I'm just me: wife to Mike for 9 years, mom to three great kids I can hug and kiss every day and one babe I can't wait to hold in my arms again one day soon. I'm always looking to improve my faith life and be a better wife and mother.
The visit is over...my Mom, sister and nieces have returned home (just in time to settle in a bit and then hunker down for a hurricane!).
Zachary is TWO. I am SO bummed! Where is my little baby???
Peeking at sister the night he was born:
Happy first birthday!
Now I am TWO!
This little boy is full of spunk and energy! He makes me smile no less than a million times a day, but just in the blink of an eye he sure can be a MAD and GRUMPY boy! I can not believe that I am his mama...he is so different from Micheal and Haley were as newborns, babies, infants, newly toddling around one year olds, and now he is TWO YEARS OLD!!!! I'm definitely sad he's growing up so quickly.
I had a birthday too, just the day before his. I'm much older than him though! Mike and I went out to see a movie just the two of us for my birthday...after spending all day in the Jeep with the little mister. We found out just how much like his Daddy this guy is already...loved Garden of the Gods and rock climbing. He fell asleep on his very first off road trek though...I think that means he liked it, but we'll go another time to make sure.
Mike and I celebrated our 9th anniversary too and got to go out to dinner just the two of us. It's been nice that Haley will take care of Zachary once in a while...she sure loves the pay!
Ok...off to get the boy up from his nap so he can go "oh WOW" about the train table we found at a yard sale today! While I'm off at Wal-Mart doing the grocery and vacuum shopping I'm going to find him some more trains and tracks...this boy is sure taking after his Papa with his love of trains.
Things are going well, we're pretty well settled into the new house and spend our "time off" and weekends doing things like unclogging drains and reorganizing the garage. Fun stuff! I still need to do something with my office, it's a huge mess! But right now more important things are going on...like my family visiting!
Father's Day was nice, we got to see Mike's Dad for a while both days of that weekend. I'd like to plan a trip to see them next year for one of Mike's vacation weeks. Micheal turned 20 and then the next day my Mom, Sister and 2 nieces arrived. I love having my family here and the house, while at times is full, is plenty big enough for everyone. I just need a couple more pull out beds or air mattresses or something! But everyone is happy and we're all having a great visit.
Can you believe Zachary will be TWO YEARS OLD???? In 17 very short days my baby is a 2 year old. I'm working on weaning, more for me than him. He has cut down again so that is good. I keep saying by his birthday but that's not set in stone. I just don't see me going much beyond 2 years. This past week or so he has grown up so much! He's a huge train fan now too...which I LOVE, and am so grateful that my Mom let us have my Dad's trains when we were there last December. Those aren't the ones he's playing with yet, but I bet in the next 2 or 3 years he will be. He's really careful and loves to lay down and watch the wheels go round and round. We got him a trike with a long handle so we can push him or flip it upside down and he can rock on it, or take it off and he can ride by himself. I'm so not ready for him to spread his wings and fly though. He is my baby, right??? Sure don't see much of it these days.
It is currently raining a TON. I should take a picture of the lake that is/was our cement patio right outside my office. We have a LOT of landscaping and yard work to do this summer. Yikes!!!
I made a hand print of Zachary's hand for Father's Day...now I think I'll do up a little scrapbook for him too. He LOVES to show off his boy to everyone he comes across, this will surely melt his squishy heart more!
Suggestions on the best way to make a little scrapbook basically indestructible? He's hell on just about everything he touches! :D
That is how Zachary says his name! And he can tell you that Zachary, when he sees it written down, is Dah - dar - ree's name.
I love this stage of development...he's starting to make sense of the world around him and things are starting to come out of his mouth that aren't screams! :)
Zachary is growing like a weed! 29 pounds 10 ounces, 33 inches tall and a 19 1/2 inch head circumference! He's one big boy. Got the last of his baby shots and a flu shot...he's good to go until Kindergarten! He's becoming such a charmer...saying/signing "thank you" to the nurse that gave him his shots! LOL
He's sure a sweet boy, even when his silly teeth are coming in sideways! His top molars are not coming straight down...they are coming out the sides of his gums. The doctor said, and I know Zachary agrees, that is a much more painful way to get teeth in. Not to mention the "back and forth" movement of said molars...one day they are half out, the next they are barely there. Poor bug. I hope they come in soon...for good!
Zachary has recently discovered the fun of "dress up", sporting Daddy's wild and crazy tank top (pulled up with a hair tie so as not to fall ass over teakettle on the stairs) and his Frog boots he got for Christmas.
I told him he's such a good sport, but seriously, aren't those going to be AWESOME pictures to share with his first serious girlfriend??? I love that kid!
Little boy is SICK. Monday when I picked him up from daycare I noticed his eyes were red rimmed and red and a wee bit goopy. By bedtime I knew he was going to the doctor the next day for pink eye. Got him in and checked over and his doc said his nose was getting thick and colorful so we could either write a prescription for antibiotics for me to fill in a few days or wait and come back in a few days. I opted for the prescription. No daycare Tuesday but back on Wednesday. When I picked him up Wednesday afternoon they told me he was pulling at his ear (was just fine on Tuesday) and "warm". That night he was hot, temp just over 100. Did the Motrin/cool bath thing and no fever over night. He slept off and on, I didn't. Went ahead and sent him to daycare on Thursday knowing they'd call when his fever spiked. Sure enough, less than 2 hours later, he's at 102.7 and sleeping. At 9:30 AM. He NEVER sleeps at that time at daycare. Go pick him up and decide to fill the antibiotic as maybe he does have an ear infection. Get him home and Motrin into him...fever is over 103 at this point. Once the Motrin kicks in he's fine. Run to buy a new thermometer as the one that goes in the ear doesn't really work well for him. Got one that you scan their forehead and end on the temporal artery...just like his doctor's office!
At about 3 PM notice the fever is going up. Quickly. And he's shivering with the chills. His hands are ice cold. Wrap him in his blanket and cuddle him while he tries to sleep...no more Motrin for another 3 1/2 hours. A while later notice fever is edging closer and closer to 104+ and call the doctor's office. She's already left for the day and is out tomorrow as well...options are to continue to treat him at home, try Tylenol and a cool bath. Tylenol typically doesn't work for him, but what the heck. Give him some, as soon as it hits his tongue it's back out all over me, the chair, him and the floor. Twice. Fever is nearly 105 now and I'm past my "I can handle this" fever point. Seriously starting to worry he'll have a seizure at home. Won't be happy at all. End up calling the doc's office back and asking my options. Choose to go to after hours care place immediately.
Long story short (ha ha), little boy has Strep. Again. Didn't we just do this a few weeks ago? Pink eye is better though. Ears are clear. Fever is behaving somewhat (he got a Tylenol suppository at the after hours place, joy of all joys!) Ate some Cheerios for dinner and drank about a gallon of water and breast milk. Slept like crap last night...Mama didn't sleep at all, again. Wondering who will be next as I lay in bed listening to Haley coughing and gagging on phlegm. Lovely night. Don't want a repeat!
Baby is sleeping now. No noise for the past hour...gave him Motrin right before laying him down as he was due and was just starting to get warm. Didn't want him to wake up at 104 again. Don't like 104. At all.
I love the pictures we got yesterday of Zachary in his Daddy's truck! I'm even thinking of have one printed and framed in something huge like a 16x20 size!!! If you're in my Flickr friends list, you can see the rest of the pictures here. If you're not, and want to be, comment or email me and I'll hook ya up! I think Zachary was the cutest UPS driver I saw all day! And, as an extra special bonus, when we took him into the center last night, Mike's extra cranky boss SMILED. That right there was TOTALLY worth driving to the center for :)
I am NOT a big Halloween person, never have liked getting dressed up and trekking out in the COLD and WIND that seems to come this time every year. So far no snow...so that's good. But BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. But this year...this costume I found for Zachary is right up my dork alley! Come back later (hopefully) for pictures of him with his "package" and driving his "truck". LOL
Is he two already? I swear he must be. The screaming, hitting, screaming temper tantrums are TERRIBLE!!!! I miss him so much while he's at daycare during the day and yet 15 minutes after he's home I wish he was back at daycare :( That breaks my heart so much. Maybe it's because I don't see him all day and the tantrums are one on top of another. Maybe it's teething. Maybe he's sick (again). Maybe it's ME. At any rate, I miss him terribly, but I do not love the tantrums. His or mine!
Tomorrow is going to be interesting if last night was any cue. Can you see how red rimmed and tear filled his eyes are? All that was over the stupid hat.
I need to wrap a box for him to carry along with him. I recently purchased many parts to build a wonderful new computer (that I LOVE LOVE LOVE) that Micheal built for me...I can use the smallest box from there I think. I'm most excited that we're going to find Daddy tomorrow afternoon and take a picture of Zachary "driving" a UPS truck! LOL
I am so not ready for this...and yet it's been doing it all day long. Yesterday is was nearly 80 degrees...today we're in the 30's and it's windy and COLD and snowing. I hate snow.
I totally missed a photo op today at lunch/dinner. Zachary has been trying to "wash" his hair lately in the tub, very cute. Today while we're eating spaghetti, he's pretty well covered face, neck, chest (smart Daddy took off his white shirt first!)...and smart mouth Mama says, looks like you missed a spot on your hair...you better get it. So...Zachary "washes" his hair...with spaghetti. Too cute! Of course I'll be regretting this soon enough, he'll do it in daycare or out to eat or something less appropriate I'm sure. But for now, at home, when he's 15 months old, it's totally adorable. And I was too lazy to get up and find the camera. Figures.
I have snow pictures from this morning. Have to document the first day of snow ya know. I don't feel like going to find the camera and uploading the pictures so you'll have to just live in suspense without the Colorado snow pictures. Poor you.
So Saturday came and went...and it was a nice day, but it really had a few bumps I didn't quite plan on!
Zachary ended up pretty sick on Friday night, after eating dinner and having his bath. I had to run to another board members house to get a check for after the Walk and had Mike and Zachary go with me. About 5 minutes into our 15 minute drive, Zachary starts throwing up ALL over the car seat, himself, everywhere. Poor bug! We pulled over and cleaned him up with napkins the best we could, but I HAD to get that check! Had to stop a total of 2 times on the way there to clean him up, and Mike rode in the back seat with him the rest of the way there and back. Got him home and he "seemed" fine. He wanted to nurse and did. And within 5 minutes was throwing that up all over our feet (TMI: I was sitting on the potty and he was standing in front of me). What a mess! I got him cleaned up and partially redressed (diaper and jammie pants only) and we settled in for a long night. I didn't sleep more than maybe 5 minutes all night. Zachary kept moaning and then he'd either dry heave or throw up every 20 minutes! I had called the Ped's on call service around 9:30 PM and the nurse said if he went more than 8 hours of no peeing and still vomiting to take him to the ER, in case he's dehydrated. So...at 3:30 AM, off we go to the ER. They didn't really do anything for him...I guess they got busy with a cardiac patient, which is totally fine...but what a waste of time for us. Zachary threw up all over the bed, floor, himself and me twice. I couldn't wait to get home! We finally got to leave around 7:30 AM. Yep, Saturday morning, the day of the Walk, and I wanted to be to the event location to set up at 8 AM. Not gonna happen!
We got home after stopping to get his Zofran prescription filled (what a joke, ONE pill, generic at that, was $15.37. Thank GOD for insurance!) at 8 AM. I showered while Mike loaded the car for me. The plan was for us to take 2 cars, so that's what we did. I took all the Walk stuff with me and Haley...Mike took Micheal and Zachary. Not 3 minutes into the drive Micheal calls me...Zachary just threw up all over Mike's car...the carseat...himself...again. I said fine...go home. I'll call you later! I made a few other calls to make sure I had some helpers coming (one person called me during all this and said she couldn't come due to not feeling well herself!) Anyway...I decided everything would just work out the way it was supposed to work out and it would be FINE. I wish I could say that I took a deep breath and said a prayer...but I did not. Ugh.
So the Walk was very nice. We had about 25 people there, 2 brand new to SHARE families. All day long we were way ahead of schedule and I never once felt rushed. So that was all good! We had lovely weather and other than a few load motorcycle groups, being downtown was really nice. LOTS of people reading our sign and watching us during the balloon release. A couple of cars even honked at us (in a supportive way!) as we were walking back. Very nice to be so out in the public eye! Everyone was satisfied with their experiences and had a nice day.
The rest of the day was spent resting and doing a zillion loads of laundry! I tend to do 2 or maybe 3 loads of laundry on the weekends...I swear by Sunday afternoon I must have been on load number 9. I am sick of the washer and dryer right now! LOL Anyway...we laid pretty low and let Zachary do whatever he felt up to doing. Time got away from me and before I knew it he was headed to bed at 9 PM! That's about 2 hours later than his normal bedtime. But he had slept a lot during the day...and he was just getting sleepy then. AND he slept ALL night long. Didn't wake up until 5:30 AM. What was that about? He had a very empty belly! LOL When he woke up, he nursed a bit and talked a bit and fell asleep until 8 AM. What a great nights sleep that we all needed!
Sunday was more laundry and church. He did great during church too. Strange boy. Today he wasn't himself at all so I kept him home from daycare to go to the doctor. His stomach virus is working it's way out (poor bottom!) but he's got Strep. Ugh. Got a shot of antibiotics instead of oral so as to keep the belly from re-erupting! Boy was he mad about that shot. I think for a brief moment he had a flashback of the ER experience I refuse to think about ever again. I just kept hugging him and kissing him and telling him it was just a shot...just one poke and he was almost done. Poor bug.
Anyway...it's just after 8 PM now and he's in bed. My silly boy loves to wear his slippers to bed! He is outgrowing the Winnie the Pooh ones so I found him the next size bigger (which look like clown shoes on him right now) in Elmo. He is LOVING Elmo. Today he brought out his Blue's Clues movie to watch twice. And his Praise Baby. And amazingly enough he WATCHED quite a bit of it. He hasn't really gotten into TV at this point. He'll listen to the music and dance around but not really stare at it like there's no better drug around. That changed today. He sat in his highchair for dinner FACING the TV. I'm quite sure his Daddy would not approve...but he ate and was happy!
Here's hoping he's feeling better tomorrow! I could possibly be called into work as early as tomorrow!!!!!
Yesterday after church and lunch I wanted the kitchen cleaned up...imagine my surprise when my teenagers both decided to be "busy". Zachary was in the living room playing with his Daddy when all of a sudden he comes RUNNING into the kitchen and stops at the sink...reaching up as high as his little arms will reach. HE wanted to help his Mama!!!!
We had a very fun day yesterday with our very best friends - Stacy, Sammy and Katie, along with several other good friends! We spent the majority of the day up at the beautiful Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
Some pictures:
Now I have never claimed to be any sort of a photographer...I just take pictures to remember our lives. But I need a better camera! I currently use a Kodak DX3600 2.2 megapixel with a crappy zoom lens. I don't want a big fancy camera...I want an easy to use point and shoot with a decent zoom that doesn't cost $300. I also need a new color printer to print said pictures for scrapbooking. And so the baby can walk around carrying 15gazillion pictures to make him leave my frames alone! LOL
I was going through the (very few) pictures of Zachary I have taken since his first birthday and I'm not sure I should be surprised or what...but all the pictures are of him either sick/with a rash, or with a HUGE owie. LOL My little tough boy...preparing me for what's ahead?
Above, the night after him falling down the stairs outside...again. Poor boy and stairs are never going to be friends! LOL
Below, same baby, same "injury", but surprisingly different.
And this was day one, maybe 2, of a rash that was thought to be Hand Foot and Mouth, but what I totally think was Roseolla. He never got the mouth ulcers and the spots on his feet never pimpled...in fact all his spots stayed flat and red, until they turned pink and went away. Oh well...we got to alert his daycare that he was "contagious" and they, in turn, got to tell the entire daycare and get everyone riled up! But at least 2 other toddlers ended up with a rash after Zachy...so who knows how it started and when it will end!
I'm still waiting for my job to start. And while I'm sitting at home, not making any money, we're still sending Zachary to daycare. Yes I feel totally guilty, but I'm getting quite a bit of reading done! I do need to clean my house again this week...just in case my job actually starts soon. I'll find out tonight when the next deadline is...but they've already had FOUR deadlines pass by without the building being finished. If I was the owner...I'd have a few choice words for the contractors!
These pictures are from Monday morning...poor babe broke out in a rash on Sunday and then the fever hit later Sunday night. Monday morning he was just miserable! I took him to his doctor and she at first thought he had Roseolla...then after looking at the spots on his feet and the redness in his throat changed her mind to Hand, Foot and Mouth disease.
Well...it's now day 4 of the rash and the spots are still there but they are turning pink. They are still flat spots...no puss, no pimples and no ulcers in his mouth. His feet have a lot of spots...almost more than his belly! But nothing that indicates HFM at all. In fact, if I recall correctly from a friend that went through this recently he should be in pain. And he's not. The last time he had Motrin for his fever was Monday afternoon. He's not had any Motrin for pain at all. His appetite is awesome, he's drinking a ton of water and nursing as much as I'll let him. He's napping more than normal, but I'm kind of forcing that on him. If he's sick (which, how can he not be with all those spots!!) then his body needs to rest. Nights are not going as well as I want them to...he's wanting to sleep ON me. I can't sleep when he's on top of my chest! So...nights are tough and I'm tired. But oh well...I've been tired since before he was born.
Anyway...there's my dot to dot guy. He's in a great mood for looking so spotty!
Or maybe teething? Zachary woke up this morning...wait, let me back up.
Yesterday was TERRIBLE! A day of not good sleep overnight, meaning he was up 4 times during the night to nurse, so he was already tired when he got up in the morning. His morning nap was super short...maybe 30 minutes. He was fussy all day, and his afternoon nap was even worse than his morning nap! By the time we had to go to PT for Haley I was praying he'd just sleep in the car and all through therapy. No such luck...he was WIDE awake in the car, all crazy in PT and wide awake on the way home. Ugh. So...after dinner he got a bubble bath and then went right to bed. I think it was 7:45? He woke up at 11 PM...right when I was falling asleep. I have this new thing where I sit up in bed, listen to his fussing to see if it's reajustment or actual needing me crying and take action from there. 11 PM was serious need me crying! I got him and put him in bed with Mike and I...and he nursed voraciously for a good 10 minutes! LOL He's a speedy nurser now. Anyway...he got done with both sides and proceeded to wiggle and squirm and crawl on me, but with his eyes closed. Ah ha! That's HIS sign to me that he needs to be in HIS bed...so off to bed I took him. Turned on his pooh bear and kissed him and laid him down. I went back to bed and to sleep. At 3:15 AM he cried out. I can't even remember if I sat up this time, but I listened to his fussing...and it ended before too long. I went back to sleep, and woke up at 6:05 AM, to him STILL sleeping! Baby boy finally slept ALL night...since early June!! he woke up at 7:35 and I put him in bed with me to nurse. We slept, thankfully, until 9 AM! As a side note, when I got him out of bed at 7:35 he was chilly to the touch everywhere his skin was bare. His arms and hands, his cheeks, his feet and a little bit of leg where his jammie pants were not covering. At 9 AM he was HOT to the touch. This is a baby that hasn't had but one fever in his life but always feels hot to the touch. We got up out of bed and went downstairs, I found the thermometer and low and behold...100.6. Not high by any means, but a slight fever. I gave him some Motrin at 9:45 and actually got him to eat some breakfast and drink some water. At 11 AM I put him down for his nap. He slept for 45 minutes and woke up SCREAMING!!!!!!!!! and CRYING!!!!!!! and just really not happy with me!!!!!! It took me a full half hour of trying every trick in the book to figure something out and calm him a smidge. Goldfish crackers rule! At about 12:45 I got him settled in the high chair without screaming and gave him some lunch. He ate some but not much. He had a bit more water. Amazingly enough, once he had some food in his belly, he was less grouchy! He walked around, played with a toy or two and I put on his crack, err, Baby Signs DVD. Love that Baby Einstein! He was, for the first time today, a happy boy. I just now laid him down for his second nap. LOL there went that short lived happiness. Somewhere along the line I found a blog that talked a LOT about their baby's sleep issues and linked to another blog that talked about a sleep pattern that most babies over 6 months of age tend to have. Basically it says that a baby is ready for their first nap 2 hours after they wake up in the morning, ready for the second nap 3 hours after waking from the first, and they are ready for bed 4 hours after waking from the second nap. Zachary, blessedly, is pretty true to this pattern. It just took him 10 long hard sleepless months to figure it out! So...he's down for nap #2. I hope it's longer than the last few naps! We'll deal with the grumpies if they appear again. I wish I knew what was up...other than I think it's a toss up of a delayed reaction to his last vaccinations a week ago, or he's teething a LOT of invisible teeth. Based on the little biting trick he pulled this morning, I'm leaning towards teeth! I just really hope it's not something like TEN at once!!!
Today was so fun...little boy had a great day. He refused his morning nap so was up until nearly 3 PM. He took a THREE hour nap afterward! I am currently uploading pictures to my Flickr account but for now I have a silly little camera video:
I can hardly believe it's been an entire year that I've known this little tiny baby
I can hardly believe that my little tiny baby has now grown up to a walking talking toddler
I can hardly believe that I haven't known you MY entire life, since I've loved you your entire life. Thank you for being my son. Thank you for restoring my heart and filling my soul with greatness and love. Thank you for letting me be your Mama.
