Lime in the Coconut

We've been back from our trip to Utah for almost three weeks now and in that time our Little Man has been suffering from all kinds of ailments. It started in Utah when he caught my cold. That cold turned into an infection. The same day we started antibiotics his tummy reacted to something he ate and ended up with diarrhea. We stopped the antibiotics for a couple days as we got the nasty diapers under control and went back on the antibiotics without any other repercussions. Yesterday was his follow up appointment with the doctor and all was well... so he got his second flu shot. He was a trooper and did a great job. Then last night after he and Wil had been wrestling, I noticed welts on his cheek, arm and neck. We put him to bed, a little worried about what they were and what could have caused them, but when we checked on him an hour or so later... the welts were gone. This morning after giving Little Man a bath, I noticed the welts again, on his left wrist. By lunchtime they had disappeared and popped up on his right arm and left cheek. So after some babycenter research, I think they are hives. What he's reacting to, I have NO IDEA. As far as I know he hasn't had any new foods, soaps, lotions, etc. I have started him on Benedryl and hope that will do the trick. But, seriously, someone needs to cut Little Man and his mama a break. I want my good natured little boy back.

ps. the title of this post is for Susie. She taught Little Man the lime in the coconut song. She'll sing the chorus ("I called the doctor and said,...") and he chimes in with a nice loud "Doctor!" and waits for her to finish. Super cute!

A Barenaked Christmas

The winter Wil and I got married I discovered the "Barenaked for the the Holidays" cd. I have quite a few Barenaked Ladies cd's and really like their music, so I knew that the holiday cd would be a hit. Now, they call it a "holiday" cd because they are Jewish and have included Hanukkah songs on their cd. Some are remakes of traditional Hanukkah songs, others are their originals. The cd is by far one of our favorites. With Friday being deemed the first day of (almost non-stop) Christmas music in our house. I quickly pulled out a mix cd and popped it in the car.

So can you guess what Little Man's favorite "Christmas" song is? "Susie Snowflake"? "Frosty the Snowman"? Nope. It's "I have a little Dreidel", also know as "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel".

St. Nick

This weekend was Festival of Trees, the annual Hospice fundraiser. When I was working for Hospice, it was a huge undertaking. Now I enjoy volunteering for a few hours on Saturday morning after Thanksgiving. Plus there are a ton of things to enjoy and get you in the mood for Christmas. Festival has over 70 decorated Christmas trees lining the halls of one of the local high schools. There are "shops" you can visit to buy crafty stuff, pictures with Santa, entertainment from local schools and churches, and food of course. This year I spent a couple hours at the Hospice table, greeting people and running into old friends, before Wil, Little Man, Susie and Sheryl met up to see everything that was going on. My goal was to get Little Man's picture with Santa. It only costs $2 for the instant picture that they take, plus they let you take one with your camera too. Unfortunately, the result of our $2 was the candy cane that Little Man reached for from 2 feet away... he wouldn't get any closer than that. So this is our 2007 picture with Santa:

Give Thanks

We spent Thanksgiving this year at my parents house. My cousin, Nancy, came for dinner with her family and two of Susie's friends. We had a fabulous time. The boys were all very patient with our Little Man. He wanted to be right in the middle of everything the big boys were doing... whether he was big enough to do it or not. Like playing marble works:

or watching a movie:(This one was taken after he had crawled across the pillow over each of their heads and kicked Anthony out of his spot.)

Little Man also got a kick out of playing with my Grandmother's cane. He thought it was a fabulous toy and at one point was even riding it like a horse.

It was the nice relaxing day I had hoped it would be, and for that I am very thankful.

The difference a week can make...

For a while I've been feeling like I'm balancing on that fine line between sanity and completely losing it. Overwhelmed by everything I was committed to doing and feeling trapped by the uncertainty of things that I can't control. It was the contributing factor to Susie's insistence that I take the trip to Utah.

When I left for our trip, I had two jobs and a time consuming calling on top of taking care of Adam and dealing with the apartment construction. Since our return, things have changed dramatically... Hospice hired a new development person. They've asked me to come in and train her, but it looks like I'll be done with that before Christmas. Things are slowing down a lot this winter in the landscaping business and I won't be working for KneeDeep after the 1st of December. Then to top it off, I was released on Sunday from my calling.

I feel so free. It's amazing!

The Energizer... Cow?

About 10 years ago, my grandparents took a trip to Switzerland to see where their ancestors had lived. My grandmother returned with all kinds of cow bells as gifts and as souvenirs. One of these bells came attached to a mechanical cow. The kind you see in front of the toy store at the mall. It walks around, stops and moos for hours on end. Seriously. HOURS. I know this because a couple months ago she gave it to Little Man as a gift. At first he was terrified of it. If anyone turned it on, he would run to me and climb onto my lap until the beast stopped mooing. Then there was a change of heart. Now, he loves "Moo". He wants Moo to be turned on at all times. He will actually look for Moo through his other toys, have me turn it on and then leave it walking into a wall, oblivious to the noise.

Wil and I, on the other hand, aren't oblivious to the mechanical walking noises which seem to echo through the apartment. When Little Man first started wanting Moo to walk, we quickly decided that once these batteries wore out, that was it. Moo would be permanently "sleeping". That was at least a month ago! Moo is the Energizer Bunny. He has stopped mooing, but will walk around the apartment for hours on end. So now I'm thinking Moo might get "lost" during the move to the new place.

The tractor says... "Moooo"?

Some of you may know of Little Man's love for vehicles. Anything that moves really, planes, trains, cars, trucks, - you name it. Luckily, he has yet to show a preference for a certain brand or character, but he does recognize them. He loves to watch the Disney movie "Cars" and if he happens to find Thomas or Bob the Builder on TV he's completely enthralled. This usually works to my advantage and I will admit to using it as bribery for both car trips and plane rides (and sometimes just to get dinner on the table).

A couple weeks ago in the soup aisle of the grocery store, he started yelling, "vroom, vroom" (he calls things by their sound). It took me a few minutes to figure out what it was that he wanted, until I spotted the Campbell's soup label with Mater and Lightening McQueen. Little Man was insistent that he have that can of soup. I was weak and gave in, justifying it in my head that at least it was soup and not candy. (Right?) Plus he loves chicken ramen and the soup should have a little better nutritional content than a pack of ramen, at least there are carrot pieces (for triple the price).

So yesterday as I was trying to figure out what to feed him for lunch I came across the Cars chicken noodle soup can. Thinking that it would be good for his cold, I showed Little Man the can and asked if he wanted car noodles for lunch. I couldn't get it fixed quick enough, he was so excited. He almost ate all of the noodles plus carrots and some broth. What little was left he finished off today, drinking the broth with a straw. Now I'm faced with the dilemma of whether or not to buy it again. It kills me to spend double on a can of soup just for the label and car shaped noodles. But is it worth it to know he's eating something "healthy"?

A dream is a wish your heart makes

I came home from Utah to a few surprises, both good and bad. Things I've been hoping for but haven't really expected them to happen.

The first was a WORKING DRYER. The landlady finally got the dryer fixed. It's so nice not to have to haul everything over to my parents house. I'm on my 4th load - trying to catch up on sheets and towels. I don't like laundry, but today I'm enjoying it. Mostly because I feel like I'm get something accomplished.

The second was winter layoffs. I'm still not sure when they are going to take effect, but when you work for a landscaping company (even if it is your dad) you can't always expect to work year round. We've been lucky the last two years that there has been work through the winter, but not so much this year. Even though the financial part of it is a little stressful, I'm really ready to be done. Family businesses aren't just work, but also a fine line of family politics. Politics that I don't feel cut out for. I'm ready to be done.

The good, the bad and the ugly

There are so many things to tell about our trip to Utah, I don't know where to start. Susie, Heidi and Ames have covered a lot of it. So for right now I'm going to break it down into the good, the bad and the ugly.

The good: FRIENDS!!!, food (Kneaders, Cafe Rio, and Jamba - I kinda feel like I ate my way through the week.), watching the kids play together, Dave and Uncle Mike babysitting, crafting with Amy, naptime & bedtime, talking to Heidi until it was painfully late (which was still much earlier than we used to go to bed), shopping, and dinner Sunday night.

The bad: Head colds. Wishing we had a Kneaders, Cafe Rio or Jamba. Saying goodbye.

The ugly: Little Man starting the day still on Eastern time....all week long.

The good definitely outweighed anything else. I'm so glad Susie convinced me that I should go. Sometimes I think she knows me better than I know myself.

Where, oh where?

Don't you hate it when you put something in such a "Safe" place that you can't ever find it again?

When we went to Texas last March I bought one of these:
It combines your carry on suitcase and carseat to make a stroller. Genius idea! It worked great, especially when I was traveling alone. Little Man was strapped in and I only had to worry about one thing to haul through the airport. Plus, he thought it was great to be able to see all the people.

Now Susie and I are leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow to head out to Utah and I can't find the strap anywhere. It's driving me crazy! It's all I've been able to think about for almost two days now, wondering where the HEE HAW the darn thing ended up. The worst part is that it could seriously be anywhere in our gazillion storage boxes or someplace in the apartment. Wil spent two hours last night looking for it. I even called my grandfather to make sure it didn't end up in his car. I'm having nightmares of trying to navigate the carry on bag, diaper bag, car seat and stroller through the airport. Pray that we find the darn strap! PLEASE!

*** We never did find the strap, but I figured out a way to use a large key chain ring to hook the three safety latches together around our carry on bag. It worked great.

Now I get it

When I was working full time I used to read Carolyn Hax's column in the Washington Post every week. She's an advice columnist, who is very straight forward and direct. I didn't always agree with what she said, but liked her approach. One of the reoccurring themes in letters she received was from women who were struggling making friends. Most had found close friends in college, moved on for work or marriage, and were having a hard time finding those friendships again. At the time I didn't quite understand. I made some of my best friends after college, when I was living and working in Northern Virginia. Now those friends are spread across 3-4 states and I get it. I get where these women were coming from. Now, you may wonder where this is coming from....

I had so much fun last night! The food was perfect (it was almost painful driving home), but even better was the conversation and company. Spending time with friends who love you, no matter what stupid things you have said or done, was just what I needed. Three hours of non-stop conversation, catching up on things the kids have done, things we are working on - you name it. Wil and I have just hit the point where I've lived with him longer than Heidi and I were roommates. It's an odd realization. I'm grateful that he understands (or maybe just accepts) that sometimes I really need time with my girls.

I'm even more excited for our trip to Utah. A full week to soak it all in.

Sweet!

Thinking about yesterday is just too depressing, but today is not a depressing day. I've been looking forward to today for WEEKS and even have a cute new maternity top** to wear. Wil and I are leaving Little Man with Susie for the evening and going to meet Dave and Heidi for dinner at Sweetwater Tavern. Those of you who have lived in NoVa or who know me well, know of my love for Sweetwater. It is so divine that hauntingly bad dates from my single days have not killed my love for this place. I know exactly what I'm getting and have been dreaming about it all day.

What's even better about this dinner though, is the company. I haven't seen Heidi since summer of 2004 and it's odd to me that she's never met Wil. I'm excited and nervous to see how they get along. I'm surprised sometimes by how much I miss having my girls around. The blog helps, but I'm so very glad that Susie convinced me to go with her next week. I don't think I realized how much I need it... and tonight will be my vacation teaser. Enough to make me really want to get on that plane for Utah and enjoy my girls. It's only FIVE days away.

**I found great shoes on sale at Old Navy to go with the top, but they are KILLING my feet. Luckily I found some of Susie's sandals at my parents house. Now I have to choose between being sore or being cold. I better go do my nails, because I think cold is winning.

One of THOSE days

This should be my cute Halloween post of us Trick or Treating last night. Unfortunately yesterday was one of those days where you're happy to have survived without inflicting bodily harm on yourself or your children. Our landlady woke Little Man up sometime before 7 and the terrible twos kicked in right away. Everything we did was a screaming fit. By noon I thought I was going to lose my mind and put him down for an early nap, hoping it would last a good 3 hours. 2 hours later he was awake and crying to get out of the crib. He settled down quickly with some cuddles and his milk cup and was good until dinner time. Then the tantrums started again in full force. He wanted to get in his monkey suit and was excited about that, but the car seat was a different matter. So as we were driving from my parents house to a small neighborhood close by (much better suited for 2 year-old's), I called it quits. As he screamed in the back seat, the visions of dragging Little Man in full tantrum down someone's driveway because he didn't get what he wanted, overcame any sense of motherly duty. When we got home Wil took over and made me go to bed, which was probably the best thing he could have done. My nerves were shot and the guilt of giving in to the tantrum was kicking in.

Today is better. Sleep solves so many frustrations or just gives you the patience to deal with them. Of course, I realize that he's only 22 months old and has no idea what Halloween is, or that he missed anything last night, but I still feel bad... maybe I'm just missing the candy I would be snitching from his bag right now.