Just a few things that irritate me:
- People that call their pets their kids. Um, no. If you want a kid, have a kid. A pet is part of the family, as a PET. Having a pet does not make your parents grandparents. And for the love of everything good, don't dress the poor thing up.
- Baby talk. How is a small child supposed to learn how to talk correctly if all the adults around him/her talk wike dis in a high voice?
- Parents who caption pictures/write letters/etc from their child's point of view. If the child is old enough to talk and not write, that's different. But you're not a mind reader and it's annoying.
- Humidity. Ugh. I'm SO ready for fall. I <3 fall.
- People who complain they never have money but spend money on expensive toys and eat out all the time. Um, you DO have money, you just like to pretend you don't so you don't have to spend a dime on anyone but yourself.
- People who can't seem to see the bright side of anything. Is life that bad? Really? I mean, sometimes so many things go wrong it's comical. Laugh and move on.
And lest you start to think all I do is complain, here are a few things I'm really happy/excited about.
- Leslie and Paul are moving back today! YAY!!! We love them and have missed them so much. (On a side note, if anyone knows of an accounting position in a company in the Jackson area, let me know. Leslie is looking.)
- Jonathan was home for 2 weeks! We're sad to see him go back but so proud of him. He's all grown up now, sniff sniff.
- Nora is a rolling machine! Technically, that would be a roller, wouldn't it? Anyhow, if she's on the floor, she rolls. And when she's on her belly, she making crawling motions. She just can't get her belly out of the way, lol. She's growing so fast. I'll miss some of the baby things but that's what nieces and nephews are for, right? ;)
- Flash cards! And the dollar bins at Target. Since Ella isn't potty trained and therefore can't go to preschool, I've been thinking I need to spend an hour or so each day working with her. But she already knows all kinds of stuff: colors, shapes, body parts, most numbers and letters, and she can even (kind of) write her name and spell/recognize a few words. Mia knows some of the same things too. The best part about the flash cards? The girls LOVE them. The puzzles too. Ella has those mastered already.
- Our new car. Not as excited about the payments (which are still lower than the Nissan's were) but whatever. We have two reliable cars and that's worth it. And the PT Cruiser is just fun!
- Women's Retreat! I've been to a retreat or two with Mom before, but this one is in Evart, focused on health (including physical health, which is my passion right now), and will be an overnight in a hotel with Mom, Tracy, and Leslie! And Leslie and I are driving up together in the Cruiser. Awesome!
(Ew. Ew. Ew. I caught a whiff of something. It was Mia. Not only was it a nasty dirty diaper, it squished out the side onto her shorts. And her leg. And my hand. Ewww. Thank GOD for disposable diapers, baby wipes, running water, and soap. And scented candles.)
- Fall! My favorite season. I know most people associate it with things dying. I associate it with change and relief from the summer heat. I love the bonfires (someday when the kids are older we can go to one again, lol), hoodies, jeans, changing leaves, the eeriness of the wind whipping through bare tree limbs, the first snow. I'm even excited about school supplies and a little disappointed that I have no reason to buy any. Thus the flash cards for the girls. Plus I love the holiday season and in the fall excitement is building for those. (Side note: I should start doing Christmas shopping soon so I'm not trying to finish it the week before Christmas...)
- New babies that aren't ours! Meaning the excitement of a new baby and cuddling with a newborn without the morning sickness, weight gain, labor and delivery, expense, sleepless nights, and diapers! :) For anyone that doesn't know, Becky and Zech are expecting a new baby in March. Becky thinks it's two but we should find out on Friday.
- Having everything we need. Honestly, we have a great little life. We have two good cars, a home, enough food, plenty of toys, family, friends, health. (Side note again: I'm healthy as a horse apparently. After adjusting my calorie range, I'm now losing weight. And I know I'm blessed to be able to work out as hard as I do. I'm also very thankful for my exercise.) I know I can always find something to complain about, but I'm trying to focus on positives now. I was in a slump for a while and felt like I wasn't making progress in any area of my life. I really think it was directly related to my inner overachiever. I've accomplished SO much in the last few years that *only* having a baby this year felt like I didn't do much. Ridiculous, right? A friend sent me the kindest message on FB though and told me how talented, strong, and successful I am. Sometimes I need to be reminded to look at WHO I am, not what I've accomplished.
Anyhow, it's nap time for the big girls. Which means lunch time for me and Nora and then naps for her and exercise for me. Then a shower and some straightening up before my family (minus Tracy, Donovan, and girls :( ) comes for dinner. Off to stay busy! :)
Monday, August 30, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Mia's Hives
Last time I updated was the day I took Mia in to get her hives checked out again. No fever (so no chicken pox and not contagious) and it didn't appear to be an allergy, bacterial, or fungal. Instead, the doctor said it appears to be viral. He said it should clear up on its own in 7 to 10 days and she didn't need Benadryl unless she was really itchy. Okay.
So I didn't give Mia any meds that night. Thursday morning she looked worse than ever and she was scratching. I gave her some Benadryl and gave her more than night before bed. Friday morning she still looked bad. I called the doctor's office and waited for their return call. He said to try Claritin syrup. We picked some up that night and gave her a dose. It's just one dose every 24 hours. She's mostly cleared up now, thank God. Hopefully they'll be completely gone in the next few days.
I try to avoid talking too much about my weight loss attempts here, but I did mention my physical. So here are the results: physically, everything looks great. I had a complete blood panel done and my cholesterol, blood sugar, and thyroid levels are completely normal. So are my blood counts. Great news, although it didn't explain the whole not losing weight issue. So I'm adjusting my calories and hoping for the best. The doctor did say he could prescribe a pill, but it would be an appetite suppressant and I haven't had problems staying in my calorie range. I doubt I'll go that route.
Nora just keeps growing. She's healthy and happy, except when Steve makes a weird noise and then she freaks out and screams for a while. She has to be able to see what's going on and she likes to squirm around on the floor. She rolls well, but doesn't bother to do it very often. Her grasp is strong too and she's starting to show interest in toys. Mainly they go in her mouth and she gnaws on them, but it's still interest. :) She giggles all the time and loves smiling at most people.
Ella likes to pretend. She pretends to cook, pretends to shop, pretends to be different things, etc. She has a great imagination. She likes to make up stories too and likes to "read" the bedtime story (she makes up a story based on the pictures). She also likes to shout random strings of words, like "cucumber tomato factory!" She's the great imitator too. She repeats all kinds of things she hears, some used appropriately, some not. Either way, it's usually hilarious. A favorite is "Ella out. PEACE!" with a flash of the peace sign. Seriously. Yesterday she did part of my workout with me.
Mia is a creature of habit. There's one toy that she wears on her wrist as a bracelet everyday. When she curls up on the floor with her blanket, she always uses the rose pillow. She has to have certain colors of things. Along with the bracelet, she carries a bag with random things in it and wears her sunglasses. She likes to pull them down her nose and peer over them at you. And dancing is one of her favorite things. She's affectionate and encouraging. She cheered me on while I worked out yesterday.
On to the subject of work...Steve likes his new job much better but it's been stressful lately. Basically they're understaffed and not hiring. Not cool. I'm working one day a week. I've been offered more hours but declined. In my busy little life, working is low on my list of priorities. If it's going to take me away from my family, it needs to be something I'm passionate about. Problem is, with all the appointments and sickness and life, I've worked once in the last 5 weeks. I have a chiropractor appointment tonight and Regan is sick, so no work. Next week, my sitter requested off for her husband's vacation. The one week I did work, Mia didn't feel good and I almost left early. Aside from my heart not being in it, it's not fair to my employer that I'm rarely there when scheduled. And so I'm going to let them know I can fill in when someone is on vacation, but I need to be taken off the schedule. I know, I must be nuts, giving up a job in this economy. But being with my family ranks higher right now.
Anyhow, I'm now typing one-handed because Nora needed a bottle, so that's all for now.
So I didn't give Mia any meds that night. Thursday morning she looked worse than ever and she was scratching. I gave her some Benadryl and gave her more than night before bed. Friday morning she still looked bad. I called the doctor's office and waited for their return call. He said to try Claritin syrup. We picked some up that night and gave her a dose. It's just one dose every 24 hours. She's mostly cleared up now, thank God. Hopefully they'll be completely gone in the next few days.
I try to avoid talking too much about my weight loss attempts here, but I did mention my physical. So here are the results: physically, everything looks great. I had a complete blood panel done and my cholesterol, blood sugar, and thyroid levels are completely normal. So are my blood counts. Great news, although it didn't explain the whole not losing weight issue. So I'm adjusting my calories and hoping for the best. The doctor did say he could prescribe a pill, but it would be an appetite suppressant and I haven't had problems staying in my calorie range. I doubt I'll go that route.
Nora just keeps growing. She's healthy and happy, except when Steve makes a weird noise and then she freaks out and screams for a while. She has to be able to see what's going on and she likes to squirm around on the floor. She rolls well, but doesn't bother to do it very often. Her grasp is strong too and she's starting to show interest in toys. Mainly they go in her mouth and she gnaws on them, but it's still interest. :) She giggles all the time and loves smiling at most people.
Ella likes to pretend. She pretends to cook, pretends to shop, pretends to be different things, etc. She has a great imagination. She likes to make up stories too and likes to "read" the bedtime story (she makes up a story based on the pictures). She also likes to shout random strings of words, like "cucumber tomato factory!" She's the great imitator too. She repeats all kinds of things she hears, some used appropriately, some not. Either way, it's usually hilarious. A favorite is "Ella out. PEACE!" with a flash of the peace sign. Seriously. Yesterday she did part of my workout with me.
Mia is a creature of habit. There's one toy that she wears on her wrist as a bracelet everyday. When she curls up on the floor with her blanket, she always uses the rose pillow. She has to have certain colors of things. Along with the bracelet, she carries a bag with random things in it and wears her sunglasses. She likes to pull them down her nose and peer over them at you. And dancing is one of her favorite things. She's affectionate and encouraging. She cheered me on while I worked out yesterday.
On to the subject of work...Steve likes his new job much better but it's been stressful lately. Basically they're understaffed and not hiring. Not cool. I'm working one day a week. I've been offered more hours but declined. In my busy little life, working is low on my list of priorities. If it's going to take me away from my family, it needs to be something I'm passionate about. Problem is, with all the appointments and sickness and life, I've worked once in the last 5 weeks. I have a chiropractor appointment tonight and Regan is sick, so no work. Next week, my sitter requested off for her husband's vacation. The one week I did work, Mia didn't feel good and I almost left early. Aside from my heart not being in it, it's not fair to my employer that I'm rarely there when scheduled. And so I'm going to let them know I can fill in when someone is on vacation, but I need to be taken off the schedule. I know, I must be nuts, giving up a job in this economy. But being with my family ranks higher right now.
Anyhow, I'm now typing one-handed because Nora needed a bottle, so that's all for now.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Hives
Wow, I'm *awesome* at updating this. Anyhow, Mia is broken out in hives. Again. I can't remember if I mentioned it before or if she was breaking out then, but Mia started breaking out in hives probably 4 weeks ago. We weren't sure what the issue was. So we stripped the bed and washed all her blankets, thinking maybe that was the issue. Nope. We started giving her Benadryl thinking that should help and it kinda did. After maybe a week of hives we took her to Med Plus (an after-hours med clinic). The doctor told us it wasn't detergent or soap causing it, but something she's eating or drinking. He listed off some common offenders, most of which she hadn't had. Cereal set off a light bulb. They had a new cereal that week. The doctor told me to give her Benadryl and told me the correct dose, so we did that and 86'ed the cereal. She mostly cleared up and we went to Tracy's for the weekend. She was fine. We got home and she broke out again. The doctor said it wasn't environmental...
Steve realized we gave her orange Powerade. And I remembered different people mentioning issues with red dye 40. We didn't have the bottle to check the ingredients but I did check the ingredient list for the cereal and bingo, there it was. Over the next few days, I started weeding out foods with red dye 40 - no fruit snacks, certain cereals and crackers are off limits. Luckily the juice, cereal bars, and most of the crackers and cereal were fine. But she wasn't clearing up completely. After giving her a dose of Benadryl one day before nap time, I looked down and realized the medicine is red...sure enough, it had red dye 40 in it. So we inadvertently were making her hives worse while trying to clear them up. I checked and it was in their toothpaste too. Good grief! I ended up going to the store that night to buy dye-free Benadryl and different toothpaste.
Since we bought the dye-free medicine, she cleared up. Awesome! Until Monday afternoon. I went back and checked everything I had fed her and no red dye listed anywhere. Tuesday they were still there. And today she's still covered in red spots. So rather than going to work today, when Kat gets here, I'm taking Mia to the doctor. The Med Plus doctor was able to tell me that with her very fair skin, she'll be sensitive to lots of things and prone to allergies. He said heat tends to make hives worse too, but we have AC. It does get warmer upstairs, which is where their bedroom is, but she's still breaking out. Maybe it's not the red dye 40. But we need to get this figured out. Luckily she doesn't seem very bothered by the hives but I hesitate to take her anywhere covered in red spots. We're trying to take care of it and she's not contagious, but no one else knows that. I was hoping cutting out the red dye 40 would solve the problem but it doesn't seem that it worked. Maybe we'll have to do allergy testing after all. But first things first - we're seeing one of the doctors in our practice today. I wish we were seeing *our* doctor but I trust the judgment of the other doctors in his practice too. Hopefully we'll get some answers.
On a side note, they're going to be very familiar with me there. I had Nora in last week for her 4 month well child check (she's 15 lbs 8 oz, 25.5 inches long, EXACTLY the same size Mia was at 4 mos) and I go in tomorrow for a physical (I have some concerns about my thyroid due to barely losing weight despite working out regularly and counting calories for months). I am so glad we have good insurance!
Steve realized we gave her orange Powerade. And I remembered different people mentioning issues with red dye 40. We didn't have the bottle to check the ingredients but I did check the ingredient list for the cereal and bingo, there it was. Over the next few days, I started weeding out foods with red dye 40 - no fruit snacks, certain cereals and crackers are off limits. Luckily the juice, cereal bars, and most of the crackers and cereal were fine. But she wasn't clearing up completely. After giving her a dose of Benadryl one day before nap time, I looked down and realized the medicine is red...sure enough, it had red dye 40 in it. So we inadvertently were making her hives worse while trying to clear them up. I checked and it was in their toothpaste too. Good grief! I ended up going to the store that night to buy dye-free Benadryl and different toothpaste.
Since we bought the dye-free medicine, she cleared up. Awesome! Until Monday afternoon. I went back and checked everything I had fed her and no red dye listed anywhere. Tuesday they were still there. And today she's still covered in red spots. So rather than going to work today, when Kat gets here, I'm taking Mia to the doctor. The Med Plus doctor was able to tell me that with her very fair skin, she'll be sensitive to lots of things and prone to allergies. He said heat tends to make hives worse too, but we have AC. It does get warmer upstairs, which is where their bedroom is, but she's still breaking out. Maybe it's not the red dye 40. But we need to get this figured out. Luckily she doesn't seem very bothered by the hives but I hesitate to take her anywhere covered in red spots. We're trying to take care of it and she's not contagious, but no one else knows that. I was hoping cutting out the red dye 40 would solve the problem but it doesn't seem that it worked. Maybe we'll have to do allergy testing after all. But first things first - we're seeing one of the doctors in our practice today. I wish we were seeing *our* doctor but I trust the judgment of the other doctors in his practice too. Hopefully we'll get some answers.
On a side note, they're going to be very familiar with me there. I had Nora in last week for her 4 month well child check (she's 15 lbs 8 oz, 25.5 inches long, EXACTLY the same size Mia was at 4 mos) and I go in tomorrow for a physical (I have some concerns about my thyroid due to barely losing weight despite working out regularly and counting calories for months). I am so glad we have good insurance!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)