The countdown begins
Today is a very exciting day for me as it begins the 1 week countdown to Brett’s 30th birthday. MUAHAHAHAHAHA. Listen lady, he has no idea what I’ve planned for him on our little trip and by golly will he be surprised.
I’ve vowed to provide him with a little song and dance each day he gets closer. Enjoy this love.
Today is Haiku day!
Just seven more days
Good news, I taught Cardin that
Daddy is Thirty!
Aging gracefully?
With Brett’s 30th birthday approaching quickly, I’ve been reminded lately of how we are aging. I thought I’d share with you the events, both previous and future, that have reminded me that I’m no spring chicken anymore.
1) In the summer of 2010 I got a Facebook message from one of my high school class officers that informed us our 10 year reunion was approaching and we should start planning this event to make it spectacular. Is it really possible that I’ve been out of Churchville for so long?
2) That summer I also celebrated my 5 year anniversary at work. My boss even got me a cake to mark the occasion and I was happy to accept the 5 weeks of paid time off that accompanied my anniversary. Not many 5 year employees’ can say that.
3) In November of 2010 Cardin had her birthday and we officially became parents to a terrible-twoer. One who has an attitude and talks back to us. I’m so looking forward to the teenage years.
4) Shortly before the holiday season of 2010 I went to a concert with some friends. That was sorta like I was reliving the awkward phase of middle school again. Except this time I wanted to go up to these kids and tell them that they were dressed WAY to inappropriately for their age. Most of these youngsters even had parents accompanying them to the concert and my friends and I noted that this would soon be us; embarrassing Cardin with our dance moves while she tried to melt into the wall.
5) On January 1st of 2011 my Dad officially retired from Eastman Kodak, a place he had worked at for some 33 years. The company will always hold special meaning to me as it was a place that allowed my parents to provide my brother and I with a solid educational foundation.
6) This month we found out that I’m going to be an aunt for the first time. My brother and his wife are expecting their first child in September, and while I’m super excited to spoil my new niece or nephew, it has made me realize that I’ll gain a new title. Hopefully I can live up to being the cool aunt.
7) In a couple weeks Brett will have his birthday and I’ll officially be married to a thirty-something guy. Albeit one that still plays video games and watches too much sports center.
8) Brett and I will celebrate 5 years of marriage this May and holy hell, who could have even imagined that the day he proposed. I’m grateful that we still make each other laugh and that there are times where we still surprise each other.
9) This fall we will also toast to 5 years in our home. It has really come a long way and I’m proud of the blood, sweat, and tears that went into making it a comfortable place for us to rest our heads. Plus, we get to stop paying mortgage insurance this year bitches!!!!
10) And the kicker…In November I will hit the big TWO NINE. The last year of my twenties. Unreal. It’s hard to imagine that we’ll be thirty soon. Spending time at parent teacher conferences and soccer games. Pretty soon we will start to lose touch with the happenings of the younger crowd and one day I’ll say something stupid like “SILLY BANDS. YOU KIDS ARE GOING APE SHIT FOR RUBBER BANDS THAT LOOK LIKE ANIMALS?”
Perhaps it’s not all downhill after 30. Maybe it’s just over another peak; one that includes laughter, good friends, and wine. I could probably make that work.
Brush your shoulders off
Cardin is still sick and we ventured back to the doctor’s office last night to find out that she had a double ear infection and croup now.
On a side tangent, she is only 2 years old and she knows that when the nurse calls your name, you go into the “weigh in” room and stand proudly on the scale so that an accurate weight can be taken. She even knows to stand quietly with the thermometer under her armpit. I’m not sure if it’s a relief that she is aware of this procedure or a concern that she’ s only 2 and has already figured out the logical steps to a doctor’s visit. This may indicate overexposure. I fear she is developing a weak immune system like her momma.
We went and got a new round of medication, one that will hopefully not produce her to swell to the size of a hot air balloon this time. Last time Macy’s called and asked if she would be available as a balloon for an upcoming parade…somehow I just can’t justify this explotation. I mean, this blog is probably enough.
In between bursts of the seal barking cough, she is also extremely congested and you can tell that she has an unusual build-up of mucus sitting on her chest. I imagine they look like those little green blobs in the mucinex commercials. Last night she started one of her coughing fits and got really agitated. We were unable to calm her down so I picked her up and she was putting her head on my shoulder when I suddenly felt her give a violent lurch and the whole back of my shoulder got a healthy dose of phlegm and vomit. Listen lady it’s not every day that you get to lift a vomit soaked shirt over your head.
Since she was still not settling down, I decided to walk out our front entryway onto the stoop to see if the cool air would help her lungs at all. This seemed like an excellent idea until I paraded through the vomit that had hit the floor. Also, I would like to note that this whole time, Brett was trailing behind me, like a chicken with its head cut off, holding out a highchair tray, at the ready to catch more puke.
Wait….it gets better.
We finally got her settled down and she fell asleep a short time later. About 11:30 she woke up in another coughing fit and couldn’t calm herself down again. Since she was laying down and gagging, I thought it would be in her best interest to get into a vertical position. I picked her up and she put her head on my left shoulder. (Note that the shoulder position is of upmost importance here). As I was rubbing her back trying to get her lungs to stop heaving in distress, the violent lurch reappeared and a sudden wet sensation began running down my left shoulder blade. OMG. STOP VOMITTING ON ME.
This latest round of mucus ejection seemed to do the trick and she quickly settled down. Being the kind hearted mother I am, I moved her head to my other shoulder so she would not have to lay in a trail of vomit. Mistake. Within seconds of switching her, the violent lurch reared its head again and now my right shoulder blade had a trail of phlegm decorating it.
Third time is a charm. Chalk that up as a night I got to lift to vomit filled shirts over my head. Yummy. You just can’t buy memories like that.
A Whale of a Tale
Yesterday was quite the day for us. It started at 6 am with a wind storm that was blowing small dogs around our yard. I’m not kidding, Toto was waving to me. I looked outside and noted that the garbage and recycling that was curbside had been strewn about the yard and down the street. I informed Brett that he would need to pretend he was Paris Hilton during her community service hours and pick up the garbage. I imagine this was a hard character for him to come to terms with. I was tempted to stand guard with a nerf gun, but the winds were so high that my trajectory would have been horribly arye.
I worked from home for a few hours as I had a scheduled visit for my yearly checkup at the Gyno’s office. What a fun way to spend Valentines!!! I sat in the waiting room at the doctor’s office for over an hour before I was even called into the exam room. I mean really….that’s an excessive amount of foreplay people.
Beyond the wind, the temperature was hovering at a lovely 40 degrees yesterday afternoon, which compared to previous weeks, was like a small heat wave. Not so much the case when I left work as the temperature had dropped 20 degrees, the wind was picking up, and my car seemed central to a snow squall.
Brett has been working overtime so supermommy has been hauling to my parent’s house to get Cardin after work. I’m convinced that the small percentage of the time when I need to pick her up I’m stuck behind a 97 year old white hair driver. Listen Lady, why are you driving? You cannot see over the steering wheel and your blinker is still on. You irritate me and when I honk your hearing aid is turned off.
Brett finished up his overtime hours later than expected but we were able to enjoy a very romantic dinner of hamburger helper; though I can’t say this concoction is much of an aphrodisiac. And then the seal barking began. And by seal barking I mean Cardin coughing with apparent croup like effect. It was though we were at the zoo. I almost started feeding her small sardines. Maybe I can teach her to balance a ball on her nose.
Poor kid can’t seem to catch a break. She’s been sick a couple times this year, once with an ear infection. Then we had the spotted leopard reaction due to the antibiotics. Now we are fighting off croup. The best part is that, for reasons unknown to medical science, the coughing gets worse at night. Perhaps it has werewolf like properties or is like the tide in that it’s mysteriously controlled by the moon. Either way I think that the next few nights will involve a lot of infomercials.
Oompa Loompa
Two weekends ago Cardin started with a cold. She was congested and had a runny nose. At first we treated it as a head cold, pumping fluids and rest, but it continued and wasn’t letting up. After a few days I brought her to the doctor’s office as it seemed like she may have strep since she was having a really hard time eating. Turns out she had an ear infection. This is only her second ear infection, which compared to me is miraculous, seeing as how I’m nearing 30 and still get them. I HAVE SENSITIVE EAR CANALS OK!!! It is because my ears are so tiny and precious looking.
Anyways, the doctor prescribed the typical amoxicillin and we went on our merry way to the pharmacy to get the delicious bubble gum flavored medicine that would fix said “boo boo”. After a few days on the medicine she seemed to be on the mend and the congestion had almost disappeared. Since I ALWAYS listen to doctors advice, we needed to continue the remainder of the medication until it was gone.
That is until last night when she blew up like an oompa loompa. I was taking off her shirt to give her a bath and noticed that she had a bright red spot on her stomach. Upon further analysis she seemed to have red hive bumps all over her body; under her arms, her thighs, small ones on her face.
While I was inspecting her for other bumps Brett walked into the room and was all “OMG, WHAT HAPPENED TO HER KNEES?” Up to this point I hadn’t even looked at her knees as I was so focused on playing connect the dots. When I gazed downward, her knees were swollen to 3 times their normal size. Listen Lady, Cardin is tiny for her age, so swelling to even 1 time as large is a significant difference and makes her look disproportionate. It looked as though softballs were on her kneecaps they were so GINORMOUS. I touched them slightly and they were even warm and red.
Brett’s immediate reaction was to go to the emergency room. This is not a trait we have in common as my reaction to a stressful event is far more controlled and planned. I have clear emergency action plans in place for these types of situations. For instance, there was a time when we were rousted during the night with lights and sirens outside our bedroom window. Before Brett could even make it to the window to determine the emergency, I was fully dressed and ready to evacuate the house if needed. I like to think that my planned reactions can be attributed back to the frequency with which I am presented with bodily injury.
Instead of a trip to the ER, I called the pediatricians office and talked to the doctor on call. He explained that it was likely an allergic reaction to the amoxicillin she had been prescribed for the ear infection and that it usually takes around 72 hours for any rash to appear. He told me to administer Benadryl every 4 hours and that should resolve the rash.
The knees had reduced in size slightly this morning, but when I called to check on her this afternoon the rash is continuing to spread. It will likely get worse before it gets better. Until that time we will be staying in our house so that it doesn’t look like I kidnapped an oompa loompa from the set of Willy Wonka.