Hello from CA!

It's been a tiring, rough week, to say the least. After getting the news last Saturday that my grandfather had passed away, I was scurrying around, trying to get plane tickets for the girls & I to fly out here. We had thought that the funeral might be on Friday or Saturday. Well, after I'd bought the tickets for Wednesday evening, I got a call from my mom that said the Memorial Service was Wednesday morning and the funeral was Thursday afternoon. So, that meant I had to push up my flight a day, which also meant I'd have one less day to get ready. So, the race was on. I seriously didn't think I'd leave on time, but we did. And the house wasn't even a total disaster area.
So, the girls and I got into Sac at about 11pm on Tuesday. My friend Deanna picked us up from the airport and took us to my mom's. Well, after sleeping on the 2nd flight from Minneapolis, MN, both the girls were wide awake when we got there. Needless to say, we didn't get to sleep until about 2am.
The memorial service was in Modesto the next morning at 11am. It was my opportunity to say goodbye to my grandpa face-to-face. They didn't have an open casket, but it was open before the service began. I left the girls with my mom so I could be alone. It was really hard and that's when it hit me. I was sad, but happy that he wasn't suffering anymore.
The service itself was nice. It was at his church and they played a few hymns, including his favorite "How Great Thou Art". The last song they played was "Daddy's Hands". I knew my mom had picked that one out. After the service and a small reception, most of the fmaily went over to my Grannie's house. That's my grandpa's mother. Yes, she's still alive. She's 92.
The next day we had a graveside service in Sacramento. Grandpa's buried next to my uncle Rick, who died when I was 1 1/2 and who is buried next to my grandma, who died when I was 3. I'd never been there before, so I'm glad I now know where everyone is. We all went over my to Uncle David & Aunt Kelly's house afterwards. Then my cousin Michael had a baseball game to go to, so a few of us went to cheer him on. He hit a homerun before my mom & the girls and I got there. It was too bad we missed it.
The girls & I went to stay with my in-laws yesterday. They went in the spa & loved it. Sarah was out like a light by 8pm. Emma went with Melissa & I to the mall. I bought a purse. I've been needing one for awhile. Melissa bought Emma a couple toys from the Disney Store. This kid (along with her mother) are in serious mall withdrawl. I hate having to drive 45 minutes to go to a decent store.

Family emergency

The girls & I will be making an emergency trip to CA for a little while. My grandfather passed away this past Saturday. We're leaving Wednesday evening. That's also Sarah's birthday, but Jeff and I have decided to celebrate when we get back. We're going to be in CA for about a week and a half. So, it's crunch time for me to try & get everything ready before we leave. There's a list a mile long of stuff that I need to get finished. Laundry, house, packing, food (so Jeff doesn't end up eating HotPockets for a week). And on top of it all, Emma's coughing up a storm & I think Sarah has the croup. Yay! Nothing can ever be simple for my family.
So, I've been on the phone this morning, trying to change appointments & figure out how I'm going to get Emma's Kindergarden Round-Up re-scheduled. While I know that my family would know I was thinking about them from out here, I felt I really should be there in person. My grandfather's health hasn't been good for a long time, but this was still a shock. He was always smiling when I saw him. He loved seeing the girls last summer. We were able to get a picture of 5 generations: my grannie, my grandpa, my mom, me & the girls. It's somewhere on my mom's computer. I'm going to get it printed out so I can put it up on our wall. I feel bad for my grannie. She's lost 2 of her 3 children, plus 2 husbands. And my poor Great-aunt Reba has lost her father, her husband & her 2 brothers. It sucks to get old & have everyone you love pass away. But, you have memories and those can be very comforting.
On a positive note, I'll be able to see my cousin Keith, whom I haven't seen since my wedding, I don't think. He was in the Air Force for 4-5 years and stationed in Missouri or Illinois (can't remember). Plus, my mom said that my grandmother's family is also going to be there. I've NEVER met them. I wish I could see these people under better circumstances, but I know we're coming together to celebrate a loved one, and that's ok.
I'm going to miss you grandpa.

Idiots with access to the internet

A few days ago, someone on the Trisomy21online website posted a link to this guy Bob Lonsberry's site. He had written an article defaming the special education system in public schools, basically saying it was detrimental to the "regular" students, taking away teacher's time, and that these students could be disruptive, causing the regular students harm. People about hit the roof. I know that the special ed. programs run the gambit from mild dyslexia to autism and beyond, but PLEASE! Revert back to the days of old when kids who were "mildly different" were sent to "special schools" (AKA institutions) because they would receive a better education. it was all nice & tidy. The regular kids didn't even know about the special needs kids, because they never saw them. He even brought up the term "separate but equal". Are we in the 1950's???? Was he actually comparing special needs kids to how African-Americans were treated? I could NOT believe the gall of this guy. Why don't we just terminate all the special needs kids when they're born and save the system tons of money?? Or better yet, pump ALL the money into prenatal testing so we can eradicate those "retarded" kids before they're even born? Because, heaven forbid they be in the same class as your "perfect" child. While I know that inclusion is not for every child, and some children will learn better in a separate setting, the idea of lumping all special needs kids together in one group is ridiculous. And he has a LINK to the Mormon Church website on his site. He used to be Mormon, but was excommunicated. So, it's ok for him to tell others what is right, but not do it himself.
I'm all for the First Amendment, but it doesn't seem right that this guy gets paid to write imflamatory articles about things he has no knowledge of. It's not like he has a child in the special education program. I read all these posts from moms on the T21 site about how they are struggling with getting a fair & decent education for their child with DS. One in particular stands out. Tori, whose mother has been fighting with her school all year to get her involved with the mainstream class more often, finally got through to the school. Tori has been thriving ever since. It just seemed the school didn't believe in Tori's abilities. People have this mental image of a special needs child, that they can only learn so much. They don't want to give them the benefit of the doubt. A child with DS's capability to learn doesn't end, just like a regular person. It only ends when someone gives up on them.
I'm at a loss, because I feel the need to argue for Sarah's right to a fair & equal education before she's even going to school. This is not something I should have to be worrying about when my child is only a year old. Right now all I should be concerned with is helping her learn how to crawl, then cruise, then walk. I don't want to throw myself a pity party, as it's not about me. it's about Sarah. But, sometimes I get in the rut of comparing her to other typical babies and I get so upset. I keep thinking, these people have no idea how lucky they are. They don't have to worry about the same things I do.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Yesterday was a pretty big day for Sarah. The optical shop called and said her glasses were in. We went to go pick them up while Emma was at school. They're so cute!!! The lab had shortened the temples so they weren't gargantuan on her. They're still a little too long in the temple, but not nearly as bad. They also have an elastic band that goes around the back, but even on it's smallest setting, is too big. I'll need to modify that a bit. Sarah has already shown her disdane for these glasses. While the guy was fitting them to her face, she starting throwing a major fit, trying to grab them off her face. The fit miraculously stopped as soon as they were off. She then shot the guy the EVIL EYE, and proceeded to look at me, and raise her arms to be picked up. It was too funny.
We went over to Jeff's office to show him her new specs. The first thing out of his mouth was, wow, those are thick. It's true, they are pretty big lenses. Poor thing must have been REALLY blind. Now it's just going to take some time for her to realize she can see better, albeit differently, with them on.
She seemed kinda depressed in the first few hours after we got them. She kept shooting me these, WHAT did I do to deserve THIS????, looks. She was quieter than usual and didn't seem very social. But, after a little while she seemed to perk up.
Emma, Sarah & I went to go check out the charter school that's just outside of town. This was the one I as drawn to at the Kindergarden Info Night. It's technology based and seems to be really good. I had planned on checking it out 2 weeks ago, but then the sickness came and has just recently (within the past 4 days) decided to relinquish it's grasp on me. I wasn't able to see much of the work inside, as it was recess/almost lunch time. But I saw both the K classrooms and saw some of the kids during their centers. Some of them were working on the computers and some were working on the letter "Y", using sand in a container to draw out the letter over & over. Very clever. So far I'm pretty impressed with how they teach. I enrolled her after the tour. They have a "Kindergarden Round-Up" on the 26th. That's basically where they do all of their assessment tests to see where Emma is academically. I think they also do a hearing & vision test. It should be interesting.
We also cut Sarah's hair last night. Emma got her first professional haircut on Sunday, and we probably should have had them do Sarah's too, but I did Emma's first big one, so out of nostalgia, I guess, I did it myself. We cut about 4 inches off, and trimmed her bangs. It's about an inch above her shoulders now. It's kinda hard to cut hair on a moving baby, but I did my best. There's pictures on the website. Emma did very well during her haircut. She even let the lady wash her hair in the big sink. She basically got a bang trim, about an inch or so off the bottom, and some face framing. It looks really good!
The weather here is really turning around. There was no snow on Saturday like it said there would be, but that's how Michigan weather is. It changes hourly. It's supposed to be 75 today, but then between 50-60 for the next week and a half. Like I said, it can change hourly.

Making Strides

I feel less of a complete lump today. I actually started feeling a little better yesterday, with the pressure in my face a lot less and also less of a pounding in my head. Still a snot-face though.
Jeff & I are going to a LAN party tonight. Basically, a bunch of geeks sitting around for 12 hours, playing video games. Jeff went to one a few months ago. I told him I wanted to go to this one. I'm probably not going to do that well, as I don't have a lot of time to practice on the games that they play, but it'll be fun. A girl named Jessica is going to come over and watch the kids for us. This will be the first time I've been away from Sarah for overnight. Even though I'll just be down the street at the college, I know I'll probably be worried about her the whole time. She's been getting up at about 1:30am for the past few nights. Then she's up again at about 6:30am. But, this girl seems pretty competent. She's watched really young children overnight for the past few years. And she's not a freshman, lol. I think she's about 23. Plus, she's getting her degree in Special Education, which I thought was really neat. She was recommended by a student co-worker of Jeff's (who's going to be at the LAN party, the only other girl) and Jessica said she was really excited when she heard that Sarah had Ds. She's worked with kids with Austism and Cerebral Palsy.
I'm going to pump to make sure she has something to give Sarah in case she wakes up. Emma's excited to have someone new come over. She met Jessica last night and was happy that she was coming back tonight. She told her to bring her pj's and that they're going to have a party. With popcorn and everything. It's a "Girls Only Party", lol.
On a different note, Emma has been doing really well with her chores. All this week, she has made her own bed, without any prompting from me. And she does really well at it. She's kept her room practically spotless all week, as well. This must be her genes from Jeff kicking in, as I am NOT innately a clean freak. Although she does need some help remembering that her toys on the floor of the living room are her responsibility, too. Apparently she thinks that she only needs to take care of them once they're in her room, and I'm the one who needs to get them there. Sounds like someone else I know...

Sick & tired

Everytime I've written in the past week or so, I keep thinking the worst of this nasty cold has passed. But, I was proven wrong again. A few days ago, I started feeling pressure in the left side of my face, all the way down to my jawline. I knew it was something else besides just a viral infection. So, I went back to the doctor yesterday and sure enough, I have a sinus infection. Yay. I was put on Amoxicillin 3x a day for 10 days. This morning, the pain is now in BOTH sides of my face. I swear, I am so sick and tired of being sick and tired. I'm now on 3 prescription medications. Well 4, if you count my birth control pills. Which are negated by the antibiotics I'm now on. Grrr.
Emma went on her first trip around the block on her bike today. She was very excited. Sarah & I followed her with the stroller. She did really well, only having one minor accident. One of her training wheels went off the sidewalk and she tipped over. This was where I inserted my "that's why we wear helmet's" speech. Which she does, but I just wanted to reinforce the issue. There were a few places where we had to ride on the side of the road, because there are no sidewalks. Apparently the seam between the asphalt & the concrete gutters weren't level because the back wheel ended up off the ground, while the two training wheels still had contact with the street. So, she ended up pedaling nowhere, with the back wheel just spinning in the air. It was kinda funny.
It's instantly spring around here. It was about 60 degrees today, and supposed to be 67 tomorrow. It's also supposed to rain for the next few days with a chance of snow showers on Saturday. What??? Did I just read that right? Grrr, Michigan weather is SO crazy. It won't stick, as the temp's supposed to be in the high 40's. Hopefully the rain will melt all the remaining snow on the ground. It's mostly just in humongous piles in parking lots and such. I think we can officially put away the "fluffy" coat and snow pants. Today was the first day in about 5-6 months where I haven't had to send Emma to school looking like the Michelin Man.
Sarah's glasses should be in by the end of this week, hopefully. I'm so tired of waiting for medical personnel to get on the ball. It seems to take forever to get things done. I think she's going to look so cute once we get them!! If I can keep them on her. I'm really hoping for a surge in gross motor skills once she starts wearing them. I think she really is just scared to move anywhere by any other way except rolling due to the fact that she can't see very well. She IS making progress in moving from a sitting position to a crawling position. She mostly ends up on her tummy, but she's trying really hard! We have her annual IFSP (Individual Family Service Plan) meeting on the 7th of April. Her PT told the coordinator that she thought Sarah might benefit from OT & the Infant Teacher. I'm glad they agree, because I thought she could have used those service 6 months ago, but I digress. At least we're starting down the road now. I'm going to push for PT, OT & the Infant Teacher at least once a week each, for 30 minutes. I also want to push for ST as well, but I doubt they'll approve that. I also need to find out if services are going to be halted during the summer, as all this goes through the school system. I really hope not. What's the point of doing all this work, only have it negated by 3 months of nothing? That's probably what most parents think about the summer break, lol.

Happy Easter!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. Ours was relaxing, to a point. We went to church, which we don't get to do very often, as our church is 65 miles away. But, we went. I was happy we did. It was nice. We met a lot of people, Emma had fun and we all got Krispy Kreme on the way. But, as with any drive into Lansing, we had to do something else to make the hour and 15 minute long drive just a little more worth it. So, we went to Applebee's for lunch. Sarah sat in a high chair and didn't want to eat her fruit puffs. She instead, wanted my pickle. I had 2 slices of pickle with my chicken fajita roll-up and she wanted them. She went after that thing. She was sucking all the juices out of it & trying to eat the middle flesh, all with this look on her face like, this tastes weird, but I like it! Like when Jeff eats a pickle and he does this all over body shiver. I guess pickles just have that affect on our family.
Emma got a bike from the Easter Bunny. Santa was going to get her one, but didn't feel it was fair to give a child a bike in the middle of winter in Michigan. She wouldn't have been able to ride it until, well, now. So, it was the Easter Bunny's dubious job to get one for her. He found one on sale, not bad. He had some help, as mommy & daddy put it together at midnight, while cursing the vague directions (why do they give me instructions for handle brakes, when there ARE NO handle brakes on this bike??). It's purple & pink, Emma's 2 favorite colors. Now all we need is a trailer for Sarah & I can go riding with her.
The day would have been that much better if we all still weren't sick. Not Jeff, though, that super-human immune system he has is still in full swing. Emma's still coughing & snotty, Sarah's just snotty, and me, well, I've been better. When I went to the doctor's last week, she said to come back in if things got worse. Mind you, I'm already on nasal spray & Rx decongestant. Yet, things have gotten worse. The entire left side of my face HURTS! I think my sinuses are backed up to my chin, if that's possible. And this morning, green snot. Yay!!! More infection. Things could be worse, though. I read this online journal at Babycenter.com, entitiled "Bringing up Ben & Birdy" about a Mass. women who has 2 kids, Ben, 5, and Birdy (Abigail), almost 2. Her kids tend to be sick...a lot. This last weeks entry talked about Birdy puking numerous times in the car, and then EVERYONE getting sick, as well. Her son Ben had a 10 day fever a few weeks ago. While I've dealt with the puking in the car (on a road trip with Emma in CA by myself, before Sarah), I don't think I could handle the kids being that sick, that often. Emma, of course, thinks she's fine, and it doesn't seem to bother her that she's constantly sniffing or that her cough sounds just it did a week ago. Grrr, I hate all this sickness.

Spring comes to the Midwest

Could it be? No snow in the forecast? Temp's in the high 40's & low 50's?! YAY! I think spring has finally decided to show up!!! The snow's melting, I hear birds (well maybe it's just seagulls), and I don't need to wear 5 layers of clothing! I think this has been the longest winter of my life. Even longer than last year, when I was pregnant.
This will definitely help all of our moods, which are pretty sour from being sickly. We're all still snotty & coughing, but at least it's not snowing! See, I'm trying to be optimistic.
Sarah's PT didn't show this morning. I had heard a rumor that it was Spring Break at the school where the EI team is, and that she wasn't supposed to come this week. But I think I distinctly remember her saying that she would. Oh well. I got up, and made Emma & I pancakes this morning, so it wasn't a total loss. Otherwise, I would have slept in as much as the kids would let me.
We're going out to lunch with Jeff & a few guys from work. Pizza Hut buffet. Yummy. Apparently the college kids know exactly where to go on each day of the week to get the most food for the littlest money. They have this town wired. Ah, to be in college.

Pass the tissue

We're all still sick here. I went to the doctor yesterday, and I have a viral infection. Yay. More drugs. Poor Sarah's face is chapped from all the wiping of snot, Emma's got a bad cough & mommy sounds like a frog has taken up residence in her larynx. Sarah had an ENT appointment this morning, and all's well. Her hearing tested fine, and her ear canals aren't so small that they can't see her ear drums, which is a good thing. He also said, as of right now, she doesn't have an ear infection. I'm hoping that stays true until her cold is gone. Emma stayed home from school again today. She went yesterday, but her cough got worse through the evening, and I just decided it wasn't worth it. I just hope she didn't spread her germs to the entire class.
We got Sarah's new car sat in today!!! I installed it, very easy, and she had her first trip. To Rite-Aid & Meijer, what fun! She seems to like it, as she fell asleep in it on the way home. I guess that means it's comfortable. It's going to be an adjustment to having to take her to & from the car now without the infant seat, but it should be fine. She likes sitting in grocery carts, so that's not a big deal.
After I start feeling better, I'm going to need to sterilize this whole house. Get out the rubbing alcohol. Spring better "spring" soon, otherwise, we're all going to end up with pneumonia. On a positive note, there's only 2 days of snow forecast for the next week and a half. Yay, maybe by May, all the snow will be gone! Grrr. I hate the midwest right now. I can't even remember what green grass looks like anymore. How sad is that. At least Emma is trying to be optimistic. She keeps saying that "spring is coming!" She's finally tired of winter, too. She says her coat is too "fluffy". We bought her an Easter dress today, complete with shoes & a cute little purse. It's sleeveless, so unless something drastic happens between now & Sunday, no one's going to see it under her "fluffy" coat. I think we're going to church on Sunday. With a quick stop at Krispy Kreme on the way (bribery for Jeff). I know my dad's family will probably be meeting at Marie Callendar's for brunch. And it'll probably be warm. (Insert image of me green with envy) Anyone for hunting Easter eggs in the snow?? If we leave them white, it'll add to the fun!!!

I think I see the light

Ok, yesterday was just about the worst day I've had in a long time. Everyone in this house is sick. Like I predicted, Jeff has it the least. He's got a slightly runny nose. Immune system, I curse you! Sarah, poor baby, has been snotty & miserable for 36 hours. She seems better this morning. She actually slept the whole night. She was asleep by 9pm and didn't wake until 6:45am. Well, actually, if she did wake up during the night, I wouldn't have noticed. I took some Nyquil last night before bed. I had a fever of 100 degrees and had barely slept the previous night. I was getting sleep, no matter what. Emma climbed into bed with us about midnight. She slept with us until Sarah got up, then she went out to watch TV.
I was supposed to go out to Morey Charter school today to check out their Kindergarden, but that's not going to happen. We're all staying home today. Well, not Jeff, he went to work. He was going to stay home, but I told him I felt a lot better. No more fever and the congestion's not as bad. Still feel crummy, though. So, no school for Emma. Thank goodness there's no gymnastics tonight.
Gotta go take care of my sicky kids.

Quarantine

I think we all need to be hosed down & sterilized. Someone brought a bug into this house & now we ALL have it. Emma's got a cough & a mild fever, Sarah & I have the runny nose and sore throat and I don't know what Jeff has, as he's still sleeping. Today's his day to sleep in, lucky bum. Sarah kept us both up last night, so I'm running on maybe 3-4 hours of solid sleep. She finally fell back asleep about an hour after I finally admitted defeat & rolled out of bed. Emma's lounging & coughing on the couch while watching "The Smurfs". I told Jeff last night that I was getting sick. Argh, I hate that I can feel it coming on, but there's nothing I can do about it. But I'm sure if Jeff has caught what we did, he'll be over it in about a day. That guy's got an immune system of steel. He once had an abcessed wisdom tooth which spread into strep throat and he was still joking (it WAS kinda funny that this happened on his birthday, while he was on leave from boot camp). I think it's this climate we live in. I don't think I've ever been as sick as I have been since we moved to Michigan. While I was pregnant with Sarah, I had 2-week colds 3 times, one of which turned into bronchitis. Nasty. Not to mention, here it is, 2 days before spring, and it's SNOWING AGAIN!!!!
Yesterday was the college's Easter Egg Scramble. it was pretty fun. They had different age groups go at different times, so it wasn't so hectic. Emma had a blast running around. She got a few eggs and pieces of candy. Sarah just loved being there. She watched Emma play with the kids. Afterwards, we went to Coldstone. What else would you do on a snowy mid-western afternoon? Speaking of which, we have discovered that Sarah LOVES ice cream. She will throw a baby fit if you take it away from her before she's finished. She could be screaming her head off, but if you put the spoon with some ice cream on it in front of her face, it's instant silence. It's too funny.

School Daze

Ok, I'm completely overhwhelmed with all the choices for K next year. We have 2 private religious (read: expensive) schools, the 4 public schools & 2 charter schools. I really wasn't thinking about the charter schools because I'd heard some pretty bad stuff about them. But, I've also read that each one is different and can be great or horrible. I've talked to a few moms (including Emma's preschool ) teacher, who speak very highly of one particular charter school. It's out of town, about a 10 minute drive, and it's technology-based. They utilize computers a lot, even in Kindergarden. I'm going to go view their class on Monday. They have the longest school day & the longest school year (about 10 days more than other schools). They also have one of the smallest class sizes. They have gym, art, music every week, with occasional foreign language (I think she said Spanish & Japanese). So, it'll be interesting.
Sarah had her first in-home PT session this morning. Although it was early (8:30), it was nice not to have to leave the house. And, since it's with a Pediatric PT, I know Sarah will be in good hands. Her other PT was very nice, but he acknowledged not working with little kids for about 18 years, so I didn't think she was getting the best out of it. He agreed and pushed to have the pedi PT fit Sarah into her schedule. She gave me some practial tips to help Sarah feel more comfortable in the crawling position and getting into & out of different positions. I'm sure once she gets her glasses, she'll feel more comfortable moving around, too.
Speaking of which, grrr. It's taking forever to get some frames in that will fit her little face. It's ridiculous. They fit her eyes just fine, but the temples (the part that goes behind her ears) are WAY too long. They can heat them up & bend them, but the ends will end up right by the front of her face. Not exactly comfortable.
On a good note, I bought Sarah's new car seat this morning. Babycenter is having a sale, and the Britax convertible car seat was $20 off, plus I got an additional 10% off. So, even with shipping (yikes), it was practically $20 cheaper than the original price. This is the mondo-expensive, but very highly regarded car seat. It better be good. All the other ones I looked at that were cheaper just didn't look cushy enough. Sarah's still so small, I want her to be comfortable in this thing. She's still going to be rear-facing, at least until she's a year, maybe longer, depending on how comfortable I am. Because she's still so small, I don't think she'd be safe forward facing just yet. When she gets closer to 20 lbs. maybe. That might take awhile, as she's barely 15 lbs. now. She's mon petite fille. Plus, she'll probably still fit in this for many years to come (Emma was in her convertible car seat for 2 1/2 years).
I can't believe Easter is so early this year. I remember last year, Easter was a week before I had Sarah. We'll probably have to hide eggs in the snow this year. CMU is having their annual easter egg hunt tomorrow. We're taking the girls. They have different hunts for different age groups. It should be fun. They don't have one for Sarah, but I know she'll probably just end up licking the eggs anyway.
The Mt. Pleasant Parks & Rec schedule is out. We're probably going to put Emma in Summer Soccer. The preschool has a summer session from the middle of May until the end of June, so that'll help occupy her until soccer starts. We might even do swim. I'm thinking about getting Sarah into it for at least a session. I know Emma needs to learn how to swim. She doesn't like big pools and we're going on a cruise sometime within the next 2 years, so she needs to get over her fear of "big water". They also have T-Ball, but it's around the same time as preschool, and I think that might be too much. Next year she'll be able to do the PEAK program.

Back to school

Emma started school again yesterday. After having 2 weeks off, she was glad to go back. Of course, we were late the first day back, as we had to drive to Bay City to get our car fixed. They had a recall on our Odyssey, something about a fuel pump connector. Anyways, it required I drive an hour to get it fixed. It (along with a standard oil change) was supposed to take an hour and half. Two and half hours later we left. I was racing back towards home, to try & get Emma to school as on time as possible. We were only 20 minutes late. She didn't even miss snack.
Emma also had gymnastics last night, which she was very excited about. She and her friend Morgan always have so much fun together there.
Jeff also started back to school yesterday, after his one week off for Spring Break. He's not as excited as Emma. But, at least this means the semester is half over.
We have "Kindergarten Night" tonight. I asked Sue (Morgan's mom) what this all entailed and she said basically, they tell you about registering and the dates for everything. She also said that they've decided to changed the school schedule for K next year. So, instead of going full days on Monday & Wednesday and only a half day on Friday, I think Emma will be going everyday, for at least a half day. I like that a whole lot better than the other schedule they had. That was ridiculous. Jeff, unfortunately can't go tonight. He has a business meeting with a company called APC. He has to go schmooze (or get schmoozed) at a business dinner at the Embers. Oh well, hopefully they'll send us home with lots of hand-outs. I think Sue also said something about testing. Yikes, I hate that word. I never liked the idea of someone, who doesn't know my child, using an arbitrary test to determine what her strengths and weaknesses are and therefore putting her in a little box with a label. But, I guess that's what the school system is known for and I better get used to it.
I'm feeling much better this week after my trip to the ER last week. It took me until about Friday to feel 100%. Whatever caused the gastritis was just too weird & flukey. But, I'm back to my old self again. I don't what caused it, so it's kinda hard to try & keep it from happening again.
Jeff & I are once again WAY too involved with an MMORPG (MAssively Multi-player Online Role-Playing Game). Instead of Final Fantasy XI, which we quit playing a few months back, now we're into World of Warcraft. I'm thinking I like this one better. I am, once again, a magic dealer and Jeff's the smash-em-up guy. He's a Paladin, so that means he can also heal, which is nice. The only thing that's different now is that we're playing together, at the same time. So, we go out on quests together & are staying the same level. It's nice because his character can hit harder than my character but I can deal more damage from far away. And if we get into trouble, he can heal my character. Jeff's job bought him a new laptop, so he's very excited about being able to play the game on that. So now you know what we do after the kids go to sleep...play games online, just like the other geeks.

Fun times at the ER

Jeff had to take me to the ER yesterday morning. I'd been having severe abdominal pain, plus vomiting and diarrhea since Monday night. After 3:30am, neither of us got any sleep. I was in too much pain and the kids kept waking up. I spent most of the time between 3:30 and 6:30 pacing, trying to get into a comfortable position, checking my symptoms on the internet (not a good thing to do when you're in pain and irrational) and running to the bathroom. Finally at 6:30am I told Jeff we needed to go to the hospital. We got there around 7am and didn't get into a room until around 8am. Jeff & the girls couldn't come back with me, so they had to wait in the waiting room. I tried to get comfortable on the tiny bed, but it really wasn't working. Of course, every 5 minutes, someone had to come in and ask me the same questions someone else had asked about 5 minutes before. I told them, whatever's wrong with me, just give me something for the pain. The vomiting and other stuff I can handle, but the pain is almost as bad as labor.
After about 2 hours, they came in and told me that I had gastritis or gastroenteritis (I think they're the same thing). They gave me an IV to give me some fluids and something for the nausea (I told them again, the nausea I can handle, but the pain I can't). They said it would help with the pain, too, but I don't think it did. So, after 4 1/2 hours, I was allowed to go home. Poor Jeff had to stay in the waiting room that whole time with 2 hungry kids. They gave me a Rx and we went home. I pretty much slept the rest of the day. I was exhausted and in pain. Jeff went to go get my Rx and only after I had taken it did I read that it's considered a barbituate and can go into breastmilk. I had told them a few times that I was still nursing, but do doctors ever listen?? So, I decided not to take it anymore. I found some Tylenol 3 from when I had Sarah that I'm taking now. It seems to be working. I'm still in pain, but not nearly as bad as it was. We all got a good night's sleep last night, which helped a lot. It also helped that Sarah slept from about 9pm to 7am. I wasn't allowed to eat any solids for the first 24 hours, and even now I'm supposed to be eating bland things, as to not upset my stomach. So, it's Carnation Instant Breakfast for me for awhile.
Time for me to go make the kiddos lunch!!

Ray of light

The sun came out today, which helped my mood a little. I'm still seriously upset over Ike's death. It hit a little too close to home. While Sarah doesn't have nearly the health problems that Ike did, he was only a little older than her. And this cold weather & all this snow isn't helping matters. I need warmth & sunlight on a regular basis. I've been trying to figure out a time when I could go on my "no hubby/no kids" weekend trip, but I'm having trouble. Jeff is going to be in school practially non-stop until August. Yay. By that time, I think Jeff will need a "no kids" weekend, as well.

Emma's getting a little stir crazy from not being in school. And we've got another whole week left. Hopefully the weather will cooperate & we'll be able to go somewhere this weekend or next week. I don't like driving in the snow. Makes me feel uncomfortable. It's ok once the snow has stopped, but driving in it while it's falling is just dangerous. Slippy & slidey and me in a big van that can't stop on a dime.

I think Sarah's getting her top two middle teeth. I think I see a little white under her pink gums. She already has the bottom two middle ones and the top ones on either side of the middle. It looks a little funny when you look at her mouth, but whatever.

Ok, Sarah needs to go down for a nap. See you later.

Sad day

An online friend of mine lost her little boy yesterday. He was 17 months old and had Down syndrome. It's very sad. He'd had a lot of health issues and was doing so well! I've been in shock all day. The outpouring of love for this little boy has been awesome. His mom has always been a pillar of strength, always encouraging others when they need it, and all the while being a wonderful and supportive mom to 3 kids. I can't imagine her pain right now. My heart is breaking for her. I couldn't even comprehend the thought of losing Emma or Sarah. It would thoroughly break me. Jeff thinks I'm paranoid by always checking on them while they're asleep, but you never know. This little boy was taking a nap and he somehow pulled out his trach and suffocated. It's just so sad. I'm going to go kiss my sleeping babies now.
 

More snow

I kid you not, it's been snowing (albeit lightly) non-stop for 36 hours. We got about 12 inches last weekend, and approx. 10-12 more inches since Sunday night. This is insane. Driving around last night, between gymnastics & picking Jeff up from work, was nerve-wracking. I was slipping & sliding all over the place & people take serious risks around here. College students (no offense to any who read this) can't drive worth anything. And since they make up 50% of the population of this town, that means there's a good chance that the person in the car next to, in front of, and behind you are ALL college students. Doesn't make me feel too safe. Oh, I'm sure, in normal conditions (i.e. NO SNOW) they would be great drivers. But, something about falling white stuff makes them completely incapable of making good decisions.
Ok, enough of my rant.
Don't get me wrong, when I don't have to go anywhere, the snow is beautiful. It's certainly better than looking at a yard full of dead, yellow grass and puddles everywhere. But trying to function while having to bundle up 2 kids in layers of clothing and schlep them to appointments/school/anywhere is not fun. I am SO craving spring. This is about the time of year when you forget what green grass looks like and how nice & warm the sun is supposed to be. That's when you know the novelty of winter has worn off. The same thing happens during the summer. You forget how cold & brutal the winter can be. But, at that point, you don't care.
I'm going to sign Emma up for some sort of sport during the spring & summer. I know she'll be bored to tears if we don't get her involved in something. I think they have T-Ball and swimming. That would be fun. She's doing gymnastics again and she's really enjoying it.
We went to Midland mall over the weekend to pick up a book from Barnes & Noble. While we were there, we decided to go to Payless Shoes to see if they had any that Jeff liked. Poor guy only has one pair that fit him right now. He's got wide feet. I thought, just for kicks, we'd see if there were ay that Emma might like. I remembered that I really didn't know what size her feet were. We measured and she's practically a size 12. A 12!!!! She was a 10 1/2 about 6 months ago. That made me feel terrible, because I realized that meant she had no shoes that were the correct size. This kid is growing like a weed. So we bought her one pair of sneakers. Hopefully those will last until the snow's gone, and then we'll buy her a few more. Snow boots and sneakers are all she really needs at this time of year. Thank goodness for hand-me-downs, otherwise this kid might not have any shoes! She grows out of them too quickly.
And Sarah, on the other hand, seems like she's never going to grow. A little boy, who has Ds, and was born on the same day as Sarah, albeit 9 weeks early, and was only 3 lbs. at birth is now bigger, in weight & length, than Sarah. You'd think I was starving her or something. She's such a tiny thing.
One good thing is I think she's finally learned how to put herself to sleep. I put her down for a nap yesterday & today and down to sleep for the night while she was awake. 2 out of the 3 times she went down without even a whimper. She talked to herself for a little while, but fell asleep pretty easily. And she slept from around 10pm last night to 7am this morning. Now, if only spring would hurry up and get here, life would be perfect.

California Dreamin'

Ok, so just the other day, I was remarking to Jeff how this winter has been so much milder than last winter. Last winter, we got a huge snow in early January and it just accumulated & accumulated until it started melting near the end of March. This year, we've gotten little dustings here & there, but nothing huge. Until yesterday. 12 inches in a day. A whole freakin' foot of snow. We had to RAMP out of our driveway this morning. And that was AFTER poor Jeff spent 20 minutes trying to shovel it so we could back out of the garage. This is insane. This is only about halfway into the snowstorm. We had a ski ramp on our front porch. It got about 6 inches higher by the time the snow stopped.

Not that life in California is any easier at this point. More rain & mudslides. Fun fun. I think the snow might be the better of the two. At least Emma will have a blast at school today. They get 30 minutes at the end of class to go outside for recess. Because it's stopped snowing, they should be allowed outside. It's not that cold out, so they should be fine.

I had been hoping for one more big snow before spring so we could get the kids out in it to get some great pictures. But, I wanted them to be able to play in it, not get lost in it.

Sarah's intestinal problems seem to have worked themselves out. Now that she's on baby 2nd foods, I think it's just how she's going to "go" now. It was a big change for her little body, so it's taken a little while for her to adjust. But she seems to be doing better. Now, if only her teeth would hurry up & come in so we could get some sleep. Poor baby. Her body's just getting attacked from all angles.

Nothing new

I don't think I could say my life has been boring, as of late, just routine. Lack of sleep, housework, Emma's school, Jeff always gone because of work/school, PT, playgroup and more lack of sleep. That pretty much sums it up. Oh, Sarah popped another tooth this week, so that's good. Only 3 more to go in this round, that I see. There could me more on the horizon, but they haven't started showing yet. She's being pretty consistent with her sleep routine, though. She'll go down between 9-10pm, and wake up somewhere between 2-4am. I TRY not to feed her, but it really all depends on how well she goes back down. Most of the time, though, I give in, only because of exhaustion. Jeff tried to give me a break and takes the car on Friday mornings, so I don't have to get up with the kids & schlep everyone into the car. That would be great, if only the children didn't get up on their own about the same time as Jeff's leaving. So much for sleeping in. Oh well, it's the thought that counts. We each get a "sleep-in day" on the weekends. Mine's Saturday, most of the time. So, I'm SO looking forward to tomorrow morning.
Survivor started last night. Very cool. We're in a CMU fantasy league, and we conned Jeff's cousin Ashley to join us. She's never watched Survivor, so this should be interesting.
Emma took a tumble at school the other day. If you ask her, she was pushed by a girl at school (who ALWAYS seems to be harassing her, in her opinion), but the teacher said she and another child were running and tripped and she scraped her chin on the concrete. She's got a bump on her nose and a boo-boo on her chin, but she'll be ok. Apparently she was more upset about having to come in from recess in order to get patched up, as she was bleeding everywhere. She doesn't like to miss out on all the action.
Little Miss Sarah aka mon petite fille, had her 9 month well-baby check-up this week. Fortunately, no shots were required, which was nice for her & me. She weighs in at 15 lbs. 3 1/4 oz. and 25 3/4 inches long. I had a rough time emotionally while sitting in the waiting room, as apparently it was "baby" day and there were about 3-4 other babies in there, all roughly Sarah's age. Some even younger, were already crawling & cruising along the furniture. I don't normally get upset when I see other babies, but this just kinda hit home that Sarah IS behind developmentally. It's not that I've been in denial about it, but I haven't been faced with it in such a grand scale. She's doing great and is starting to tolerate being on her hands & knees for longer periods of time. Everyone keeps telling me they think she'll walk before she crawls, as she can pull herself up to standing and seems to love to be in that position. She's starting to take steps when you hold her hands, but not very well.
She started on 2nd foods this past week or so, and she seems to be tolerating it pretty well. Although, she's become a little constipated. Sorry to be so graphic. I think it's a combination of the new texture of food & being on oral antibiotics for 10 days. Poor little thing is in pain. I've never had to deal with this, as Emma always had (and continues to have) a great digestive track. I know, TMI, but this is my life.

Living Dead Girl

Sarah is teething and none of us are getting any sleep. Sunday night was the worst. I think Jeff & I got about 3 hours sleep, total. Sarah ended up sleeping (HA, not the right word) in our bed because we were too exhausted to climb up and down the stairs to her room. She's getting all 4 of her top teeth and the poor child apparently can't sleep because of it. She's constantly squirming in her crib, gnawing on her hand & fingers, writhing in pain. I decided to give her Tylenol last night before bed, thinking that would help. It did, until about 3:30am, when it apparently wore off. I couldn't get her calmed down, so I gave her some more medicine and basically had to let her cry it out. I'm desperately trying to stick to my guns about not feeding her at night. But another couple of nights like the past 2 and I might reconsider. But, I think one of the teeth finally broke through her gums, so hopefully we'll all have some relief soon.
Happy Belated Valentine's Day! I was a walking zombie yesterday, we were all lucky we had dinner before midnight. Emma's school doesn't really celebrate anything, but we were told the kids could bring valentines to give to each other, but there wouldn't be any special time. Just put them in each of their cubbies. I decided at the last minute to do something. So while Emma was in school, Sarah & I went grocery shopping and I bought a valentine's kit to hand out. I did all the work and gave them to the teacher to put in the kids' cubbies before they went home. Only 2 other kids brought valentine's but it was still nice.
Emma went to her first real birthday party on Sunday. It was for a little boy who's in the playgroup that Sarah attends. His name is Blaine. He was turning 3. He's the one that follows Emma around like a puppy dog at playgroup. It was a neat party. It was at the Mount Pleasant Country Club (which sounds more glamorous than it is, this IS Mount Pleasant, not San Diego), and they had hired a clown, which was neat for the kids. Emma was mostly interested in when Blaine was going to open his gifts. She LOVES helping to open gifts. She got kind of upset when they weren't allowed to play with the gifts after he opened them, which is what we did at her party. But, she had a blast. She came home with 2 balloon animals and a bag of candy, it was a good day.
Sarah has her 9 month well-baby check-up this afternoon, even though she's almost 10 months old. I think she's getting at least 2 shots, but I'm not sure. I'm anxious to see how long she is. I know she weighs about 15 lb. 5 oz., due to having to take her in on my birthday for the pink eye. She's still such a petite thing. She's starting to get such a personality. She loves playing in the bathtub. She'll splash the water & play with her rubber duckie. She & Emma get along so well. Sarah loves watching her big sister play, even if only to watch for a chance to grab Emma's hair and eat it. I know that Sarah is anxious to be able to move so she can follow Emma around.