Prayers, please

Please say a little prayer for my best bud, Monica, and her baby today. They found a large mass in 10-day-old Anna's neck yesterday and they are now in ICU at Children's in Dallas trying to figure out what caused it and how to remove it.

Bettin' on a Neti

Ever seen one of these beauties? Alot of people claim it's changed their life. I tried it tonight but the jury is still out... apparently the benefit comes from long term use. DH thinks I'm crazy with my homeopathic remedies. If this little plastic pot might save me $60 a month in allergy meds.... I'm in.

Closer to Fine

In case you aren't yet tired of hearing about the T&A, Little M is doing considerably better as of Wednesday. I'd read on several forums that with the little ones, Day 10 is the magic number in the healing process... and it was. She has never been big on the eating thing so at this point I seriously think she is yanking ye ol' chain when she swallows a bite and clutches at her throat like I've just fed her razor blades for lunch. She just CAAAAN'T eat that tiny bite of chicken... but may she please have a piece of peanut brittle? The last item to be dealt with is going to be the separation anxiety it has provoked in her. She is terrified by the mention of leaving my presence. I can't help but think it has something to do with them taking her from me for the surgery and the next thing she knows she's in severe pain. I'd be scared to leave me, too. I promised her before the surgery that I would be with her the whole time.... I was told she'd be sedated before they took her from me and that turned out to not be true. So perhaps her trust in me has been shaken a tad. That just makes me want to cry!

So. Another FIVE days of stay-at-home-momness ahead of me because Monday is MLK and Tuesday is a teacher work day at M's school. In a way I guess this is good for me - occasionally when the schedule is hectic and I'm exhausted I think how much easier it'd be if I just quit working. NOT QUITE TRUE. Juggling work and motherhood is hard and hectic but I've found that the sense of balance it gives me keeps me sane. I met a stay-at-home mom yesterday who is one of those born-to-raise-kids kind of moms. She was at my office and we were discussing how many days a week our children went to preschool. I told her that mine had gone five days a week since they were two because I just couldn't keep them entertained at home. I immediately sensed a change in her tone - it was obvious by her response that she thought coming back to work was a cop out. I recall when I was staying home that I might have looked at it that way, too. But being on the other side, I see how much PATIENCE I now have with my girls.... I don't care what it appears to be. Now. I just have to remember that little soapbox the next time work starts getting to me!!!

White diet

Little M is proving to be true what I have suspected since my college days: one CAN exist on a diet of powdered donuts and marshmallows, alone. Sounds like a dream diet to me!

Miss M also informed me this morning that one CANNOT ever dance again after having their tonsils and adenoids removed (this AFTER we busted our butts to get to dance class for the first time in a month). I guess that explains why her Daddy dances like a chicken!! (Hi hon!)

Best Laid Plans....

Shame on me for planning! I should know better than that by now... when kids are involved, anyway. We stayed home all week last week while little M's throat healed up. She was doing great (thanks to Motrin, again) until sometime Saturday she stopped eating. From what I've been told the s-c-a-b-s (hate that word so much i can hardly spell it out) come off of the surgery site about 5-7 days post-op and there's alot of pain - so that's what I gather is going on. But I figured by this morning that she'd be up for going to school since it's been THREE WEEKS since the last time she went. We got up early, got all ready, even got all the way to school.... nope. nada. not even gonna consider it. She got really upset when I tried to leave her and I just couldn't bring myself to force the issue. Maybe we'll try again tomorrow.....

On another note, can I just say how much I love school uniforms?? I didn't even realize it until this morning - big O's 4k class won a contest at school and part of the reward is "free dress" for the entire week. That means I sent her off to school in one of her few non-uniform outfits for her to WALLOW (yes, that IS a word, thank you) in the dirt on the playground and most likely wear those cute little velour knees down to the backing. I suspect whoever made up said contest did not expect the 4k'ers to actually win. I also find it odd that they decide to have "tacky" dress day in the middle of "free" dress week. I can remember detesting "tacky" day even as a kid. What if someone who doesn't know the deal sees you and thinks you'd actually dress that way? Or what if you didn't dress up and someone thought you had? I dunno... it's like wearing two left shoes.... it just ain't right!

T&A

That would be T&A as in, Tonsils and Adenoids. But I admit, I did laugh when i saw that surgery description on little M's paperwork! After weeks of anticipation, we finally sealed the deal yesterday at 10am. Little M is now T&A-less. The doctor kept her overnight because of her size/age and it was every bit as TORTUROUS as expected. Ever tried to reason with a doped-up three year old? At 4am? Yeah, I now hate codeine. It did nothing for the pain and made her completely freaky. Motrin is LIQUID GOLD. We came home today, she had one dose and within an hour was asking for macaroni & cheese - we haven't been able to even mention food to her since yesterday. So the child that just 7 hours ago could barely speak because of the pain and drugs.... is now RUNNING around the house in a Cinderella wig and high heels. I love Motrin.

Inspiration

So. I've had this blog set up for quite a while and have been considering another attempt at actually, well... blogging. I even thought about making it a resolution. But then I remembered that I've never kept one of those. So better not call it that! A friend of mine just emailed that she's starting a blog and so I thought maybe I'd give it a shot as well.

So here goes nothing for 2008.....