Ear infection. Number four or number five, depending on who you ask. I say five, the doctor says four, but that four has been going on for TWO MONTHS. Either way, it's not fair to Llama that she continues to be in pain and have her hearing impaired.
Out of the entire practice, there is one pediatrician that I don't like. He calls me "Mom," instead of Heather or Mrs. Bucket, and he's old and he scared Hawaiian Punch when SHE was a kid, so he's extra scary. He also dismisses my concerns and I feel like he's accusing me of things when he asks me questions. But when you call for a sick appointment, you get what you get and you don't get upset (yep, preschool logic reigns here in the Llama house). Anyway, I again brought up my concern that this many ear infections, or this one ear infection that's lasted for this long, whichever... neither is acceptable and I asked for an ENT referral. Instead, he gave me a prescription for an antibiotic that didn't work last month and said that if it didn't work this time, he'd give me the ENT referral.
Okay, so we're going to repeat something that was ineffective. In hopes that, for some reason, this time it will be more effective? I read once that the definition of insanity was repeating the same actions over and over again hoping for a different result. Well, apparently we're insane.
Llama loves medicine. I guess that's a good thing, since she hasn't really gone a night without medicine in months.
Monday, May 4, 2009
There are days when I question...
What the HELL am I doing?
I mean, I'm in school full time. I have an interview for a job on Thursday that will, in all likelihood, be my new full time job. I'm obviously Llama's mama on a full time basis. Our house, because it is so small and has such a dearth of hiding places, always seems to be a pig sty. My husband is an awesome guy, the best dad, and incredibly supportive of my educational endeavors. But when I'm on break, as I am right now, he feels like HE is on break from the full time dad gig. Friday, he and Llama and I went out to dinner by ourselves, like a nice little family. Then on Saturday, he went to his fun second job (it was opening day at Kennywood!) and then came home to go to a wedding with me. (More on that in a second, Llama had her first sleepover!) And on Sunday, he went to a pinball show four and a half hours away and came home just in time to eat dinner at his parents' house.
Did I get the bathroom cleaned while he was on his happy fun weekend? No, I did not. I can't clean the bathroom with Llama in it, because she wants to taste the toilet brush and "help" me by grabbing the sponge and the cleaner. It scares me. Remember the vanilla debacle? The kid will drink anything.
This morning, I decided that the bathroom HAD to be cleaned, even though Llama was at my feet. I figured I would just keep redirecting her, right? Wrong. She is not a child who is easily redirected. Tampons? Loves them. Used razors in the garbage? Loves them too. Will she switch her attention from the unsafe razor to the safe (albeit not my perfect choice of toy) tampons? No. Will she sit in the hallway and play with some other, safe and approved toy? ABSOLUTELY NOT. So I had to close the door on her, leaving her in the hallway and me in the bathroom, because there was already cleaner sprayed around and I had to rinse it off without Llama's interventions. Screams and door pounding ensued. And I said, "What the HELL am I doing?"
I went through my closet and pulled out all the dry cleaning, because I have to get one of my suits cleaned before this interview. As I laid all the stuff on the bed (and Llama played in my shoe mountain at my feet), I thought, "What the HELL am I doing?" My life is crazy stressful NOW. It will be worse when I work full time. I have control issues (who would have guessed? :p) and the thought of leaving Llama in someone else's care kind of makes me a little nauseous. But I did it on Saturday with absolutely no ill effects. Hawaiian Punch was so awesome to offer to keep Llama for us while we went to the wedding, and when it was over, Llama was sleeping, Tuna Roll was sleeping, and Hawaiian Punch was already in bed when I called, so Llama just slept over. She had a great time, and I could tell that because when I got there to pick her up, she didn't care about me and only wanted to hang out with Hawaiian Punch. Knowing me, you'd think that would make me a little sad, right? Strangely enough, it made me happy. My little independent girl.
And as promised last time, pictures of Tuna Roll's baptism:
The happy parents (iHusband, Hawaiian Punch, Tuna Roll):
I mean, I'm in school full time. I have an interview for a job on Thursday that will, in all likelihood, be my new full time job. I'm obviously Llama's mama on a full time basis. Our house, because it is so small and has such a dearth of hiding places, always seems to be a pig sty. My husband is an awesome guy, the best dad, and incredibly supportive of my educational endeavors. But when I'm on break, as I am right now, he feels like HE is on break from the full time dad gig. Friday, he and Llama and I went out to dinner by ourselves, like a nice little family. Then on Saturday, he went to his fun second job (it was opening day at Kennywood!) and then came home to go to a wedding with me. (More on that in a second, Llama had her first sleepover!) And on Sunday, he went to a pinball show four and a half hours away and came home just in time to eat dinner at his parents' house.
Did I get the bathroom cleaned while he was on his happy fun weekend? No, I did not. I can't clean the bathroom with Llama in it, because she wants to taste the toilet brush and "help" me by grabbing the sponge and the cleaner. It scares me. Remember the vanilla debacle? The kid will drink anything.
This morning, I decided that the bathroom HAD to be cleaned, even though Llama was at my feet. I figured I would just keep redirecting her, right? Wrong. She is not a child who is easily redirected. Tampons? Loves them. Used razors in the garbage? Loves them too. Will she switch her attention from the unsafe razor to the safe (albeit not my perfect choice of toy) tampons? No. Will she sit in the hallway and play with some other, safe and approved toy? ABSOLUTELY NOT. So I had to close the door on her, leaving her in the hallway and me in the bathroom, because there was already cleaner sprayed around and I had to rinse it off without Llama's interventions. Screams and door pounding ensued. And I said, "What the HELL am I doing?"
I went through my closet and pulled out all the dry cleaning, because I have to get one of my suits cleaned before this interview. As I laid all the stuff on the bed (and Llama played in my shoe mountain at my feet), I thought, "What the HELL am I doing?" My life is crazy stressful NOW. It will be worse when I work full time. I have control issues (who would have guessed? :p) and the thought of leaving Llama in someone else's care kind of makes me a little nauseous. But I did it on Saturday with absolutely no ill effects. Hawaiian Punch was so awesome to offer to keep Llama for us while we went to the wedding, and when it was over, Llama was sleeping, Tuna Roll was sleeping, and Hawaiian Punch was already in bed when I called, so Llama just slept over. She had a great time, and I could tell that because when I got there to pick her up, she didn't care about me and only wanted to hang out with Hawaiian Punch. Knowing me, you'd think that would make me a little sad, right? Strangely enough, it made me happy. My little independent girl.
And as promised last time, pictures of Tuna Roll's baptism:
The happy parents (iHusband, Hawaiian Punch, Tuna Roll):
Be nice to the moms in your life. Not just on Sunday. :)
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Tonight is my last class.
For this semester, anyway. I start again on June 8. So for the month of May, I'm making it my own personal Blog Posting Month (since November is the National one, and I kind of screwed that up). There will be copious pictures and even more copious words.
Short update with no pictures:
My sweet, sweet Llama is teething and crabby. Tuna Roll was baptized on Sunday and I have pictures that are not yet uploaded. Llama walks, but not very steadily.
That's about all, even though that's quite a lot when it's in real life. Until tomorrow...
Short update with no pictures:
My sweet, sweet Llama is teething and crabby. Tuna Roll was baptized on Sunday and I have pictures that are not yet uploaded. Llama walks, but not very steadily.
That's about all, even though that's quite a lot when it's in real life. Until tomorrow...
Thursday, April 23, 2009
You can't pull the wool over my Llama's eyes.
Because her hair is already hanging in them. My solution? A fountain of hair atop her head.
Or you could call it a handle, it's just as appropriate. Useful, too, for a walking baby. I mean toddler. I'm so kidding, I haven't picked her up by her hair.
Or you could call it a handle, it's just as appropriate. Useful, too, for a walking baby. I mean toddler. I'm so kidding, I haven't picked her up by her hair.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
A cautionary tale
We went to Bucket's great-aunt's house for Easter dinner. It's always interesting there because there are too many people in a too small house, and everyone is just drinking away the social awkwardness. Good times are had by all.
So, there is a plate of what appears to be nut roll, all sliced up and ready to eat. I grab a piece, because who doesn't love nut roll? I take a big bite. It tastes like... meat? What the hell is that? Hawaiian Punch suggests that I give it to Bucket because he'll eat anything.
So I give the rest of the piece to Bucket and say, "Finish this for me." He shoves the whole thing in his pie hole, because again, who doesn't love nut roll? And then I tell him, "I think it's meat." He managed to choke it down and not spit it out, because he has manners.
As we're eating the (dry and oddly flavored) ham dinner and discussing this meat roll, my mother-in-law asks Bucket's great-aunt about it. Apparently, 40 years ago, the aunt's mother made this "veal roll" for Easter and she liked it. But then her mom died and she never got it again (that is the sad part). So this year, she ground up some meat and rolled it up in nut roll dough in hopes it would be the same.
It was not the same. I ate meat roll for no reason. I'm lobbying for labels on all the foods at Christmas Eve dinner (at the same house), lest I get tricked again.
The cautionary part: Don't just eat things because they look like things you have eaten before without incident. People are tricky.
So, there is a plate of what appears to be nut roll, all sliced up and ready to eat. I grab a piece, because who doesn't love nut roll? I take a big bite. It tastes like... meat? What the hell is that? Hawaiian Punch suggests that I give it to Bucket because he'll eat anything.
So I give the rest of the piece to Bucket and say, "Finish this for me." He shoves the whole thing in his pie hole, because again, who doesn't love nut roll? And then I tell him, "I think it's meat." He managed to choke it down and not spit it out, because he has manners.
As we're eating the (dry and oddly flavored) ham dinner and discussing this meat roll, my mother-in-law asks Bucket's great-aunt about it. Apparently, 40 years ago, the aunt's mother made this "veal roll" for Easter and she liked it. But then her mom died and she never got it again (that is the sad part). So this year, she ground up some meat and rolled it up in nut roll dough in hopes it would be the same.
It was not the same. I ate meat roll for no reason. I'm lobbying for labels on all the foods at Christmas Eve dinner (at the same house), lest I get tricked again.
The cautionary part: Don't just eat things because they look like things you have eaten before without incident. People are tricky.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Happy Birthday, Baby Llama!
Just 365 short days ago, I was lying in the hospital, bored, and watching Good Morning America. I was waiting not-so-patiently for this sweet little girl to be born.
We've gone from this:
To this, taken yesterday:
And though we have over a thousand pictures of this year, I'll just show three memorable moments.
The happiest one-month-old I've ever seen:
And five months later, the unhappiest octopus I've ever seen:
And last but certainly not least, Little Miss Ladylike at her birthday party on Saturday, showing off her prizes from the Egg Hunt and wearing a dress that her grandma made her:
The more I say about this, the more likely I am to cry (and you all know that I cry a lot), so I'll just say that I'm grateful to have the family that I was born into and the family that I married into. I'm so lucky to have this little Llama to kiss and call my own. And I have learned so, so much in the past year. I can't wait to see all the other April 17ths for the rest of my life.
"If it all falls apart, I will know deep in my heart the only dream that mattered has come true. In this life, I was loved by you." ~ Collin Raye
Happy birthday, little girl.
We've gone from this:
To this, taken yesterday:
And though we have over a thousand pictures of this year, I'll just show three memorable moments.
The happiest one-month-old I've ever seen:
And five months later, the unhappiest octopus I've ever seen:
And last but certainly not least, Little Miss Ladylike at her birthday party on Saturday, showing off her prizes from the Egg Hunt and wearing a dress that her grandma made her:
The more I say about this, the more likely I am to cry (and you all know that I cry a lot), so I'll just say that I'm grateful to have the family that I was born into and the family that I married into. I'm so lucky to have this little Llama to kiss and call my own. And I have learned so, so much in the past year. I can't wait to see all the other April 17ths for the rest of my life.
"If it all falls apart, I will know deep in my heart the only dream that mattered has come true. In this life, I was loved by you." ~ Collin Raye
Happy birthday, little girl.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Pictures. Better late than never, right?
Last weekend, Llama and Tuna Roll went to a family birthday party with their Grandma (who is not to be called Grandma VaJayJay for the obvious reasons, despite all of our protests) and Hawaiian Punch. Tuna Roll on the right, Hawaiian Punch in the middle, Llama on the left. Coordinating outfits, of course. Provided by Hawaiian Punch. It was a luau party.
Things headed downhill from there.
New attempts to take pictures of them together after returning to our house were slightly less successful:
And things only deteriorated from there:
Tuna Roll got a little spicy when Llama smacked her in the face while trying to escape:
Llama could not understand what the problem was:
Then everyone cried and we gave up.
While Llama and Tuna Roll were partying it up, Bucket, his dad (also as yet un-named), and I were putting ceramic tile in the kitchen. Since then, we've been painting the kitchen while also dealing with the continuing saga of Llama's ear infections (third antibiotic, 20 days of sickness, still not better), which is why posting has been so light. Or non-existent, really.
Before I was someone's mom, I never thought ear infections were a big deal. I didn't think "failing" an antibiotic would make me feel like I did something wrong, either. But here's one nice thing I never knew about being a mom - last night, I gave Llama her bath and was rocking her while she drank her milk before bed (we have a whole routine, it's very nice and she drops to sleep at the end of it without any issues). She laid her head on my chest and started "talking," and I swear she was telling me about her day. Maybe not, maybe I just made that up, but she talked quietly to me for about 10 minutes and then went right to sleep. I never knew I'd want to have a baby talk gibberish to me and that it would make me this happy.
Llama's birthday party is in FIVE DAYS. I have so much work to do, starting with painting the rest of the kitchen and ending with baking a mess of cupcakes. Posting will probably be light until after the party.
Things headed downhill from there.
New attempts to take pictures of them together after returning to our house were slightly less successful:
And things only deteriorated from there:
Tuna Roll got a little spicy when Llama smacked her in the face while trying to escape:
Llama could not understand what the problem was:
Then everyone cried and we gave up.
While Llama and Tuna Roll were partying it up, Bucket, his dad (also as yet un-named), and I were putting ceramic tile in the kitchen. Since then, we've been painting the kitchen while also dealing with the continuing saga of Llama's ear infections (third antibiotic, 20 days of sickness, still not better), which is why posting has been so light. Or non-existent, really.
Before I was someone's mom, I never thought ear infections were a big deal. I didn't think "failing" an antibiotic would make me feel like I did something wrong, either. But here's one nice thing I never knew about being a mom - last night, I gave Llama her bath and was rocking her while she drank her milk before bed (we have a whole routine, it's very nice and she drops to sleep at the end of it without any issues). She laid her head on my chest and started "talking," and I swear she was telling me about her day. Maybe not, maybe I just made that up, but she talked quietly to me for about 10 minutes and then went right to sleep. I never knew I'd want to have a baby talk gibberish to me and that it would make me this happy.
Llama's birthday party is in FIVE DAYS. I have so much work to do, starting with painting the rest of the kitchen and ending with baking a mess of cupcakes. Posting will probably be light until after the party.
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