Uh-Oh, Here comes Trouble

Guess what? I walked into Talia's room yesterday, and this is what I found!!! My 10 month old (tomorrow) can pull up on her crib! I thought it was great...until every time we try to put her in bed, either for a nap or sleep, she pulls up and cries. Right now, I'm really missing my good baby who went down for naps and bed without any problem at all. The hardest part is that I know she's tired...she's yawning, rubbing her eyes, and whining...all her ususal "I'm tired" signals, but is fighting sleep. Maybe she'll go back to normal in a few days. I hope.

She's been trying to give up her morning nap for a month or so now. Today, when I tried to put her down (she was giving all the tired signals), she cried for 1/2 hour, even with me checking on her every 5 minutes. So, I gave up on the nap for today. She was cranky all morning, cried most of the time we were in the shower, the whole time I got her dressed and did her hair. She did stop briefly while I fed her, and whined the rest of the morning. I finally put her down for a nap at noon. I was hoping that her giving up her morning nap meant she would take a little bit longer afternoon nap...no such luck, at least not today. I don't think it's too much to ask for a 10 month old to take a 2 hour nap. Just from 12-2, that's perfect. I was in a really bad mood, because I didn't get a nap today either, and I knew I had to go to work tonight. And I'm back tomorrow night. I was really, really cranky, moody, and hormonal, and didn't know how I was going to get through tonight. But Heavenly Father answered my cranky prayers...a spot opened up at the daycare for all day...so now I can take her in the morning, come home, and sleep before I have to come back tomorrow night. Truly a blessing from above, considering I would have had to come back on 3 hours of sleep.

So tonight I'm in RSV land...taking care of 3 babies with RSV, one of whom is on a ventilator. Needless to say, I'm not pleased, but I realize I have to take my turn. And, so far, it really hasn't been that bad...It's just a pain to gown and mask every time I have to walk into one of the isolation rooms. And I'm being especially vigilant, because I don't want to bring this home to my kids. So, when I get home, my scrubs go straight in the washer, and I go straight to the shower.

Today I am thankful for:

1. An all day spot in daycare tomorrow.
2. No kindergarten tomorrow, which means that I can have more uninterrupted sleep.
3. A husband who will go to parent teacher conference, and not complain about it.
4. The development of my baby...knowing that she's doing exactly what she's supposed to be, even though it's bittersweet to see it.
5. My nurse pod-partner. I'm in RSV land tonight with someone I like, who's easy to get a long with, and when there's only 2 of you in a room, that's important.

Tagged

I've been Tagged by Mindy
A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.B: Each player answers the questions about themselves.C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
10 Years Ago: I was 1 1/2 Quarters (yes, quarters) away from graduating with my Respiratory Therapy degree, with 1 semester to go after that to finish up my Bachelors in Psychology. My husband and I were getting ready to start our family.
5 Things On My To Do List Today: 1. Parent Teacher Conference for Alec, 2. Costco to buy formula for the baby and Gas for the car, 3. Try to get a decent nap, as I'm working as I write this, 4. De-clutter my living room, 5. Try to remember to fold the laundry and put the last load in the dryer.
Snacks I enjoy: I love chocolate, cream puffs, eclairs, and many other things that are good for the soul and bad for the scale.
What would I do if I were suddenly made a billionaire? We would pay off all our vehicles, buy a truck for Cole, expand our house now instead of in 8 years, set up college funds for the kids, get our year's supply of food in order, buy a new TV, Share with our family. Oh, and I would be getting my hot tub now instead of in 5 years.
3 Of My Bad Habits: I am not a morning person. I hate to fold laundry, so sometimes I don't. I collect clutter...I can't seem to help it no matter what I do.
5 places I have lived: Ogden City, Uintah( 2 houses), Washington Terrace (Apt and 1st house) and South Ogden...and I practically lived at Cole's parent's house in Riverdale when we were dating.
5 Jobs that I have had: Started at Matrixx (Convergys now), Moved to SPS, Worked for South Davis Community Hospital (a long term care facility), IHC Pediatric Homecare, and now at McKay Dee in the NICU.
Things people don't know about me: I'm 31 1/2, and my hair is completely gray. My skin is so fair, that it turns translucent in really cold water. I hate green veggies...if it's green, it tastes like grass (or worse) to me. The only exception is celery. I am a diet pepsi addict, and have no desire to get help (Ok, so y'all probably knew that one). I love to re-read books...
I tag:

No one, right now...I don't even know where to begin.

Feels Like Forever....

Since I've been able to post on my blog. Work has been too crazy to post while I'm there, and last night I went scrapbooking with my family. These pages are what I got done. I was all excited to blog about it, and then...my Mom called to tell me President Hinckley had died. I know he was old, and hadn't been in great health since his wife died, but it still is a bit of a shock to me. I'm sad. I told my kids, and they were sad too...and I know it's stupid, but all I can think of is the song "Latter Day Prophets", and how now it will be out of date. And it makes me want to cry a little.

So, about scrapbooking, I was with my mom, cousin Kelly, and a friend Lindsey. We try to get together in Kelly's basement once a month and scrapbook from 2-10. We had a really good time, and I got a lot done.

Today in Primary, I spent most of my time in with the Sunbeams in their class. It really was fun, and just reinforced the fact that we picked the right teachers for that age group. There is one difficult child in the group, and although she was a bit better today, the teacher did really well handling the situation. I was very impressed.

So, I think Kyle's been doing better at school. Apparently, telling him that no one can make him do anything has helped....he was playing with some of the bullying kids at school on Friday.

The rest of what I was going to post has gone out of my brain...I'm watching the news coverage of President Hinckley's life and death, and I'm tearful. Maybe I'll remember more tomorrow.

Today I'm thankful for:

1. Being sealed to my husband and children for Time and all Eternity.
2. Having the fullness of the Gospel here on earth in this place and time to guide my life.
3. My beautiful, perfect, well behaved children.
4. Hugs from my children.
5. A husband who never complains when I want to go scrappbooking.

Eventually, I'll get around to answering my Tag.

I've been "WHAT?"

So, apparently I've been tagged. So, I'll probably try to do the answering questions part, but maybe someone nice will post me a comment explaining how to find other people to tag. Because I've seriously got no clue.

There's been so much going on the last few days...I've been working, and we now have 23 week twins, 26 week twins, 30 week twins in our unit, along with 3 other micro-preemies (under 2lbs). And, there are 3 more sets of twins, all quite small, that we could get at any time. Needless to say, it's been quite crazy at work. And it doesn't look to get slow again any time soon.

So, how do you deal with it when your child starts to go through the same heartbreak you did at about the same age? Kyle has been acting out in strange ways lately, and the other morning after working, as I was trying to fall asleep, something clicked in my brain. So, as I questioned him after school, it turns out that some of the kids (in his same grade, but not his class), are being slightly bully-ing...saying he can't play with them, but Kyle's friends can play. And he's been the victim of a few nasty pranks lately...glue on his chair...and easy going child that he is, he was dared to stick his tongue on a frozen metal pole, with predictable (and painful) results. We talked to him about how no one can make him not play, he just needs to go join in. We encouraged him to play with the kids in his class who aren't being mean. We helped him to understand that if someone is daring you to do something, it probably means you shouldn't do it. The problem is, he's always been the nice kid, the one who wants to be friends with everyone, and now that he's at the age when kids start being mean and excluding, he's a little bit lost. He doesn't defend himself. I was just the same at his age...soft hearted..I can see this hurting him, and it took me until high school to grow a thick skin. I wish I knew how to help him learn to deal with this so he won't be so unhappy. I don't know what to do. This is the hardest part so far of being a mom.

Snow Days and Blessings Great and Small

So, it snowed another foot today. The snow plows actually plowed as well, and the end of my driveway was plowed in by a few feet of snow. To the rescue came Enos and Cody, from the ward. Not only did they snowblow my driveway, and several others in the neighborhood, but they dug out the end of the driveway, the sidewalk, and were moving on to other houses on the street. And they wouldn't even let me make them some Hot Chocolate. I want to cry thinking about the enormous blessing this was to my family today. You see....

Talia started throwing up last night. I had given her table food at dinner (which I always do now), and there was a couple of things she hadn't eaten before. I was hoping it was that, but she threw up all last night until about 10pm. Then, she settled into a restless sleep...and so did I. I was really worried about her....she woke early this morning, starving, and hasn't thrown up since..so I really hope it was a 12 hr bug, or she just didn't tolerate dinner. She's the only one of my kids who's ever had bouts of actual projectile vomiting as a baby, where as I hold her over a towel I can feel her poor little stomach just contract. It's the saddest thing to watch her cry because she doesn't understand why dinner is coming up and out her nose and mouth, painfully. Blessings again, because she's back to her normal, happy self today.

The boys could hardly wait to get outside after lunch and play in the snow. They got some snowball makers/throwers for Christmas, along with a snow-brick maker. They've got snowballs down, but can't figure out the brick maker. I'll have to ask the neighbors how to make sure the bricks don't break.

Quiet Moments are the Best....

I got to hold my sleeping baby tonight. Since Talia turned about 6 months, she's refused to sleep in anyone's arms. If we're home, she wants her crib, and if we're out and about, the carseat will do. Since she's outgrowing her infant carseat, I'm in for some interesting outings. Tonight, however, Talia didn't want to take her normal 5pm nap, she waited until 7pm...and bedtime's at 8pm. So, instead of putting her in her crib, I gave her her pacifier and held her. She fought me for a few minutes, but I stroked her hair and face, and she finally gave in and fell asleep. 20 minutes of pure pleasure for me---it's been hard not to hold my last baby while she's sleeping. I just had to have Cole take our picture, even though I don't have any makeup on.

Speaking of Cole, yesterday his whole day was awful. The tip of his car key broke off in his ignition. He called me right before I was headed to work to tell me. So, I give him the name of a locksmith, and he calls them. He can get service, hurray!!! So, after they fix the car, he calls me...currently, his car will run for anybody. He needs to drive to their offices in Bountiful to get the car re-keyed...but first he's got to drive home and get the spare key, so that they can re-key it right. And the baby's at daycare, and he won't have time to get home, to Bountiful, and back in time to pick her up by 6. Plus, the boys are at home alone. So, I call my wonderful sister in law...she can watch Talia for about an hour, but they have plans after that. So, I call my Mother in Law. She's got to wait for a call from the doctor...she's got to go to the hospital for an infusion of iron, because her iron is extremely low and her stomach isn't absorbing any. So, I call my mom and arrange it...My sister in law will watch Talia until they leave, then drop her at my mom's. Then Mom calls me...can they take Talia out to dinner with them? Sure, but let Cole know. When they get hold of Cole, they're eating, so he leaves to go get the boys food...and isn't home when my parents come to drop Talia off. It was a crazy, day, and I was busy at work and trying to coordinate all this in between all the work stuff. I really hate it when a perfectly normal day turns into chaos...especially right as I'm going to work. But it ended up ok. My kids actually handled it very well, and I continue to be grateful for how easy they make things like this.
Today I am grateful for

1. Brenda, my sister in law who never lets me down.
2. Parents who are always willing to help in a crunch. My mom has never, ever let me down when I've needed her.
3. A husband who mops the floor, because he knows it's the one household chore I hate most of all.
4. Digital cameras and the advantages they have.
5. Costco. I love that place, I really do.
   

Envy...

So, I'm really envious that all my girls got to go scrapbooking tonight, and I'm stuck here at work. Making babies breathe. Running my butt off. Buying birthday pie for the girl here who's birthday started at midnight. Although, I'm working with a really good friend, so that part's good.

Now I'm even more worried about the kindergarten thing...Alec is such a literal child that he would take whatever his teacher says at face value, and not even try to question it. I don't want him to believe he's bad, but if she tells him that (even in the context of the whole class) he'll believe it. I always thought I'd have to worry about him academically, but now I realize it's not the learning that's the problem. It's the way he processes information. This is my kid who when we tease him, his eyes fill with tears and he believes every word we say. Or, if he's accidentally a little to rough with his sister, and I reprimand him, he will burst into tears and think he's bad. I guess I'm going to have to question him a little better about school. And maybe I'll have to try to keep a notebook of his comments, so I can connect the dots later.

Kyle has twice had teachers that I had heard were not "the best", but I've never been anything but happy with them. I've always said I wouldn't request teachers unless I had a really good reason (my mom's a teacher, and requests can cause teachers all kinds of issues)...but I really need Alec to have a good year next year, since this one has been not so great. I can't stop worrying right now....

Oh, and I'm still feeling envious about the scrapbooking. :)