Back to Normal

Aric went from this:

Back to this:

It is wonderful to have him acting like he normally does. Well, if having a home that looks like a tornado went through it can be deemed "wonderful". He's my little tornado, though.

Aric is still working on his walking. He can walk, he just prefers to hold on. Ryan and I are still working with Aric on walking on his own. It has been challenging, but we are seeing improvements in his confidence as he has started to let go and walk towards toys and other objects. Before he would only walk with prompting between the two of us.

We aren't doing much better in the picky eating department. We're offering him a range of foods and most of them end up on the floor. I'm confident that one of these days he'll actually start eating something, especially since eating bananas and sweet potatoes started the exact same way. Right now we're working on weaning him from formula to whole milk. At least the milk isn't ending up on the floor, well the sippy cup is, but that's for different reasons.

It's hard to believe how much Aric has changed in the past year. I feel so blessed to be his mommy.

First Birthday

Aric had a good first birthday, despite still being sick from his ear infection. It started out with a mundane trip to the grocery store. Not fun, but it was our weekly trip. The fun part is that Aric is now big enough and old enough to ride in his car seat facing forward. He seemed to enjoy being able to see where we were going. Later on Ryan and I took him to the local zoo, which was just the right size for his attention span. (It's a very small zoo.) We rounded out the evening with presents (which are all loud and noisy, Ryan and I think everyone must hate us), cake and lots of play time. It seemed to be a good birthday overall.

Sick Again

Aric is sick again and Mommy is a little bit annoyed. Not at Aric, of course. How could you be annoyed with someone who looks this pathetic?

A week ago today we suspected that Aric might have an ear infection. I took him to the doctor, who confirmed it, gave us some antibiotics and told me that Aric should be improved within 48 hours. By Thursday Aric was still not feeling well and was still holding his ears. I called the doctor's office and spoke to the nurse about it. Contrary to what the doctor said, she told me that sometimes it takes awhile for the antibiotic to kick in and if he was still not feeling well by the beginning of the week to call in again.

This morning Aric seemed fine. I dropped him off at daycare and by 10:30 Autumn had called to tell me we needed to get Aric because his temperature was 101.9. Ryan picked him up and took him to the doctor this afternoon. She gave us a different antibiotic to try and said he still had an ear infection.

I'm annoyed with the nurse. Had she made an appointment on Thursday to have Aric seen again the doctor would've been able to tell that Aric's ear infection was not healing and we might not have reached this point. I guess they need better communication in that doctor's office.

**Note- This is in no way a bad post about nurses. I know and am related to too many nurses to believe they are incapable. I'm more annoyed that the nurse and doctor at Aric's office weren't on the same page as far as when he should be brought back in. And maybe that was partly my fault for not pushing more last Thursday when I called.

What a Week..

I think of weeks in relation to my days off. It may only seem like Wednesday night, but to me it's Friday.

I started off the week feeling tired from watching that 9 yo last week. She was good, but needed constant entertaining. Never again- I keep saying to myself. I just started this past work week off too tired and feeling too behind in everything.

About a week ago we found out my in-laws were coming for a visit. They'll be here tomorrow night and plan on staying until Sunday. It's not a long visit and I certainly won't mind seeing them, however, it has sent Ryan and me into overdrive trying to get things done. The guest bedroom was full of junk from our newly cleaned out and repainted family room. There was no a/c set up in the guest bedroom and last week the weather was hot. Ryan worked hard on setting up one of our portable units in the room and putting away the junk. Of course it cooled off this week and the highest forecasted temp is 83. We also decided now was the time to re-caulk the bathtub. No, we don't do that for all the company that comes for a visit. The caulk was pulling away and cracking and really needed resealing. I wasn't happy doing it at the time, but as a friend pointed out now I won't have to do that closer to my due date or after the baby is born. I still have laundry to do, bathrooms to clean, floors to sweep and mop and all before tomorrow night. Tonight I'm too tired to attack any of that.

In the midst of all of that, Aric came down with an ear infection. I took him to the doctor on Monday. He's on antibiotics, but still isn't back to his normal, happy self. It's a shame that he became ill this week since it is his birthday week.

One year ago tonight, Ryan and I were trying to figure out what name to give Aric, since the name we had picked out wasn't going to work. One year ago tonight I was making sure my bag was ready for the next morning. One year ago tonight I was anxious to meet the babe growing in my belly. It's hard to believe that it's been a year already.

Tomorrow we have a fun day planned. Hopefully the weather will hold and we won't be rained out. A first birthday is a big deal...

Spoiled

After my shower in the morning, before I get dressed and dry my hair I like to sit down, read my e-mail and catch up on the news. It's a peaceful start to my day. More often than not this is what I see when I arrive at the computer:

My sweet husband turns on the computer and leaves a cup of coffee waiting for me. I feel loved and a little bit spoiled. Though, now that I look at the picture I think maybe I should be dusting more.

Catching Up

Aric started walking on Thursday. He's only walking a couple of steps and still leans towards crawling. Ryan is thrilled that Aric learned to walk before he turned 1. It will only be a matter of time before he wants to walk all of the time. Now that I think about it, it will only be a matter of time before he's running everywhere.

The last two days I watched a coworker's 9 yo daughter. I am so thankful that we are given infants who nap before we are given 9 year olds. She wore me out with her constant need to be entertained. I went back to work today and feel as though I didn't have the past two days off. It was truly an exhausting time.

I received news from my work this past week regarding my request to work part time after I have the baby. They denied the request based on not wanting to set a precedent. Never mind that there have been three prior employees who have set the precedent. Frankly it has made me a little bitter with my employer. I have witnessed first hand how they are more concerned about themselves rather than their employees. With this news comes big changes. My supervisor offered me a time slot of Thurs-Sun 6pm- 4am. Ryan and I have decided to accept it. It will be hard for awhile, but it will allow me to stay home during the week and for us to reach a position of financial stability. Then I will be able to quit or find something better suited to our schedules. I haven't told my supervisor yet about my decision, Ryan thinks she needs to sweat it out a bit. Honestly I don't know when the change will start. It'll be sometime before the end of the year, but there is a possibility that it might happen before I have the baby.

Healed

Yesterday I had my follow-up/20 week ultrasound to check up on the baby and the abruption. The tech could find no sign of the abruption. The pocket of blood is gone and the placenta is attached to the uterine wall again. We prayed for healing and it was amazing to see the answer to that prayer. The baby is healthy and doing really well in there. She is also still a girl.

I've had many emotions going through me since we found out about the abruption. Frankly, I was scared to death that I was going to lose this baby, too. I was detached from her for awhile, because I didn't want to go through the loss of another child. It's too hard to remain detached from someone who is kicking and wiggling around inside of you, though. Yesterday, I fell in love with her.

The tech asked Ryan and I if we planned to come back for a 3D ultrasound. (They installed the machine shortly before Aric was born. We never had the opportunity to see him with a 3D ultrasound.) I told her that we hadn't talked about it. The truth is that we think there are better ways to spend that money on the baby (i.e.- cloth diapers and a crib), and we don't want Aric upset with us someday about not getting a 3D ultrasound of him. (Are we already thinking like parents of more than one child?) I digress. The point is that the tech flipped over into 3D mode and we were able to see our daughter's face. She is beautiful and I fell in love. (I should clarify- she is beautiful until she moves and then it looks like her skin is melting off. 3D ultrasounds can give you some weird moments.)

I really can't wait to meet her...

Oh and if you didn't notice the countdown, my due date has moved up. They think she's due the 17th, which is more on schedule with the dates I was given to decide when to have her. We were thinking Thursday, maybe Monday would be better!