pneumonia, round two.

well, here we go again.
seems like we were just here.  oh that's because we were.  less than 2 months ago.
here's what happened:
two weeks ago i took C to the doctor because he had a runny nose+small cough and at one point, tugged on his hear and said "oww."
i immediately called up doc and got him in.  she chalked it all up to teething {still working on 2 of his 2-year molars in the way way back.  they.are.terrible} and that was why his ear may have hurt.
no ear infection.
no fever.
cough wasn't in his lungs.
so we've just been going about our usual.  then sunday morning, he had a runny nose.  i immediately thought "the teeth are striking again" and continued to monitor him.
then monday came.
and he coughed.  and coughed.  and coughed.
all day long.
why i didn't take him to the doctor that day, i'll never know.  his cough got progressively worse all day.  and i just knew.  it sounded exactly like it did when he had pneumonia.
monday night was rough.  he was up from about midnight-2 a.m. {which also involved a breathing treatment}
my baby is normally an A++ nighttime sleeper.  even when teeth are involved.  he's a super trooper.
but pneumonia really gets him.
and i feel awful.
so we got him to the dr. tuesday morning and FINALLY tuesday night we got the verdict:  pneumonia.
crap fest.
did i mention we leave for vacation in mexico in like...3 days??
so antibiotics twice a day+breathing treatments every 4 hours it is.
thank goodness he slept all through the night last night without so much as a cough.
poor baby.  last winter it was ear infections galore.
this year it looks like pneumonia.
next winter will be??  HEALTHY.  i'm sure.

my babe monday.  his face when he sees a school bus.

first round of breathing treatments on monday morning.

a little pneumonia doesn't stop C from bribing "meow meow" into his tent.

when dada has to work

from about the first of the year through the middle of february is considered B's "busy season."  what that means is that during the week he works later {getting home around 5:30 or 6 as opposed to the usually 4:30} and working on {most} saturdays.
sometimes i get the blues about it.  mostly on days like yesterday when C is a super fussy pants+took a really short nap.  knowing yesterday that B had to work today gave me the heebie jeebies.  wondering what fun+creative indoor activities i'd be able to come up with for a 6th day in a row.  hoping he wouldn't lose his marbles AGAIN, most likely sealing his fate as a forever only child.
sorry i digress.  when i get the blues about B working more than usual, I bring it back down to reality and remember what "working late" used to look like when he was in public accounting:  not getting home until 9/9:30, traveling, working every saturday.  it was super pooky {remember, C calls poop "pook"}.
so i check myself before i get too blue.  it could, and was, a lot worse.
but back to what happened all pre-nap today.

first we headed out to dunkin' donuts for a special breakfast:

then we tried on his new swim trunks.  because target has swim wear out and i just couldn't pass up his new trunks for summer 2013.  is it summer yet?

and who can resist a little mid-morning bath?  he loves bath time, and it kills about 30 minutes

oops, found one of mama's hairs.  not the last time that'll happen, son.

kiss kiss

and a day wouldn't be complete without some train table time.

so we've survived the morning.  for now, the babe sleeps.  for how long?  no one can predict that.  but this mama prays it's a long+restful slumber that lasts until the minute before dada walks in the door. 
i can dream.

preparing for vacay

Preparing for a vacation that your toddler is going with you on is mildly stressful:  have I packed everything we'll need?  What if he loses his mind in the car 30 minutes after we've left?  Etc, Etc.
But I have to say that preparing for a vacation that your toddler will not be joining you on may be the most stressful thing ever.  Like in the history of the world.
Thankfully, B's family will be watching C AT OUR HOME so C will feel more comfortable.  But still.  I currently have a binder I'm including anything and everything in that has to do with C or the cat or the car or the house.
I have so many lists I keep adding junk to.
I'm mostly nervous about C getting the sads that mama and dada aren't around.  He's generally alright with me leaving.  He'll just give me a kiss and very casually say "buh bye" but later he'll realize I'm not there and keep asking for "mama mama mama."  Break my dang heart.

So in hopes of easing the pain of us not being there for a week, I'm going to have B's mom and sister give him a gift a day from mama and dada.  They're just cheapy little gifts I picked up at Target but I know he'll love them.

From the left:
A basketball because he's obsessed
A Thomas+Diesel train that makes noise.  On clearance for $7
Some yellow wind up bath toy that I'm sure he'll go nuts over in the water.  He loves bath
A bus.  He's in love with buses.  But only school buses.
Mickey bubbles.
This giant tub of animals that I never would have paid $11 for originally but on clearance for $3?  Ok.
A monkey thing you assemble.
That echo microphone thing.  You remember

I included a note with each toy to explain we'll be home soon, etc.  I'm sure he won't understand but I thought it may be best to talk about mama and dada and that we're coming home eventually.
I'm so ready to be on the beach with a drink in hand+endless adult conversations without being interrupted by children.  But I'm sick to my stomach about leaving our little monkey.  This will be the longest we've left him.  And it will be years before we do it again {because we're broke and we aren't paying for this trip}

In other news, talk has begun in our house about a "big boy" bed.  We don't have the convenience of having a bed+a crib in C's room to do a trial run.  So if we convert the crib to a bed, that's it.  My dad mentioned something about constructing a simple bed frame for his current mattress so we can keep the crib in tact.  The thing is, he LOVES playing in his crib during the day.  But it's a GD pain to put him in there every time and stay close by because soon enough, he wants out again.  If he had a toddler bed, he could get in and out whenever he wanted.  Including during the night.  I shudder to think of it...

In other other news, C is a freaking handful and there is absolutely positively NO baby #2 on the way.  It isn't even a thought in our brains {that's a lie, I think about if often}.  But seriously.  I don't know how you moms with two {OR MORE} do it.  This kid wears.me.out.  Being in this new mom's group on Wednesday mornings has helped to see that it is indeed possible, and maybe MAYBE I could do it.  But I feel I need C to be in preschool some of the time so I can slightly catch my breath?  No?

Alright I have to go make another to do list because 23905802439 more things have popped into my head.
Oh, and C calls poop "pook."  It's hilar.

good days, bad days.

i suppose it's the nature of the beast.  as humans we all have good days and bad days.  being a stay-at-home-mama with a rather rambunctious toddler tends to amplify the good and bad days.  when we have a good day {like we did the past two days} it's REALLY good.  we have minimal breakdowns, little-to-no time outs and C is in a great mood. 
and then we have bad days.  because i guess they can't all be great. 
today has been a bad day.  or rough day.  whatever you want to call it.
i love being home, i've been home full time for almost 2 years and i wouldn't change it.
except for today.  today i wished i could have been working so i didn't have to witness the heartbreaking actions of my sweet babe.
he really is sweet you guys.  he'll randomly come up and give me hugs.  he likes to snuggle occasionally.  he sleeps well and eats *fairly* well.  but for some reason we CANNOT kick this hitting habit.  it tends to come in waves.  sometimes when we're in a social situation, he can be around kids and not have a problem at all.  and then there are times, like today, when he can't seem to control himself and he hits, pushes, and throws toys. 
it seems like he's territorial.  not because of where we are, but because he thinks everything is HIS.  he can't even handle someone playing beside him at a train table or coloring in a chair next to him.
it breaks my heart because i don't want him to be "that kid."
so i'm determined not to be "that mom."  as soon as he does one of the above actions, i immediately remove him from the situation, sit him in time out, and "discuss" with him what happened. 
i say things like:
"that hurts kids when you push them"
"kids are not hitting you, so do no hit them"
"hitting is not ok"
"we don't want to make kids cry"
he looks at me like i'm on crack.

i know he's not even 2 yet
i know he's still figuring out how to appropriately express emotions
i know this is a learning process

but it sucks and it's sad and i just want him to give hugs, not hits.
days like this make me sure C will be an only child for the rest of his life. 
also i just realized the past 2 posts have been somewhat debbie downer-ish so i promise the next one will not be.
happy friday.  sorry if my child hit you or your child.  he knows not what he does.

hard to write

i've literally started to write this post about a million times and have not found the strength to finish+post it.

so here it goes...again.
b and i are leaving our church.
the church we got married in.
the church we've been at for almost 5 years.
the church my family has been at for almost 20 years.
the church we LOVE and cherish so much.
this has been the most emotionally draining and challenging week i've ever experienced.
but the most difficult day was today.  when i had to say good bye to my high school girls small group.  since we're not attending the church anymore, b and i are having to detach from our ministries/small groups.  and while it was incredibly difficult to tell our adult small group, my heart has, and always will be, in high school girls ministry.  the 6 girls in my group are the absolute best.  i will so very much miss spending my sunday afternoon "carbing up" with them at panera and discussing life.

this sucks but i'm sure it will get easier {sooner rather than later i'm hoping}.  we're "church hunting" currently but it will take awhile to find another home.  our church was our home and we miss it dearly.
i'll miss watching c run through the halls like he owned the place.  he had the very best volunteers to hang out with him while we were in the service.  thanks miss amy and miss linda for loving on our baby.
i'll miss the familiarity and seeing so many great faces.
it was a great season for b and i.  we grew a lot and met some wonderful people.  but it's time for a new season for our family.  and while we don't know what it looks like, we're trusting God that he knows what's best for us.

so that's it.  the short of it.  please know we are not jumping ship or just leaving the church for an unimportant reason.  we wanted every reason to stay.  but it isn't healthy for our family to stay anymore so we need to move on, however painful it may be.  thanks for your prayers for us as we tackle this challenge.  i'm hopeful that this week will be less emotional.  surely starting it with my birthday tomorrow will help :)

Bragging on my man.

I've decided I need to start bragging more on my hubby on a regular basis. He does ALOT for our family and I do not thank him nearly enough.
So here it goes.
He cleans up after c and I all the time. I am not clean. I am not organized. I try to a degree but it really comes down to laziness. But he picks up and doesn't complain.

When he gets home from work he goes straight into dad mode. No down time, no "him" time. He changes out of his work clothes and immediately takes C on an airplane ride {C's most favorite activity that he only does with daddy} or whatever else our demanding toddler politely asks him to do.

He does not cook but he cleans up those dishes like a pro. And actually I'm ok with him not cooking. I get a little nervy when he offered to make me a grilled cheese when I was sick last week. Sweet of him to offer. But he typically asks me if the frozen pizza is done cooking in the oven. Thankful he understands my weakness is cleaning so he jumps right to the dishes after dinner.

He works so so hard so I can stay home with C and pursue this new photography adventure. He's incredibly supportive.

And he's cute. Thanks babe for being awesome.