The year in review.

January- nothing to report
February- I become pregnant
March- We start selling and buying a house
April- I lose my consulting job, we pack the old house
May- Move into the new house
June- Josh has an asthma attack, hospitalized for two days
July- Josh has MSRA staph infection, hospitalized two more days
August- We begin paying hospital bills
September- Christmas shopping, paying hospital bills
October- Finish nursery
November- Elliot is born, I get mastitus and blisters
December- Prepare for Santa's visit, finally get financially caught up, grandmother passes away

This year has been eventful with its ups and downs. I'm glad to be in a new home and glad to welcome Elliot to the family, but I say good riddance to hospitals & doctors. I don't have any resolutions other than keeping the boys alive. I just want a fresh start in '08.

After several phone calls this weekend the family decided to forgo a funeral/memorial service for my grandmother. The cremated remains will be moved to Corpus Christi some time this Spring. I'll have my own memorial then.

My dad is finishing a work project (he's a construction foreman) in August then will move back to Texas. He's not sure if he'll move close to Dallas or Corpus. Either way, I'll probably get to see him more often, at least once a year.

My grandmother passed away this evening. She was seventy-one.

I would have posted a Merry Christmas blog yesterday if I hadn't been sick under the covers half the day. I felt feverish, lethargic, achy and- get this- guilty that I wasn't well enough to enjoy Joshua's first Christmas at home. Instead, I curled up to sweat it out while Rusty watched Josh play and took care of Elliot.

Santa brought lots of loot to our house. Joshua's favorite gift: a train set. He also got a pirate ship, a singing potty, Mr. Potato Head, a whale puzzle, a camera, and a play doh activity kit, to name the main stuff. Rather than rapidly rip through packages, he focused on one gift at a time. So it took hours for the last gift to finally get opened.

Rusty thinks he got my cold. I told him to keep his head down and don't breathe on anyone. There's a good chance he'll be working from home tomorrow. I, however, have plans to get out. First I'm off to a playdate then the mall area for exchanges and shopping with gift cards. Yay, shopping! :)

Pet peeve: when magazines start an article then make you turn to the back to finish it.

It doesn't feel like days away from Christmas. It was 74 degrees this afternoon. I went on two walks with Elliot. I'm sure it will feel more spirited this weekend.

I wish I had taken a nap. It's 7pm and I feel exhausted! Only 4 more hours to bedtime. :-(

I can't imagine TV life without TiVo*. Esp for 4am feedings & fussiness.

We don't have that per se, but recorded shows from our satellite provider.

Elliot's pediatrician visit today confirmed he has colic. He's healthy otherwise weighing in at 11.5 pounds and 22 inches tall. He has a bit of yeast infection in the groin which we'll put cream on to treat. No vaccine this visit- yay!

The mall trip wasn't all that bad but I don't want to it again any time soon. Breastfeeding in a Starbucks w/ Josh who cannot sit still nor resist wandering around, is not to be desired.

Oh wait, there was one incident. Josh walked away from me while I was distracted putting Elliot into the sling. This was while we were standing in line to see the train display with 50 other families. I looked around for him, got a slight panicky urgency to my search then luckily someone spotted him. I threatened to buckle him in the stroller ("no want it") and threatened to put him Daddy time-out ("no want it") but ultimately all he got was a very stern scolding. He knew he was in trouble and wasn't allowed more than two steps from from my side the rest of the time.

The Sip 'n See was successful. A handful of people showed up, first from Rusty's office then from church and a few extras in between. Elliot was on his best behavior- as was Josh- saving all the drama for the evening.

Our evenings are not calm. Elliot begins his cry-fest around 8-9pm. Josh resists his bedtime routine which starts around 7pm. When Elliot cries at night, we have to soothe him in the downstairs bathroom farthest from Josh's room otherwise the sound travels upstairs right to Josh's door. After Josh is asleep Elliot is usually awake fussing off and on for about 2-3 hours. Like now. As soon as he's out, I'll go to sleep too. (Middle of the night feedings are going smoother- but it still takes at least a full hour to go back to sleep: diaper change, nurse, burp, soothe, sleep, repeat in 2-3 hours.)

We're giving serious thought to Joshua as being ADHD. I'm going to inquire about him to the pediatrician this week.

Why do strangers feel compelled to compliment a mom on weight loss after she's had a baby? At no other time is it acceptable to broach the topic. A man at the mail office today said I looked like I lost all the weight. I kindly thanked him for the compliment but it bothered me. How does he know how much weight I gained? And what if weight gaining/losing was an issue and he sort of rubbed in the point? In truth, I've lost about 10 pounds but only people who know me well would really be able to notice. I know he means well. A better compliment could be "if I hadn't seen a baby I would have never believed you just had one" or "you don't look exhausted, he must be a good sleeper".

Tomorrow is a first for me. While Rusty does his last minute shopping in the morning, I've agreed to take the boys to a mall for a few hours. God help me- I'm fearing the worst. Here's what could go wrong:

  • I have to breastfeed in a bathroom while preventing Josh from touching anything
  • Both boys have a meltdown at the same time
  • I have a meltdown
  • Josh throws a tantrum while I'm busy holding or nursing Elliot
  • I get both boys home with success but am unable to get Josh to nap

Baby cries put me and everyone else on edge. Although Rusty is fielding this round of crying (we've been trading and this blog has taken over an hour to compose off & on) it's my trn again soon. I hope Elliot goes to bed early-ish tonight. I'll need the rest.

For some reason I decide to count calories today. Not for dieting reasons (heavens no!) but just out of curiosity. I don't think I'm drinking enough fluids and not eating enough food. Today I had:

Item - calories * = approx.
---------------
Pria bar - 170
2 Owens sausage biscuits - 360*
glass orange juice - 165
banana - 200*
Slim Fast - 190
ginger cookie w/ frosting - 60*
glass lemonade - 200
tuna casserole - 250
bottle Aquafina wellness water - 10
bowl Bertolli's pasta - 340
glass milk - 240
pear - 86
-----------------
Total - 2271

Ok, I'm not starving myself, but I'm also not eating enough to effectively support breastfeeding. Some days I eat more and some, like today, may not be enough. Not included in my calorie count is nearly 3 pints of water.

I spent my morning at Northpark mall. I generally don't care for that mall but I met up with a friend and had a gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket. So after chatting then feeding Elliot, I bought new shoes from Skechers. They were the most glam and comfort in my price range. They have built in bling!

I've got my yearly bah-humbug feeling. Maybe the Christmas spirit will catch me later but now I'm just not feeling it. First there's the tree. We do plastic which requires assembly and fluffing. Yes, we fluff the branches to help it have a tree-like appearance, not the squished-in-a-box-11-months-of-the-year look. Then there's lights. I tuck the lights back into the branches to conceal the cord while Rusty does this looping up and down technique. Somewhere halfway done we bicker about how the other one isn't doing it right. This year we added a new element of aggravation: Joshua. Lights went on and off, decorations ended up broken, he was getting into things he shouldn't- it was a hassle. In the end, we have our tree, it has lights, it has decorations and I don't feel warmer in the heart for it.

Both children are napping, the windows are open to an autumn breeze, I've cleaned house a little and showered- this is nice. I'm embracing the peace and quiet while I have it. My luck, both will wake up around the same time.

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