Leah’s Hospital Stay

I think most of you already know these details since you are either on Facebook or talk to me often. But, in case there is anyone still reading this blog that doesn’t see updates elsewhere….

On Thursday, July 2nd, Leah woke up early (before 6:00). She normally sleeps in quite a bit later, so this was weird. I came downstairs with her and laid on the couch while she played a bit. She started fussing when Brady got too close to her & I thought Brady had just stepped on her foot or something. Butch was up by then & noticed it was red. After a closer look in better light, we realized her toe was red & a bit swollen, plus there was some streaking up her foot. At the time, I just knew that I’d heard streaking meant infection & was not good. So, I called the pediatrician as soon as the office opened & we had an appt. at 8:45. I was hoping we’d get antibiotics & be on our way. While Leah & I were out, Butch and Lacey took Brady to Rick & Kristina’s house.

You can see the streaking up to her ankle in this picture. (You can also see a strap mark from her sandles.)

Dr. Jill looked very concerned. It was an infected ingrown toenail. But, with the streaking, Leah’s issue was borderline needing IV antibiotics. So, she had the other doctor on duty come look. The fact that it had all happened so quickly (she had been running around at gymnastics the night before with no problems and we didn’t notice any redness), they decided she probably needed an IV. At least I was able to go home first & get Butch.

I called him when we left the doctor’s office. Thankfully, Kristina was able to keep Lacey for us. Butch met Leah & I at home and we headed to Children’s Hospital ER. Within about 90 minutes, we were in a “room” in the ER. They decided that she did need to be admitted and have an IV.

The first attempt at the IV wasn’t good. Leah cried (screamed) the whole time. Eventually, that nurse said the vain had collapsed and they’d need to do it again on the other arm. She screamed again while I walked to the other side of her bed (because she couldn’t see me). Another nurse came in for the next IV attempt & it was much better. Leah’s face looked like she might cry when the needle stuck at first. I just said “mommy’s here” and she calmed down. I’m sure it wasn’t hurting as bad either.

They decided not to remove part of the toenail. One doctor wanted to because she was afraid it would just happen again. But, the specialist thought that sedating her would be too traumatic & this might not ever happen to her again. So, they soaked her foot for 15 minutes, then lanced it. Ouch. Leah was not happy. Lots of stuff came out. (The only complaint I have about the hospital is that they failed to have that stuff cultured. So, we don’t really know what kind of infection it was.)

Next up was hooking up the antibiotics to Leah’s IV. She napped the entire time.

Eventually, we headed upstairs. Leah walked most of the way and was happy to be free, I think.

Here she is showing her "boo-boo". That pitiful look on her face.....playing it up....nothing more. She was fine before I said "show me your boo boo".

Butch stayed for awhile – long enough for me to go get dinner in the cafeteria. Then, he headed home to get Lacey so she could sleep at home.

I wasn’t sure how Leah was going to sleep in that place. She was due for antibiotics again around 11:00, so I thought I’d let her sleep with me on the pull out chair until then, at least. That went okay. But, after the antibiotics, they gave her the eye drops. (I think I failed to mention that she coincidentally had pink-eye, too.) She totally woke up after the eye drops, so I just let her stay with me. I think that worked best since the nurses were in every 2 hours or so to check vitals. She didn’t really wake up for any of that. I think she slept until 7:00ish that morning. The first thing I did was look at her foot --- streaking was gone!

Taking a little nap....

The doctor came in mid-morning and said she could go home that day, but that he wanted her to have one more dose of antibiotics (at 1:00) first. Butch & Lacey arrived around 1:30 or so. I think Lacey looked like she might cry at first – seeing Leah with an IV, but when she realized Leah wasn’t sad, she was fine.

Butch had packed the car up & we headed to Pittsburgh straight from the hospital.

We had to get the antibiotic prescription filled when we arrived. But, the first pharmacy we went to didn’t have it. It’s a strong one and not everyone carries it. So, we went to Chuck & Nancy’s and Butch called around….too numerous places….before finding one that had it. Whew.

Swing Set

About a year ago, we started shopping for a swing set. We looked into the ones that you buy at Toys R Us, but while they were cheaper, the reviews showed that it took a long time to put together. I really wanted one from the Amish since the quality is so good & they put it together for you. But the cost was a bit insane.

Rick & Kristina offered for us to take theirs. Rick designed it himself & build it for Jessica & Justin…probably about 15 years ago. But, it was in good shape. We’ve been talking about it for months. Last weekend, Rick power washed it, then with the help of Dad & Kristina, took it apart. Apparently it was a long process. Saturday morning, Buck, Rick and Dad brought it over and started putting it up.

Lacey & I went to Lowe’s that afternoon to buy new swings for it. We still need to get a new tarp for a roof over the play house area.

The girls love it!

Girls Weekend - AST

When I went to college, I spent 2 years at our community college – then known as Charles County Community College….or Chuck County U. It’s come a long way since then and is now the College of Southern Maryland. Anyway, I spent 2 years there, then transferred to Salisbury State University (now just Salisbury University).

On that first day at SSU, I ran into some friends from high school and got invited to a party. So, my roommate (Debi) and I went. It was a Pi Lamda Phi party. I had no intention of going Greek when I was preparing to leave for SSU --- it isn’t a big Greek campus. But, I met several girls at that party that convinced me that I should Rush & try to get invited to pledge Alpha Sigma Tau.

During Rush week, I met many people that became very good friends. Jen, Shannon & I were all invited to pledge AST. Shannon lived on campus in a different building. Jen lived off campus in a townhouse community (Cynthia Place). We pledged – along with about 15 other girls. It was the biggest pledge class ever, if my memory is right. In fact, the following semester, we couldn’t participate in Rush because the size of our sorority had reached the maximum allowed.

We spent lots of time being afraid of the sisters….waiting for them to come grab us in the middle of the night (I can’t give specifics unless I kill you after)….having to remember all of their names and greet them with “Good Afternoon Sister (Name)” whenever we saw them. With twins (Cathy & Carolyn) in the sorority, this made things pretty difficult!

After 1 semester on campus, Shannon & I moved in with Jen at Cynthia Place. It was awesome! J-D, Mike (a.k.a. Lude), and Ray lived next door. (They were from Pi Lam.) At some point some other AST sisters moved into some of the other houses and most of the community was filled with college students. We had several “Around the World” parties where each townhouse had a shot or shooter & the last one hosted the party with a keg. Good times, I tell you!

At some point….Jen had bought a cat while we were on break and we weren’t supposed to have pets. The land lord found out & we either had to get rid of the cat or move. Shannon & I couldn’t bear to get rid of our beloved Toonces. (Yes, the same dear kitty that I had until he died a few years ago.) So, we moved into another house in Cynthia Place. I can’t remember who we had as a 3rd roommate at first. But, eventually, Christy moved in. She pledged a year after we did, so we knew her through sorority.

When I graduated, I stayed in touch with my good friends pretty well. It was hard because most of them were still in college for a few years after me, while I was hit hard with the real world.

Christy, Shannon & I (and Jen at times) try to get together for lunch 1-2 times a year. Shannon now has a 2 year old and Christy has a 7 month old.

Then….along came Facebook. And, I was in touch with numerous other friends from college – some Greek, some not. One of our sisters decided to organize a weekend away for all of us to reconnect. We had it in Ocean City just a couple of weekends ago. Most of us are fairly local, so it worked well. But, 2 of the girls came from much farther….one from Florida and one from California.

Most of the girls went up on Friday, but Christy, Shannon, Shelly & I waited until Saturday since we had some Mommy Guilt. (Shelly pledged the year that Christy did, I think.) For the 3 hour drive, we probably spent 2 hours and 45 minutes talking about our kids! We tried several times to get onto a different subject, but it always came back to that.

We were on the beach by 1:00 p.m. Things change….I had on a very high SPF and my mantra was “Pale is the new Tan!”. However, 15 years ago, I would have had as little SPF as possible that would keep me from burning, but tan that skin!

After dinner, we went to Seacrets…which I could have done without. It’s a club and not the best place to have conversations. Christy was the first to leave….probably around 10:00 or 10:30. With a 7 month old, she was looking forward to a really good night of sleep. Shannon, Shelly & I left not long after her and we were all happily in bed around midnight.

We all (20 or so of us) had breakfast at the hotel on Sunday before hitting the road. My little group stopped at the outlets for a little shopping before heading home. Of course, I ended up buying several things for the girls at Gymboree and a big fat NOTHING for me. The life of a mom.

It was awesome, though! There is talk of making this an annual thing.

So, Facebook may be an addiction and time-waster in some ways. But, it’s so great to reconnect with people. I love being able to see what is going on in the lives of old friends.

Dress Rehearsal for Dance

Tonight was dress rehearsal for the recital this weekend. They also did pictures tonight. I spent some time curling Lacey's hair......

Then, it rained....no, it poured.....the whole drive down. And, we all know what humidity does to pretty curls. So, it didn't last long! Still cute, though. And, she was all smiles before going out on stage.
But, then she had to go on stage. I don't think she understood - at all - what it would be like. Who would? And, I wasn't telling her in advance because I didn't want to freak her out. Maybe that was a mistake.

No, this is not a solo. :-) This is my sweet, shy little girl....not dancing.
She was sort of doing it here.

And...admiring her trophy.

Here they all are posing for their group picture.
Lacey was less than thrilled. Once I put my camera away and focused on getting her to giggle, she did. Getting her to do her individual pictures was slow going. But, she eventually relented & did a few.

I'm very proud of her for getting on stage, though. I really wasn't sure she would do that. She's telling me tonight that she will dance tomorrow at the recital....we'll see. She has a recital tomorrow at 6:00, then again on Saturday at noon. Whew. More pictures & videos to come!

Random Update

I hadn't realized how long it had been since posting last (2 months). So what's been going on, you ask?

I joined a gym. It's the one that Dee goes to. It's a bit of a drive (25 min.), but it's a women's gym, which is kind of nice.....I didn't think I cared, but I do like it. And, they have an awesome fitness instructor who teaches Turbo Kick. It's a really tough workout, but it's fun & she is so energetic. I was doing her class 2x a week for about.....6(?) weeks. Then, the gym offered the "Get Ripped Challenge". It's a sort of boot camp that was M/W/F for 4 weeks at 5:30 a.m. for 45 minutes. I signed up & it was awesome. I liked getting a workout done at the beginning of the day and it was tough. I kept going to the Turbo Kick classes & added some cardio on at the end of each boot camp class.....thought for sure I'd see some great results by the end of 4 weeks. Nope. Nada. My body fat barely went down.

No, I didn't give up my chai lattes during that time. But, I did (for the most part) give up wine. Between that & all those calories I was burning, one would think it would have worked. I need to chat with Genelle about that. So, I'm still working out 4-5 times a week and I'm getting ready to give up my chai latte. It just isn't worth it!

What else?

We all had colds in May. I ended up going to the doctor and got a prescription for bronchitis. The same day I went, I picked the girls up from Lisa's to hear Lacey complain about her ear. I wondered, but decided to wait.....but by the end of dinner, she was crying every few minutes, so I took her to the urgent care and found she had a double ear infection. So we were both on antibiotics.

And, I've had some car issues. Remember that I had my car worked on because of damage from mice? Well, when I drove it at night a few weeks after getting it back, I found that some lights weren't working --- the backlight for the odometer and the light for the heating/air. A few days later, the SRS (airbag) light came on. So, I took it back in to the shop about 10 days ago. GEICO tried to argue that none of it was related to the initial problem. But, the repair shop convinced them it was. We just picked up my car yesterday. I stopped to get gas on the way home, then stopped at Ledo's to pick up pizza. The car wouldn't start when I came out. Butch came to pick me up & the car stayed. This morning, I was planning to have a repair shop (across from Ledo's) look at it, but it started. I was going to drive it to the gym to see if it would start after that, too. But, I had a flat.

So, I took Dad's car (which we've been borrowing) to the gym. Then, Dad & Rick came to change the tire for me. I drove it across the street & had the tire patched. ARGH! Hopefully it won't refuse to start anymore. I'm just going to use it locally for a bit.

Last Saturday, Butch left for Atlanta to do a college tour. He was gone all week. I got by okay, but I would not want to be a single mom! The kids usually insist on me for baths and bedtime, but Butch is usually doing the dishes or something while I handle the kids. Not last week! It wasn't too bad. The worst was that on Monday night, both kids slept horribly. So, I ended up getting very little (3 hours total?) of sleep. It didn't make for a productive Tuesday! I had to skip Turbo Kick because I was exhausted.

I promise to try to do some more updates in the next few weeks!

The Deck

We've been spending some time on the deck now that the nice weather is here (well....when it hasn't been raining, it's nice). The girls like to have picnics on the deck (or "guck" as Leah calls it).



A couple of weeks ago, we decided we should grill out. We had a Jenny-O turkey tenderloin and grilling it sounded perfect. When Butch went out to get the grill cleaned up & ready....he opened it to find.....





Lovely. There was also a mouse nest....an empty one. Gross. When Butch tried to get the snake out (using a broom stick), it hid under the heating element. So, we left the lid open & just waited & watched while it slithered out. It finally got down to the ground & Butch chased it into the woods. While I wouldn't mind letting the snake die, I like that he kills the mice for us, so he was spared.

Back to cleaning the grill....only to find out we were out of propane. The tenderloin was cooked in the oven that night.

Calvert Wine & Arts Fest

Last month, we went to the Calvert Wine & Arts Festival with the kids. It was interesting to try to taste wine while handling the girls! This was actually supposed to be a "meet up" with my Calvert Moms group, but we didn't see the others around.

We didn't taste much, but it was a gorgeous day out and they had a few bands playing. The girls had a blast.

Girl Time & Vineyards!

Okay, I found this saved & I hadn't posted it! So, it's an oldie, but a goodie. :-) It actually all happened toward the end of April.

Last weekend was lots of fun! It actually started on Thursday evening when I picked up my friend, Barbie. I have known her since high school. She & her family moved to the west coast when she graduated (a year after me), so our friendship has been long distance for a long time. I was one of her maid of honors in her wedding 9 years ago...hard to believe it's been that long. Anyway, the last time I saw her in person was about 7 years ago in New Orleans. She & I met there for some girls time. She came to DC for work and I picked her up on Thursday evening to head down to Fredericksburg to meet another friend from high school.
I barely knew Sarah, but Barbie & she were good friends. By the time we go to the restaurant, it was nearly 8:00 (thank you, DC traffic) and we ended up talking long after we were done eating. By the time I got Barbie back to DC, then drove home, it was 1:00 a.m. That's extremely late for me! It was well worth it, though. I had a great time catching up and hope it isn't 7 years until the next time. Her boys are about the same ages as my girls, so we're hoping we can figure out a vacation together sometime.

Friday I worked from home and went to bed very early to prepare myself for our day at the vineyards!

There was a large group of us....6 "old ladies" (including Kristina, Dee, a few of Dee's friends & me) and 8 "young uns" (Kristin and several of her friends). As I was driving over to Dee's house to meet up with a few others, I was dancing & singing in the car. It was a GORGEOUS day and I couldn't help myself!

We got to Ingleside around 12:30 and started out with their barrel tasting. We tasted 2 Chardonnay's and 2 Merlots right from the barrel.
Then, we tasted all of the wines that they had bottled. The only bad thing is the guy that was pouring & telling us about the wines went entirely too fast. We either had to chug it or dump it. Not very good if you are really trying to decide what you like. After that we just relaxed at a table outside while listening to the band and munched on the very small selection of food they had.

We left around 3:15 to head to Belle Mount to taste a little more. That's also where we were staying the night - they have little cabins for rent. The tasting was a joke. The lady pouring wasn't even telling us about the wine and she was pouring such a tiny amount that we couldn't even really tell if we liked it.

We got over to the little cabins at around 6:00 and chowed down on all the food we brought. I ended up so full (from both wine & food) that I couldn't drink anymore for hours.
Our intent was to play games like Outburst, but those plans were messed up when our party was crashed. The other 3 cabins were being used by several couples in their 50's and then men ditched their wives to come plan LCR with us. Strange. They all seemed to be nice enough, but why their wives (1) didn't come, too; or (2) let them leave for so long is weird. And, Dee & I agreed the next day that we should have politely explained that we were there for girls time. But, we would have felt rude, so we didn't. Oh well, it was still fun.

Kristina, Lynn & I headed to bed around 12:30. Dee, Dana & Lisa came in at 1:30 and couldn't stop giggling, so we were woken up then. :-) No one had a great night of sleep given the uncomfy beds (for those of us that had one). Dee slept on the couch & Lynn slept on a twin size air mattress.

We've all agreed we need to try to do one in the fall again. Those of us that are married talked about needing to do one with the men.

Easter

We had a really nice Easter here. Well, it could have been a little bit warmer, but at least it wasn't raining!

The night before, we colored eggs....


Lacey & Leah searched around the family room to find their Easter baskets! Leah was quite happy with her new sunglasses.
I was pleased that the Easter Bunny hadn't gone overboard on candy. :-) There were sunglasses, toothbrushes (ha), hair accessories, etc.....plus some chocolate. Leah got to have her first peanut butter egg!
We headed to Dad's house later that morning so we'd be there in time for Leah's nap. Sadly, she wouldn't sleep in the pack n play. Every time I tried to put her down, she screamed. I'm guessing she just wasn't used to it and hadn't been at Dad's in a while. Butch relieved me and took a nap with Leah. (I think he was hoping for that.)

I managed to get a couple of very cute pictures with Dad.
The girls had a good time on the swings.....

....and hunting eggs......
.....and checking out their loot.
Bucky handled the grill (as usual). We had pork roast, red potatoes, asparagus, biscuits, etc. All quite yummy!

Weekend Update

Last weekend was a busy one! I took Thursday & Friday off because my friend, Tonya, came to visit from the Charlotte area. I picked her up at the airport on Wednesday & we just hung out at home that night.....well, Butch & I watched Lost while Tonya dozed in the chair.

Thursday was a quiet day, too. Tonya & I went to lunch at Red Robin before heading to the mall for a little bit of shopping....mainly for her to buy some athletic shoes that she needed. She & I headed to the gym for turbo kick that evening. (I love that class.)

Friday, we drove to Crofton for a "real" shopping. I walked out of Old Navy with a few things. Then, we met old friends (Cynthia & Susan) for lunch. We all used to work together.
Even though we finished our lunch before 1:00, we were in the restaurant until nearly 2:30! It was just too much fun to stop. I think we would have stayed longer, but we needed to get home.

That night, Kristina (and Rick) came over to babysit so Butch, Tonya & I could go to Alexandria to meet Yudha for dinner. Yudha is Tonya's ex-husband, but they have stayed in touch and are good friends. And, he's Butch's & my friend, too. I wish he & his wife lived closer so we could get together more.
Saturday's plan was for Butch, Yudha & Tonya to go rock climbing in Alexandria. However....it was not a great night of sleep (thank you, kids). That, combined with a little bit of alcohol, had Butch not feeling very motivated! So, Tonya took my car to Alexandria and climbed a bit....even though she had no stamina that day. Butch & I were lucky enough for both girls to nap at the same time, so we could catch up a bit on sleep.

Saturday night was the Twilight viewing party at Dee's house. Lots of fun. Most of us had read the book, but a couple hadn't and still liked the movie. We had lots of good snacks, too.


This weekend is full of more fun for me. Kristin planned a girls overnight wine tasting party! We are driving down to Ingleside on Saturday morning and plan to be there for a few hours (they have their Spring Barrel Tasting that day. Then, we are heading to another vineyard for a quick tasting before checking into their little cabins for the night. More wine, board games, girl time. (Butch is going to catch on soon and start filling the calendar with guy time!)

When I get back on Sunday, I'd better not be feeling too bad! Butch is leaving for a conference late that afternoon and will be gone until Tuesday.

A Shamless Brag

Miss Lisa sends home a daily report for each of the kids. Lacey's had a special note on it last week and I can't help but brag. :-) The picture is small, but if you click on it, it will enlarge so you can read it.

Our Weekend

Lacey had her 4 year old well visit on Friday afternoon. On the drive, I prepared her for everything except shots...thinking she wasn't getting any. I promised her a prize (non-doll) at Target if she was good for Dr. Jill. The visit went pretty well. She was 41" tall (75th %ile) and 36.75 lbs (50th %ile).

I asked about nutrition - since Lacey is a very picky eater and has days where she seems to eat like a bird. I listed the meats she will eat (some kinds of chicken nuggets, shaved deli ham and hot dogs) and the veggies (none, except the spinach pockets). She does fine with fruits, dairy & grains. Anyway, Jill's response was "that's a pretty good list". She told me that compared to many picky eater lists, it's really not bad at all for this age. Whew. And, it's common for there to be days where a kid doesn't seem to eat much. She also pointed to her growth chart and showed how it's been very consistant, so no worries.

Then, I asked about this annoying constipation/withholding issue. When I told Jill that I'm sure Lacey gets enough fiber most days, she said it usually has nothing to do with fiber. It's withholding. It's mental/emotional. And, eventually she will get over it, but it might be another year or 2 before she does. Lovely. No health issues to worry about with it at this time, though.

After doing the exam, Jill explained that there would be shots. They aren't truly necessary until the 5 year old well visit, but if we waited, there would be 4 in one day and this doctor's office thinks it's a bit more humane to spread it out. So do I. Lacey had done so well in the fall for her flu shot that I was hopeful....but these 2 shots (Dtap and polio) apparently were more painful and caused lots of tears. So, mommy gave in & promised she could have another Barbie if she wanted one. If you have seen her collection, you would know another Barbie was not needed. But, I'm a softy.

Off we went to Target & Lacey had a nice little time debating on the dolls. Of course, her first 2 picks were $20 Barbie's and I said no way. She eventually found one she wanted that was a reasonable price.

We've had some rough sleep for the last 2 weeks or so. Lacey's sleep fell apart when she got sick. She started waking up around 3:00 or 4:00 and wandering to our room. I tried to take her back to her bed if I was awake enough, but when I was too tired to move, let her climb in. And, Leah's sleep has been rough because of teething. She's been waking up at 5:00 or 5:30 most mornings and one of us (usually Butch) goes in to rock with her until it's a reasonable time to get up. It's hard on work mornings for Butch & I to have time for our routines.

I can't fix Leah's teething issue, but focused on Lacey's. When we were at Target on Friday, I had her pick out a DVD and promised she could have it if she started sleeping better....staying in her bed and not waking me up. It worked. Friday night & Saturday night, she stayed in her bed and didn't call us at all. I feel much better today. And, she's enjoying "Happily N'ever After 2". Amazingly enough, Leah even slept well last night. She didn't wake until 7:00, so it was awesome!

Yesterday, we went to the 9th Annual Hospice Easter Egg Roll. The kids had a great time. Neither one was interested in the egg roll, but Lacey enjoyed the hunt. They had a big bin filled with bubbles and that's what they played with the most.
They had pony rides, which Lacey was quite excited about. I think she went on 2-3 rides through the day. Leah was yelling "neigh, neigh", but once she got on and the pony started moving, she was anxious to get off.


The Easter Bunny was walking around, but neither girl was very interested. At least Leah was okay getting close to him for a picture. Lacey didn't want to get that close.
We bought some raffle tickets for the kids raffle. They had 6 tables set up and you could pick what prizes you wanted to be entered to win. Lacey (of course) picked Barbie related items. With 6 tickets, we won 2 prizes. One was a 3 pack of Barbies and the other was a Barbie with a horse. Lovely. I told her she had to pick 5 of her old ones to send to Aunt Dee's for her toy bin. (She keeps toys for when my kids, and Buck's nieces and nephews visit.) Leah passed out in her carseat within 3 minutes and slept the whole ride home....then went back to sleep in her crib for 90 minutes after we got home.

Not much going on today. We had planned to go to another Easter Egg Hunt that the Optimist Club was doing. But, Dad wasn't going to be there and I wasn't sure if we'd know anyone. It's 35 minutes away and since we'd already done one yesterday, decided to skip it. I went to Target this morning & had some peace & quite while shopping and sipping my vanilla chai latte. Butch is doing a little yard work. Lacey is watching the new movie for the 2nd time and resting. I'm planning to get them both outside for a bit after Leah wakes up. The day is too lovely to be stuck inside.

Mice

Most of you already know that I have had a mouse problem in my car. About 4 weeks ago, I saw the first signs....a mouse had chewed through a plastic food container that had some peanut butter in it. He'd also left behind poop. I immediately cleaned everything out of my car, but found no other real food source. Then, I took it to be cleaned.

A bit later, a mouse had chewed up Leah's carseat cover......right where the crumbs are dropped. Some other things happened that made me wonder. Then, I met some friends for lunch 2 Sunday's ago and came out from the restaurant to find styrofoam everywhere. The kids' carseats have some styrofoam in the bottom. I knew then that they were traveling with me.

Butch bought some old school traps. (I should mention we'd already bought poison traps, but had no luck with those.) He set 2 traps on Monday evening -- both on the floor of the car -- one in front & one in back. Within an hour, the front trap had "caught" (broken the leg of) a mouse. Butch was playing volleyball, so I was on my own. We'd put down trashbags under the traps. So, I picked up the bag and carried the mouse (who was not running from me) to the woods and set the little disabled thing free to fend for himself against predators.

By the morning, the other trap had caught another...this time really caught him.

We forgot to set the traps on Tuesday evening.

Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day and a Leprechaun had visited Miss Lisa's while the girls were napping. He left little baskets of chocolate coins for them. Apparently, I forgot to bring one of those in on Tuesday.

When I got in my car Wednesday morning, the little basket was there....the EMPTY little basket. But, I thought "maybe I dumped the chocolates in Lacey's dance bag".....because certainly SOMEthing would be left behind. The gold foil, some chocolate. SOMEthing. About 2-3 miles from my house, the car was heated good....and I could smell the chocolate. I looked down at my feet and saw a very small amount of gold foil.

I turned around and went home since it HAD to be dealt with. I couldn't handle it anymore.

I ended up calling GEICO and found that this issue is covered by our policy. I took the car to the adjuster at 1:30. They agreed to replace the carseat and have the dash removed to check for damage. When that appointment finished, Butch called to say Leah had thrown up. So, the mouse problem waited another few days.

Well, except making the car smell like candy canes. I was told my a mechanic that mice hate peppermint. So, we bought peppermint oil & soaked cotton balls...which we placed all over the floor near the dash and on top of the dash. Hopefully, that chased them away.

I finally got the car to the shop on Tuesday evening. There was some damage - just one part that needs replaced. It was due to come in on Friday & they hope to have the car ready for me on Monday.

We ended up having to rent a car, though. Butch went to DE this weekend for a volleyball tournament and I need something to get to the airport tomorrow since I'm going to NY for a 2 day trip.

I really hope the stupid mice are gone. The mechanic didn't find any nest or see any mice (alive or dead).

Next up: having a tune up done to check for more damage and getting it detailed to get rid of all those mouse germs.

Stomach Bug, Part 2

Leah's stomach bug was last Wednesday. By Friday night, we thought we were in the clear for the rest of us. We were wrong.

Lacey kept complaining that her tummy hurt, which is somewhat normal, given her constipation issues. But, it seemed different....and the stomach virus was still on my mind. At 11:30, she threw up....pink yogurt all over the family room floor. I didn't feel great either....was cold even though it wasn't cold in the house. By 5:00, I knew I had it....the chills had started badly and lasted for 5 hours. I never vomited, but had other not-so-pleasant digestive issues.

Butch slept in the guest room. Lacey slept with me....but neither of us really slept. We still felt bad on Sunday, but at least the vomiting had stopped. I had a fever off & on all day.

The girls went to daycare on Monday and I headed to the office. At noon, I'd already decided to take sick time, but kept doing "1 last thing" and finally made it out at 1:30. It was Wednesday before I could eat without feeling nauseous.

What a week.

Stomach Bug

Through Facebook on Tuesday, I learned that 2 of the daycare kids (siblings) were home sick. In fact, their whole family had it. When I picked up Lacey on Tuesday, Miss Lisa said that MK had been at daycare on Monday...and I guess it started Monday night. MK's sister came to daycare on Tuesday, but started with vomiting and diarrhea. Lots of exposure for all the kids. Miss Lisa ended up having taking M home because neither parent could come pick her up since the whole family was vomiting.

But, off we went to dance class and I tried not to think about it.

Wednesday, I was supposed to go to the office and was on my way in, when I had to turn around for a car issue (which I'll blog about later). I got home and came in to make some calls on my car. That's when I realized Lisa had left a message the night before...I guess while we were all in Leah's room...it said that she had started with diarrhea, but she was hoping it was something she eaten. While I was calling on something about my car, she called again. Still no vomiting, but making sure I'd gotten the message since I usually keep them home to avoid exposure when she's ill.

Because of my car issue, I had Butch turn around & pick up the girls to bring them home. He stayed home, too, so I had some flexibility with the car problem. I ran out for a 1:30 appt. on the car and Butch called at 1:45....saying Leah had vomited in her crib. Lovely. She'd probably done it awhile before since he'd laid her down for a nap at 1:00 and she was fussing off and on....probably saying "hello....I'm laying in puke".....

So, between that time & 3:40, it happened a total of 3x. She ended up eating crackers and drinking water through the evening...after a very short, 1 hour nap. She was so hungry & seemed fine for so long...we let her have a few bites of oatmeal later. Then, when I was rocking her at 8:00ish....everything came up. Yikes.

I changed her, thinking we were good. But, it happened again. We were out of clean sleepers, so I put her in some of Lacey's PJs that she'd outgrown. I told Leah she was getting big girl jammies and she smiled really big. Even after her rotton day and just throwing up, she still had a big smile. So sweet. She finally fell asleep in my arms and ended up sleeping through the night.

So far today, she's eaten yogurt, cheerios, bread and even had a little milk. I'm afraid to have high hopes, yet. But, I know from the others that it doesn't last more than 24 hours, so maybe we are done. Maybe. Send us some healthy vibes, okay?

Lacey hasn't had it...yet. I'm not keeping my hopes up there either. I heard from Lisa this morning and the only daycare kid that hasn't had it is Lacey. She is 1 of 7. Lisa said her husband even got a mild version. Lisa had it rough until 7:30 last night, but is only sore today.

Well, if everyone manages to stay healthy today....and if Lisa is open (and she's hoping to be), the girls will be back tomorrow. Lisa promised to scrub and disinfect everything again later today. I half-way want to keep them home just to keep Lacey away from it a bit longer. We'll see. I might end up doing that.

Random

Butch is working this afternoon an open house at Ryken. He'll be back around dinner. The girls are in great moods today...thankfully. It's too muddy out, thanks to the snow, but we played on the deck for a long time. It's so warm. I am so ready for spring!

Yesterday we went to the library for a birthday celebration for Dr. Seuss. There were tons of kids. Lacey had no interest in the party & just wanted to go find the books and DVDs, so off we went. I'm looking forward to the little Amish market opening for the season. They set up at the library, so our Saturday morning tradition is to go to the library & market with the kids.

Other than that, yesterday was no fun. I don't know if it was mostly me (stressed and grumpy) or the kids misbehaving...or a combination of the two. I feel like all I did was yell at Lacey. She wasn't listening at all. Today, I made a decision to stay calm the entire day and it's worked well so far. She responds best when I'm calm. If she isn't listening, a count to 5 and a loss of a "point" usually does the trick. I need to remember that. Sometimes, it's just hard to do when they are pushing my buttons all day.

I went through our local events calendar yesterday to find upcoming events and wrote several things down on the calendar. I love this time of year!

My local HIP Momma's meetup group hasn't done much to include the working moms in a while. Most (probably 80-90%) are stay at home moms, so there has been lots on the calendar, but mostly weekday things. Anyway, our fearless leader has moved into her new house and is setting up new things. I'm looking forward to some time with the girls. Of course, the day they have scheduled our first Mom's Morning Out (breakfast) since November....is next Saturday....when Butch has to administer SATs. Oh well. I'm considering a sitter, but not sure it's worth it.

Lacey's going for her well visit in a few weeks and I can't wait to talk to Dr. Jill about the ongoing constipation and diet issues. Leah gets to go to the dentist for the first time next month, too. Yippee. Hopefully she'll handle it better than Lacey did at this age!

Is all of that random enough for you?

Exercise!

I've been trying to get myself exercising (and eating well) for months now. I just can't seem to get myself motivated enough to lose the last 10 pounds from being pregnant with Leah. I think I've finally decided that exercise must come first....then the nutrition will follow. I bought a 10 visit pass to the gym that Dee goes to. I haven't joined before partly because of the kids and having to take time to go, but also because it's not really close. It's about 25 minutes from here. But, I need to do something.

They have a turbo kickboxing class that Dee & her friend love. I went on Thursday evening and love it, too. The instructor is really good and it's a HARD workout, which is what I need to get motivated. She teaches the same class on Tuesday mornings. Since I work from home on Tuesdays, that's going to be my lunch hour. Twice a week should get me moving more, right?

I had gotten into Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD. It's a great 20 minute workout. I'm just not great at sticking with it. Hopefully I can do that once each weekend and maybe another time during the week.

Kid-Free Time

A few weeks ago we tried a teenage babysitter for the first time. Other than official daycare and family, no one had watched the kids for us before. Lacey's old daycare provider, Miss Kim, has 3 daughters. The oldest is in college, the next (Alex) is 16 and the youngest is 15, I think. So, both the youngest ones babysit and I know they helped Miss Kim with the kids (played with the kids) when she ran the daycare.

Rather than try to have a teenager who the kids don't know get them to bed, we planned an afternoon date. We went to lunch and then to see He's Just Not That Into You. Very cute and so nice to get out.

Alex worked out great - both kids seemed to like her. She got Leah down for a nap without any crying or fighting, too. We're planning on doing this every 6 weeks or so. I don't think we can afford to do it more often. Although, we might alternate having Dee or Kristina watch them (if they can) with paying Alex or her sister.

Last weekend, we'd made plans to go to Bonefish (yum-o) with some friends of Butch's in Northern VA. I love that place. (Did I already say YUM-O?) It was good to see Victor & Mary, too. I don't know them very well, but they're sweet. The only negative thing (to me) is that they both play volleyball....which means that with 3 volleyball players, the conversation sort of kept going back to it. :-) I don't really mind...no interest, but I know Butch had fun.

Now that we've had those couple of dates, I can't wait to get out again. It's nice being able to have a conversation without having kids interrupt. As Leah keeps getting older, it's going to get much easier.

Publish Post

March Snow Storm!

Well....we were thinking spring was just weeks away, but a snowstorm came our way from the south. If you don't live around here, you may not know....when the snowstorms come from the west, we (in Southern MD) typically don't get much. But when they come from the south...look out. It started around 2:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon and continued until around noon on Monday. We got somewhere around 10-12 inches, depending on where you measured.

Here is what we woke up to on Monday morning. The schools had actually decided to close the night before.
That was around 7:00 a.m. or so and it just kept coming.

Our neighborhood has a contract with someone that plows the main roads, but we live on a shared driveway. Luckily, one of the neighbors has a snow blower. In the past, it's usually clear before Butch can offer to help since he never has to leave for work. This time, he met Mike and they worked on it together. Then, Butch was able to use it for our driveway, too.

We have been horrible about keeping our bird feeders filled, but I asked Butch to fill them Sunday afternoon and I'm glad we did (so were the birds).

We eventually got the kids out to play. Lacey wasn't asking and Leah took a long nap that afternoon, so it was around 4:00 when we finally got out there. Butch wanted to take them sledding. Leah went for the first time & liked it okay, but didn't want to go a second time. Lacey liked it in January and was eager to go again. But, when she got snow in her face....all that changed. She hates to get water in her face (bath tub or pool) and has a fit about it. So, Butch ended up just taking her out front to play for a bit.

I thought this tree looked beautiful!
Butch was off work Monday & Tuesday since schools were closed in that county. And, he had a delay on Wednesday morning. Miss Lisa had all the kids - all day - on Wednesday since schools were closed in her county (scheduled closing...not because of the snow). She managed to get all of them bundled up for fun in the snow. I don't know how she does it.
By the end of the week, most of the snow was gone. The temperatures continued rising and it's 70 degrees as I'm typing this. It was the same yesterday - gorgeous! And, while I love the snow....a little anyway....it's nice to have it melt quickly. I couldn't live in a climate where it was on the ground for 2-3 months solid.