Last week, I noticed a couple of "bug bites" on my side. I showed DH and he was stumped--how could I get mosquito bites in that area? As the week wore on, I started to get pain in that area and the affected area started growing. For the next few days, I noticed that I couldn't sleep on that side of my body, lean on that side of my body, and I had a couple more "bites" more toward my back. So I sucked it up and went to the doctor on Monday. She immediately said, "You're not going to like what I have to say. It's shingles." BUMMER!!
So I'm taking an antiviral medication and she gave me some lidocaine patches to wear at night to help with the pain. She said I'm not contagious so I'm glad for that because Alex hasn't had his chicken pox vaccine yet. She told me to keep an eye on it and if anything got worse or didn't improve in 7 days, I should come back. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's a mild case because I've heard shingles can get pretty bad.
Shingles...they're not just for the elderly. Anyone can join in the fun.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Ta-da!!
Alex got his first tooth last night! I checked his mouth in the morning and there was a little bump but no tooth so I figured it would be another day or two before anything concrete made an appearance. We went out to dinner last night and when we got home, I checked again and VOILA!! There was a teeny tooth sticking out!
We have tried getting a good look at his newest gem but he guards it pretty well with his tongue. I can tell that he recognizes that something is new because he keeps running his tongue over that part of his mouth and making funny faces.
Once it gets big enough to see, I'll post a pic of his new pearl.
Congrats on your first tooth little man!
We have tried getting a good look at his newest gem but he guards it pretty well with his tongue. I can tell that he recognizes that something is new because he keeps running his tongue over that part of his mouth and making funny faces.
Once it gets big enough to see, I'll post a pic of his new pearl.
Congrats on your first tooth little man!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Locks of Love
When Sarah turned five last year, she donated 13" of her hair to Locks of Love. She was excited to do it and we were proud of her for giving a gift on her birthday.
Now as we're getting ready to start school again, it was time for hair cuts. Charlotte has been waiting for her hair to be long enough to donate but her hair just doesn't grow as quickly as Sarah's. However, we measured her hair and she had just enough to donate but it would leave her hair pretty short. For a while she's been telling us that she wants short hair so we figured that if she was confident in that decision, who were we to stand in her way?
So we did it. We allowed her to cut 10" of her hair to donate to Locks of Love. She was very excited and when Grandma asked her tonight what she was going to do with her ponytail, she responded, "Sell it to the sick children!" (We're still working on explaining the difference between sell and give.)
Here are some photos of Char's new 'do!!
Now as we're getting ready to start school again, it was time for hair cuts. Charlotte has been waiting for her hair to be long enough to donate but her hair just doesn't grow as quickly as Sarah's. However, we measured her hair and she had just enough to donate but it would leave her hair pretty short. For a while she's been telling us that she wants short hair so we figured that if she was confident in that decision, who were we to stand in her way?
So we did it. We allowed her to cut 10" of her hair to donate to Locks of Love. She was very excited and when Grandma asked her tonight what she was going to do with her ponytail, she responded, "Sell it to the sick children!" (We're still working on explaining the difference between sell and give.)
Here are some photos of Char's new 'do!!
BEFORE
DURING
AFTER
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Dough Baby is 6 months old
Alex turned 6 months old last week and had his well baby check on Monday. He weighed 18 pounds, 11 ounces and was 27.5" long. At their 6-month checks, Sarah was 16 pounds and Charlotte was 13 pounds; Charlotte didn't hit 18 pounds until her 12-month check! So he's definitely the biggest of our babies. He's getting so big and learning new things each day.
Recently, he's started rolling onto his belly in his sleep and I think this is what has helped him to FINALLY sleep 5-6 hours at a time. This is a major improvement over the 3-4 hours he'd previously been sleeping. And just this week, he has started sucking his thumb. While I think it's adorably cute and it does help him soothe himself, I am not looking forward to breaking that habit, as we haven't been able to get Charlotte to stop sucking her thumb--and she's 4 years old. He's blowing raspberries now, too, and putting everything in his mouth. He's growing up fast!
We are scheduled with two specialists to help us determine if some issues he's having are in need of further examination. Those appointments aren't until the fall so we have some time before those.
All in all, these last 6 months have flown by. It's hard to believe he's halfway to his first birthday already!
Recently, he's started rolling onto his belly in his sleep and I think this is what has helped him to FINALLY sleep 5-6 hours at a time. This is a major improvement over the 3-4 hours he'd previously been sleeping. And just this week, he has started sucking his thumb. While I think it's adorably cute and it does help him soothe himself, I am not looking forward to breaking that habit, as we haven't been able to get Charlotte to stop sucking her thumb--and she's 4 years old. He's blowing raspberries now, too, and putting everything in his mouth. He's growing up fast!
We are scheduled with two specialists to help us determine if some issues he's having are in need of further examination. Those appointments aren't until the fall so we have some time before those.
All in all, these last 6 months have flown by. It's hard to believe he's halfway to his first birthday already!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
On two wheels
Sarah is a very cautious girl and when it comes to taking risks, she's typically very apprehensive. So that explains why, at age 6, she's just now learning to ride a bike without training wheels. We live in a former parsonage and the church (and its parking lot) is in our backyard. Just this past week, we've been taking Sarah to the parking lot in the evenings to give her some practice riding her bike. She was doing well without training wheels in the driveway but we could tell she needed a longer path to find success.
Over the course of only a few days, she has become quite proficient at balancing and riding. She's even learning how to start and stop without a great deal of unsteadiness. She still has moments of nervousness and anxiety but overall, we're proud of how far she's come in such a short time. This is a task that would usually take her months to accomplish so to nearly master it in just a few days is a record breaker!
We're so proud of you, Sarah! Keep working hard and you'll be great in no time!!
Over the course of only a few days, she has become quite proficient at balancing and riding. She's even learning how to start and stop without a great deal of unsteadiness. She still has moments of nervousness and anxiety but overall, we're proud of how far she's come in such a short time. This is a task that would usually take her months to accomplish so to nearly master it in just a few days is a record breaker!
We're so proud of you, Sarah! Keep working hard and you'll be great in no time!!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
End of the innocence
Sarah has never been a big fruit eater and I can't blame her because I'm not a fan of most fruits either. I try to choose fruits that I know she'll eat...bananas, half-cut grapes, apple slices, canned peaches, etc. to serve with lunch. Today I split a banana between the two girls and of course, Charlotte ate hers straight away. That girl would subsist on fruits alone if permitted!! Sarah ate her sandwich and yogurt and as usual, left her fruit for last.
Tonight is the annual pig roast event at our church. This means, in addition to waiting in long lines for food, eating more than an average dessert serving. After Charlotte was finished with her entire lunch and had cleared her plate, Sarah was still sitting at the table whining about having so many banana slices to eat. By this time, she'd been sitting there long enough for them to start oxidizing so they were turning brown, making them even less appealing to her sensitive palate.
I gave her a final 10-minute warning and if she hadn't finished her bananas (a whopping 8 tiny slices), she would get no dessert at church tonight. If there's one thing that can motivate her, it's the opportunity for dessert!! At the end of the 10 minutes, she had chosen the acceptable bananas and consumed those few, leaving 4 on the plate. I told her that for her effort, she could choose one thing off of the dessert table tonight but no more. (We usually allow them to choose a few things from the overwhelming sampling of desserts.) She was not pleased with that and told me that she was going to finish the other bananas.
I had my back turned toward the kitchen when I heard the cabinet under the sink close. Inside that cabinet resides the, you guessed, garbage can. She was proudly clearing her plate to the counter and I said, "Where are your bananas?" and she replied with a near-grin, "I ate them." But I could tell by the immediate change in countenance that she knew she was about to get busted. I walked over to the cabinet and opened it. Sure enough, there on top of the banana peel lay 4 little slices of banana. She had lied. Blatantly lied. Intentionally lied. My heart just broke because she seemed so remorseful and I sent her to her room. I thought that she must be really feeling bad for lying to me as she walked away sobbing so sadly.
But then she turned around and asked through her tears, "But how many desserts will I get?"
Remorse? Maybe not.
I'm sad that she resorted to lying. I don't like punishing her for something that could have been so easily avoided. I don't like that we're going to have a rough time at the pig roast tonight because she's going to throw a huge fit about the desserts. And I don't like that her innocence is waning. Ugh.
Tonight is the annual pig roast event at our church. This means, in addition to waiting in long lines for food, eating more than an average dessert serving. After Charlotte was finished with her entire lunch and had cleared her plate, Sarah was still sitting at the table whining about having so many banana slices to eat. By this time, she'd been sitting there long enough for them to start oxidizing so they were turning brown, making them even less appealing to her sensitive palate.
I gave her a final 10-minute warning and if she hadn't finished her bananas (a whopping 8 tiny slices), she would get no dessert at church tonight. If there's one thing that can motivate her, it's the opportunity for dessert!! At the end of the 10 minutes, she had chosen the acceptable bananas and consumed those few, leaving 4 on the plate. I told her that for her effort, she could choose one thing off of the dessert table tonight but no more. (We usually allow them to choose a few things from the overwhelming sampling of desserts.) She was not pleased with that and told me that she was going to finish the other bananas.
I had my back turned toward the kitchen when I heard the cabinet under the sink close. Inside that cabinet resides the, you guessed, garbage can. She was proudly clearing her plate to the counter and I said, "Where are your bananas?" and she replied with a near-grin, "I ate them." But I could tell by the immediate change in countenance that she knew she was about to get busted. I walked over to the cabinet and opened it. Sure enough, there on top of the banana peel lay 4 little slices of banana. She had lied. Blatantly lied. Intentionally lied. My heart just broke because she seemed so remorseful and I sent her to her room. I thought that she must be really feeling bad for lying to me as she walked away sobbing so sadly.
But then she turned around and asked through her tears, "But how many desserts will I get?"
Remorse? Maybe not.
I'm sad that she resorted to lying. I don't like punishing her for something that could have been so easily avoided. I don't like that we're going to have a rough time at the pig roast tonight because she's going to throw a huge fit about the desserts. And I don't like that her innocence is waning. Ugh.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Murphy's Got Talent
The girls recently started liking America's Got Talent so tonight we were talking about what talents they'd do on stage.
Sarah: Mom, maybe since I'm so good at hula hooping, we can go to Miami (the show we watched was taped in Miami) and I can hula hoop. Or I can read since I do both of those things really well.
Me: That's a good idea, Sarah! Maybe we can find a "Finding Contest" for Charlotte since she's good at finding lost things (we always call on Char to find something we can't find--she has a knack for locating lost items).
Char: Yeah, I could do that. But I couldn't find hard things because what if I took too long and I couldn't get off of the stage in time? That would be bad and I wouldn't make it to Vegas.
Me: Good point, Charlotte. You're good at finding things, though, so I'm sure you'd do well.
Char: Well, if we take me there and I don't know what talent to do, I wouldn't be able to get on stage. That would be bad, wouldn't it?
Me: I suppose it would.
I have a feeling we're going to be seeing a lot of "talents" around here. I hope they settle on something safe.
Sarah: Mom, maybe since I'm so good at hula hooping, we can go to Miami (the show we watched was taped in Miami) and I can hula hoop. Or I can read since I do both of those things really well.
Me: That's a good idea, Sarah! Maybe we can find a "Finding Contest" for Charlotte since she's good at finding lost things (we always call on Char to find something we can't find--she has a knack for locating lost items).
Char: Yeah, I could do that. But I couldn't find hard things because what if I took too long and I couldn't get off of the stage in time? That would be bad and I wouldn't make it to Vegas.
Me: Good point, Charlotte. You're good at finding things, though, so I'm sure you'd do well.
Char: Well, if we take me there and I don't know what talent to do, I wouldn't be able to get on stage. That would be bad, wouldn't it?
Me: I suppose it would.
I have a feeling we're going to be seeing a lot of "talents" around here. I hope they settle on something safe.
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