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Long day

Yesterday was an insanely long day back at work.  I didn't leave until about 6:30 pm!  Poor Brooke was the last child at daycare...my guilt over putting her in daycare while I work is rearing its ugly head now.  It's always such a struggle - what is the best for my daughter?  At home, she would get all our attention and be with us all the time.  But is that best for her or best for me?  As it is right now, I get to contribute, have adult interaction, and Brooke gets socialized, has friends, and learns so much there!  I could teach her colors, numbers, etc, etc, just like the daycare, but she would miss Emma, Lilly, Arianna, Riley, etc., etc.  If me working and her being in daycare at least part of the time is best, why do I feel so guilty about it?

Today's just kind of a "down" day for me, I suppose.  I'm tired and stressed, never a good combination. 

I've blogged (many) times about the world of CHD.  Yesterday, the oldest living survivor with a defect called Tricuspid Atresia (where the right side of the heart is severely underdeveloped) passed away.  He was 44.  It was amazing reading his blogs at Adventures of A Funky Heart, because he was born in a time where hardly anything was known about CHDs or the heart surgeries to try to help these children survive.  He passed away in his home - on the 66th anniversary of the first surgery now known as BT Shunt (the first surgery these babies with 1/2 of a heart undergo). 

By the way, the story of the surgery is amazing - it took place in 1944 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and involved a white surgeon and his African-American assistant who actually developed the special instruments needed for the surgery, Vivien Thomas - I hope that caught your attention enough to go to here and read the story for yourself!

Wonderful week

Brooke and I had a wonderful vacation.

As you know from my last post, sent via text message (I love that!), Brooke peed in the potty!  We bought her potty Wednesday night, and she constantly asked to sit on it Thursday and Friday and read her books, drink her bottles, etc.  Sometimes I would take the diaper off, sometimes I would leave it on.  Saturday morning, I asked if she wanted to sit on it right after she got out of bed, and she said yes.  We read a book, and when stood, I saw she had peed! Sunday night when it was time to get ready for bed, I asked if she had to pee - she said yes, I put her on the potty and she peed again!  Then this morning, I put her on right before breakfast, and she peed again.  I am not pushing it - just trying it a few times a day - but it doesn't seem like it will be that hard, she seems to really prefer the potty since she already asks us to change her as soon as she pees anyway.  I'm so proud ;-)

Today, I'm back at work.....for 3 weeks.  Our office closes 2 weeks over Christmas/New Years, and I am so excited!  There's a lot to look forward to over the next month :-)

Brooke just peed in the potty! She's been asking to sit there since we bought it and we just put her on when she asks.....today she sat and started saying pee..

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jim is working today, so we did our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday.  It was delicious.  And I'm thoroughly enjoying my relaxing day since all the work is already done and we'll just have leftovers for dinner ;-)

What I really need to do is finish taking apart the swing and the pack n play so that I can put up our Christmas tree.  I'm just having a hard time doing it.  It may be silly, now that there's a potty chair in the middle of my living room where Brooke likes to sit and read books, but I'm having such a hard time taking these last two little bits of her infanthood down.  We're donating the swing to daycare, and we'll put the pack n play away for baby #2 when the time comes.  But Brooke is growing SO FAST.

Remember how I was on the fence about potty training?  Brooke has made the decision for me.  Yesterday, she stripped off her diaper 5 times in a row, squatted in the middle of the kitchen floor, and peed.  That's it - time to introduce the potty.  We're taking it slow, just introducing it right now.  Today, she's been telling me right after she pees so she can sit on the potty.  I'm hoping I'll catch her before she pees when she gets up from her nap and then we can get one pee in the potty.  I'm not pushing her yet, but I definitely want to take full advantage of her interest! 

I'm excited to put up our tree.  We use an artifical, pre-lit tree.  I've never had a real tree.  Asthma + real trees = attacks.  Jim and I both have asthma, so no real tree.  I'm fine with that - I can just decorate it and leave it, don't have to worry about water or anything.  And you can get really nice artificial trees - once of which we have ;-)

Santa pillows, ear infections, and holiday cheer!

This week has been so busy - but still so relaxing!  I've been trying to do a really good cleaning in my house and start getting decorated for Christmas.  The decorating is going slow, but I have finished my first Santa pillow (I'm going to make 1 more, and also a white pillow with candy cane trim).  It didn't turn out too bad, for my first sewing project in over 5.5 years! (Pictures are on my facebook, since I uploaded with my phone.)  I love having my sewing machine back!

Yesterday, Brooke had her follow up for her ears and got the second half of her flu shot.  Her left ear is still infected.  Poor thing :(  She's on another antibiotic - Primsol this time.

Jim has to work on Thursday, so we're making our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow (Wednesday) when he's off.  Thursday, we'll be able to relax, decorate, and eat leftovers while everyone else is stressing about their meal!  We can also make a plan for Friday.....it is our tradition to go Black Friday shopping early in the morning.  This year, we won't be going early - we would never wake Brooke up at 2 am to go shopping! - but I think we'll head out right after breakfast and stop a couple of places to see what we can pick up off our list.

Birthday party

On Saturday, we went to Isabella's 2nd birthday party.  Her mom works with Jim.  The party was Sesame Street themed with a giant bounce house in the yard and lots of delicious food.  Brooke had a great time. 

Isabella.

Brooke enjoying her juice and party favor (Abby Cadabby is her favorite!)/

Eating a cupcake.

Big plans

It's almost Thanksgiving vacation for me (yay!) and I have big plans for the rest of this year:

- Birthday party;
- Santa's Enchanted Forest;
- Jungle Island;
- Christmas light sight-seeing;
- Making "Santa pillows" for my living room (so cute - I'll post pics when I'm done);
- Decorating for Christmas;
- Cooking and baking;
- Shopping;
- Getting together with friends;
- Scrapbooking;
- Introducing the potty to a certain little girl who now constantly removes her own diaper.

Right now, it's seeming like there's not going to be enough time for all of this - but I want my girl to have the holidays jam-packed with fun.

I still haven't been feeling well, so I went to the Minute Clinic at CVS last night (bad wife to a Walgreens employee?  Maybe.  But the CVS clinic is closer). Turns out I now have a double ear infection.  Big surprise there, huh?  I started my antibiotic last night, as well as Mucinex, and I"m hoping it moves out quickly.

Jolly Ranchers

I love Jolly Ranchers.  More than I should.  I can't eat just one - the colors and fruity flavors draw me closer like magnet.  Yes, sometimes they get sticky, but the provide more joy than sorrow.

Life is like jolly ranchers.  It should be filled with color and flavors and FUN that draws us in.  And sometimes, it gets sticky.

The color and flavor in my life?  My family.  We had a great weekend, despite the lingering illness and medicine schedule.  Saturday we walked to the Greek festival for some more than delicious food and fun.  Brooke loved the music and dancing.  Sunday was all about family time at home.

The sticky in my life?  Being far away from family (insert big pout here), not being able to make plans with friends due to the lingering illness and medicine schedule.

I am so looking forward to my vacation next week and diving into another big bag of jolly ranchers ;-)

Infestation

A bug has infested our house yet again.

Last Sunday, Brooke started getting a little runny nose.  It continued until Tuesday, when she was wheezing so badly that I could hear her from across the room.  Yet, she was acting like her normal, happy self, albeit a little more tired than usual.  I did what any Mommy would do - gave her a nebulizer treatment and put her to bed a little early for some rest.

Wednesday, she didn't sound any better, so Jim took her to the pediatrician office.  She has yet another double ear infection.  We're continuing with the nebulizer treatments, and she is also on antibiotics.  When she's done with the meds, the dr gave us a prescription for something called Xylarex, which is an all-natural medicine that prevents bacteria from building up in the e--- tubes of the ears (I can't remember the name for the tubes, ever!).  I think we'll give it a shot and hope it cuts down on the ear infections.  (Side note: does anyone have any experience with this Xylarex?)

The dr said that at this age, kids in daycare will "live at" the dr office.  Last year, Brooke still had my immunities from being in utero.  Now, she's lost them, and her own immune system has to build up - and the only way for that to happen is for her to get sick.  The dr said it will probably take until Brooke is about 3 before her immune system is built up and she doesn't get sick so often - that's the bad news.  The good news is that when she starts school ("real" school), she won't get sick as much as the other kids do.  I wish I would have been able to breastfeed exclusively longer, but it just wasn't happening once I had to stop for 10 days for antibiotics....

Brooke is doing much better today - the congestion is MUCH less, and she slept all night without so much as a single cough. 

But now, I have it.  This is usual - I have the immune system of a 1 year old when it comes to colds.  Seriously.  I go years without catching the stomach flu or anything else - but, colds, I get at least 6 per year. And they ALWAYS turn into ear infections for me.  Joy.  I'm not there yet, but today is the first day I've felt bad - I feel like something is sitting on my chest and have a terrible cough and a runny nose.  I wish I was home in bed, but here I am, working through it as usual.

Hopefully this weekend will still be somewhat fun - we were supposed to get together with a friend of mine, which I cancelled since Brooke and I are both sick.  A church right by our house is having their annual "Greek festival" this weekend, so I think we might check it out tomorrow - the fresh air will do Brooke and I good, and the weather has been gorgeous lately!

Slow cookery

My slow cooker has become my best friend since I have such a commute to and from work.  Especially since Brooke started eating table foods, since we don't get home until 6:10 or 6:15, and she eats dinner at 6:30.  Doesn't leave mommy much cooking time!

I have found a couple of recipes that I would love to share.

The first is brand new (to me), courtesy of my sister - we'll call it roasted chicken:

1 whole chicken
salt
pepper
paprika

Clean chicken & pat dry.  Rub with spices. Put in slow cooker & cook on low 8-10 hours.

That's it - no water.  It gives LOTS of drippings, which would make a great gravy or broth for chicken soup later.  I added carrots and potatoes so that I had a full meal waiting for me.  You can't even get the chicken out whole - it literally falls apart.  It was delicious!

The second I've made a few times, and it's one of our favorites.  I'm making it tomorrow, as a matter of fact:

Slow cooker London Broil

London Broil (or flank steak)
1/3 C Water
1 4 oz can diced green chiles
2 tbsp vinegar
1 1/4 teaspoons chili powder (I use more)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt & pepper

Combine all ingredients (I don't measure the spices, just eyeball them) & pour over london broil in slow cooker.  Cook on low 8-10 hours. 

Fall Days!

We have been LOVING the weather this weekend.  We're talking highs of 65-70 and sunny.  Perfect fall days, and perfect for long pants and long sleeves! 

Yesterday, we were getting ready to run errands and I said to Brooke, are you ready to go bye bye?  She went and got my shoes and put them on my feet.  Then she was running around yelling "all day (fall day)!"

We went to the Golden Corral for lunch, then we went to The Falls, where we did some shopping and got Brooke's haircut.  After doing our grocery shopping, we finally headed home. 

Brooke was up early today due to the time change.  Like, ready to get up at 6:45 am (which is really 7:45 am according to her internal clock).  She woke up with a cough, runny nose, and slight fever, so that's what we're battling here.  I'm hoping to get through this (teething? cold?) with no ear infection and in just a couple of days!  She was down for her nap at 11:30, so now I need to get busy cleaning and showering....I had a few more places to run after she wakes up if she feels up to it, or when Jim gets home from work.

Potty training

I've always thought 15 months old was too early for potty training.  I mean, I know these kids are smart, but can they really understand when you explain to them they need to tell you before they pee that they need to go to the potty?  Some may have words (or signs) for needing to go to the potty, but I've doubted that they have the kind of control over their bodies that is required to be potty trained.  I don't doubt they have communication skills for it, but what I doubt is the actual physical control over their little bladders.  I know some kids are potty training at 18 months old but if there's one thing I've learned, it's that these little bodies change so much in a matter of days, weeks, months.....

But, lately, Brooke's been showing signs that she's ready.  She doesn't tell me ahead of time, but she grabs her diaper 90% of the time when she pees...she goes longer dry and then pees more at one time.  Sometimes, she even wakes up from naps/overnight dry! 

Still, I'm not quite sold on the idea.  I've been thinking of getting a potty and starting to introduce it over Christmas when I have 2 weeks off of work - just introducing, not really doing what I call "hard-core training."

The other day (I think Friday?), Brooke, my parents, and I were downstairs.  She came and laid in front of me and played with her pajama pants until I asked if she wanted them off.  Yes, she nodded. Then she started playing with her diaper.  Do you need a ditey change? I asked.  Yes, she nodded.  I grabbed a diaper and changed her - lo and behold, the diaper was completely filled with pee, only 1.5 hours after I changed her last.

Dr. C agrees that by the holidays, Brooke should be "potty-train-able" and have the communication skills she needs to be successful even at such a young age.  I'm considering starting to introduce the potty when I'm off the week over Thanksgiving, even though I don't expect to do the heavy potty-training until a little older.  I think I just need to introduce the idea soon since she's showing signs of readiness - including nodding yes if I ask if she peed/pooped!

So, all that said, any potty training tips?  Especially when they're going to daycare most days?