A tough weekend

So -- Darling Laynie was sick this weekend. It started Friday morning with the "whines" and a low grade fever (100.7). By evening her fever was 102.7. She doesn't get sick often so when she does I naturally over re-act and assume she has meningitis or scarlet fever. SOOOO I call our insurance company sure they're going to recommend we head for the Emergency Room. The nurse says to give her more Tylenol and call the pediatrician if the fever doesn't drop. Being smart I decide to call my sister the ER nurse instead. She says to give Tylenol and Ibuprofen in intervals. David and I have "conversation" over whether he just bought Ibuprofen or not. I convince him it was Tylenol he bought and send him on the merry way to the grocery store (Turns out -- it was Ibuprofen he recently bought, now we have two bottles).

Regardless of the Ibuprofen situation after a semi-sleepless Friday night we get up Saturday morning to a feverless child. We thought that was the end of it but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..... we're not THAT lucky.

We spent the day Saturday watching Cinderella, Princess Stories (because Cinderella is in it) and Princess Sing-A-Long Songs (because Cinderella is in it). She was crabby the entire day. It was almost like she reverted back to a speechless 9 month old... uhhh uhhh uhh for EVERYTHING. We kept up the Tylenol/Ibuprofen combo hoping to kick whatever was wrong with her.

Unfortunately Saturday was another sleepless night. More so for David then I. He popped up the trundle under Laynie's bed up and slept next to her. She woke up about 5 and came to sleep with me. At 7 she was ready to get up... crabby-face and all. We spent most of the day Sunday with a repeat of Saturday. No fever but clearly something was wrong.

By early afternoon we couldn't take it anymore so I headed off to urgent care with her. The MD said her throat was very red and sent us home with an antibiotic for strep. He said to continue with the Tylenol/Ibuprofen, it may not have seemed to make a difference but he said it most likely did. She ate a little dinner Sunday (which she didn't eat much all weekend) and fell asleep about 6:30. We thought she'd sleep through the night but no such luck. She was up an hour later. She went back to sleep about 11 and slept until 7. Thankfully! She wanted to get up but 8 hours isn't enough for our 12 hour girl so I convinced her to go back to sleep and we slept until about 10.

Today wasn't so bad. She has a dance recital Wednesday so I needed to get her some shoes. The minute we got in the car she was happy... I think part of her problem has been "cabin fever", I get the same way when I feel cooped up. We got her shoes & went to Target and bought her some frilly hair accessories. She was fine the whole time, until we got home then the crabbies got the best of her again.

We went to the rehearsal tonight. She's so cute and so much like her mom. All the kids did their dance routine... Laynie stood in the middle of the bunch and looked scared. I guess she has my tendency to freeze up the minute she's uncomfortable! Anyways, after rehearsal we went to thank her teacher (I want my child to be polite so we thank the teacher each week). Her teacher put her on stage and had her do the dance...She was perfect, hopefully she'll pull it off Wednesday. If not, at least she's damn cute!!



So - Thats the last few days. My in-laws are coming for a visit in a couple days. My sister (the ER nurse will be here also). I bought tickets to take Laynie, myself, MIL and sister to see a matinee of The Beauty & The Beast musical. I'm so excited about it. Laynie LOVES going to plays so I'm especially excited to see how she reacts.

A little background

I probably should have started this random rambling with a little background on who the random rambler is....

I grew up in Minnesota. It was a great place to grow up and an even better place to move away from. Considering I hate the cold that is! I came from a big family - 3 sisters and one brother. We're spanned over 15 years (WHAT were my parents thinking!).

One of the saddest days in my life was when my dad passed away almost 10 years ago. He was a wonderful dad and there isn't a day that goes by I don't miss him. I dreamed a couple weeks ago he was in my daughters room looking at her when I went to check on her in the night. I asked what he was doing and he said he just wanted to meet her, see her and touch her. Then he told me he thought I was a really good mom. It was a nice dream.

I also have a close relationship with my mom. I think the death of my dad brought the two of us closer together. Not that we weren't close... we were just different back then. I went to my dad for everything... advise, friendship, support. I guess that's what girls do.

My siblings are all great, in their own rites as well. I can't imagine my life without any of them. Especially considering I've got 4 nephews and 4 nieces - the only one with an even number of each! (until my son is born then Heather will have 5 of each)

I'm married to someone I consider a best friend.. I'm not sure how I made it through 30 years without him. We first met in 2000. I knew I liked him the first time I met him and remember making eye contact with him at Bennegins thinking "WOW, I'm going to marry this guy". At that time I thought he was dating someone else and kind of blew it off. Plus, I had divorced the year before so my first instinct was to "RUN AND DON'T LOOK BACK". We went out a few times then due to miscommunication (HE never called ME back) didn't keep in contact.

A year later under similar circumstances we met up again. This time I was ready and we started dating seriously. He proposed on our one year anniversary and a little over nine months later -- well lets just say our honeymoon to Italy is named Dalaynie Grace-Anne.

We're expecting our son the end of September. I thought naming a boy would be much easier then a girl. I'm finding out it isn't to be. I like the Celtic names and think considering Laynie's is - his should be too. David thinks not. Mostly because I haven't come up with anything he likes (I like Deklan and Keegan). All we agree on is that we can't give him a common name considering Laynie's isn't. (This is strong considering my name is Johnna. I grew up with Jeanine, Daniel, Heather and Stephanie. Pretty sure none of my siblings ever had THEIR names slaughtered.) I don't know how I got so lucky in the 'family department' but I feel truly blessed.

We have our family dog, Molly. She's been around about 5 years and is a cool dog. Sometimes she bugs me but mostly I hope to have her forever. Right now she's either on a food strike, is trying to be anorexic or thinks it is just too hot to eat. I'm thinking she doesn't like her dog food anymore. Especially considering we watched David's cousins dog and he had Pedigree canned dog food. Uncle Jim lived with us for a while and walked her daily. I've tried to get out 3 -4 days a week with her (see the post regarding the daily blizzard). She's not looking like a fat dog anymore!

I'm going to try to post some pictures. Hopefully it will work!

A Day of Nothing

After our day at the Science Museum and the fact that I was up until 2 playing around with this thing we made the decision to have a "Day of Nothing/A Dalaynie Day".

Laynie came in my room about 5 am and climbed in bed with me. We slept until Molly woke me to go out at 9:45. It's been a long time since we've done that. We had Cheerios for breakfast - actually Fruit Loops for her and Honey Nut Cheerios for me. The first thing Laynie asked was if she could watch Cinderella. She looked stunned when I said "SURE". Normally we don't watch TV until later in the day or not at all. So - She watched Cinderella then wanted to watch The Fox and the Hound. Again... stunned look when I said "SURE". She asked for a banana so I gave her one. Then she wanted another one so I figured what the heck.. it's healthier then licorice... and let her have it. (This it turned out ended up being a bad idea as she had some smelly poop that she didn't actually control...... ) Anyways, she decided the bananas were her lunch and she didn't want anything else. I decided to have a chicken salad sandwich and some watermelon. My MD cut me off from Tuna, I've found chicken salad to be an okay substitute.. for now.

We spent the afternoon reading books and just 'hanging' out. Dalaynie was a little surprised when I talked to David and she over heard me tell him I wasn't having her take a nap today. "I'm NOT taking a nap today?!" She asked in disbelief. I asked if she wanted to? As she shook her head no her little cheeks jiggled. I love when they do that!

I spent some time posting back and forth on the MOMS CLUB web site we belong to. Thank GOD for the MOMS CLUB! We'd have lots of days like today without them and both my brain and Laynie's would be mush (as opposed to just mine - which some are trying to convince me is just pregnancy related. I really am becoming dumb though).

Late this afternoon we went to the Mail & Copy store in town to send some packages. Then we went to Carls, jr for dinner & an Oreo shake for me. I use to love the local Dairy Queen but my husband ruined that by telling me some kids were eating out of the containers they keep the blizzard ingredients in. I just imagine two 8 year olds picking their noses, going to the bathroom and not washing their hands then digging in the food that was put in my blizzard. YUK YUK YUK!

I'm hoping to get Laynie to bed early so I can get to sleep early. Then maybe tomorrow we can get back into our routine.

This was the 'recap' of our exciting Day of Nothing!

Laynie Easter 06 Picture

Here's a pic of Laynie from Easter. I'm just playing around with this and trying to figure out what I can and can't do.

Busy Two Year Old

I'm still up so I figured I post about taking my kid to the Science Museum today. I'm pretty sure it's one of her favorite places. I took her in January and she's talked about it several times since then. We had so much fun I decided to buy a membership. We haven't gone due to the 'unexpected' complications with my pregnancy (all better now and 3 more months she'll be blessed with a brother!).

So - I took her today. We went with the neighbor and her 3 year old boy. They had a blast. It was fun to watch the differences in what interested each of them and how they expressed those interests. "Joe", the 3 year old neighbor boy (this isn't his real name, it's being protected for privacy), was interested in BUGS and wanted to look at them.. for a long time. Dalaynie, my kid, (who's name isn't being protected as I'm sure only friends and family will ever read this) was interested in running from station to station randomly. I found myself envious of the parents with older kids (maybe 5 year olds plus) who could actually get their kids to sit and play games or study the exhibits. The only one I could get mine to stay long enough for was the "airplane simulator" and she's been on so many airplanes in her short life it really shouldn't be "cool" to her. (The airplane simulator is like 4 rows of an airplane with two t.v. monitors. On one they show what the plane looks like from the outside taking off and landing.. the other has a narrative with the pilot).

She really liked the planetarium... actually.. they both did. I wish I was one of those people that could look at the sky and find constellations. All I see are a bunch of stars.. and what I usually think is the big dipper is something else! We live in a great area for the night sky. We're in the 'country' so there isn't a whole lot of light pollution. By country I mean the closest mall is a half hour away. Our houses are ten feet apart but we're still in the country!

So -- see why my blog is 'rambling' -- I got off topic. Back to the Busy Two Year Old. I'm use to watching her run through my house. I remember the first few months I was home with her - she'd wear me out bouncing and running all over. I'm use to it now so I guess I forgot how much energy she has! She was a running fool and was so interested in everything.... for about 45 seconds at a time. It was really busy though so her time in her favorite room was cut short. I told her we'd go back very soon. Maybe when my in-laws are here... and my sister. Then I can just sit in a corner and watch as they wear themselves out.

I'm tired now so time to sign off. I'll post more two year old ramblings soon I suppose.

OH -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY H!!

First Time EVER

Well - This is the first time I've ever "blogged". I've thought about it... just never done it. If I can bring myself to follow through with this maybe it'll be a better use of 'free time' then playing poker on pogo.