Well Hello There. It's Been Awhile

I really didn't think I’d believe. When a friend posted about how these voodoo-hippie oils were working for her and her family I rolled my eyes. When she started losing weight by taking capsules full of the hippie stuff, I didn't believe either (but I tried it – more on that later.) When I started diffusing an oil here or there to help with my anxiety and stress levels I chalked it up to the placebo effect (cause they totally work). But believe? Nope. 

Enter cold and flu season. Sunday afternoon Andrew came down with the sneezes, watery eyes, runny nose and mini-cough. My little guy, who has had some nasty respiratory issues in the past, always worries me a little more when he comes down with something. I texted Lindsay. “Alright sister, what do I use on Andrew?” Her response: “Purification on the throat, RC on the chest, Thieves on his feet covered with socks. And get Thieves in that diffuser.” So I did it. What did I have to lose? The last thing I wanted was a midnight wake-up call from a croupy kid that can’t breathe. Why take out the inhaler and Tylenol Cold & Sinus when I might not have to?

Monday morning – Andrew’s bright eyed and bushy-tailed. No remnants of that sicky stuff. Awesome!

Monday afternoon – Allyson comes home from school all watery eyes and runny nose. I started the diffuser right away – was planning on that anyway because of Andrew. I also made her a cup of tea, added a drop of Thieves. She loved it.

The night went on. She was still miserable. At PJ time I did the same thing I did to Andrew. Purification on her throat, RC on her chest and Thieves on her cute little feet. She loved having me massage her. A little mommy TLC goes a long way to helping kiddos feel better.

Tuesday morning – Allyson comes running out of her room. “Mom! I feel SO much better!” A quick Andrew check confirms that he’s still golden too.

So – I still really don’t know what to believe. I know others in our circle who are battling a nasty cold that has kept their kids down for more than a few days. Did my kids just have a quick 24 hour thing? Did the oils work to alleviate their symptoms and prevent them from getting worse? Is it magic or mumbo-jumbo? Is it the placebo affect? At this point, it doesn't really matter to me. I’ll keep It up. These oils are a heck of a lot cheaper, and better for my family, than anything I can buy off a drugstore shelf. I’m now wondering where else I can use these bad boys.

Take it or leave it, but I had to share my experience. It’s only weird if it doesn't work, right?

~Becky

31 Things: Days 2 & 3

Here are the next two stories from my 31 Things class. Neither too heart wrenching or detailed, but little slices of my life at the moment. 

Story 2: Morning

I’ve never been a morning person. Morning time is a wonderful thing. A wonderful thing for sleeping. I love my sleep so much and never function that well off of less than 8 hours of it. As I get older, and there feel like there are fewer and fewer hours in the day, that 8 hours per night has become a thing of the past. But when I do get in that full night’s sleep. Oh! I am one happy girl.

I’m sure I’ve always been this way – in fact I know I was because my Mom always tells me how much of a drag it was getting me up in the morning. I was the night owl and would stay up late with the adults, but then there were the mornings.  Well, mornings always came too quickly.

As recently as February 2012, I was the late bird at work. I would take my time sleeping in in the morning. Get up, get the kids ready, take them to daycare and then get into the office around 9. I did this for four years. But while the sleeping in was great, the getting home at 6 every night was not so good. I always had to rush to feed the kiddos, Steve and me. We ended up eating garbage because I didn’t have the time to make us a healthy meal. I spent little time with the kiddos before they needed to be off to bed. I didn’t really know it at the time, but it just wasn’t working for us.

In February I started a new job and at that time decided to make a life decision. I realized that in order for our family to function better, I needed to be home earlier. The only way that was going to happen, because, you know, I’m a working mom, was to head into the office earlier. Steve and I talked it over and decided that it would probably work. He takes the kiddos to daycare and I pick them up. I’m off to work while the munchkins are still sleeping and he can stay out and work a bit longer if he needs to. I can hit the grocery store on the way home with them if I need to. We can start dinner and then head to the park for a little while. I can enjoy my evenings with my children because we’re not rushed through dinner, bath and bed. And then…there’s even some time for Steve and I. That – we really needed. 

Now, mornings still suck. When my alarm goes off at 5:45 AM I want to throw it across the room. But over these last few months the getting up has been easier and easier. I’ve even found that I’m up earlier on the weekends. Glorious! I get the dishes done, drink a cup of coffee and read my book.  Sometimes all before the rest of the family gets up. I probably go to bed a little earlier at night. We’re definitely not watching as much TV because when it’s bed time for this girl it’s lights out. But there’s something to be said for that too. It’s all just good stuff.

Who knew that making this change would be so good for us? I’m just glad I did.    

Story 3: Read

What are you favorite past times? What do you like to do in your free time? Aren't those two of the most common questions asked? Either on job interviews or other nonsensical "tell me about yourself” questionnaires.

I always say "reading." It may sound boring but it's the honest truth.

I read. All the time. Any chance I get.

I don't read to be able to quote snooty passages from classics. I don't read to learn about myself or do something about myself (although I’ll admit that that happens sometimes.)  I read to get lost in another world. I read to take my mind off the stressors in my life. I read to put myself in a better place to be a better wife, a better mother, a better friend.

I also know that this is how I’ve always been, I have always been a reader. My Mom and Dad joke that I was reading War and Peace by age five (haven’t read that novel to this day – maybe I should crack it open). I know I read early in life. Go Dog Go was my favorite and is now one of go-to books to read to my kiddos. When other kids were playing video games or tearing up the neighborhood on their bicycles, my place would have always been wrapped up on the couch with a good book.

Today I worry that my children won’t love to read as much as I do. We have loads and loads of books in the house, picture books and chapter books, fiction and non-fiction, squeaky bath toy books and those meant to stay on dry land. Allyson loves her books, but she’s still at the age where she wants (needs) me to read to her. We’re working through identifying letters (she knows them all – upper and lower case), making word sounds and then sounding out words. But she loses interest in trying very quickly. And when it’s 9:30 pm and this Momma’s had a long day and has to get up early, I just snuggle up and read and decide to leave the lesson for another day. Thank goodness she has a magnificent preschool…and one whole year til kindergarten. This kiddo is going to be reading Day One.

Andrew – well. He likes to occasionally flip through books and then throw them. We have some time to work with Little Man on the love of the written word. He’s all boy, and I know that getting him interested in reading is a big deal. We read together often, he’s just usually off and running before I get through the third page. I won’t give up – I just understand that little boys are a bit different.

Back to my own reading. It could be anything, really. Lately I’ve been into historical fiction. Anything that takes me back to another time and place, throw in some battle scenes or “solve” an old mystery, and I’m hooked. I try, sometimes not very well, to add in some classics every now and then, but I do struggle through them. I force myself because I think it’s good for me to read some of these books, but when I have so little free time it’s often a battle lost over something more up my alley.

Now, I think I’ll go crack open another book.


~Becky

Andrew Lane - 18 months

Dear Andrew Lane-

Today you are eighteen months old. You came into our lives, originally by complete surprise, a year and a half ago and changed it for the better.  I love everything about you, Little Man. I love your big brown eyes, your long lashes, your chubby cheeks and your handsomely devilish grin. I love your chubby feet and your strong hands. Here’s a sneak peek into what makes YOU YOU right now in your life.

You usually wake up around 7:00 AM. Some days you wake up happy and refreshed. Other days you cannot wait until someone comes in to rescue you from your crib. When we walk in to find all your loveys, binkies and blankets on the floor (because you have chucked them out of your crib) we know you’re ready to get up. You are such a good sleeper it makes sense that you want out. You know when sleep time is and when you’re done you know it’s time to play!

You are happiest with a belly full of milk right when you wake up. Breakfast can come a bit later, but milk is what you want first thing in the morning. You play and toddle around then house (on the days we get to stay home) or get dressed and heads off to daycare on the days when Mommy and Daddy have to work.

Right now you’re still taking two naps.  You like to think that you only need one, but around 11:00 you start getting cranky and need a little ½ hour to hour snooze to freshen you up. When the Whiny Man comes out, we know it’s time for you to take a little rest.

After having battled a double ear infection and pneumonia, you are finally healthy. You DID NOT enjoy your last round of antibiotics, but Daddy and I knew that you needed them to make sure that you stayed healthy. You have, by far more than your sister, scared me when it comes to your health. You have battled RSV and now asthma. Colds hit you so hard and your little body just can’t keep up. It breaks my heart to see you unwell, but know, my Little Man, that your Daddy and I do everything we can, including extra cuddles and kisses, to make you better again.

You usually hammer your lunch. Since your recent sicknesses, your appetite has returned. You eat pretty much whatever we put in front of you and let us know you’re done by throwing anything leftover onto the floor for the dogs. We’re struggling with scolding you because you don’t seem to really “get it.” The big smile on your face and adorable giggle melts both of us and it’s hard to stay mad at that.

I’ll admit I’m a bit concerned that you’re not talking much. You point and laugh. You can follow simple instructions and you can even put together puzzles! But no words yet. I think you’ll probably just start talking one day and then we won’t be able to get you to shut up, but for now you’re just taking it all in and staying silent (except for the occasional “dee!”) I’ll ask the doc next week when we go for your check-up, but I’m sure she’ll just tell me to relax and that you’ll talk in your own time. Fingers crossed on this one.

People constantly comment about how good you are. You smile when people talk to you, you sit still when you’re supposed to and you just exude happiness. When your Daddy took you for a haircut last weekend, Hunter (your barber) said that you’re a better client than most of his adults. You sat still while he spiffed you up and looked SO cute once you were done. My Little Man – such a gentleman!

All in all, kid, you’re just plain wonderful. You fill our lives, and look so stinkin’ cute doing it. You melt my heart when you rest your head on my shoulders, you drive me crazy when you whine for me to hold when I’m “just trying to get one more thing done” and bring me such pure joy to hear your belly giggle and watch you clap your hands in delight. You’ll change the world for the better, Andrew Lane. I’m just happy that, for now, I get to call you mine.

Love,

Mom

When they really worry you

Today I felt a little like a new Mom.  A little scared, a little nervous and a little intimidated.  Let me back up.

I don't have sick children.  I have strong, healthy, never sick kids.  I pride myself on this fact.  Don't know if it has to do with breastfeeding them as long as I could, strong genes or just a healthy environment.  Whatever it has been it has worked...until recently.

For close family and friends, I am not talking about the stomach virus that the Carroll Family seemed to pass around to the greater Sacramento area - I swear, it was like the movie Outbreak and we were Monkey #A.  No, I'm talking about the cold that Little Man cannot shake.  Pictured at your left, he's a happy, healthy little crazy kid.  (Seriously, I am on my feet chasing after him ten times more than I ever chased his sister.)  Not even a cold will keep him down, but for some reason, whatever he's got going on will just not go away.  


It started about three weeks ago.  (Well, actually, it started about a year ago, but more on that later.)  He woke up in the middle of the night barking like a seal.  It was croup.  Have you ever heard a child with croup cough?  It sounds awful.  Here's a sample.  He also was struggling a little bit with stridor.  I call it Darth Vader breathing.  Here's what that sounds like.  Both are pretty scary if you haven't encountered them before.  I knew that steaming up the bathroom, taking him out in to the cool air and turning the humidifier on would help, and also knew that his symptoms weren't severe enough to call for an ER visit, so we just managed it at home that night.  


My biggest concern was that he might have RSV again.  RSV was what put him in the hospital last February, and I sure didn't want to go down that route again.  So..a doctor's visit that afternoon cleared up my concerns.  it wasn't RSV, just a cold.  Some steroidal cough syrup and Mommy time were all that was needed.  His croup-y cough cleared up and the breathing improved.  We were on our way to "better."  Still coughing a bit here are there, but improving.


Fast forward to New Year's Eve.  The croup cough and the stridor were back.  Darnit!  Twice in three weeks?! Again, we didn't freak out.  We knew the drill.  Humidifier, steam and cool mist - repeat.  A call to the advice nurse even had me giving him a breathing treatment with the stuff we had leftover from RSV in February.  But I still didn't like the fact that it was back so soon.  While they weren't severe, any time you can really hear your child breathing is not fun.  I haven't slept much lately because the monitor is turned all the way up and I lie awake just listening to him breathe (see - new mom stuff, right?)


Now to the doctor's appointment this morning.  Ears are clear, lungs are clear (thank goodness) but the wheezing and the cough are ever apparent.  She didn't like it (thank goodness, not just crazy, overly concerned Mom.)  So we started talking about treatment options.  Twice in three weeks signified a problem.  Kids get colds - no big deal.  (Well, up until now, I didn't think my kids did, but...I now know differently.)  But kids who get colds and can't shake them, or kids who have them rear up again so shortly after, means that they're not battling them well enough.  Something is making them linger.  And in Andrew's case we think that thing may be asthma.   


Ugh, asthma?  My kids don't have asthma.  I don't have it.  Steve doesn't have it.  There is no history of it in our family.


The doc and I talked about this.  It's not an actual diagnosis.  He's a little young for that.  But it does answer some of these questions.  While he doesn't have any of the other triggers for it (he was not premature, he's big and healthy, was breastfed, no one smokes, etc.) he did have that nasty bout of RSV.  That could have been the thing that opened him up to this nasty stuff.


So, now we just put our action plan in place.  I have a little mask for his breathing treatments.  Because he's not super sick, we'll just do the inhaled steroid and rescue medication twice a day for now.  It will help him quit wheezing (we did it on the office today and there was a huge improvement) and will help the cough go away.  And then...when he comes down with a cold again (because I'm learning, that unlike his sister, he's going to be more susceptible to this stuff) we'll immediately start the breathing treatments so that we can head the nasty stuff off at the pass.


We'll also watch it.  He's little, so we don't know what all his triggers may or may not be.  Will he now have problems with allergies - triggering the asthma?  Will he have problems in the warm, dry months?  Will it just be around cold and flu season and snotty little kids are all over the place?  Who knows?


You may feel as though I'm overreacting, but this is a big deal to me.  As I have mentioned over and over again.  I wasn't a sick child, I don't have sick children.  But now, I just have one that has a few breathing problems when he gets a cold.  Scary and intimidating, but this Momma's all over it.  He's my Little Man and its my job to make sure that he grows up big and strong.  So what if every now and then he wears a mask that's shaped like a fish?  He's adorable no matter what and I'll make sure I'm doing everything I can to help him feel better.


So...do any of your kids suffer from this kind of stuff?  How do you manage to keep them well and keep their symptoms managed?  Will he grow out of it?  Will it get worse?  What should I expect?  Am I really overreacting?


Thanks for the help (and for listening).


~Becky

Milestones

Dear Andrew Lane,

Today you are one.  I am thrilled and glum at the same time.  You are my last baby and becoming a baby no more.  You walk, you talk (sort of), you feed yourself, you sleep through the night (and have since two months old), you are your own little man.  You hold your own against your big sister – very important.  You melt my heart when you smile and say “Momma.”  You have four adorable little teeth and are working on four more.  You’re growing a full head of beautiful auburn colored hair – although you’re entering that “looks like old man hair” stage.  You have completed our family in a way that is indescribable.  You are the perfect counter to your crazy big sister.  You are easy going, happy all the time, generous with the smiles and the perfect cuddl-er when you’re in the mood.  Andrew – you have no idea what kind of a sap you have made your mother.  Just writing this brings tears to my eyes.  When you get older you’ll know how big of a deal that is.

Today I have to say good-bye to my infant and hello to my toddler.  If I could bottle your little one year old self, I’d hang on to it.  But not for forever.  As much as it kills me to watch you get bigger, I can’t hardly wait to see the little person (and then big person) you get to become.

Today we celebrate 365 days of “Andrew”.  The world is a better place because you are here.  My world is better because you are in it.  

Tonight, I’ll tuck you in your bed; give you your favorite lovey and your blanket.  I’ll kiss your head and sing you a song.  And then I’ll go to bed remembering this letter because the terrible twos will be quickly upon us and I need to remember this feeling when you start to drive me crazy.  

Happy Birthday Andrew Lane.  Your Mommy loves you – to the moon and back.

~Becky

Am I Really 30? Day Four

I could never in a zillion years pick a favorite book.  I don’t read books more than once (unless it’s a murder mystery or spy novel that I pick up and realize half way through – oh yeah…I read this already.)  So instead of trying to nail it down to one, I’ll switch it to what consumes my life lately (but that I really really do enjoy), a list of my favorite kids books.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Al still loves this one.  Although I think I need to get a new copy for Andrew because the one we have is pretty demolished.  Great story - beautiful colors.

Go, Dog.  Go! - My parents tell me that this is the first book I ever read to them.  Maybe it's that sentimentality that makes me really enjoy reading this one to the kiddos.

Hippos Go Berserk - "One hippo, all alone, calls another on the phone."  Love this one!  (And all the Sandra Boynton books.  Fifteen Animals is cute too.  Ally calls it the Bob, Bob book.

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie - Ally recites this one with me.  Love it!

Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!  My mom hates this book, but I love it.  It cracks Ally and I up to yell it at story time.
 

Andrew has just started paying attention when we read.  He loves the picture books and of course - tries to eat them.

Reading is such an important part of my day and I hope my kids get passed down that same love.  I guess its my job to make sure that happens.  

~Becky

Being ridiculous, being a mom

I’ve been struggling with this whole “last baby” thing. I’ve written about it before and thought that the feeling would just pass but I was wrong. The tug at the heart strings keeps popping up. It shows up at completely random times and for totally ridiculous reasons.

Yesterday I went to Babies R Us for diapers and a few other things (and ended up spending WAY too much moolah, but that’s another story) and stood there in front of the diaper aisle for about ten minutes. Andrew wears size 2 – Pampers Swaddlers. If I’m at Babies R Us I’m going to buy the gigantic box of diapers. Logically, I know that he’s growing out of the size 2’s and I should really buy size 3’s. But…size 3’s are Cruisers. He’s not cruising yet. I have no desire for him to “cruise.” I want him to remain “swaddled” for as long as possible! So…after some serious contemplation I found a box of Swaddlers Size 2-3. Phew! I was saved. (Now let’s just hope he doesn’t explode out of these before I get to the end of the box.) Ridiculous, right?

And then there was the start of cereal. With Ally, I was gung-ho the minute she turned 4 months old to start her on cereal. I was so anxious for her to grow up and get bigger that I had no problem reaching and passing these development milestones. With Andrew…not so much. I put it off, enjoying our time nursing. Maybe it’s because he’s such a phenomenal sleeper (through the night at least 8 hours since 2 months old – BOOM!) that I didn’t feel the need to introduce it. Maybe it’s because my nursing problems subsided so much sooner. (It hurt to nurse Ally until she was almost 6 months old. This time it was two bouts of mastitis in month 1 and then I was fairly good to go. I know, I know, ouch – but I persevered!) Whatever it has been, we just started it last week and even then I was hesitant. He’s doing great though.

Maybe it’s the fact that he’s my son. And although our relationship is still new, I really feel that this mother/son thing is completely different than it is with my daughter. It’s a different kind of love. Not stronger or more meaningful – just different. And when he looks up at me with those big brown eyes and grins his big grin, I just melt. I want him to slow down and be my five month old baby boy for as long as possible. He’s been such a wonderful, easy going, happy baby so far and I don’t want that to pass. (Maybe it’s because I have a feeling that I’ll be in for it once he starts walking and I’ll long for the cuddly days.)

Whatever it is I’m going to cherish it for as long as I can. I’m going to write about it here and in my journal and in his baby book. I only hope that he will someday understand just how much I love him and how much he means to me. He may get bigger, pound by pound and inch by inch, but I know that he will always be my Little Man.

~Becky