B’s blog

Well, we didn’t make it without a trip to the pediatrician like I hoped for. Braden woke up yesterday and again today with “junk” coming from his left ear so today I broke down and took him in. He has an ear infection in both ears but on the left side, the reason it was draining was because he actually has a hole in his eardrum! You’d never know anything was wrong except for the coughing either. He’s so tough! So we get oral antibiotics for 10 days and ear drops for 7.

I ordered Jaelyn’s birthday cake today. Kroger’s didn’t have a Polly Pockets cake so I got her one with a tiara on it. So far all but 2 girls have RSVP’d directly to me but Jaelyn says they are coming to the party. I am excited to see her in her height of glory on her special day with all her little friends. We promised Avery that we’d take him golfing so he’s cool with not making a new Build A Bear. Besides that, he doesn’t even play with the one he has.

I’m quickly realizing that when you host a Build A Bear birthday party, NO ONE RSVP’s with a “no, we can’t come.” Who wouldn’t let their kid come to a party where the birthday child’s parent forks over $15 per kid and the guest takes home a new toy? What a better party favor! I sure wish when I was a kid someone would have thought of a store like this. Beats the infamous party favor bag with candy, stickers, and a pencil! So Saturday is the big day. We are meeting for cake and gift opening before the party and then heading to the store to make the over priced, under played with, dressed up in real people clothes, stuffed animals. So far 4 of the 7 have RSVP’d yes and I’m waiting on 2 since those invites just went out at school today.

Saturday night is the Chris Tomlin concert Erik wants to goto but I’m gonna have to pass. Only because Sunday is a SuperBowl party at the station and I really don’t want to have to be on the go all weekend long. I’d like to get some rest. He just sent me a list of 3 more concerts in the next 2 months that is on his “have to see” list. I just don’t find standing for 2 hours at a loud concert relaxing or good for this pregnant mama. We’ll have to see if I tag along or not.

Today was the 100th day of school so both kids had to bring 100 small bite-sized things to share with the class that they could eat. Jaelyn brought marshmallows and Avery brought fish crackers. Tomorrow the kindergarteners are celebrating the 101th day of school by dressing in all black and white like dalmations. I have to say this school is creative and has quite a bit of fun. Avery’s 2nd grade play in Feb. 20th and he has a singing part. It’s only a short verse in one of their “rap” songs, but he still has to goto school early 3 days a week to practice. Reminds me of my show choir days. He opted out of having a speaking part this year. He told us he’s only going to have a speaking part every other year. Whatever he wants I guess.

Braden still has a bad cough, worse actually. He is congested and has yucky snot too. Finally today I found a medicine that he’ll take without turning up his nose and running the other way. Hopefully a few days of this and we’ll avoid a trip to the pediatrician. Speaking of doctor appts, I have my next on this Friday. After the appt they are wanting to try the ultrasound AGAIN which will be the 3rd time, because the baby wouldn’t cooperate the last 2 times. Had I known we’d have so many regular ultrasounds I don’t know that I would have signed up for the 4D ultrasound which is on Feb 16. But since I already have the appt set up, I’ll most likely just keep it anyways. I’m sure the next week or so they will want me to do my diabetes test where I drink that yucky orange sugar drink and then sit for an hour and then take my blood to see if I have gestational diabetes. My friend back in Iowa has it and I’m praying I don’t. I didn’t with any of the other kids surprisingly since I’m insulin resistant anyways, which is where I make too much insulin and can lead to diabetes later on in life. The only real complaints I’m having is ligament pain (hip mostly).

Erik was a sweetheart yesterday and bought me some new tennis shoes when he was out and about with the kids. Of course that came with new golf shoes for himself too but it’s the thought right? I did have to exchange them because my feet seem to grow a half size with each pregnancy and the ones he got were a hair too tight. I went to exchange them today and found some real similar only instead of being white with a pink NIKE swoosh, it has a light blue swoosh. It’s hard to pick tennis shoes out. Especially if you are like me and only have one set of tennis shoes. If I had a few pairs, I’d get a little more crazy and go for more color but with only one set, I stick with plain old white. I’m just glad to get some new ones as my old ones were looking pretty shot. Now I can use those to mow the lawn or something like that.

How am I doing on my New Year’s resolutions? Well, I’ve scrapbooked once and will be planning another Saturday all day crop soon. I’ve yet to paint anything but I have plans, even if Erik cringes at the thought of me painting a room in this house (inside joke). I have created a cleaning schedule for my house but I’ve yet to put it into action. And I think we’ve found a church home, or at least one we both really like for the time being. I’m feeling good about things even if I’m not 100% completing my resolution list. Baby steps huh?

GIRL! My brother and sister in law announced last night that they are having another girl! It’s funny because my mom called it from the beginning. She said, “I want you to have a girl and Taya to have a boy, but I know you are having a boy and she’ll have a girl.” Sure enough! Grandma knows best! I’m sure as a grandparent it’ll be nice to have even numbers of boys and girls too. If anyone can handle more than one daughter it’s my patient brother and sister in law too! I don’t know that I could have handled another girl since Jaelyn and I already fight over who is the Alpha Female in this house.

I’m feeling better today, much better! Braden still has a cough but the thing is, when I give him cough medication it gives him insomnia. I can’t remember the last time he went to bed good and stayed in bed all night. Last night he was up at 4am and whispered to himself, keeping Erik up, since he had crawled in bed with us at that point. Erik got up to sleep on the couch because of his back and within minutes of going into the living room, he said Braden came out too and both stayed wide awake. I should get a good nap out of Braden today but we’ll see.

I work all weekend and we should be busy from all the surgeries and inductions they had scheduled today and yesterday. At least it will go fast if it’s busy. It’s the first time since November I’ve had to work an entire weekend. Next week is our annual skills lab and unit meeting and on Friday I have another doctor appt. I can’t believe it’ll be Feb next week! Jaelyn turns 6 on the 6th of February so she’s counting down the days. We got her a Bella Cheer-a-rella dvd where she can learn how to be a cheerleader and I picked up some bright pink fake crocs (those new shoes all the nurses wear that you can get at Walmart for under $10). I will go out today and pick her up some more stuff just to have it done. She wants to goto Build a Bear for her birthday. I have to say that place is a gold mine! I think we will invite a few friends to meet us there but I really don’t want to break the bank.

I started doing our taxes yesterday and I’m shocked that we aren’t getting back as much as we have in the past. Of course I’m missing a few important documents like the mortgage papers and Erik’s student loan but as of right now we are only getting back $17! Good thing we decided to drive back to Iowa in May because flying isn’t even feasible now since we were banking on a good return. Texas doesn’t take taxes so we don’t get a state return anymore but I thought I was taking enough out in federal all along. Guess not! I suppose it has to do which tax bracket you are in and I’m pretty sure we were thrown into the next tax bracket this year. I’ve always said that moving to Texas was a smart financial move for our family and I still believe it was but it sure would have been nice to see a little more on the tax refund especially since I was planning on living on that during maternity leave. Guess my 12 weeks of leave will turn into 8. I wanted to take as much time off as possible so that my mother in law wouldn’t have to take all 4 kids in the summer when I am working. That’s going to be alot for anyone.

I’m home sick today. Guess it was my turn to get the “bug” that is going around. I actually switched days so I work Saturday so that I could stay home today. I left early yesterday because I was having such terrible stomach cramps all day at work. I thought it was just gas pains and it would pass but even today when I eat, I get stomach pains.

I’m 25 weeks along now and it’s getting to the point where I just want this baby out of me. I know it’s going to get bigger over the next 13 weeks but the aches and pains I have now are sometimes unbearable. And unless you’ve been pregnant you don’t understand. I have the head sitting on a ligament in my lower right abdomen that hurts everytime I move. I have the body taking up my entire right side and feet poking me in the belly button. I’m not sure how pregnancy can be so wonderful for some and so annoying for others like myself. I wish I enjoyed it more, especially this one since it’s my last. But I’m just not one of other people that love to be pregnant, even though you might disagree since I’ve been pregnant 4 times. Yes, it is/was my own fault.

We got a new manager at work. She’s actually a real go-getter and gets things done instead of puts it on a list to get to at a later date. She seems very family oriented too which means alot to me. I want to work for a boss that understands how hard it is sometimes to be a working mother. That’s the nice thing about working where I do because EVERYONE there has kids and everyone’s kids get sick from time to time so people are understanding. I sometimes have to walk through my old unit to bring blood to the lab and I just feel weird walking by there. I try to be friendly and stop and chat with old coworkers but I’m so much happier in my job where I am now.

The last week it’s been rainy and cold (30-40’s) but today they predict sunshine and high in the 60’s. Last week when the “arctic storm” passed through, our hospital was in a Code Grey situation (which is external disaster). This meant that if you lived far away and weren’t going to be able to get to work due to the icy roads then you were required to sleep at the hospital. Also, no one can be put on call because everyone has to be there. I guess during Hurricane Rita, they didn’t officially call a Code Grey and that actually protected some people from calling in and not showing up. Live and learn. Now everytime the wind shifts we over use this code status it seems.

On a brighter note, Jaelyn lost her 2nd tooth this week and my brother and sister in law find out what they are having today or tomorrow. I can’t wait to find out!