This Past Week

Last Friday I attended the gala I had mentioned before. It was nice and (happily) went by more quickly than usual. It seems like they gave fewer awards. Tiki Barber was the guest speaker. And, Lindsay Czarniak was the MC. I like her, so that was cool. I got home around 11:00ish.

Saturday, Agnes & Trampas arrived around noon. We just hung out all afternoon....tending to sick kids. Dee & Kristin came over around 5:00ish to babysit for us while we went to dinner at The Tides. Mmmmm. It's expensive, but good. And, since we rarely go to out to eat, we deserve it. :-) Ag & Tramp left on Sunday morning around 10:00 since it's about a 7 hour drive and he had to get up for work at 3:30 a.m. Monday morning.

It's good that they left that early since Leah was so sick. As soon as they were gone, I packed up the diaper bag and took her to the After Hours place. They diagnosed her with bronchiolitis and said she might even have pneumonia, but without a chest x-ray (which couldn't be done on Sunday), they didn't know. So, they put her on 4 meds. Yes. 4. Cefdinir (antibiotic), Albuterol, Prednisolone and over the counter Claritin. She slept horribly that night.

Since they suggested she see her regular ped on Monday, we went to see Dr. Jill. Thankfully, Dr. Jill took her off Prednisolone and Claritin. She said that they had either overreacted or that Leah had improved quickly. Then, I read more about Albuterol and was amazed at the side effects. I'd read them all the day before, but since they'd said "possibly pneumonia", I wasn't messing with it. After Jill's more relaxed view, I decided to take her off the Albuterol (it was for "as needed" anyway). Good decision. She (and I) slept SO MUCH BETTER Monday night.

Lacey has been fighting a cold for a couple of weeks now. I kept her & Leah home Monday & Tuesday. At daycare, they go outside at around noon to get one girl on the preK bus. I wasn't crazy about 2 little ones with lung and cold issues being outside since we were having a cold snap.

On Tuesday, Lacey started with a low-grade fever. But, she wasn't letting me check her temp in her left ear (ear infection?), so I took her to the After Hours place that night. During the rain/ice. Blah. Ears were clear. "Just a cold". But, we at least got an Rx for a nice decongestant/cough med that allowed her to sleep much better.

Since Lacey was still dealing with a fever, we kept her home again on Wed. Butch stayed home that day and I went to the office. Leah went to daycare.

This morning, I was really thinking everyone would be back in daycare. But, it wasn't meant to be. Lacey had eye discharge. Pink-eye. Back to the pediatrician at 10:00 where he confirmed pink-eye and wrote an Rx for an antibiotic. Hooray! Kill those germs! He said he thinks she's had a sinus infection, which lead to the pink-eye. She's been given the okay to go back to Miss Lisa's tomorrow.

Whew. What a week.

Butch has today off due to "snow". This is a joke since it was barely an inch. He went into the office this a.m. to do a few things, but has been home this afternoon so I can work more easily. He's running the veggies and dip to Miss Lisa's for their afternoon Valentine's Party that Lacey can't even be at. And, I've promised her that we'll make cupcakes.

Tonya will be in town for work on Friday and was planning to stay the night with us. But, now her parents are coming for a somewhat unexpected visit and she is trying to get home Friday night.

Butch was supposed to go to DE to play in a volleyball tourny, but (thankfully) volunteered to stay home since we've had such a rough week and the kids aren't really better yet.

I don't think we'll be doing much of anything this weekend other than catching our breath.

Nursing in Public

Okay, when I have nursed Leah in public (even at the Charles County Fair....), I always have used a blanket. And, there is no way I could do it now because she is way too interested in everything around her.

But, this comic is great!

February is here!

What the heck happened to January? It really flew by for me.

We got a new computer armoire and set it up in our sunroom. It's much nicer to have the computer in our living area rather than in a guest bedroom upstairs. It makes it nicer for me with working from home, too. I use the laptop, but it's nice to have a "workspace" downstairs where I usually work.

I took Friday off to try to get some things checked off my to-do list. I didn't get nearly as much done as I wanted to, but that's okay. I knew I had too much on the list. I did get some things (summer baby and summer maternity) taken to the Just for Kids consignment shop down the street. Rather than getting a portion of whatever they sell, they just buy your stuff upfront. So, they have the big bin and will call me once they've gone through it all and I'll pick up a check plus anything they "couldn't take".

Then, I went to the mall to look for something to wear to the gala that I have to go to Feb. 8. I found a glittery red top that I can wear with a black skirt that was borrowed from my boss. No way am I spending $100+ on something that (a) I won't wear again (most likely) and (b) is a size bigger than where I would like to be. So, I'm glad I was able to get something to work without spending a ton.

I went to Target, too. Lately, I can't get out without spending $175 or so. This is mainly b/c I stock up on diapers when I go. Anyway, it was raining so hard that I heard it in the store .... on the roof. Ugh. I had no umbrella. I bought a new one.

Lacey is doing pretty well. She has a cold, but is starting to recover from that. She's doing well sleeping in her big girl bed. We still have the crib up just because I don't want to deal with taking it down yet. :-) I'm hoping we can sell it on craig's list for $100 or so. She has been doing really well with using the potty at Miss Lisa's, but won't use it at home at all. I have no clue why that is. She'll be going in for her well visit in a few weeks, so I'll see what Dr. Jill thinks. I have lots of friends that haven't had their kids trained until 3+, so I'm not "worried", but I would love to be done with buying diapers for her.

We aren't doing much this weekend. The weather is warm (50's), but it poured yesterday, so it's really muddy out. Blah. We need to do some straightening up and cleaning and organizing the guest room since Agnes & Trampas will be here next weekend. Hopefully we will make it to church tomorrow morning, too.

Can't remember if I mentioned it before, but I am going to NY on Tuesday for a client meeting. I'll be leaving the house at 6:15 a.m. and not getting home until 7:00 p.m. or later. Not normally a bad thing, but with Leah still nursing and me having to pump during that time, it's a pain to travel even for a day. Oh well. My flight gets in early enough that I should be able to pump at the airport before going to the meeting. And my contacts for this client are both women, so if I need to use an office to pump there, it won't be too weird.

Then, on Friday I have the client gala I mentioned earlier. It's at 6:30 (I think) downtown. I'm going to work remote that day and pick Leah up earlier than normal so that I can at least nurse her before going downtown. I won't be home until 11:00 or so, so Butch is on his own that evening. I'll be ducking out of the gala about 5 min. before it's done so I can be one of the first to get my car from the valet....otherwise, I'll be waiting forever and getting home that much later. It's a nice event, but they give way too many awards and speeches, so by the end it's boring.

Lacey's calling me......

Leah - 7 months old!

Yes, I'm going to do this every month until she is a year! :-)

7 Months Old

6 Months Old

I can't believe she is 7 months old. She's so much fun. There are a few songs that she loves. When we sing them, she kicks like crazy (or jumps if she's in a standing position). One of them is Itsy Bitsy Spider. She hasn't figured out how to get on her hands & knees, yet. But, she scoots while on her butt like crazy. If you put her down, she'll be several feet away within a few minutes.