Coastal Reflections

Crying over spilled water

Nope, not crying over spilled milk.......... crying over spilled water. LOL 

Last night I thought I had my glass of water out of ds2's reach.  He grabs for anything he can reach and it goes straight into his mouth!  Unfortunately he knocked it over and water went all over the dining room table.  I was trying to mop it up with anything I could and telling dh to get me some towels.  Dh just stood there and looked at me.  Gee, thanks.  Ds1 ran and grabbed a whole 2 paper towels and threw them on the water. LOL  At least he tried to help.  Water got all over some papers I needed to file plus a stack of magazines ds1 was using to cut pictures from for his "Me Collage" assignment (as in the Judy Moody book series).  Ds1 had part of his stamp collection on the table as well since we'd been working on it earlier in the day, but I was thankfully able to rescue it before the water could damage anything.

It continually amazes me at how different my kids are (ds1 never reached for and grabbed at anything and everything and didn't stick everything in his mouth) and yet I constantly remind myself that it shouldn't amaze me at all as we are all unique individuals.  I'm going to have to keep a close eye on this little one. LOL

Last summer library program

We're feeling a bit sad today because it marked the last day of the summer library programs this year.  June and July just zoomed by so fast!  Today's entertainer was Jiggleman.  We've had the opportunity to see him previously at another library (I can't remember if it was last year or the year before).  His crazy antics scared ds2 this morning early on in the show and ds2 started crying.  We went and stood in the doorway and all was fine.  Ds1 was laughing so hard he was shrieking.  The children's librarian had a nice little spread of munchies both yesterday and today for the kids.  I was extremely impressed with the programs at this particular library branch.  Ds1 received a book bag for participating in the summer reading program. :)

After lunch I snuggled with my two gorgeous boys and read a few books.  We loved all 3, which were...

Stellaluna by Janell Cannon

Let's Go Home, Little Bear by Martin Waddell

Welcome to the River of Grass by Jane Yolen

This evening we're supposed to go in search of more clothes for ds1 while purchases are still tax free.  I also have to remember to photograph ds2 tonight because he's 7 months old today!

An emotional day

 I drove all the way to the doctor's office this morning for ds2's well-child visit (plus the nurse had told me last week to keep the appointment since they would want to see him again from being sick last week).  My fears from yesterday were confirmed - even though I scheduled the appointment 2 months ago when he was there for his 4-month well-child, they didn't enter it into the system.  Even though we were there already, they couldn't squeeze him in so we have to go back next Monday.  So frustrating!  I'm irked because I had to wake him up to nurse him, get ready, and go.  Poor thing could have gotten some more much needed sleep this morning.  I'm also frustrated with gas prices what they are and I made a wasted trip (20 miles round trip - I realize it could have been worse).

On the way back home, the tears started to flow.  I think the frustration along with thinking about welcoming ds2 into the world six months ago today was all a little too much for me emotionally.  I looked in the mirror at ds1 and the tears started flowing harder.  He wished and prayed for a little brother for so long (he wanted a little brother named David - ds2's name does start with a D, but it's not David).  I started thinking about when we moved to this homestead just a little over 2 years ago and ds1 really started talking about wanting a little brother all the time.  I hated to plant any false expectations into his head so I just told him to pray about it and if the Lord wanted us to have a baby He would make sure it happened.  You see, dh and I did not intend to have any more children.  It's not that we didn't want more, but to keep a long story short I'll just say that my body isn't made for having babies (praise the Lord for modern technology, c-sections, and anesthesia).  I had a very rough pregnancy with ds1 and an even worse delivery.  The surgery and fact that I had to have general anesthesia really shook dh up and he said I would never go through that again.  He was happy with having just one child and that was that.  Fast forward to last year....... Dh came home one evening and said we had to talk.  I was scared to death - I thought he'd lost his job or something.  Turns out he'd been having dreams all week that we had another baby and he felt it was the Lord telling him that's what we were to do.  I hadn't shared with dh, but I'd had a few things happen to me that week as well (too complicated to explain) that I felt was the Lord telling me we were going to have another baby, but I dismissed it.  Never dismiss the Lord speaking to you!  So, six months ago we welcomed miracle #2 into our lives and ds1's prayers were answered.

Add lab technician to my job description

We've all seen the How Much Is Your Mother Worth lists, but I'm going to have to add lab technician to mine!

Dh brought home the vials last night that we have to fill with ds2's stools to try to find out what's going on with him and if it's truly blood in his stools.  There are three vials, each larger than I expected.  Two are filled with some kind of fluid that is poisonous/toxic (warning labels plastered all over the vials telling you not to get it on your skin or in your eyes - yep, I managed to get it on my skin this morning but no effects showing up from it yet and hopefully none will).  The other vial is empty.  The fluid filled vials have to be filled first.  I saved every diaper from yesterday (ick!) and started filling the first vial immediately.  It's now just after noon here today and the first vial has still not reached the fill line.  There's no way all 3 will be filled by tomorrow to drop off at the hospital lab.  The doctor's office sent home 1 glove for me to wear while performing this lovely task.  Gee, thanks - what a huge help.  It's a good thing I was prepared and had a box of gloves of my own already. 

I never imagined being a mom would involve work like this!

A bit of relief for ds2

Ds2 is doing a bit better today.  His fever has gone down (yesterday and last night it was 103*, this morning it was 99.7*), but he still has the mucusy diarrhea and now it appears that there are traces of blood in it.  My poor little man!  Dh is picking up some viles today at the doctor's office so we can fill them with samples and drop them off at the hospital for testing.  The test results from yesterday are back and he does not have rotavirus so they aren't quite sure what's going on with my sweet guy.  He's definitely feeling better though.  He's smiling a bit today and has giggled a few times at his big brother's antics.  He's not nursing well though so I tried giving him some pedialyte and it did not go over well (not that I thought it would).  I'm grateful he's feeling well enough that I could hop online for a few minutes.  We'll be back in snuggle mode soon.  

My wee babe is sick

Baby tigers!

We took a trip to the flea market here this morning to treat ds1 to seeing some baby tigers.  He is big cat crazy and our recent vacation was planned solely around taking him to SC to see siberian tigers at the zoo.  We have a big cat rescue group in the north part of our county (about 60 or so miles away) and they sometimes come to the flea market here to show off some of the cats.  Today they brought 3 babies - 2 bengal and 1 white.  This was the first public appearance for the little girl bengal and the white.  Ds1 had his picture made with each of them and the proceeds go to support the rescue group.   It was funny watching ds1 because even though he is just crazy about tigers, he was a little scared of being so close (you are not allowed to touch or pet them, even the babies, by law) and you could see the apprehensiveness written all over his face.  He was also a little shy of the handlers.  We're going to try to take him to more events held in the future by this rescue group, as time and $$ allows. 

My little man.....

My sweet little man is saying "mama"!  It's still just at random at this point, but what lovely music it is to my ears!!!!! 

He also got his first taste of rice cereal last night.  At his last checkup he had fallen in percentile for weight so the pediatrician suggested we go ahead and let him give it a try.  He has seemed extremely interested in what the rest of us have been eating for the last few weeks.  He did surprisingly well and ate about a quarter of the amount I offered him.

Gosh, they grow up way too fast!

One of those moments you just want to bottle