Just some random things I've been up to.



I have been obsessing over my boys' eyelashes lately.  BBZ's are so incredibly long.  We have a pretty steady night time routine on our house that includes N reading a few stories sitting on the side closest to the light, BBZ in the middle and me on his other side.

I often fall asleep in his bed after the stories and I have found that if I don't come into his room until the stories are almost over I have a better chance at staying awake to do the many things I need to do after the boys go to bed.

So anyway, the light from the lamp made BBZ's eyelashes shine and look so incredibly long.  I looked over at N and his looked exactly the same.  They actually looked exactly the same length.  I wonder if BBZ's will continue to grow or if they will stay the same and he'll grow into them.  I guess we'll have to wait and see.



I can't seem to capture an accurate depiction of how gorgeous his eyelashes are

But I love this one that I got while trying :)

We all had such a wonderful day together today.  Yesterday was rough.  BBZ's attitude can be so terrible sometimes.  I know it's a toddler thing and he's going to have bad days, but I feel like N and I were redirecting him and his behavior absolutely all day long.  Today was so much different.

We played, we laughed, we went out to lunch, we planned a picnic but got rained out, and I just cannot believe how well he listened and how sweet and caring he was for me and for his brother all day.  It was a fantastic day.

LBZ had a new kind of light in his eyes today.  He was exploring, was happy, was interested in everything around him, was pulling up on furniture, was happy, didn't cry when I put him down for his nap and, in other words, was back to himself.  I missed him and didn't even realize how different he was when he was sick.  Or how really sick he actually was.  For over a week!  I'm so glad that's over.

How have I never watched the show Glee?  I'm not sure why it even happened, but I decided to watch the pilot one day last week when the boys were sick and N was out of town, and I am completely hooked.  I've seen pieces of more recent episodes because I record Grey's Anatomy, which is on right after Glee, but this is the first time I have actually watched the show.  I love it!

A fellow blogger also mentioned a favorite show of mine today, Downton Abbey.  If you have not watched this show, do it now!  It is one of the best TV shows I have ever seen.  I could only watch the first season on Netflix, which sucked because it was so good!  When we visited my parents for Easter they had become completely hooked too and also had the second season on Amazon's version of Netflix.  We watched the whole second season in the 3 days we were there.  I cannot say enough great things about that show.  Beware...it's addicting!

I have also been reading lots of birth stories lately.  I subscribed to this new blog that posts lots of various stories, and a blog friend that I have been reading for at least 2 years now just had a beautiful home birth after 2 hospital births.  It's a beautiful story.  It almost seals the deal that we are done having babies because I don't think I could ever give birth in a hospital again and since there are no birth centers in our area and there is no way N would go for a home birth, we might just be done after all.  (Ask N and we are DEFINITELY done).

I have finally taken the time to learn Instagram.  I'm already a little addicted.  Geez, the last thing I need is another Internet obsession.  I am avoiding Pinterest like the plague because everyone talks about how addicting it is.  While I have a twitter account I have never tweeted.  The fact that I have tried a new Internet anything is shocking.  But I do love that it saves my photos to my phone and post them to facebook automatically (if I want it to).  It's super fun.

I cleaned out my freezer today.  I planned to make some fish patties tonight because I knew I had some in there that had been there for a while so I dug in and checked the dates.  One expired in 2009!  I am not kidding.  We didn't even move into our house until 2010, so I managed to move expired frozen fish from one house to the next.  Gross.  So that got me digging and left us with this fresh and clean freezer.  I'm super excited about filling it with delicious food!  That's not expired.  Ahem.



While digging I did find some (not expired) salmon and cooked that up right tonight.  It was delicious and the timing was just perfect for when N got home.  All the stars aligned for us today.  If LBZ sleeps all night (or at least goes back to sleep easily when he does wake up) this day will be near perfect!

We went to the chiropractor today for the first maintenance visit for LBZ.  I decided to keep taking him once/month to help avoid any ear infections.  I tried stopping drinking milk, but it didn't seem to make a difference good or bad.  He didn't get an infection, but I didn't see a big change either.  I didn't stop all milk products because I read that if there is a mild sensitivity cutting out milk is sometimes enough, but I didn't want to do all of that just yet.  Plus, since I am taking him to the chiro again, it's hard to tell which intervention is working if I do too many at once.

I think I might stay off of the milk wagon though.  I've been drinking almond milk, which I really like.  I feel pretty good, so I might just continue.  I have had ice cream that last couple of days, so we'll see if I feel any differently, but I might just stick with the almond milk since I do like it so much.

BBZ is also been off of both of his allergy medicines for about a month now and is doing great!  I took him off the last time he had a runny nose because it seemed like it wasn't working anyway.  His nose cleared up and has remained clear since then.  I'm not sure why this is, but I think it might have to do with the chiro adjustments and the probiotic he has been taking.  Whatever the reason, I'll take it!

Whew, this was a crazy random post!  I'm back to a regular morning routine tomorrow for the first time in a while (it seems).  I'm actually looking forward to working and getting things done.  We go on vacation in two weeks and I'd like to be able to not think about work at all!

Happy Monday!

Little Brother Z is 9 Months Old!

Oh, sweet LBZ, today you are 9 months old!  This was a month of new things.  So many new things that your sleep and your demeanor changed somewhat.  You are still a happy little boy, but with all of the developmental things going on, it makes sense that you would change a bit!

You continue to crawl all over our home.  You lift your tummy up occasionally, or sometimes you even scoot on your bum with one leg extended to get where you're going.  You want to get there fast, so the army crawl continues to be your fastest mode of transport.

You're also pulling up on things, which means you fall occasionally.  You've taken a few tumbles that have left bruises on your head or face.  You seem to always fall head first!

Look at you standing up!  Within 3 weeks you got 2 more teeth, learned to sit up on your own, clap your hands, pull up to your knees, pull up to your feet, and even said a few words!  It was a developmental explosion!  No wonder you are waking up much more frequently at night.

You still love the water!  We bought this little splash pool for you and your brother and you both had such a fun day playing and splashing.  We became members at the rec center where you and BBZ go to school and you love that pool too!  I don't know if I'm ready to take you and your brother on my own yet, but when I am we'll have some fun Mondays there, I'm sure.

We got some hand-me-down bikes from your aunt and uncle and your daddy got me this bike trailer for mother's day!  You haven't tried it yet, but your brother loves it!

I love watching you pull up and explore your world.  You were so sick during the last week it seems like you have a little catching up to do.  I'm sure you'll be completely back to yourself in another day or two.

Oh how I love the way your cute little fluffy-butt diaper sticks out of your pants :)

And those blue eyes still melt my heart!  Your eyelashes are getting longer, and I wonder if they will seem to go on forever like your brother's and your daddy's.

Look at those big 'ol teeth!  The ones on top seem so much bigger than I remember BBZ's being.  You use them to chew your food too!  You love cauliflower, bananas, puffs, zucchini and hummus.  You are probably ready for harder foods, but I still stick with really soft cooked veggies.  You're past purees, but not quite to regular table food.

Oh, how I love you and your brother!  You boys (and your daddy) fill my heart with such joy.  Hearing you match words with objects and people is so fun!  You now have words or sounds for ma-ma, da-da, ball and bye.  And you wave to us too!

I remember so vividly the day you were born.  I remember the very first time I saw you face, with the bag of water still covering the right side of your face.  The last 9 months have flown by, yet I can't really remember life before you joined our family.  It's as though you have always been with us, my sweet littlest boy.  I love you so much.

Love,

Mommy

Sickness. And my thoughts on fever reducers

Ugh.  What a week this was.  Where did I leave off?  Oh yeah, 2am or so Saturday night/Sunday morning.

So BBZ woke up Sunday morning feeling like a million dollars.  I can't believe how resilient his is.  N on the other hand, he was in and out of the bathroom most of the day and drank about 52 Nalgenes of water trying to rehydrate.  He sucked a few back Saturday night too, so he began the stomach flu journey a little dehydrated anyway.

LBZ woke up with a low-grade fever.  It teetered around 100-101 all day.  He slept a lot and I didn't do much besides nurse a lot and let fight the fever.  I had been engorged to the point of almost having to pump because he wasn't really eating.  I didn't really realize he wasn't feeling well either until N and BBZ got sick.  Then I realized that it probably started with him, and hopefully this fever was the end of it.

We hung around the house all day.  I ran to the grocery store and felt nauseous the whole time.  Looking back I may have had a very minor taste of what they had, but nothing like any of my boys did, so that was a relief.

We all slept great all night Sunday night and we needed it.  I think LBZ only woke up once, even with his fever.  Monday was more of the same.  LBZ's fever continued and he wanted to be held a lot.  N was at work.  BBZ was really cooperative.  It was a pretty good day.

I am not completely against medication, I do have it in my house after all.  But I generally don't give medicine to the boys or take it myself unless it's absolutely necessary.  I started to research the theories around not giving fever reducers like Tylenol and decided I really wanted to avoid it.  I believe that a fever has a reason and trying to reduce it will only extend it.

I watched the fever slowly go up, as fevers do and LBZ was still playing and interacting somewhat even though he got tired easily.  Most of the things I read online said that not treating the fever helped it last only 24 hours.  Here I was a good 36 hours into the fever and no medicine and no sign of it letting up.

At around 2pm, LBZ woke up from one of his very frequent naps and had a listless affect.  He didn't want me to put him down, but he didn't want me to hold him either.  He was hot and it was scary.  I took his temp and it was 104.5.  I had taken it throughout the day and it was slowly creeping up, but this number shocked me and I freaked out.

I didn't have anyone to call that wouldn't tell me to give him a fever reducer.  So I did.  And it worked.  It lowered it to about 101, which was actually a good thing to me because at least that meant that the fever was still working to fight against whatever was in his body.

Some of the theories I read said that the fever itself is doing what it needs to and if you give the reducer it only prolongs the fevers need to go back up to compensate and fight the virus.  I get that.  Really, I do.  But when the number says 104.5 and I'm the only one home and my husband is getting ready to go out of town, I wanted that number to go down.  Fast.

N came home around 3:30pm so he could leave for his business trip.  The thought of being home by myself with a sick baby scared me and reminded me of when BBZ was so sick almost 3 years ago.  Right as he was leaving I decided to take LBZ to the doctor.  His fever was still around 102 and he was crying inconsolably, which was really scary.  I had to rush the boys into the car to make it to the office before they closed and as we were leaving it was a ridiculous down pour of rain.  We got completely soaked running into the office, but BBZ got to use his spider man umbrella, so life was good.

The doctor said that LBZ was the third child she saw that day with identical symptoms.  That actually made me feel better.  She said it was a virus that needed to run its course.  The co-pay sucked, but it was worth the peace of mind.

Monday night was rough.  Both boys were up a lot and both ended up sleeping in my room.  BBZ woke up feeling warm but I sent him to school anyway.  I knew he needed to do something other than hang out with me while I held his brother all day, so I dropped him off and had in the back of my mind that I would need to pick him up early.

LBZ's fever was 103.9 that morning so I gave him another dose of medicine.  He was in my arms absolutely all day long.  I don't even remember if I ate Monday Tuesday or Wednesday.  I must have eaten something.  I know I made a PBJ one night.  The ring sling was my best friend.

I headed out the door to pick BBZ up around 4pm and I got the call that he had a fever of 101.  We got home and he didn't eat much.  His temp went up to around 102.5 or so and I didn't give him medicine.  I got LBZ to sleep and moved on to BBZ.  He was really tired and went to sleep without trouble.  LBZ woke up screaming a lot.  I was afraid he would wake up BBZ, but surprisingly he didn't.  He woke up about every hour until 3am or so when I brought him to bed with me.  Then BBZ came in around 4am.  We all slept until 8 the next morning, which was glorious.

BBZ woke up feeling fine and fever free.  He gets over sickness so fast!  It was a blessing.  LBZ on the other hand wasn't getting any better.  He still had a fever, but it stayed around 101, so no medicine again.

He woke up from his afternoon nap really sweaty and his fever went down from there.  N came home around 6pm and gave me some much needed relief.  I spoke to LBZ's doctor again because his diarrhea was persistent and she recommended I give him a probiotic.  I meant to when he has his last ear infection, but I never did find one for him and I kept putting it off.  I had some capsule samples I got at one time from the pediatrician, broke it open and mashed it into some banana.  He ate it all.

The whole night was rough on all of us...except BBZ who seems to sleep through everything.  N tried to help but LBZ really just wanted me.  BBZ ended up in our bed at some point.  Thursday morning LBZ and I slept in so N took BBZ to school.  When I finally got LBZ up and about, I saw a red rash all over his body.  I figured it was consistent with his virus and didn't think much of it.  He was still fever-free.

Then he had more diarrhea, which was more than the last few days.  I tried more bananas with the probiotic but he didn't want much to do with that.  It was about an hour later that I realized his belly was making crazy gurgling noises and he was screaming out in pain.  Then I remembered that a friend mentioned once that some probiotics contain milk.

I stopped drinking cow's milk after LBZ's last ear infection.  I didn't want to cut out all dairy and read that sometimes cutting out milk alone can make a difference if someone has a mild sensitivity.  It's hard to tell if it's working or not because he's been so sick.  But, I suddenly wondered if this was a reaction to the probiotic since he seemed to get worse.

So long story short (too late), I'm pretty sure it was not an allergy.  I did try giving him a very small dose of benedryl last night to see if it helped the rash, but it didn't, so that sealed the deal for me that this was not an allergic reaction.

I sent him to school today and went to work for just the second time this week.  I got a HUGE project done today, which feels more than amazing.  This was a project that I first learned about almost a year ago and it has finally come together!  I'll talk more about it when I launch it at work.  So exciting!

So he did ok today, but was still not himself.  Luckily, he took a nice long nap when he got home and woke up seemingly feeling great.  His rash was fading and he ate really well.  He woke up a few times when trying to fall asleep, but has been resting well since.  We might just be over this!

The only saving grace in this whole situation is that I did not get sick.  I do feel like I got an extremely mild case of what they had, but the fact that I didn't throw up once this week is beyond words.  While I was rocking my feverish baby one night this week, I actually thanked the universe out loud for allowing me to stay healthy enough to take care of my family.  It was a gift.  Seriously.

Oh, and just to add to the amount of poop and puke I cleaned this week, my cat pooped all over our bedroom.  Ugh.  He is not my favorite earth creature at the moment.

So anyway, we are all on the mend and will hopefully stay that way for a nice long while.  We have some fun things coming up this weekend that I'll be excited to blog about...including LBZ's 9-month update!

Have a great weekend!

It's 2:09am

Be warned. I'm going to talk a lot about puke.

Let's see how long it takes me to type this post on my iPhone.

BBZ and N have been simultaneously puking since about 11pm. When BBZ has puked in the past, he does so at night, in his bed, and all over himself. The only part I hear is his crying afterwards. This time was no different.

I've stayed in his room after the first instance before, and didn't sleep a wink. I even get sympathy sick thinking of him puking. So since the last puke was a one-timer, I thought I'd go back to my bed this time. I heard him crying shortly after and ran into his room. "not again!" he shouted. He had puled all over himself, his pillow, and his bed. Again.

So I stripped him and his bed for a second time and even gave him a bath this time. N woke up too and helped clear some sheets. BBZ fell back to sleep on a bed covered in towels where he is now. I decided to stay with him with a bowl in hand to catch any more of this and save another bed change.

I heard N stirring after BBZ's second bout and checked on him. Sure enough, he caught this too. He was ok so I returned to BBZ's room. I'm staying distracted by my phone so I both stay awake and avoid making myself sympathy sick. I really do feel nauseous anytime he's sick like this.

He starts to stir and I know it's coming. I get the bowl under his mouth just in time! Success!! He didn't even have to get out of bed.

This last time very little came up, so I think he's about done. N was up at the same time as BBZ each time since the first, so I have two sickies on my hands. LBZ had some tummy trouble yesterday, so he may have started this, so hopefully that means he doesn't have this coming to him. As for me? All I can do is pray that this misses me all together.

Please, oh please, oh please.

2:25am. Not too bad!

Brothers at the Playground.

Oh, how I love my boys!

My hope for them is that they will always enjoy each other.