Saturday, August 28, 2010

Taste of Stones River

One year ago at The Taste

And tonight at The Taste

I love seeing how much they have changed.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Another little step outside

Tonight I took another little step outside my comfort zone. I attended another play date with complete strangers. This time it was an evening play date pizza party. The host ordered the pizza and everybody pitched something in. I brought Rice Krispy Treats and sugar cookies. Colin enjoyed himself! He played with the toy lawn mower and toys car and tried to climb in the kiddie pool. He also got to try a bouncy house for the first time. He was very unsure about it and actually didn't bounce but stood there and watched Blake bounce around in it. I also attended without Andrew. I figured I couldn't let him being out of town hold me back and I needed to try things on my own.

The other ladies and their husbands were all very nice and I look forward to attending one of these kinds of play dates in the future!

And...I volunteered to host one next month. I am actually nervous, b/c I have no idea what to do. I guess they just play with Colin's toys, but I really hope no one gets bored. Trial and error - I guess I will figure it out as I try!

I'll Love You Forever

Andrew and I always joke that we could write children's books. I mean, come on. It seems like if you can rhyme a story about animals and slap a few pictures in there you are good to go. In fact, some books just count how many animal are on the page.

Last night I was reading Colin I'll Love You Forever and I know Andrew and I can't be the only ones that find the page where the Mother drives across town...climbs up the ladder to her grown son's room...and if he is asleep she will crawl in and rock him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth to be very creepy.

In fact, I find it kind of strange that she goes in a rocks her 16 year old son the same way. We don't read that book very often because I just think it is weird. We like to stick to That's Not My Pirate! and That's Not My Truck! with all the touchy feely pages.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Update on Ears

I guess I should update you guys on how Colin's tube surgery went! He did very well. It was a quick procedure and I was only in the waiting room for 10-15 minutes before they had me come back to recovery to see him. He didn't take waking up too well though. He was very upset and we couldn't get him to calm down. They said he was calling for da-da over and over when he first woke up. (So sorry to disappoint...but it was just Mommy waiting for him.) He also did that cry where you can see in his face that he is crying (hard) but no sound or anything comes out. He did that for 15 or 20 seconds and started turning blue. It freaked me the heck out. The nurse could tell and we made sure not to leave until he was calmed down.

The rest of the day was off and on unhappiness. He did some hard and loud crying throughout the day but by dinner time he was back to normal. He slept through the night (at least I assume...I slept so hard the sheets where still nice and I don't think I moved) and woke up his normal happy self.

Andrew is in New Orleans this week so I was a little nervous about taking care of him alone but it ended up being fine in the end. And, I got to eat a burger. Every time Andrew goes out of town I start the week off with a hamburger. I have been doing this since we got married. I look forward to making this a little tradition with Colin - Daddy leaves and we get burgers. =) I didn't give him any thing this time since there was a chance he could get sick from the anesthesia...I wasn't going to risk throw up.

I will leave with some happy images of my little drummer boy.



Friday, August 20, 2010

A little boy's best friend

I like to do pages in Colin's year book with pictures of him and Molly. On one page of the two of them I have a quote that I love:

"Every boy should have two things: a dog, and a mother willing to let him have one."

Molly wasn't terribly fond of Colin at first. She was more afraid of him than anything. She would run when ever he came near.

Now she just lays there and takes it. We are working on understanding "gentle" but he is still curious and one night even tried to get her eyeballs. I promise - we protect Molly from Colin and Colin from Molly. He loves his dog!


And...he slept on his nap mat at MDO yesterday. Well, he slept partially on his nap mat. When I went to pick him up he was sleeping sideways...he is active even in his sleep. I was totally impressed and wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

The date is set

On Monday (the 23rd) Colin is having tubes put into his ears. Hopefully this keeps those painful ear infecitons away from now on and we won't have to be on antibiotics so often. I am not sure what time yet as I have to call on Friday to get the scheduled time. Hopefully it is early so that he doesn't have to go too long without anything to eat or drink.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

First day of school

Today was Colin's first day of school (aka Mother's Day Out). He was a little unsure when I dropped him off. He instantly clung to my legs and just kind of watched. But then I pointed out all the toys and he spotted a play vacuum and ran right to it. (Side note: he knows how to unhook the canister on my Dyson vacuum. This could be bad.) I signed him in and went to work for a few hours.

When I went in to pick him up there were three kids left in the room. The little boy and little girl were on the floor crying...and Colin was content as could be just climbing up the little ladder and going down the slide. His teacher told me that the other kids were tired and ready for a nap but that Colin seems to want to keep going. She said he cried just a bit but would get over real quickly. So, first day = success!

I got him in the car and wanted to to take him to Chick-fil-a for lunch, but he fell asleep before I could get to Chick-fil-a. He ended up taking a nice nap and having a (very) late lunch. I am interested in seeing how he does during nap time on his first full day tomorrow. I just don't see him sitting still and laying down but I have a feeling I will be proved wrong.

A few pictures from before we left the house!




Monday, August 16, 2010

Two big things happening today

First - today is my first half day! I am off in 55 minutes! I am not sure what the little man and I will do today. I know I need to bake a cake and run to Sam's and the Gap...but that is it as far as what we HAVE to do.

Second - WE'RE DEBT FREE! (Imagine I yelled this on the Dave Ramsey Show, please). After working hard on it for the last 8ish month, we have finally paid of that pain-in-the-butt school loan that has been following me around. Now to be really motivated and pay down the house...

Oh, and little man starts WEE School tomorrow! I am honestly not sure how he will do. He is very friendly but just this past Sunday he had a rough day in the nursery at church. Cried the whole time and just wanted to be held. Will I cry?? Likely not. I know, I know...you're probably thinking "just you wait." I only cry when I am physically/emotionally hurt or frustrated. Neither apply to this situation. I do wonder...does this make me cold? I only ask b/c I talked to a mom at open house last week and she made the comment after finding out he was my first kiddo that I will likely shed a tear. I just kind of smiled...because I didn't want her to think I was a terrible person.

Oh, let me correct myself. I do cry when Colin gets hurt. I want no harm to come to by baby. I cried (hysterically) the one time he rolled of the bed. Gawd - I felt like the world's worst mother and he looked at me like I was nuts as I had my ugly, sobbing, cry.

Anyway, first day of school pictures to come. Pray that we have a smooth (or close to smooth) day tomorrow!

Friday, August 13, 2010

The Verdict

Colin is allergic to Amoxicillin which means he also can't take Penicillin.

So nothing contagious (yay!) but we will be on Benadryl all weekend and start a new antibiotic tonight.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

A new appointment...and a new rash

Good news is, we have an appointment with an ENT. Doesn't mean tubes, but I will feel better having his ears looked at and finding out if I can do anything else to help ward off the infections or if anything else might be going on. Even if they say no need for tubes and he looks great I will feel better knowing that I had it looked into.

But sadly, we have developed a new rash. The nurse said it is possibly viral...but he also developed this when he was on Amoxicillin a mere 3 weeks ago. See figure 1.

Figure 1

This is what his back looked like. It was toward the end of his dosage. At first I thought we were developing a strawberry allergy so I cut out strawberries (sad!). Well, two days into the antibiotic and it started...again. This time it started on the side of his face, the nape of his neck, and on his belly. I dropped him off at mom's and called about an hour later and it has spread to his back again.

So my call to the nurse ended with a decision to hold off on the antibiotics for 24 hrs (I will cry if the infection comes back...) and give Bendaryl and see if it goes away. If it does and then reappears after the dose tomorrow, then it is the medicine. I assured her it was, b/c that is what we did last time. Benadryl would clear it up and then it would reappear after a dosage. But they are making me wait...again. If it is viral, Benadryl will not clear it up.

Tonight is his open house at school so I will be going alone to drop off all hit paperwork and meet his teacher. I don't want to bring him in with what looks like a contagious rash. That would be a horrible first impression...

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

How many is TOO many?

We have had a rough couple of days. Colin had a really low fever Sunday night. I gave him some Tylenol and sent him to bed only for him to wake up in the middle of the night with a temperature hitting 103.3. After more Tylenol and a pitiful night of sleep I stayed home with him. We gave him Tylenol all day Monday to get the fever down. I finally got it to around 99 right before bed.

Monday night brought another rough night with a fever hitting 104.8. Stress me out...I figured he just a had a mild cold and that everything would be fine, but I got worried when his temp was that high. He has never had a temp that high before. I had to take Andrew to Vanderbilt that AM for an already scheduled procedure so my mom took Colin to see the doctor. Poor thing has (another) ear infection. He didn't tug on his ears...didn't whine when I took him temp by ear. But has another ear infection.

So here is my question - how many ear infections are too many? Colin has had an ear infection in December, February, May, July, and now August. They aren't the same infection. We clear up one and then another comes along.

Dr. Lowe says that babies who are around smokers, take a bottle, and go to daycare are usually more likely to get ear infections. Hello - none of those apply to us. He is just getting them. Now I wonder how many he will get when he starts MDO next week? And sometimes I wonder if maybe he isn't talking because he can't hear well.

So now I am wondering if I should make an appointment to talk to his doctor about the possibility of tubes. My instinct tells me to at least inquire...but should I wait and see if he gets, yet another, ear infection first? Can they test his hearing this young?

I don't want him to get more painful ear infections when I can possibly prevent them, but I also don't want to have a procedure done that is unnecessary and will eventually work itself out. Any opinions or personal experiences?

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Peek-A-Boo Barn

A new favorite game of Colin's: Peek-A-Boo Barn

I try to play it throughout the day (paci-less to hopefully get him to try and talk) and he gets so excited when we start it up. He knows to touch the screen when the animal knocks on the barn door.

And when the animal appears he knows to pull his hand away and watch the screen.

At the end the barn door opens and a few of the animals are snoring and sleeping. The little kid's voice whispers, "Shhh. They're sleeping." And swear he will whisper some babble. Sometimes it sounds like he is sh-ing. And sometime he sounds like he is jabbering in a whisper voice.

Other than reading, pointing out objects, and playing this game I don't know what else to do to encourage him to try and talk. I have thought about getting rid of the paci, but he only has four eye teeth to cut and then he is done until the 2 year molars. I know he likes to have something to chew on when he cuts teeth so I just don't have the heart to take it away until those come through.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Cleaning

I am revamping my cleaning schedule so that I can spread it out over the week instead of doing ALL of my cleaning in one day (currently Wednesday). I am just curious as to what works for you. Like, do you do Bathrooms and the Kitchen on the same day since the floors are the same material? Or do you do all your laundry on one day or do you spread it out? I think I have it set out pretty well, but sometimes other people have better ideas on how to get more done in less time.

If this is boring to you, please skip this post. Thanks!