All the Goings-On in Our House!

We're getting through the insanity of the Christmas season one day at a time.

Petite was sick a few weeks ago. She picked up a bug from her cousin and just couldn't shake it. What started as a low-grade fever progressed to lethargy, a cough, a headache, a snotty nose, and finally an ear infection, over the duration of about 11 days. After the third visit to the GP, she looked at us and said, "Wow, I never see you guys THIS often." Finally on that third visit, she found the ear infection and prescribed antibiotics. Within 24 hours, Petite was a new child; it was remarkable. Honestly, I was figuring that if our doc still hadn't found anything by that third visit, I was going to enlist a second opinion. Petite missed 8.5 days of school and really, watching her temp range between 99 and 101 for those 11 days was NOT fun. Poor girl.

She's recovered nicely since then. However then Hubby got it. Between the time he needed to take off to watch her while she was sick, and the time he needed for himself to tend to a rattling chest cough, he took a bit of a financial hit. He's making that up this week with some overtime at work. They're busy, so he may as well get something out of it.

And he has since recovered too. However, it's my turn. For the past 8 days or so, I've got a chesty cough and sinus trouble. I really need to see a doc now, as I'm prone to pneumonia and sinus infection but I'm struggling to find the time. I cannot get there tomorrow. Nor Wednesday. Possibly Thursday. We'll see.

Like I said, one day at a time.

Christmas is fast approaching and because of our conflicting schedules, Hubby and I have very little done. I'm either at work myself or caring for Petite. It's crazy.

The last few weeks though, my 17-year old stepson has come to stay with us pretty much every weekend. He's frustrated with living at his mother's right now and he's finally decided to take the plunge and move in with us. That will happen just after Christmas. I am looking forward to having him in the house. And I know Petite is too!

She will have to give up her playroom (essentially the spare bedroom) and we'll move her toys downstairs to the basement. She is old enough to come and go down there now so she's fine playing there. It's been hard because with only her and me in the house, she wants to play near me while I'm cooking dinner or clearing up, or whatever, in the evenings. With her big brother in the house, she is fine to play near him instead and they'll set themselves up downstairs I expect. We'll see how it goes.

So Christmas happens, then my stepson moves in, and then we head south for a two-week holiday. The first week will be with my parents and my sister, BIL and nephew, all together in a big condo near the beach. CANNOT wait. I last saw my nephew in May of last year for a quick visit. I truly do not recall the last time I saw my BIL though. And Hubby hasn't seen my BIL in... oh wow... AGES. The boys will have fun together. As will the kids! We are all looking forward to it.

The second week we are driving up to Orlando and renting a house there with our friends from California, whom we haven't seen since the spring of 2009 when I was pregnant with Petite. These are good friends of ours and we FaceTime frequently and for a very long time, we gamed together. We will hit the theme parks (Petite's first visit to the Magic Kingdom!) and do a few things up there, relaxing in the house pool when we are looking for downtime. That will be a fun-filled week.

Upon return, I will have one week at work. Followed by my parents' arrival in early February. Followed by VSG surgery on February 3. I will be off work from February 3 to March 3 inclusive, recovering from major surgery and learning to eat again. And learning to get enough water, protein, vitamins and minerals into my body with the new limitations of a tiny stomach.

There you have it. Our plans for the next few months. As always, busy, busy, busy!

In the meantime, I thought you might wish to see this. Petite's first school photo. When I sent her off to school that morning, I had no idea how on earth her pic would come out! I envisaged messy hair, dirt on her face, stains on her clothing, etc. I was pleasantly surprised to have a lovely pic that I will cherish for many years to come!

Lots of love to you all in blogland! 

Closing out 2012; Ringing in 2013

Hello...? Hello...? This thing on? *tap, tap, tap*

I would definitely forgive you if you'd thought I'd up and left for good. I am sure no one is left here, reading any of my posts anyway. But regardless, there are a few things going on and I thought I'd write about them now, while I have a moment or two, as the snow falls outside.

November and early December saw me extremely busy. I handled decorating and shopping/wrapping at the office. I organized a Christmas Cookie exchange; it went really well and I hope to do it again next year! I did a bunch of baking in the lead up to the holidays, from cookies for the exchange to cookies and things to give away, and bread/rolls for us for Christmas. We reorganized the living room with the arrival of the furniture from the east coast and we redecorated, painting the walls and fixing up the décor. It looks like the room has been brought from the early 80s into the current century! Quite a change. I did the shopping and shipping of gifts to my sister... mostly stuff for my nephew with a few items for my sister and my BIL. I did the cleaning and tidying, prepping to put up the decorations and the tree for the holidays, which was all done on the first weekend of December. The house was very Christmassy indeed. I love the holidays.

And now, Christmas has come and gone. It was... wow. I don't really have any words. It was a good Christmas I suppose, for the most part. Except for the fact that we were all quite ill. Petite got sick on Christmas Eve, during the afternoon. By evening, she was vomiting and feverish. We finally got her settled around 1 or 2 a.m. and eventually, we got ourselves to bed. Christmas Day, my girlfriend's daughter wasn't feeling well. By Boxing Day (December 26), Hubby and I were miserable, feeling like a truck had run us over. I went to work on December 27, dragging my butt through the day, but two coworkers told me I looked like "week-old codfish" and I took the hint. Friday, December 28, the doctor saw all three of us in her office. Petite was diagnosed with a bad cold, and Hubby and I were diagnosed with the flu. Home to bed for as long as possible. I took three days off work and went back to the office shortly after the new year.

Regardless, we finally came out the other side of it all. Just in time too.

We are going to head off on a holiday in early February. It's a cruise we had planned back in April last year and we've been looking forward to it ever since. My girlfriend, K, and her daughter, K, have asked us for YEARS to go on holiday with them somewhere. We always put it off, because honestly, I rarely go on 'holiday' per se. I just go to see my family, wherever they happen to be. This time though, we set aside some vacation time last year, in preparation for this vacation and we researched times/dates to travel, and where we wanted to go, cost, etc. We booked it last year and we've been counting down the days ever since. (Yes, there's an App for that too!) Petite has been told about our upcoming holiday and she is eager to build sandcastles on the beach with us. We'll be heading to Miami for a couple of days before embarking on the ship (Carnival Victory) and heading to three ports: Nassau, Bahamas; Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (a private island); and Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos. We spend five days on the ship before we disembark and spend one more night in Miami before flying home. We CANNOT wait. Seeing as Christmas sort of passed us by, we are looking forward to having a real holiday at the moment.

We are also hoping to get home to Newfoundland near the end of July. I'm keeping an eye out for seat sales already. My 25th high school reunion will be at that time, and I really loved my high school and friends from there. I hope to catch up with many of them.

Prince of Wales Collegiate, St. John's, Newfoundland 

In fact, one in particular. I had a good friend from home who I had lost touch with. She and I hung around with a few others, but no one knew what had become of "Jan." She was also on the list of lost alumni from our high school; people were invited to post details or send info to the organizing committee regarding how to locate these lost alums. I knew a little about what Jan had done after high school, but not much. I decided to have a go at finding her. Lo and behold, my sleuthing discovered a few things: she is well-known in her field of study, and she had just relocated... to the same city where I currently live!!! A website gave a professional e-mail address for her and I shot her a note, hoping it was indeed the same person I knew from 20+ years ago. She replied... yes indeed! It is her. We made plans to go out a few weeks later to catch up. I recall her family fondly, in particular, her mom. She always made us feel welcome in their home. She's a wonderful lady.

Imagine my shock when I learned, five days before Jan and I were to get together, her mom passed away, suddenly, at home in Newfoundland. Obviously she flew home. I hear she is devastated; I know she and her mom were very close. I sent her an e-mail or two, letting her know that I had heard the news, and I was terribly sorry for her loss. With luck, when she is ready and returns to Ottawa, I may have a chance to see her. I hope so. I actually had a dream about her mom a couple of weeks ago. She was smiling and happy in this dream. She was okay. She told me she was okay. She told me to tell Jan this. She told me she is happy that I found Jan. (I'm not sure how much of this I honestly believe, but there must be a reason for her coming to me that night.) I hope that I get to tell Jan these things... when she is ready. I hope Jan and I can be close again. She always was a great friend. I am sending love and healing vibes to her as she and her family deal with this tragic loss. I had hoped to meet up with Jan's mom next summer when I go home for the reunion. Alas. God had other plans.

On other vacation fronts, we had tentative plans with other friends to rent a house in Orlando, Florida this summer for one week. I don't know if that will go ahead. To be determined I guess. And my whole family hoped to get together next Christmas, but I doubt that will happen either. Well, it may for them, but likely not for us. While I can easily carve out the time, Hubby asked for that time off and there's already absolutely no availability at the moment. He will continue to check throughout the year, but right now, it won't happen. Ugh. I wonder if he can ask now for vacation during Christmas 2014?!

And I've got one or two other things ruminating in my head at the moment. Now that we have decided not to go forward with another IVF for #2, I can focus on me. There are one or two things in particular I am focussing on, but I need to consult with a few professionals before I can make any final decisions and move forward. More info to follow as things are solidified.

For now, I am thinking of my friend Jan as she navigates life without her mom. Thinking of Vee and Boo, as they embark on a new life, moving in with Vee's dad and travelling to Thailand again for a holiday. Thinking of my sis as she and my BIL enjoy their gorgeous little boy and hopefully plan a holiday at home in May with him before he turns 2 (and they will then need to pay for a flight ticket for him!).

I am praying that 2013 will be better than 2012. We lost one wonderful member of our family in 2012; July 29 will always bring us sadness. In time, it may bring a smile of happy memories, but for now, we all ache far too much. It hurts. A LOT. I know it will for a long time to come.

Hugs and love to all in blogland.

Two Weeks from Hell

Okay, so I've been quiet lately. Honestly? I'm just coming up for air right now. It's been a couple of weeks from hell. Seriously. We couldn't have scripted it any better. No joke.

My mom and my aunt came to visit. Fantastic, right? Oh definitely! I love seeing them and spending time with them. I am blessed in that they have the opportunity and are close enough in proximity to travel a couple of times per year to see Petite. They do enjoy doing that. We all lament though that my sister and her little boy are so far away in West Virginia. It's tough not being able to see him more frequently as he grows up. He'll be one year old at the end of May and I would LOVE to see him for his birthday. *sigh*

Anyway, so my mom and aunt arrived.

I think they brought the pox/plague with them.




They arrived on Wednesday. The day after they arrived, Mom said she wasn't feeling well. Just... "off" so to speak. By Friday night when we went out for supper, she was definitely having chills and not looking her finest. Saturday she spent in bed. She thought she had a bit of a fever. And she was having aches and pains. She desperately needed sleep.

Alas, my two cats are definitely nocturnal and they just LOVE to roam through the house, meowing, pawing at closed doors, tearing around, doing anything and everything possible to interrupt sleep. One of them sat on my pillow and bit my hair/head the other day, so badly did he want me to get up and feed him at 3 a.m.! I was NOT impressed.

Oh, and then one of them puked in the hallway and Hubby stepped in it. *sigh again*

My aunt, thankfully, survived with a tickle in her throat, but I am told it developed into something more drastic when she returned home. Ugh.

Added to that the fact that the day before they were to leave (Wednesday), I had taken the day off to spend with them. I was looking forward to my Tuesday off, spending it at home with them all, maybe taking them shopping while Hubby watched Petite in the afternoon.

That wasn't to be either.

On Monday, our fridge died. FAST. Great: the one week that we have nice, warm, sunny weather that is abnormally hot, our fridge gives up the ghost!? Freakin lovely. I spent Monday evening making space in our little bar fridge for essentials and moving freezer stuff down to the deep freeze in the basement. Then I started scouring around for a new fridge. We found a few possibilities.

And thus we spent the entire day on Tuesday fiddling with that. Getting a fridge, getting it delivered ASAP, moving it in, moving the other one out (removing doors as per law), and changing the handle on the new fridge, cleaning it, moving stuff into it, tossing old stuff out, etc. What a nightmare! We had taken out a roast for Mom to cook that day for a family dinner, but in the end, we were far too tired to deal with that. However, the roast was thawed so we had to cook it. We did. And then ordered pizza for supper after a long, tiring day. I really needed to put something stronger into my tea that night, that's for sure.

Okay, so they flew home one week after they arrived, and Mom apparently dropped her bag in the hallway at home and went to bed for three days straight. Poor woman. My goal isn't to exhaust my mom and aunt when they visit yanno. Jeez. Some hostess I am... We never got to the new Ikea. We never even hit Costco! We didn't get to go shopping like we planned. Mom hoped to be able to babysit one night for us so Hubby and I could go to a movie or something. But none of it happened. Seriously. The. Week. From. Hell.

Three days after they left, I came down with whatever Mom had. A flu I guess. I had no vomiting or stuffy nose, none of that sort of thing. But I had aches. Chills. Pains. Stiffness. Dizziness. Exhaustion. BADLY. I went to work on Friday, but on the weekend I spent many hours in bed.

And over that weekend, Petite got sick with a cold. Nice. Snot everywhere. We went through two boxes of tissues. She had to stay home with me on Monday. And she was stir crazy. She didn't want to nap (and I badly needed one). She didn't even want to eat (fine enough, as long as she drank something). Tuesday came, and I was so out of it. I HAD to stay home. And she wasn't quite well enough to go to daycare for the second day. So she stayed home with me, again. But it was worse.

When she wouldn't nap, I left her to play in her room with her gate closed so I knew she was safe. I drifted in and out of a dazed sleep for about 30 or 40 mins. However, upon hearing, "Mommy help! I'm upside down!" I quickly hauled my sick ass to her room. What I saw made me collapse in a heap. I texted that photo to Hubby and simply cried. He left work to come rescue me. I was a mess. Needless to say, she was better enough to go to daycare by Wednesday.

And I stayed home, yet again. I'm still not quite back up to snuff, dealing with a bit of tunnel vision and vertigo. But I'm managing.

It gets better right? Please Lord, let it get better.

Oooh, one bit of good news. One of the local winners of last year's contest (The New HOT 89.9's Win a Baby contest... which won awards by the way!) just announced on the station this morning that her first IVF cycle in January is a success! She would be about 6-7 weeks right now and is due in November! I'm SO happy for her and her husband! Amazing. May the road to her rainbow be a fantastic ride!

Oh yeah, and I had my CD3 bloodwork last Friday to test LH, FSH, TSH, E2 and Ferritin. I still have the bruise. We'll see what happens.

I have no title; there's too much in here!

There's a plethora of things running through my brain that I want to blog about. Some are quick and dirty, others are definitely entire posts unto themselves. Hell, I'm sure one or two could be book ideas!

For now, I'll deal with the quick and dirty tidbits; items of importance in my life that have affected me, or are on the immediate horizon. To do that efficiently, I'm going to slap this into bulleted format. Forgive me my transgressions, please? There is more to come. I guarantee. I just need to find time to write it all down.

• My mom arrives on Saturday for a week-long visit. I'm really looking forward to seeing her. The last time I saw my mom was in January for the family vacation we all took together (thanks to my parents). She cannot wait to get her hands on Petite for some love and cuddles and kisses. Nana loves our little girl to bits! The reason she's visiting is that she's taking advantage of some time with us on her way down to the States. She's heading down to visit my sister. Why? Because...
  


• ... My sister is now 38 weeks pregnant with the first baby boy in the family in 28 years. I had the first grandchild, and Petite was the first baby in 26 years in our family. My sis is now on the verge of having my parents' second grandchild, and it's a boy this time. I'm so excited for her, and boy, do I wish I could go visit for a quick weekend after he arrives. As it stands, I expect we'll have to Skype for a few months and I'll hope to see both my sister and my new nephew in August at home. Anyway, Mom is heading down to stay with my sister for a month or so, hoping that her grandson arrives safe and sound, and she wants to give my sister a hand for a little while as they find some sort of routine.
  


• As miserable as I was with a cold and sinus infection last week, I wouldn't have missed the Royal Wedding of William and Kate for anything! I was 11 years old when Charles and Diana got married and I distinctly recall being up early that morning, with my mom and my sister, watching Diana walk down the aisle to become Charles' bride. It was quite romantic to watch. Later that year, Diana and Charles both came to Canada on a Royal Visit, and spent time in my hometown. At the time, I was a member of the Girl Guides of Canada and the Lieutenant Governor of our province was hosting a garden party. It was indicated that three members of each troop would be selected to attend the garden party (in uniform of course) and have the opportunity to meet Charles and Diana. I was one of the three chosen and I was so elated! I remember Diana being charming, sweet, and genuinely interested in conversation with the guests. Charles I recall as being quite stand-offish and snobby. It was a memorable day for me and I knew at that moment that Diana was someone quite special. I was honoured to have the opportunity to speak with her. Of course, I had no idea of the underlying issues and I was saddened to learn of the reality later on. Tears certainly flowed when Diana died and I was (and am) so sorry that Will and Harry lost their mom at such a young age. Diana would have loved to attend William's wedding and I know she would be so proud at the young men she raised. I look forward to Canada Day, July 1, this year. Will and Kate will be making their first formal visit to a foreign country and they will be coming to Canada, the capital where I live, to celebrate the day. I just might have to brave the throngs of celebrating Canucks to try to see them!
  


• Easter has come and gone. Petite's chocolate is now well hidden in our cupboard, that's for sure! Damn, but she just loves the stuff! She awoke on Easter morning saying, "egg?" and I gave her an Easter basket in which she could collect the eggs she found. We had a dozen eggs scattered in the house and she was as quick as a whip, finding them lickety-split and just as quickly, figuring out that chocolate was in most of them! Boy, was she a happy girl! She was given books, clothing, Play-Doh and of course, chocolates for Easter. Family members also contributed to a sandbox; I hope to pick one up later this week or next if they're on sale. Anyway, we're rationing her chocolate. Otherwise, she'd have it non-stop!
  


• At the end of the month, just after my birthday, Hubby, Petite and I are flying out West to attend my cousin's wedding. My cousin is an RCMP officer and his fiancée is an officer as well. They decided not to do the wedding in red serge though; protocols would dictate that if he dressed in red serge (and she in her wedding dress), that other attendees would also have to dress in red serge, that there would be an honour guard, etc. They'd like to dismiss with all that pomp and pageantry and just kick back and have fun. My cousin says he's wearing cowboy boots, jeans and a cowboy hat! And it's outdoors as well, assuming the weather holds. Sounds like my kind of wedding! The time change (three hours difference) will be hard on Petite, but we'll manage. We have four days before the wedding to help her adjust. And Petite is supposed to be carrying a basket of petals up the "aisle" as well. Let's hope she doesn't just sit down with the basket and tear all the petals apart!
  


• Another cousin's wife received some fantastic news. She recently underwent surgery to remove a portion of her kidney because they found a rather large growth on it and suspected cancer. She just got word that in fact, the growth wasn't cancerous. So this is wonderful to hear. She does have a similar growth that will require additional surgery in a couple of months. We have no news on that yet of course. So our fingers are still crossed but for now, we are smiling.
  


• One of my coworkers retires in about two and a half weeks' time. Lucky girl! I am sure she has plenty of things to keep her busy in her retirement. I, for one, will be envious of the time that she has to do these fun things, but then again, I wouldn't wish my years away either. However, I am ecstatically happy for her! Congratulations K! (I know she reads the blog.) Enjoy it honey. Well deserved! But do keep in touch, okay? You will definitely be missed!
  


• Our dishwasher is busted. Secretly, I think Petite's little fingers pushed a few too many buttons in rapid succession and messed up the control panel. It certainly seems that is the problem at least. I'm really quite handy and I've researched the problem left, right and centre, all over the place. No dice. I've done all the things that are 'suggested' to resolve the problem with absolutely no luck at all. So I expect we're looking at a boatload of cash to get it fixed. And it broke three months past warrantry. Nice huh? Ugh. God, I hate handwashing dishes... Just sayin'.
  


• Late last night, Hubby and I were watching the news, catching up on the latest polls for our federal election. I was also on the laptop, trolling a few sites, just making sure some things had been seen to. When lo and behold, I caught sight of a snippet. It stated that Osama Bin Laden was dead. No... really? I shook my head and read it twice. Then a third time. I don't think I processed it entirely. And I had barely looked up to speak those words to Hubby when CNN interrupted their programming with the special report and then later, President Obama's address. I stared, open-mouthed, at the TV. I almost couldn't believe it. Ten years. It's taken almost ten years since that fateful day in 2001 to find this man and bring him to justice. But sort of like Kakunaa, I wonder about the celebrations quickly commenced outside the White House last night. Don't misunderstand: I have no doubt that had he surrendered willingly and been given a trial (much as Saddam Hussein was), that he would be the ranting and raving extremist that we all know him to be, and pretty much sealed his own fate, resulting in his execution anyway. He would have been found guilty and that would have been that. However, that opportunity was taken from him -- much like it was for all those men and women on September 11th -- and I wish that were not the case. I don't deny that he deserved to die. Good Lord, if ever I wanted to reinstate Canada's Capital Punishment laws, Bin Laden would exemplify the reasons behind it all! But some part of me (the idealist, I suppose) wishes that things had gone differently. Alas... what's done is done. Hopefully it will result in more peace in our world. One must hope, right? I do bow my head in reverent silence and memory for all those who lost their lives that terrible day. For all those who have lost their lives in the War on Terror ever since. For all those families that have seen loved ones leave for foreign shores, never knowing if they would return. For the changes that our world has seen since. And for the fear that grips us... even when it may not need to. Our lives changed that day and we will forevermore be affected.
  


• Today, May 2, is election day here in Canada. A federal election was called a couple of months ago and today is the day to make your mark. As I said on FaceBook, sure, I have preferences for a particular party and for a number of candidates. However, the main point for me is that it's absolutely crucial that people get out there and VOTE. So many people in this world (take a look at the Middle East right now if you want current examples) are literally DYING because they want that freedom, they yearn for the possibility of having a democratic society. So regardless of your choice, JUST GO VOTE. Please. Besides, if you don't vote, you have absolutely no right to complain about the government after the election, now do you? :)

The following posts are yet to come:

• We are one month closer to starting our cycle; today is CD3, right on track with regular 30-day cycles. I need to fax the docs some results and get some info on dates. I hope we aren't delayed any further than I want to be!
  


• 30 Days of Blogging -- 30 topics in 30 days (some of these topics are really interesting!)
  


• Blogger award recently given to me by Marilyn (just had her transfer) and Kelly (p/g). Thank you ladies! I promise, I'll address this ASAP!
  


• What IF? -- This stems from last year's NIAW (jeez, this year's is just over! Where the heck did THAT go?!), and damn, but I still haven't had time/energy/composure enough to write it down! I think I can probably discuss my thoughts on this with the next point...
  


• Dollars and $ense of Family Building -- my thoughts and our personal experiences will be forthcoming on this topic. And yes, it certainly does touch on the What IF from last year's NIAW.

Have a great week everyone.

Scatterbrained -- seems to be par for the course!

This post is completely disjointed. I've made no attempts at being cohesive. It's just a bit of a mind dump. Bear with me... but you've definitely been forewarned.

This past weekend was a total blur. Hubby spent both Saturday and Sunday doing 12-hour shifts in a maternity ward (ironic huh?) for his clinicals this semester. He LOVED it. He came home last night, saying, "I've never felt more like a nurse before" and he reported that it was so very satisfying to get to bathe a newborn for the first time, teaching the parents how and why to bathe correctly, and to help a woman get her newborn to latch. He was on Cloud 9 last night. Exhausted, but definitely satisfied.

And while we were talking, I saw that look in his eyes. You know the one. The one that says, "I want to do that again... with our own baby." I can only hope that we get to once again. Time will tell. I hope that we get to do that again too.

Regardless, because he was away pretty much all weekend, because I had his kids all weekend, and because there was grocery shopping and laundry and running errands, and cooking, and all sorts of things to handle even with him away, I was run right off my feet. I'm so tired this morning, I could cry. I wonder can I hide in a corner somewhere and drift off to sleep?

Add to that the fun of strep throat. My friend's daughter was diagnosed with it last week. LaGrande went to the clinic yesterday and was diagnosed with it too. And if I know myself at all, and my own symptoms, I've got it as well, but I'm not yet taking anything nor have I seen a doctor. You see, I got the sore throat when coming off a cold a couple of weeks ago, so I thought it was just the remenants of that. Almost two full weeks later, and nope, the sore throat is still there and not going anywhere. My neck is swollen and sore, my ears seem a bit plugged (sounds are muffled a little) and I just ache. Turns out that if left untreated, strep can cause a whole host of other, much more serious problems. So I'm thinking I better go see a doc and get some antibiotics soon. As my mom said last night to me on the phone, "I don't want Petite to be motherless!" (Dramatic much Mom?!! Yikes.)

Congratulations to Kakunaa over at Spermination Station and her DH on the birth of their son! At just 35 weeks, her water broke and Phelan Shel was delivered via C-section last night. I'm so happy for them both! And OMG, I hope she'll soon get the cloth diapers I shipped to her; they'll need them!

Today is the first full day of spring; and we're getting snow. Yesterday was sunny, bright and gorgeous and today, grey and snow whipping around. A total of 10 cms are on the way and I'd really prefer to have yesterday's weather rather than this mess. Ugh.

We finally got the new (to us) car last Friday. It's a 2009 Mazda 3 GX with 56,000 kms on it, full bumper-to-bumper warranty until March 2014, and it's even been rustproofed. I love the Mazda line of vehicles. Seriously LOVE them. One of these days, I'll be a little old lady with white hair flying driving a Mazda coupe. Guaranteed.

For those following, we had a talk with LaGrande following her antics of Thursday night. Hubby finally got the call from Friend1's mom mid-morning on Friday. Nice huh? Honestly, when a frantic parent calls your home, at MIDNIGHT, wondering if their kid is there and okay, would you not fucking pick up the goddamn phone and bloody-well CALL THEM BACK??!! Would you want them to toss and turn all night long, wondering where their child is and if he/she is okay?? Or are you that fucking irresponsible and uncaring that you turn off the phone or ignore it, turn over and go back to sleep?!! Stupid woman. I have little respect for the incompetent and irresponsible.

End result: Because Hubby did get a call (and she was damned irritated to have to call at all by the tone of her voice he reported), LaGrande got a weekend's worth of no phone and being grounded. When we confronted her, she was sullen and sulky but she did not defend herself, scream, cry, shout, nothing. She was very quiet and sat there, biting her lip and inner cheek. Guilty much? Damn straight. Even Hubby's ex believes that Friend1's mom would have lied about LaGrande having been at their home. So yeah, we don't believe she was there last Thursday night. Now she's not allowed to go to Friend1's house at all. After all, who wants their kid in a home with irresponsible parents? And she must provide a list of names/numbers of her friends; she would only get her phone back when that list was in my hands.

Singing with the choir at the 67s game was fantastic! We all had a great evening. Unfortunately, although the game was nationally televised, the station cut to a commercial before the anthem started and when they came back from the break, we were walking off the ice AFTER having finished! Ugh. Oh well. I know it was videotaped by a few people. I hope to get my hands on a recording somewhere.

All last week, Petite was very clingy and cuddly. I am not quite sure why. Maybe she was a bit under the weather. Maybe the presence of more kids at daycare during March Break threw her off her routine. Maybe she just needed to know that Mommy and Daddy love her. I'm not sure. Whatever it was, it's sort of continuing into this week. I have to watch the time carefully when I leave the daycare because her clinginess and reluctance to leave me threatens to make me late for work. I guess it's bound to happen now and then though. Now if I can avoid passing the strep to her, that'd be great. Wish me luck!

Last but not least...
In the last couple of weeks, I've located two old friends. And I'm absolutely over the moon about that. One of them is a St-Pierraise who came to Newfoundland years ago to learn some English. There were two students who were there for a semester, one of whom I had kept in touch with, the other I'd lost touch with. This was in 1990-91... 21 years ago. She found me on Facebook through a mutual friend of ours. I couldn't find her because she changed her name when she married. Regardless, I'm really glad she found me again. I'd been wondering what she's been up to and whether she stayed in St-Pierre or had moved to France, as so many St-Pierrais do. (For those who may not know, there are two islands -- St-Pierre and Miquelon -- that belong to France but are situated off the south coast of Newfoundland, here in North America. I lived there for quite awhile during university and have lots of friends there. Beautiful place. I love it.)

The second friend I found was one of my first best friends. He and his family used to live directly across the street from our family. We were both born in 1970 and attended the same elementary school. We even carpooled to school together; his dad had an orange VW, a first generation Beetle in fact! Brr, but it was cold in the winter! Anyway, by the time I was 8 or 9, I had developed a huge crush on him but when we were 10, his parents separated and he and his father moved out west. I only saw him once after that; when we were 12 years old, they returned to Newfoundland to visit family and friends and stopped by the street to catch up. We were both so shy to meet up again, but I remember I was really excited to see him again. I haven't seen him since, but I frequently looked for him or asked mutual friends if perchance they knew where he was. I always thought about him, wondered what he studied, if he got married or had children of his own. I wondered where his mom and dad were, whether he was still out west, etc. Anyway, for about 10 or 15 years now, I've poked his name in search parameters or scoured stuff online to try to find him. Alas, nothing. But about a month ago, I came up with his father's obituary (a very sad way to locate people, I might add), and through it, I learned of his wife's name. I found her on Facebook, and when I clicked on her profile, there was a photo of both her and her husband in the sidebar. No mistaking it: that was my old friend. I recognized his eyes, his face, even his hair. I messaged his wife, indicated who I was and what I remembered of the friend I was looking for. She confirmed it. Yes, it was him and she would pass on my message. I thanked her and resigned myself to thinking that I could do no more. I had to be patient and hope. About two weeks later, she got back to me. Her husband had asked her to give me his e-mail address. So last Monday, I wrote him a note. I haven't heard from him yet, but I will continue to hope that I will. It would be amazing to find out how he's doing and what twists and turns his own life took. The power of social networking can be an amazing thing. It really is wonderful. I'm lucky to have found him. I continue to pray that he'll respond, when he's ready. That would be incredible.

And my own sister reaches 32 weeks in her pregnancy tomorrow. Assuming all continues to go well, eight more weeks til I get to welcome a nephew!

Signing off for now. Love to all in blogland!

Sickness Hits Us Again

Petite is still not well. It's been a week filled with keeping her occupied. Playing games (peekabo, chase), playing with her toys (she laughed so hard when I showed her that the Fish.er Pri.ce Daddy could actually go through the front door of the play house!) and reading lots and lots of books. All of the preceeding interspersed with pauses here and there to wipe her runny nose. You know... before she can lick it. (*shudder*)

Anyway, for the past two nights, Petite has stirred around 11 p.m. and starts coughing. And coughing. And coughing. Both nights, she coughed so hard, she made herself throw up. On me. Oh joy. I adore the scent of baby barf at midnight.

Not.

What worried us though wasn't so much the whole 'cough-til-you-vomit' thing. Lots of children do that.

Nope. What worried us was the sound of the cough.

I'd never heard it before, but you can be certain that it was unmistakable. And as parents of young children and adults have told me, it was spot on. It sounded EXACTLY like a baby seal.

Croup.

Petite was diagnosed this morning with a very mild case of croup. The doctor prescribed only one dose of medication, expecting that is all that she'll need. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he's right.

He advised us not to take her to her swimming class on Saturday morning, indicating that the warmth and steam may provoke a cough. However, he said that we could take her to the Santa Claus Parade on Saturday evening, as long as the cold didn't aggravate her cough. If it does, I'll head home with her immediately.

All this assuming she's doing fairly well tomorrow when we get up. I hate it when she's ill. But I am fully aware that croup is common among young children. And besides, I know I'll have to get through chicken pox, measles and heavens knows what other childhood illnesses with Petite yet.

One day at a time.

Poor baby girl. :(

The Plan has Changed

Last night, as we were eating dinner, our phone rang. Usually, we ignore it because telemarketers are prone to interrupting our evening meal, and frankly, at that hour, I refuse to speak to them. But something told me to grab the call. When I picked up the handset, I saw on the screen that it was my local RE's office calling.

Lo and behold, it was the RE himself. He had just recently received a fax from my OB's office. The OB doesn't think he can work with a cyst as small as mine (about 4 x 5 cms). To be fair, the OB isn't usually required to do that sort of thing. I mean, aspiration of a cyst is pretty much the same technique as egg retrieval during an IVF cycle and it certainly isn't the OB that does that. The last time I had a cyst like this, I had it aspirated in Montreal at our clinic there. The time before that, it was the OB who did a laparoscopy to remove it. He's comfortable with doing the lap, but not with aspiration. Not really his area of specialty. I can understand that.

But the question remains: who can do the aspiration? There's the local fertility centre who, technically, COULD do it for me. But wouldn't they be pissed at doing that when I'm not even cycling there? I certainly wouldn't be a priority for them. The folks in Montreal can do it. Sure. But it means travel time, etc. And Lord knows when they can work me in. I asked my local RE if he could possibly contact Montreal and ask if perhaps that procedure can be squeezed into our appointment day in mid-December.

The local RE said that they'd ponder possible options and they'd contact me soon with something. I hope they come up with an idea soon though. The pain was so bad last night, it woke me from my sleep. That's not fun. I've said it before and I'll say it again; you can be damn sure that if it was a man suffering from a 4 x 5 cm growth in his abdomen that could easily be rectified, it would be fixed in the blink of an eye. Why do women have to suffer so? It's terrible. It's just not acceptable in my view.

On another note, I was home unexpectedly yesterday. Petite is ill and while she could have probably gone to daycare, I got a phone call just after 7 a.m. yesterday from our caregiver to let us know that her own son was violently ill so she was going to have to cancel care for the day. C'est la vie. I stayed home and cuddled Petite, trying to relieve her symptoms as much as possible. Poor girl. She is having a tough time breathing. That continued into last night. Every time she stirred, her breathing difficulties woke her and she'd cry. Sitting in her crib, just feeling miserable; she looked terribly forlorn. My poor baby girl. It's hard to know I can't do much for her. I must look into some natural remedies that come highly recommended, at least to relieve her symptoms a little. We've tried a few things already: saline in her nose, suctioning out the junk, raising her mattress on one end, keeping a running humidifier with liquid Vicks going, having a steaming hot bathroom when she takes her bath, etc. I hope this cold runs its course soon. I hate to see her ill. She was so uncomfortable last night, I was up until almost 2 a.m. trying to rock her to sleep on my chest, semi-upright so she could breathe. She was miserable though.

Something that's amazing to me though, is Petite's absolute LOVE of books. At not quite 15 months, she spent all day yesterday running back and forth to me with book after book after book. At last count last night, I'd read "Guess Who?" (one of her Halloween, lift-the-flap books) a total of 18 times. EIGHTEEN, folks. And that's just one of her books! She has about a dozen or so piled in the living room and she loves to have us read them to her. I am very, very happy about that. She is beginning to recognize her books too. I've read "Goodnight Moon" so many times, I've memorized it. The other evening, I started to recite it from memory when it was bedtime and we wanted her to settle down a little and have quiet time. As I was reciting it, she stopped her frenetic spinning, and immediately went to her stack of books, plucked out "Goodnight Moon" and brought it to me, climbing into my lap. We read it cover to cover three times before she was satisfied.

I am so glad she loves books. It's important to me that I read to her every day and instill a love of the written word and show her that books are wonderful. It will serve her in good stead as she gets older. That's for certain. But oh dear heavens, how many times do I have to read them over and over and over? It makes me laugh, but I cannot despair. It's a wonderful thing and I am deliriously thrilled that she enjoys books as much as she does.

Sending out lots of love to my fellow bloggers. And wishing all Americans (and my sister who lives in the States, along with her husband and his family) a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Enjoy.

14 Months

I've been laid up for a little while with what started as a cold, and has developed into pneumonia. Oh joy. I sorta feel like I've been run over by a truck, but I really hope the antibiotics I was prescribed are doing their thing. I hope to be back at the office tomorrow.

It's been a busy few weeks. My mom and aunt visited for five days, enjoying their time with Petite immensely. They just can't get enough of her and they love to dote on her. It's wonderful to see. They also were very generous with their time and filled our freezer to the brim with meals that ought to let us have one or two pre-prepped dishes per week until at least Christmas. So yummy!

We're in the middle of planning my stepdaughter's Sweet 16 party too. I cannot believe that she's going to be 16 years old! She was such a little tyke at barely 6 years old when I met Hubby, and here she is excited to be on the verge of getting her first paying job, and obtaining her driver's licence! WOW! Where did that time go? It's incredible. Anyway, she selected a Red Carpet themed party so we're working to get it all together before next weekend. I spent all of last Sunday helping her do the invitations. Cross your fingers that it all gets finished in time!

Add in extra choir practices for me for the upcoming holiday season, stepson wanting to join next week at "Take Our Kids to Work" day, and the fact that Hubby is up to his armpits in mid-term exams, and you have a crazy household.

Anyway, that's what we've been up to of late. And Petite? She's doing amazingly well.

She's a little parrot, repeating (or trying to repeat) any single syllable word we say to her. She's mastered a lot of them and is attempting multi-syllabic words like blueberry, doggie, chaussette (sock in French) and a few others. It's wonderful to hear her little voice. She's enjoying the feeling of spinning round and round and will stand and spin for fun in our living room. It's cute to watch! Not so cute when she falls over and hits her nose on a toy (resulting in a bruise by her nose, on her right cheek) though. She is beginning to try to walk backwards and is sitting down on the hearth and getting up again repeatedly. She can climb onto the couch in the blink of an eye and walk the length of it. She loves to climb up and down on us if we're sitting down somewhere. She has done a few pieces of artwork for us at daycare; including a little Thanksgiving Turkey (the outline of her foot is the body, the outline of her hands cut in different colours of construction paper makes up the wings). Those are items I'll save for when she is older. And for when I'm older too. :)

For your viewing pleasure, a photo or two taken at Saunders Farm when we went out in mid-October for our annual jaunt with the kids and our friends. Enjoy.

Quick shout out to Mo and Will, who are seeing a doubling beta and with luck, all will continue to go well. Also, watching Baby Interrupted as she is hitting her EDD this week. And the same goes for I Can't Whistle. I am crossing my fingers that their next days are peaceful, joyous and wonderful.

Easter, Birthday and Surgery

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. We did, although it was relatively quiet. Hubby's kids and our friends K&K came over to spend the day. And Petite was a sweetie in her Easter dress. She is so social; she made eyes at everyone and smiled at the entire congregation at church on Easter morning. What a cutie.



Last week, I had surgery to remove my gall bladder. As some of you know, I had my first attack while I was pregnant with Petite. Talk about scary! I was terrified I was going to miscarry. Luckily it was just gallstones but damn, they hurt like hell. After Petite was born, I had hoped it would all be over and done with. Nuh uh. My gall bladder had other ideas and after a meal of fish and chips at home over Christmas, I had a second (and third) attack. Bloodwork revealed I was sufficiently jaundiced. And two ultrasounds revealed multiple little stones. Surgery was indicated and on Tuesday past, it was done. Considering I rarely had attacks and never felt pain like others with gall bladder issues seem to indicate, I wonder how urgent it was for me to have it removed. Regardless, it's done.

Lemme tell you... even with Ativan, hot cloths on my forearms, Emla (numbing cream), and a plethora of other ways to help, it SUCKED BALLS trying to find my vein for the IV. I remember the gas going on my face and I frantically clawed for something, ANYTHING to hold onto while they tried to get a vein. I remember distinctly rising up off the table twice as they tried and mother of God, what a helluva bruise I have on my left forearm. Not cool at all. I still feel residual pain down to the wrist in the left forearm. I hope that disappears soon. And I have four incision points. It's a total bitch not being able to bend over well, and it's terrible that I can't pick up Petite! Seriously. They told me after surgery "Don't lift anything over 10 lbs for 6 weeks." They're kidding right? They do know I'm the mom of an almost eight-month old baby girl? Maybe, just MAYBE they could have told me that BEFORE THE DAMN SURGERY!? Christ. Incompetence at its best. Never would I have imagined that sort of indication for that length of time. Tell me they're exaggerating... PLEASE.

Petite can tell that I'm totally out of sorts too. She's always looking for me or trying to get in my arms. And I hate not being able to take her. My mom and aunt are doing a marvelous job with her of course, but how do you explain to an infant that mommy hurts right now and can't pick you up? It just doesn't work. And it sucks. Hard.

Also last week, we celebrated my husband's 42nd birthday. How opportune that his MP3 player decided to quit working a few days before that, thus providing me with the perfect idea for a gift. Unfortunately, his birthday was two days after my surgery, so we couldn't do much on the exact day itself. However, Petite did give her daddy a birthday card.

And as mentioned, Mom and one of my aunts are visiting. They have been here about 10 days now. Next Thursday, two more of my aunts will arrive as well. I know they will see many changes in Petite. She's no longer the immobile little infant she was when they saw her last, that's for sure.

Petite is seven and a half months old. She's active and very happy during the day, but night time is completely different. She fusses and fumes and she doesn't sleep well at all. Some nights she is up 4 or 5 times, while others, she's only up once. It's the luck of the draw with her. So there are good days and bad days for mommy and daddy!

She still doesn't have any teeth. My mom laughed and said we'll get her fitted for dentures this week! Seriously though, not a tooth in her head, although there are some days when we suspect teething pain. So she's still eating cereals, pureed veggies, yogourt, some pureed fruits (although she doesn't like fruit much). She got a taste of ice cream at Easter and she loved that! She's still taking medicine for reflux; when we forget a dose, it's usually very noticeable in her demeanor.

She loves taking a bath and swimming; I'm hoping she'll be a water baby like my sister and I were. She adores outings. As I mentioned, she's a social butterfly. She smiles at everyone and goodness, doesn't a smiling baby bring out all sorts of comments from the general public?! She's a cutie, that's for sure. Her smile looks just like mine; I get a giggle when I see it and her whole face lights up. It's gorgeous.

Right now, I'm sort of investigating daycare options. I need to put some money aside for that (man, it's costly in this province!) and I have to figure out exactly what I need to ask people when I'm looking for daycare. If you have thoughts on that, I'm listening.

Best wishes to all. Hope everyone is well.

Petite's First Cold; UPDATED

Petite has a cold. A full-blown, snotty, coughing, sore throat kinda cold. Courtesy of Hubby who brought the darn thing home sometime last week and graciously passed it to both Petite and me. (Can't you tell I'm thrilled?)

Anyway, I'm not so concerned about a run-of-the-mill cold. I mean seriously, everyone gets them and she was bound to get sick sometime in her first year of life. There's snot a-flyin, cranky feeding times (she just doesn't want to drink from a bottle at all, cause she can't breathe), fever (but that seems to have broken this morning), runny, watery eyes, and a cough.

It's the cough that worries me.

She's had it since Saturday. It's congested, mucousy, and she coughs so hard and long that it makes her vomit. She's miserable, poor baby girl. And this morning, she coughed for 20 minutes straight, and spent the next 10 minutes crying about it in my arms. We've tried warmth and humidity in the bathroom with a hot shower running, cooler mist with a humidifier in our bedroom where she sleeps, we've raised the head of her mattress, we've tried to pat her back to encourage her to spit out the gunk, everything. No go.

So this morning I called Tele.health and spoke to a nurse. After getting the details, she advised that I take Petite to see a doctor to make sure it's not something more serious like whooping cough, croup or pneumonia. I called our family doctor and explained the situation. Petite has an appointment in an hour and a half. It's probably nothing, but I want to make sure. Wish us luck.

UPDATE:
The doctor found the fever was back (mild, but still a fever) and said upon seeing her, "My, but you're not a healthy specimen are you little girl?" Nice huh? Yeah, Petite is miserable. The doctor diagnosed respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which is very common in infants. But it can cause respiratory distress so we've got a handle o a couple of things that may help her. I have a history of asthma and bronchitis and I'm prone to pneumonia when a cold gets down in my chest and because of all that, the doc figured that an orange inhaler (with an infant aerochamber) may help her. She said we'd see a big difference within a day if it helps. If not, this could last a week or so and we're to keep a close eye on her breathing in case she needs to go to the hospital for oxygen treatments. Poor little girl. I gotta go give her something to drink/eat and try to get some fluids in her. It's going to be an interesting few days...