Happy Mother’s Day!

I think she is likely going to kill me, but perhaps after I explain to her that I HAD to blog about something and didn’t have anything, maybe she’ll forgive me!

My Mama

I’m gonna guess that she didn’t wear that to work (or any place my grandparents saw her!)

Speaking of my grandparents, this was my Grammy on Mother’s Day long ago.

And my Mom and her mom (my Grammy)

And me… I caught this fish while spending the summer with my grandparents. I remember being SO ANGRY because I wanted a picture taken of me with that poor little sunfish (you can barely see it on the end of the pole!) and because I didn’t see a flash, I didn’t believe my grandparents that they had taken one.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

Happy Mother’s Day Grammy,
I miss you every day!

Almost!

This is Oliver’s birthday present to me: he’s sitting up (mostly) by himself! (If you disregard the severe lean toward the front!)

Happy Birthday Vanesa!

It isn’t very often (at least not in my life) that someone comes along with whom you just click INSTANTLY.  That’s how it was with Vanesa.

I will never forget the first day I met Vanesa, just three short years ago. I walked into New Teacher Training for my current school district and remember thinking, “Man, she’s hot!” (And funny enough, she later told me that she thought the same thing about me and thought, Hmmm, maybe… And then I pulled out my knitting… )

We started training for two marathons together (started only because I didn’t finish, but she did BOTH TIMES!).

(She’s SMILING! and she just ran 26.2 miles!)

Over the last three years I’ve come to consider Vane one of my best friends. She has a great personality, a hilarious sense of humor (she loves poopie humor!), and is extremely thoughtful, kind, and generous. Thank you for all that and so many more things Vanesa. I hope you have a great birthday!

Hating Life

That has to be how this guy is feeling!

(Notice size of truck in comparison to the cars surrounding it!)

While We’re On Prom

On Saturday, this will have been me, 22 years ago…

Despite the pink bow tie and Cummerbund,  I didn’t come out for another 6 years!

Queen For A Day

err, well, actually more like 5 minutes…  And after being a queen for most of my adult life, I was actually a king!  (But only because Vanesa wouldn’t let me be the Queen…)

While chaperoning our seniors’ prom on Saturday night, my dear friend Vanesa and decided we should fulfill our respective adolescent fantasies of being Prom King and Prom Queen.

It was short-lived however as we had to give them back for the real Queen and King. But it was fun while it lasted.

Oliver is doing much better! Most of his spots are gone with just a few remnants on his legs and arms. Thanks for all the kind comments and emails!

Spot’s Spots

So when I signed up for this whole parenting thing, I clearly had no idea what I was getting myself into!

On Friday afternoon, I went to pick up Oliver from the sitter only to discover that he is covered from HEAD to TO with a rash!

The sitter said she had a friend over earlier and while she was holding him she saw a couple of spots on his cheek. They checked and he had them here and there. By the time I got there, he was pretty much covered. (These photos were a day later, when his rash had subsided a bit, it was much worse on Friday!)

On the way home, I called the Ped on call and she said it’s difficult to diagnose over the phone but that as long as it’s not affecting him (he’s not irritable or scratching, in pain, etc.) or his breathing (GASP!) it should be fine. I said I didn’t want to wait for it to affect his breathing and she replied that if it were her she’d bring him in to the ER.

Sigh…

UCLA ER on a Friday night… Need I say more?

Actually, I’m being dramatic (No, really?! I can’t help it, it’s part of my charm!) as it wasn’t that bad (except for the crazy woman who insisted she and her mother needed an ambulance so they could be taken to XYZ Hospital (which doesn’t exist!) because the lines there were too long and they were just trying to rip off her insurance company, etc. Oh, her mother was either really thin or invisible!).

Anyway, we were only there for maybe 2 hours which all-in-all wasn’t that bad.

After a brief check-up, the doctor told us it is some kind of virus that we can’t do anything about or for except wait. He advised that If he starts to itch, etc. we can put something topical on it. And if he gets a fever or stops eating, we should immediately go back to ER.

As a one of my friends, who is a mother said, “When they don’t know what it is, they say it’s a virus!”

Thanks to some very knowledgeable pals on one of the forums I frequent, I now know that it is called “Roseola” and that it does indeed seem to be a virus and that indeed there isn’t much we can do about it.

Today after his afternoon nap the rash was all but cleared up. But that didn’t keep me from giving him a nickname: Spot.

Playing Before Bathtime

Toldja!

Some Firsts (and One Second!)

Sorry for the inadvertent blog hiatus. I had every good intention of blogging last week and even got to work early to do so. And then Big Brother closed down the firewall/security thingie. ALL.WEEK.LONG! We couldn’t access anything, including, GASP! email!

(Anyone who knows me will know how much that hurt. Thankfully, I have an iPhone! So I could at least read my mail. But I pretty much hate typing for long on it, so I was worse than usual about replying!)

(I have no idea how that intro fits into the title, but I was so tickled with how the rest of what I want to say fit in, that I kept the title. Oh, I know! That is the first time I couldn’t access my email from work! )

The second first was this:

Oliver got his first tooth! (I know, I know, you can barely see it, but if you run your immaculately clean finger along his gum, you’ll feel it!)

And then on Friday, Oliver got sick for the first time! UGH! It started with a low-grade fever the day before and by Sunday it was up around 102 (102 point 4 to be exact!). Skeered the BEJESUS out of Daddy!

And of course the medical establishment didn’t seem to see it nearly as horrifying as I did.

Anyway, poor little guy was getting doses of Tylenol every four hours to keep the fever at a moderate level (I know, I know, fevers are good. And I let it go until it hit 102.4. Then my blood pressure couldn’t take it any longer and I caved. And honestly, I don’t think he liked it much either!).

Last night he was so congested (even with the Baby Vicks and the vaporizer with that inhalant stuff in it!) he couldn’t sleep laying down, so I sat in the rocking chair with him on my chest (I wish I could say that was a first, but that’s happened more times than I care to remember!). It was sweet for 5 minutes… But at least he got some sleep.

This morning I took him in to Urgent Care (I still don’t remember seeing any urgency while I was there, but maybe it’s me!) only to be told: he has his first cold. Quickly followed with, “Be prepared for it to happen 4 or 5 times a year for the next few years. (That made me check the warranty to see if it’s too late to return him for a full refund. It is.)”

I thought he was feeling a bit better today, but then tonight he ended up having another mild fever. Poor little guy!

Oliver got his first set of Made For Him clothes!

Believe it or not, it’s from an online friend whom I have never met!  She does wonderful work, go check out her items!  (Thanks Kathy!)

Um, another first: I made a set of bumper pads for his crib!

I found this luscious chenille and couldn’t resist making them for him (especially since he’s been getting his arm in between the bars and then crying when he tries to flip over but can’t). I just kind of winged it and this is what I came up with. Given the prices I’ve seen bumper pads selling for on Etsy, I may end up adding them to Oliver’s Twist!

And the second? Oliver’s first tooth is getting a friend. It hasn’t poked through yet, but I would imagine it will be here by tomorrow!