Grandma's OK

Late Wednesday night my dad called to let me know that Grandma was in the hospital. She was slurring her words and was having difficulty swallowing. Two years ago she had a mild stroke, and it looked like she had just had another one.

My mom watched Everett and I went to visit her on Thursday morning and boy, was she angry she had to sit in the hospital. She kept pulling out her IV because it "wasn't doin' nothin'" and was upset that the doctors wanted to run more tests on her because she insisted that she was not sick and that there was nothing wrong with her (besides having a stroke...). She said if she knew which direction to go, she'd walk out of there. Aah, Grandma, it's good to see you haven't lost your spunk. I bribed her to stay calm with a visit from Everett when she got home.

Thursday night my Dad called to let me know Grandma was going home. Her speech had improved dramatically and she could swallow again. Saturday morning Everett and I will go for a long visit as promised. I'm glad we get to keep her around for a little longer.

Happy 1/2 Birthday

So my baby is officially 6 months old today. It’s weird, I can clearly remember my life before him, but it seems like he’s been here all along.

You crack me up. You melt my heart. I could take his picture 100 times a day (and sometimes I do). I'm just trying to remember everything. Ev is definitely supposed to be here with us. Everett, I never want to be without you, even on the days you don’t let me sleep.

Happy

When is the last time a bowl of fruit made you happy? Since Everett was sick last week, I got to spend some extra time at home - pure heaven! I got to hold my baby longer, get some extra cuddles in and get some cleaning and organizing done. It's been raining for days so I've had an extra excuse to bundle up in a comfy sweatshirt and enjoy being a mom.

While Everett was napping and I was cleaning the kitchen, the storm broke and my kitchen was filled with sunlight. It landed on a stack of tangerines from Aaron's grandparents, and they just looked beautiful. I'm weird, I know, but I'm still very focused on finding joy and happiness in the little things. A sweet baby, a much needed rain storm, a rainbow out my door and a beautiful bowl of fruit was enough to keep me smiling for days.

No Touching!

Everett's had quite a few milestones in the last couple of weeks, but this one I could do without. Two days ago he got his first cold along with a swollen goopy eye. Lovely. I've been sleeping on the couch while Everett sits upright in his swing so he could breathe while he sleeps. He's up every 1-2 hours and has the saddest little cough. I called his doctor to get some meds for his eye and got schooled on bodily goo terminology.

"So what's wrong?"
- He has a cold and a goopy eye.
"A droopy eye?"
- No, goopy.
"What do you mean?"
- Uhhh, like eye boogers only a lot thicker
"Oh, you mean discharge."
- Whatever. Goop.

To add to our petri dish of diseases, Aaron came home with a nasty cold sore. So I'm not kissing Aaron, Aaron's not touching Everett and Everett doesn't understand what "don't slobber on me" means. If I don't make it to church Sunday, you'll know I've probably got a cold, my eyes glued shut with "discharge" and a big nasty cold sore on my mouth. If I do make it to church, it's probably best not to touch me unless you want the plague.

Parental Tip of the Week

This study has been in the works for the last 5 1/2 months. I am excited to share with you the final conclusion of my last few months' hard work:

The longer you are in the shower, the less your kid cries.

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Yep, you read correctly. I've been testing and studying, trying to find different ways to keep Everett from crying and I found that every time I'm in the shower, he stops crying-I can't hear a thing! As soon as I turn the shower off, I can hear him screaming at the top of his lungs.

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I certainly don't want to upset him, think I'll go stand in the shower for a little longer...

1,171

It is finished.

Not only did my mom pay me to decorate the 2 Christmas trees, she paid me to take down ALL of the decorations in the whole house. Not an easy job on it's own, but ad a baby into the mix and it becomes a real challenge. I plugged along a few hours a day and almost a month later, the project was complete. Remember this tree?

My Aunt wondered how many ornaments were on the tree and challenged me to count as I took them off. The final tally was 1,171. Would you believe there was still another full bin of ornaments that didn't go on? Holy cow mom, you can stop buying ornaments now.

So Grown Up

So my little one is getting bigger everyday. He's reached some milestones in the last couple of weeks that make me feel like he's growing up too fast.

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Two weeks ago we started him back on food. When we tried rice cereal, it stopped him up completely so I quit for a little bit. His rear end wasn't functioning normally even after he hadn't had rice cereal in 2 weeks. Thanks to a few doses of apple juice, that problem is solved and now I've got rice cereal, apple sauce and sweet potatoes constantly smeared on my shirt. On Tuesday, January 20th he finally figured out how to roll over. He had been rocking side to side ever since he found his feet and decided they were oh-so-tasty. Pretty soon he'll be all over the room like a tumble weed. This weekend Aaron said, "so when does he sleep in his own room?". My answer? NEVER!! (Just kidding) With a little pouty frown I agreed that it is time for him to start sleeping in his crib. I didn't mind having him right next to me in his co-sleeper. I figured he'd have his whole life to sleep in his own room so I didn't mind having him so close. Over all he's doing pretty well, I think I'm having a harder time adjusting than him. I still haven't moved his co-sleeper yet. Maybe this weekend...

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So little one, what will you learn and discover in the next few weeks? Only time will tell. Just take it slow, your mom needs more time enjoy you while you're little.

A Good Place To Start

My Aunt Cathy rocks! (hi Cathy!)

In response to the post below, she sent me the information to this fabulous site:

http://www.flylady.com/

This is exactly what I needed. A place to start. It shows you how to take baby steps on how to clean, declutter and get back on track in 5 minute blocks, which is all I get sometimes.

There is hope.

Falling Behind

Need some serious help here. Moms, please let me know what I’m doing wrong…

My sister-in-law has 3 boys. She watches at least 3 other kids (sometimes more) five days a week, does all the school and pre-school runs, football and baseball practice, grocery shopping, laundry, goes to all the family and friend get-togethers and still manages to have her house for the most part, clean and put together. Last month I asked her how she gets anything done. She told me I would eventually get into my own groove and find a way to get everything done.

Everett is 5 months old now, and I’ve still got no groove.

I still feel like the gawky white girl with no rhythm desperately trying to “look natural” on the dance floor, but failing miserably.

I watch other mothers who have perfect hair, makeup and nails, get to the gym everyday, have beautifully landscaped yards and no dishes in the sink. I can’t help but wonder where the heck they get the time to put their lives together like that?

I’ve come up with two possible conclusions:

1. Their husbands must have no life and watch the kids for hours on end
2. They ignore their children….a lot.

I’m feeling like a complete failure in almost every department of my life. I simply just can’t find the time to get everything done and I’m feeling insanely overwhelmed.

I’ve got to be up with the baby all night, iron Aaron’s clothes and get him out the door for work, get Everett fed, dressed and diaper bag ready, get myself showered and fed, get out the door to work, try to be productive having a baby at work with me, get home and feed the baby, pay attention to our neglected dog, feel guilty about avoiding that lady from church that wants to give me another calling, make dinner, do the dishes, work on the laundry and somehow figure out how the vacuuming, bathroom cleaning and dusting will get done all while the baby is whining to be picked up. My poor husband is begging for attention and wondering why our yard is overgrown and nicely ignores the fact that I haven’t put on makeup or done my hair all week, and if I could squeeze in a bit of exercise, that would be cool too. And did I mention my hair is falling out? Nice.

I’ve got a lot on my plate but I’m no different from any other mother. Sure, Aaron works insane hours so I’m on my own a lot of the time, but that is no excuse – is it?

The truth is, I look like garbage every day – I am the ugly unkempt lady at the grocery store. I’m tired every day. My house is filthy. My once beautiful yard looks like a jungle. Aaron has got to be so disappointed with me even though he would never express it vocally. Every single day I feel like I’m falling farther behind and will never catch up.

What I’m wondering is, is everyone just as screwed up as me and faking being put together or am I just not very good at homemaking and terrible at time management? Please be blunt, don't sugar coat anything-it's not helpful. I gotta know.

Everett Scissorhands

Since the day he was born, you couldn't stop Everett from scratching his face up. I would put scratch mittens on his hands and 2 minutes later they would be off, so I gave up. I've got several photos just like this one. It seems no matter how often I trim his nails, he manages to gouge out and carve up his face. Luckily they heal quickly, but until he outgrows this phase I'll just have to look like a bad mom.