she also looks like an elephant

The little one may have a touch of pneumonia. She's been on round after round of antibiotics and albuterol for cough since early October. The latest round ended Thursday and she started running a fever (103 degrees) again on Saturday. By late last night she was having difficulty breathing and her little chest was rising and falling very rapidly. The triage nurse said we may need to go to the emergency room if the motrin didn't get her fever down soon and slow her breathing. It helped. We went in for an office visit today and they gave her steriods and a nebulizer/breathing treatment machine. It dramatically helps her breathing and the steriods make her hyper. With the face mask on we tell her she looks like an elephant and she half-grins. But she is patient and very tough. It took her over an hour to fall asleep tonight, but she's still such a sweet little girl.

Merry Christmas everyone!

when you have a moment to spare

I highly recommend reading this article. It's well worth the time.

Thanks, Emily!

she’s a smart one

Me: Jules, do you want Santa to bring you some big girl panties?
Her: No! Toys!

the kindness of strangers*

Someone stumbled upon A is for beautiful this past weekend and left me a kind comment out of the blue. It made me so thankful once again to have this blog. I actually stopped to reply to the comment and started thinking about how I should blog more regularly. It is so nice to have encouragement from total strangers who stop by briefly and get a small glimpse of your life. It makes me very grateful to have my own little corner of the internet where I can not only jot down my thoughts and feelings for documentation purposes, but also where I can gain friendship and reassurance, strengthen my courage and self-worth, and save a little bit of my sanity.

Each time I get bored with the things on A is for beautiful something happens like this to keep me going and remind me why I write here. I need this space and all of you people out there in the big wide world.

Plus it's nice to get a comment every now and then that's not spam.


*I may have mentioned this already, but I recently read the book with this same title by Katrina Kittle. It was a very good read. It gave me lots to think about for days. I would highly recommend it. However (and this is a big however), it made me think about books being a lot like music albums with the explicit lyrics warning on the front or video games with the giant "Rated M" sticker. It's my opinion that books about sexual abuse, whether fiction or not, should come with some kind of warning label on the front of them. Because this is the third book that I have read since becoming a parent that has been about the sexual abuse of children without having one clue that that was what the book would be about. Third. That just turns my stomach a little bit. I read many a similar book before I had Julianna, but it's just a little different now. I just wish they would warn us. That's all. OK. Getting off my soapbox now.

i’m a copycat

I thought this idea was one of the most fabulous crafty ideas I'd ever heard of. So I copied it.

Jules is a little too young to be drawing her own monsters just yet so I just took a look at Esbee's photograph and free-formed my own little creature on some scrap fabric I had laying around. It took a little while to do because I'm an idiot and I stitched him up around the outside before I remembered to attach the button eyes and bright read mouth so I had to do that through the side hole. Anyway, Julianna seems to love him and I happen to think he's adorable. I asked her what we should call him and she told me, "Thomas." Where that came from I have no idea.

So without further ado...

Meet Thomas.








Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture with his bow still on so just imagine him with a friendly red ribbon tied lovingly around his neck.

bibs

My friend makes these really awesome bibs (baby bibs and toddler bibs). I got a few a couple of weeks ago and got another one last week because they are just that awesome! Very cool patterns and very well made. If you're in the market for new bibs (or a nice baby gift) you should check out both of her online store(s).



Toddler Bib w/ Pocket - Airplane Fabric



Baby Bib - Christmas Stocking Fabric



More Toddler Bibs w/ Pockets - Gingerbread Men and Paisley Fabric

my favorite sister

I have the most wonderful sister a girl could ever ask for. She's kind and compassionate, healthy and strong and while she may be just a *tad* impatient at times, she makes up for it with the size of her heart and the way she consistently gives selflessly to others. Today is her birthday. Happy 27th, Tommy Tinker Rinker Stinker! Hope the next year is a great one for you!