Sick and sicker...and why I LOVE our pediatrician!!

Being sick in the summer sucks!!!

Wednesday, I felt my throat starting to swell up. By wedensday evening I was miserable. Since we are in the process of switching family dr.'s. I went to the after hours care place on Thursday since I was felling like death warmed over. He looked at my throat for less than 2 seconds and said "here take this prescription". I asked him about strep throat, since it hit Julia's daycare not that long again. He replied "I could culture it, but it does not matter, this antibiotic will take care of it if it is strep.". I was a little leary, since I don't like to take antibiotics unless they are really needed. (otherwise you are just creating super-bugs). But I was feeling so bad I took them anyway.

On Friday, the Grampie and Grammie watched Julia so I could get some rest (I called in sick). I was still not feeling any better by this point. When I finally got her at 6pm she was hot! It sure felt like she was running a fever. Grammie and Grampie were a little worried about her. Came home and sure enough, 102.5 degree fever. Gave her some Mortin and she quickly perked back up.

Then comes this morning..... I am still not feeling ANY better, despite SEVEN doses of the antibiotic! So I was planning on going back to the after hours clinic. By 9am I still had not heard Julia, so I got worried, she is usually up by 6:30am! Jerrod and I walk in her room together and see her looking pretty pathetic lying in bed. I pick her up and realize she is burning up!! I take her temp and it is 103.6!!!!! Ack! So I call the pediatrician to make her an appointment. I figured I can go to the after hours clinic after Julia's appointment while she is napping. I call Grammie to update them on how Julia is doing (since she was worried last night). Julia then proceeds to start vomiting!!! Urgh! About the time I needed to be leaving to take Julia to the pedi appt, Jerry and Debbie pull in. Debbie knows that I am not felling any better, so she thought they would come over to help. So Debbie and I go to the pedi appt, while Jerrod and Jerry stay behind to clean up the messes from Julia.

The pedi was running behind, so we had to wait almost an hour to be seen. Julia vomited once or twice while we were waiting. Finally the pedi sees us. Julia will be just fine, she just have a virus that is going around. Give her Mortin as needed for relief, and hold all liquids/food for awhile until her tummy can settle back down.

But then she turns to me and say that I look and sound awlful! So I proceed to tell her about my appt at the after hours clinic on Thursday and how I was heading back there as soon as she was down with Julia. She was SHOCKED and FURIOUS that a dr. would prescribe an antibiotic without culturing for strep first! I told her the antibiotic is not even working because I still feel just as bad. She then asked to see my throat. As soon as she looked in, she said "oh my, that looks really bad, it sure looks like strep!" and then asked what antibiotic the other dr. prescribed. When I told her what it was, she said that is was not going to be strong enough to knock this out. She then wrote me an order to have my throat cultured for strep at the local lab. She also wrote me a presciption that I could fill once the test came back positive for strep throat! If the test was negitive, I was not to fill the prescribtion! I was OVERJOYED!! She is a pediatrician, yet, she was willing to look at me, even though I did not ask her to!

So I drop Julia and Debbie off at home and make sure they have everything they need (mainly getting a dose of Motrin into Julia), then I go off to the lab to have my throat culture done. The tech looks in my throat and says "oh my goodness, that looks awlful!". (Why is everyone saying that?!) They do a rapid test first and it comes back positive. So I fill my presciption. I have only had one dose so far, but I am already starting to feel slightly better.

Julia and I just spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the rocking chair with her on my chest, covered in a quilt, napping off and on. (Jerry and Debbie left after I got home from having my prescription filled)

I am hoping we both feel a lot better tomorrow!! Oh, Debbie said she saw why I loved my pedi so much! She explains everything and is so understanding and nice. I'm sure it helped that the pedi said that Debbie did not look old enough to be a grandma!!!LOL

Singing her ABC's

Every morning on the drive to daycare, Julia and I sing (well, mostly I sing, Julia just chimes in every now and then). I mostly sing The Itsy Bitsy Spider, The Wheels On The Bus, and Old MacDonald (among others). But in the last couple of weeks, I have been adding the ABC song to the list. Julia must also here that song at daycare, because she picked it up REALLY fast! I am actually amazed on how well she can do it. I try to let her take the lead, so SHE can say the letters before I do. It goes something like this:

Julia sings (with me singing softly and about 1/2 beat behind her) - A-B-C-D-E-F-G, then she gets stuck, so I sing - H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P, then she pipes back in singing - Q-R-S-T-U-V, then I have to finish it out. We both cheer when we finish!!!

I think with a couple more week's practice she will have it mostly down! She is becoming such a BIG girl!

Yum... Corn on the cob

I finally bought some corn on the cob today. I have been wanting it for quite awhile, but just have not gotten around to it.



So, we finally had some tonight with supper. Julia LOVED it! I think I will be trying to get a lot more of it while it is still in season.

Yep, I made sure to put some butter on it for her!

Yum, mom, this is good stuff!!

You can clearly see just how MUCH of the ear of corn she has eaten! There was not a whole lot left!!

It is amazing, last year at this time I was just starting to introduce solids to Julia!! Now she is eating corn on the cob!!!

Happy Anniversary!!

Eight years ago today, Jerrod and I got married! It just does not seem like that long ago. I still feel like two newly married kids. The last year had some major bumps, but we are still very much in love with each other.

I think if we have not killed each other by now, we just might make it another 50 years...

I love you sweetie, I could not imagine my life with anyone else. You are my soul mate and best friend.

A BUNCH of random pictures.

I have been trying to be better about taking pictures. Here are a bunch from the past month.

At her cousin's 1st birthday party, waiting on the cake....

Hmmmm.... cake...... (You can see two of her cousin's in this picture)

Julia does really well eating with silverware (or plasticware in this case)

Mexican, her favorite!!

Lounging around in the house half naked and in our dress-up shoes..

We re-discovered the shopping cart a week or two ago. It has become a new favorite toy.

I'm so cool with my shades on in my car....

We stopped to visit the great-grandparents and they had a puzzle going. Julia just could not help herself, she had to "help" put it together.

Hot stuff in the rocking chair

We are still all about stickers, ESPECIALLY her Hello Kitty sticker book!

Making a mess, I mean, playing.... (look at all the toys on the floor)

It was the most fun dumping the blocks out of the bag.

Please and Julia

Lots and LOTS of new words coming fast and furious from Julia lately. Please and Julia are just 2 of the latest.

Last week I thought that maybe I should teach Julia how to say her name. Of course she picked it right up. It took a day or two, though, before she made the connetion that the picture of her was also Julia. Up until now, when she points at a picture of herself she either says "me" or "baby". Although she is leaving the "L" out of her name, so it sounds like Ju-ya when she says it!!

I have been trying to get Julia to say "please" for MONTHS now. She is GREAT at "Thank You" and says it all the time without prompting, but would never say please. So I just kept working with her on it. Then on Saturday night she walked over to the microwave and made her wanting gesture while going "uh, uh, uh..". We had a bag of chocolate on top of the microwave and she knew it. So I asked her "Do you want a piece of candy?". She responded by saying "Peeze". I was shocked! Finally she said please. So I told her "So you can say please, you just have to want something bad enough to say it". To which she responded "Pretty peeze"!!! I about fell over! We rarely ever say "pretty please", so I was amazed she picked that up. Especially since she had never said please before!!

So of course I had to give her the piece of candy. So for the rest of the night she would run up to DH or I and say "peeze" and then run for where the candy was at. She probably had 6 pieces (maybe more)! I just could not deny her when she would say "peeze". So now she has learned saying please is the magic to getting what she wants! (Smart cookie!)

It is SOOO much harder to tell her "no" now that she asks with a "peeze". I feel like such a mean mommy!

Sweetest words EVER!!!!

I cannot believe I have forgotten to blog about this until now...

Of course we have been telling Julia multiple times a day that we love her long before she was even born. When she started talking at an early age, I was excited! I thought for sure I would hear an "I love you" from her pretty quickly considering how often I say it to her. But it never came. Sentences came and she still did not say it. I was sad, but knew how stubborn Julia could be, so I figured she would finally say it when she wanted to.

Then it happened!!

Last week, out of the blue, after one of the many times I told her I loved her that day she said "Luv you". I instantly melted!! So I told her again, "I Love you", and she proceeded to say "Luv you" AGAIN!!! Those have to be the sweetest words I have ever heard!!

Since last week, she has said "Luv you" many, MANY times. And even says it without me saying "I love you" first!! We will just be sitting there and she will say "Luv you" without any prompting from me!!!

Sweetie, don't EVER forget, Mommy loves you too!!! (And so does Daddy!)

Living with a toddler

Our cats would like to make you aware that living with a toddler is very rough!



First off, toddlers are sticky. They then get the sticky on you! When the sticky will not come off with a bath, you get the sticky mess SHAVED off!!


Poor Sebastian! A bath AND a shave!! He is now sporting a bald spot thanks to Julia!



Then they mess with you....

"I'm not touching you..."

But it is not all bad. We do get some lovin' from the child.

Here Julia is going in for head lovings

But after awhile, we just need to go find a hiding spot from the toddler!

The poor cats have it rough.... Gavin seems to be the only one who truly enjoys having Julia around. She is his little buddy!! The rest of them just tolerate her. They never imagined their lives with a toddler!!

Little fish

Julia has become a regular fish!

Grammie finally found a swimsuit with floaties in it that will keep her upright and afloat!

Julia no longer wants you to hold on to her, she want to do it herself!! She will reach for you if she needs help. She just loves the pool and will spend hours at a time in it. She is also getting quite brave.

We will definately have to take more swimming lessons this winter to keep her used to the water. It will be a sad day in Julia's life when Grammie and Grampie close the pool for the winter!


Here she is blowing bubbles in the water with Grammie.

Swimming all by herself!!!

Swimming to the ladder.

Getting out of the pool all by herself. Doesn't she look proud of herself?

Jumping in!!!

All this swimming is makes a little girl tired!


Chilling after a long day swimming.

Cleaning...

Julia likes to help me clean. She loves to "sweep" with the broom.

The other night I was using a sponge to wipe off her highchair. I noticed that she had spilled something on her little table, so I wiped it off too. Once Julia saw me do that, she decided that SHE should be the one to wipe off her table. So I gave her the sponge and let her have at it.

She wiped off her table, the coffee table, the end tables, daddy, and anything else she could reach in the living room. When she was done, she walked into the kitchen and threw the sponge in the trash!! LOL I guess she was done!

Here is my little maid.....

I am going to do everything I can to keep encouraging this behavior. Maybe then someday I can actually have some help around the house cleaning. I hate cleaning!

Lots of new posts

If you have not noticed already, I have been busy posting. With fair finally over, I can breathe again. So I actually have time to post all the things I have been wanting to blog about in the last week or two. So you will be seeing several more new posts from me in the coming days.

BUT.... Don't get used to the multiple posts per day! LOL Once I catch up, it will be back to the once every day or so.

Pizza

Julia likes pizza, but even Jerrod and I were surprised by Julia last night.

I had a migraine (first one in YEARS) most of the day and just did not feel up to cooking, so we ordered pizza.

Julia ended up having 3 slices of pizza!!! I only eat 3 slices! This was after drinking a cup of juice and a bowl of dried cereal when she got home from daycare less than an hour before. She then drank some more milk and ate some more cereal a little bit later!! I thought she was going to explode! I don't know how she had room for all that food. She must have been hungry, even though daycare said she ate fine today.

Julia must be going through a growth spurt. Either that or she really likes Pizza Hut (we normally get Papa Johns).

The Zoo

We have been wanting to take Julia to the Zoo all summer, but things kept getting in the way. So we finally took Friday off and took Julia to her very first Zoo trip. We went to the Cincinnati Zoo with Grammie and Grampie, and Aunt Ninnie (Jen) met us there.

Julia was not impressed. I think it started off bad because the first animal we saw was a giraffe, and it came inches from licking Julia. Of course, that scared her and just set the mood for the day. It all was just so overwhelming for her.

She did like seeing some of the animals, especially the big cats. But she was very stoic all day.

To her all the animals were grouped into two categories; "kitties" or "boofs" (woof, as in dogs). So the giraffes were "kitties" as were the big cats. The bears were "boofs". And so forth...


Here she was SCREAMING to get off of this statue! She wanting NOTHING to do with it!.


The Sea Lion was far enough away that it did not seem to scare her, so this is the ONLY picture I got of her with an animal in it!!



Chilling in the stroller with her "shades" on!

Looking at the "kitties" with Grandpa.

Walking with Aunt Ninnie

And relaxing on the tram ride through the park.

Fair!

I brought Julia to the fair for a couple of hours last week.

While there, Julia proceeded to tell me what most all of the animals said. She heard the sheep and was going "baaaa" the entire time we were around them. She also did "mooo" for the cows, "oink" for the pigs, "quack" for the ducks, etc... She really liked all the animals until a goat stuck it's head out and licked her stroller tray..... Then she was done with the animals. It scared her. LOL

So, I was hoping on getting some pictures of Julia with the animals at the fair, but all I got was these. Maybe next year......

First Snowcone!

Julia had her very first snowcone at the fair last week.

Luckily, they now make flavors in "clear", so not to stain clothes. So I got Julia her first snowcone (which was actually in a cup).

She wanted nothing to do with it at first. Refused to even open her mouth for me a feed it to her. I finally convinced her it was yummy and she took a bite, which she promptly spit out 2 seconds later!! I think the cold of it shocked her. After a minute or two she was licking the spoon and realized that it was sugar and it was good!!

"Stuck"

"Stuck" has become Julia newest favorite word. We probably hear it 1000 times a day!!

Can't open something, it is "stuck"
Can't get something out, it is "stuck"
Can't get something off, it is "stuck"
Can't lift something, it is "stuck"

....and the list goes on. Basicly, if she cannot do what she was wanting, it is because it is "stuck". Stuck, stuck, stuck!!

Stacking blocks

I try not to pay too much attention to all the milestone charts and what Julia should be doing when. But lately I have been reading a lot about stacking blocks. Apparently they are supposed to be able to stack so many blocks by 18 months and so many more by 2 years, etc.. Julia is not really big into blocks. She has wooden blocks and nesting blocks that stack, but does not really show much interest in them.

So Saturday night I wanted to see if Julia could stack blocks if she wanted to. So I got out the nesting stacking blocks. I stacked about 3 of them to get her interested, then handed her the next one. She stacked it right on top, where it was supposed to go. So I gave her the next one, again she stacked it. So this went on until the block tower got taller than her and she could no longer reach the top to stack the last couple of blocks on. I guess stacking blocks is not a problem!!! BUT Julia had the most fun knocking the tower down!! From then on she refused to stack the blocks, but wanted ME to stack the blocks so she could knock them over!!

The small wooden blocks met the same fate. They were fun to dump out of the bag and all over the floor, but after that they were too boring....

Chatter box and a day with Grammie

It is the Miami County Fair right now, so I am really busy.

I did take a bunch of pictures of Julia this weekend. So as soon as I get a chance to get them off the camera, I will post some.

Julia has really been picking up new words lately. As in, multiple new words each day! She is also speaking more and more in simple sentences. This morning Julia looked out the window for Jerrod's car. When she did not see it she asked "Dada go work?". I told her "yes, dada go to work". So the whole drive this morning Julia kept saying "Dada work". She is still doing her normal "What is that?", "Here is this", etc.. that she has been doing for a long time.

Julia is also spending the day with Grammie. She had multiple nasty diapers this weekend, especially yesterday. I am pretty sure it is because she is teething, she always gets nasty diapers when teething, and she is acting fine. But daycare is strict about illnesses. Multiple nasty diapers in one day has them calling me to come get her because diarrhea is a sign of illness. With me being at the fair, it was just easier for her to stay with Grammie today and risk having to go get her in the middle of the day. I think Grammie was pretty excited to.....

Umbrella and Lego's

Last night we decided to go out for supper (just Skyline, so nothing fancy). Right before we walk out the door, the sky just opens up the flood gates and it is POURING out. Since we don't have a attached garage (or ANY garage for that matter), so Jerrod asked if we had an umbrella. I told him we did, but it was in my car! So Jerrod told me to wait with Julia on the porch and he run out in the pouring rain to the car for the umbrella. When he came back holding the umbrella, Julia was a little confused. I guess I have never used an umbrella around her before!

So all three of us huddle under this umbrella and walk to the car. Jerrod holds it over us while I strap Julia into her car seat. All the while Julia is just giggling in delight! She thought the umbrella was neat and funny! Once we got to the restaurant, we once again all huddled under the umbrella. Julia just giggled and thought this was a neat new thing mommy and daddy were doing!


We have also discovered that Julia loves LEGO'S. I noticed several times now on her daily sheet from daycare (which tells about her day), that she played with the Lego's and Lego's table. She even bit once last week because she was at the Lego table playing when another kid stated taking the Lego's away. I have also found Julia quietly playing at the Lego table several times lately when I have walked into daycare to pick her up. These are not the tiny Lego's, but the next size bigger ones. So no worries about choking.

Oh, I told Grammie last night about how much Julia is liking Lego's and how I am going to have to buy some for her. Today Grammie and Grandpa are watching Julia and guess where they went after breakfast this morning?!? Yep, Wal-Mart to buy some Lego's!!! Boy, Julia is not spoiled at all, is she?!?!!LOL

The tutu

Every girl needs a tutu.....

So this weekend I put Julia in her's. Julia did not know what to think of it at first. But then she thought it was neat and "pretty". We went to the grocery store and a bunch of people kept telling Julia how pretty she looked in her tutu! I think she was loving it. She certianly was having fun playing with it. She actually got mad when it was time to take it off!! LOL

At one point Saturday I want to get a picture of her in her tutu. It turned into a "photo shoot".

"What are you doing mommy and why are you making me stand here?"

"OH, you want to take my picture? Here, make sure you get my best side!"

"Wait!! I got to have my sparklely sandals on for the Photo Shoot!"

"Okay, now I am ready!"

Here she is just being her typical self, SILLY!!!

Hard to believe that this is the same child who just less than a year ago was screaming nonstop from colic!! My how things have changed and what a happy, playful toddler she has become!!

Give me a heart attack and 10 grey hairs.

So I go to pick Julia up from daycare tonight. At the stop light were I need to turn to get to daycare, I see a firetruck. No big deal, except I thought it was weird that it was from the next town over. I turn onto the road and see a LOT of flashing lights. I figured that there must have been a house fire and don't think too much of it. But as I get closer to daycare I am realizing that the firetrucks are pretty close to where the daycare is. Soon I realize that the firetrucks are IN FRONT OF THE DAYCARE!!!!!

By this point I am starting to freak out. A million thoughts are running through my head, mostly they were "OH MY GOD, is Julia okay? Please let Julia be okay!". My heart is pounding a mile a minute.... I finally get to the road I need to turn on for daycare (daycare is about 1/2 block away from the road I was on) and it was CLOSED!!! All I wanted to do was find Julia, make sure she was fine, and give her a big hug. I was almost ready to just stop the car in the middle of the road and go running to see if she was fine. As I drive past the road the daycare is on, I see all the fire hoses and such and see that they are leading to the dry cleaners NEXT to the daycare and not the daycare itself! WHEW!!!!!!! Not that I am excited or happy that the dry cleaner's caught fire, but it was a HUGE sense of relief!! I was shaking as I drove around the block to get to the daycare for the other way.

The fire was out and some of the trucks were starting to packing up. They were pulling some burnt stuff out of the building. It looked like no one got hurt, thank goodness.

I finally got to daycare and gave Julia a big hug and kiss!

Man, first the possible break in yesterday and now this today. If this keeps up, they will need to send me to the looney bin....

STICKERS!!!!

Julia LOVES stickers. Especially sticker books!! She has several, but her current favorites are the "Puppies and Kittens" and the "Hello Kitty" sticker books (notice a theme there!!LOL).

She will go and get her sticker book, bring it to me, and then beg for me to sit down so she can sit on my lap and play with the stickers. She has a hard time peeling the stickers off the paper herself, she usually just ends up ripping the paper and sticker, so she prefers if we help her. Of course, I am MORE than willing to oblige, it is becoming a rarity that she will actually just sit on my lap anymore, she just wants to run and play.

I know most kids love stickers, but it is so neat to see her get so excited over them. The "Hello Kitty" sticker book actually had to come along in the car this morning, because she would not let it go to leave the house. Luckily, I was able to get her into daycare without bringing in the sticker book.

Oh, and so far Julia has confined the stickers to just the book and on herself. She has not yet started sticking them all over everything in the house. I am not sure what I will do when/if she starts that.

Running.....

Julia waited until she was 15 months old to finally walk. Shortly there after, she decided walking was for wimps and thought the only mode of transportation should be RUNNING!!!!

You cannot get this child to slow down and walk, she HAS to RUN everywhere. I will be on the other side of the house and I will hear her come running.

I am amazed that she still has chubby thighs with all the running she does...... She can tire out mommy pretty quickly too....