Pictures.

I wanted to share some pictures with you all. I have a confession... Weewee isn't quite yet a year old, and I've taken over 20,000 pictures of her.

For whatever reason, I became obsessed with taking pictures, not long after she was born. I want her to have plenty of pictures when she's older. I want her to be able to show her childhood to her children. Plus, I just think she's beautiful. 

Yes, I need help. 

So, don't be shocked when I share a ton of pics from time to time. I have plenty to share.

Father's Day.

I've known Chadski was an amazing father pretty much since the day I met him. Embee was four when Chadski and I started dating. I knew the moment I found out I was pregnant, that Chadski would be the greatest father ever to our child. He's proven me right thus far. Seeing him and Weewee together today really made me happy. Chadski is the perfect example of why we celebrate fathers. He's fantastic. No doubt in my mind Weewee will grow up to be extra amazing, because he's her dad.

To make this Father's Day even more special,  Chadski's dad arrived today for a two week visit! I'm beyond excited!  It was amazing getting to see Weewee meet her Papa for the first time.

So many special moments today. Today was definitely a good day.

Useful Words. Wisely used. Use Your Words June 2014.

Today’s post is a writing challenge. This is how it works: participating bloggers picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases for someone else to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once and all the posts will be unique as each writer has received their own set of words. That’s the challenge, here’s a fun twist; no one who’s participating knows who got their words and in what direction the writer will take them. Until now.

At the end of this post you’ll find links to the other blogs featuring this challenge. Check them all out, see what words they got and how they used them! You'll thank me later!

I'm using: Fry an egg ~ scalding ~ frozen ~ endless days ~ maniacal
They were submitted by: http://www.eviljoyspeaks.wordpress.com 

As I read these words, a recent struggle in our life came racing into my mind. So, I will use these words to tell you my most recent tale of woe. 

I have gone through many struggles in my life. At times I felt like I had truly reached the end of my rope, but I always managed to find more rope. I would like to think, accurately or not, that I have done an okay job dealing with the struggles I have encountered. I have been blessed to meet some amazing people along the way, and without a doubt they've helped. I can honestly say, that you truly do not know struggle, until you are struggling with a child by your side. 

I have been battling health issues for several years. Most recently, I have been working on becoming healthy. It has been quite a journey. Not always easy. For many reasons, I never thought I would have kids. I won't get into the nitty gritty, but let's just say that to be safe, Chadski and I were taking precautions, just in case. We definitely did not want to have a child until I was fully healthy. So, that is why we were very surprised when we found out Weewee was growing in my belly. God really does have an amazing sense of humor. I had just finally decided I didn't want kids. I had decided I would be better off just enjoying the kids around me.

Within two weeks of deciding this, I found out I was pregnant. I immediately went into panic mode. In some ways, I am still in panic mode, and she will be one in fifteen days. So, I knew our tiny two bedroom apartment would never do. I started giving away everything I could. I gave away all my home decor. I figured that would open up room for the baby and the baby's things, plus it would make childproofing easier. I also started searching for a house.

I found one! It was perfect. Four bedrooms. Plenty of room. Big front and back yards. Cheaper rent than our two bedroom apartment. I knew it was an older house with problems, but I figured if our friends and their six kids could live there happily for five years, we could too. After all, we only had two dogs and two kids. Easy peasy. 

I discussed things with the landlords. They agreed to make needed repairs upfront, plus continue to make repairs and updates as time went on. They agreed to build a fence for our dogs. I even got them to agree to have the fence built before the baby came. I definitely knew I could not walk dogs and carry a baby.

Everything was falling into place and all was well. We moved. I carried on being a pregnant woman. Sometimes sane. Sometimes maniacal. It could possibly be said mostly maniacal, occasionally sane. In my defense, what do you expect from a pregnant lady on bed rest. Endless days of nothing but time to think. I think I did well considering all the stress I was under. 

Weeks passed, and nothing was done at the house, beyond the repairs done, so we could move in. No fence to be seen. Finally, in June, I asked the landlord about the fence. I told him I was worried it would not get built in time, as the baby was due in a month. He apologized for the delay and said it was due to uncontrollable expenses that had come up, but assured me we would have our fence. No problemo.

Two days later, Miss Weewee made her arrival. Motherhood began. A massive heatwave also began. Over a week of days on end over 100 degrees. No big deal, unless you live in an old house without central heat and air, and you have a premature newborn that cannot regulate their own temperature. Within minutes of being home, Weewee's temperature was over 101 degrees! I became that maniacal mother again. I sent Chadski out to buy an air conditioner immediately. Between the swamp cooler and AC, we managed to keep the huge living room comfortable. 

If you ventured out of the living room, the heat was nearly scalding! I don't think it would be much of an hyperbole, if I said you could successfully fry an egg, simply by placing it on a plate on the kitchen counter. It really was that hot. I did not care about me. I did not care about Chadski. I cared about Weewee. I was terrified she would overheat. I checked her temperature constantly, and did not sleep much. It was a stressful start to motherhood. 

Months passed. The weather cooled. We were able to quit camping in the living room and move into our bedroom. I did my best to balance being a mother to Weewee and a mother to our dogs. They did not get nearly enough walks, and bless them for being potty trained to use puppy pads. As the weeks stretched on without repairs being made, and no fence being built, I started looking for a new place to live.

When winter set in, it did not take me long to realize that being in a house with only one heater vent (in the living room) was not a good thing. We would walk around feeling frozen in our own house. We moved our bed into the living room, so Weewee and I could be warm. Chadski would sleep in the arctic tundra of our bedroom, beneath two down comforters and a blanket. Don't feel too bad. He also got to sleep in our new, super comfy bed.

During this time, my health took a turn for the worse. I struggled so hard to be a mom, be a fur baby mom, and be a housewife. I am so grateful Chadski is amazing. A lesser man never would have survived. Not only was I a sick, maniacal new mom, but I was stressed to the max. I really don't think I had a clue just how stressed, until it was definitely too late.

I finally confronted the landlord about to fence. I was told they would not build a fence and that I had been mistaken, when I thought it would be a fence that would be enclosed. Once these lies were said to me, I knew we had to move pronto. I also knew that with my declining health, the lack of a fence, and the fact most places I was finding for us to move to requiring pet deposits we could not afford, that we would need to find a new home for Faye and Carlissa.

As luck would have it, they found the PERFECT home. I was heartbroken. I am still heartbroken. I have accepted the fact they have found a very happy home full of love, and are better off than they would have been with us.

Not long after they went to their new home, I ended up being hospitalized. Remember how I said I did not realize just how stressed I was? Well, it turns out that living in a house that I felt wasn't safe for my child, was more stress than my body could handle. I nearly stressed my way to a heart attack. Also, for the record.... telling a person to stop stressing or they will die, does not alleviate their stress. Trust me.

I definitely had reached my limit. I was most certainly at the end of my rope, and there definitely was not any more rope in sight. We learned of a possible house from a friend. We checked it out. I was so scared. I just knew that if this house did not work out, I would turn from maniacal to full blown, certifiably INSANE. 

As luck would have it, the house was tiny and cute. The landlord was AMAZING. So amazing and wise and smart, and she chose us to rent to. Hallelujah. We have been here for a few months now. We are still settling in. It is a slow process, because Chadski works all the time and I am not physically able to do much. Plus, I have an amazing almost one year old, that takes up most of my time. I am just so grateful to have to the house of terrors behind us. 

I look at it as another lesson learned (always get any agreements with landlords in writing) and another struggle survived. Plus, I learned that I am NOT a person that can stress in a healthy way. I have been working on trying to stress less and to open my mouth more. I think one of my biggest problems was that I was holding it all in. I try to always be positive. Part of being a positive person is internalizing the negative. I've learned that isn't good for me. It lands me in the hospital needing stress tests and puts me at over a 40% risk of a heart attack. 

I don't know about you, but I don't have time for that! I have a first birthday party to plan, a little girl to enjoy, an amazing man to love, and a bunch of blog posts to read! Speaking of that, you should do yourself a favor and check out these lovely blogs below, and discover what words they had and how they used them! 

Links to the other “Use Your Words” posts:

http://bakinginatornado.com                                Baking In A Tornado

http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com/                          Spatulas on Parade

http://stacysewsandschools.blogspot.com/                      Stacy Sews and Schools

http://berghamchronicles.blogspot.com/                      The Bergham’s Life Chronicles

http://www.juiceboxconfession.com                      Juicebox Confession

http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch/                    Confessions of a part-time working mom

http://www.someoneelsesgenius.com                     Someone Else’s Genius

http://batteredhope.blogspot.com                      Battered Hope

http://www.healingtomato.com                         Healing Tomato

http://www.eviljoyspeaks.wordpress.com             Evil Joy Speaks
http://thesadderbutwisergirl.com                       The Sadder But Wiser Girl

A is for amazing. B is for bottle. C is for climb.

I know I'm biased, but I think Weewee is amazing. It is genuinely a joy to be her Mama. She is happiness personified. It is so rare for her to be cranky. When she is cranky it never lasts long. She is fun, loving, and her joy is contagious. I'm blessed.

She can say quite a bit, and I have really been able to tell that she has a good understanding of what I say to her. She now says: Mama, Dada, doggy, nigh night, see you later (ee uu ate er), num num, ut oh, no, ball, yay, ow, Nana, doll, out, up.

I was talking to her Godmother on Tuesday, and we were discussing her vocabulary. It was Weewee's nap time, so I picked her up and went in the kitchen to make her a bottle. I said to her Godmother... You know what word she doesn't say, that shocks me? Bottle or baba. A few weeks back she said it two or three times, which was exciting, but nothing since. Her Godmother said she probably doesn't say it, because she doesn't need to. I know when she needs a bottle and I get it for her. So why should she ask? I was in the process of walking towards the counter, and told her that made sense to me. All of a sudden Weewee pointed to her bottle on the counter and said bottle. I said WOW and laughed. Her Godmother laughed and said sounds like she said it. I said I know, right! Weewee followed that up with "bottle, bottle" and giggled.

She absolutely amazed me, and I must say she has perfect timing. Now, how many times do you think she has said bottle since? Zero. I've tried so hard, but she won't say it. She definitely does stuff when she wants. She is definitely stubborn and determined. I really think she will grow to be a unique individual, not a clone of society's norm.

She's also developed a new skill, that she is obsessed with. Climbing. She seems to have no fear, and she has a daredevil streak in her. Definitely going to be a handful. She spent a good hour today climbing onto the couch, sliding off, climbing back on... over and over... giggling and grinning the entire time.

As for walking, I call her a sometimes walker. She can and does walk, but she definitely prefers to crawl. She's somewhat wobbly on her feet (Chadski wonders if it is due to the ear issues she has been having), so she will take a few steps, then drop down and crawl. She could win races with crawling. She is super fast. I've never seen a baby crawl as fast as she does. I'm hoping she gets tired of crawling soon, and becomes an always walker.

In exactly two weeks Weewee will be a one year old. One. An entire year. Twelve months. Fifty two weeks. I'm still in denial. This has definitely been the fastest year of my life. Despite the struggles, it has also been the greatest year of my life. I was blessed to have Chad in my life, but now he and I are both blessed. Weewee has made us both happier than we could have imagined. She is definitely our dream come true.

Happy Friday the 13th!  I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

June 2014 Secret Subject Swap

Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap. This week, 15 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. 

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts.  Sit back, grab a cup of your drink of choice, and check them all out. See you there:

http://www.BakingInATornado.com                          Baking In A Tornado

http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com/                          Spatulas on Parade

http://stacysewsandschools.blogspot.com/                      Stacy Sews and Schools

http://dinoheromommy.com/                                    Dinosaur Superhero Mommy

http://www.juiceboxconfession.com                      Juicebox Confession

http://morethancheeseandbeer.blogspot.com           More Than Cheese and Beer

http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch/                        Confessions of a part-time working mom

http://www.someoneelsesgenius.com                     Someone Else’s Genius

http://sparklyjenn.blogspot.com/                        Sparkly Poetic Weirdo

http://www.crumpetsandbollocks.com                    Crumpets and Bullocks

http://fbxadventures.blogspot.com                      FBX Adventures (In Parenting)

http://elleroywashere.com                                  elleroy was here

http://climaxedtheblog.blogspot.com                  Climaxed

http://berghamchronicles.blogspot.com                The Bergham’s Life Chronicles

http://www.eviljoyspeaks.wordpress.com               Evil Joy Speaks

My subject is: You wake up and see a lovely accordion ceiling and realize you are lying UNDER a mushroom! HOW did this happen and what do you do?

It was submitted by: http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com

I stretch my arms out and rub my eyes. When I open them I see this funny ceiling above me. What? What happened to the ceiling? It was smooth and white when I fell asleep. Now, it is textured and brown. Standing up, I look around. I'm outside. How did that happen? Did I sleep walk? Where am I? Walking around, I realize I had fallen asleep under a mushroom. UNDER a mushroom? How big is this mushroom? Looking around, I realize it is quite small, and so am I. I am surrounded by my back yard. So big. I shrank. How on Earth did this happen? What did I eat before I went to sleep? I think back, I had some of Karen's Nacho Style Strawberry Shortcake. That couldn't cause me to shrink. How on Earth did this happen?

I wander around my yard, stumbling over leaves bigger than myself. Now I know how ants must feel. Though maybe they don't feel quite like this. After all, they only know what it is like to be small. I wonder how an ant would feel, if he were suddenly the size of a human? Like King of the world, I bet. After wandering around aimlessly, trying to figure a solution out, I finally decide to sit down and rest. I lean back against the wheel on Chadski's grill. I look around the yard and see things in a whole new light. We definitely need to sweep all the leaves off the patio area. Funny how things that seem like small issues, are suddenly huge issues, when you are the size of a small mouse. 

How did I get to be the size of a mouse? It wasn't what I ate. I don't remember running into anyone. Could it be a spell? Are witches real? Am I dreaming? Pinching my arm, I discover I am definitely awake. If I cannot figure out how I got small, how will I ever make myself big again? If I cannot be big again, how will I live my life? What if Chadski and Weewee cannot see me? Oh no! What if I have to live my life near them, but never seen by them? Will they miss me? More importantly, will Weewee remember me? Will Chadski move on and marry somebody new? She better not be prettier than me. What if Weewee likes her more?

A strange noise pulls me away from my thoughts. What is that noise? It almost sounds like a stampeding elephant. Looking around I finally see the source of the noise. Sasha. Dear, sweet, beautiful Sasha. Huge, massive Sasha. Chadski must have left the gate open, and Sasha wanted to come for a visit. Even at my normal size, Sasha is a big dog, but at this size, she is GIGANTIC. Look at her. Sniffing around. No doubt she is looking for a stick to use to play fetch. There she goes, barking at the door. I am sure Chadski will come out with Weewee soon, and play fetch with her. Do they miss me yet? How long have I been gone?

She is headed my way. Thank goodness she cannot see me. I watch her sniffing around, looking for a stick. Suddenly she perks up and starts toward me. Rut roh. Can she smell me? I sniff my armpits. I showered. I smell fine to me. She starts to bark at me and paw at the ground. Yes, she definitely knows I am here. She seems excited. She must recognize my smell. She is mighty excited! She is jumping around and clawing the ground near me. Oh no! She is getting mighty close. She might accidentally step on me! What do I do!? Oh no! Her paw is headed right... Mama! Mama! Mama! 

Mama! Mama! Mama! 

Huh? Weewee? Where is she!? I look around, and feel something pulling my hair, just as Sasha's paw is about to land on me...

Ow! My eyes jerk open. I look around for Sasha. All I see is Weewee smiling at me, holding and handful of my hair. Huh? Oh. I am in my bed. Weewee is here. My pillows are here. Oh yeah. I laid down with Weewee for a nap. Phew. It was all a dream. Thank goodness. Apparently nap time is over, and it is back to reality. Man, I will never complain about being six feet tall again. It definitely beats the alternative. 

Pink.

So, I have never been the biggest fan of pink, and these days I like it even less than usual. Though, I should say... there is something about pink and teal or pink and zebra that appeals to me lately. Pink in general isn't my cup of tea. I prefer greens and purples. Weewee totally takes after me. She is obsessed with the color green, particularly lime green. That's my girl. Back to pink and why it is on my nerves lately... This past week, Weewee had a fever. I monitored it and it was okay. She is teething. Not even a year old, and already has a mouth full of teeth, and has more on the way. This time around she is getting molars. I have been warned that they can be quite troublesome. Well, based on the fever and the fact my happy child has had some grumpies... Yes, troublesome indeed.

So, Chadski gets home from work last Thursday, and he is spending time with Weewee and I am doing stuff around the house. I come back to the living room and pick her up... HOLY MOLY! She was burning up. So I took her temperature. It was almost 104. Nope. No way. I gave her Tylenol and went to the ER. Can you say stressed? True to her nature, she took the ER visit happily in stride. Her fever was down to 101. The doctor discovered she had an ear infection. We were given and prescription for Amoxicillin and sent on our merry way.

I dropped off the prescription, brought Weewee home to Daddy, and went back to pick up her medicine. I gave her the first dose that night and kept watch over her fever. Starting Friday, she wasn't eating like normal or drinking like normal. She was just off. My poor, sick baby. On Saturday, we went to do laundry at a friend's house (Side note: Our washer and dryer hookups will be operational SOON!), and I scheduled Weewee an appointment at the clinic that has weekend hours.

At the appointment my Mommy gut was proven right. Something was wrong. She was allergic to the (pink) Amoxicillin. We were told to not give her anymore, and she was given Azithromycin to start the next day. As the day went on, and it was further and further from her last dose of the (pink) Amoxicillin, she got better. The rash she had was disappearing, she was drinking, she was eating, she was better.

So, Sunday morning arrives, and I gave her the first dose of (pink) Azithromycin. Instantly she was covered from head to toe with a rash and her face became swollen. I called the pharmacist, because Chadski and the lady had a whole conversation, when he had picked up the medicine earlier. The pharmacist told me to go to the ER right away.

Off we go, back to the ER. Poor, red, swollen Weewee, again took it in stride. She was the life of the ER party. She was given a steroid and a antihistamine. She did well considering the circumstances. We were sent home. We were told to discontinue the (pink) medicines, get her an appointment with her doctor immediately, buy some Benadryl, and avoid pink/red stuff (medicines/foods/drinks). Do you get a theme here? Do you get why pink is on my nerves?

I brought Chadski and Weewee home, and went off to buy some Benadryl. Now... I will be the first to admit I don't know much about kid's medicines. I never really had to buy them before. I want you to know, the Walmart pharmacy was closed for lunch, so I was on my own. Do you know how many medicine options there are? TONS. I noticed that day, most are pink/red. Lovely. Just lovely. I finally found a dye free Benadryl, but it said for ages 6 to 11.

Luckily, the pharmacy reopened, so I stood in line and awaited a turn to speak to the pharmacist. When I get up there, I told her... I need your help. There is a possible allergy to pink or red dye, so I need dye free Benadryl, but I can only find this one and it says for ages 6 to 11. So, she says to me that I have the wrong one. I told her I thought so, and asked where is the right one. She told me where I could find the adult Benadryl. I said, but it is for my 11 month old. She said... Oh. Your 11 month old? I thought it was for you. I said, oh no, I don't need any. She asked if I was sure. I said, yes, why? She said to me that I was covered in hives.

Yep. Shopping for Benadryl stressed me out to the point of being covered in hives all over my face and neck. Oy vey. She informed me I could give Weewee the one for 6 to 11 and told me the proper dose, and the recommended I pick myself up some. LOL.

I made it back home with my dye free, non pink Benadryl, and luckily we have not needed it. I found out today, at her doctor's appointment, that we cannot test her for allergies yet. She is still a bit young. For now, we just have to try to keep her healthy (so she doesn't need any medicines that she may potentially be allergic to) and avoid pink/red stuff.

I'm hoping it was a fluke or she will outgrow it. I really want her to be allergy free. Though, if she were allergic to bacon, I would not be upset one bit. I hate bacon. Yes, you read that right. The way I see it, if she is allergic to it, that would justify a household ban on the stuff. Right?!

So, that is the tale of pink. Be sure to check back THIS FRIDAY! My next post will be my addition to the SECRET SUBJECT SWAP!!!! I am sure you'll be on the edge of your seats until then!