MIA

It has been awhile since I have updated. There has just been an awful lot going on.

Last week, I had my first overnight business trip since HK has joined the family. I knew she would be all right, I knew that Justin would be okay, and I thought that I would be fine. Well, I did manage to make it through the one night I was gone without hysteria, but I actually did think a few times that I was going to have a full on panic attack. I was NOT expecting that at all-I really thought I would be ok, but I will admit that I was a little sad and panicked at being away from home.

So, the next week, I have my next overnight, but this time I am gone for 2 nights. Everything is going much smoother, until I swell up like a hot air balloon. Let me back up-I have been swelling for the past week and a half to two weeks, but I am just chalking it up to the fact that I have come off of prednisone and it is a reaction. Well, I called my doc from out of town just to see if I can get an appointment for the end of the week when I am home again. The doc FREAKS out and tells me to get to an urgent care clinic immediately. So, I proceed to go to an urgent care clinic, and they would not touch me-told me to go directly to the ER. OK-what in the heck???

So, I drive all the way home to Nashville and go directly to Vanderbilt ER. Justin meets me. They take me to triage and take my blood pressure-it is 160/103. Seriously. Not kidding.

The nurse puts that little plastic tube thing in my vein so they don't have to keep sticking me (typing this is actually making my body hurt at the thought of it). I kind of start to panic about the whole idea of the needles and the tubes, so my nurse reverts to her Peds (yes, as in pediatrics) schpeel...she tells me, "honey, it is all right. I am just going to put a magic straw in your arm!" Now really, unless that magic straw is connected to some magic White Zin, I want nothing to do with your magic straw business.

After 7 hours at the ER, and blood tests, which I am NOT.A.FAN.OF.NEEDLES.AT.ALL, I am ok. All the tests came back fine. They do think that it is a side effect of the prednisone because all of this started when I ended the meds. I will live to see another day.

I will be honest here-I would not have even gone to the doctor had it not been for something a man said to me as I was debating what to do regarding my cankles. We had just been talking about kids, and I had told him that I had a 4 month old little girl. He looked at me and said, "You need to call the doctor and do what the doctor tells you to do. It is not about you anymore. You have someone else to think about now-you have a little girl who needs her mother to be ok and be there. You have to make sure that you are all right. She is depending on you." Wow. That is some food for thought. This is a whole new ball game.

So, as I am typing this, my hubby, my mom-in-law and my dad-in-law are working in the front yard-weeding, mulching, trimming...For Justin's birthday, they gave him a day of yard work. He actually took them up on it. So, I should feel guilty about sitting here while they all slave outside in the heat. However, when Justin and I got a house, we made a pact that the inside is mine and the outside is his. And, this is his gift-this is between him and his parents. This has NOTHING to do with me. I just get the cold waters when requested, and I did make hot dogs, pasta salad, and grapes for lunch. Ah-but doctor's orders-I must keep my feet up!

Before I Was A Mom

Someone sent this to me today, and I wanted to share it with all the wonderful moms out there. Happy early Mother's Day!!!!


Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much...
before I was a Mom .

How Motherhood Changes You

We have all been sick for the past 2 weeks. YES-2 weeks. I have blown through-literally-boxes of tissues. Poor little HK is still stuffy. Justin did not run the marathon because of this lingering illness. Woe is me-I am tired of being ill. It is just a good thing that this whole pig sickness thing was not happening 2 weeks ago or I would have been convinced that we were swine flu victims.

So, we had our first outing yesterday evening since we have been house-bound for almost two weeks. Yes-we went to the mall. Parenthood sure does change things. We are getting ready to leave, and Justin tells HK that we are off to mom's old stomping grounds. I turn and look at him-I am truly perplexed. I am thinking, "We are making a stop at the bars?" I look at Justin and ask him what he is talking about. He says, "The mall." I responded, "Oh-I thought you meant that we were taking HK to a bar, and I was wondering when the plans changed." For the record, I was also thinking that I am NOT going to take her to a bar. This is a true story. Sad isn't it?

Then we are walking through the mall, and Justin says, "Where are you going to be? I need to run to the bathroom." My response? "Is it poop or pee?" Yes, these words just came out of my mouth before I realized what I was saying. He just looked at me and said, "OK-I am not HK, but if you must know, it is pee." Seriously, since when do I care about the specifics of his bodily functions? I don't now and I didn't before-it was just this new mom inbred response thing.

Oh-the joys of motherhood.

Havoc

So-I am paying bills this evening, entering each and every transaction into our monthly budget spreadsheet, when I come across the strangest entry. It reads "Havoc Heli NY."

See, Justin uses the credit card that pays you back a percentage for each charge. I use the airline card for points. Both good perks. We USED to only use the airline card, until they angered me. Angered is an understatement actually.

My mom told me that I could go anywhere for my 30th birthday. London, Ireland, Alaska-just her and me. I picked New York City. I have a facination with it. Maybe it is a Sex and the City thing, but I really love the feel of the city. Of THAT city. I had only been there twice before-once for work and once on a fantastic girls' trip with my mom in law and sisters. Both trips were just short enough to make me realize how much I was not able to do. So, I wanted to go back.

We shopped-we ate. In fact, we pictorially logged all of our meals. Here are a few of the highlights-

Found Grits in New York-and they weren't bad either!

Anyhoo-We also found Manolo. Now, you would think that the actual Manolo store would be adorned with roses and diamonds. Nope. In fact, I walked past it. It is a door with a little itty bitty sign-tiny sign. Seriously-I was looking for the store and walked past it. Have no fear, I found it after a bit of looking and did a little bit of damage. It was in doing this damage that the credit card people made me exorcist angry. They DECLINED my card in the middle of Manolo Blahnik. YES THEY DID. Why you ask? They thought the card was stolen. Now, you might think this is a nice perk-they look out for you as a customer of theirs. NO NO NO NO!!!!! I was in Target the week before (I am an equal opportunity shopper) and purchased an electronic for $400, and they declined the card then because they thought it was an excessive amount for a GROCERY STORE. WHAT?!?!?! Guess what credit card genius people? Target only started selling groceries-they have sold other things for a long time, including electronics. After 15 minutes on the phone in the check out line at Target verifying every county I have ever lived in, they allowed the transaction. So, I made a point to call and let the credit card company know that I would be in New York and that it was indeed my little self making purchases.

So, when they declined the card at Manolo, I politely excused myself to the loveliest court yard in the back of the store-yes...there is an actual little garden there!!!!...and yelled at the credit card people. It took 45 minutes and 3 phone calls for the transaction to finally go through. Talk about mortifying. Especially when a girl came in and tried on 4 pairs of shoes and told the sales clerk to send them home and pranced out. What a life. I want to go to her home and live in her closet undetected. Even after this debacle, the card was still declined at most other stores-Olive and Bette's, French Connection, Brooks Brothers...it just did not stop. So, I made sure to find a new credit card company when I got home. But, then I had a hard time giving up the airline miles. I mean, if I was not earning points, how would I get back to my favorite city to visit but not live in? So, I told myself that if it happened ONE MORE TIME, I would cancel the card. Guess what? It has not happened again-not even when traveling. I truly think they were testing me-messing with my account-so they could use my phone calls as training tools for the new folks. "Here is how to handle a completely indignant, irate customer who is being denied the most fabulous shoes in the world."

The WHOLE point of this is that Justin uses one card and I use another, and that is how that came about. So-I find this charge on his card and am very curious-he tends to be a pretty predictable charger-it is all food. And, not all kinds of food, but the same food. He eats the same things over and over and over again.

I put the description "Havoc Heli" into the google search bar. Up come these ads for this tiny little remote controlled helicopter. Seriously-this cannot be something that Justin ordered. I have never heard of this thing, and he is not a 10 year old boy. He is 34 years old and JUST had his birthday. He did NOT mention anything about wanting a Havoc Heli for a gift. The card must have been stolen. It had to have been. We are officially the victims of identity theft. We will be telling our story on tv one day. It will be about how I had to sell my Manolos to make money to cover the charges from our identity theft nightmare. We were sucked dry by people buying toys.

So, Justin gets home and I ask him, "Did you order something called a Havoc Heli?" I just know that he is going to tell me no or tell me that it is something for the yard and NOT really a mini helicopter. He just looks me right in the eye and says, "Yes." HUH? He continues, "Someone at work had one and it was the coolest thing. So, I ordered one." REALLY? First of all, what in the heck are you people doing with mini helicopters at work? Do you work in the 2nd grade at perpetual PE class? His eyes got HUGE, and he asks "Did it arrive!!??"

I say, "You just had a birthday" He says, "Yes, but this is something I wanted to do for myself. It is my birthday gift to myself."

REALLY......well, if that is how we do things.

Did I mention that my birthday is next month?

Gab Fest

See-I told you that she has no idea she does not feel well. Here we are after having a diaper change. She just wanted to talk and talk and talk and talk. She gets a little shy when the camera is on, but she warms up to it. I just couldn't resist-I thought it was too funny and too cute! It is 2 minutes long-and no, she does not do anything completely different at the end-it is just a little example of some chat time. I will have to try and catch her when she is not trying to figure out what the camera is.

Dreams, Dog Puke, and Tylenol

Apparently it is the time of year for sickness. For the little ones, that is.

By little ones, I am referring not only to my little 3 month old but also to the 7 year old fuzzy baby. Yes, the dog ate a bone. You know, most dogs chew on bones-not mine. He actually ate the entire beef bone. A large beef bone. In less than 10 minutes. Gone. I only discovered that he ate said bone because of the small shards of bone he left behind as evidence of his stealthy bone stealing. He took the bone from Ollie, who chews on it as a dog should, and ate it out of doggie spite so that Ollie could not have it. He is not the most gracious dog guest.

So, 6 hours later-let the puking begin. And again 12 hours later. In our bed. Between Justin's legs. Needless to say, I discovered that the dog was throwing up because Justin woke me up-screaming. I won't go into any more details other than to say that we threw the sheets in the bathtub-it was the only logical thing to do at 5:15 am.

So, I called the vet-and they made me rush him in. Apparently they were worried about an "obstruction." Well, I could have told them that he did not have an obstruction-it was all coming out JUST FINE all over my house. But, better safe than sorry. So, over $200 later, he has to take 3 different meds a day and eat bland food. WHICH, he is not happy about. He is quite a food connoisseur.

Then, I am feeding HK this afternoon, and I think that she feels a little warm. Yep-she has a fever. 100.2 to be exact. Problem is that Justin calls for advice-his mom and the doc-and tells them that she has a fever of 102-NOT 100 POINT 2. Big difference. Luckily, she has NO IDEA that she does not feel well. She is laughing and cooing...just happy happy!

So, the dog is fine, and HK is napping and taking infant Tylenol. Then, the phone calls from Granny begin. She had a dream and needs me to look up the interpretation in my dream book. I have no idea why she knows that I have this dream book, but she frequently calls me for interpretations. Sometimes I make them up - but I only do that if I look up the actual interpretation and it is something that I don't want to tell her.

For instance, her last dream involved her breaking her left arm. Dream interpretation:

To dream that your arm has been injured, signifies your inability to care for yourself or your helplessness in reaching out to others. You may have been feeling limited and restricted in terms of your freedom or activities. Your left arm signifies your supportive or nurturing nature and is associated with feminine qualities. (http://www.dreammoods.com/dreamthemes/bodyparts.htm)

Well-I am NOT going to tell my 87 year old granny that! So, the interpretation became:

To dream that your arm has been injured signifies your desire to reach out and help others because you are supportive and nurturing and you feel like you have not been doing a good job at helping others. You are very happy.

She lives with my parents, so any time a dream could possibly be construed against my mom, I alter it. One time a dream of hers meant that she felt trapped in her surroundings. That one also got changed to something along the lines of - you feel very happy where you are and well cared for. See-everyone is happy in the end.

So, dreams, dog puke, and infant Tylenol.......welcome to my world.

New Items I Love

So, I just feel like I don't have a lot to blog about lately. I mean, I can tell you all about our CRAZY Easter of hopping from one house to another, one meal to another, but let's face it-that is really not all that exciting.

So, I think that I will tell you all about my favorite picks for the week. Baby items that you must have...

First of all, let me remind you that I am NOT a germ-a-phob. I am trying to become one, however. So, I am in LOVE with the Germ Guardian Nursery Sanitizer. I can put in toys, pacifiers, whatever.

HK just turned 13 weeks old-can you believe it?? So, Easter candy is not quite appropriate for her basket (but it IS for her mother's). So, I got her Babycandy instead! If I could monogram EVERYTHING HK has and wears, I would. I am trying to convince her Geeg to buy a monogramming machine thing. This little onesie comes packaged up like a piece of candy with a nutrition label on it. And-it has a little "H" on the necklace. http://www.babycandystore.com/

AND-we all know that I have a shoe thing. Some may consider it an obsession. My cousin sent me this link, and I am now blaming her for enabling my "hobby." These are the CUTEST baby shoes in the world - http://www.graciousmay.com/ They will even make adult sizes for you!!!!!

HK is really long, and she is outgrowing so many of her onesies and other snap clothes in length, so I found these add a size garment extenders on my favorite website- www.onestepahead.com These add length and lifespan to one piece outfits. I mean, how much more economical can I possibly be?

So, there you have it. My MUST HAVES for the week! Enjoy!!