January is Not Our Month

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Our family calendar:

Phew. I am so happy to see February. It seems that January 2011 has turned into our “sick month”. We started out with the stomach flu two weeks ago.

Then last week, Baylie suffered a buckle fracture in her ankle. No, I was not drinking wine and ignoring the child. She was actually at the Little Gym and is trying very hard to learn to jump. She launched herself off of a 10 inch high piece of equipment and sort of decided mid jump to make it a big step instead of a jump and landed awkwardly on her left foot. I knew instantly something was wrong – she had the “I just got 4 vaccinations” cry and then she wouldn’t walk. This kid was crawling at 6 months, she lives to move especially when she’s with her buddies so for her to insist on sitting in my lap for the remainder of class was a huge red flag. Only our kid gets hurt in a literally padded room. Thankfully the doctor insists that it will be totally fine, it’s not going to affect her softball career later in life nor is it a sign on any problem with her bones. He said it’s actually pretty common and minor enough that they don’t cast it. She’s getting around fine by crawling or scooting and has been walking more and more. I caught her trying to climb into her crib yesterday to get a pacifier so I’m thinking she’s milking it a little for the extra carry time by mom and all the pacifiers she can stand.

Thinking we’ve had our fill of doctors and hospitals for the year, I was resistant to the idea that Bay was a little congested yesterday morning. I tried to blame her phlegmy cough on her yogurt but no luck. By the time she woke up from her nap she was wheezing like an asthmatic and again, only wanted to be snuggled. It’s never a good sign when she wants to sit still. 3 hours of Vick’s Plug In Vapors, the frog shaped humidifier cranked up to high and watching Baby Einstein snuggled together in her room, she climbed out of our chair and wanted to play with her kitchen set – whenever she wants to try to feed Bear T. Dog a fake hot dog, things are looking up.

I’m very much not looking forward to yet another trip to the doctor today. Mostly because I don’t want to sit on the sick kid side of the waiting room. The only other time we’ve been to the doctor for being sick (yes, we’re extremely lucky that B is almost two years old and this is the first time she’s been sick) I thought she had an ear infection so we sat on the “well” side because I didn’t want her to catch anything. I don’t think the other moms and nannys are going to take kindly to my wheezing, juicy coughing kiddo on the well side so I’m going to have to bite the bullet, sanitize our chairs and hold my breath like the big girl that I am.

Is it February yet?

What My Christmas Gifts Say About Me

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So this is belated, but it’s still funny so here  goes.

My sister gave me the following two gifts:

My first thought was “amazing gifts that will get used daily”. Then I started to think  about what her gifts say about me:

1. I have great sister who really knows me.

2. I got two gifts that will definitely get use.

3. I may have a bit of a caffeine addiction.

4. Perhaps I talk a little too much about my love of wine.

5. My sister is a smart ass.

Resolution Backfire

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Per my New Year’s Resolution to do more gardening so that I can show B where food really comes from, we did a big gardening day a few weekends ago. Peter completed the “salad table”, I planted the rose bushes I got for Christmas, Freesia bulbs and Amaryllis bulbs, carrot and onion seeds, and lastly prepped the raised bed to plant tomatoes next month. I also fertilized everything within an inch of their little plant lives.

All the while Baylie was hard at work digging, putting rocks in a bucket, and moving her toys from her play house to the raised bed garden and then back using her wagon. Engrossed in digging holes, I didn’t realize Bay had traveled through the open bedroom door to retrieve my favorite Tory Burch flats left on the floor. She proceeded to fill them with dirt and rocks and then present them to me with a look of satisfaction that only a mother could appreciate. She was so proud of herself, I had to laugh! Thankfully, they were easily emptied and no damage.

I’m now showing her how to fill pots rather than shoes.

Resolution Work

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We had a big gardening day this past weekend (last last weekend). Peter completed the amazing lettuce table and while slightly bigger than we both thought it would be, it. is. awesome:

Stay tuned for more pictures of it filled with beautiful heads of lettuce and strawberries. Note the super cool pot shelf underneath. We were at the nursery and saw a similar table with a shelf – so he came home and just added it. I love having a handy hubby.

I worked on planting my two new rose bushes, a ton of bulbs and some seeds for veggies. I prepped beds for planting tomatoes next month and did a lot of fertilizing and cleaning up. I love getting my hands in the dirt. The smell is so earthy, it just feels good to get your hands dirty and stand back and see your accomplishments. Here are some of the highlights:

Roses on either side, Freesia bulbs in the middle and carrot seeds in a row along the front. Not sure if the carrots are going to grow, stay tuned.

Pots and pots of  bulbs, seeds and herbs:

More to come as all my pretties start to grow!

Stomach Flu 3 : Wands 0

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Warning: don’t read this over lunch 🙂

What the hell is this? Let me explain…

Baylor had the pleasure of contracting the stomach flu last week and then spreading it like wildfire to Peter and I and also various family members. Now a week later, a gallon of bleach and a washer that is tired of running 24 hours a day, I think it’s safe to say we’re done.

It started last Monday night. B woke up around midnight and after a quick rock, she was back out. I chalked it up to a bad dream. Two hours later, she was back awake and it was then I realized she was awake because she had tossed her cookies all over her crib. I felt like a horrible mom for not realizing the first time she was awake, but I don’t turn on the light when I go in and check on her and she didn’t feel wet…anyway, put a check  in the “bad mom” column.  Peter and I spent the rest of the night rotating on the couch with her and a bucket.

But by 7am, she was pale, but in good spirits. A day of the BRAT diet and it was like nothing happened so I assumed she had eaten something that didn’t agree with her or maybe a leaf from the backyard or something. So we had our play date with her cousin on Wednesday. And then I ended up in the ER that evening from the same virus. I broke my record of only having been in the hospital for my birth and then Baylie’s. Thankfully two bags of fluids, some pain meds and something to stop the vomiting and I was like new – or at least able to walk without being hunched over a bucket. I kind of remember Peter saying to the triage nurse “Listen, you couldn’t pay this woman to walk barefoot across a hospital floor let alone curl up in a ball and clutch your trash can on it”. It was ugly – but if I had to choose, I would so rather I have gotten the worse version than B. We’re very blessed that we have lots of family and all close and willing to help out so Bay went to Grandma’s house the next day and my sister came over in the afternoon after work to check in on me.

While this was great for me, it turns out it was awful for our family. We single-handedly spread the nasty bug to my sister, my sister-in-law, her infant daughter and my mother in law. When Peter came down with it this weekend, we decided it was time to quarantine ourselves and break out the bleach. The picture above is every toy that Bay has touch in the last week that would survive a bleach bath. This is them drying after soaking. Anything that could go in the dish washer, clothes washer or sink of bleach did so. The few remaining, battery operated toys got a through cleaning with antiseptic and hot water. Baylie loves to clean so being given her own pack of alcohol wipes and free rein to wipe anything and everything was like heaven. By Saturday afternoon, our home no longer smelled like a frat house after a date dash but rather a school cafeteria after it had been swabbed with bleach post lunch.

I may have burned out my sense of smell, but our house is clean, we’re all well and I won’t get any more calls from family letting me know that they too have contracted the virus from us.

That said, I wrote several blogs last weekend that didn’t get posted. So if you’re reading one about gardening that refers to “last weekend” just know it was last last weekend. And wash your hands and stay away from anyone who even KNOWS someone who has the flu!

What We Wish For

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The color of one of my  new rose bushes is called “Peace”. It’s soft white with a light pink edge – just stunning. Pictures to come.

When I made up the marker, I couldn’t help by make a peace sign on the rock. We all need a little more peace in our day, lives and world. What better way to channel that peace than with a beautiful, fragrant rose. And a simple little marker to remind us to sow the peace we want to see in the world.

One of my favorite prayers is the prayer of St. Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Picture Perfect

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I got this picture frame for Christmas and I love it. It’s a chalkboard frame and it matches the chalkboard wall in our kitchen so it’s a huge hit with all of us. I finally decided which picture to put in it and what to write on it:

Mom Bloggin’

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Do you enjoy reading The Goon Room? Does it make you laugh, smile and help pass the boring hours at work? Can you relate, disagree or have you made one of the recipes I’ve posted? Then please rate The Goon Room on The Mom Blogs! Note the new link in the blog roll on the right —->

Link to new page on The Mom Blogs:

http://themomblogs.com/blogs/detail.php?link_id=11847

As always, thank you for reading. I enjoy writing and especially love writing The Goon Room and it’s huge that you all take the time to read and comment. I’ll remember you in the acknowledgments of my first book.

Dare to Dream?

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I had the most vivid and crazy dreams the other night. None of it made any sense, but at least they weren’t nightmares.

The bad part about them is they felt like work – I was dreaming about writing the blog and some funny idea that I had dreamt about. Yes dreamt about…in my dream I was dreaming. And the really weird part is that the in dream I was dreaming about, I was making a salad and how it was this brilliant recipe and the blog was going to be about how it came to me in a dream.

The interesting thing is that this blog was, in fact, a result of my dream. However, obviously the content is slightly different.

If only the work I do in my dreams was more productive….if I could sleep type or sleep mop, then I’d be on to something.

A Watched Phone Never Boils

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Er, rings.

Nap time in our house means Baylor sleeps for approximately 2 hours and mommy scrambles to get as much done in those 2 hours as possible. I can be quite productive – “to do” items are prioritized not only by need, but also if it can be accomplished with the help of my “assistant”. Dishes these days are a toss up. She’s actually pretty good at handing me the silverware and then is totally entertained pushing the buttons – she actually locked out the controls the other day and I had to break out the manual to undo it. Laundry is fine as long as she gets to push and pull the baskets, put the wash into the dryer, push all the buttons and I can fold it on the bed so she can’t pull down the freshly folded shirts. Most household cleaning is doable. She really likes to swiffer, take turns holding the vacuum and makes “ppssshhht ppssshhhtt” sounds while holding the spray bottles of cleaner (because she can’t actually squirt it, she just makes the sound).  But anything to do with the office is a no go – she lllooooovvveeess to type on the computer, whether or not I’m sitting at the computer makes no difference. She climbs into the chair and either wrestles me for the keyboard and mouse or stands behind me and tries to get the headband, hair tie or ear piece away from my head. Not only is it unproductive, it’s also potentially painful.

That said, all calls that I need to make, bills to be paid, blogs to be written and read, emails to be sent, etc. take place between in the hours of noon and 2pm. Most significant are the calls because I’m self conscious about a screaming kid in the back ground, especially when it’s a semi professional call. I try to make all calls of this nature around noon and then pray that the return call will happen before 2pm. Which, it almost never does. As soon as I hear the tell-tale sounds of a baby starting to wake up, I know that phone is going to ring. I try to ignore the sounds. If it hasn’t been two hours yet, I go in and silently rock her back to sleep, begging for just 45 more minutes.

No sooner do I close the door and sigh with relief… the whimpers develop into wails and I close out what I’m working on. Only then does the phone in fact, ring.