All the Sun For You

A mom, two boys, a husband, and a whole lot of adventure!

Monthly Archives: November 2012


by 12 Comments

Good Things

Things have been rocky over here with a fussy baby who doesn’t feel well, and seems to be teething again.  But you know, with the bad, comes the good.  When things are rotten, I tell myself that things can’t go anywhere but up, right?

Right?

😉

The day did not start well.  We have no idea what was wrong, but our poor boy woke up at 6:50 just hysterical.  He cried for almost an hour and B and I took turns holding him.  He seemed to be having a night terror, but it wasn’t the right time of day (or point in his sleep cycle) for that to happen and I’m thinking he just woke up too dang early with sore gums.  He shook his head, “no,” to everything for at least 30 minutes.  Milk?  No.  Fruit pouch?  No.  Ibuprofen (which he loves)?  No.  Toys?  No.  Kitty?  No.  Pillow?  No.

You get the idea.

He finally relented and let me give him some ibuprofen and then wanted his milk.  YAY!  And then?  The coolest thing happened!  He ran out of milk, and as he was sitting on the fireplace ledge shaking his cup, I asked, “do you want more?”  I didn’t sign it – I just verbally asked.  He put his cup down and signed “more.”  Holy crap!  THAT, right there, made me forget the entire first hour of our morning!  I was so excited – I ran back to tell B all about it!!!  At breakfast this morning, he did the same thing when I asked if he wanted more bananas.

Cue a sentimental tear from Mama!

This week started the next session of Zoo Tunes which Matthew loves more than… well… anything!  I think he loves it as much, or a little more than, his gymnastics class, so I’ve been looking forward to this since last week.  Today, the critter of the week was a fancy cockroach which really made me a bit sick – but he loved it.  He reached right out for it and pet it “like a kitty.”  That’s how we describe being gentle to him, “touch it like a kitty.”  I totally forgot that his bestie, Hailey, would be at Zoo Tunes with her (awesome!!) grandpa so that was the best surprise of the morning!  And then?  In walked his gym classmate, Avery!  Wahoo!  Matthew shared my lap with Hailey and we had a great time!  We then walked around the zoo with Hailey and her grandpa and visited the lion, the tiger, the sea lions, the penguins, the otters, and the bald eagles.  Super fun!

I started watching the end of the third season of “Glee” yesterday and I forgot how happy that makes me.  I love, I mean LOVE, watching talented people sing.  I am insanely envious (in a good way) of people who can sing and dance their hearts out!  This is why I used to love going to a good karaoke night at a local bar, especially ones with prizes for the best performance.  I had a friend in Chicago who was CRAZY talented in the music department (piano, singing, you name it!) and we would go cheer her on as she won $400 cash prizes month after month.  Total bliss for me!  I don’t make it to karaoke nights much anymore (it’s been years) so “Glee” is the next best thing and I LOVE it!

I picked up my favorite watch which I’ve had since 2000.  It was my first really big purchase for myself and I’ve loved it since the day I got it.  We took it in for a new battery a couple of years ago and the jeweler convinced us to take a link out to make it fit better, but it never fit the way I wanted after that so I stopped wearing it.  I took it in three weeks ago for (yet) another battery and asked them to put the link back in.  When I got home with it, I realized that they took (yet) another link out.  Sigh.  I finally picked it up yesterday with all the links put back in and I love it.  I felt so happy to have it back.  I feel so good having it back on my wrist where it belongs.  I never thought a stupid watch could make me so freaking happy!

And then there’s, “Curious George.”  Oh my God – we (all three of us) are in love with “Curious George” in this house!  We noticed last week that when Matthew wakes up right after 7:00, he enjoys his milk in bed with Mom and Dad when we turn on PBS and catch a bit of the monkey.  We lost our “free” cable this week but “Curious George” is on Netf.lix Instant View so we watch CG a couple of times a day now.  It doesn’t draw Matthew in like a zombie, but it gives him something to dance to and watch when he’s hanging out in his chair or in bed with us.  He especially loves the opening credits and it’s precious – it makes me very happy!

The biggest thing to make my heart happy, lately, is my decision to start seeing a counselor.  It’s no secret that I function completely differently from B’s family, and he and I communicate very differently because of that.  I need some coaching on how to communicate with him and his side of the family.  I’ve found myself spending WAY too much time worrying about this, or that, upcoming conversation (namely, our pregnancy announcement, holiday planning, and whether or not I’ve done something to upset B) and getting wrapped up in things that haven’t even happened yet.  This has always been my “cue” in the past that I need some help.

I need some coaching – and I’m going to get it.

I need to have someone listen to me and validate, or not validate, my feelings and actions.  I love therapy – I love life coaching – I love self-improvement and being self-aware.  And I haven’t done any of that lately.  I have not improved myself, or our marriage – and it’s time for me to really give those things my focus.  Right now – I need counseling and coaching and I’m very excited about it!  I got a referral from my friend who I truly believe is the happiest person I know – she is very happily married (after much work on both of their parts) and when people talk about “not knowing anyone who is completely happy,” I think in my head, “I know someone like that.”  I texted her for her counselor’s name and the guy is in our medical network, so I will setup an appointment today.

Good things.

Good things are happening!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

(Oh, and I POAS-ed again yesterday out of sheer anxiety.  Peeing on that made me feel very relaxed.  That’s just so weird, isn’t it?!)


by 9 Comments

The Monday Snapshot – Spikey!

From the day Matthew was born, we’ve spiked his hair down the middle like a mohawk.  One of the nurses in the hospital did it and we fell in love with it – it was so cute and gave his hair lots of volume when it would eventually lay down.  Brushing Matthew’s hair was one of my favorite things to do when he was tiny, and he loved having his hair brushed.  He doesn’t love it like he used to, but he still likes it plenty and lets me spike it after every shower or bath.  The spike doesn’t last long now that his hair is filling in, but when it’s there, I just love it!  I rarely catch it in photos so when I do, it’s special  🙂

This is part of PAIL’s Monday Snapshot….hop on over and check out the featured blogger….


by 16 Comments

Ruined for Nothing

I’ve had a hard day – I mean – the type of day that brings you to your knees.  It all started yesterday, actually, when Matthew’s cold was getting obviously worse and we had a major diaper situation at a restaurant over lunch.  It was not good and our return home was even worse – and neither of us really ever recovered.  Matthew’s cold got worse by the hour and I didn’t get to rest at all until he was in bed.  It was exhausting.

So yesterday was hard, but today was almost impossible.  Matthew feels even worse and is showing it.  He’s actually a really good “sick baby” and still sleeps through the night until his normal wake-up time, but it’s not as good of a sleep so he wakes up cranky.  He was cranky all day and even though he had a 2.5 hour nap, it wasn’t a good nap due to his cough.  He woke up 3 times and cried a bit.  It was heartbreaking.  Dinner was a challenge because he doesn’t want to eat solid food right now, which makes me think he has a sore throat.  Matthew threw his chicken at me from the moment I put it in front of him and even refused his grapes, which he usually devours. He had only cottage cheese and veggie pouches tonight for dinner – which I’m ashamed of.  He’s a sad baby  😦

To make the day worse, I got a bill from Medi.a.com for $264 even though we cancelled service on 10/11 and paid in full before that date.  I absolutely lost my shit over this because we even have receipts saying we owe them nothing – and calling to talk to them takes a freaking lifetime.  I spent 10 minutes on hold (shorter than I expected) and then talked with the gal who insisted on talking with B since it was his name on the account.  I explained to her that she would much rather discuss this with me because he hates them more than I do – so she talked to me.  I swore on the phone – not my proudest moments, but I am so sick of this cable company screwing everyone simply because they can.  I swore several times.  It wasn’t good.

So I’ve had a rough day… and it was after the call with Medi.a.com that I realized why I was in such a bad mood.

It wasn’t Matthew’s crankiness.

It wasn’t the Medi.a.com bill (even though, HOLY HELL, that made my mood way worse).

It wasn’t my lack of rest.

It wasn’t because B is out-of-town tonight.

It was because I needed to give myself my own PIO shot for the first time (aside from the three I did in my thigh while pregnant with Matthew and OMG that was a mistake.  OUCH!).

I watched a couple of videos during the day, trying to get pumped up for it, but the videos scared me even more.  I was trying to figure out who I would call to do my shot.  The neighbor next door who is a nurse?  My friend who did all of her own?  My friend’s husband who’s a doctor?  B’s coworker’s husband who’s a nurse?  I would have felt bad springing my need on any of them, so I wondered if I should suck it up and do it myself.

I watched Keikos’ video and read through the comments.  I noticed that Shelley commented a few weeks ago that she had to do her own PIO shots because her husband would be out-of-town.  So… I emailed her.

I just love this community!  Shelley emailed me back right away with a step-by-step description of what to do.  I read it, and thought, “you can do this.”  She was so helpful and pumped me up so much – to the point that I just wanted to get to it so I could say it was done!

I did it.  And it was no big deal.  It did not hurt.  There was no blood.  I didn’t throw up.

(But my hands were still shaking a bit afterwards.)

An entire day ruined for nothing!

 

 

 

 

 


by 16 Comments

Quick Roadtrip to See Some Good Friends!

B, Matthew, and I headed down to KC last Friday for the Micr.osoft Surface launch, which gave us another chance to meet up with Steph, JJ, and Chloe!  When B asked if we wanted to make the trip with him, I told him to first let me check with Steph to see if they’d be in town that weekend.  I have my priorities  😉

Matthew woke up on his own just a couple of minutes before we were going to wake him, so it worked out perfectly.  He was in a great mood – I think he knew he’d be seeing Chloe later in the day!  The drive was fantastic and Matthew danced in his chair the entire way.

We went to the launch and spent a couple of hours at the mall.  It took a long time to get into the store to make the purchase, but they had a huge touchscreen out front hooked up to the Kinect which entertained the kids – specifically my kid!  He and his buddy, Cade (the son of B’s coworker) had a great time together and Matthew tolerated his stroller the entire time.  I still cannot believe that.

We ate at Fi.ve Gu.ys and Matthew had his first hot dog (all beef), which he loved.  We love that place, even if it is a heart attack in a paper bag.  B’s coworker then headed back to Iowa and we headed to the hotel for a nap.  Steph and Chloe met us for dinner and we then came back to the hotel to swim.  That was fun, but cold.  It was so cold!  Steph noticed that Matthew’s lips were a little blue right before we got out of the pool.  The kids loved hanging out before and after swimming, listening and dancing to music and checking out the cars and trucks going by on the darkened street out the window.  It was fun to watch!

We did have an accident after Steph and Chloe left.  I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and B was getting Matthew’s jammies on.  Matthew was enjoying his naked time so B grabbed the camera to capture the fun.  Matthew, for the first time, climbed onto an ottoman  in the room and positioned himself to stand up.  I had come out at this point and was surprised that this was being allowed (B is a “safety cop” – HA!) but figured it was fine.  Just then, he fell off the ottoman from a standing position and landed on his back.  He was not hurt but he was terribly frightened.  I scooped him up faster than I’ve ever scooped him before and he was so shook up that he peed on me.  Poor baby.  But we both got cleaned up, snuggled before bed, and had a great night of sleeping in the hotel.

The next day we met Steph, Chloe, and JJ at a bounce place and the pictures tell that story 🙂  The babes had a ball!  We had Matthew’s first incident of not wanting someone else snuggling his mom as I cuddled Chloe.  He ran over and tried nudging her away.  We don’t want him nudging other kids, but it was cute because he’s never possessive of his mom – it made me smile  🙂  He quickly got his hug and went on his merry way with Daddy.  We spent 2 hours there!  I’ve never spent 2 whole hours somewhere that totally entertained Matthew.  We will be going to a similar place here in town soon!  We then went to a place for lunch that had model trains deliver your food (no kidding) and even though the kids were tired, that kept them completely entertained the entire time.  It was hard to get these two good eaters to eat with all the commotion!

It was a great little road trip for one night and it’s always super fun to meet up with Stepp, JJ, and Chloe!  They’re lucky we don’t live near them or we’d probably never leave them alone.  HA!  🙂

This slideshow requires JavaScript.