Cleanup

The weekend is over and I am wondering why I didn't clean on Sunday when I had a whole day to dedicate to it (I am really wondering why I didn't take care of that leftover green bean casserole I made Christmas Eve, don't judge please). It took me about an hour to finish the dishes...and I have a dishwasher! I started putting away Christmas decorations earlier today and may even finish putting away the tree ornaments (minus one, don't ever move something by tossing it toward a Christmas tree, things get broke).

I can't wait to reclaim my house, about as much as I can anyway. It seems like now that we have Amelia, it is her house and a very pink one at that. I look forward to a day when I don't have frosting, cake mixes, candy coating, containers and junk food lying around my house. It may take until Valentine's day but that day will come and I will miss the junk food. My scale will rejoice. So far since Thanksgiving I have gained 3 pounds. I wished I could have been better but it isn't SO bad if you consider every weekend plus the work week I have been surrounded by junk food.

Now, time to take it back off plus another 10-15 lbs. As soon as I get my house cleaned.

And just like that...

it is over. I know everyone feels this. 1/6th of our year is spent listening to Christmas music on the radio and seeing Christmas ads in the stores. I almost missed Halloween because of it. It is anticipated and talked about and shopped for and stressed over, then the day comes and it is magical but so busy that it is over almost as soon as it starts.

This year, we gave Amelia a Hello Kitty Karaoke machine among other things such as puzzles, books, a princess backpack and a couple DVD's. She had so much fun with it. She is quite the entertainer. I gave Mark a torque wrench and motorcycle lift which doesn't even compare to what he gave me.

He kept asking, "Do you wanna open your gift". Even the night before Christmas Eve. I kept telling him no. But he was really excited. I opened it and it was a diaper box packed with my old sweatshirts. I had something in mind that I thought it was but couldn't be sure. I got everything unpacked and there it was. My DSLR. The one thing I have been whining to have for about 2 1/2 years. My husband pretty much rocks.

Also, thank you to all my family and friends for everything you have given me. Not just the materialistic things.

Now, it is time to clean up the house because I am pretty sure that the man who delivered my groceries (yup, I am lazy today) was considering calling the hoarders show to see if they could get me on it because of all the boxes piled in the kitchen and goodies on the tables.

I will be putting pictures on here soon but right now I am a bit lazy.

Thankful

Why does it take a tragedy to remember to be thankful?

I started out this night frustrated. I ordered a specific gift and the company I ordered from sent the wrong thing. Not really cool. Especially considering what I ordered was discontinued and showed there were only 4 in stock when I ordered and now show none. I would rather they sent me an email saying they were sold out so I could find another gift instead of me paying them, them sending it now me having to deal with them.

Also, we bought Amelia a Hello Kitty Karaoke machine from Best Buy (shhhhhh, don't tell her). I wanted it before Christmas Eve so I spent the extra $11 on "expedited" shipping rather than free shipping that guaranteed it on Christmas Eve. I actually just wanted to make sure I had it for Christmas and felt that having it delivered standard was a bit of a gamble. I checked the tracking number this morning and it was rescheduled. I was pretty pissed. So I tried calling them earlier today and had some rude lady act dumb when I said "ka ro key" instead of "kay ree o key". Then I sat on hold. I didn't have time to hold much longer so I hung up and sent an email. They sent an automatic message back telling me to check their website for the answer or call them. I called again tonight and was disconnected when they tried to transfer me. So I called back and got another proper-pronunciation person who finally transferred me to the online orders division.

By this time I was mad and Best Buy was on my list, and I ain't talking the good one. As I was stewing in my anger, I was watching the news when a clip came on and said that two young children were killed in a city just a few hours away today. Kind of put my issues into perspective.

It reminded me of the Christmas of 1999 when we lost Candace and Tyler. The memories of that time started to come back and I cried. As soon as I started crying the nicest customer service rep got on the phone. By this point I felt stupid asking her to reimburse my shipping but she did and she was wonderful about it. I feel ridiculous that I am obsessing about gifts that were wrong or not delivered on time and not too far away from me there is a family with broken hearts that probably has presents under their tree. Presents they hoped would make their children so happy but now will never be opened. They would trade every Christmas gift just to have their babies back.

I thank God for my family and pray he keeps them safe. I wish it didn't take such a tragedy to make me remember why we celebrate. Wishing everyone a safe holiday.

Christmas 2 of 4

This weekend we had my family's Christmas. I took off early on Friday so I could get a few things made. Amelia took a nap after I came home so it was the perfect time to get my stuff done. I made chocolate covered PB ritz, thin mints, chocolate and white bark covered pretzels, round pretzels with peppermint kisses melted in them, peppermint bark and I think that is it. But I got a lot done. Then we went to see Santa. She refused to let go of me but when I told her that Santa gave her candy and she needed to thank him, she stopped whining, looked at Santa and in her sweetest voice said "Thank you, Santa." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she continued whining and clinging to me. At least she is polite.

The weekend went great. We played games and had a lot of fun. My dad was sick so he didn't have that much fun but the rest of us did.

We went shopping on Saturday and I picked up some pink shelves that are perfect for Amelia's room. Don't you love it when you come across things and it seems like fate that you did. That has been happening a lot for my choices for Amelia's room. I was showing my mom a different lamp and was in the process of telling her what I would with it when I turned the corner and found a lamp identical to the one I was describing. It was a $25 lamp on sale for $12.50 with a pull cord (which is what I wanted) and it turned out to be a perfect fit for her room. I set out without a real style and ended up with turquoise, black and bright pink throughout her room. She is only two so I am constantly in the process of cleaning it out and packing stuff away but it is slowly coming together and I love it more every time I find something like my lamp or my shelves. It will probably take awhile but I can't wait to see the final result.

Cheap Diapers

This morning I went to Sam's Club to pick up diapers. Normally they are like $39 but this morning after placing a box of diapers and a box of twice baked potatoes (cuz I am too lazy to make my own) the girl says $27.XX dollars. I figured I heard her wrong so I checked the card reader screen. Sure enough, I was being charged $16.XX for a normally $39 box of diapers. I was so excited I wanted to grab another box but I didn't dare say anything for fear it was a fluke and they would reverse it. (To answer your question mom, no, I don't feel guilty, sorry.) I couldn't stand it. The deal was too good. I recruited a co-worker/friend of mine to come with me on our morning break. The plan was that we would each grab a box, bring it up and I would scan mine and if it was $39 she would bring hers back. Well, I am not lucky enough for that to happen twice so she had to bring hers back. Did I mention she is a good friend?

On Saturday, Amelia and I made cookies. By the way, I am totally changing the subject. We made one of my favorites growing up. Sour cream cookies. My grandma always made them but never used a recipe. One year a very long time ago, I asked her to try make me a recipe. It never worked for me so I broke down and asked my mom for her recipe this year. That one works. They turned out great but Amelia kept "eating" the cookie dough. That pretty much just means that she tried to destroy the cookies by ripping the dough off of them and throwing it on the floor then declaring "I eat dough". I even let her put sprinkles on them. Turns out the sprinkles I let her use were watermelon flavored (eww). I now have new Christmas sprinkles. It was still fun and my floor is still sticky. The non-watermelon cookies taste good though. Totally bring me back to childhood.

An extra week, or not

Today I was doing math in my head. Normally it doesn't go so wrong but today it put me in a panic. Two weeks until Christmas. How much shopping do I have done? Pretty much none. Christmas decorations...none, unless you count the tree I put up at work. Then I realized, it is actually three weeks. At first I thought, 'whew, an extra week' but then I realized that the Christmas for which I have to do most of my shopping is in being celebrated in two weeks. Back to panic.

I am sitting watching Ghost Hunters while I stuff Christmas cards. Using a friend of mine's creative point of view, I created my own from my daughter's 2 year pics. They are pretty simple but I love them. I am excited for people to see them. See why I am in love?

This weekend we have a free weekend for the first time since I can't remember when. We have a surprise party for a friend to go to but that is all we have planned. I am looking forward to it. I may even decide to try my hand at my grandma's sour cream cookies because are the best cookies EVER. My mom used to tell me if I ate too many I would get a stomach ache. For the record, that never happened. I am getting hungry for them now so it would probably be a good idea to go to bed. Good night!

Been Awhile

Life has been busy. Amelia is turning two on Friday. Last week was Thanksgiving with a little black Friday shopping, Amelia's 2-year pics right after that, my sister and brother and their spouses were in town so it was off to my parents house after that. Saturday we celebrated Thanksgiving at my parents until 5:30 because that is when we had to be at the pizza place to set up for Amelia's birthday party. A lot of people were unable to make it because of Thanksgiving plans or illness but we still had a great time.

The theme of the party was, you guessed it, Elmo. I also added Abby to the mix so it wasn't SO much Elmo.

Amelia was crabby most of the day. We dealt with a lot of meltdowns. I checked her mouth this morning and sure enough, she has another I-tooth poking through. Aside from the crabbiness, she got lots of wonderful gifts but most importantly, they were from wonderful people whom I love dearly. We couldn't have asked for anything better. Except next time I will know that they don't actually come to the party room to take my order so I have to go to the front counter to place my order. Luckily the order included lots of beer so I was forgiven for the 45 minute wait on the pizza.

A few pics:

Even though her Auntie made her a special cake, she insisted on eating the Elmo Cake:

One of her happier (and goofier) moments:

You would never guess she was really crabby that day when looking at the pictures.

This is the cake I made. For some reason I have a need to make Amelia's cakes no matter how stressed they make me. It took me 2 1/2 jar of no-taste red to make Elmo (I made way too much frosting), and it took me 1/2 jar of powder black and 1/2 jar of Wilton black food coloring for the mouth. Not to mention the 3 trips home and one trip to Walmart because I kept forgetting stuff (I decorated it during Thanksgiving at my parents but prepped everything there the night before).

Mommy Guilt

First off, on Saturday I decided Amelia's hair in the back was way too frizzy from sleeping. It kept tangling and let's face it, I was sick of feeling the frizz any time I would touch it. So I cut it off. I have seen my stylist cut my hair many times, how hard could it be. Famous last words. Really it was just a small area and it turned out fine but I started with a little on Saturday, then chickened out but finished on Sunday. She has the most beautiful little curls at the base of her neck and there is no way I am cutting those off. She would not stop moving! I need to get over the "do everything myself" mentality. But I feel guilty, like I am missing out on something.

On to the next guilt trip I am laying on myself (because isn't there always at least two).

About two weeks ago Amelia's daycare lady asked her if she had owies and where they were. Amelia pointed in the area of her jaw/neck. I figured she was getting teeth. That night and over the course of the next five days, she would get a slight increase in her temp, anywhere from 99 degrees to 101.2. But they didn't last and she didn't act real sick, just really crabby, so I didn't think anything of it. She stopped getting temps. On Sunday, I started getting a sore throat, by Sunday night I had body aches. My temperature has been hardly elevated. The highest it got was 100 point something. But it comes and goes, sometimes the sore throat is a dull ache, sometimes it feels like I got my tonsils out again. So today I went to the doctor because it is hard to take care of a two year old. I didn't have a fever but I did have BAD body aches and sore throat. He came to the conclusion that I most likely had strep. I have never had strep in my life and let me say, I never want it again.

I felt terrible. the parents of one of the kids at daycare both had strep and my daycare lady mentioned it when she told me about Amelia pointing to her "owies". I figured she would have a higher fever and fuss more. Her doctor was out today so I made an appointment for right away tomorrow morning. I don't know if they will even test her but I feel like such an ass. I feel like I completely ignored my daughter's symptoms, even if they were small. But on the other hand, the night before I hosted my first Thanksgiving, I had to take her to the emergency room out of fear she had pneumonia (just croup...OF COURSE. I shake my fist at you, croup.) but at least I knew. I didn't get home until almost 2:00 and didn't make it to bed until 2:30. So, the lesson I learned, not all fevers are created equal.

If anyone reads this, this is the part where you tell me that it happens to everyone, I am not a bad mom and all that other good-feeling stuff. Thanks!

You Capture-Halloween & Silence

Since I have so many Halloween pics I am going to do Silence first. This was Monday after Halloween. My baby was sick and she just fell asleep on the couch. She took an almost 2 hour long nap.

We had a good Halloween. We made it three whole places this year. We left around 7:00 and got home around 10:00. Good thing it was only three because I totally forgot the cute little Elmo candy bucket :( Thankfully my mom had taken a paper bag with handles and glued a halloween printout on it so it doubled as her candy bucket. Considering it was pretty full when we got it and we put her other grandma's stuff AND my aunt and uncle's loot into it, I am surprised it survived. One tough bag. These are my Halloween pics:

This is the pumpkin Mark carved:


These are the pumpkins I carved:


This is our candy...we got 6 trick-or-treaters before we left so we still have 95% of it:


This is the cake I made for work:

Mark and Elmo

Me and Elmo

That's it. To see more hop on over to Beth's.

Happy Halloween

It is Halloween...ALREADY. It seems like I started prepping months ago but my house only has a few decorations plus a "web" that is just hanging there. Kind of pathetic. I just haven't been in the spirit this year. I have been pretty busy so decorating has been put on the back burner. I even have the decorations upstairs and taking up space on my kitchen counters, which annoys me to my core. I got done carving 3 pumpkins and Mark did one. Mark is watching the Vikes and then we are taking Amelia to her grandparents' homes and possibly my aunt and uncle's house and cousins' houses. We will see. We are getting such a late start and we have millions of candy bars to give out so we may have to skip a few.

Amelia is now throwing a tantrum because she wants to put Elmo on but since the costume is so hot, we don't want to put it on until right before we leave. I will post pictures later. To be continued...

Ishy

Yesterday afternoon was windy, cold and it had started to snow. I picked up Amelia from daycare and pulled back the cover to the moonroof and pointed up. I pointed out the snow and said it was "ishy". She laughed so hard at that word. Just saying "ishy" entertained her for the whole ride home. No whining, just full blown hearty laughs.

Today, it blizzarded. It was pretty ishy. It wasn't as funny though. But she got a kick out of walking through the snow. She would giggle each time she took a step. It was so cold, and the wind was blowing hard, 60 mph gusts (no joke) so we couldn't spend much time outside.

We got home and saw the cover of her sandbox had been blown out from under the bungee strap and it was in the middle of our yard. Her sandbox toys were scattered around the yard. We picked them up and I put the cover back on the best I could get it. It was a miserable day. But, in the end we made it home safe, we are warm, healthy and really, what else matters? Bring on the season.

You Capture-Orange

These caught my eye



My daughter's favorite hoodie in her favorite color (I never realized a 2 year old could have a favorite color)



Gotta have a pumpkin (look, no flash!)



Last but not least, this is my FAVORITE purse



That is all I got.

To see more visit Beth.

A few changes

My wardrobe will be changing. I have gone into my pre-pregnancy clothes and pulled out 2 pairs of dress pants, 2 pairs of jeans and a couple shirts that up until now, did not fit. Only 3 more lbs to go before I have taken off ALL the pregnancy weight. After that, I have about 10 more that I would like to lose. Yay!!!! I am so excited.

Welcome Weekend

To be quite honest with you, this week has kind of sucked. Mark has been working long hours 6 days a week (better than the 7 he was working) but I have been working hard to make it easier on him when he gets home. I cleaned up the yard (my parents volunteered to help me which I think was FABULOUS). I have been putting so much pressure on myself trying to cook real meals every night, keep the house clean (sort of) and keep the house running as perfect as possible not to mention working 40 hours a week. The crazy thing is, these are the things I do anyway so I don't quite know why it is so much more draining now.



I am burnt out. I look around and instead of seeing all the things I have accomplished, I see all the things that still need to be done. There is never any end in sight. All I want is to be tired but I don't think I have the energy.

You Capture - Animals

This is my first You Capture. I have actually done the assignment but haven't posted it :(

This is my puppy, Cassius. He is my first baby. Since Amelia was born I think he feels a little neglected but he still loves us...thankfully.

Horses always remind me of my Grandpa so I bought this (stuffed) animal when I was in college. Now I have passed it down to my daughter. Doesn't he look so sweet?

To see more, visit Beth at I Should Be Folding Laundry

Relaxing and Productive...

Oddly those are the two words I use to describe the weekend. Earlier this week I suggested my parents take Amelia to Papa's Pumpkin Patch Saturday. I knew they would all have fun (I was right). Mark was working so that meant I had the house to myself (okay, I was sharing it with my puppy, Cassius). I originally thought I would get a lot of house work done and I did get a few things accomplished. Then realized, I don't get much time alone so I sat down on the couch and watched tv and just hung out by myself. It was awesome. I missed my little family but I don't get a whole lot of alone time before 10:00 p.m.

Sunday, Mark's mom came over so I had to get my butt in gear and clean. I got the bathrooms cleaned, the living room and the kitchen cleaned. I rocked. But once again, my living room floor is covered with toys, my kitchen floor is probably all sticky again and my sink has dishes in it. But dude, I am tired and it will all have to wait until tomorrow.

One of these nights I am going to start Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. I am not sure when but I definitely need to start something. I am falling off track with my weight loss goals. I keep wondering whatever happened to the gym rat who loved to work out. Maybe I will find her again buried under what is left of the pregnancy weight.

Baker Blood

Yesterday Mark, Amelia and I set out for Papa's Pumpkin Patch. The day was beautiful, the wasps thought so, too but we did our best to ignore them. One of them almost parished beneath my hand. I was nice and let him go. Instead of running away screaming like I normally do, I decided to do the "mature" thing and stand there, close my eyes and wish them away. It seemed to work for the most part. I did regress a couple times but the stares from the other people reminded me to stop, close my eyes and wish them awaybrought me back to "maturity". (I don't know why that is in quotes).

Other than that, we had such a good day. She rode a pony...twice. Once with me and once with Mark. I didn't think that she would at first but then she proved she had some Baker blood in her veins.

For those of you who don't know me or my family, my grandpa loved his horses. So, he passed on a love of horses to all of his family. It's kind of our thing. Don't take that the wrong way, I wouldn't know the first thing about taking care of a horse but I love them. When I see a horse, I think of him and that is a pretty special thing. My daughter loving the the ponies makes it that much more special.

She is a very serious rider, can you tell? :)

Mark also took her to the top of a hay bale "mountain". She loved that, too. I stood at the bottom taking pictures.

You see her sweatshirt? Everyone thinks she's a boy all the time. But she loves it. It has a football on it (for Mark) and the year I was born. Also, her favorite color right now is orange (I think it is because she thinks it is fun to say). So it was pretty much a perfect pick for her.

Last night we ordered her halloween costume and winter coat/snow pants. I told her we were going to go snowmobiling again this winter. She threw her arms in the air and screamed "Yay". I have a feeling she could be a daredevil.

Eight O'Clock Rocks

We have successfully changed Amelia's bedtime to 8:00 (or somewhere very near that). Tonight, Mark went to bed between 7:30 and 8:00 and Amelia went to bed at 8:00. That means ME TIME!!! YAY! So I celebrated by cleaning up the supper mess (I am A LOT of fun, can you tell), made Mark's lunch, uploaded pictures for a photo book I am doing and I plan on cleaning the living room. It's been a pretty relaxing night.

Soon I plan to add an exercise routine. My biggest problem is that I don't have a routine. I am not always home, Mark is working long hours and 7 days a week and I am pretty sure I have a teething baby. I have to tell you, I need to fit it in because I am stressed out and feel like I am pulled in a hundred different directions. I am gonna confess but you gotta promise not to say a word about it to me, I have been smoking a little bit again. Not much but I know it's bad and I know I need to stop before it gets out of hand but it is soooo hard. That means I have taken it too far already.

I exercised a little bit tonight. If I told you how long you would laugh. Okay, 8 minutes (see, I knew you'd laugh). In my defense, it was hard so give me a break. I can go way longer on the elliptical. I swear. I CAN, so stop rolling your eyes now.

Time to go to bed. Later!

Bed Time

Amelia has been crabby lately. Not her normal moodiness but like crazy moody. Even her her daycare lady brought it to my attention. That's bad. So now that it is getting dark earlier, I decided to move her bed time up to 8:45 instead of 9:15. Slowly I am going to move it up as much as I can. I have been doing it since Monday and it already seems to have helped. She has been a lot happier. Now 90% of her shenanigans are done with a smile instead of a tantrum.

I guess we are both having a bed time issue. I have been trying to catch up on house work that has been put on the back burner for a month so midnight is a normal bed time. I am not handling it well. Tonight I felt pulled in a hundred different directions. Mark is working 7 days for the next few weeks and it isn't that I am taking on more responsibility but it feels like I am way busier. Do you understand what I am saying? If you don't, lie and say you do. I am way too tired to explain it. Hopefully this weekend I can make a dent in my 10 mile long to-do list. Wish me luck!

Busy, busy, busy

I have been pretty busy lately. I am actually talking on the phone with my sister while I write this.

This past weekend Amelia and I were once again on the road to my hometown and my dad's hometown. Since Mark was working both Saturday and Sunday, it was just us and the rest of my immediate family. First order of business was my hometown to decorate for my aunt's 51st birthday. We rushed to get the decorations hung and the balloons blown up and put in bunches(note: buy balloons made for helium. The balloons included in the tank were a life saver because the other ones exploded whenever we started to fill them). Then we hit the road again.

We went to see my grandparents in my dad's hometown. It is always slightly bittersweet. They are now in a nursing home and my grandpa, who suffered a stroke years ago, is now almost completely lost in the world of Alzheimer's and dimentia. He loves my daughter and this visit, she seemed to realize who he was. She was calling him "papa". She gave him hugs and kisses and even sat with him (with my brother helping my grandpa support her). She loved my grandma, too. Even though we had to cut our visit short I felt it was one of the best.

Back to the party we went (seriously, we were rushing). And it went really well. We had a great turnout and I got to see most of my family including my other grandma. Then we were on our way home again. We got back to town around 2:00 a.m. It was a great but LONG day.

Tonight I am relaxing with a beer, watching Mad Men then afterward, off to bed. Seems like a fitting end to a busy weekend.

Home Sweet Home

We are back home from Minnesota. We had a lot of fun. We took Amelia to the Aquarium at the Mall of America on Saturday and she had a B-L-A-S-T. Then Mark and I took in a Twins game and I was in awe of Target Field. Especially with the bathrooms. I can't help it. I hate waiting in lines and I only had to wait in line once. ONCE!!!! It wasn't even for more than a minute or two...amazing. I don't know how it used to be since this was my very first game but I know how it gets at the civic center here in Bismarck and it isn't fun. One of the bathrooms I used even had a water saving feature. You know, the ones that you flush one way for #1 and the other for #2 (and they actually used those terms) which I paid no attention to until I was leaving. Oops. I wasted water.

On our way home we stopped by Albertville. Let me tell you, Mark was thrilled. Okay, he wasn't but I was. I picked up a Hurley t-shirt and a Calvin Klein outfit for Amelia for $22 total. Like, for both, together. But then Mark taught Amelia to say "Hurry up, Mom". Let's just say, even though it was really cute how she said it, I was not amused, even though it made me laugh every time.

Then we got Burger King in our sites. Amelia has actually been eating chicken nuggets so we stopped for a quick lunch. What ever happened to a kid's menu. They had one sign that advertised a mac and cheese with what looked like apple fries and a bottle of milk. I had to ask what else besides mac and cheese was available. I was told a list and chose the chicken fries. Expecting chicken fries, apple fries and a bottle of milk, you can imagine my surprise when I see that I get a cup and no choice of milk, french fries and chicken nuggets. Not that I was against any of that, it is fast food after all. I was just annoyed that they advertise/tell you one thing but give you another.

The drive home was long and extremely rainy but we made it and now it is housework catch up time. Better get to it.

Enough about that

tonsillectomy. I am almost over it...three weeks later and my throat is still sore, I make snorting noises when I drink stuff and all sorts of other weird stuff. But I am ready to put it behind me. So from now on I will try not to talk about the nasty disgusting stuff or whine about how I still have a sore throat.

We have been pretty busy. Mark has been working a lot and last weekend we had to leave him behind when we went to my sister's house for a party. We had so much fun. Amelia loved it out in the country. She could run and play with the kitties and the puppies. She helped pick green beans, peas, cucumbers, zucchini, carrots and strawberries and even ate part of a carrot, some peas and a bite of the strawberrry. I got lots of great pictures. It was so good to just get away for awhile. It was relaxing. I had to call it an early night because the smoke from the fire was irritating my throat and sinuses. I would say more but I vowed not to discuss it in my previous paragraph.

Unfortunately my early to bed did not last long. I got up to use the bathroom and heard my family in the kitchen cleaning at 2:00 a.m. so I decided to go help them, then when I finally got back to bed at 3:00 a.m. I shut the door and woke Amelia up. Because of my gallbladder removal (ha, didn't vow not to talk about THAT surgery) I was concerned about having to lean over the pack-n-play to put her back in. I ended up recruiting Brandi to put her back to bed. The only problem...Amelia was not having anything to do with going back to sleep. We didn't get her down until 5:00 a.m. and for the next 1/2 hour I had to tell her to lay down because I was right next to her. Needless to say, I was tired. And I still am. I am thinking it is time for bed now, too. Good night everyone.

Tonsillectomy - Day 5

Today, I think was my worst day for throat pain even though, so far, it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. My gallbladder incisions itch like crazy but don't really hurt anymore. I can eat pretty normally. I ate a little piece (cut into many smaller pieces) of polish sausage to take with my pain meds. Then for lunch I had scrambled eggs w/ toast and for supper, lasagna. I tolerated them all just fine. The first few bites of lasagna were so good but as with anything these past few days, it got painful after that.

Tomorrow and Thursday we decided to bring Amelia to daycare for most of the day to keep her in her schedule and so I can get a little more rest. She has been so excited to be at Grandma & Grandpa's house that it gets a little crazy. Plus I decided my mom and I should have a movie day. So we decided the movies we wanted to rent and will pick them up on our way home from dropping Amelia off. I am really looking forward to it. I am also very tired right now so I am gonna get to bed. G'nite.

Tonsillectomy - Day 4

I was late for a couple doses of pain meds last night, slowly I am catching back up and the pain is tolerable again. The migraines I have been getting are the worst. Today I haven't been so nauseous. I am very thankful for that. I ate some mashed potatoes in the middle of the night so I wasn't taking meds on an empty stomach. It seemed to help. I ate some toast dipped in hot chocolate this morning. It definitely hit the spot. My throat hurts and I only made it through two small pieces of toast before I had to stop. Now I keep falling asleep, so I am taking that as my sign to get off. I hope this post makes sense.

Tonsillectomy - Day 3 Recap

It is 2:45 am on Day 4 but Day 3 was not a very good day.

I slept the whole night with the exception of waking up and taking pain meds which meant I was not drinking as much as I should have been. I ended up with migraines all day which also meant I was nauseous all day, too. Thank goodness for the nausea medication. It got used a lot. Oddly, my throat hasn't been causing me many problems. I ate some pork roast and mashed potatoes last night for supper. I had to stop because the pain was getting bad but I am really surprised by how much I can eat and drink.

I had a pretty nasty wakeup call about an hour ago. I woke up coughing (not uncommon) and my throat started hurting BAD. I went to look at the last time I took my meds and I was 1 hour and 15 minutes overdue. Now I realize why people advise not to fall behind on medication. Luckily the percocet kicked in quick.

Amelia is sleeping on an air mattress in my parent's room. She is doing amazingly well considering this is her first time not in a crib or pack-n-play. I think I may have heard her cry once but it didn't last long. Looks like it may be time to talk about turning the crib into a toddler bed.

Well, another 1/2 hours and I can have more meds. Gonna watch a little tv and go back to bed.

Tonsillectomy - Day Two: Later That Day

I am noticing a little more pain when I swallow. I am not quite sure if it is because I haven't drank as much as I should (even though I am constantly drinking), if I have been overdoing it today by talking and eating solid foods or if it is just getting worse before it gets better. I have read other people's stories and found that many started noticing more pain on days 3 to 5. I am now due for another pain killer. I am also noticing a weird hollow feeling in my ears. So far no pain but I am sure that will be coming soon. Good thing I got Mark to take care of me. I could get used to this.

Tonsillectomy - Day 2

The pain from my gallbladder removal is starting to get better. Getting up and moving around is much easier. I am still stiff but nothing like yesterday.

The tonsillectomy pain started to get worse at around 2:00 this morning. I had eaten some banana baby food and it just started to throb. Don't know if it was from brushing my teeth, the baby food or if I scraped my throat with my pain pill. Either way the pain went away shortly. It is about 6:00 and my throat is feeling about the same as yesterday. I have not missed a dose of pain medication and I really don't plan to.

I have been living off G2 (gatorade). Glacier freeze is my favorite at the moment. I have been drinking water but the doctor told Mark that we shouldn't consider it much of a fluid because it has no electrolytes or something like that. I haven't been eating much so I drink those Special K protein shakes. They are pretty good at keeping me satisfied. My parents, bless them, brought us over some supper last night. I ate some Denny's chicken noodle soup (my favorite) and some saltines soaked in the broth. Amelia would dip crackers into the broth and feed them to me. She had been pretty upset when she couldn't get on my lap earlier. Mark tried to explain that I had owies and I can't play.

She was in such a good mood last night. Mark asked her if she wanted to watch baseball with him. Of course she did. The Knudson sports gene obviously did not skip a generation. One day she walked by the tv while Mark was watching a Twins game and she looked at the tv and started chanting "go, go, go!" with her arm up in the air.

I think it is about time for a short nap.

Tonsillectomy - Day 1: Operation Day

My surgery was scheduled for 8:00 this morning which means I made it in there around 10:00. I was in recovery until a little before 3:00 and let me say, the gallbladder removal so far has hurt FAR more than the tonsils. Completely opposite of what I thought. I keep nodding off so I am gonna make this short. Pain tolerable, not too hard to take my painkiller and my amoxocillan (sp) is liquid and really reminding me of childhood.

Also, Mark is taking care of me fabulously. Thank you, hunny! Love you.

Now, time to sleep.

Tonsillectomy - Day Before

I am getting a little nervous now. Hopefully I will sleep good tonight. I have read just about every story online about tonsillectomies. I think I have pulled the good advice and left the crap. I have no doubt it will be painful but that won't last forever. If the only thing I have to complain about is that my throat and stomach hurt for a week then my life is good (don't get me wrong, I will most likely complain). The sooner I get it done, the sooner I can have it over with. Wish me luck!

The Countdown Begins

Four days until my tonsillectomy and gallbladder removal. I am still freaked out but less freaked out than before. Last Friday I had a pre-op checkup and was able to ask a few questions about what to expect. One of my coworkers had hers taken out at my age and described it as a bad sore throat but a lot of pain in her ears. I wish I wouldn't have read so much about them now I am getting a worst case scenario in my head. Just hoping for the best.

Sesame Street

Well, we made it to Sesame Street and as you can probably see, Amelia got her hug from Elmo. Bert tried to hug her and she let out a very loud scream. I tried to get a picture of that, too but my camera was acting up.

Amelia made it through the whole two hour show without a meltdown. She was close to one at intermission when they brought out the Elmo mylar balloons. A few tears fell but we decided since it was a fun day, Mark could take her to get one. They came back empty handed and Amelia didn't look the least bit upset. Apparently $10.00 for a balloon was even more than SHE was willing to pay. She did make out with a new t-shirt (elmo, of course) and a figurine set which she LOVES.

Overall, our day was a success. This summer has flown by, I am just glad we are
making the most of it. I am especially glad that we made the most of it indoors with this heat.

Carousels and Slides

Saturday we took Amelia to Sertoma Park to ride the Super Slide. It is the perfect place because there is no entrance fee and since Amelia is too young to go down the slide herself, it costs 60 cents for each trip down. We also spotted the carousel and took her on that, too. We had one ticket left and decided Mark would take her down the slide again but it had been closed due to lightning :( We ended up taking her on the carousel again when the sky decided to start spitting. By the time we were done, it was raining pretty good and we spent $6.25 (that includes the $1.25 pop I had to have). She had a blast and it was pretty cheap fun.

We went for ice cream after we stopped at Petsmart to pick up a muzzle, collar and portable water bowl for Cassius. Later, I realized it was July 31st...Cassius' 5th birthday (Happy Birthday, Cassius, here's a muzzle).

This weekend is Sesame Street. I am pretty excited to see how she will react to it.

Road Construction

I swear, every road I take is under construction. Now it looks like Amelia and I are going to have to hike to her daycare because both roads we take to get there are under construction and there is no parking. Half of the driveway is missing a chunk of concrete in front of it. Frustrating.

On a happier note, she is going to sleep much easier lately so we may be able to start looking at converting her crib to a bed. I haven't decided if that is a good idea or not.

Hi Baby

I realized today that whenever I open the back door of the car to take Amelia out of her seat I say "Hi Baby". Apparently Amelia has noticed, too. Each time I would open the door to get her out today, before I could say it to her she would look up at me, smile and say "Hi Baby". I told her "I am not your baby, you are my baby." She looks at me and point blank says "no". Then I asked if she wanted to walk, of course she did but we get to the lawn and she bends over and asks her baby doll "walk?" and puts the doll's feet on the ground and giggles. She is learning so much.

New Neighbors

It is official...we now know for a fact our neighbors have sold their house. They need to be out in September. Even though we don't know them well, we will miss them. I am a little sad that we didn't make an attempt to get to know them better. We are a little nervous about having different neighbors but are are hoping they will be good neighbors and maybe we will actually get to know these ones.

The love of her life

Who could a 1 1/2 year old possibly love more than her mommy and daddy (and nana and papa)? If you have kids you probably guessed it. Elmo. She not only obsesses over him daily but calls his name at night in her sleep. Sometimes it works to my advantage ("where's Elmo?" "He went nite-nite so we need to be quiet, okay?" "k. shhhh.") sometimes, not so much ("where's Elmo? ELMOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!). So, of course I jumped at the tickets for Sesame Street. I think it is time to meet my possible future in-law in person (or would it be "in monster?"). I am looking forward to seeing the way she reacts to him. I kind of see her being excited at a distance but if he happens to come close to her, I see her starting to be shy or even screaming. Like, a lot.

Either way, we are super-excited to be taking her. Can't wait!

New

I finally decided to start my own blog. I will be changing it a lot, I am sure. Bear with me because it will most likely not be witty but my plan is to begin "journaling" our life. Since it is getting late, I am going to start the actual journaling another time.