gran Tourismo and finally a little grilling for supper.
It was a beautiful day, sunny and in the 80s. Today, however, it is rainy and not nearly as pretty out. I had planned on the grass getting cut, and pulling out the wading pool for A to splash in.
Meh. I'll be inside playing with Tyrant and the animals, sipping my coffee and figuring out where to get the motivation to get anything productive done for chores. I may be back later to edit and add something, for now, Baby-love-me-lots is beckoning me with a grin.
It was a beautiful day, sunny and in the 80s. Today, however, it is rainy and not nearly as pretty out. I had planned on the grass getting cut, and pulling out the wading pool for A to splash in.
Meh. I'll be inside playing with Tyrant and the animals, sipping my coffee and figuring out where to get the motivation to get anything productive done for chores. I may be back later to edit and add something, for now, Baby-love-me-lots is beckoning me with a grin.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
I really do love my job.
Mrglmrglmrglmrgl!! Wahh!
*Cracking an eye open*
I see it is 6:24 am. Thinking I dreamt the sounds of a murloc coming from A's room, I close my eyes briefly and doze off.
MRGLMRGLMRGLMRGLWAHHHHHHHH!
*Eyes both pop open*
6:25am.
Nope, not a murloc. Just my daughter, face smooshed into the mattress, pacifier an inch away from her mouth, alternately yelling/fussing/talking to someone (me, herself, her daddy?). She is ardently vocalizing the fact that she is unhappy with her current situation. There she lies, adorable footed pajamas with little flowers printed on them, soaked from shoulder to knee. That is the hazard of a baby who sleeps for nine hours without waking. Soaked everything, you know.
I walk in, see all this, pick her, smelling like the urine soaked diaper wearing baby that she is, cradle her to me and whisper "Good morning tyrant, I love you!"
Change her diaper while she smiles and kicks, then rolls away from me. "Hun, no you need the butt covering on, Mommy gets tired of cleaning up after the dogs and cat, she does not need you to contribute to the messes, thankyouverymuch." Wrangle diaper onto baby, get her dressed and fed, then playing happily with her feet, and the next thing I know I am face to face with a pee covered crib. Oh joy - notice that did you? The sarcasm that was darn near dripping from my words? Ha!
Muttering to myself...'Oh Booger, this is why you have a dry diaper all night long. It stays as fresh all night as it did when first put it on you at bedtime. The minute you wake up, the floodgates open. and you secrete about a gallon of liquid from your well trained bladder, fill the diaper, the sheets and anything else that is in the crib.' I pull a hamper close, drop in every last item she slept with, her sheet, the receiving blanket she was covered with, her woobie (blanket and Winnie the Pooh combo toy tihngamajig), and Eeyore all go in to the wash.
In less than two minutes, your bed has been stripped wiped down and remade. Mommy's plus 10 to haste buff is on, go me!
My dear daughter is now jabbering at the dogs while banging a rattle on a caterpillar. She sees me, I smile and walk to the kitchen to nuke cold coffee (yes the coffee was from yesterday, no I don't care, and plus it is not wasteful and the stronger the better :-D ). Her look says "Um, Mom? WTH woman?! I am sitting here, the least you could do is drop everything and entertain me! WAH! Ooh, soft, cat fur!"
It is now 8 am. Mommy is normally just now waking up, hearing a soft cooing from A's room. This up extra early thing is not for me. We *did* have a routine just this past weekend. However, Mr K's job decided he was going out of town this week which left me with no relief pitcher in the 9th inning. No, my go-to guy is lounging in a hotel room this week. I am the on call parent at night and first thing in the morning. We (Boog and I) are not used to this. We are used to going to sleep in Daddy's arms, him putting the Tyrant to bed because the daddy-daughter time is just awesome for all three of us; him being the one up bright and early (Thank you Navy for training him well here) and doing the first morning hour thing while Mommy tries to go from zombie stumbling and mumbling "caaaafffffffeeeeeine" to human mommy. We miss The Daddy.
Despite this temporary burp in our routine, we are getting along. I get extra cuddles in the evening and see that glorious happy grin first thing when she rolls over at the sound of a voice, sees one of us and all is wonderful in her world.
Those things, you see, are what make: the screaming for an hour because daddy is not there, or grunting at me because 'Hello Mom! I made stinkies over here, I need a clean butt now!' and the fact that Mommy never gets to bed early, it's not genetically possible for me, those things make me adore my job asmaid, cook, housekeeper, laundress, busboy, bellhop, slave to a Two Foot Tyrant "Mommy". Each smile, every game of "Where is she?, THERE she is!", each yank on my face, finger in my eye, every last gaze into those sea colored eyes every last bit of makes it awesome. It totally makes up for all the sleep missed, the pukes, poops, pees, spit outs, raspberry drools, don't eat the cat furs, the dogs' rawhide is not an acceptable teether, honey that is a cell phone-NOT a baby toy, I thought you swallowed the sweet potatoes ten minutes ago?!
*Cracking an eye open*
I see it is 6:24 am. Thinking I dreamt the sounds of a murloc coming from A's room, I close my eyes briefly and doze off.
MRGLMRGLMRGLMRGLWAHHHHHHHH!
*Eyes both pop open*
6:25am.
Nope, not a murloc. Just my daughter, face smooshed into the mattress, pacifier an inch away from her mouth, alternately yelling/fussing/talking to someone (me, herself, her daddy?). She is ardently vocalizing the fact that she is unhappy with her current situation. There she lies, adorable footed pajamas with little flowers printed on them, soaked from shoulder to knee. That is the hazard of a baby who sleeps for nine hours without waking. Soaked everything, you know.
I walk in, see all this, pick her, smelling like the urine soaked diaper wearing baby that she is, cradle her to me and whisper "Good morning tyrant, I love you!"
Change her diaper while she smiles and kicks, then rolls away from me. "Hun, no you need the butt covering on, Mommy gets tired of cleaning up after the dogs and cat, she does not need you to contribute to the messes, thankyouverymuch." Wrangle diaper onto baby, get her dressed and fed, then playing happily with her feet, and the next thing I know I am face to face with a pee covered crib. Oh joy - notice that did you? The sarcasm that was darn near dripping from my words? Ha!
Muttering to myself...'Oh Booger, this is why you have a dry diaper all night long. It stays as fresh all night as it did when first put it on you at bedtime. The minute you wake up, the floodgates open. and you secrete about a gallon of liquid from your well trained bladder, fill the diaper, the sheets and anything else that is in the crib.' I pull a hamper close, drop in every last item she slept with, her sheet, the receiving blanket she was covered with, her woobie (blanket and Winnie the Pooh combo toy tihngamajig), and Eeyore all go in to the wash.
In less than two minutes, your bed has been stripped wiped down and remade. Mommy's plus 10 to haste buff is on, go me!
My dear daughter is now jabbering at the dogs while banging a rattle on a caterpillar. She sees me, I smile and walk to the kitchen to nuke cold coffee (yes the coffee was from yesterday, no I don't care, and plus it is not wasteful and the stronger the better :-D ). Her look says "Um, Mom? WTH woman?! I am sitting here, the least you could do is drop everything and entertain me! WAH! Ooh, soft, cat fur!"
It is now 8 am. Mommy is normally just now waking up, hearing a soft cooing from A's room. This up extra early thing is not for me. We *did* have a routine just this past weekend. However, Mr K's job decided he was going out of town this week which left me with no relief pitcher in the 9th inning. No, my go-to guy is lounging in a hotel room this week. I am the on call parent at night and first thing in the morning. We (Boog and I) are not used to this. We are used to going to sleep in Daddy's arms, him putting the Tyrant to bed because the daddy-daughter time is just awesome for all three of us; him being the one up bright and early (Thank you Navy for training him well here) and doing the first morning hour thing while Mommy tries to go from zombie stumbling and mumbling "caaaafffffffeeeeeine" to human mommy. We miss The Daddy.
Despite this temporary burp in our routine, we are getting along. I get extra cuddles in the evening and see that glorious happy grin first thing when she rolls over at the sound of a voice, sees one of us and all is wonderful in her world.
Those things, you see, are what make: the screaming for an hour because daddy is not there, or grunting at me because 'Hello Mom! I made stinkies over here, I need a clean butt now!' and the fact that Mommy never gets to bed early, it's not genetically possible for me, those things make me adore my job as
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
We have plants!
The mister and I wanted a garden last year. The only problem with the pan was the fence that took 9 weekends to put up. We had to work in the heat and battle queasiness from Anna floating around unhappy with the temperatures, K's broken toe, and waiting for rainwater to dry up. So it took nine weekends, totalling about 90 working hours. That stole our gardening time, energy, and money.
This year, we had a deck to stain, we still have wood trim to paint, and we have a roof that is in dire need of fresh shingles. Today though, K worked on the box garden. He had previously built the box but today our wonderful neighbor came through on his offer to till the dirt. Suh-weet! Off to buy plants and back home in an hour, go me! (I am so bad at stopping and looking at stuff that this is an amazing feat.)
We managed to plant about twelve different things for food and I got some bulbs, 'cause they were pretty. It's been a few days and the plants are still alive (so far). Some of the bulbs are beginning to sprout. We shall see how this goes.
This year, we had a deck to stain, we still have wood trim to paint, and we have a roof that is in dire need of fresh shingles. Today though, K worked on the box garden. He had previously built the box but today our wonderful neighbor came through on his offer to till the dirt. Suh-weet! Off to buy plants and back home in an hour, go me! (I am so bad at stopping and looking at stuff that this is an amazing feat.)
We managed to plant about twelve different things for food and I got some bulbs, 'cause they were pretty. It's been a few days and the plants are still alive (so far). Some of the bulbs are beginning to sprout. We shall see how this goes.
Monday, June 6, 2011
What a weekend!
I have been assimilated. Into the car club loving world. I am an American woman who has always liked the looks of American muscle. When I met Mr K, I learned he had a 2002 Camaro. I then became involved in learning about the wonders of a 6-speed V8.
The Mister belongs to a car club of F-body style. There is an annual get together at a lake in the Ozarks, which the club refers to as LOTO. This annual LOTO rally was this past weekend. When the Mister lived in Missouri, this was a two hour drive for him, but now that we live north of the area, it is a six hour drive. Despite the fact that these glorious muscle cars are not meant for long distance driving, we made this trip. With a baby. It was not nearly as bad as it could have been. Did you know you can manage to pack quite a bit into the hatch of a two door sports car? You can also safely use a cut up pool noodle to assist in the safe installation of the car seat. Also, did you know a woman who weighs anywhere from 125-135 any given day at is 5'2" in height actually can maneuver around the inside of a Camaro at 65mph in order to feed an infant? Because, despite the very dangerous aspect of it, it is possible, but never, ever advisable.
We manage to get to the lake, get checked in at the hotel and begin swimming by 9pm. The infant, Little Miss Shy One, decided after the first splash she was not having anything to do with the pool. She went to bed shortly after, we hung out near the room and talked til bedtime.
Saturday, we managed to enjoy a breakfast after my handy dandy brand new insulin pump got locked accidentally then unlocked despite no help from tech support. We enjoyed a long leisurely breakfast, then got to the park where we were to have a barbecue. Talked more, played with little ones and ate some burgers and hot dogs. As we left, we all decided to go back to the hotel and cool off at the pool. It was hot and sticky, so the pool was just the thing. Little Miss decided she'd rather nap than go to the pool with us so we compromised. She went to nap and we swan, with frequent checks, it was a success. Little did we know, one of our own members had gone back to the park to check on the stragglers who were behind, and as he was leaving, some minister lady was heading to officiate a wedding and either didn't see or was not paying attention and made a left turn into a church just as our friend was going along with traffic, not speeding (Thank God), and T-boned into to her. She had two other passengers in the car, and everyone made it safe with minimal burns from the air bags. He is fine but his beautiful Sebring Convertible was totaled. We are thankful as well that his own Camaro was out of commission for this rally, because he'd have surely died in that car if it were the Camaro in the wreck.
After he came back to the hotel, we went out for dinner at a local restaurant, then split up where some went back to talk and BS at the hotel while others went to the local downtown strip of hokey but awesomely fun shops. Then the group met up, talked more, and hung out til bedtime.
Sunday was when the fun ended, some went home early and others ate breakfast at a buffet. We left and arrived home at dusk, exhausted from our relaxing weekend.
My new pump did not make the cut. Yes, it is waterproof, but there were just too many other issues and it is locked away in a box to be brought out only in case of dire emergency.
In other news, A. now knows how to sit up, and she is eating solid foods. We are working on her reaching and her pivoting while on her belly. She is rolling like nothing else and will be crawling soon, if her kicking motions are any indication.
The Mister belongs to a car club of F-body style. There is an annual get together at a lake in the Ozarks, which the club refers to as LOTO. This annual LOTO rally was this past weekend. When the Mister lived in Missouri, this was a two hour drive for him, but now that we live north of the area, it is a six hour drive. Despite the fact that these glorious muscle cars are not meant for long distance driving, we made this trip. With a baby. It was not nearly as bad as it could have been. Did you know you can manage to pack quite a bit into the hatch of a two door sports car? You can also safely use a cut up pool noodle to assist in the safe installation of the car seat. Also, did you know a woman who weighs anywhere from 125-135 any given day at is 5'2" in height actually can maneuver around the inside of a Camaro at 65mph in order to feed an infant? Because, despite the very dangerous aspect of it, it is possible, but never, ever advisable.
We manage to get to the lake, get checked in at the hotel and begin swimming by 9pm. The infant, Little Miss Shy One, decided after the first splash she was not having anything to do with the pool. She went to bed shortly after, we hung out near the room and talked til bedtime.
Saturday, we managed to enjoy a breakfast after my handy dandy brand new insulin pump got locked accidentally then unlocked despite no help from tech support. We enjoyed a long leisurely breakfast, then got to the park where we were to have a barbecue. Talked more, played with little ones and ate some burgers and hot dogs. As we left, we all decided to go back to the hotel and cool off at the pool. It was hot and sticky, so the pool was just the thing. Little Miss decided she'd rather nap than go to the pool with us so we compromised. She went to nap and we swan, with frequent checks, it was a success. Little did we know, one of our own members had gone back to the park to check on the stragglers who were behind, and as he was leaving, some minister lady was heading to officiate a wedding and either didn't see or was not paying attention and made a left turn into a church just as our friend was going along with traffic, not speeding (Thank God), and T-boned into to her. She had two other passengers in the car, and everyone made it safe with minimal burns from the air bags. He is fine but his beautiful Sebring Convertible was totaled. We are thankful as well that his own Camaro was out of commission for this rally, because he'd have surely died in that car if it were the Camaro in the wreck.
After he came back to the hotel, we went out for dinner at a local restaurant, then split up where some went back to talk and BS at the hotel while others went to the local downtown strip of hokey but awesomely fun shops. Then the group met up, talked more, and hung out til bedtime.
Sunday was when the fun ended, some went home early and others ate breakfast at a buffet. We left and arrived home at dusk, exhausted from our relaxing weekend.
My new pump did not make the cut. Yes, it is waterproof, but there were just too many other issues and it is locked away in a box to be brought out only in case of dire emergency.
In other news, A. now knows how to sit up, and she is eating solid foods. We are working on her reaching and her pivoting while on her belly. She is rolling like nothing else and will be crawling soon, if her kicking motions are any indication.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Rant ahead- you were warned.
TLC has a new show about gypsies. Normally I am all about live and let live, there is rarely a family lifestyle or type that I'll even bat an eyelash towards. However, one thing really sets me off.
When people let/encourage/force underage age girls to have spray tans, wear things that show more skin than have actual cloth, and dance like they have something to offer sickens me. This includes the gypsy lifestyle, the parents who have their kids wear makeup and hairspray and ten pounds of cloth for pageants, and those who think it's okay to encourage the attitude of entitlement.
The gypsies are known as travellers, they have a high moral mindset, yet dress like sluts. When the males are only allowed to approach females and impose themselves on the females in a forceful manner, demanding a kiss or some other sign of affection, it seems so off.
Oppulence bothers me, as it seems just wasteful in many cases. What bothers me more, and gets me riled up, is when children are sexualized. A young child of age 6 or so does not have a sexy body, should not be wearing glitter and makeup and showing off breast buds in training for being a sexy 14 year old wearing tassles and shaking her breasts and butt.
I am all for when someone is legal, age 18 in my country, to be as sexy and free and open as they want, but not children! If you want to shroud your body in a burka and be a homebody or strip for a living because you have a great body and feel confident enough to show it off, great! Do what you want when you're legal! I don't care if you want no kids, you want only to adopt, or you want to give birth to 20 kids, go for it. For the love of all the bunny farts in the world, people: don't dress your child, pre-teen or let your 15 year old dress like she belongs on a street corner in a red light district.
You get my idea. Expressing yourself is truly awesome but it can be done without making little girls and even little boys sexualized beings.
When people let/encourage/force underage age girls to have spray tans, wear things that show more skin than have actual cloth, and dance like they have something to offer sickens me. This includes the gypsy lifestyle, the parents who have their kids wear makeup and hairspray and ten pounds of cloth for pageants, and those who think it's okay to encourage the attitude of entitlement.
The gypsies are known as travellers, they have a high moral mindset, yet dress like sluts. When the males are only allowed to approach females and impose themselves on the females in a forceful manner, demanding a kiss or some other sign of affection, it seems so off.
Oppulence bothers me, as it seems just wasteful in many cases. What bothers me more, and gets me riled up, is when children are sexualized. A young child of age 6 or so does not have a sexy body, should not be wearing glitter and makeup and showing off breast buds in training for being a sexy 14 year old wearing tassles and shaking her breasts and butt.
I am all for when someone is legal, age 18 in my country, to be as sexy and free and open as they want, but not children! If you want to shroud your body in a burka and be a homebody or strip for a living because you have a great body and feel confident enough to show it off, great! Do what you want when you're legal! I don't care if you want no kids, you want only to adopt, or you want to give birth to 20 kids, go for it. For the love of all the bunny farts in the world, people: don't dress your child, pre-teen or let your 15 year old dress like she belongs on a street corner in a red light district.
You get my idea. Expressing yourself is truly awesome but it can be done without making little girls and even little boys sexualized beings.
Adventures in DIY home improvements, part 1.
I have this house. The mister chose this house for no other reason than the massive amounts of garage space. It has the orginal garage built when the house was, back in the fifties, and a newer one that fits twice as many cars. The house is not all that large. She's a good little house that needs some love. When I moved in two years ago, the house was stuck in the 60s and 80s. There was carpet in the finished part of the basement that came from an episode of the Brady Bunch, and the kitchen had little country hearts and flowers stenciled on the cabinets and wallpaper that could have been in Full House. It was bad.
I promptly removed the wallpaper,and painted white primer over the country blue cabinet doors. Now, two years later, I stripped pain off the upper doors. My poor kitchen (what little there is of it) has robin's egg blue counters, off-white door openings, and country blue cabinet doors and trim. The flooring is (according to a blog I found about remodeling and finding a 1960s kitchen inder a bad fix-it job) a 1962 Armstrong special.
Step 1 was to remove wallpaper.
Step 2 was/is to get rid of the blue doors.
Step 3 is to remove the countertop and replace it with something made in this century.
Step 4 is to remove and replace the 1960 flooring.
Step 5 is to hopefully repaint the hardware to a brushed nickel finish
Step 6 is the last step, to get rid of the blue trim and paint it all white while I paint the walls all one color.
That is simply the kitchen. More to come on other parts of my home.
Exhibit 1, the blue on blue on wallpaper and white.
Exhibit 2 and 3, the Brady bunch carpet and the stripped doors.
Exhibit 4, the 1962 flooring
I promptly removed the wallpaper,and painted white primer over the country blue cabinet doors. Now, two years later, I stripped pain off the upper doors. My poor kitchen (what little there is of it) has robin's egg blue counters, off-white door openings, and country blue cabinet doors and trim. The flooring is (according to a blog I found about remodeling and finding a 1960s kitchen inder a bad fix-it job) a 1962 Armstrong special.
Step 1 was to remove wallpaper.
Step 2 was/is to get rid of the blue doors.
Step 3 is to remove the countertop and replace it with something made in this century.
Step 4 is to remove and replace the 1960 flooring.
Step 5 is to hopefully repaint the hardware to a brushed nickel finish
Step 6 is the last step, to get rid of the blue trim and paint it all white while I paint the walls all one color.
That is simply the kitchen. More to come on other parts of my home.
Exhibit 1, the blue on blue on wallpaper and white.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Crafts- HA! I'm dreaming.
I have this dream. One day I'd love to have a home big enough to have a room dedicated to crafts. All things ranging from cross-stitching, sewing/quilting to model cars/scrap-booking. I love these types of things, even though I am no good, and wish to eventually have a room so that I can light a candle or open a window, settle in with a mug of something hot or glass of something iced and go into my own little world while I attempt to create something.
This room would have a great table for all manner of crafting, two or comfy rolling chairs and two reading chairs. Those oversized chairs that can almost fit two people in it. They would each have their own ottoman with storage in which to keep warm blankets. To fit all this, I would need either an open floor plan attic, or a walk out basement.
In keeping with laughing at my lame attempts to craft, it would be a must to have a wall for tacking up ideas. Putting up a huge section of cork board, surrounded by trim sounds just fun an insane enough to give a go. I would have a small stereo system or hook-up thingy for my music player.
There are many, many things I would have set up here. A wall full of open and closed shelving, built-ins because if any of my children are anything like me, they'll be climbing anything that will hold them, would have a large number of books and also hold cute craft things that have not been too embarassign to put on display.
The colors would be soft and soothing, with earthy tones and floral colors, like greens, oranges, lavender, tans, etc, all in the accents, but the walls would be very neitral, either white or off-white.
The only thing missing now is the things that my sweet loving mother would add to the room, because in this dream, Mom chooses to live with us for a few months of the year, when the weather at home for her is not perfect.
This room would have a great table for all manner of crafting, two or comfy rolling chairs and two reading chairs. Those oversized chairs that can almost fit two people in it. They would each have their own ottoman with storage in which to keep warm blankets. To fit all this, I would need either an open floor plan attic, or a walk out basement.
In keeping with laughing at my lame attempts to craft, it would be a must to have a wall for tacking up ideas. Putting up a huge section of cork board, surrounded by trim sounds just fun an insane enough to give a go. I would have a small stereo system or hook-up thingy for my music player.
There are many, many things I would have set up here. A wall full of open and closed shelving, built-ins because if any of my children are anything like me, they'll be climbing anything that will hold them, would have a large number of books and also hold cute craft things that have not been too embarassign to put on display.
The colors would be soft and soothing, with earthy tones and floral colors, like greens, oranges, lavender, tans, etc, all in the accents, but the walls would be very neitral, either white or off-white.
The only thing missing now is the things that my sweet loving mother would add to the room, because in this dream, Mom chooses to live with us for a few months of the year, when the weather at home for her is not perfect.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Today was an over all good day!
Have you ever had a day that you managed to put off getting something done, and it turn out to be the best choice for you? Today was that day. My "to-do" list is full, and there are chores that require packing up Little Miss and driving somewhere. I kept putting it off by talking to T2, Mom, and T3 on Skype (each at their own homes, too bad a s a family conference call is always fun!), looking for a newer home that is more like a home for this little family rather than resembling the little old lady living in a shoe, and playing with Little Miss. The day passed from morning to afternoon fairly quickly with all this busy work of talking, wrangling baby-squirms-a-lot and searching online for homes. I managed a few household chores that I won't postpone, and before we knew it, The Daddy was home! We settled in to our evening routine of "What do you want for dinner, what are we doing, am I leaving the house at all tonight?", got things settled and enjoyed our night together.
Mid-afternoon's crazylazyness was abruptly interrupted by the sky going from partly cloudy and bright to churning grey skies, high winds and rain in less than five minutes. Little Miss, the dogs, the cat, and I all went downstairs to wait out the creepy weather, then went back to our nonproductive day.
The Daddy came home, A smiled as big as ever, we settled in and watched nonsense TV while talking and feeding and entertaining the quickly bored Tyrant. 9pm came and went with our sweet girl still wide awake. My goodness the kid had energy today! Awake at 5 am, slept for an hour nap in the morning, slept for an hour nap in the afternoon right before the storm for less than an hour, then was still wide awake. By 9:30 she was giving it up and was out in less than 15 minutes.
Mr K and I watched a documentary on John Lennon, and enjoyed the film. We love The Beatles in this home. We used to sing (what you might call a cat wailing in agony if you were to hear this mess) to each other and to Tyrant in utero (hmm maybe this is why she is our Two Foot Tyrant now? Payback for torture?) and still love to listen to their music anytime we ride together (rare these days).
So, instead of driving around using up gas, spending money in a few places, I stayed home, enjoyed my quality time with my daughter, sister, mother, and brother, and husband, and was home when scary weather threatened with possible tornadoes. An overall good day.
Mid-afternoon's crazylazyness was abruptly interrupted by the sky going from partly cloudy and bright to churning grey skies, high winds and rain in less than five minutes. Little Miss, the dogs, the cat, and I all went downstairs to wait out the creepy weather, then went back to our nonproductive day.
The Daddy came home, A smiled as big as ever, we settled in and watched nonsense TV while talking and feeding and entertaining the quickly bored Tyrant. 9pm came and went with our sweet girl still wide awake. My goodness the kid had energy today! Awake at 5 am, slept for an hour nap in the morning, slept for an hour nap in the afternoon right before the storm for less than an hour, then was still wide awake. By 9:30 she was giving it up and was out in less than 15 minutes.
Mr K and I watched a documentary on John Lennon, and enjoyed the film. We love The Beatles in this home. We used to sing (what you might call a cat wailing in agony if you were to hear this mess) to each other and to Tyrant in utero (hmm maybe this is why she is our Two Foot Tyrant now? Payback for torture?) and still love to listen to their music anytime we ride together (rare these days).
So, instead of driving around using up gas, spending money in a few places, I stayed home, enjoyed my quality time with my daughter, sister, mother, and brother, and husband, and was home when scary weather threatened with possible tornadoes. An overall good day.
Monday, May 23, 2011
I'm alive!
It's been ages since I last posted. A has had her surgery, and recovered well, and is now starting physical and occupational therapy.
Her PT is going to focus on her arm movement and coordination, while her OT is going to work on her ability to sit, grab her feet and socks, as well as holding herself in a crawling position/getting her to learn to use her arms in that manner.
As for the mister, he had a procedure done to remove a spot from a toe, and it has taken a while to recover. His podiatrist is about as helpful as a turtle sunning himself on a log. He's doing well considering and is back to walking almost normally.
I am supposed to be getting a new pump but it is taking a while, as does every thing when it comes to insurance companies. I am currently on a minimed pump but plan to go with an animas ping. I'm torn between green and blue. They need to offer purple.
Off to go sip some coffee and enjoy the evening. Goodnight all!
Her PT is going to focus on her arm movement and coordination, while her OT is going to work on her ability to sit, grab her feet and socks, as well as holding herself in a crawling position/getting her to learn to use her arms in that manner.
As for the mister, he had a procedure done to remove a spot from a toe, and it has taken a while to recover. His podiatrist is about as helpful as a turtle sunning himself on a log. He's doing well considering and is back to walking almost normally.
I am supposed to be getting a new pump but it is taking a while, as does every thing when it comes to insurance companies. I am currently on a minimed pump but plan to go with an animas ping. I'm torn between green and blue. They need to offer purple.
Off to go sip some coffee and enjoy the evening. Goodnight all!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Surgery, oof
Our tyrant had her RCDH repaired midday Monday. She had no ill effects and thankfully the surgeon did not have to convert to an open incision and was able to repair things laproscopically.
A had her chest tube removed about 24 hours after surgery and did well without it the rest of the day. Her lungs did well and she was only on controlled substance pain meds for 24 hours. She was released today at around 12. We are home and Boog is resting comfortably.
More to come later.
Thanks for reading, whomever you are :-D
A had her chest tube removed about 24 hours after surgery and did well without it the rest of the day. Her lungs did well and she was only on controlled substance pain meds for 24 hours. She was released today at around 12. We are home and Boog is resting comfortably.
More to come later.
Thanks for reading, whomever you are :-D
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Booger's surgery is scheduled.
We went to a doctor an hour and a half away this afternoon for a second opinion for our tyrant. It went well and kind of as expected and then definitely not as expected. Her doc confirmed the diagnosis of right sided diaphragmatic hernia (the "as expected part") and had no idea why the initial diagnosing surgeon would want to wait and when I repeated his reasoning the second doc basically thought it was an invalid reason but was quite professional in his way of saying so. he went on to say that he recommends getting a surgery scheduled and the repair surgery done in the next few weeks. I called the mister and we spoke and decided to go ahead with scheduling the pre-op appointment. I was still in the clinic area, and went back in to ask the nurses at the check out desk how to go about it and they paged one of the necessary staff to assist me. We wound up doing to pre-op stuff today and got the surgery slated for Monday. As most hospitals try to schedule the youngest patients first, A may get in first thing Monday morning depending on the age of the other person slated for surgery Monday morning. So, Mommy, Daddy and Baby Boog get to have an adventure Monday morning. My guess is: we will be getting up at 3 to prepare, getting on the road for 5 so we can be at the clinic for no later than 6:30 (depending upon traffic) and will get settled as we wait for our girl to get
I will let y'all know more as we know more. (Ah who am I kidding, I think I have about as many readers as Robin Scherbatsky has viewers on How I Met Your Mother (minus the drinking gamers).
I will let y'all know more as we know more. (Ah who am I kidding, I think I have about as many readers as Robin Scherbatsky has viewers on How I Met Your Mother (minus the drinking gamers).
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Jumping baby and bookworming
I have been salivating over wanting for A, a jumperoo type toy for her to enjoy. We were finally able to get one and got it together last night. By the time I went to the store, picked it up and brought it home and put together A was asleep. This morning we tried it out and it was a hit! There was one tiny little snag, her legs are about an inch too short for this toy. Hrm. Solution was to sacrifice a pillow and voila, the bebe now has a jumperoo in which to bounce, spin and play mad games.
I am a bookworm. My nickname in school was bookwurm. It was bestowed upon me in 1st grade by a boy named John who kept calling me that all the way through high school. (Small town, USA, some kids I've known since kindergarten.) I've earned it and am proud of it. I could live in my local library. They have a cafe attached, and comfy chairs. What more could aslave to words reader need? My library has one minor flaw. They are not thorough when checking in books from the drop box. I had a two month overdue notice come in. Worried that I did in fact lose the book, I called every person I came in contact with while I had said book and no one knew where it was. Yesterday, to clear things up, I went in and looked for the book upon the shelf where it was supposed to be and wouldn't you know, there it was! This is the second time this has happened. I will henceforth immediately get to the library when smacked with an overdue notice and look for any offending materials before preparing to shell out however many nickels and quarters they ask as payment for my apparent lack of regard for return dates. In the event that my dogs and/or child has eaten any books (not happened yet, thankfully) then I will gladly pay the piper, or in this case librarian, apologize profusely and do my darnedest to get a replacement copy.
I am a bookworm. My nickname in school was bookwurm. It was bestowed upon me in 1st grade by a boy named John who kept calling me that all the way through high school. (Small town, USA, some kids I've known since kindergarten.) I've earned it and am proud of it. I could live in my local library. They have a cafe attached, and comfy chairs. What more could a
Sunday, May 1, 2011
A latest doctor appointment.
After our lovely day Thursday, Friday we brought A to a neurologist as per the pediatrician's recommendation. The neurologist evaluated her and diagnosed delayed development and prescribed 4 months of physical and occupational therapy. We will hear from the therapy people on Monday, but may have to switch therapy people before it even begins if insurance gets fussy about the place her neuro picked. Oy. If it isn't one thing....
That was our Friday morning. The afternoon brought another appointment, this time for Mr K. The man is a saint when it comes to patience. We get to the doctor, he looks at the offending spot on Mr K's foot and removes the spot. Aside from being told to take it easy this weekend and he will be fine to drive immediately, but take some ibuprofen for pain, he was not prepared for the level of discomfort from having a small bit of extra flesh removed.
Poor man, he needs a break from his nutty wife and demanding daughter. Instead of me being the sweet wife I had planned on, I wound up leaving him in the lurch with a (temporarily) bum foot and go across the street to help a neighbor clean out her garage and got massive amounts of hand me down toys and clothes for my self and T2's youngest son. He is only about 3.5 months younger than A, so I was able to score a bit of stuff for both out kids. Thank you sweet neighbor who had so much extra to give.
Now the Mr is hobbling around a house that looks like it belong on an episode of hoarders, and cannot catch a break. If I am not blocking his every path to get around our home, the dogs and cat are trying to step on his sore foot.
Have I mentioned the man needs to get away from everything? Because he really, really needs a break.
I love my husband more every day, and it is his attitude through every day like this that makes it happen.
More to come Monday, have a great week everyone!
That was our Friday morning. The afternoon brought another appointment, this time for Mr K. The man is a saint when it comes to patience. We get to the doctor, he looks at the offending spot on Mr K's foot and removes the spot. Aside from being told to take it easy this weekend and he will be fine to drive immediately, but take some ibuprofen for pain, he was not prepared for the level of discomfort from having a small bit of extra flesh removed.
Poor man, he needs a break from his nutty wife and demanding daughter. Instead of me being the sweet wife I had planned on, I wound up leaving him in the lurch with a (temporarily) bum foot and go across the street to help a neighbor clean out her garage and got massive amounts of hand me down toys and clothes for my self and T2's youngest son. He is only about 3.5 months younger than A, so I was able to score a bit of stuff for both out kids. Thank you sweet neighbor who had so much extra to give.
Now the Mr is hobbling around a house that looks like it belong on an episode of hoarders, and cannot catch a break. If I am not blocking his every path to get around our home, the dogs and cat are trying to step on his sore foot.
Have I mentioned the man needs to get away from everything? Because he really, really needs a break.
I love my husband more every day, and it is his attitude through every day like this that makes it happen.
More to come Monday, have a great week everyone!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Tyrant and the Yappers.
Today it was a gift from God sort of day. It began overcast with the sun peeking through the wandering clouds, all day. The Boog and I got up soon after Mr K left for work.
Let me just tell you how our girl sleeps nowadays. We put her in the sleep sack to keep her warm, as the SwaddleMe wraps are useless. The kid breaks loose in a manner resembling The Hulk breaking loose from chains around his torso. She pops open the Velcro and kicks her way free in less than ten minutes of being swaddled. So no more swaddle, just the sleep sack. As of about three weeks ago, A learned to roll over from back to belly and now realizes just how much she loves sleeping on her belly. Anyhow, we change, feed, and dress our innocent little cherub for bed, Daddy gets her to sleep, and lays her on her back in her crib. The soothie is either in her mouth or next to her head, depending on whether or not she's spit it out like an outlaw expelling spittle into a spittoon. Two minutes later she's on her belly, arms tucked up under her chest and her head facing her right shoulder with drool (when is she not drooling?) pooling on her sheet. This is how she sleeps from about nine or ten at night until anywhere from four to eight in the morning.
So back to our day- it is around three thirty and the wind has conveniently booted the clouds off for a bit and that big nuclear reactor in the sky is shining down warmly on us. Squirrels are arguing, birds are playing tag, and my yappers are yelling about it all. Even thedemon spawn cat is out on a leash to enjoy fresh air. I decide to tackle the weeds that are beginning to pop up in the rocks. This is not so simple when you are no longer *just* a pregnant woman. Now you are a mom, with a Two Foot tyrant who, because she sleeps so darn well at night, doesn't want to nap and make it easy for you garden. This little chore has turned into dragging out a playpen, finding an appropriate hat, dressing Boog in layers to combat the wind cutting through them all and making sure she is right there so I can multitask without losing the rest of my marbles (HA! who am I kidding? I know they're long gone!).
*Sigh* Domestic bliss. Baby chattering away discovering spitting, the dogs frolicking, thedemon spawn cat is eating grass. As soon as my fingers touch the first sproutlings of weeds my butt starts singing a silly little ditty from YouTube. I scramble for my phone from my back pocket, and answer before it goes to voicemail. It's the mister, giving me a courtesy call to let me know he is getting done with work. I get off the phone in time to see the clouds come back, the wind is picking up, the cat escaped his harness, the dogs are about to eat the fence, and A chooses to tell me "Mommy, I would prefer to go indoors now, i am getting chilled" but to anyone other than me all it sounds like is this: waw-wa-WAAAA-Spit-gurgle-gurg-sputter-roar!!
So go me! I got one weed sproutling pulled! Not bad for an hour's worth of work setting up the yard and all the paraphernalia for baby watching (her watching me as I attempt to garden-she is the supervisor you know).
And so ends my glorious day from God. Ten minutes of lovely sunshine!
Let me just tell you how our girl sleeps nowadays. We put her in the sleep sack to keep her warm, as the SwaddleMe wraps are useless. The kid breaks loose in a manner resembling The Hulk breaking loose from chains around his torso. She pops open the Velcro and kicks her way free in less than ten minutes of being swaddled. So no more swaddle, just the sleep sack. As of about three weeks ago, A learned to roll over from back to belly and now realizes just how much she loves sleeping on her belly. Anyhow, we change, feed, and dress our innocent little cherub for bed, Daddy gets her to sleep, and lays her on her back in her crib. The soothie is either in her mouth or next to her head, depending on whether or not she's spit it out like an outlaw expelling spittle into a spittoon. Two minutes later she's on her belly, arms tucked up under her chest and her head facing her right shoulder with drool (when is she not drooling?) pooling on her sheet. This is how she sleeps from about nine or ten at night until anywhere from four to eight in the morning.
So back to our day- it is around three thirty and the wind has conveniently booted the clouds off for a bit and that big nuclear reactor in the sky is shining down warmly on us. Squirrels are arguing, birds are playing tag, and my yappers are yelling about it all. Even the
*Sigh* Domestic bliss. Baby chattering away discovering spitting, the dogs frolicking, the
So go me! I got one weed sproutling pulled! Not bad for an hour's worth of work setting up the yard and all the paraphernalia for baby watching (her watching me as I attempt to garden-she is the supervisor you know).
And so ends my glorious day from God. Ten minutes of lovely sunshine!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Counting to ten...million? Nope, not calming.
Well, not really, but you get the idea. I have been trying to find out from insurance if certain doctors are covered and keep getting the run around from all the doctors and the insurance people and cannot get a straight answer out of the lot of them so, in my ever oh-so-patient (snorting laughter by reader inserted here) way, I get to be the one who digs through the mass of information and interpret if these guys are covered at all, if so, how much is our copay, and all that jazz.
Phew that was one heck of a run-on sentence.
As I sit here, the merciful gods of babydom have blessed me with She -Who -Rolls choosing to nap today so I can work on phone calls. I also am enjoying my never ending supply of coffee.
More to come later.
Oh, I get to drive to an appointment an hour and a half away from home for a second opinion. Why, you might ask? Because I am a sadist! Really though it is because when Boog's chances of requiring surgery to repair her diaphragm are very high, I want to make sure she is well taken care of and that two different doctors in two parts of the state agree on her care without ever talking to each other about it. Me worrisome? I prefer to call it being "mommy."
Phew that was one heck of a run-on sentence.
As I sit here, the merciful gods of babydom have blessed me with She -Who -Rolls choosing to nap today so I can work on phone calls. I also am enjoying my never ending supply of coffee.
More to come later.
Oh, I get to drive to an appointment an hour and a half away from home for a second opinion. Why, you might ask? Because I am a sadist! Really though it is because when Boog's chances of requiring surgery to repair her diaphragm are very high, I want to make sure she is well taken care of and that two different doctors in two parts of the state agree on her care without ever talking to each other about it. Me worrisome? I prefer to call it being "mommy."
Monday, April 25, 2011
Lazy Monday.
I was awoken this morning as is typical in this house. I hear a noise, feel a breath on my face, a bit of drool...Then the bed shifts. I crack my eyes open, blinking hard against this odd brightness outside. I first stretch then see my daughter hovering over me, with r K holding her there. Still confused and half asleep I wonder why he has the overhead light on in the middle of the night. Hmmm I turn my head and see... SUNLIGHT! Glorious bright yellow happy sunny light outside. YAY!
My daughter's sunny smile and the bright sun outside just added to the sweet way my husband woke me up.
I had a nice day. I got my phone calls taken care of, despite A's best efforts to derail those plans.
Now it's dinnertime and Mr K just got home. Goodnight all.
My daughter's sunny smile and the bright sun outside just added to the sweet way my husband woke me up.
I had a nice day. I got my phone calls taken care of, despite A's best efforts to derail those plans.
Now it's dinnertime and Mr K just got home. Goodnight all.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
From Boog's beginning until now.
Boog was due in late November 2010. At a check-up, the doctor noticed she seemed to not have grown at all since the last ultrasound. He was worried my placenta had begun to deteriorate, so he sent me to the hospital for an induction. I was at 37 weeks gestation, considered full term, and we were a go. They began the induction that night, around 5 pm. I began pushing 24 hours later. After four hours of pushing, I had to have an emergency c-section. A was not making any progress. Forty more minutes passed and she was born at 9:40 pm. She was 7lbs2.5oz, 19.5 inches long and had a head full of hair.
I'm a little hazy about the next hour in recovery, but they rolled me in to see her at 11 pm where she was hooked up to heart monitors and oxygen sensors. The next morning the pediatrician came to talk to us, told us our brand new baby girl was born with a hole in her heart and pneumonia in her right lung. We get confirmation that the hole is minor, and she gets treated for the pneumonia, has a bout of jaundice while in the NICU, and is released from the hospital at nine days old.
At one month old, I noticed her head was a bit flat in back and brought her to the ped (as are most first time moms I was a tad over cautious) where he said the shape would be fine in time but the size was small, after checking her again at two months old, it was still small, so we get her head checked out and it has no physical issues. Next step is to have the neurologist check her out and make sure nothing else is wrong and she is just going at her own pace. Also at one month old, she gets to meet the cardiologist for her heart where he confirms it is a small ventricular septal defect that we will watch that will likely never need surgery. While at this appointment he takes a chest x-ray as is routine. All is well.
We take her back to the cardiologist for a check of her heart and everything goes as expected, she is growing well despite hovering around the 15th percentile. At the end, her doc says she's great but oh, there is something we need to talk to you about. He shows us the x-ray from her first visit and the one from that days. There is a noticeable shadow on her lung from one month old. The current one has show even more shadow that the one from four months before, and her cardio wants a radiologist to look at the films. The radiologist does, and lets the ped know she should have her chest further examined. She then gets a CT scan and we are referred to a pediatric surgeon. We take A to the consult. She is diagnosed with a Right side congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Her surgeon wants to see her again in three months to assess her condition.
After getting home, I do some research and find out that her condition is common yet not so common. How can that be, you might ask? Well, simple. CDH (congenital diaphragmatic hernia) occurs in about 1 in 2500 babies. That is the common part. The rare part is that approximately 50% of babies born with CDH don't make it. Of the remaining half, the majority of those (90% or so) babies have complications of a varying range. So A has a CDH. Her is on the right and looks to be towards the back. The good news and what makes her relatively rare is that she has not been impeded in any way by this. Yay!
http://www.cdhsupport.org/cdh.php
I found this site last night and it's very educational.
So, there we have it. That is the story of our Two Foot Tyrant.
I'm a little hazy about the next hour in recovery, but they rolled me in to see her at 11 pm where she was hooked up to heart monitors and oxygen sensors. The next morning the pediatrician came to talk to us, told us our brand new baby girl was born with a hole in her heart and pneumonia in her right lung. We get confirmation that the hole is minor, and she gets treated for the pneumonia, has a bout of jaundice while in the NICU, and is released from the hospital at nine days old.
At one month old, I noticed her head was a bit flat in back and brought her to the ped (as are most first time moms I was a tad over cautious) where he said the shape would be fine in time but the size was small, after checking her again at two months old, it was still small, so we get her head checked out and it has no physical issues. Next step is to have the neurologist check her out and make sure nothing else is wrong and she is just going at her own pace. Also at one month old, she gets to meet the cardiologist for her heart where he confirms it is a small ventricular septal defect that we will watch that will likely never need surgery. While at this appointment he takes a chest x-ray as is routine. All is well.
We take her back to the cardiologist for a check of her heart and everything goes as expected, she is growing well despite hovering around the 15th percentile. At the end, her doc says she's great but oh, there is something we need to talk to you about. He shows us the x-ray from her first visit and the one from that days. There is a noticeable shadow on her lung from one month old. The current one has show even more shadow that the one from four months before, and her cardio wants a radiologist to look at the films. The radiologist does, and lets the ped know she should have her chest further examined. She then gets a CT scan and we are referred to a pediatric surgeon. We take A to the consult. She is diagnosed with a Right side congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Her surgeon wants to see her again in three months to assess her condition.
After getting home, I do some research and find out that her condition is common yet not so common. How can that be, you might ask? Well, simple. CDH (congenital diaphragmatic hernia) occurs in about 1 in 2500 babies. That is the common part. The rare part is that approximately 50% of babies born with CDH don't make it. Of the remaining half, the majority of those (90% or so) babies have complications of a varying range. So A has a CDH. Her is on the right and looks to be towards the back. The good news and what makes her relatively rare is that she has not been impeded in any way by this. Yay!
http://www.cdhsupport.org/cdh.php
I found this site last night and it's very educational.
So, there we have it. That is the story of our Two Foot Tyrant.
How we came to this life
I was a born and bred Southern girl, and grew up where hurricanes are common and seafood is cheaper than pork. Parental influence helped me develop a love of reading very early and it continued on long into adulthood. My mother directed me to an online book club and I subsequently met my future brother-in-law.
He introduced me to Mr. K., we talked over the Internet, then on the phone, and finally we met in person. It was a very fast romance. I moved 16 hours north within the week, we became engaged a month later and married the month after that. Just after our one year wedding anniversary, we found out we were expecting our first rug-rat.
Mr. K. was born in the far north of the continental US, where he lived until he joined the military right out of high school. He served 6 years then left to pursue a civilian life and moved around the Midwest a few times before settling in our current home.
It has now been two years and four months since moving here. My how my life has changed! I love it, despite all the roller coaster events we've been through since A was born.
He introduced me to Mr. K., we talked over the Internet, then on the phone, and finally we met in person. It was a very fast romance. I moved 16 hours north within the week, we became engaged a month later and married the month after that. Just after our one year wedding anniversary, we found out we were expecting our first rug-rat.
Mr. K. was born in the far north of the continental US, where he lived until he joined the military right out of high school. He served 6 years then left to pursue a civilian life and moved around the Midwest a few times before settling in our current home.
It has now been two years and four months since moving here. My how my life has changed! I love it, despite all the roller coaster events we've been through since A was born.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Introductions
First up is A, also known and Boog, Booger, Superbaby (more on that later), and Tyrant. As of this post she is 5 and a half months old, has had an adventurous life of travels and doctors appointments sprinkled with giggles, chewing on dogs, and staring at the cat.
Next is Mr. K. He's my other half, the electronics, garage, car, and household handyman. He works full time out side the home and is in full playful Daddy mode when he is home.
Lastly, there is me:I am T, aka Mommy, Trophy Wife, and Betic. I'm a stay at home mom, co-ceo of this household, Boog's personal shopper, cook, maid, laundress, dog walker, and entertainment.
We are currently from the Midwest, but I began life down South, while my husband grew up about an hour from the Canadian border.
Stay tuned, more to come after Tyrant is taken care of in the morning.
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