Sick Day!

Somehow, Big D and I were able to convince the Husband to take a "sick" day from work and come play with us!  Since Big D is on spring break, we needed a family day to do something fun.  So!  We went to the San Antonio Zoo!  I love that place.  And TG is at a perfect age to really enjoy it.  He really had a blast, as did the whole family!
It's so strange to me how San Antonio has all the fun in TX going on.  They've got the zoo, a big art museum, probably a regular museum (woah, I should probably check that out!), a waterpark, an amusement park and Sea World!  What??  Shouldn't all that stuff be near the capital? Capitol?  Hmmm, I should probably also check which one of those is right....OK, apparently it's capital.  But, alas, Austin is shockingly lacking in fun, family things to do.  They should really try and step it up....

Stupid Valentine's Day.

Not because I hate the holiday per se, but because our library is doing parties instead of baby story time, so we're stuck at home.  And a good friend moved, so we don't have many people to hang out with.  It sure can be lonely work being a stay at home mom.  This is our first week without our friends, so I'm sure this is just adjustment blues.  Next week baby story time is back on and we'll have plenty of fun!
Man, I can't even believe it's mid-February already!  Time is flying like crazy and that TG is growing like a weed.  He talks all the time and does the funniest shit!  Big D teaches him super silly stuff, too, which is so hilarious and cute!  It's a new thing all the time.  The latest is "mind powers".  She has taught him to curl his hand into a claw up by his face and make this horrible ear piercing noise!  So, when you tell him "mind powers", he does it.  So ridiculous.  But, he's also an expert tantrum thrower (already! At 18 months!).  Yesterday he cried about NOTHING for probably 30 minutes straight.  I'm pretty sure it was only because I wanted to get some stuff done....
By the way, right before New Years, we got to go to Corpus Christi, thanks to my cousin who owns a KOA down there and let us stay for FREE, and so we went to Mustang Island.  The ocean is awesome.

ForEVER

So, I guess it's been a while.  A way long while!  Ha!  TG just turned 1 a few days ago and that has been busy  blowing my mind.  He got some little toy cars that he's absolutely in love with and I got to make him some birthday pancakes.  This is a tradition that I've been doing with Big D since she was 2.  I can't begin to tell you how exciting it was to do with TG.

And this weekend we are throwing his birthday party.  Of course, it's going to be attended by mostly adults.  Hopefully it won't cost us too much more money.

We've also started the weaning process, which is going to take a while with the way I'm doing it.  But, I'm super excited for it!  It's going to be amazing to have my body back again, even if it's going to be a new, deflated version of it's former self.  It will also be nice to be able to have some drinks without worrying if I'm having too much!

I'm pretty sure I say this every post, but I really do intend to update this more often.  Big D is starting school in a couple of weeks, so I'll have more free time.  I may make the goal of updating once a week, maybe I'll add it to my chore list.  Wish me luck!  

Good Gracious

So, this post might be a bit rambling.  Things are a bit wonky in my life.
Ever since TG got RSV he's reverted in his eating.  Right before he got sick, we were on a pretty great schedule of solids eating.  He was eating 2 ounces of food 3 times a day!  It was great.  But, now, it's a struggle to get him to eat 1 ounce 3 times a day.  I've started making his food chunkier, which is helping.  But, since he's recently started crawling, I'm afraid that only nursing and minimal solids won't be enough calories to sustain all his new found activity.  So, I'm exploring the options of chunkier foods and seeing if that will renew his interest in solid foods.  So far I've made him chunky sweet potatoes and whole peas and he really enjoyed them!
The other thing going on in my life is INTOLERANCE!  Mainly from organized religious people.  Which turns out to be my family.  I recently made a statement on facebook commenting on how awful people are being in regards to healthcare reform and how saddening it is. Which led to my conservative religious sister to go on a rant about how much she hates healthcare reform and her angry reasoning behind it, wherein insults were directed, presumably, at me.  This hurts in more ways than one.  First, that she would use such a forum to insult and secondly, because I feel that I am very respectful of their religion and beliefs that I DO NOT share and they can't show that same respect back.  It came to a head for me when other family members also spewed their hateful responses on the same post.  A few friends came to me and asked if it would be OK for them to respond in kind to her, since their feelings either reflect my own or they thought she was completely out of line.  But, I kindly asked them to refrain, since I'm not looking for all out war here.  I'm looking for a place where people can comment on social happenings without fear of rebuke by those they love.  So, I posted a paragraph expressing my disappoint in their reprehensible behavior and their lack of respect.  I'm hoping that this step will help them to take a minute to think about how their words affect others the next time they want to say something hateful or unkind.  It seems to me that this is something they'd already be doing, since their religion teaches it, but I guess this is why I hate organized religion in the first place.

Sick of Being Sick

So, here I am, up way too early.  And I've been up now for almost 2 hours.  Being sick and having a sick baby are pretty much the worst.  TG has lovingly passed on his RSV to both The Husband and I and we are suffering for it.  And TG has been waking up once a night since he got sick which only makes sleep harder to come by.  Of course, The Husband is TERRIBLE at being sick and whines and moans and complains, so that doesn't leave a lot of room for me to receive any sympathy for how lousy I feel.  As the one who also has to get up with the baby, since I'm the one with the milky boobs, it also creates a situation where The Husband gets the opportunity for more sleep.  So, I run around, sleep deprived, feeling like shit and now also harboring resentment at The Husband for getting more sleep and then COMPLAINING about how tired and sick he is.  It makes a girl want to cut someone.

Super Sicko

Oy, it has been a rough week and it's still not over!  Poor TG had his immunizations on Monday and those did not go over well.  He had a raging fever that lasted him for a couple of days, which made for a very grumpy baby.  Then he also ended up with RSV, which we're still in the throes of.
His breathing today started getting a bit wheezy, so The Husband suggested I take him into the doctor.  As the doctor listened to his breathing, he detected what he thought could possibly be pneumonia (gasp! what??) and sent us to the radiologist for x-rays.  While there, my mom called because she had seen on the news about a plane crash here in Austin.  I had been holding up fine, but, of course, when I talked to my mom, I started crying from worry.  She reassured me, having dealt with pneumonia in 4 of her own children.  So, we got the results by late afternoon and, thank goodness, it wasn't pneumonia, but that's when the doctor made the diagnosis of RSV due to the inflammation in his lungs and bronchial tubes.
Unfortunately, you can't do much for RSV but wait it out.  So, he prescribed Albuterol  and a nebulizer in case TG's coughing and wheezing become too much.  And instructed to keep an eye on his breathing and to take him to the hospital if it becomes distressed, since RSV can turn into pneumonia in small children and old people.  So, we also picked up some BabyRub from the local Wal-Mart and spent the evening worrying.  Hopefully his immune system will prove to be somewhere as close to bad ass as his sister's was at his age and he'll recover quickly.  Poor little baby!!

And So It Begins...

So, winter time here in Austin brings about the pollinating of the cedar trees.  A pretty innocuous event in and of itself, but for those with allergies, it's quite possibly the worst time of the year.  The poor Husband has cedar allergies something fierce.  And so from January at least through February, he wishes he were dead.  Because even though taking allergy medicine helps, it also gives him a wicked case of medicine head.  Something he hates only a little less than the allergies.  It's a pretty miserable time for him.  And so it appears that poor TG has inherited these allergies from his father.
We went hiking on Sunday at Lake Georgetown and it was a lot of fun and really beautiful.  However, it also happens to be situated directly inside of a cedar forest.  Whoops!  Turns out that may have been the worst idea. It was one of the heaviest pollination days so far in the season and so The Husbands poor nose was a drippy mess.  He also complained that his whole face was burning due to the allergens!  And now this whole week, poor TGs little nose has either been running like a sieve or plugged up entirely.  And the worst of the allergy season hasn't even happened yet!  That's next month.
Wish us luck that we all survive!!

Babies Rule.....sometimes

TG is a pretty great baby.  He's pleasant most of the time and he's super fat, which just equals cute.  But, now he super wins because he's sleeping through the night on a pretty regular basis!  This started when he was around 3 1/2 months old, but was only off and on.  And now that he's 5 months old, it's the norm!  He has his slip ups now and then, but it's hard to complain when I know some of my sister's babies weren't sleeping through the night until they were much older.  

The sleeping nights thing, though, has wreaked havoc on my poor boobs!!  Here they are, used to waking up once or twice a night and being drained.  So, unfortunately, it's many a morning when I wake up to painfully swollen boobs.  And, though, it's getting less often, lots of leaking!  It's not very comfortable to wake up to wetness, most especially to the kind that is fully capable of curdling.  I guess the plus side is that our bed sheets are washed more often than they've ever been!  Ha!

Baby Movie Time!

So, we've been pretty down because we haven't been able to go to any movies since TG was born.  And we LOVE our movies!  And then someone told us about a local theater that has a sweet program!  Every Tuesday, they allow parents to bring in their babies and small children for the first showing of any movie.  So, the Husband took off work for a little while and we went to the movies this past Tuesday!
We went to see Avatar (which was freakin' awesome!) and we accidentally saw it in 3D.  At first I was so, so upset, since I can't see anything in 3D with my monovision.  And then we got the fancy, dancy 3D glasses!  Woah, dude, 3D has certainly come a long way since the days of my youth.  Gone are the days of the ridiculous red and blue paper glasses!  This theater offered plastic, reusable glasses that, even with monovision, make the movie totally viewable!  Now, of course they couldn't make the movie 3D for me (which according to The Husband and Big D was AMAZING!) but it took away the weirdness of all the lines so that I was able to enjoy it like a regular movie!!  So, now it's possible for The Husband and Big D to go to 3D movies and for me to tag along!  Awesome possum. Technology is amazing.

Better Late Than Never, Right?

So, we had a fun Halloween! In the earlier part of the day, there was a Ballet Folklorico at the local library.  Big D was very interested in going, so we got her all dressed in her costume and headed over.

It was a lot of fun to watch, but of course, TG needed to eat as soon as we got there, so I could only see part of it.  Apparently The Husband was asked to dance during an audience participation part, but he declined!  Big D and I expressed our disappointment, so hopefully the next time an opportunity like that arises, he takes part!
We made plans with the neighbors to go trick or treating together, so we were running on a schedule, so of course, we were running late!  After the library, we went and got dinner at Sonic (50 cent corn dogs, yo!) and that only served to make us later!  Ha!  We are maybe not experts at managing our time...
As time was quickly running out we completed the finishing touches on our costumes and stuffed a whiny baby into his costume.  TG did alright with the trick or treating as long as he was being held.  But, he only lasted about 20 minutes or so, when he loudly declared that he had ENOUGH!  So, he went home with daddy and I stayed out with Big D and the neighbors to finish trick or treating!  Big D got lots of candy! Trick or treating in Texas is much, much better than trick or treating in hell frozen over Colorado.
Big D decided to make her costume prom queen by day and turn it into ZOMBIE PROM by night!  I decided to join her in such a fun costume idea, plus also, I might love zombies. A lot. The Husband didn't get his picture taken in his costume, the spoil sport.  And little TG was the most adorable hot dog on earth!
All in all, it was a really great night and we had a ton of fun!  We love Halloween!

Complicated

Wow, so this having a blog thing is harder than I thought!  Just finding the time, let alone thinking of a topic, comes with all of it's own set of complications.  Not to mention that all of the blogs that I love are so funny and I have no idea how to write like that!  Does that come with time or do I just suck?? I guess only time will tell....
So, I put together a schedule and that's definitely been helping me to get things done during the day!  I'm still having a hard time getting a work out fit in, but I imagine I'll get there eventually.  I've been very discouraged by the way my body looks but I have to keep reminding myself that it's only been 11 weeks since I GAVE BIRTH. Kind of a big deal...
Omigosh, TG had his checkup and that fat boy weighs 14 pounds, 3 ounces, which is in the 90th percentile!  Unbelievable!  I didn't even know it was possible for my family to have such a big baby!! Ha!  He's also 24 inches long and has a head circumference of 16 inches.  I'm so impressed with him and my boobs ability to create such a robust child!  It was so awful to see him get his immunizations!  His face turned the reddest I've ever seen!  And then he was very, very fussy for the rest of that evening, but was fine in the following days.
Big D has been awesome lately, too!  She's such a smart, funny, responsible kid.  Her choir teacher just nominated her for an award for students that show responsibility or great improvement or any number of things that the teacher thinks is great.  Each teacher can nominate one student per every six weeks.  So, we got to go to the awards ceremony yesterday morning!  It was a lot of fun to see her get recognized for being such a great kid!  So, now she's also working on us to get her a cell phone!  I have a hard time thinking of my 11 year old baby having a cell phone, but she is incredibly responsible and it would be a great benefit for all of us.  The biggest issue is the extra $10 a month that it will cost us.  More discussion must be had.
I keep talking to my husband about what he wants to be referred to as in this blog, but he still hasn't come up with anything!  I keep offering to call him Vanilla Thunder, but he hasn't taken me up on that offer yet.  Ha!
Oh dear, I'm seeing a pair of beautiful blue eyes staring me and my boobs down!  I have a goal of posting more frequently!  Hold me to it!!!