Some girl time (plus or minus a few kids and a husband)

My two good friends from college, Tracy and Christine, came into town this weekend. We had such a great time. It’s amazing – we all hadn’t been together for years, yet it felt like just yesterday we were in college. That being said, it is so funny looking back at the things that we would have done on a weekend like this back 5-10 years ago vs. what we did this last weekend with 2 kids. Back 10 years ago? We probably would have gone out both nights for some dinner and drinks and then, during the day, maybe would have driven to Newport or Providence or even (dare I say it???) Boston? To do some sightseeing. Now? With 2 kids?

We stayed in the bubble.

Part of me felt kind of bad, but both of them seemed to be perfectly happy with experiencing the LC and everything it has to offer! Now, I don’t mean to make it sound like we can’t do anything fun anymore now that we have 2 kids. But, what I have found is that, if you want to do anything, you really need to motivate in the morning to at least ATTEMPT to get Avery back for nap time. Otherwise, we will all pay for it later. Side note – we could have gone out without Avery, but that would have resulted in us leaving a screaming child who wanted to hang out with Mommy and her friends for Josh to handle, so I chose to spare him. And, obviously, I was in no mood and neither were Tracy and Christine to motivate in the morning so that we could walk around Newport in the rain. Although, that being said, I did allow Avery to wake both of them up at 8 am on Saturday morning. They were less than thrilled with a 2.5 year old screaming, “Auntie Christine???? Are you awake?” outside their door, but I figured if I had already been up for 2 hours, they were not going to be allowed to sleep in either. So, you are asking yourself – “Self? What does LC have to offer in the middle of November?” Well…

First of all, temperature-wise, it was a great weekend. It was pretty rainy on Saturday, but Sunday wasn’t bad. So, Saturday, we went to lunch and then walked around T4C where we looked at all of the ridiculously overpriced stuff and wondered how anyone stays in business there? And, then there were the ever fascinating moo-moo cows. We were all pretty impressed with the size of these things – so much so that we all insisted on taking quite a few pictures (I'll only make you look at one of Christine and me).

Tracy even went back a second time to get that “perfect cow picture.”
Then, there was the bench where Tracy felt the need to perch like a frog (and, I felt the need to join her - I know, I know. We're crazy like that)…

Then, in order to get Avery out for some exercise, we all went outside and played in the rain after her nap. Where was Alex, you ask? On a stroller ride with Josh in the POURING rain. Now, if that’s not proof that Josh has ADD and has to be on the go at all times, I’m not sure what is. Saturday night, we relaxed and cooked dinner and drank wine (lots of wine, actually – Alex totally hooked me up though and didn’t wake up until 5 am that morning, so all was good). Sunday, we all went to take a walk on the beach. Unfortunately, it was a bit short-lived, as Avery was hungry and I forgot to bring food for her (I know, can you believe and Epting forgot food??? ). But, the girls got to see the beach and the houses, which are pretty unbelievable. I am going to apologize in advance for posting the next picture, as we all decided that somehow it turned out to look like C and T are a cute couple with a cute daughter. I think that it has something to do with the way Christine is holding Tracy's waist in such a loving manner. Either way, it is the only picture that I have of us at the beach from that weekend, so it's being posted. Aren't they a cute looking family? :) Alex chose to make up for his fabulous sleeping on Saturday night by staying up all night on Sunday night. Which, fine, I’m used to it and it isn’t enjoyable, but this particular Sunday night was unfortunate, as we had to get up at 430 AM on Monday to get Tracy to the airport. Ugh. I thought that I was going to die on Monday. But, I have officially caught up on sleep and am feeling much better as we speak. And, it was worth it to stretch the weekend out for another night!

That was our weekend. Avery had a great time hanging with the girls and having some more people (most importantly, more people with new and different imaginations than mommy and daddy) to play with. She was busy showing us how she takes care of her babies and cooking us things in her kitchen all weekend. And, then of course, going to various “parties” located throughout our house with Tracy (As I said– “different” imaginations). Alex kept us all entertained with his constant laughing and smiles.

Oh, and on a totally unrelated (yet, exciting) note - it's official!!!!! Avery has enough hair to put in pigtails! As you all know - this has been a long time coming, so I had to document it as proof that my child has finally grown hair.

This weekend, we’re off to Texas for Thanksgiving! Josh is traveling with us this time, so it should be much less stressful - probably won’t be as good in terms of blog material, but less stress, which is a good thing these days…

Corporate Woman Yet Again

Well, it happened- maternity leave ended. It was depressing the first time around with Avery after 5 months of being with her every day and it was even more depressing this time around – not only because I only had 4 months (I know, I know – a lot more than a lot of people get, I’m not complaining. Actually, I am. Sorry) at home with Alex, but because this could quite possibly be the last time I ever have maternity leave. Kind of sad to know that there will never be another time in my life when I can just schedule vacations or play dates or run errands whenever I want and as frequently as I want. But, enough about me…
The last weekend of maternity leave was a great one – it was Alex’s first Halloween and Avery’s first Halloween where she actually understood what was going on. Well, kind of. She understood that she got to run around outside and go to people’s houses and say, “Trick or Treat!!” And, we told her that she would be getting candy (or CANS OF SODA – which was the case at TWO houses. WHAT??? Who the hell gives cans of coke to kids on Halloween? Apparently 80 year olds who live in our neighborhood), but she honestly didn’t really care about that part. She had the best time just running around outside with all of the kids and yelling, “Come on everybody! Let’s go to another house!!! This is fun!!!” As you can see, she was a butterfly

and Alex was a chili pepper (or, a strawberry according to my mother).

From the looks of this picture, he may have been happier as a strawberry.

The original plan was to make Avery’s costume ( I was feeling pressured because the moms who we went trick or treating with all made their kids’ costumes), but I quickly realized that I in fact am better at going to the internet and clicking as opposed to going to the sewing machine and sewing. So, the wings were purchased (and, of course, I made this decision way too late and ended up spending more than the cost of the wings on shipping to ensure it got there in time. Ugh). However, I DID paint the butterfly on her face. I’m sorry, but I think that I clearly have an undiscovered talent here. You have to admit you are impressed with this.

The following Monday, it was time to go back to work. Day one went well. Of course, the night before I got EVERYTHING ready that I could possibly think of – Alex’s bottles, the breastmilk, my pumping stuff, my computer, my lunch, my outfit, Alex’s outfit and Avery’s outfit. Night before day two? Nadda. Nothing. Zippo. I figured it wouldn’t last forever, but I thought for sure I could handle getting things ready the night before for more than one day! As it turns out, by the time I get home, feed Alex, get him to bed, eat dinner and get Avery to bed, I’m exhausted. And, at that point, I (heaven forbid) want to spend just 1 hour doing what I want to do. So, I do. Which, of course, results in me running around like a chicken with my head cut off the next morning, but whatever. That one hour is worth it. Unfortunately, Alex was sick on Tues, Wed and Thurs (nothing serious – just the runs, but no fever, which I know because I took his temp like every 5 mins) and given the fact that I just got back from 4 months off, we didn’t think that it would be smart for me to take more time off during the first week. So, Josh and Alex had some major bonding time those days (one of the many upsides of having a husband who works for his father). Josh has a whole new appreciation for stay at home moms now. Don’t get me wrong – he does a TON around the house, but he has never spent that much quality time with either one of them as an infant this young. I will say that I have received constant grief ever since because both nights, he managed to have our dinner and Avery’s dinner ready when we got home. I’ll be honest – I think that happened two times in the 4 months that I was home. BUT, come on! I had two of them there AND Alex was WAY more fussy then, which made it impossible to do anything. Josh definitely got the new, happy Alex, which makes things MUCH easier.

Ok, if I don't stop typing this and get back to work, the title of the next post will be “Corporate Woman No Longer," so I’m signing off for now. More to come...

Our little princess....or not

This weekend, Avery was invited to her second Princess birthday party where she was supposed to wear her favorite princess dress. This was a bit tricky, as Avery is totally not into princesses. That being said, I sucked it up and spent $20 on a Snow White dress and then on a Belle dress. It really is unbelievable how into these princesses some of these girls are. One woman said that her daughter wears her princess dress every day for as long as they will let her. Uh…what? It makes me wonder – is it because we just haven’t exposed her to princesses (not really on purpose – I guess it is just because I was never into real girly girl stuff growing up) or is it more that she just isn’t that kind of girl who is into it? Regardless, I first attempted the Snow White dress and she didn’t like how that felt when she had it on. So, I went out and got the Belle dress, which she was all excited about, but just as we were trying to get out the door, she announced that she didn’t want to wear it. I went back and forth at that point as to whether or not I really cared. I knew that all of the other girls would be in a dress, but I couldn’t determine whether it was she or I who really cared that she would be the only one not in one. I realized quickly that I was being that mom, so I stopped trying to push it and put her in a regular (or, as we call them, party dresses) dress instead. Sure enough, every other little girl was wearing a princess dress.
It didn’t phase Avery a bit. They even had Ariel show up and Avery could have cared less.

Oh - I nearly forgot – the weekend started off with 3 friends of mine and their kids coming over on Friday morning. This was interesting, as they all have boys (ranging in ages 5 months to 4 years) and I, as of right now, only have one boy who doesn’t do much at this point. Turns out, boys get into anything they can get their hands on. Don’t get me wrong – they were all well behaved. However, things like play dough and my blackberry are all fair game when left out. Avery really is unique when it comes to this stuff, as she would never play with it without asking first. We’ve never had to baby proof the house at all because she just doesn’t get into things. So, I never even thought to put this stuff away until I turned around and play dough was every where, my blackberry had been pulled off of the window sill where it was charging and was on the floor ( I know, that one was dumb on my part) and there was a puddle of water on the ground where one of the boys decided that perhaps my hard wood floors were thirsty and, to satisfy this, he pushed the button on the water thing on our refrigerator...over and over again. None of this stuff really bugged me – it was just comical because it made me realize that I am SOOO not ready for Alex to get older. We’re screwed. And, so is chili because his litter pans are in the basement and apparently, you can’t leave a basement door open with a baby boy who is crawling and I refuse to have the litter pans anywhere else in the house, so it looks like Chili has to go within the next 5 months. Takers? Anyone?

Alex is awesome. A very happy baby ( I know, I know – I would have NEVER thought this 3 months ago). He is smiling and laughing a ton. He went to daycare this last week for 2 days as a trial run. He did great. Didn’t sleep much and apparently I nearly starved him, as his bottles didn’t have enough breast milk, but other than that, he was great. Turns out, frozen chunks of milk don’t actually cause the level in the bottle to raise, but actually, to go down. My sister nearly fell over and died when I told her this and reminded me that I clearly need to go back to science class, as things expand when they are frozen, but whatever…

I’m entering my last week of maternity leave and it sucks. I’m actually getting used to this stay at home mom thing. Granted, being a stay at home mom is easier when the kids are actually going to daycare, but still...

Me being me, I have procrastinated and have waited until the last 2 weeks of my leave to schedule all of the appointments that I need to, so I’ll be doing that this week as well as running any other last minute errands that I have to do before heading back. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Fall Festivities

It’s funny how, once you have a toddler, you actually start participating in all of the things that seasons have to offer. I mean, I’ve always enjoyed fall in New England (even more than summer sometimes – I know, I know – crazy coming from the sun goddess herself, but…), but I really can’t remember the last time that we have done things like carve pumpkins or pick apples….until this weekend.

It started with Friday when we met Lindsey and Asher at the fruit stand and let them pick out pumpkins then bring them back to our house to carve them. Asher and Avery had a good time and seemed to enjoy touching the insides more than the actual carving. Sunday, we went to an apple festival in town where we picked apples, ate apple dumplings (ok, so Avery really didn’t like it, so Mom ate the entire thing – and I wonder why the baby weight really isn’t coming off this time around???), ate honey and watched the bees in their little glass thingy making the honey, listened to a blue grass band and got Avery’s face painted. It was a great day overall. Here is a picture of Avery eating one of the apples and one of the two of us at the festival (no real relevance, just the only good picture I have of the two of us, so I included it)Just one thing…the face painting???? THREE DOLLARS. WHAT? I mean, the lady bug on Avery’s face was no more than a red dot with a bunch of small black dots on it and we paid three freaking dollars? Mind you – in WI, Avery got her face painted with some heart and some crazy vine-like things coming out of it AND glitter and that was FREE. Granted, that really isn’t the norm for there either, but whatever… it still wouldn’t have been $3! ANYWAY, I digress…

Monday we went on a hayride. It was definitely cheesy, consisting of stuffed animals and stuffed characters like batman and Frankenstein that were obviously made in the 1970’s placed throughout the forest that the tractor drove through, but the kids liked it.
So, needless to say, we had quite the festive fall weekend.

I think that the best (for lack of a better word) part of the weekend was when Chili got out of the house right as we were trying to leave for the hayride. Now, this wasn’t the best part of the weekend for the reasons that you are thinking (although, they are a close second). It was the best given Avery’s reaction. I was sitting on the couch feeding Alex when Josh comes storming into the house exclaiming that Chili had gotten out. Avery had been outside with Josh helping to pack up the car, so I go out there and she is yelling at Chili to come out from under the deck. As I’m there with the cat nip, trying to lure him back in, Avery just looks at Chili under the deck and says, “Fucking cat! Fucking cat!” It became clear to me at that point just exactly what Josh’s reaction was when he got out. Lovely. I did was I was supposed to do and ignored it. I haven’t heard her say it again, but knowing my luck, she went to daycare and announced to the class that her fucking cat got outside this weekend….

Alex is doing really well. He has his first cold, which sucks. And, of course, any little sniffle or cough he has, I’m convinced we are going to end up back in the ICU. But, he’s getting through it. He is really starting to grasp things with his hands and has taken a liking to a bunny that he got as a gift. He also laughs a ton. It’s pretty cute.

Here is a picture of his all bundled up for the weather. I think that babies in hats are adorable, so I'm including it. I’m going to start to bring him to daycare next week for 2 days in preparation of my return to work, which is in 3 weeks. I can’t believe it. The idea of leaving him with someone else is breaking my heart. So, in order to cope, I’ve scheduled a hair appointment as well as a pedicure appointment for the days that both kids are in daycare. I’m certain this will help me get through the days. :) More later…

Life on the Farm

Ah….one of the many upsides to maternity leave – being able to go on vacation for as long as I want. So, to take full advantage, the kids and I went to WI to visit my parents for 2 and a half weeks. The one negative of traveling while on maternity leave is that my husband, as it turns out, can’t just take 2.5 weeks off, which requires me to travel by myself with two kids. However, believe it or not – it wasn’t bad at all. The way there went great. Avery has always been so easy with stuff like this. I didn’t bring her carseat and yet, she never once tried getting out of her seat. The hardest part was to try to figure out the appropriate times to bring out one of the new “presents” that I had gotten her to occupy her until we got to WI. Alex basically just nursed and slept the entire way, which was fine by me.

We had a great time while we were there. Avery got to experience life on a “farm” with the chickens, the dogs, the fire pit and the snake (yes, she touched one and no, I was not there when this happened). She LOVED “getting the eggs from the Roosters” with Opa every day.
I was shocked – she wasn’t scared of the chickens at all. She just walked right in and grabbed the eggs with my dad. She was also not afraid of the snake evidently and had no problem touching it. But, like I said – I wasn’t there for this – I was in Milwaukee visiting the HS girls. Not quite sure that would have happened had I been there. She was however, scared of the puppies. It’s hard to believe that a 2 year old would be more scared of puppies than snakes, but whatever. Oh –and, one other animal I forgot about –the pony! I couldn’t believe it. We went to a fair near my parents’ house and she LOVED the pony ride! Now, mind you – this is the girl who started crying on the Merry Go Round at the mall just a few months ago! I was shocked, but pleased. She also developed a new past time – cooking with the grandparents. She loved helping in the kitchen whenever she was given the opportunity. I was thrilled as this distracted her from her “mommy do this and mommy do that” attitude at times.

Here she is on Opa's tractor and eating dinner outside on the stumps by the campfire...

Alex was great and loved hanging out with his new cousin Annabel (ok – clearly he had no idea that he was hanging out with her, but you have to say things like that about a cousin who is the exact same age).

Annabel is adorable and has a great personality. She taught Alex a thing or two like how to hold a toy and tried teaching him how to hold his head up a bit better, but he hasn’t caught on to that quite yet. She tried really hard to teach him to sleep during the day, but that REALLY hasn’t worked. My lord. This child WILL NOT sleep during the day- I think that I’ve just given up. The last straw was when Josh put him in the stroller and walked him around the house (it was raining out, so he couldn’t go outside) to try to get him to sleep and that didn’t even work. Now, that being said – we did reach a milestone while in WI – he started sleeping through the night!!!!! Well, basically. He now goes down between 7 and 730 (with surprisingly NO effort on my part) and sleeps until 5-6 AM. Every once in a while, he will wake himself up with gas at around 3 AM, but he goes back down. He is also smiling a ton, which you will see here with his Auntie Sara.
I managed to sneak away for a day to see the HS girls. It was great seeing all of them. It couldn’t have been better timing because Sara had just had Lila a few days earlier, so I got to meet her, which was great. She is adorable and they are both doing really well. Here is a picture of Alex and Lila. Isn't it funny how Alex nearly looks like a toddler compared to her?

We also managed to throw my mother a surprise retirement party, which was somewhat of a challenge since it was at her house, but we pulled it off. She literally had NO idea and had a great time.

The way back from WI was good overall. The only “mishap” was when Alex pooped and then Avery decided that she needed to go to the bathroom at the same time. It started with me getting up with Alex and walking down the aisle only to hear Avery screaming. Yeah….I totally forgot that she was buckled in and couldn’t get out, so the poor child was locked in and thought that I was just leaving her there. Well, the flight attendant came to the rescue and gave Avery her baby doll to make her feel better, which helped (you may be thinking that part of the story really wasn't necessary, but see more on baby doll below). So, we get to the bathroom and turns out, Alex doesn’t like the changing table and as a result, screamed the entire time. As he was screaming, Avery hit her head on the sink, so she started screaming. At this point, I’m about to lose it, so I walk out of the bathroom holding Alex and asked for a volunteer to hold him. Some poor man in a business suit was the first to offer, so I put a burp cloth on his shoulder and handed him a screaming child. Of course, the entire time, I was convinced that he probably had the swine flu and that Alex was going to end up back in the hospital, but I couldn’t be concerned with that at that point. We ended up making it through ok. HOWEVER – the baby doll? Yeah – she ended up on the floor of the bathroom during the entire fiasco. So, I’m thinking, ok – this is gross, but at the same time, it isn’t like she puts the baby doll in her mouth or anything, so what is the worst that can happen? Um…have you ever been on Midwest Airlines? If you have then you know that they serve hot, gooey chocolate chip cookies. And, of course, as Avery was eating his hot gooey cookie? Yep – the chocolate dripped on the baby (yes – the baby who fell on the bathroom floor) and what does a two year old do when she sees chocolate? LICKS IT!!!! Oh my god – I nearly died and was totally convinced that I would now have TWO kids in the hospital when I got home. My lord.
I’m happy to report that, so far, neither one of them is sick and they are officially back into their normal routines. Avery was thrilled to see all of her toys again and all of her friends at daycare gave her a big hug when she walked into the room. It’s depressing knowing that our vacation is over and that I’m going back to work soon, but we’ll see them all again in November for Thanksgiving, which will be great.

2 going on 16 (or is it 21?)

NOTE – I meant to post this before we left for our trip to WI, but never got around to it. However, I still find these things funny, so I’m posting now...

Since there really wasn’t anything too exciting that happened this last week (which is a good thing in this house lately), I figured I would post the funny (and, not so funny) things that Avery has said lately. She really is too smart for her own good sometimes and says things that you wonder where they came from and who she got them from. Most of them are funny, as you will read below. Others? Not so much:

1. Scenario – All of Avery’s babies are laying face down on the living room floor:

Mom: Avery what are your babies doing on the floor?
Avery: They’re just chillin’, Mommy.

2. Avery: Mommy, I have to go pee
Mommy: Ok. Let me know when you are ready for me to come in to help you.
Avery: You can come in when I call you. I’m going to close the door because I need some privacy.

I mean, seriously? What 2 year old says that she needs privacy while going pee?

3. Scenario – Mommy feeding baby Alex and trying to think of something to do with Avery while doing so, so I ask her if she wants me to read her a book.

Mommy: Avery, do you want me to read you a book?
Avery: No Mommy. I want to read you a book.
Mommy: OK

Avery starts to read and then passes the book to me and says…
“Mommy, can you read this to me? I don’t have my glasses.”



4. Scenario – Avery hasn’t taken a nap all day and is in the bathtub having a meltdown from being so tired. So, as she is screaming (for no real reason), she looks at me and says (through the tears), “I’m having a VERY BAD DAY!”

5. Scenario –Avery comes to the table while we are eating dinner asking what we are having. Unfortunately, we have yet to figure out how to get dinner ready early enough for her to eat what we are having and for all of us to eat together as a family. So, typically, she eats before us, but then tries (and ends up eating half of) whatever we are eating and sits with us while we eat. This night, she ate rice, steak and spinach salad with us and afterwards said….”Hey guys – thanks a lot!” It may not sound very funny, but hearing your 2 year old refer to you as “guys?” Pretty funny.

This next one is one of the not so funny ones –
6. Scenario – This morning we were getting ready to leave and she had taken a blanket out of the basket in her room where they are kept.

Mommy: Avery, please put the blanket back in the basket
Avery: You can’t tell me to do that!

I'm including this picture because I think that it is ironic that such a cute little girl can be such a bossy, strong-willed little lady sometimes



I’m pretty certain, based on this, that she and I will continuously be at each other’s throats in just a few short years. Also, I might add (just so you don’t think that this type of behavior is a result of how we parent) that I clearly stated after that comment that I am her mother and I can tell her to do whatever I want (yeah – that’s right – I’m a hard ass). She didn’t find that very funny.
This next one is the best yet and the reason for the title of this blog:

7. Scenario- Josh is giving Avery her dinner.

Daddy: Avery, what would you like to drink?
Avery: Um…..I’d like some wine please.

We’re definitely in trouble...




As far as Alex goes – he is doing much better. He had blood drawn a week ago and his hemoglobin levels were a bit low, so we have to give him this disgusting vitamin liquid with iron. I’ve learned to wait until he is really hungry and then mix it with a small amount of breast milk in a bottle and he chugs it right down. I’m also focusing on eating more red meat, spinach, anything else with iron. Hopefully all of this will help. We only have two more days of antibiotics and then he gets that horrible thing out of his arm!!!! I’m psyched. He is too. He just doesn’t know it.

That’s about it. I’m spending the rest of the week packing and making lists of what I need to pack for our trip to WI. I’m trying to force myself to remember that my parents do have a washer and a dryer and, because of this, each of them only needs a few outfits, but inevitably, this theory will not work and I’ll end up packing more than they could ever possibly need. I should probably work on this problem of mine now that checked bags are $15 a piece. I’m flying out there by myself with both of them, so be sure to check the next post, as I’m sure it will be entertaining…

ET Phone Home

Wow – as most of you know, this has been a pretty crazy week for us. I won’t go into all of the details, as I’ve talked to all of you who read this and I think that I have told you most of what has happened. But, long story short – Alex wasn’t acting himself last Thursday – was very lethargic, not eating well, etc. I thought that it was either really bad gas or it was the ice cream that I had eaten the night before that wasn’t agreeing with him. Boy was I wrong! I took him to the dr. and, by that time, he was really pale and didn’t look good at all. Turns out, his heart rate was racing, so they told us to go to the ER immediately. While there, he broke out in a rash and developed a fever. (102.6!).

We ended up in the ICU for 4 days at Hasboro (you know it is serious when you end up there). And, then we were moved to a “regular room” after that until this last Thursday. First let me tell you that being in the ICU at Hasboro definitely puts things in perspective. The girl next door to us had her room completely decorated with signs and stuffed animals, which would indicate that she had been there for quite a while. There was a little boy probably about 2 years old on the other side of us who was strapped down to some weird looking chair and had tubes coming out of his throat the entire time and then – the real kicker – a boy actually died while we were there. We didn’t realize this was happening until we heard his mother screaming at the top of her lungs and they came to close our door. It was horrible. So, for those reasons, I was happy to move up to the “normal” floor. However, things were definitely a bit more chaotic up there. We had a screaming baby next door to us (then again, we were that room with a screaming baby at times as well, so??) and then had a toddler on the other side of us who screamed when he was mad and then banged on a play drum when he wasn’t. Then there was the little girl with the IV who was being wheeled around the floor in a wagon and then there was the guy who came to play the guitar for all of the kids during the day. So, things were definitely a bit more active, which resulted in a bit less sleep for us all.

Speaking of sleep – I stayed with Alex every night while we were there. I now know what the new fathers go through in the recovery room after having a baby. Wow – those chairs (josh calls them transformer chairs because that is exactly what they look like) that fold out to a bed really are not comfortable. Not to mention, the nurses that come in, oh I don’t know, ONE HUNDRED times a night to check on us. Ugh. Oh – and, the antibiotic machine that beeps every time the antibiotics are done. Yet, somehow, none of the nurses can hear this. So, it requires me to get up and go to the lobby to tell them before it wakes up my sleeping child.

And, then – this is my favorite – the med students. I hate them. And, they know it. I was definitely known as that bitch by all of them. Inevitably, they would come into the room to check (ie, use my son to learn) on Alex right when he had fallen asleep. It started off with me just being bitchy and saying things like, “yes, I do mind if you look at him, but do I have a choice?” and then just turned into, “no – you can’t look at him right now. He hasn’t had a fever for 3 days, so do you really think that it is necessary to stick that thing up his butt again?” They hated me.

Now – to get to the title of this post (and to shed some humor on this horrible situation). One of the 5 things that was attached to Alex while he was there (no, I’m not exaggerating) was a monitor that was attached to his big toe that monitored his heart rate. On this little monitor was a red light. It was hilarious. While his foot was under a blanket – it looked just like ET. We tried to get a picture of it, but weren’t too successful. You’ll have to use your imagination.



One other positive thing that came out of this – while we were there, we had the GI doctors take a look at him for his reflux. One of the tests that they did was to stick a probe up through his nose and then down his throat and leave it there for 24 hours to measure the acid coming up and down.




The actual process sucked – I couldn’t feed him for 4 hours before and obviously, he wasn’t a big fan of having something shoved up his nose for 24 hours. BUT – the good news is – they saw no acid coming back up. So, the meds that he is on is working! I feel so much better knowing that the reflux isn’t bugging him anymore. Then again, we no longer have an excuse if he is fussy!
Another positive - My mom flew out here the day after Alex got admitted and has been here ever since. It has been a huge help having her around, to say the least. A girl just needs her mom during times like these. And, clearly, Alex needed his grandma!

ANYWAY – we are now home. Thank god. hey never did find out what it was, so they are treating him as though he has the worst bacterial infection he could have. He has an IV in his arm and we have to give him antibiotics through this once a day for 2 weeks. It is a little nerve wracking being in charge of antibiotics being given to your 8 week old, but we’re managing. Here is a picture of him attached to the pump that we use to give the meds.


It is also kind of a pain in the butt giving him a bath. My mom came up with the idea of covering the iv in Seran Wrap - it worked!






On a lighter note – I found out that, once again, I have a creative friend – look at what Jess sent us! These are both made out of old t-shirts. Ingenious, I tell you.




On another lighter note (and, primarily because I can’t include a post with no mention of Miss Avery), I thought that this was hilarious. Take a look at what she drank her water out of this afternoon at lunch. AHHHHHH...a girl after my own heart…



Thanks to all of you for all of your calls and thoughts this last week! We really appreciate it.