Newborn Cloth Diapers

There are a lot of things I'm excited about with Baby #2 on the way, but I have to admit, getting the chance to use cloth diapers on a newborn is up there near the top of the list! Man, I am such a nerd, lol.

Cloth diapers were a foreign concept to me until C was 3 months old, so I have no experience with using cloth on a newborn. In fact, we didn't switch to cloth until she was 4 months old because it took me forever to research and decide which type of cloth diapers to use. Since we made the switch to cloth, I knew my next child would be cloth-diapered as well. I can't say that I'm gonna be crazy about it and say that she will never feel a disposable diaper, though. I remember how tough the first few days are with a newborn, and I feel sure we won't want to add in the stress of figuring out a cloth diaper solution for her. So my plan is to have her in disposable diapers for the first week or so, then do a gradual switch to cloth. If things go well, maybe we'll switch sooner, who knows. The point is, I'm not going to stress myself out by saying I have to use cloth on her immediately.

I am looking forward to it, though! Newborn cloth diapers are SO CUTE. (Well, I say that about them all, but newborn ones are so tiny!!) After much research, I've almost decided to rent newborn diapers instead of purchasing them. Why? Because newborn diapers are not cheap, and they only fit babies for a short period of time (around 3 months, maybe less). I just can't justify spending hundreds of dollars when I know we won't use them for very long. Even if I bought all prefolds and covers, I'd spend well over $100. (Fortunately, all C's diapers are still in excellent shape, so there's no reason we won't be able to reuse them once this next kid is big enough to fit into them. And yes, all of C's diapers are "one-size," but they don't truly fit newborns, so newborn diapers will be a must.)

My favorite diaper store, Sweet Bottoms Baby in Raleigh, has a newborn diaper rental program. Its $215, and you get 24 new and gently used (and sanitized) fitteds. After 3 months, you return the diapers for a $100 store credit. So actually, you're only spending $115. My research indicates that fitteds are the most reliable diapers for newborns, even better than prefolds (and easier). Fitteds run anywhere from $14-25 each. Plus, you have to have a cover for them. (That's why I never considered fitteds for C. Too much expense.) With the diaper rental, I'll still have to buy covers, but its possible that some of my one-size covers will fit just fine, since fitteds do add some bulk. Even if I do have to buy covers, I'll only need 5-6 (depending on how often I want to do diaper laundry). So it won't be a major expense. I love that after 3 months, I just return the diapers to Sweet Bottoms and I don't have to worry about reselling them or storing them myself. And I already know what I want to do with that $100 store credit! (Hello, structured carrier!)

My mind is not completely made up on this diaper rental, but I am heavily leaning that way. The plan is to ride to the store and look at the diapers in person and talk to people about them. When I was researching cloth diapers for C, I didn't spend much time at all with fitteds since I knew I wasn't interested in them. Newborns are a totally different game, though! I'm excited for the challenge of finding what works for us and our new baby.


Meanwhile, I'm looking into wool covers for C. She's completely potty trained during the day, but I don't foresee her getting out of nighttime diapers for a while. Every morning she wakes up with a completely saturated diaper. I'm okay with that, and I'm not rushing her to get out of diapers. Its really not a big deal at all. The only problem is now that she's older her pee STINKS. Some mornings the smell is almost unbearable, and if of course gets into her PJs, so she has to wear a new set every night, which is annoying for me. And her diaper pail will almost knock you out with the smell when the lid is opened! Its truly awful. Even when she was wearing diapers full-time and pooping in them, they never smelled this bad. I can't decide if I need to change my washing routine or give wool a try (I've read that wool is great for odors). I'll probably pick up some cloth diaper-specific laundry detergent when I go to Raleigh and see if that helps before I spend the money on wool. For the past 3 years, I've used All Free & Clear on all our laundry and haven't had any problems, but I know things can change over time, so that could be the culprit here. We'll see!

Discipline

Discipline of children is controversial topic. I'm not known for shying away from such topics, though! (As evidenced by my entire blog page dedicated to Natural Family Planning, and my frequent mention of breastfeeding - and I have a post (or several) in the works about breastfeeding and "extended" breastfeeding, too!) In "real life," I love to get into topics like this with friends. Most of my friends have the same views as I do, but I do have friends who are Atheist, different Christian denominations from me, or very liberal (hello, I am the most conservative person you'll ever meet), so from time to time I find myself in a riveting discussion. I love it. ( :

What I don't love is having to actually discipline my child. Its hard. Growing up, Mama always said "this hurts me way more than it hurts you." I never believed her, of course, but now I see that she was right. I want to just love and cuddle with my daughter and never have to discipline her. BUT, she will never grow to be a good Christian woman if we don't raise her right. Can I get an "Amen?"

My husband and I were raised pretty much the same way - you obey your parents, don't give them any lip, and don't misbehave. Or else you got a spanking (or a whippin, as some people call it).

Ephesians 6:1-3 - Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise), "that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land."

I know a LOT of people nowadays say that spanking is wrong and evil, and makes children grow up to be messed up in the head or abusers, but I don't agree with that. DH and I are perfectly normal (gasp! Despite having been spanked!!) adults with no inclinations towards physical abuse. We don't hate our parents for disciplining us the way they did. And I know tons of people just like us. Maybe its just a Southern thing. Maybe someone in California will read this and be completely appalled. *shrug* My suggestion, if that's your opinion, is to stop reading now. ( :

We spank our child. She is not abused, we do not hurt her. But when she is being blatantly disobedient, she will get popped on her hiney.

Proverbs 12:24 - Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.

 Now, I realize she's only 2 years old (well, almost 3 now!) and she doesn't always know the difference between right and wrong yet. But my husband and I both firmly agree that she does know quite a bit, and when she knows not to do or say something and does it anyway, she should be punished. Now, here someone will say "put her in time out" or "take away her toys," or even "just ignore her bad behavior and reward her good behavior." Sorry, folks, that kind of "discipline" doesn't always cut it.

"Time out" doesn't work yet for us. C doesn't quite understand what I mean and there's just no way she can sit still on command for any amount of time. I don't expect her to do that, anyway (hello, she's a toddler - they can't sit still, like, ever). In order for her to actually sit in time out, I'd have to sit beside her and physically restrain her from moving. Not happening. Besides, doesn't that go against "ignoring bad behavior?" Hmm...

Speaking of that, that's the silliest thing I've ever heard in terms of discipline. (Sorry if that offends anyone.) I'm not saying that sometimes I don't overlook C's temper tantrums - cause sometimes I do. If she's clearly overtired from skipping a nap or from a big day, I can expect at some point before the day's over she'll have a meltdown. And when I say meltdown, I mean she'll throw herself on the floor, kicking and screaming. I can ignore those tantrums. Even if I think her reason is dumb, I know she's exhausted and really can't help herself. So if I'm in a position to ignore her, that's what I do.

BUT, if she's having a tantrum because she made a mess with her toys and I told her to clean it up (which she is totally capable of doing; she cleans up her messes all the time), I'm not going to ignore that. That's disobedience. And she knows better. Yes, she's not even 3 years old, but her mental level is higher than her physical age. (I know lots of parents think their kid is a genius, but seriously, my kid is super smart. Not bragging; it just is what it is. Physical stuff is more challenging for her.)

Sometimes, C will throw a fit (as we say down here) if I don't do something exactly to her liking. Like this morning. I was eating breakfast and C wanted a bite of my toast. No problem, but I told her I would hold it for her (it was peanut butter toast, and I didn't have time to clean up the inevitable mess if she held it herself). Well, she didn't like that idea at all. Threw herself down and completely lost it. It was probably one her her worst tantrums ever (and that's saying a lot, cause she's had some doozies!). Exactly what I don't need first thing in the morning. At first, I ignored her. After all, she had just woken up, and since I'm totally not a morning person, I can sympathize with waking up on the wrong side of the bed. But then she just kept getting worse and worse - and louder and louder.

I guess technically I employed several different methods of discipline this morning. First, I tried the ignoring method. Didn't work. Just made her up her game (i.e, throwing her beloved stuffed animals at me). Next, I tried the spanking method. (Really, just a quick pop, not a beating like you're probably picturing.) That didn't phase her at all. Finally, I snatched up those animals and threw them on top of the fridge. That really ticked her off. *sigh* The entire time, I was trying to calm her down and reason with her (ha! Reason with a toddler?! Yeah, right.). I finally went to my bathroom and shut the door. Yeah, I probably won't be winning any Mom of the Year awards, but sometimes you need to get some distance and gain a little perspective on a situation, you know? And sometimes when its 7:30 in the morning and you're already not a morning person, you just need a 10 second break from the screaming so you can calm yourself and not completely lose it.

Well, that got through to my daughter this morning. She immediately calmed down. She was actually good as gold until I dropped her off at her grandma's. I did have a talk with her about how it is not acceptable behavior to act like she did, even if she was mad about not being able to hold the toast (which I'm sure was extremely important to her). That's the second or third talk we've had to have this week about her behavior. I hope this phase ends soon!

On the way to work, I talked to my husband, who is just as lost as I am here. We're not quite sure how to handle these tantrums our daughter is insistent on having so regularly lately. We just know that we can't allow her to get away with acting this way. I think with our child, when she's a little older time out will be pretty effective. I also think in certain situations, taking away toys will work now. But if she's not actively playing with a toy, taking away something won't have any affect, in my opinion.

I know some people would tell me to just give in and not be so stern. After all, is it really that big of a deal to let her hold the dang toast and just clean up the mess? No, its not. BUT, I had already told her no. End of story. I (and my husband) have no intentions of giving in to our child's every whim. She needs to know that you don't always get everything you want, when you want it. Our job is not to be her best friend, but to raise her so that she'll one day be a God-fearing, Christian woman with good values and morals.

Proverbs 22:6 - Train a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. 

It has to start now, when she's still young and impressionable. We can't wait until she's a wild teenager with no respect for her parents. Its too late then.

And you know what? I might not have all the answers (not even close!), but I know I'm on the right track. How do I know? Because every single time C calms down from a tantrum, she comes to me, apologizes, hugs me, and tells me she loves me. She doesn't want to disappoint me or make me angry. She wants my approval and my affection.

Proverbs 29:17 - Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart. 

Yes, I know Bible verses can be taken way out of context. Not the case here. God was pretty clear on this topic - we have to discipline our children to save them from Sheol (Hell).

Proverbs 23:13-15 - Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol. My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad.

I don't think "strike him with a rod" means to literally beat your kid with a metal rod, either. Nowhere does God say "knock your kid out when he misbehaves." So don't take that part so literally, like some people do. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the argument that "the Bible condones child abuse." Nonsense. God wants His children to obey him, and if we don't He will punish us. As parents, our children are expected to obey us in the same manner, and if they don't, God expects us to punish them.

Hebrews 12:11 - For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

And that's the goal. "The fruit of righteousness." Children are a blessing from God, and our job is to train them in God's ways. Every child and adult of God is one less in Satan's army. 

I know this sounds terribly "old-fashioned," conservative, and maybe ignorant to some people. That's okay. As Christians we are called to live apart from the world and its gray areas. The world has made us think its okay to be lackadaisical in our faith and our Christian walk - but it's not okay. How we are to live has been laid out for us in God's book. No, its not easy, but its what we are called to do. 

Please don't think that me saying this means I'm already "there;" on the contrary, I struggle with this very thing. Following God's Word is often "against the grain" of society. And I'll be the first to admit I often fail. Luckily, God knows I'll never be perfect and has already forgiven me. I just have to keep trying - and I have to do my best to make sure I raise my daughter according to His guidelines. 

New Projects!

Today on my lunch break I did some exciting things! Okay, so they probably aren't exciting for anyone but me, but that's okay. ( ;

First, I headed to Lowe's to look at curtains. Lately, I've been itching to get new curtains in the living room. We've had the same ones since we moved in (going on 5 years!). I've never really loved our curtains, they've just always "worked" and I haven't looked too hard or been too inspired to think about it much. DH actually picked them out. There's absolutely nothing wrong with them, they just haven't been "the ones" for me (haha). I read a ton of blogs, and I've really been inspired lately by all the gorgeous curtains I'm seeing in other people's houses. All I've ever know is simple, single-color curtains, or those really country lookin ones with lots of ruffles (shudder). Or maybe lace panels, which is totally not the look of my living room. Anyway, here's what we have now. Please excuse the Christmas picture, I don't have just a picture of my curtains (yet).

Its hard to see in this shot, but the curtains actually have green in the plaid, and it matches perfectly with our walls. (Our walls are pained La Fonda Plaza Green by Valspar, by the way.) I am in love with our wall color. It was a bold choice, but I've never once regretted it. I get so many compliments on this color! It is hard to decorate, though. Its such a specific green color that I can't just go to a store and find something that matches. Which is why our couch and chairs are just brown. Safe. The pillows on our couch are striped - one is green stripes and one is red stripes. It sounds hideous, but I promise it looks good! I think I'm just tired of all the red in here. It constantly feels like Christmas, you know?

I'm ready for new curtains (and new throw pillows, of course!). I want a different look in this room, and with such a big window area, curtains will quickly do the job. I've been casually looking for a few weeks now. Saturday afternoon I looked at Lowe's website and decided today to see it all in person. I found 4 curtains that I love.

Completely different looks, huh? The flash of green in each picture is the color of my walls. Luckily, Valspar still makes that color. I think I can eliminate the green and tan flowers on the lower left - too plain, and I want more color. I worry that the red flowers on the top right will be too much red for me again.

I am totally in love with the bold floral pattern (bottom right), but worry that the greens will clash. What do you think? If the greens "go" together, I think it would be so fresh to see these hangin around my windows! It would also open up a lot of color options for me to decorate with. I could do throw pillows in several of those colors to tie them to the other side of the room...

Finally, the blue. For some reason, it has never occurred to me to use blue in my living room. I thought my options were green, white, or brown/tan. (I also love the way yellow looks with green, but that's too much like John Deere for us red tractor lovers! lol) Orange would look nice with the green, but I'd get tired of that I know. But blue....I'm kinda diggin how it looks! My friend R says the blue curtains may be a bit too formal for my space. But maybe that's just what I need in there to balance out the countriness of the room. I do love that its a classic pattern and so crisp. And I could do blue throw pillows on the couch...

I'd welcome any opinions from blogger land on this! Help me choose my curtains! ( :

Keeping with the decorating theme....I also stopped by Michael's today. This morning I read a post by a blog called A Beautiful Mess about preparing for fall. Fall is my favorite season, though it unfortunately doesn't last long around here. We go straight from the dog days of summer to the bitter cold of winter (even though Northerners would argue that winters in North Carolina are not so "bitter"), it seems. I like to decorate the house for fall as soon as possible - which means I decorated on Saturday. ( : I have a ton of fall floral arrangements that come out of hiding this time of year. Anyway, the girls at ABM linked to an older post of theirs about making a fall wreath and it really inspired me. Its never occurred to me to make my own wreath before. I have an every-day wreath that hangs on the back of the living room door (our door stays shut most of the time to keep the cool air in) and a Christmas wreath (both of which my aunt made for me), but a fall wreath? When I saw this DIY tutorial I knew I had to have one.

While I was at Michael's, I took note of their fall wreaths. 40 bucks for the same size I wanted! No, thanks. I can make it cheaper than that, I know. I gathered my materials and it turns out that I can make a wreath for around $25. I splurged a little and bought some extra goodies to throw in there. ( ; I can't wait to get started! I probably bought way too many flowers, too, so $25 is probably overstating it. I'll definitely share the final result, hopefully later this week. I wanna get this baby hanging on the door ASAP!

I also went to Target today. (Target and Michael's - a deadly combination for someone with little money to spend!!) I needed some hair spray (since I am not pleased with the Not Your Mother's spray), but of course I had to look around while I was there. I ended up buying a few things for C: a few new puzzles (which I think are good for her brain), some watercolor pages to paint, and this:

I am super excited about this! (Even more so cause it was on clearance, haha.) I'm sure there are better preschool books out there, but this one looks pretty good to me. Some of it I think will be a little too advanced for C right now, but a lot of it she can dive right into: Colors, Shapes, Patterns, Pre-writing, Letters and Sounds, Beginning Writing, Reading Readiness, Early Math, Science, Social Studies.

C won't be going to preschool, but I want her to learn what she can before kindergarten. If I was a stay-at-home-mom I'd definitely have a daily plan for this in place by now. As it is, though, we'll just do what we can, when we can. She loves learning, so I know she'll enjoy this. I'll probably make some sort of binder for all this, and make copies of each page so she can do them more than once. And I'll probably send some with her to my mother-in-law's house so they can do some work there. I figure the more she knows by the time she'd ready for kindergarten, the better off she'll be. Especially because more than likely, she'll be heading to kindergarten when she's just 4. Her birthday is in December, and if we hold her back until the next year (when she's almost 6), she'll be one of the oldest in her class, and I think she'll be underchallenged and bored at that point. She already knows all her letters and their sounds, and a bunch of colors and shapes, and some numbers. So I feel like she's already ahead of the game. Maybe I'm rushing it with a preschool program, but I don't think so. I think my kid is kinda gifted and needs to be challenged. We'll see how it goes. I can't wait!

Lots of new stuff goin down around here. Exciting! ( :

Weekend Recap and Other Awesomeness

Ugh, I am SO unmotivated today! Mainly because I can't take a decent breath. I don't know if I've pulled a muscle from all my coughing spells over the past 10 days, or if I have pleurisy (which I get all the dang time, so you'd think I'd know), or bronchitis, but my right lung/chest HURTS when I breathe. I'm still coughing, though not as frequently as I was last week. I can now breathe through my nose, though I still have to blow it quite a bit. I guess not being able to breathe deeply makes you tired, cause I have no energy today.

Yesterday afternoon, I ran around in the yard with C, kicking balls. It was fun, but man did it wear me out! Am I goin to the doctor?  Nah, probably not. If I thought I had a sinus infection I'd be there to get some drugs, but I don't think they can do anything for this right now. So unless I get a whole lot worse, I'll just complain about it. :P (Just kidding, complaining will cease now!)

We had a great weekend. Saturday morning, me and C headed to town to find some tap shoes. On Friday during my lunch break, I went to the consignment store and bought her some tap shoes, but they ended up being too small. I also got a few leotards and skirts, which thankfully fit just fine - yay for consignment! I found some ballet slippers at Target, and they were too small as well.

Of course, Once Upon A Child (consignment) didn't have any tap shoes in C's size, but luckily I got a full refund. Next, we hit up Michael's, where I scored some ribbon on clearance for $1. I made a beautiful hair bow for her, and forgot to take a picture (haha). I'll try to get on that (and a bow tutorial) soon! We exchanged the ballet slippers at Target for a larger brand, then went on a search for tap shoes.

Luckily, we hit pay dirt at Payless. C is totally in love with her shoes and wants to wear them all the time. And I have to say, she's pretty much a natural at tapping. ( :

Hopefully that video will play! If not, here's a still:

She tapped all over the house for me, and after her long nap (in her CRIB!!), we went to my mama's house, where she tapped for her, my cousin, and my grandma. I love that kid. ( :

Yesterday, she was alternating between the tap shoes and the ballet slippers to dance for her daddy - so cute.

After church yesterday, we headed to my aunt's for a birthday lunch for my cousin. We had a good time, and got to eat some of my aunt's delicious chocolate pound cake with cream cheese icing! Yum. Of course, we stayed over there through nap time, and when we got home, C wasn't about taking a nap. So her and I played outside while DH worked on the chicken and rabbit pens.

C and I had so much fun playing outside. We played with the balls, she rode her tricycle, we swung on the swingset, and she had a blast on the slide. I cherish times like that. Then one of DH's friends stopped by to show us what he bought at the livestock sale that morning, and somehow we ended up with 6 guinea keets! When they get big enough, we'll turn them loose so they can eat bugs around the farm. Our farm will never be quiet again! If you're not familiar with guineas, they are LOUD - like, obnoxiously loud.

Anyway, after we got over our new bird excitement (note my sarcasm), C and I hopped on Sunshine bareback. Then C kicked me off so she could ride by herself, haha. I didn't feel up to giving her a "lesson," so I just walked around with her. She didn't care! I'm so glad she loves horses already. ( :

Speaking of birds, our baby ducks are still going strong! Well, 8 of them are. We lost 1, but that was expected cause he was very weak. I'm happy. Mama duck is doing a great job at protecting them. They hang out in the pond a lot, but have also been hanging out around the chicken pens - which is pretty farm from the pond, so they must be strong babies.

All in all, it was an excellent weekend. The only thing that would have made it better if is I had felt better. But I can't complain, since it was a drastic improvement from the previous weekend, when I couldn't do anything but hack and blow my nose.

At church yesterday, my pastor preached on Psalm 121. This is my favorite Psalm, and probably my favorite Bible verses. I'd never heard a sermon on it, and I was impressed.

This Psalm has gotten me through some tough times in my life. It reminds me that God is always there for me. My pastor's message was about much more than that fact, though.

It inspired me to be better about my Bible reading and studies. Well, I should say it inspired me to DO it again. Sadly, I've really gotten off track with that. At the beginning of this year, I was reading the Bible daily with my Bible In One Year app, plus I was doing other random studies through books I found. I also read several books about building a closer relationship to God. I'm not sure what happened, but I stopped doing all that gradually. Its just easier to read "fun" things, like trashy romance novels, I guess. But you know what? Lately, I've been feeling not quite myself, almost depressed at times. I was just thinking on Friday how I needed to get back into the Word, cause when I was deep within it, I didn't feel this way. And then I heard this sermon yesterday - coincidence? I think not. My God is just awesome like that. ( :

So, I'm jumping back in. I'm gonna pick up where I left off with my "The Excellent Wife Day by Day" devotional, the BIOY app, and a couple of other books I recently purchased. Fill myself with spiritual goodness, reconnect with my Maker, have peace again. Who's with me? ( :

Little Rider

Last night, C had another riding lesson! This has been kind of a rough week for her - UTI symptoms on Monday, and since then she's bit hit with horrible allergies. (Why couldn't I have passed on some of my good traits to my daughter?!) She's coughing up a storm, sneezing, and has a constantly running nose - poor baby. I think the allergy meds are finally kicking in, though. She seemed a little better this mornin.

DH came home a little earlier than usual, and we had an early supper (grilled steaks, potatoes, and green bean casserole - yum!), then he had to leave again to help his dad with a tractor. I wanted to do something fun with C, and the weather was fabulous (we're in a cold spell for August in NC - highs are in the mid 70s this week!!), so I asked if she wanted to ride Sunshine. Of course, she said yes!

I firmly believe that children should be taught all aspects of horse care if they want to ride. I worked at a barn once where the younger kids just showed up and us instructors had the ponies tacked up and ready for them; all they had to do was hop on and ride, then leave (instructors had to cool down, untack, and take care of all the ponies - and usually it was just me to 9 or 10 ponies...but anyway). They learned to ride, sure, but they never learned how to care for a horse, not even to put the saddle on one. I hated that. When I teach lessons, I make sure the kids learn everything - even how to clean tack. Its important.

C has been helping me feed the horses at night lately. She says she's a "grown up" and a "good helper" and that we make a good team. Where does she get this stuff? ( :  Anyway, I think its good for her to have some responsibility. DH says I'm just teaching her to feed the horses so I won't have to do it one day....maybe (*wink, wink*). At any rate, she loves helping me. I'm still trying to get her to understand that horses can hurt you....without her actually having to be hurt! She has no fear whatsoever of horses. None of mine will purposefully hurt you, but accidents happen - they could step on her foot, bump into her and knock her down...the possibilities are endless. Of course, as a mother, I'm constantly on the lookout for stuff like that. Its exhausting!

Anyway, last night, first C helped me brush Sunshine...

Okay, so she can't do much actual brushing yet. But she thinks she is. ( : And you can tell Sunshine loves it.

Yep, that's 2 curry combs she's holding. No idea why. She likes them, though, so whatever. I'll teach her actual brushing later, when she's big enough to reach more than Sunshine's face and her legs.

Obviously, she can't help with the tack, but I made her pay attention to what I was doing and told her the names of everything. No, I don't expect her to remember much of it yet, but repetition is key! She did ask good questions, like why does the bit go into the horses' mouth, and why do you have to hold the reins.

Next, it was time to get up there! (I have to find a toddler sized helmet. I mentioned that to C yesterday, and she didn't like the idea of having to wear one, but she'll get over it.)

She looks like such a big kid, doesn't she? (*:

When I teach riding lessons, I have all my kids (and adults) do stretching exercises. Its always a good idea to stretch yourself out before any exercise, of course, but it also helps to get you comfortable in the saddle. With kids who are terrified to be up so high by themselves, I do quite a bit of stretching exercises, and it really helps them get over their fear. C doesn't have any fear, but I still want her super comfortable in the saddle.

Is that precious or what??! And look at those little heels - naturally down. ( :

Her ride was pretty short - it was getting late, and Sunshine was hungry. But after stretching, I showed her again how to tell Sunshine to "woah," and I introduced steering. C didn't quite get that one, but that's okay. She also started making a kissy sound to get Sunshine to walk. Oh! And the most impressive thing C did last night - she got up to vertical position!! If you're not familiar, vertical is what we say when we mean stand straight up in your stirrups. Its good for really getting heels down and for stretching the legs. Its also good for balancing. I also use it a lot to get kids comfortable in the saddle (its scary standing up to be even taller up there!). I told C I wanted her to do it, and explained what I meant, and she said "okay!" and popped right up! I was so proud. Often, going to vertical is scary for even kids who are otherwise comfortable on a horse. Not my baby. ( :

C had so much fun, and I feel like she learned something at the same time - so win/win. I can't wait for the day when we can ride side by side!

Vent

My daughter is my greatest blessing. She's also the source my greatest worry/stress. I knew being a mother would be hard, but its hard in so many different ways than I expected!

The hardest thing about being a mother is when your child is sick. Hands down. Yes, sometimes she's in one of her toddler moods and she's extremely hard to deal with, but I can handle that. I can handle it when her feelings are hurt or she's have a tantrum. I can even handle it when she gets a boo-boo like a scraped knee or a busted lip (which happened recently - and dang, do mouth wounds bleed a lot!!). But it kills me to know something is wrong that I can't fix with a hug and a kiss, or a Bandaid.

No one told me about this part of motherhood.

C is not sick right now. I do suspect she has yet another UTI, though. Her last one was just 3-4 weeks ago. The past few days, she's been showing the same symptoms she always does - very frequent urination and lots of accidents. Actually, over the weekend she did really well.

A few nights last week she told me her pee-pee hurt, and twice she actually cried when she was peeing. Since it only lasted a few nights (and only happened at night), I didn't think much of it.

Sunday at the baby shower, she did really well - no accidents. But she was going to the potty pretty frequently. Once, I asked her if she needed to potty and she did, then we barely made it out of the door before she said "I gotta pee-pee again!" But that time nothing came out. That's odd for her, but since she was otherwise acting fine, I brushed it off.

Yesterday when I picked her up, my MIL told me C had had 3 accidents that day. Pretty unusual for her. Then again, she had a busy weekend, my mother kept her on Friday, and we were at the beach Thursday. Sometimes a disruption in her normal schedule messes up her potty habits with my MIL. When that normally happens, she does just fine at home with me. So I again didn't think much of it.

Until I got home, and she had 5 accidents in the span of an hour and a half.

That is a lot of urinating! Each time it was just a small amount. Just like when she had her last UTI.

I can't say that I panicked, but I was on the edge. I feel so out of control when this happens. WHY does my baby keep getting UTIs??!

Next Monday, we have an appointment with a pediatric urologist at Duke. I'm hoping he can give us some answers.

In the meantime, I decided to go ahead and get a urine sample to her pediatric doctor. Last month, the nurse told me I could just bring in a sample without her being seen, but at the last minute, they changed their mind. (And then she got that terrible stomach bug from being in that germ-infested place.) So I brought the sample with me to work and called the peds. You have to leave a message for a nurse to call you back, and they usually call within an hour. 3 hours later I hadn't heard a thing, so I left another message.

This time, they called back pretty quickly. But the nurse said I had to bring her in. I insisted that I did not want to take her in, and explained that every single time I take her there, she comes home with a virus. That place is disgusting. Plus, we have to wait over an hour every time. Its just so stressful. I figured since they just saw her 3-4 weeks ago for this same issue, it wouldn't be a big deal to just test her urine.

Well, the nurse was kinda ugly on the phone, which brought out my inner Mama Bear. You don't want to be on the wrong side of that, trust me. I demanded that she ask the doctor and get back to me. Well, lo and behold, the doctor said it was fine to drop off a urine sample. But if it was positive, she wouldn't prescribe antibiotics without seeing C. Fine.

I dropped off the sample and told the nurse to call me. I explained to her that last month, the urine looked fine initially, but the culture grew, so to make sure to not discount it until tomorrow morning. She called me back in an hour and said the urine was fine. I asked had they cultured it and she said "umm....it got thrown away." WHAT!!

Let's just say that woman should be glad this happened over the phone and not in person. I was furious. I mean, really?! Why would you throw out a sample before you're done doing standard tests on it????!

For now, we're just gonna wait and see how C is tonight. If she's urinating a lot again, I'll try again with another sample tomorrow. Maybe it was just a one day thing, who knows.

It just doesn't seem normal to urinate that frequently and have nothing be wrong. Plus, we already know that her right kidney is swollen, and has been for at least 2 years now. My prayer is that this specialist on Monday can help us figure this out. Until then, please pray that C is okay and doesn't have an infection!

And yes, I have decided after this incident that I am DONE with her pediatric doctor. DoctorS, actually. Its a group practice. I love 2 of the physicians, but they are not worth all the headache I deal with every single time I go there. Last month, after the nurse called to confirm the UTI, I requested to speak to a doctor. The doctor that actually delivered me 30 years ago was who called me back. I've always liked him, until that day. When I asked him why C keeps having these UTIs, he was too nonchalant about it and brushed me off. When I requested a referral to a specialist, he tried to talk me out of it, saying a specialist wouldn't do anything. I had to demand a referral. He reluctantly gave me one, but I did not like his attitude. I am not the type of mother who rushes her child off to the doctor at every sniffle. (Hello, she had a cold for 5 weeks earlier this year, and I never even called the doctor cause I knew it was a cold.) But I trust my instincts, and so far they haven't led me wrong.

Beach Day!

Yesterday, we had a girls' day at the beach! Mama took off yesterday and today to keep C, and I asked for yesterday off so we could head to the beach for the day. So much fun!!

We drove down to Topsail Island (Surf City) and met up with my friend MM (the one who comes to ride horses with me sometimes). Her and her family have been there for a week, lucky ducks. So it was me, C, Mama, and 2 of my cousins. We left a little before 10, stopped to eat lunch at McDonald's, and were on the beach by around 12.

C played so hard. On our vacation to the OBX this summer, she was scared of the water and wouldn't touch it. Not yesterday! She loved being in there. The tide was pretty strong so we had to hold her hands most of the time, but she loved it.

C and my younger cousin M played in the sand quite a bit, too. There was a huge pile of sand in C's bathing suit when we took it off!

We stayed out there until 4 or so. Afterwards, we headed to my aunt's trailer and used her outdoor shower to clean up. Then we headed to Island Delights, my favorite restaurant on the island. They have an ice cream bar and you can get food like burgers and fries. The whole place is decorated like the 50s - they even have a working jukebox. I love it!

We finally left the island around 6, and C immediately passed out (she hadn't had a nap all day and had worn herself out!). She slept the whole way home, and then DH held her for a while and she kept right on sleeping. I finally got her up to put her nighttime diaper on her, and she stayed up for about 30 minutes before she said she was ready to go night-night. So I got to bed earlier than usual, too. ( :

After our day yesterday, I have decided I need to live at the beach. Not really, but man, would that be nice! Unfortunately, I did get a sunburn in a few places (apparently, I totally missed the sides of my neck with sunscreen - oops). So I'm already taking Benadryl round the clock. I'm a little itchy, but so far its nothing I can't handle. I have a feeling its gonna get worse, though. My stomach itches and it didn't get sunburned at all. Just a true sun allergy. :/

And yes, I wore my bikini yesterday! In PUBLIC! I bought it a few weeks ago at the insistence of my friend R. When I was pregnant, I wore a one piece bathing suit for some reason. I wish now I hadn't hid my belly. The first summer after I had C, I bought a slimming one piece. Its very flattering on me, but I really hate wearing one pieces. I just didn't want anyone seeing my tummy. Even though I lost all my pregnancy weight (plus 10 lbs), my stomach has never recovered. I have a lot of loose skin that I don't think will ever go away. Last summer, I got a two piece, but the top was a tankini so it covered me up. But my friend R pointed out to me that I'm too short-waisted to wear a tankini and have it look right (and she's totally right), and she urged me to wear a bikini.

Between her and the Beauty Revealed Project on facebook, I've gained a lot of confidence in my body lately. This is my body. I have learned to embrace it. It housed my child for 9 months, it delivered her vaginally, it has nourished her for 2 1/2 years now, its pretty amazing! I don't have a flat tummy anymore, and I don't look like a model. I don't even look like some other new mothers that I know, who look like they haven't even had a baby. But I'm finally okay with that. I traded a flat stomach and abs for a gorgeous, smart, healthy baby girl - how can I be upset over that?? Yeah, maybe I could get my stomach tighter if I worked by butt off in the gym or something, but I'd rather spend my free time playing with my daughter, not stressing over a few extra inches around my middle. My body was made to bear and nourish children, it doesn't have to look like a super model. And the cool thing is, my husband totally loves my new bikini, lol. ( ;

VBS - Take Two

This week C and I attended Vacation Bible School at my mama's church. I was a little reluctant to go since they started at 6. I had to rush like crazy to get there on time, but we made it all 3 nights.

The first night, C's teacher shut the door in my face when the kids headed to their classrooms. I had followed them in there and had planned to just sit and watch. C has been extremely clingy for about a week now, and I knew she wanted me there. Well, her teacher said she'd be fine and told me to get out, then shut the door! Of course that did not sit well with me, but I didn't want to start an argument, so I just sat in the sanctuary. 30 minutes later, the assistant brought C to me crying. She said she missed me. So I stayed with her the rest of the time.

That night, they played a fun game that taught them the story of Daniel in the lion's den. They took turns being Daniel, the angel, and the lions. C loved being a lion, naturally.

Music time was, of course, her favorite time! That kid loves to dance.

Tuesday night, C's teacher again didn't want me to stay with her, but this time C only lasted about 5 minutes before she had a break down. I didn't leave her side the rest of the night, and promised her that I'd stay with her the entire time the next night. Also on Tuesday night, her teacher wouldn't let the kids get up and dance during music time. She kept telling them to sit on the pews and sing. Um, hello, they don't know the words and can't read. Dancing is all they can do. C was the youngest in her class (its really for 3-5 year olds), and she doesn't go to daycare like the other kids, so she had a hard time with the rigidity this teacher expected. I was frustrated. I made my child behave, but I also know there's a time to let her be a kid. She wasn't being wild or disruptive, she just wanted to dance. I didn't see the problem.

Her teacher asked me that night if C went to Children's Church during the sermon, and I told her no, that C knows how to behave during church and that we're always getting compliments on how quiet and behaved she is. Its true. At our pool party last weekend, our church family was shocked to see how talkative and active C really is!

Wednesday night, I stayed with C the whole time. No tears! I could tell her teacher wasn't thrilled with the idea, but I didn't care. That night, the teacher wasn't planning on letting the kids go to music time at all. At 8:15 I said "aren't we supposed to go to music at 8:15?" And the teacher just nodded and made no move to get up and go. I slipped out of the room and vented to my mother and aunt (who were in charge of music). Finally, the teacher brought the class in there (when there was only 5 minutes of VBS left). But it wasn't fun cause she kept scolding the kids every time they started to dance. :/

I know someone out there will side with the teacher and say you shouldn't dance in church or whatever. But you know what? It doesn't bother me at all. I'd MUCH rather see my kid dancing to a JESUS song than some rap song about booties or whatever. And after being still for 2 hours, toddlers need to get out some energy. Dancing is perfect.

Another thing that kinda bothered me about this VBS was the preacher's puppet skits. Each night, he did a little skit with a monkey puppet that the kids loved. The first night all I could think about was how this guy looks and sounds like Christopher Walken (who freaks me out for some reason). The second night, the preacher came out dressed as a CLOWN and the puppet had a devil mask on. Have I ever mentioned I'm extremely afraid of clowns?! Yeah. C was kinda worried about all the masks, but she did well. That was just weird to me.

I am glad I took C to this VBS, though. I'm not sure she actually learned anything, but they tried, at least. Remember in our church's VBS, we didn't even attempt to do a lesson with our class? Having some older kids in this class made it possible to teach them a little. At any rate, its good for C to interact with other kids and adults! And being in a church setting is always good. ( :

Last Weekend

Its been yet another busy week here! I wanted to blog a little about last weekend first, though. Just so I don't forget anything. ( :

Friday night, DH and my daddy went to the coast to flounder (that is, fish for flounder). Last summer, they worked on Daddy's floundering boat but DH hasn't been able to go out on the boat since then. He finally got the opportunity, and I made sure he went! They had a great time. We should be cooking flounder soon. ( : While they were gone, me and C went out to eat with Mama. That was fun. The restaurant was playing some weird techno music and C kept asking "Mama, what is that silly music?!"

Saturday, me and C got up early and headed to my cousin's house. DH and I actually share a cousin. This guy is my aunt's son, and he's my husband's 3rd cousin or so. Its kinda weird, but around here, everyone is related, it seems! Anyway, his wife and I have become friends, especially since she had their baby back in May. So on Saturday the four of us plus her friend headed to Raleigh for the Big Latch On event at Sweet Bottoms Baby boutique. We were so excited! This event is basically just like the Great Cloth Diaper Change, but with boobs instead of cloth diapers (haha). I was beyond excited to go to Sweet Bottoms. I'd never been before, and I had heard great things about the store. I wasn't disappointed! Of course after the latch on, we shopped for quite some time. I was good and resisted the urge to buy a cute diaper (I tried to tell myself but what if we have another baby? I might NEED this!! lol. That's stupid.) I did end up buying C a hat for the beach (on clearance and tax-free, woohoo!), and some nursing pads for a friend of mine.

The Latch On went well. There were around 50 nurslings there, which was awesome. C was the second oldest kid. And of course when it was time to latch the babies on, C got shy and said she wasn't ready. I've never tried to force her to breastfeed, so I just said okay that's fine. But after a few minutes she changed her mind, so we were able to be counted (we were trying to break the world record for the most mothers breastfeeding at once - oh, and we totally did!). After that, I tried to get her to pee in the potty there but it was loud and she was scared. So what did she do? She walked over to the cloth diapers, spread her legs, and peed on the floor! Argh. Luckily, the employees were cool about it. I cleaned it up and we were fine the rest of the day.

After that, we headed to the mall. We had lunch in the food court, then walked around the mall. We ended up at Victoria's Secret. I had planned to just browse, not needing anything in particular, but a saleswoman asked if I would like a bra fitting. Well, I've been meaning to get one for a while now, so I said sure. Turns out, I've been wearing the wrong size bra. I had the cup size wrong but I was one size too large on the number. I've never had a really nice bra before, and man, what a difference! I ended up buying 2 of them. Now that I know my true size, I'm gonna try to get some cheaper-but-still-good-quality bras elsewhere. Of course, my size is odd so its gonna be next to impossible to find them at department stores.

We made it home around 3pm Saturday, and another cousin was having a birthday party from 4-6 that day. C slept a little on the way home, but she was exhausted, so I let her go back to sleep once we got home. A little before 5 I woke her up so we could go to the party. Then at 6 we left there, came home, rushed through feeding the horses, then left again for the local pool. Our church was having a back-to-school party there and everyone was invited. That was fun! C absolutely loved the pool. They have a shallow area for the little kids, and she loved being able to swim or stand up. I put her arm floats on and she just had a ball. We even swam in the deeper area with no problems. She slept well that night. ( :

Sunday after church, we had another birthday party to attend (for yet another cousin). That was fun, too. We stayed there a few hours, but when we got home C didn't want to take a nap. So that's when we rode Sunshine. I haven't been able to ride her since then, but my plan is to get on her tonight (if it doesn't storm like they're calling for).

It was a very busy weekend, but everything we did was fun. I'm glad not every weekend is quite that eventful, though!

100

This is my 100th post! Woohoo. So exciting. Can't you feel my excitement through your screen?! No? Oh well.

If only I had 100 readers. Heck, or even 1! ( ;

We had a BUSY weekend. Busy doesn't even really begin to describe it. It was fun, though! I'll be back with details later. For now, I wanted to share about C's first official riding lesson!

Late yesterday afternoon, we were finally done with all our scheduled plans for the weekend. It was cooling off outside, C had refused a nap (we got home too late for that) and was needing something to distract her from her sleepiness, and I desperately wanted to ride my horse. So I asked if she wanted to go ride with me and she said yes! C enjoys riding, but you never know if she'll actually want to do it or not. Sometimes she's just not interested. I don't push it. I'd love for her to share my love of horses and riding, but I'm not going to force her to be involved. Luckily, she does seem to carry the horse-loving gene. ( :

Normally when we ride, I get up first and have DH hand C to me. And we ride bareback, since my saddle doesn't sit 2 comfortably. But DH stayed in the house yesterday, so I was on my own. I decided to see if C would sit up there on her own. And she did! She was super excited and proud of herself. Kept sayin "I'm a grown up!" (That's her new thing. Oh, boy, we're in for it, huh?)

At first I was terrified that she'd loose her balance and fall off. In the past we've had to hold on to her because she just didn't understand that she'd fall off if she leaned waaaay to the side. But I quickly realized that for whatever reason she has now figured out a little balance. I lead her to the arena and just walked around next to her in there. After a while, I even quit holding on to the reins, except when I needed Sunshine to turn. C thought it was so cool that she was riding all by herself. DH came outside after a while and judging from the huge smile on his face, he was pretty proud of his daughter, too.

I taught C how to stop Sunshine. She doesn't exactly understand how to do it yet, but she gets the concept. Luckily, Sunshine listens to small children when they say "woah!!" even if they don't pull on the reins. C held the reins the whole time, and tried to keep her feet in the stirrups. (I have got to get her some boots, though; she just had her flip flops on. Bad mama, I know!) I had her do some stretches, just like I have my lesson students do, and C thought that was super fun. Stretching and moving around a little (while the horse is standing still) is great for helping people (especially kids) get over any fear of the horse. C doesn't seem to have any fear though, haha. At first, she didn't think she could reach down and touch her toes, but once I showed her that she could, she was all for it. That's my girl! I wanted to do "around the world" (where the kid slowly turns all the way around in the saddle), but I was nervous to do it without help, just in case. We'll try that next time.

C didn't want to get off, but I wanted to work Sunshine a little so she agreed to get down (haha). DH came out there and the 2 of them hung out in the arena while I worked Sunshine. DH even set up poles for me. ( : It was a good ride. Sunshine was super lazy, but I'm still not holdin that against her since its still hot and she's not in shape. I did the same thing I did last Sunday, lost of ground poles and low cavalletti. Then I tried for the canter. I got a stride or 2 of a very ugly canter on the left lead, and barely a stride on the right. :( On the right, I felt her right hind leg slip out from under her, so I decided not to ask anymore. Clearly, she's not better. *sigh*

I called the vet this morning and he said to keep exercising her and give her another week. If she's not better by then he'll inject the ECP directly into her ligaments. So my goal this week is to ride her at least 2 times. That didn't happen last week, but I'm hopeful that this week will be better! We're already off to a better start with the week. I got over 7 hours of sleep last night, which hasn't happened lately. Tonight I'm takin C to Bible School at my mother's church. I'm kinda thinkin if tonight goes well, tomorrow I might just drop her off there and come home and ride Sunshine. We'll see. If not I'll just have to make myself get up at 5:30 and get outside!

Closet Organization

I haven't done an organizing post in a while! That's because not much organizing has taken place in my house lately...whoops. I have tons of projects I want to take on, but limited funds and time makes it difficult. Plus, my husband has been talking about some major renovations to the house at some point in the near future, so I feel like I can't justify spending money on little things that are not absolute necessities. (Third world problems, much?)

Anyway, my daughter's closet has been LONG overdue for some help. Around this time last year, I bought a bunch of space bags and packed up all her baby clothes in them. (I really hope we put those bags in the shop, cause now I can't find them - oops). For about a month, we were organized. The problem with children is, though, that they just keep growing and outgrowing clothes! Every time I think I've got her clothes sorted so that only what fits is hanging up and in her drawers, she shoots up a size. So its a never ending battle.

My tactic for dealing with said clothes for the past year has been to just pile them in the bottom of C's closet. (I don't want to get rid of anything in case we ever have another girl baby.) At first, I had neat little stacks, just waiting to be stuffed into space bags or Rubbermaid containers. Over time, though, the piles got way out of control. It got to the point where I was ashamed to let anyone see her closet. Seriously. It was bad. Don't believe me? See for yourself:

anyone know why I randomly get dark spots on my pictures like this?? that's not a shadow!

 

See? I wasn't lyin! Embarrassing.

Last Friday I had finally had ENOUGH! I went to Target on my lunch break and noticed that they had some nice Rubbermaid containers for a good price. I think they were cheaper cause they were an ugly brown/beige color. But who cares about color? They will eventually be moved into our shop, so I am not concerned at all with how they look. I got 3 of them, and it turned out to be just enough (for right now).

When I got home from work, me and C completely emptied her closet. I was amazed at how much I had stuffed in there. It took over her entire room. For serious, you couldn't see the floor anymore (and C has a pretty big room). DH walked in at one point and his jaw dropped, haha. I told him to just turn around and pretend he hadn't seen anything! hehe

I found stuff I had completely forgotten about in that closet. C was thrilled to find new things to play with (as if she doesn't have a zillion toys already!). Once I got everything out of the closet and got it vacuumed, I sorted all the clothes and shoes (and oh boy, I clearly have a shoe obsession for my child...) by size. After a while, C got bored and asked if she could play in her crib. I don't know why she gets such a kick out of being in there when she's not sleeping, but whatever.

The whole ordeal took me over 2 hours, but it was well worth it! I have a pretty big pile of trash waiting to go to the dump - mostly damaged shoe boxes and bags. I found a bag of ancient cloth diapers that someone gave me a few years ago. I got them mainly to see what I thought about the whole cloth thing, but I quickly realized that these were not usable anymore. Completely worn out. Why was I holding on to them??? Hello, pack rat.

After all that work, I was left with this:

I know it doesn't really look much better to most people. There's still a ton of clothes in this closet. But now its all organized and neat! The 3 containers and those space bags will eventually put into the shop (as soon as DH makes some room out there), so the closet will have more room after that. I debated on whether I should keep that hanging organizer or not. The only thing I have stored in there now are shoes that C currently wears and baby blankets (that we no longer use, but I just don't have another place for them right now). I might see if DH can help me figure out how to hang that thing on the side of her closet. There's plenty of room, and that way I could still use it and have more space for hanging clothes.

I follow a lot of blogs, and I keep seeing posts on organized children's closets. And in those closets are like 8 outfits. With exactly an inch between each hanger. And then at the bottom of the closet is a stockpile of diapers and wipes. And that's it. What are those children wearing every day??! If C had so few clothes, I'd be washing every single day. Honestly, she has way too many clothes, but they're almost all given to me, and I don't turn down free stuff! And I like havin options for what to let her wear every day.

C has one dresser in her room, which is also used as a changing table. It has 3 drawers and 2 shelves (which are covered by a door). The shelves store cloth diapers (she's still in them at night). The top drawer holds panties and socks and hair ties; the middle drawer holds shorts and skirts; and the bottom drawer holds long pants and pajamas. And all the drawers are completely stuffed. So everything else gets hung in her closet. Maybe other mothers fold all their children's clothes??

Also in C's room is an antique cedar wardrobe and a cedar chest. The chest holds a gazillion blankets and quilts. It really needs to be gone through, but I just don't know where else to store that stuff. And the wardrobe is stuffed full of clothes for the next season. My mother and I buy stuff when its on sale, so we've been getting C some pretty cheap fall and winter clothes. Plus a family I know gave me a ton of clothes that C will be able to wear this winter.

I can't decide if I really hope we have another girl or not. If we do, we'll have plenty of clothes for her. If we have a boy next, we'll have to start all over. If C ends up being an only child, there's no need in keepin all this stuff! But how do you know?

So that's one more thing I can cross off my list. I still like opening up the door to C's closet and just smiling at how much better it looks! I'm a nerd like that. ( :


While cleaning out the closet, I found the t-ball stand that goes with a set C's had since she was a newborn. She's been playing with the super soft bat and balls (they're made for toddlers), but I had put the stand away for later, and then forgot about it. I had to explain to C what it was, but she immediately wanted to go outside and play ball. Then I found her tutu, and she said, "Mama, I want to wear my tutu and play ball!" So when the closet was finished, that's exactly what we did. I tied that tutu around her waist and we headed outside for some ball time. Man, I love my kid! ( :

One Thing After Another

My poor baby girl just can't catch a break lately. First she had the UTI, then she got the stomach bug, and now it appears she's got vaginitis (AGAIN - I hate antibiotics for that reason!!) and some sort of really strange rash. :( She's a tough cookie, though - none of this is slowin her down much!

The stomach bug lasted almost a week. It didn't stop all at once, it was very gradual. And thankfully no one else got it from her, which makes me think maybe it was, in fact, related to the antibiotics and not actually a virus (though she did have a fever for a few days, so who knows). At any rate, I'm super glad that its over. There is nothin worse than seeing your child in pain and not being able to help. And her little tummy was causing her a lot of pain!!

Every time C is on antibiotics, she develops vaginitis (basically, a yeast infection; not sure why her dr calls it something different). I mean every. Time. Its so frustrating. I know we can try to prevent it by getting her to take probiotics and eat yogurt. But, seriously, have you ever tried to get a toddler to consume something she didn't want?! Its near bout impossible. This time, I bought gummy bear probiotics, and I just knew she'd love them cause they're basically candy. Nope. She wouldn't touch them for days. Until we saw a commercial on TV and the littler girl ate some. Even after that I've managed to get C to eat maybe 2 of them. They taste pretty good to me, so I assume she just doesn't like the gummy texture. *sigh*

As for yogurt...she used to love the stuff. She'd ask for it. But maybe she ate too much of it and got sick of it, cause now she rarely will eat it. My MIL can't get her to eat it at all anymore, and I can only occasionally. I got her to eat one container of yogurt when she was on antibiotics this last time. After that she wouldn't touch it. So I pretty much resigned myself to the fact that she'd get a yeast infection at some point, and I've been watching for it.

Its probably been building up for the past several days, and we just weren't able to see any outward signs (i.e, redness) yet. Well, I saw the tell-tale redness last night. Thankfully, the last time we dealt with this the dr provided us with a ton of Nystatin cream, so I won't have to take her back to get a new prescription. She's already had 2 doses of the stuff, so she should be improving pretty quickly. But the stupid yeast infection makes her have accidents, just like with a UTI. Its so frustrating. I think its because the infection makes it burn when she pees, so she holds it until she just can't hold it anymore, then has an accident. Cause she's not just been having small accidents (like she did with the UTI - that was a tiny amount of urine every 20 minutes or so) - this is like a lake every few hours! Big mess to clean up. My MIL told me last week that C was still wetting her pants quite a bit, and I told her she's probably messed up from bein sick, just to give her time. But now I'm thinkin its the vaginitis that was brewing. *sigh*

The good news is that the Nystatin usually works really fast, and then she'll stop having accidents. I know the pattern. Luckily, she doesn't have to be on antibiotics very often since she's a pretty healthy child (other than recurrent UITs, and we are seeing a specialist next month about that). She's had 2 ear infections that we treated with antibiotics. The only other thing she's taken them for was UTIs. I think that's pretty good for 2.5 years. Anyway, the faster she gets, the better cause we're all sick of dealing with accidents! Yesterday she peed on my bed and my couch. And I don't mean a little bit. It looked like someone had spilled a gallon of liquid both times. Oh, and she did the same thing in the carseat over the weekend. *sigh!* You can't get mad at her though; she can't help it. We're just workin through this until she gets back to normal.

Now for her rash...this one has us all completely stumped. I noticed it Friday night. She was super ill Friday evening (that means she was in a bad mood, for all you non-Southern folks!) and we couldn't figure out why. She ate a lot at supper - I had cooked fried pork chops, fresh green beans, and fresh potatoes, and she ate everything, which surprised us. After supper, the 3 of us went outside to feed the animals. When we got back in, I noticed what looked like a bug bite on her shoulder. I had forgotten to put bug spray on her and it was at the edge of dark, so I assumed it was a mosquito. Well, in the bath tub later, I could see the spot better and it didn't look like a mosquito bite. It almost looked like fire ants had got on her. She had 6-8 little whelps and the whole area was very red. Wasn't bothering her though.

Then I noticed she had another really red area on the back of her neck. By the time we got out of the tub, I was noticing red places (and some with whelps) on several different areas on her body. None of the areas were bothering her, so I wasn't too worried. Until I was literally watching them pop up! It was crazy. When they got on her face (around her eye), I got concerned. So I gave her Benadryl. She hadn't had anything to eat that was new to her, and hadn't been exposed to anything new at all recently.

Saturday morning, she looked better, but as the morning wore on, I was seeing more red places pop up. And then it got really weird. She'd get a red area and a whelp that looked like a bug bite, and 30 minutes later it was gone. You could literally watch it pop up then disappear. Crazy. It still wasn't bothering her, so I just let her go about her day as usual. The 2 of us went to my MIL's pool that afternoon, and I'm sure the chlorine didn't help her at all. When we got back home, it looked like she had eczema on her thighs and butt. I rubbed her down with lotion and got her to sleep, but she slept fitfully. That night I gave her more Benadryl. DH kept saying take her to the dr, but I knew they'd tell me to do what I was since it wasn't bothering her at all.

Yesterday the places were a little itchy to her, but not enough that it interfered with her day or anything. For church I put her in a super soft dress with no inside seams, and during church we were watching her get redder and redder, and little whelps popping up everywhere. And then disappearing. After church I let her be naked at home, because it did seem that any type of fabric was irritating her skin. That did help some, but she was still getting red places.

I gave her more Benadryl last night and this morning at first she looked much better. By the time I dropped her off at my MIL's, though, I saw several red places - on her feet and around her right eye. :( I've looked online and all I can find is reactions to changes in diet or things like fabric softener. Well, I've been using All Free & Clear for years now, and I don't use fabric softener cause I'm allergic to it (and it ruins cloth diapers). Absolutely nothing has changed lately. The only thing I can think of is maybe she's developed a sudden food allergy. But to what?? Over the weekend she ate a ton of bread and crackers, but that's normal for her. My girl loves her carbs, haha. I don't even want to call the pediatrician because they're gonna want to see her, and we are NOT doing that again right now. I hate exposing her to all those germs in that place, and I know her immune system is weak right now, since she's been dealing with so much. No, thank you. So I'm not sure what to do. I'm gonna keep researching and keep praying that it doesn't get worse. Maybe its a delayed reaction to the antibiotic she was on? Her last dose was Friday night. But she's had that drug before, several times. I'm at a loss!!

Sorry, I know this post was terribly boring for people other than myself. But I wanted to document it for later. I really hope I haven't passed on my freak gene to my daughter. We all know that Nikki has unexplained health issues that come and go. :(

I'm Alive!

Whew! The last few weeks have been insane. I say that a lot, don't it? But its always true. Of course, looking back, all those other times I said that were nothing compared to the past 2 weeks for me. Most of my business has been work-related, and thankfully I've been able to come home in the evenings and basically just relax. Which I have desperately needed, let me tell you!

In short, my company has been experiencing a lot of major changes lately. My office has broken away from our parent company and with that has come a ton of work for me. I love being busy at work, so its been okay, but there have been a few times that I've wanted to pull my hair out! On top of all the changes and new stuff to deal with, I had to train 2 employees for our parent company. Of course, everything was happening all at the same time, so it was pretty stressful. Which is why I haven't even thought about my blog. I do plan to go back and finish blogging about our OBX trip, cause I definitely want to remember that! And we've taken more trips since then, so more memories to log. ( :

Here's a brief rundown of what's been going on since I last posted (3 weeks ago!):

I think I blogged about my eye issues recently. If not, basically I've been suffering from extreme dry eye for several months now. A prescription for Restasis is pending, has been pending for weeks now (my insurance doesn't like to cover expensive drugs like Restasis, bleh). Anyway, I had another appointment the week after our OBX trip. My eye dr put plugs in my tear ducts, and it has made a huge difference. For a few days, I didn't see much improvement and I was pretty disappointed. But finally, I can wear my contacts almost normally. I still can't wear them every day, and I still normally take them out early in the evening, but its such an improvement. If my RX for Restasis ever gets approved, I'm sure I'll be able to wear contacts like any normal person.

The weekend after our OBX trip I didn't do a thing. At least not that I remember. I remember on Sunday we were supposed to take C to a birthday party, but neither of us felt like going so we just lazed around the house. It was lovely. Thankfully, we hadn't even mentioned the party to C, so she didn't know what she was missing! Terrible parents, huh? ( ;

July 1 was supposed to be a quiet day for me at work, but I got a call early that said 2 people were on the way for me to train, and they were 15 minutes away! Yikes. (For the record, it wasn't my boss that called me. He found out after I did that these girls were coming.) Unfortunately, I didn't teach them much since they were unexpected. Plus, the 3 of us went to lunch and then they had to leave around 2. Oh well. The next 2 days, I had one girl here. Thankfully, she was really smart and nice, and having her here wasn't much of a burden. I had a ton of work-related problems to deal with, though. The first and second weeks of July were horrible in terms of work problems. I spent hours every day on the phone with support people. Fun, fun. I think I've got almost everything sorted out now. Whew.

On July 3, my best friend had some important surgery. So on top of dealing with all the work-related mess, I was worried about her all day until I heard she was okay. Well, sort of. She had some major reactions to the surgery and the drugs. It was pretty scary for a while there. But she pulled through and is now almost back to normal. ( :

Also on that day, my boss told me not to worry about coming in on Friday (we were already closed for the 4th). I think he felt sorry for me since I was so stressed out and working so hard. So I had a 4 day weekend!!

The 4th was spent in a frenzy. We had a ton to do to prepare for our annual July 4th cookout. I made sure to enjoy the day, though. After I got some initial cleaning done that morning, me, C, and my mama played in the pool for a while. Then, while I got C to sleep (on her crib mattress on the floor again), Mama cleaned my bathrooms for me. DH was a huge help around the house that day, too. Between the 3 of us, we got that nice nice and clean. So that the family could demolish it that night, haha.

Our yard has been pretty soaked lately. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights here. That's not really an exaggeration. I've never seen so much rain at once. Literally, every day for a long time now it has rained. Our garden has drowned. Our animals are swimming. Its been bad, though not nearly as bad as some people have had it. Anyway, because the yard was so soaked, we set up all the tables in the driveway. Of course, people still managed to get dirty and track all that into my house. I was amazed at how much dirt we swept up that night. But everyone had a great time. We had over 30 people show up for the cookout this year. And it was nice cause we didn't have to rush off for fireworks at 9. (This year, our town held fireworks on July 6th for some reason.) Which also meant we had guests in the house until like 10pm. But C got to play with her cousin (who is 3), and they had a blast together. I love having both our families together like that.

The next day was Friday, and DH decided to head down to the river for the day. His aunt and uncle have a place near the Pamlico River, and they have a boat. Its where we went back in January, when I got the pictures of the eagles. Its about a 2 hour drive from home, so not bad at all. When we got there, we rode the boat to Washington, where we got out and walked around town for a while. That was nice, even though it was about a thousand degrees. C absolutely loved riding the boat, as long as her uncle didn't drive too fast! When we rode back to the dock, we let C play in the water for a while. The Pamlico River is really brown and muddy from all the rain eastern NC has had lately, so it was pretty gross, but that didn't stop C from having fun! We didn't have her bathing suit with us (we knew on the boat we wouldn't be stopping to swim or anything), so we just let her play in the water in her clothes. She loved that. We stayed until after supper and got home that night around 10pm.

Which is when we discovered that our air conditioning was broken. It was 85 degrees in our house. WAY too hot!! My brother works on heat and air units for a living, so luckily he was able to come over that night and work on it some. I don't know anything about A/C units, but he couldn't do much Friday night. So we turned up all the fans and slept almost naked. Saturday morning my brother came back and worked some more. He got it working, sort of, but said it would take a long time to cool the house. Well, most of our windows don't open (hello, old house) so we weren't able to get a good breeze going through there. It was miserable. I stayed long enough to get the floors vacuumed and mopped, and did a few loads of laundry, then C and I left for Mama's. We played in Mama's little pool for a while, then took a nap in the wonderful A/C.

DH wanted to head back to the river that night, and since our house was still 85 degrees, he didn't get an argument from me! We packed up and made it there before it was too late. We spent the day Sunday on the boat fishing. Now, I don't have any patience at all for fishing. But this was actually kinda fun to watch. I didn't participate cause I had to hold C and make sure she didn't fall off the boat. But DH and his uncle were net fishing, which I'd never seen before. They had this super long net and would set it up, then his uncle would drive the boat in circles and we'd be really loud. The idea was to scare the fish into the net. It worked pretty well. We caught a good mess of fish this way, mostly spots. Even C wasn't bored with everything.

I, unfortunately, discovered that day that I now have a true allergy to the sun. I applied SPF 50 sunscreen every hour or so all day, and didn't get a sunburn, but after a couple of hours I broke out into a rash on my legs. It was wonderful. I ended up having to cover my legs with a towel. And lucky me kept having a reaction for days after the sun exposure. Like, I'm still a little itchy, and its been over a week. Ugh. Every night last week I had to take Benadryl just to sleep, and some days I had to take it at work, too. Which I hate doing!!

Anyway, we had a fun time at the river. Once again, after we got off the boat, we let C play on the little beach. This time in her bathing suit. ( :  She had a ball. I think we made it home that evening by around 6. Our house was still pretty hot, but we could tell it was getting cooler.

By Monday morning the house was blessedly cool, but DH had decided that we'll be getting a new unit. My brother patched ours up so it'll work for a while, but sometime in the very near future we'll be shelling out a couple grand for this thing. Gotta stay cool, though!

Actually, yesterday afternoon I noticed the house was getting hot again, and DH had to go tinker with out unit again. Hopefully it'll still be cool when I get home from work today.

Now for the sickness. My poor baby has been suffering through another UTI lately. :( She started having a lot of accidents, and after a couple of days I started to wonder if it was her kidneys again. Last Tuesday night, she peed 5 or 6 times in 40 minutes, so I knew something was up. I tried to get her doctor to just test her urine without having to see her, but they insisted. So Wednesday after work, I took her in. Her urine looked clean under the microscope, and I was confused. Of course, I didn't want her to have a UTI, but I knew somethin was wrong. They cultured it "just in case." Well, early Thursday morning I got the call that she did indeed have an infection. It took until after lunch for her antibiotic to be ready, but we did manage to get 2 doses in her that day.

Almost immediately, the antibiotic made her have looser stools (sorry, TMI probably). But that's normal, so I didn't think much of it. Saturday morning, she had a few bouts of explosive diarrhea. Poor baby. She still acted okay, though, and she wasn't peeing as much. So I felt comfortable leaving her with my parents while I went to see my friend that had had the surgery. C ended up staying with them for longer than I intended cause she took a super long nap. Again, that's normal when she's fighting an infection, so I didn't think much of it. She was really whiny and clingy after her nap, but after a while she acted better. Her and I drove to town to pick up a pizza for supper, and she ate 2 pieces, plus some bread bites. Then after her bath that night, she told me she was freezing and started crying. Then I realized she had a fever. :(

She actually slept pretty well that night, considering. But yesterday morning, she woke up with a bad stomachache and immediately went to the potty, where she had diarrhea. That continued all morning. She was pitiful, and it broke my heart. I was thinking the antibiotic was affecting her, so I called the doctor, who insisted on seeing her again. So the 3 of us headed to town, where we learned that she most likely has a stomach virus. On top of her UTI! Poor baby. :( Probably picked it up the other day when I brought her to that germ-ridden place, and her defenses were already weakened. Ugh. Sot he doctor didn't do a thing for her.

After the appointment, she was feeling better, so we picked up some groceries and ate at Outback. She barely ate though, and was really tired. Once we got home, she napped for a little while, but woke up with a tummyache again. After a while she was feeling better again, and seemed like herself. We actually had fun yesterday afternoon. She had a few more bouts of pain/diarrhea last night, but then slept in her crib until 4:45am. Unfortunately, it all started up again this morning. Fever and all. I hate seein my baby sick! By the time I left for work she was feeling better, thankfully. Hopefully she'll be over this soon. And hopefully we won't get it. I've already been feeling nauseous for the past several days...ugh.

So that's my busy busy life for the past 3 weeks!! Whew!