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?