A Rough One

by Sarah on March 31, 2007 at 06:49
We started off this week with a doctor's appointment for Harry. He just wasn't getting better and his eyes were getting all crusty and runny. They were really bad on Monday morning, so instead of Travis taking him to Katrina's and going on to work, it was time to head to the doctor. Their phone system wasn't working to call in to make an appointment, so Travis just took him over there to see if someone could see him. Luckily, he got right in and they gave him some antibiotics. I was going to have his medicine filled at work, head home and take care of him so Travis could get on to work. As he was leaving the doctor's office, he got a call from Jamie. His Uncle Ed had passed away. He was 56.

To say we were shocked would be a gross understatement.

You probably remember me talking about our family trips to Gatlinburg. Uncle Ed was the one that orchestrated all of those. He was always so excited to do stuff like that. He also owned his own company that built racecars for the local speedway. Shortly after Travis and I started dating, I went out with them to the speedway and it was oneof the first times I had spent a lot of time around Uncle Ed. He teased us all night about how I was going to be the next member of the family. He was right! One of the things I have always liked the most about Travis's family is that they have always made me feel so welcome and he was a big part of that. We will all miss him so much! We know that he is in a better place, and hanging out with Travis's mom Trish and Heavy D.

While that has been the most trying part of our week, there have been other struggles as well! The medication the doctor prescribed for Harry causes diarrhea, and boy, did it ever! Poor Travis was really wondering if God was trying to test him, because as he trying to get ready for work on Tuesday, Harry was in the bouncy seat when the diarrhea hit. It got all over the carpet and the bouncy seat as Harry was happily bebopping away. So he had to try to clean up the carpet and give Harry a bath before he could get out of the house. It has also left the worst looking rash on his bottom that I have ever seen. Travis has also come down with a cold or whatever it was that I had and he almost lost his voice like I did.

Last night we did something that was kind of funny and definitely took our minds off things! We watched Aiden while George and Audra went our for their anniversary. It was a little hectic taking care of an 11 month old and a 4 month old, but it was a lot of fun! I had forgotten just a little bit about how difficult it was to take care of such a little one! This is the only picture I got around to taking this week...

 

What a group of monkeys!

We are very glad this week is coming to an end! We have just about had it with sickness and sadness. We are very much looking forward to Easter, our vacation coming up, and Harry's birthday! I am keeping the faith that things are going to be much better this week!

Our Little Sickie, Part Deux

by Sarah on March 23, 2007 at 06:49


Laying peacefully on the couch...he must be ill!



Mama can still make him smile, though!

Just when we thought it was safe to come out of the woods, the evil illness bugs have bitten us again! I'm pretty sure (okay, I know!) Travis is tired of me whining that I don't feel all that great still, and then when I picked Harry up at Mom's Wednesday night she reported that he did not eat or drink well that day and he was very warm to the touch. He had just woke up, so I thought it was from being snuggly in the blankie. However, he was still hot when I got him home. His temp was almost 100! All of my training tells me that isn't too bad, but when you're a relatively new mom, it strikes a little fear in your heart. So we've been doing the Tylenol/Motrin thing for a few days, and everything seems cool except for the awful, thick, greenish gunk that pours from his nose. Ewww. He's also a little more snuggly which is a good side effect of him being sick. I'd much rather have him well though!!

Excited to be Eleven Months!!

Harry passed the 11 month milestone last Saturday on St. Patrick's Day. I can remember exactly what Travis and I did St. Patty's Day 2006...Ben Folds concert, lots of fun. Little did I know what was in store for me exactly one month later! Travis also returned late that night from his business trip, and I was glad to kiss my single mom days goodbye for a while. Time to start thinking about that first birthday party!! Anyone have any magicians or ponies we can borrow??


Harry has only recently begun to be interested in books. I was getting a little worried...he just was not interested in sitting still long enough to hear a story. I guess he was very into being mobile. Anyway, I didn't press the issue too hard and now he has decided that he likes them. His top two favorites are probably "What Does Baby Say?" and "That's Not My Tractor". I swear sometimes he can say what the baby says before I lift the flap. Pure genius!! This morning while I was getting him changed and dressed he was getting fussy and non-compliant, so I said, Hey Harry, what does the happy baby say? Goo, he replied, to my amazement (the happy baby in the book says goo-goo)! He also usually tells me what the busy baby says before I lift the flap (uh-oh, in case you were wondering!). Such a little smartie.

Books are cool, I guess.

I have forgotten to mention the past few posts that Harry is developing a bit of separation anxiety. He doesn't totally lose it by any means, but he gets that crumpled up, bottom lip stuck out face whenever we leave him at Katrina's or the church's nursery. Strangely enough, he doesn't do it at Mom and Dad's house when I leave him there, because he's at Katrina's more than he is at Mom's. She says he is fine within minutes of us leaving. It's probably Harry's way of boosting our egos...he really does love us and miss us when we are gone!!
C'mon Harry...Teddy Grahams, goldfish crackers, I'll take anything!!

On Our Own

by Sarah on March 16, 2007 at 06:49
Travis should leave town more often! Just kidding, of course...but man, have I been productive tonight since Harry went to bed! I did some cleaning that doesn't get done very often (I even cleaned out the microwave!) and I am currently getting a head start on the laundry. I must be really bored. While Travis is out in LA, eating nice meals in the warm weather, I am home cleaning out the microwave. Hmmm, that should at least qualify me for a nice present, don't you think?? We have survived the first 24 hour period on our own with no major catastrophes. I worked today and Katrina had him for that period of time, so we'll see how it goes when it is just me and him for the next 2 days. The hardest times are still with diaper changes and getting the pj's on. He throws the biggest fit for some reason.

We are recovered from our illnesses for the most part. I had almost completely lost my voice Sunday through Tuesday, but it is almost back at full strength. Harry seems much better too, but I am still having him sleep with a humidifier in his room at night because I think it helped a lot. He is back to wolfing down bottles and food again, so I am very happy about that. It stinks when your kid isn't eating or drinking very much when you know that they need to get a lot of fluids at least! Thanks for the good vibes!



No, Mommy, I definitely did NOT get this out of the cabinet.

One good thing that has come about lately is that Harry is less obsessed with the dogs' food bowls and water (although he did manage to sneak in a piece today). However he has finally realized that he can get in the cabinets and does so constantly. I plan to get locks this weekend and hopefully con Dad into installing them for me. I kind of hate to because it is pretty cute how he does it. He usually opens it up, pulls out one item (like in the picture above), and closes the door. Sometimes he even opens it back up and replaces the thing he took out! I don't want him to hurt himself though, and it is kinda driving me crazy standing in the kitchen constantly while he explores what is behind every single door.

We are getting a little more adventurous with table food. This past week he had refried beans and rice at El Rodeo, yogurt, toast, mandarin oranges (loved those), and a big hit...grilled cheese! I wasn't sure if he would like it because everything I think he is going to like he doesn't. But it went over really well. I think that is what he will have for lunch tomorrow!



Yum, yum...grilled cheese!

We had a few really great days of weather here this week! It felt so good to get out without a coat and take some walks! Oscar and Callie were soooo excited to get out of the house! We even walked one day to the playground in the neighborhood and put Harry in the baby swing for a few minutes. He didn't seem too excited, but he was still pretty sick at that point so he might not have been very into it. Sadly, the good weather is over for now. It was pretty cold and rainy all day today. I am thankful, though, for the awesome weather we did have for a few days! It helped a lot with getting the winter blues feeling out of all of our systems!

Happy Birthday on Saturday, Nana! We wish we could spend it with you, but we'll see you in a few weeks! Also, Go Boilers in the NCAA tournament!! We love March Madness time around here!

Our Little Sickie

by Sarah on March 9, 2007 at 06:49


Yuck, I don't feel so good!

Our poor little fella has caught himself a nasty cold! Unfortunately I think he got it from his mama. We have been snot-filled, throat hurting, coughing, crabby beings this past week. It is hard work caring for a sick little one when you don't feel 100%; yourself! Our streak of not getting up in the middle of the night has been broken due to illness. He was up Tuesday night and Thursday night, which I don't blame him. I was having some trouble sleeping myself due to the stuffiness. He got so choked up in the bathtub last night that he threw up!! It was a good thing that he was already cleaned up. I feel so badly for him...I miss my spunky, smiley guy! Luckily as long as he gets his rest, he has been acting okay. Please keep him in your prayers for a speedy recovery!



New Dinosaur PJ's!

Monday was a hectic day for us. We got 6 rooms in our house painted! It was an awesome process. They got here at 7:30 am with a crew, and they were done with all of the rooms by the time I got home at about 4 pm. It was a bit on the pricey side, but well worth it considering it would have been 6 weekends worth of work for us! The 2 most shocking colors are the dining room (pumpkin) and Harry's bathroom (lime green). We were really happy with all of the colors...there is just something about getting your house painted after you move in to make it feel like it is really yours! Also on Monday, I headed out of the house at 5:45am with a baby and 2 dogs to head to New Castle for the day. Mom watched Harry since Katrina was on vacation, Oscar had an appointment to be groomed (he looks like a million bucks!), and Oscar and Callie had to get a booster for a new listeria vaccine that dogs have to get now. They all did fairly well...Callie hates riding in the car but she did better than I expected.



This is a funny picture I took of Harry last week. Note to self: never let baby feed himself small bites of a NutriGrain bar, especially when wearing white!! He got it EVERYWHERE!!

We are in the middle of an absolutely gorgeous day! It is in the high 50's and I swear it feels like it is 75 outside! When Harry wakes up from his nap, we might go take a walk just to get out. We went to eat lunch with Travis today and to our favorite kid's book store to get some new reading materials and the sunshine felt so great. Hopefully we are done with the extreme cold temps for this year. I started to get all excited about spring and summer today...Harry's first trip to the park, sitting in a baby swing, going down a little slide. It's gonna be so fun!





It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Harry Knevil

by Sarah on March 2, 2007 at 06:49


Yep, you guessed it. Harry has once again added on to his list of death-defying tricks. He can escape out of the ExerSaucer!! Travis and I were getting ready to eat dinner one night this week, and I put Harry in the ExerSaucer with a snack, turned around to get our trays, came back into the family room, and Harry was standing beside the ExerSaucer eating his snack out of the snack tray. What the heck??! That took less than half a minute! And he was in plain sight and direct earshot of both me and Travis!! The ExerSaucer is also on the highest lever. This makes me sad for many reasons. First of all, my kid did something very dangerous literally right under my nose and I didn't know it. Secondly, the ExerSaucer has been a great, entertaining, and (formerly) safe place to put him when I need to do something and can't hold him at the same time. I am so sad that our time with the beloved ExerSaucer is quickly coming to an end. Farewell, fine ExerSaucer, you have served our family well and would recommend you anyone!!



You parental fools have nothing on me!!

Just like I talked about in the last post about how Harry is going through this rapid changing phase, he has been surprising us so much this week. He is thisclose to walking (I think!). Not only can he stand by himself, he now bounces up and down and claps while standing there all by himself. Such a big boy! He has also been incredibly interactive. He mocks a lot of what we say and I even taught him to say Uh-oh! when he drops something. It usually comes out Uh-uh! but that is close enough to me! He also hounds us just like the dogs when we have something to eat. He follows us, saying Um??Um?? (translation: Please give me a bite! Your food is so much better than mine!) We are slowly venturing into more table food. Last night he had a few bites of pizza. At first I didn't think he liked it, he got that look on his face, but then he was more than fine with it after he got used to it. Pretty soon we will be completely off baby food. I just can't believe it all goes this fast!

Sleeping is still going phenomenally well! I can't even remember the last time he had to get up in the middle of the night! Just when I think I couldn't be more blessed with this child of mine...if only he would stop fighting me over the diaper changing and clothes changing thing! Just kidding--I'll take him any way he is!




Oh, no! Looks like the tickle monster is out again!