Out Like A Lamb

It seems I go into blog-hibernation in the winter and barely post between January and April. I guess I'm just not as inspired to take pictures of the festivities such as the Super Bowl, the State of the Union (especially in the state it is in), Valentines Day, President's Day, or even St Patrick's Day - although I did capture one cute picture of Gordon, and he is wearing the green - it is just very subtle in his plaid shirt, Mr. Cool: I'm just not as inspired to take many pictures, but then, something happens...SPRING. Flashes of color appear - like this bright fellow who caught my eye through our storm door...not a great picture, but I never seem to have the camera handy when our shy bluebirds visit so I'll take this one. The door itself has turned pretty colorful I must say, and the color has been needed because this spring is pretty late in coming!With the slightly warmer days we attempt to get outside more, even braving a cool picnic...complete with hot cocoa and marshmallows to fight off the chilly breeze.I start sticking the brightest colored pansies I can find around the house to encourage the rest of the plants to start blossoming soon.

This quince is the first, and what a splash of color it made this year, the blooms even surviving our late snow falls and frosts.From the first colorful blooms I can't help but grab my camera and try to capture that feeling of freshness and rebirth.And then this happened and spring officially arrived - the first soccer practice...ever...and on an evening that shorts could be worn (although after the sun went down it was pretty cold on that field, thankfully I took his coat.)Listening to the coach...who has never coached kids this young and used a lot of terms and directions that went completely over their heads, but made it hilarious for his wife and I and the other parents to watch the chaos that ensued.Waiting to practice kicking a goal.He looks so serious, but he wasn't really, he was laughing and just having fun playing with the kids.Practicing as goalie.

The first game is about 10 days away, they've only had this one "practice" due to bad weather the next week, so it should be very interesting!

I can't believe tomorrow is the last day of March. March. I can't believe it will be April, I'm very glad spring is here, but still...it is April already? I've spent the first three months of this year getting this house ready to go on the market. It is finally time, I meet with a realtor this week, and I hate that. I don't want to leave Greensboro...I think I've said that a few thousand times now, but I guess it is really going to happen. I'm finally done with the home projects, I even did some electrical work with replacing switches and the front porch light - and I am pretty proud of myself. My hands look pretty rough, having been abused by the grout, caulk, paint, and cleaners I've been using, but now all I'll have to do is keep the house ready to show. That's ALL I'll have to do...did I mention I have a 4 year old and a husband leaves a trail like the path of a tornado wherever he goes? Well, if it takes a while to sell the house, maybe I'll get to appreciate the full spring and summer, and maybe even fall again in our little home that I love...not that I hope it doesn't sell...well...its complicated.

This weekend has been quite difficult. Gordon got sick, stomach virus - in the night Friday night. Let me tell you I've never seen anything like it. It took 4 loads of laundry to get BOTH of the twin beds and all the stuffed animals and pajamas and towels clean. Then we had a reprieve on Saturday as he was completely better. Then Sunday I got "it" all of a sudden around dinner time. In the middle of storm after storm passing over with tornadoes hitting the area south of here and passing very close, I was trying to keep one ear listening for "the freight train" and one eye on the radar on TV, but had my head in a bucket most of the night until the wee hours when both the storms, and my stomach, finally subsided. I'm still feeling sick and unable to eat, but a little bit better each day I think. I'm thankful that Gordon's turn with it was so shortlived though, and especially grateful that a friend took him for the day today to her house to play with her two boys - giving me a much needed and appreciated break. Thank God for friends like that! So now that I'm recovering I'm sterilizing everything in this house that I can think of - my parents and sister arrive this weekend to celebrate Easter. I'd hate to send them home with anything more than some jelly beans and reeses peanut butter eggs!

I Found a Great Diet That Works Lightning Fast!

But I don't recommend it, not even to my worst enemy. I lost a LOT of weight in just 2 1/2 days, I'll spare you the details of how. I'm back at work today, although I think it is still too early as I'm very weak and shaky, but I had an audit appointment I just had to keep and I really need to get working since I've been out so much lately. I feel like the last 3 days have been stolen from me, but if nothing else, it made me just that much more grateful for the good health I normally have, and more determined than ever to try to live healthier. My tip for you in 2009? Wash your hands, a lot.

Here We Go Again - Aaaaaachhhooooo!

I went to the grocery store Saturday - the last thing you want to hear your cashier say after he touched every item you purchased, your cart handle, and even handed a balloon to your son (so presumably touched his hand) is "I feel so awful!" GEE THANKS! I quickly slathered on the antibacterial stuff but it was too late. Sure enough, within 12 hours the signs appeared - congestion, crankiness, a little cough. By this morning - when he came out of his room, he sounded awful. Let's see, since mid-November, he's had croup and a terrible ear infection with the highest fever he's ever had - both episodes required strong antibiotics - and it looks like we might be heading for another one. When he was a baby if he got a cold, within a few days his eyes would be goopy and he'd have an ear infection, it happened so many times it was one of the reasons I just couldn't keep working. I quit my job and he stayed healthy. Then I enrolled him in a Mothers Morning Out program - so he was getting to know those pesky little germs again - but it was manageable because I was home and didn't have tons of work piling up. And one of the doctors at the practice we go to prescribed a little miracle in a bottle - Brometane DX Syrup. It cleared up the congestion, stopped the cough in its tracks, allowed my little boy to sleep (and me too) and the best part of all - it cleared it up before the goop settled into his ears and we didn't need antibiotics. So I kept it on hand until there were no more refills allowed. In the meantime the genius study came out that young children should never be given cold medicines. So what to do? According to the pediatrician - let the cold run its course - even if every single time it results in an ear infection and resulting need for antibiotics. UGH, this makes no sense to me. So, even though those medical studies scare me a bit, I took my little patient to Walgreens and we bought some Children's Tylenol Cold medicine, I gave him a dose based on his weight - not his age - and after half of his lunch was down he was ready to go take a nap - so then all the scary "what ifs" started going through my head - was it too strong, is it too much, will he be ok? I tried to just leave his door ajar so I could peek in on him, but he insisted I shut the door. I'm sure he'll be fine - I just heard a little cough (reassuring!) but darn those studies - to a born worrier like me they are just fuel on the fire. Oh boy...guess this medicine did not cause drowsiness, now he's up and it has only been 45 minutes. It is going to be a LONG day, with very little work done. Guess this medicine doesn't have that nice "drowsy" side effect :(

Vacation Day 5 & home again

We went back to my parents on Tuesday to "recover" and get ready for an early Thanksgiving. My Mom put on Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday, my sister and Chip drove up for the day and we all enjoyed eating our fill of turkey and mom's delicious stuffing. It was a beautiful sunny and fairly warm day so we spent plenty of time outside soaking it up.

We even got a haircut in the garage - hope it doesn't grow back to fast, we won't see Grandma again until February (and I'll be in dire need by then, and Gordon probably will too!) Gordon and I flew back home early Thanksgiving morning, the flight was great, Gordon behaved and we didn't really complain about his ears popping much this time either. I cooked turkey and stuffing etc for the three of us that afternoon and we enjoyed a nice quiet day. Things changed on Friday when Gordon got sick. Really sick. I'd heard him yell out a time or two early in the morning when Shannon left (before dawn) and I'd just told him to go back to sleep, because he often does that if he doesn't want to get up yet - so he went back to sleep - but I felt like such an awful mom when later that morning he finally came out of his room and was covered in...well...lets just say the cranberry salad he'd loved at dinner made a reappearance...all over his hair, his face, his pjs, his pillow, and his blanket. Bright red cranberry. Dried and stuck on like glue. He was feverish too. I cleaned it all up and gave him Tylenol. We rested on the sofa most of the day watching Max and Ruby and when the Tylenol wore off his temp spiked to 104.2. We went to the Urgent Care. A bad ear infection. Poor baby, he never really complained about ear pain or acted like anything hurt at all. By Saturday he was mucho bettero - just in time for Aunt Amy and Buster to visit...on to the next post (and even more pictures)!

Sleep Study Tonight - ha ha ha!

I am supposed to hook this little gizmo up - wrap it around my waist and then attach a clip thing to my finger. This is going to tell them if I have sleep apnea or not...I guess they just don't believe me when I tell them the reason I get 4-5 hours of sleep a night is the loud roaring that comes from the other side of the bed. I have earplugs, but they only dull it a little bit (and I've searched out the kind that have the highest decibel rating at the store!) And I'm not too comfortable wearing the earplugs because then I'm afraid I wouldn't hear Gordon. Although, come to think of it - I've always heard him before Shannon, but still, someday I might not. Anywho - I am to wear this gizmo for the full nights sleep the lady says - "at least 7 hours". Um. If I slept 7 hours, I wouldn't need a sleep study. I'm in the middle of an "auditing crunch" - which means I'll be lucky to finish by midnight, and although I theoretically could sleep until 7 am...the chances of that happening are slim to none as Shannon will be getting up at 4 am...and there are no earplugs strong enough to block out that noise! And I can rarely fall back to sleep after that interruption. So what to do?? I guess I'll get "in trouble" with the doctor - they need the equipment back tomorrow I'm told. I was only half joking when I told my mom I was going to just slap that sucker on Shannon and see what happened - he usually gets 7 or 8 hours of sleep a night. He knows he snores, he's just in denial about how loud he is. You can hear him at the other end of the house. I know this because that is usually where I end up sleeping. Gordon has heard him too - our bedroom and his share a wall. One night he woke me up yelling from his room at 2:30 am. When I got in there to see what was wrong, he kept telling me to "fix the wall mommy!" I can't prove it, but I think he was talking about the rumbling coming from the other side of it. Poor kid. Shannon did tell me I could try that snore-enz...it is a spray that the snoree is supposed to spray on the face of the snorer whenever they start sawing logs. I laughed and said the only way I thought that would work is if I sprayed it all at once and he drowned!

So I guess my sleep study is going to tell me that I don't get enough sleep...that will be eye opening (he he...get it? go ahead, say "aaugh"!)

ok...back to my auditing now...

Finally Some Fresh Air

As you know, Gordon has been sick since Tuesday night, and finally yesterday he was climbing the walls (and me...literally) so we went for a walk in the yard. I remember as a kid when I was sick, as soon as I started feeling better, I would start talking, a lot, and it was like all my energy returned first to my mouth and I couldn't stop chattering - it probably drove my parents nuts. Now I know how that feels. I am so glad Gordon is feeling so much better, but he's talking my ear off - so the short time outside did us both some good. Here he is after he's jumped into a pile of leaves, he was so happy, I happened to catch the nanosecond that he wasn't smiling, laughing, or talking.
you can see the "motion" in this one


Gordon, talking, about the leaves, the trees, the birds, the squirrels, the nuts, the gumballs, the sky, the birdfeeders, the balls, the house...you get the idea

Still talking...this time on the stump...


and he's still talking "where's the path" "look a gumball" "where are the nuts" "hi puppy!" "look at all the colors" "I love outside" "where's the moon? behind the trees?"

"Look -- flag", "Virginiaaah Techhhh", "Coach Beamer!" "Go hokies!" "lets check the front yard"

"Mom? Mommy? Mommmmm?" "no pictures" "oh look...

...the moon!!" "its a half moon" "the owls have to wake up!" "look at the moon mommy, its early!" "is it dark?" "nooooo...its not dark yet"

So there, you've now experienced a walk with chatty Gordon. I don't get many words in edgewise! And this was only the back yard, I put the camera down for the front yard...I'm exhausted but also so happy he's feeling better. By Monday, he's going to school - birthday or not. I've got audit appointments and have an appointment for a medical test in the morning at the hospital too - fun. We've cancelled all birthday party plans since croup is contagious for 5 to 6 days and I do not want to give this gift to any of my friends' kids! We'll just have a cake and balloons and the three of us will celebrate our little boy's birthday together.

We did buy a new camera, ours is truly on its last leg - it won't zoom anymore and is cracked too, so we did some research and decided on a Panasonic FZ28, now we need a crash course in how to use it, more options than I knew were possible, I'm getting too old to learn such things!

Halloween - Part II

Halloween seems ages ago already - but here are the last of the pictures from our several day celebration - Gordon, ready to go to the Boo Bash at the Natural Science Center - "resting" on the car (his idea):
Caleb and Gordon playing in the frog pond - how appropriate

The scary tigers - thankfully we've never seen the "spraying" going on in the "spray area" that the sign warns about...the tigers sure were active - walking the fence line and rolling in the grass playing.

Caryn cheering on the boys at a bean bag toss game:


Even little dinosaur Gabriel got into the cheering
On Friday night it was off to a church festival - only one picture, just of Gordon's first pony ride. He was so excited he turned to me and said "LOOK Mommy - I'm riding a pony!!"
And now, my poor baby has croup. We went to the doctor yesterday afternoon - it was getting worse by the hour. They gave him 3 shots at one time in his thighs - 3 nurses injected him at the same time while I had to hold him down with his arms at his head. I explained the shot would only be a little pinch - I didn't know there were going to be 3, I almost cried for him when the 3 nurses walked in with the syringes! But he only flinched - and never even cried or struggled - he sat up and looked at me and was more concerned about the 3 band aids that had been instantly slapped over the injection sites. Then I made a big deal of clapping and telling him what a great job he did getting his shots and that made him so proud he was telling everyone (and even mentioned it this morning) about what a good job he did with his shots. The doctor and nurses were so impressed and kept telling me how smart he was, that he talks and says things that are so much older than a boy about to turn 3. I was so proud of him! He even thanked the doctor "Thank you Dr. Cooper" after he examined him - the doctor was just taken aback and laughed. I can't brag enough about this boy! After we got home I made one phone call, turned around, and this is how I found him:

This morning he's very cranky, congested, and still not feeling well, I hate seeing him so sick, but at least he's not as bad as he was yesterday! And in the meanwhile, my work piles up...