The Monkey

I'm still not sure if I bought this little monkey with a rattle inside for me or for the baby. But I can always say I bought it for the baby, right? Here's Monkey...hiding in the towel after bath time.

Picture Update

I finally have a few moments to sit down and download some pictures on to the blog. We went and did Wal-mart shopping this evening...entirely too much on a Monday that was definitely a Monday. I loaded up on non-perishables. Hubby wonders where in the heck I think I'm going to put all those cans. Our pantry shelves kind of sag in the middle now thanks to my pre-disposed genetic need to accumulate food. Here are pics from back in August...I download the memory card at the end of every month. I'm behind. Brace yourselves...there will be a few posts with pics...

Baby and Dad looking out the window...
Flashing mom a grin....
I spy a bottle...

Victory!

What better way to celebrate?

Snack #1

These...

...taste like eating old cheddar that was on the mouse trap in the back of a bar-b-que joint that hasn't seen a health inspector since 1974. I got through four of them before coming to this conclusion.

That's all.

My experiences with children before baby - #1

Working with Boys & Girls Club with the Wildlife Society - - - -

Back in college, I was part of the Wildlife Society. (quit laughing...it was a real club) We often worked for local ranches doing wildlife counts and evaluating the land for support of said wildlife. Those ranches made mucho dinero off the hunting, so we had a lot of support for what we did. Anyway, part of our community service was going to the local Boys & Girls club and doing presentations to the little elementary kids (like 4th and 5th grade). I went with Frito one afternoon on my first trip over there. Frito was a B-I-G guy...he played football his first four years of college and was now actually finishing up his degree. His presence was a little intimidating to those who didn't know him.

So, we got set-up and got the kids in there and settled in. I sat back to listen to how Frito made the presentation, explaining to the kids about the different types of wildlife around and how you could make plaster molds of their footprints. We had different types of animal horns and fur skins to show them and let them feel. After about the first 10 minutes, I started seeing little behinds squirming. Then they starting talking to each other. Then they started playing. Then they got out of control. Frito didn't know what to do.

My mom is a teacher...this crap must be in my genes. I stepped up, asked Frito if he minded and he didn't, and then I let loose. I say, "HEEEEEYYYY!!! SIT DOWN!!" And those little heads snapped around and Frito kind of stared at me with his mouth open.

"Do you get to act that way at school?" - as I scowled at them. "No, m'am." came the meek reply.

"Then you don't act that way here. You sit down, you be quiet, you be respectful of Mr. Frito, and if you have a question you raise your hand. Is that understood?" , I growled with a frown on my face. "Yes, m'am." came the meek reply.

"I don't want to see one of you moving unless you have to go to the restroom and you better ask before you move. Now sit there and listen up." And you could have heard a pin drop. But I tell you what, they were the best behaved little ones after that and it was actually a pleasure working with them when they minded their manners.

As we left, Frito said, "Man! You're mean!" Yeah, yeah....show no fear.

Next....

*Junior Achievement and the 5th grade


*Mentoring a 4th grader


*Talking to high school juniors and seniors about women in engineering

He made me laugh...

I remember the first time my husband made me laugh. I wasn't even thinking of dating him...he'd been ogling me for almost a year as I would later learn. We worked for the same company. He worked out of our field office and I traveled from our main office in West Texas out to North Texas on a regular basis. I had even talked to him on the phone on several occasions but always related to work with just a little chit chat thrown in here and there. The field supervisor over that property was an interesting fellow...very smart and very very detail oriented. He wouldn't just tell you that he was making a new master bed. No, he had to tell you the age of the tree and the shape of the axe that felled it that went in to making the board that traveled on the truck that he had the license plate number to and the phone numbers of the gas stations it filled up at along the exact route it took to reach the store he bought the lumber from. Details.

So, one afternoon as I was sitting in the field conference room set up with my laptop and an array of notes that I was trying to compile, Mr. Supervisor came in to tell me the latest on his woodworking skills at his family's new house. He was custom framing a doorway that the contractors had done a poor job on. He described in intricate detail how he measured the frame, cut the boards, sanded them, the special nails he used, and the elaborate support frame he used before he nailed all the boards in place. I sat there thinking, "Hmph...I woulda nailed some frigging two by fours, caulked the suckers, and slapped a coat of paint on them." (aren't I fancy?) About that time, unbeknownst-to-me-Hubby came up behind Mr. Supervisor, pretended to stick some nails in his mouth, pretended to wrestle some boards over his head, and pretended to nail the suckers in place. I just about died laughing and Mr. Supervisor failed to see the humor in our crude antics. I realized that I had someone in front of me that shared my sense of humor. Little did I know that we would one day share much more. He still makes me laugh on a daily basis...it's one of the many blessings he is to me.

Reasons why....

Reasons why Hubby won't get me an air horn for my vehicle.

1. He knows that I would use it. A lot.
   
   
2. He's afraid that I'll use it on the wrong person, and I'll get home with bullet holes riddling the vehicle.
   
   
3. He's heard me say bad words and demand to have an air horn one too many times while talking to me on my cell phone while I'm driving.
   
   
4. It's never ME with the driving problem, it's everyone else.
   
5. He knows that I would use it. A lot.
   
   
6. I often ask why I can't have a rocket mounted on the front of the vehicle to clear out all of the traffic in my way. He freaks and tells me that's illegal and that I'll go to jail for that. (silly man! It would be a nice rocket...no one would get hurt, they'd just all moooove!)
   
   
7. I often start a driving comment with, "HEY STUPID! If I had an airhorn I'd use it to run you off the road!!!"
   
   
8. He's seen me with PMS.
   
   
9. He knows that I would use it. A lot.

Read the prescription

When I went in to the doctor on Monday, she gave me a prescription for an antibiotic to take just in case this "viral" thing didn't clear up in a few days. Last night at 12:30 as I was shuffling through the cabinet looking for the ibuprofen becuase my throat hurt so badly, I decided it was time to go back to the doctor. All I wanted was a z-pack to knock this crap out of my system. So, this morning I dug through my backpack to find the prescription for the antibiotic so I'd at least have something to get me through until I get in to see good ole Doc.

My husband was standing in the kitchen, and I was asking if he'd fill my script since he had today off. He's a sweetheart and said he would. Then I found the paper and actually read the darn thing. Behold! One prescription for a Z-Pack! I uttered a dirty word and told him what I had in my hand. He looked at me and gave me one of those looks. Then he said, "You've had a prescription for a z-pack since MONDAY?" I ducked my head and said, "Yeah. BUT she said I wasn't supposed to take until today anyway, so it doesn't matter, thanks for filling my script, gotta go, love ya, bye!" And with that I made a mad dash out the door.

Should have read the prescription on Monday....

Here we go again...

I have some really great photos to share. They're on my camera. At the house. On the kitchen table. Let's not talk about the kitchen table. It's there, I promise. You just can't see much of it because of all the stuff on top of it. The little basket I bought a few years ago to catch all of our incoming mail is full of stuff, too, but not mail stuff, just stuff stuff. I should have bought a bigger basket.

I had another round at the doctor's office yesterday because the sides of my throat and in to my ears hurt. She looked at my throat, cringed, and said that it's a classic viral pattern sore throat. They swabbed me for a strep test anyway, just to make sure there wasn't any of that crud lingering in there. I got sent back to work with a sinus spray and a prescription decongestant. Whooptee. I'm about to go dig out some ibuprofen to top off my cheerios.

When I learned that this is a viral sompin sompin, I decided I needed to be bolstering my immune system. So, after work, we all loaded up and went to Central Market so I could go in and buy the probiotics that I KNOW work. I just don't use them all of the time because they're expensive...but so is that doctor's office. Anyway, I can't help it that I came out of the store with the probiotics, two pounds of Texas Pecan coffee, a new herbal lotion, and a bottle of Cardinal Zin wine that I haven't had in four years. I have a bunch of Canadians to thank for my taste in wines. (that's another story)

K-man is hanging in there with a little bit of a lingering cough. He was pissy all weekend. The pediatrician said that the steroid would make him cranky. We considered dropping him off at her house on Sunday so she could see that she was right. At least he's not runny yellow junk out of his nose anymore. He felt well enough to get some really good laughs in at me last night while I was making my salad for lunch today.

Toys

Kids toys really stink these days. I know they have all sorts of bells and whistles and music and buttons and lights. It's all racket! I know they're supposed to teach our children something...their 1,2,3's or their A,B,C's or their colors or whatever. Does my almost 10 month old REALLY need a toy that requires 10 batteries every 4 weeks and makes so much noise the neighbors can hear it just so he can "learn" his ABC's right now? I don't think so.

K-man has one toy that makes noise...it sings Old McDonald Had A Farm EIEIO and B-I-N-G-O. That's enough to drive me nuts, but every now and then he takes great pleasure in beating the tar out of it and listening to how many different sounds he can make it produce all at once. Okay, fine, a little boy needs to make some noise. I then went on a shopping frenzy to try and find the perfect plaything to keep him entertained while encouraging him to stand and challenging different physical skills. I ended up with this....off of ebay because they no longer make it...

There are no batteries...there are no songs...no bells...no whistles...just lots of play and room for baby's imagination. He opens and closes the door 20 times a minute. He opens and closes the mailbox...he sticks his arm through the mailbox...he peeks through the mailbox. He pulls the veggies out of their "planter" and chews on them, then chucks them across the room. He pulls himself to standing and "walks" around the garden...in the garden...and has tried to crawl over the garden wall. He spins the birdies (not the same as flipping the birdy) and he pulls on the flowers. He plays. And he plays. And he plays. And it can consume an hour or better of his time. That's way more than any toy he's come across with batteries, lights, and sounds.

Croup

K-man has croup. Anyone know what the heck croup is?? I had to ask the pediatrician. It's caused by a virus that has a name that sounds like the flu but isn't. And guess what? It's contagious. If another child catches it, they get croup. If an adult catches it, they get a royal cold. Can you guess which adult in our house caught his croup virus right after being sick last week? I need to have a talk with our son about sharing stuff from daycare when his mama's immune defenses are weakened.

The pediatrician wrote out a script for a steroid for him to help with the inflammation in his throat. It also cleared up all that snot that covering his face. All that snot that would run out his nose and then get smeared on his face every time he reached up to rub his eyes. The same snot that made mysterious appearances on the carpet in his playroom in little snot spots wherever he sneezed. The same snot that left a snail trail up my arm and onto my shirt. The same shirt that is now in the washer on the HOT setting with lots of soap and vinegar. niiiiiiice.

So, to date, K-man's gone through the following...

1. Colic
2. Dairy intolerance
3. Strep throat
4. Ringworm
5. Eczema
6. Some odd bacterial infection of the sinuses
7. Pinkeye
8. Croup

Can we please stop there?

No rest for the ....

I think the saying is, "No rest for the wicked, and the righteous don't need none!" So, either way you're flat out of luck for getting any sleep. I think it should be amended to include parents of infants. I keep thinking to myself that one of these days our son will sleep...like when he's 5 or maybe 6. Last night he screamed because he had drainage and I'm suspecting a sore throat. However, after a hellacious night of a whining baby, he woke up this morning and grinned and started swinging his arms and legs around like, "WHEEEE! Parrrr-taaaay!!" Is it wrong to give your 9.5 month old a dirty look? Can I blame it on sleep deprivation? Don't get me wrong, we know we're incredibly blessed with our child and we wouldn't trade a moment with him. It sure would be nice to get 8 straight hours of uninterrupted sleep.

The blog has taken a hit after my work load increased here at the job. Can we say 'overwhelmed'? The Hubster hooked up the wireless router at the house, so when I do get on the internet at the house it's on the laptop....the computer that doesn't have all my photos. The computer that I refuse to load Photoshop on because it has stooopid Windows Vista (vista can kiss my keester) and the dual core Pentium inside doesn't handle it worth a crap. Or maybe it's the RAM. I keep forgetting. Sleep deprivation does that to you.

So, no, I'm not going to load my cool, new photo editting software on there because I'm pretty sure I'd go postal on the thing when it bogged down even further than it does right now. For now, my photos are stuck on my desktop computer that runs faster than the newer laptop! I just can't lug my HP around the house. We're on the market for a new laptop now for me. I want the sucker to sing Yankee-Doodle-Dandy and tap dance at the same time and not even need a second wind. I want to surf the internet, save all my photos, and edit the darn things all at the same time and not have to wait for something to load. And I don't want all those freaking software previews on there that pop up 5,000 reminder messages a day about how I need to purchase the software now that the trial period has expired. That really ticks me off!! Anyone have any suggestions? By the way, after I get my laptop, I'll be selling an HP desktop.

Gas pains

No, not me. Well, okay, yeah sometimes I do get gas pains but I don't talk about it. Usually because it happens in public and you just don't talk about those kind of things in public. And those gas-x things, yeah, maybe I'd use them if they could make them a little more discreet rather than smearing "GAS-X" all over the side of the container. I digress....

Kelton is finally back on foods. We held off until the 9 month mark and he's been doing really well on squash, green beans, and cheerios. I mashed up some avocado last night for him to try. He didn't go crazy over it, but he didn't spit it out either. We paid for that test later last night when at 10:00 he woke up screaming and arching his back. I picked him and started bouncing him around the house as he tooted more gas out than I realized he could hold....and he tooted....and he tooted...and then he let a really big one go. He got that from his daddy, by the way. We won't be doing avocado again any time soon. I think we'll try mango tonight.

Sick again and a 9-month check up

Just when I thought all was going well for us...

I had to go out of town for work this week. Actually, it was out of state. Every time I fly I get sick. I think it's all the recirculated airplane air filled with germs, but it happens every time I fly...a wham-bang of a sinus infection. So, this time I drove. Tuesday afternoon, my sinuses started running, my throat started getting scratchy, and then my voice took an extended vacation. I'm still not quite sure how I drove the seven hours it took to get home yesterday. Hubster had to take me to the doctor this morning. She cringed when she looked at my throat. I figure healthcare professionals see this kind of stuff every day, so when what I have makes one of them cringe, I take that as a bad sign. The strep test was a negative, but she wasn't entirely convinced that I don't have strep in there somewhere. It could be viral - lots of body aches. Or it could be mono. If I don't feel better by Monday, then it's back to the doctor's office for some blood work and to check and see if my spleen is enlarged (courtesy of mono). If my body was a person, I'd slap the shilly sit out of it for pulling this crap on me.

Today was also K-man's 9 month check up. We like to think of our son as spirited...strong willed....head strong...smart. He's spoiled. Rotten. Hubster took him to his check up today. The pediatrician was running 2 hours late. Come on, folks, wouldn't it make sense that when people are bringing their children in to at least let them sit in the lobby for 2 hours and watch tv rather than in that closet of an examining room? K-man did fine the first hour and then lost it the last hour. He's learning to hit when he's mad and/or frustrated. How to do explain to a 9 month old that hitting is wrong? We know he knows he's not supposed to do things, but aside from saying "No", keeping him from hitting you, and/or putting him down (when you even have that option), what else is there? He's behind on his eating because of his allergies. Lots of kids his age are eating "food". K-man is doing a few veggies and lots of formula. The pediatrician wants us to get him on the sippy cup asap. So, we'll be sippy cup shopping this weekend. And he'll be getting cheerios. Let's keep our fingers crossed that he's not allergic to them, too.

An Ode to Coffee

There are five of us here at the office that cannot stand the standard brew for coffee in the kitchen. So, we swiped a coffee maker from the kitchen that's been waiting for someone to claim it for the past 6 months, hid it in Sandra's cubicle, and have started making our own foo-foo coffee in the mornings. Here's my Ode To Coffee that I wrote to announce that our Friday morning caffeine was ready for consumption...

* * * * * * * *

Ah, the smell in the morning
Of that rich fresh brew
Calls you from the bedroom
Waking to a day that’s brand new.

You pour out a cup
And inhale the hot steam
The bitter taste touches your lips
And you realize you forgot the cream.

Then the cell phone goes off
The alarm buzzes on snooze
You look at your sleepy mate
And wonder what you did with the booze.

Back to the coffee
You need another sip
If he gives you one more excuse
He’s going to work with a fat lip.

Grabbing your keys
With coffee in hand
You start up the car
And turn up the rock band.

Pulling in to the parking lot
With a few minutes to spare.
Driving like you’re in NASCAR,
All your coworkers just stare.

You just downed that last drop
From your warm travel mug
Flip on that computer,
Looking pretty smug.

You made it work
With no speeding tickets
Now the caffeine is wearing off
And you’re starting to get rickets.

Time to head to the kitchen,
And start a new pot,
You’ll drink their bad swill,
It’s a cheap caffeine shot.

But never depair!
The girls are here to save.
We have our own coffee pot,
And will have a foo-foo coffee rave!

Preggggooo Pictures

Look what I found! Pictures from my baby shower at work that Sandra saved on the share drive. I can look at these with a little different now that the baby is out and I'm not miserable. This was about a month before I was due...yikes!

Punch in the baby bathtub and the diaper cake.

What a spread!!

Here's the cake. All nice and neutral because we didn't know if baby was a boy or girl until the birth.

And here are the wonderful ladies who put this together for me!

Here I am in all my preggy glory (yes, I'm rolling my eyes). Remember, I still had a month to go. Yuck! I was so big and retained water like the Hoover Dam.

Here we are checking out some of the presents. Wow, is that a pregnant pose, or what? And it was all subconscious.

Shut up...I wanted cake, so I ate cake...or at least what I could eat until Hubby reminded me that I couldn't really be having sugar at that point.

See how tired we look? That's because at that point, I was having contractions that wouldn't let me sleep through the night. And if I didn't sleep, Hubster didn't sleep. He's sweet that way...he wanted to know why I was up and he'd help me any way he could. "Honey, would you mind having this contraction for me?"

Gifts! Fun Stuff! I still use that little bear for K-man....he likes the music it plays. And then when it stops playing, he body slams it and goes on about his business. That child concerns me.

I finished the series!

At 8:47 last night, I closed the last book in the Twilight series! I can now go back to my regularly scheduled programing without wondering what the heck Edward and Bella are going to do next. I dreamed about the crazy books, for cryin' out loud! I had to finish the series so I could quit thinking about it! I like the way it ended...like I was content...there was some closure...and I could set the book down and walk away and not wonder. Thank you to everyone who raved about these books...those were a great read! Now, I'm anxiously awaiting the movie release.

Treating pink eye and the side effects thereof

Well, we got the antibiotic drops yesterday for what appears to be a double whammy on our Little Man of a cold and pink eye. (Thanks again, daycare!) Aside from K-man already being miserable with the pain associated with the eye infection and the stuffiness from the cold, now he's dealing with a mama who refuses to let her child run around with greenish muck crusted all over his eyes. I'm not his favorite person right now. I used a very wet warm compress to loosen the muck and wipe it off his eyes. You would have thought I was hanging him by his toes. Hubster held his legs while I held his arms. Then I got ONE drop of antibiotic ointment in each eye, per the directions. I'm sure that stuff stings....I don't imagine it's very comfortable on top of the pain he's already in. But good heavens, he threw a fit. Did you know that 9 month olds can give some killer dirty looks? I tried to get him to giggle with some funny noises and tickling, but UH-UH, he wasn't having any of that crap. He was pretty peeved at me. I left him alone for about 15 minutes and went on about my business. Then I came back to get him from Hubby so I could give him some sugar before I left for work. That little thing arched his back, let out a wail, put his arms out to his daddy, and pushed off of me with his feet!! I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or be mad about it! So, I blogged about it, instead. I'm only trying to help the little fella.

He bit someone!!

My child came home yesterday with his first discipline report. He's 9 months old on Friday and we're already in trouble at daycare?!

Apparently our little man decided he wanted the ball that the other baby was playing with, so he just reached over there and chomped down on him/her. Daycare won't tell us if it was a boy or girl. I hope it didn't break the skin...they didn't say. He's bitten us at home, but he's also teething and generally chewing on whatever rag or blanket is in his reach. And if what's in his reach is your t-shirt, well, he bites that, too, occasionally getting the skin underneath the t-shirt. It didn't even cross my mind that he was capable of reasoning, "I want that so I'll bite someone to get it!". Part of me wants to laugh and the other part is completely dumb-founded. Now, don't get me wrong....he's a boy....I'm expecting discipline reports. I've even expected that he'll bite someone (gets that from his mama). But at 9 months????

Why didn't I go get that bottle of wine I've been wanting this past weekend?