Thursday, March 27, 2008

Perspective

God is good! I got the results of my biopsy and they were negative, nothing to worry about - hooray! Pink eye seems to be gone and the baby is back to her old self but with a slight Sesame Street addiction. I now hide the remote and turn the TV off (no Today Show for me) and then she seems to be fine.

I lost another pound and a half. This means I have officially lost twenty pounds of non-baby weight. (I was twenty pounds heavier before I got pregnant than I am now, make sense?) I am trying hard to eat better and take better care of my body and I really feel a difference.

After our week of craziness I have to say I still feel blessed. My friend's little boy has hand/foot/mouth disease (apparently just a childhood illness that is not as scary as it sounds but still pretty unfun none the less.) She also has a three year old to keep happy. Now that is a challenge. We are praying for you sister!

My friend Thuy is coming this weekend and we are going to Women of Faith. I am so excited I could just about pee. I have cleaned every room in the house and stocked the pantry. I am putting her to work making her famous Vietnamese Spring Rolls one night - yummy!

I am also excited because tonight is water aerobics - my first time to the gym in almost two weeks. Besides the fact that it is the end of March and the temperature with wind chill is in the 20's, today is shaping up to be a good day!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

As the Moc Turns

The last 10 days have been some wacky times at the Mochal household. This is a brief synopsis...

Monday 3/17 - I feel crummy so I go to the doctor who does a quick return strep test which is negative, says I have a sinus infection and some "grossness on my tonsil". I leave with my prescription in hand and head home for lunch and nap time. Emmy's nose is still running so after nap time we go back to the doctor who says she needs another round of antibiotics. Okay, off to Target we go to fill our prescriptions and get started.

Tuesday 3/18 - Mom's birthday but oddly enough I don't realize it because when I set my watch for daylight savings time I must have screwed up the date so I think it is the 19. I feel better and Emmy's nose is still running. The doctor calls and my strep culture came back positive after they let it sit for awhile but I am on antibiotics so all is well.

Wednesday 3/19 - I host playgroup, it goes really well and it was so nice to talk to people again and just be around other moms.

Thursday 3/20 - I go in for a breast biopsy. I had gone to the doctor because I had a red spot on my right breast and she thought it was a clogged duct but ordered an ultrasound to be on the safe side. That detected a small nodule which looked benign so I had a mammogram. That detected the same nodule so we decided to remove it and look at it under a microscope to make sure it was benign. The hospital staff was so gracious and kind it was a complete answer to prayer. All of the doctors thought it was nothing to worry about but I get the official results sometime this week.

Friday 3/21 - Emmy's nose is still running and now her eye is goopy. We plug away with the antibiotics.

Saturday 3/22 - We were at the furniture mart and I was holding Emmy's hand. She wanted to go one way but I wouldn't let her so she stopped supporting her weight so I was basically holding her by her hand only. I heard two loud cracks and now she won't move her arm and she is crying pretty good. Crap, I broke her arm, what kind of mother am I?!?! We call the after hours nurse for our doctor, she says we should go to the hospital to have it looked at. She has what is called nursemaid's elbow which basically means she dislocated her elbow. It took us longer to fill out paperwork then it did for the delightful Dr. to fix it. We return home like nothing ever happened. The good news is I think I met our deductible with the breast biopsy so hopefully this little field trip will be free.

Sunday 3/23 - We all get fancied up and head off to Easter church. When I pick Emmy up from the nursery she is asleep on someone's lap. This is weird since it is 10:30 and she has been napping around noon. We get sleepy face home and change her clothes only to discover a big blotch on her should. We put her down for a nap and look it up on the internet and determine she has hives. When she gets up from her nap they are all over her back. I give her some Benadryl and they disappear in 15 minutes. She is a wet noodle most of the rest of the afternoon - except when we did an Easter egg hunt and she discovered the magic of jelly beans. We get home from my aunt's house and now she has a fever. We talked to the triage nurse again and decide she is probably fine, just an allergic reaction to her Easter dress. I got it from the resale shop and didn't wash it (mostly because it was linen and I didn't want to iron it - all those things God says about laziness in the Bible are true)

Monday 3/24 - I call the doctor tell them about the weekend and add her new issue, her eye was crusted shut when she woke up this morning. She says bring her in. So now, for the third Monday in a row we are at the doctor. She has pink eye. Seriously, I am expecting locusts or frogs next.

Tuesday 3/25 - Now we can't go to our friend's birthday party, we can't go to the gym, we probably infected most of the kids at church and we are watching boat loads of Sesame Street because we have to stay inside. I look forward to Thursday when she supposedly isn't contagious anymore and I hope Jeff and I don't get it.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Cooties

Man, it seems like every week one of us is sick and we are back in the rotation. The baby had slight sinus infection and ear infection but she seemed to be getting better until this weekend. We went through an entire box of kleenex wiping her nose. I took her back in yesterday and they said she is getting better but she will probably need a second dose of antibiotics. i tried grape bubble gum flavoring this time, maybe that will be better because plain bubble gum did not seem to make her more receptive to it. Then on Sunday I started with the sore throat and aches and chills - YUCK! Those were the exact symptoms Jeff had when we had strep throat so I went to the doctor. I have a sinus infection and the sore throat is from post nasal drip - yummy. I felt a little better yesterday afternoon but today i feel worse. Man alive I do not like being sick. At least now I can write on my resume never called in sick from this job.

So last week when I went to the doctor for her check up I got the normal handouts that say here are the milestones you should expect for this age, blah blah and one of them said she should be completely feeding herself by fifteen months. Well crap! She would take a spoon or fork I loaded and put it in her mouth but I didn't dare sit a bowl of something in front of her and let her go at it. She would starve. Apparently I was wrong. She did pretty well with the motion of putting the spoon in to something and putting it in her mouth. Things like oatmeal that stick to the spoon have been great, things like soup or yogurt have not been great. She turns the spoon upside down before putting it in her mouth. This is what a dish of yogurt looked like when she got done with it.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Fifteen months is fun

Not everyday is fun but she is fun right now. It is like I can see her brain making connections. The other day I was cleaning our bedroom and bathroom and she was upstairs playing in my jewelry box. (This used to be one of my favorite things to do when I was a kid.) I gave her two bracelets and she put them on her arm and then walked around with her arm in the air so they wouldn't fall off. Today I blew her a kiss and she blew one back to me. She has full blown conversations with herself or other kids and she sounds so sincere. I can't understand what she is saying but her tone sounds just like a real person. It really is fun. She is having some sleep issues and we are trying to break away from the binky which is not fun, but for me, so far this is the best age. I think it has less to do with age and more to do with stage.

Her are some new pictures. Would you look at this little outfit we wore to church last week.

Seriously!


Clipping Coupons - I am starting her early

Pigtails... I could eat them up - so cute!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Motherhood

Well, we are back from Minneapolis and I am actually appreciating the Omaha weather. Today was lovely. I put on my flip flops even though my toes were offended they were not given more notice to get ready for sandal weather.

This is an email I got from a friend and it cracked me up. It is so true.

Recently, I was diagnosed with C. A. A. D. D. - Child Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:
I decide to do the laundry. As I start toward the basement, I notice that there are cheerios all over the floor and my house keys are in the cereal bowl. I decide to pick up the cheerios before I do the laundry. I lay my keys down on the counter, put the cheerios in the trash can under the counter, and notice that the trash can is full. So, I decide to take out the trash.
But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the trash I may as well pay the bills first. I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left, my extra checks are in my desk in the office, so I go to my desk where I find a sippy cup full of juice. I'm going to look for my checks, but first I decide I should put the sippy cup in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the sippy cup a plant on the counter catches my eye--it needs to be watered. I set the sippy cup on the counter, and I discover baby wipes that I've been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back in the bathroom, but first I'm going to water the plants. I set the wipes back down, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote, left on the kitchen table.
I realize that when I go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the plants. I splash some water on the plant, but most of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back down, get some paper towels and wipe up the spill. Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day: the laundry isn't washed, the bills aren't paid, there is a warm cup of juice sitting on the counter, the plants aren't watered, there is still only one check in my check book, I can't find the remote, I can't find the wipes, and I don't remember what I did with my keys.
Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail. Do me a favor, will you? Forward this message, because I don't remember to whom it has been sent.

Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Recycling

I decided to clean out the car and car seat while Miss Em is napping this morning and I swear I vacuumed up an entire box of Cheerios/Life Cereal. I really thought about scooping them all up by hand and putting them in a snack cup to be eaten later but I thought that might be a bit extreme.

By the way last night I had a dream involving John McCain, my eighth grade boyfriend, my mom, my high school boyfriend's mom and a car pool in New York City. Clearly the enchiladas for dinner did me wrong. : )

Monday, March 03, 2008

Molars suck!

Yes, I know technically we need them to chew food and stuff but really must Emelia get all four of them at the same time. (Upon further reflection though this may be good because then we won't have to do this again.) The only thing that makes her happy right now is Sesame Street. I am sure I have already screwed her up by letting her watch TV so I might as well go all the way and allow a Sesame Street marathon.

An ode to Omaha's Weather

What a delight, Spring is finally in sight
No need to put on your mittens or bundle up tight
It is 60 outside, a good day for the park
Take advantage while you can, it may be a lark
The forecast for Sunday is forty degrees
That's not so bad, we still won't freeze

Off to church I go with just a warm sweater
The sun warms my face, I feel so much better
After the service the wind starts to pick up
It's really quite chilly, where's my warm coffee cup?
The weather man says we hit our high at eight
Soon the rain will start and snow is our fate

I don't understand, I just don't get it
One day was lovely, the next requires a jacket
I should be happy with the tiniest glimmer of spring
Because who knows what tomorrow will bring