My mom is out of town this weekend. My dad plays in a monthly poker game and tonight was his night to host. Since he's been under the weather I offered to help him by going to buy a little food for his group. I waited until the last minute (because that's the way I roll - HA!) and I rushed Julianna out of the house without going to the bathroom first.
I went to Wa1-Mart at 5pm on a Friday and then went to Chick-Fi1-A after that. Naturally, I ran in to a hundred obstacles incuding cashiers without change, slow people IN MY WAY, employees being trained on a FRIDAY NIGHT, DURING DINNER RUSH HOUR. I was really pushing it to be back in time to get the food out.
Not surprisingly, I forgot to ask Julianna if she need to potty during this whole time we were out. We got back to the house and there was a truck blocking my way to the driveway. It was the man who had come to put a sealant on my parents' bottom step of the hardwood staircase that had been stained the day before. Sure enough, as I'm unloading the food and frantically putting it out before the poker guys arrive, Julianna wets her pants. I left the diaper bag in the car.
I'm sure you can see where this is going by now.
I go out to the car parked WAY down in the cul-de-sac to get the extra clothes and when I come back inside and rush to get her dressed before the old men see her naked-as-a-jay-bird-hiney I find her playing on the bottom step and tracking sticky footprints EVERYWHERE. Finally, I get her cleaned up and finish putting out the food and guys start arriving. She climbs up to the poker table and starts charming these men like you wouldn't believe.
I cannot convince her to go home. I cannot say anything that makes her want to leave. She arches her back, throws herself to the ground, kicks, and screams, "PLAY CARDS! PAP'S HOUSE! JULES PLAY CARDS!"
Friday, February 29, 2008
Dear God,
Please take this sickness away from me and let this round of antibiotics work. Please never let it come back to my family again. Please help me to see the bright side of things because I am having a hard time thinking of anything positive right now. Please help me stop whining and feeling sorry for myself and help the other people around me to be patient with me. Please help me get out of this FUNK!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
twenty three months
Dear Julianna,
Oh Jules, you’ve really gotten us laughing this month. Like that time you walked over to my mom and handed her the Dr. Seuss classic “Green Eggs and Ham” and then demanded, “Read it, Nanna! Ham and Biscuits!” Or that time you and Pap went to Colby’s house to swing and you declared, “All done I SAID!!” And I know I still have to post that video of you preaching. But oh boy! Have you gotten us laughing!! You’re so much fun these days!
Sometimes in the car you’ll tell me that the sun is in your eyes and I’ll say, “We’re getting ready to turn and then it will go away baby.” And you’ll continue you protest until I say, “Is that better?” as we turn and you’ll reply, “Yes, ma’am.” The funniest thing was one night you looked up at the sky and told me, “Moon in my eyes, Mommy.”
Unfortunately, you’ve started some pretty nasty toddler habits such as refusing to eat a lot of the foods you used to gobble up and also saying that everything is “mines” but that’s OK. We’ll forgive you.
Fortunately, there have been some great things happen this month too. My favorite part by far has been hearing you finally say the words, “I love you too, Mommy.” It’s like music to my ears.
You’ve finally given up on seeing a manger and Santa Claus again anytime soon and instead you now babble on about being “two in March” and how you’ll get presents and wear a hat and eat a monkey cake and sing the happy song on Jules’ birthday.
Daddy measured you the other day and you’re about 35 inches tall. We think you’re still about 30-31 pounds though which means you’re growing up a lot but not out.
Every time I get on here to announce that you’re fully day-time potty-trained you decide to go and pee in your pants. It happens about once a week (strange that it’s almost always on Wednesdays) and this week as you’ve been cutting some of those 2 year molars, it has not been pleasant to clean out the dirty diarrhea big girl pants when that kind of accident happens, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt because I don’t think you can help those. I’d say you’ve been potty-trained for a while now and I’m proud of how easy you learned.
Your health has [knock on wood] been so much better this month and thank the Lord too because I was getting so tired of having a sick and tired little girl. You’ll go for your next well visit the first week in April. Hopefully that will be the next time we visit the pediatrician’s office.
Julianna, I cannot believe that you’ll be two years old in just one short month. It seems like I was dying to have a baby just a few weeks ago (wait actually I was, but I mean dying to have a first baby). Anyway, my point is that the past 23 months have gone by in a flash! Hopefully it won’t continue this way or I’ll feel like I’ll blink my eyes and be watching you walk down the aisle at your wedding or drive your car back to college and I don’t want that. Yet.
Love,
Mama
Oh Jules, you’ve really gotten us laughing this month. Like that time you walked over to my mom and handed her the Dr. Seuss classic “Green Eggs and Ham” and then demanded, “Read it, Nanna! Ham and Biscuits!” Or that time you and Pap went to Colby’s house to swing and you declared, “All done I SAID!!” And I know I still have to post that video of you preaching. But oh boy! Have you gotten us laughing!! You’re so much fun these days!
Sometimes in the car you’ll tell me that the sun is in your eyes and I’ll say, “We’re getting ready to turn and then it will go away baby.” And you’ll continue you protest until I say, “Is that better?” as we turn and you’ll reply, “Yes, ma’am.” The funniest thing was one night you looked up at the sky and told me, “Moon in my eyes, Mommy.”
Unfortunately, you’ve started some pretty nasty toddler habits such as refusing to eat a lot of the foods you used to gobble up and also saying that everything is “mines” but that’s OK. We’ll forgive you.
Fortunately, there have been some great things happen this month too. My favorite part by far has been hearing you finally say the words, “I love you too, Mommy.” It’s like music to my ears.
You’ve finally given up on seeing a manger and Santa Claus again anytime soon and instead you now babble on about being “two in March” and how you’ll get presents and wear a hat and eat a monkey cake and sing the happy song on Jules’ birthday.
Daddy measured you the other day and you’re about 35 inches tall. We think you’re still about 30-31 pounds though which means you’re growing up a lot but not out.
Every time I get on here to announce that you’re fully day-time potty-trained you decide to go and pee in your pants. It happens about once a week (strange that it’s almost always on Wednesdays) and this week as you’ve been cutting some of those 2 year molars, it has not been pleasant to clean out the dirty diarrhea big girl pants when that kind of accident happens, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt because I don’t think you can help those. I’d say you’ve been potty-trained for a while now and I’m proud of how easy you learned.
Your health has [knock on wood] been so much better this month and thank the Lord too because I was getting so tired of having a sick and tired little girl. You’ll go for your next well visit the first week in April. Hopefully that will be the next time we visit the pediatrician’s office.
Julianna, I cannot believe that you’ll be two years old in just one short month. It seems like I was dying to have a baby just a few weeks ago (wait actually I was, but I mean dying to have a first baby). Anyway, my point is that the past 23 months have gone by in a flash! Hopefully it won’t continue this way or I’ll feel like I’ll blink my eyes and be watching you walk down the aisle at your wedding or drive your car back to college and I don’t want that. Yet.
Love,
Mama
Monday, February 25, 2008
lovely prizes
Ooohhh! I'd love to have any one of the prizes these kind ladies are giving out over at Home Ec-101. Click here for details!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
the cookie
Now just because I couldn't stand having that post at the top of the page, here's a delightful Julianna story for you.
One day a week or two ago I was grocery shopping when a kind lady in the bakery department kept ooh-ing and aah-ing over Julianna and her “beau-ti-ful brown eyes.” The lady asked if she could give Jules a cookie and I told her I didn’t mind. Then she brought out not one, not two, but THREE Valentine sugar cookies and gave them to my daughter. The entire rest of the way through the store, Julianna could be spotted a mile away because of the neon pink icing smeared all over her face, forehead to chin. When I was putting Julianna in the car I did my best to pry the remaining two cookies from her tightly clenched hands with no such luck.
Now, keep in mind that this was early in the morning. I still had to go to my parents house and later eat lunch, let Julianna nap, go home and make dinner, etc, etc, before bedtime. I think Jonathan was working late that night or something and I had to put the girl to bed. She was so wound up she could NOT fall asleep. It was a good hour before she fell asleep and that was not until she’d laid in bed and announced “cookie all gone” a few times first.
One day a week or two ago I was grocery shopping when a kind lady in the bakery department kept ooh-ing and aah-ing over Julianna and her “beau-ti-ful brown eyes.” The lady asked if she could give Jules a cookie and I told her I didn’t mind. Then she brought out not one, not two, but THREE Valentine sugar cookies and gave them to my daughter. The entire rest of the way through the store, Julianna could be spotted a mile away because of the neon pink icing smeared all over her face, forehead to chin. When I was putting Julianna in the car I did my best to pry the remaining two cookies from her tightly clenched hands with no such luck.
Now, keep in mind that this was early in the morning. I still had to go to my parents house and later eat lunch, let Julianna nap, go home and make dinner, etc, etc, before bedtime. I think Jonathan was working late that night or something and I had to put the girl to bed. She was so wound up she could NOT fall asleep. It was a good hour before she fell asleep and that was not until she’d laid in bed and announced “cookie all gone” a few times first.
the one where I reveal way too much crap* about myself
This is probably more information than any of you would like to know, but I’m going to put it out there anyway. If you have a weak stomach or do not like reading about poop, then skip this post.
I mentioned before about having stomach issues. Well, here is the long story.
In October I had an ear infection and was put on antibiotics. It later came back and I took more antibiotics right before Christmas. Just after Christmas, Julianna got really, really sick and they had to give her shots of r0sefrin for two days straight to get her well again. Two days later I was diagnosed with strep throat and was given more am0xicillin. She must have had strep as well. Anyway, before my ten days on the am0xicillin was up I could tell that my sore throat was coming back so I went back to the doctor who then gave me a shot of r0sefrin. This was in January.
Now, let me stop right here and say something. PEOPLE, if you read this post and hear nothing else, HEAR THIS. When your doctor continues to prescribe antibiotics for you (even for various illnesses), PLEASE BE CAREFUL! Give it careful consideration before taking more and more antibiotics. While I am angry at my situation and it would be really easy to blame the doctors for not knowing what they could do to me by giving me so many rounds of antibiotics, I recognize that it was also my responsibility to monitor my own degree of health. In other words, it is your responsibility as well as your doctor’s to determine when antibiotics are absolutely necessary and when they are not. This entire ordeal that I have been through would likely have not happened at all had I just tried to let my body get over one of those ear infections or sore throats on its own.
OK, where was I? Oh yes. The humiliating shot of r0sefrin was a pain in the @s$.* But it worked for my throat and I was soon feeling well again. Shortly after that, however, I began having diarrhea. At first it was only a time or two one day and I thought it was something I’d eaten. Then I had it again a couple of days later and thought there may be blood in my stools, but I got my period and wasn’t sure. After that my bowel movements became somewhat normal again but they were more frequent and darker in color. When I finally developed three days worth of constant diarrhea (so bad that I would go every time I went to pee) I decided I needed to go to the doctor. I had major anxiety over this. I’m sure it’s dumb, but while I knew that I needed to get checked I was so afraid that it would be something more serious and I was worried. I really did not want to go. I was tired of spend $25 copays every other week for doctor’s visits, but I so desperately wanted to get well. When I went back in, I was submitted to an, uhhh, unpleasant exam and told that there was indeed blood in my stools. I was diagnosed with having high levels of “c diff” and prescribed the first round of c diff fighting antibiotics. I don’t know why, but I feel like I should note that this was only after they had me poop in not one, not two, not even three, BUT FOUR LITTLE CUPS and bring it in for lab work. He then referred me to a specialist “to be sure.”
After seeing a gastroenterologist (another $200 gone just like that!) I’ve learned that all of the previous antibiotics I had been on had not only killed all of the bad bacteria in my body, but that they had also killed all of the good bacteria in my body. As I understand it, everyone has what is called “Clostridium difficile” in their GI tract. It is one of the “bad” bacteria’s in your intestines. It produces spores that stay in your intestines even after the meds are done and they multiply like crazy. The spores make it extremely difficult to get rid of. As far as treatment is concerned, most cases of c diff begin as a result of too many antibiotics and it is ironically treated with more antibiotics (a different variety). It can also be called Antibiotic-Associated Colitis.
The antibiotics are expensive and it usually takes more than one round of meds to get rid of all the c diff. One of my biggest complaints about the antibiotics for c diff is that they can cause serious birth defects and therefore are not safe for pregnancy. We’ve had to put our pregnancy plans on hold until I get well and for anyone who knows me even a little knows how hard that is on me. I hate not being able to plan something! I hate not having control! I hate someone or something messing up my timetables!!!
I am just so sick and tired of being sick and tired!
I went off my last dose of the first round of antibiotics this past Friday. I’ve eaten lactobacillus acidophilus yogurt every day as recommended to help get my stomach back “in balance” and I’ve felt perfectly fine. Until last night.
Last night I started getting a sore throat again and my bowel movements have been increasing. This morning my throat hurts so much that it’s painful to talk and my lymph nodes are swollen. The diarrhea has not yet returned but I feel that it’s only a matter of time. Other than that, I feel fine. I’ve put a call in to gastroenterologist again about getting a second round of meds and maybe, just maybe, this will do the trick and get rid of the high levels of c diff.
I am very surprised that more people don’t know about the problems associated with Antibiotic-Associated Colitis. It seems to be a somewhat common thing and since it is soooo nasty and difficult to get rid of, you would think that more people has heard of it. Anyway, C diff can cause such serious illness that there’s even an online support group for people struggling to get rid of it. And here’s the kicker: It can be deadly.
If you’ve made it this far reading my gory detailed, TMI story please tell me you’ve learned something!
That’s enough of my PSA for today. Now I’m going back to my regularly scheduled chaos called life. Thanks for listening.
*pun intended
I mentioned before about having stomach issues. Well, here is the long story.
In October I had an ear infection and was put on antibiotics. It later came back and I took more antibiotics right before Christmas. Just after Christmas, Julianna got really, really sick and they had to give her shots of r0sefrin for two days straight to get her well again. Two days later I was diagnosed with strep throat and was given more am0xicillin. She must have had strep as well. Anyway, before my ten days on the am0xicillin was up I could tell that my sore throat was coming back so I went back to the doctor who then gave me a shot of r0sefrin. This was in January.
Now, let me stop right here and say something. PEOPLE, if you read this post and hear nothing else, HEAR THIS. When your doctor continues to prescribe antibiotics for you (even for various illnesses), PLEASE BE CAREFUL! Give it careful consideration before taking more and more antibiotics. While I am angry at my situation and it would be really easy to blame the doctors for not knowing what they could do to me by giving me so many rounds of antibiotics, I recognize that it was also my responsibility to monitor my own degree of health. In other words, it is your responsibility as well as your doctor’s to determine when antibiotics are absolutely necessary and when they are not. This entire ordeal that I have been through would likely have not happened at all had I just tried to let my body get over one of those ear infections or sore throats on its own.
OK, where was I? Oh yes. The humiliating shot of r0sefrin was a pain in the @s$.* But it worked for my throat and I was soon feeling well again. Shortly after that, however, I began having diarrhea. At first it was only a time or two one day and I thought it was something I’d eaten. Then I had it again a couple of days later and thought there may be blood in my stools, but I got my period and wasn’t sure. After that my bowel movements became somewhat normal again but they were more frequent and darker in color. When I finally developed three days worth of constant diarrhea (so bad that I would go every time I went to pee) I decided I needed to go to the doctor. I had major anxiety over this. I’m sure it’s dumb, but while I knew that I needed to get checked I was so afraid that it would be something more serious and I was worried. I really did not want to go. I was tired of spend $25 copays every other week for doctor’s visits, but I so desperately wanted to get well. When I went back in, I was submitted to an, uhhh, unpleasant exam and told that there was indeed blood in my stools. I was diagnosed with having high levels of “c diff” and prescribed the first round of c diff fighting antibiotics. I don’t know why, but I feel like I should note that this was only after they had me poop in not one, not two, not even three, BUT FOUR LITTLE CUPS and bring it in for lab work. He then referred me to a specialist “to be sure.”
After seeing a gastroenterologist (another $200 gone just like that!) I’ve learned that all of the previous antibiotics I had been on had not only killed all of the bad bacteria in my body, but that they had also killed all of the good bacteria in my body. As I understand it, everyone has what is called “Clostridium difficile” in their GI tract. It is one of the “bad” bacteria’s in your intestines. It produces spores that stay in your intestines even after the meds are done and they multiply like crazy. The spores make it extremely difficult to get rid of. As far as treatment is concerned, most cases of c diff begin as a result of too many antibiotics and it is ironically treated with more antibiotics (a different variety). It can also be called Antibiotic-Associated Colitis.
The antibiotics are expensive and it usually takes more than one round of meds to get rid of all the c diff. One of my biggest complaints about the antibiotics for c diff is that they can cause serious birth defects and therefore are not safe for pregnancy. We’ve had to put our pregnancy plans on hold until I get well and for anyone who knows me even a little knows how hard that is on me. I hate not being able to plan something! I hate not having control! I hate someone or something messing up my timetables!!!
I am just so sick and tired of being sick and tired!
I went off my last dose of the first round of antibiotics this past Friday. I’ve eaten lactobacillus acidophilus yogurt every day as recommended to help get my stomach back “in balance” and I’ve felt perfectly fine. Until last night.
Last night I started getting a sore throat again and my bowel movements have been increasing. This morning my throat hurts so much that it’s painful to talk and my lymph nodes are swollen. The diarrhea has not yet returned but I feel that it’s only a matter of time. Other than that, I feel fine. I’ve put a call in to gastroenterologist again about getting a second round of meds and maybe, just maybe, this will do the trick and get rid of the high levels of c diff.
I am very surprised that more people don’t know about the problems associated with Antibiotic-Associated Colitis. It seems to be a somewhat common thing and since it is soooo nasty and difficult to get rid of, you would think that more people has heard of it. Anyway, C diff can cause such serious illness that there’s even an online support group for people struggling to get rid of it. And here’s the kicker: It can be deadly.
If you’ve made it this far reading my gory detailed, TMI story please tell me you’ve learned something!
- Don’t go to your doctor and get antibiotics unless you feel you absolutely must.
- If you feel that your doctor is prescribing antibiotics without really knowing why you are sick then use caution before taking the meds.
- While I believe that prescription drugs are powerful and helpful, I have also learned through this whole ordeal that they can also have some nasty repercussions.
That’s enough of my PSA for today. Now I’m going back to my regularly scheduled chaos called life. Thanks for listening.
*pun intended
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Dear Seth,
It's about time you became an "official" part of the family. You make Whitney so very happy and I can't wait to have you as a brother-in-law. Congratulations!
Monday, February 11, 2008
what i’m up to
Dreading
turning 30 in a few weeks
Reading
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
So far it's really, really good. But I can also tell that it's going to be one of those books that's a lot like The Kindness of Strangers which might turn out to be not so good. It's for my book club in early March and I hope I can get it done in time. I'm only on page 142 out of 370.
Wondering
how to get Julianna to stop calling me by my first name
When I take a shower in the mornings I’ve gotten to where I usually just let Julianna roam around upstairs between our bedroom and her toy room. I turn on PBS and she normally just entertains herself right outside of the bathroom with a pile of toys.
Well, she’s been learning our full names lately and just the other day when I was showering she kept calling out something indistinguishable. Eventually she came up to the shower door and I realized she was calling, “Courtney! Courtney!” and I didn’t reply. After several minutes of this I finally cracked the shower door and told her that yes, my name was Courtney, but she could call me Mommy. I don't think it worked though because she's done it several times since.
Eating
a strawberry cheesecake Klondike Bar
mmmmmmmmmmmmm ... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Cursing
the dumb storms and the power company
We had lots of wind here yesterday and 3100 people all around my house lost power around 3:30 pm. It didn't come back on until about 1 pm today. I've had to throw lots of perfectly good food away because I don't know if it spoiled or not, we had to re-do the laundry that was sitting in the washer mildewing for almost 24 hours, plus something about the power surge caused the VCR/DVD/Playstation to not work now [breathe] unless we get a new kind of TV which we have no money for, and I lost work time and missed MY PRE-SHUS INTERNET! WAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
Longing
for spring already
Calculating
random due dates
If I had gotten pregnant last month, when would the baby be due? If I were to get pregnant this month, when would the baby be due? If I didn't get pregnant until next month, when would the baby be due? If I didn't have to be taking this stupid "not safe for pregnancy" medicine when would the baby be due?
What are you up to?
turning 30 in a few weeks
Reading
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
So far it's really, really good. But I can also tell that it's going to be one of those books that's a lot like The Kindness of Strangers which might turn out to be not so good. It's for my book club in early March and I hope I can get it done in time. I'm only on page 142 out of 370.
Wondering
how to get Julianna to stop calling me by my first name
When I take a shower in the mornings I’ve gotten to where I usually just let Julianna roam around upstairs between our bedroom and her toy room. I turn on PBS and she normally just entertains herself right outside of the bathroom with a pile of toys.
Well, she’s been learning our full names lately and just the other day when I was showering she kept calling out something indistinguishable. Eventually she came up to the shower door and I realized she was calling, “Courtney! Courtney!” and I didn’t reply. After several minutes of this I finally cracked the shower door and told her that yes, my name was Courtney, but she could call me Mommy. I don't think it worked though because she's done it several times since.
Eating
a strawberry cheesecake Klondike Bar
mmmmmmmmmmmmm ... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Cursing
the dumb storms and the power company
We had lots of wind here yesterday and 3100 people all around my house lost power around 3:30 pm. It didn't come back on until about 1 pm today. I've had to throw lots of perfectly good food away because I don't know if it spoiled or not, we had to re-do the laundry that was sitting in the washer mildewing for almost 24 hours, plus something about the power surge caused the VCR/DVD/Playstation to not work now [breathe] unless we get a new kind of TV which we have no money for, and I lost work time and missed MY PRE-SHUS INTERNET! WAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
Longing
for spring already
Calculating
random due dates
If I had gotten pregnant last month, when would the baby be due? If I were to get pregnant this month, when would the baby be due? If I didn't get pregnant until next month, when would the baby be due? If I didn't have to be taking this stupid "not safe for pregnancy" medicine when would the baby be due?
What are you up to?
Thursday, February 7, 2008
thank goodness he got to experience a little slice of life with a toddler too
This past weekend I went to the beach with a few friends. We had a blast being away from our kids and laughing and acting like a bunch of high school girls. 
Jonathan stayed back to "hold down the fort" and he had the privilege of doing just that with an almost-two-year-old all weekend long. They stayed pretty busy for most of the weekend although they had a few moments. Here are two illustrations below. Enjoy.
Jonathan stayed back to "hold down the fort" and he had the privilege of doing just that with an almost-two-year-old all weekend long. They stayed pretty busy for most of the weekend although they had a few moments. Here are two illustrations below. Enjoy.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
my husband is a real trooper
I've been having some, uh, stomach issues. Hopefully it's just because I've been on antibiotics for so long due to my strep throat that keeps coming back, but it's possibly due to something more concerning. I have more upcoming tests and more doctors appointments scheduled to find out, but in the meantime my husband has had to do things that no 30 year old husband of five years should ever have to do. I'll leave it at this: I know that one day he'll probably have to wipe my butt for me, but for now this really brings new meaning to the words, "In sickness and in health."
Friday, February 1, 2008
link love
I'm excited!
I won! I won! Yippeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!
I won!!!
Time to start attempting to make a quilt!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm famous!
A is for Beautiful was featured in an article in the Winston-Salem Journal today.
Thank you, Esbee and Kim Underwood!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also, I'm shameless!
I just posted some new Valentine's up in my Etsy shop. Take a minute to stop by and check it out. Thanks!
I won! I won! Yippeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!
I won!!!
Time to start attempting to make a quilt!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm famous!
A is for Beautiful was featured in an article in the Winston-Salem Journal today.
Thank you, Esbee and Kim Underwood!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also, I'm shameless!
I just posted some new Valentine's up in my Etsy shop. Take a minute to stop by and check it out. Thanks!
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