February Valentines!

MichelleL-Ouch thats gotta hurt writing that check!!!I too got a 3 stone diamond ring for my anniversary last year, although mine is 1 carat.But I was also proud that he did it by himself.

Kim-Poor Landree!!!! Lucas actually did ok with his shots this time so I'm no help.He never vomited last time either just ran fevers.Let us know what happens!

Michelle- that so sucks...when we bought our house basically what was left in property taxes were included in the sale...KWIM, so the previous owner only had to pay the portion in which she owned it...that is crazy!

Kim- yea, that's how it was when we bought our house too! Selling the business was so different. Had I realized everything I would be responsible for I would have had a higher asking price. I just have to keep telling myself that at least I had a buyer as opposed to just closing the doors!

Hey girls,

Michelle, glad to hear that things are better with DH.
I had this accountant friend that told me it's better to owe the IRS b/c you had their money for free all year....if they owe you then they were able to use your money for free all year.... he's not my friend anymore!!! LOL! No, I just don't want to owe anyone money.

Bekah...great news on the taxes

Kim, I heard that the stimulus payments were going to be based on 2008 taxes b/c DH an I couldn't figure out how they could do that b/c we weren't going to get credit for the baby...maybe now we will.
I sure hope Landree gets better and it's not a reaction from the shots.
Oh, I think u do have the lil squirt of the bunch..today at the dr Aubrey weighed in at 12-6 and she doesn't have her 4 month til next week so she'll probably pass up Landree and she's already 22". But Aubrey's only up 3#'s total since birth but the dr doesn't seem to be concerned.

Shannon...way to go on the weight loss, 2#'s is 2#'s, you go girl!!
Sure hope the lice stayed away from u'r kiddos.

AFM: Well preliminary urine tests show urinary tract infection for Aubrey. The dr gave her a shot of antibiotics to get her on her way then a prescription. She already has to go tonight for her RSV shot so not just 2 in one day but at different times, that sucks. Then next week she goes in for her 4 months...

shannon - omg lice! how scary! EEEEK! I remember having lice as a kid. it was NOT fun.... Well I'm glad nobody had it! jeez

michelle - I feel bad about your business. Do you think when Brenden gets a little older, you could start back up again? It as a bakery, right? It sounds like right now you'd make a ton of money! I've been watching the news lately and they say comfort foods, like chocolate and stuff are banking hardcore in this crappy economy, especially if you sell on the cheap! I'm not trying to make your decision seem like a bad one, I was just wondering if you could try again, but from home. I worked for a lady in 2007/2008 for a couple of months who was trying to get a bakery started. She made cookies and cupcakes and stuff. But she worked from home. And let me tell you, it was not easy! Even with two ovens and two freezers, it was just the hardest thing ever to get those puppies done with your home ovens and stuff, b/c they actually don't all have a set time to cook, b/c once your oven is working all day, it kinda gets wonky on how fast it makes cookies... its weird. anyway, just a thought.

Diana - poor aubrey, i hope she gets better real soon!

Eileen - no, not yet. Although I heard that you don't have to have a license to own them in your home. To carry one on you, or in your car, you do, but not in your house. Or at least I heard that from a good friend. But yeah, we've been thinking about it. Maybe that's something DH should do with our tax monies. Actually, we are going to try and save it for getting into an apartment.

Speaking of saving money for a new home, I heard that the government is going to give like $7500 to first time home buyers and give them a fixed low interest rate of like 4.9% and like the first year's home owner's insurance! Maybe it IS a good time to get a house... hmmmm... well joey is fussy, ttyl! ^_^

Bekah - Don't feel bad....but thank you! I'm actually starting the catering up again for one of my corporate clients. I have to rent a kitchen because cooking and selling food out of your home is completely illegal in Texas. Luckily I have a business aquantance that is willing to rent me her commercial kitchen....she needs money and I need a place to work! I think it will work out in both of our favors!! I am planning on re-opening my company. I was originally going to wait until Brenden started Kindergarten but I've decided September of this year is what I'm going to do. Honestly, I'm just not SAHM material anymore and with my business Brenden would only have to go to daycare 4 days a week for 5 hours. I think he will benefit from the interaction not only with other kids his age but with other adults also. Dawson stayed home with me until he was three and we put him in preschool 3 days a week. I really feel like I did a disservice to him making him stay home with me and not having anyone to play with. It was a hard adjustment for him when it should have been the time of his life. Anyway, Brenden is now crying..he thinks 15 minutes is enough for an afternoon nap. Unfortunately for him I don't. LOL

Diana- poor Aubrey, I know UTI's are common in little baby girls, but knowing how painful they are for us makes me feel so bad for her.

Bekah- just be careful about some of the 1st time homebuyers stuff...there is a lot behind the propaganda, I honestly recommend taking a class...My Dh and I did and learned so much about home buying and mortgages and closings and all the fine print that can drive you crazy.

Michelle-good for you! i myself am not stay at home material at all and i think kids benefit from both there are pros adn cons to each so we do what we have to do with what we have got. good for you though that is a big decision.

diana- ack a uti! have they checked her for kidney reflux? my 3 yr old got a uti adn they checked hima dn he has what i had as a kid called kidney reflux you might ask about it. it corrects itself at puberty but it is the cause of uti's often in kiddos. you can google it.

bekah- jsut make sure you get what you think you are getting! i am with kim take a class or find a VERY TRUSTED real estate person.

real quick update on joey. He's been acting a little funny today, more fussy than usual. His cough has gotten a lot worse and he had a small fever earlier(probably due to his screaming bloody murder for the two seconds I wasn't holding him). Gave him some tylenol and it's back down again, but since the cough is mucusy, I called the doctor. He told me to bring him in tomorrow morning around 9 or so and he'd give him a chest x-ray. I'm sure it didn't help him while we were there monday, that while he was listening to joey's chest and heart, DH was jabbering away real loud to the dr. Anyway, I'm hoping it's just a bad cold and that he'll give joey some antibiotics, and that it isn't pneumonia or anything. Here's hoping! TTYL girls!

Bekah - do you have a humidifer? that might help him at least for tonight! You can also try doing a steam with him - take him into the bathroom in just his diaper and turn on the hot water and sit in the bathroom with him for about 10-15 minutes after it gets all steamy and then turn everything off, put his pjs on him and wrap him in a blanket so he doesn't get a chill 'cause it'll be chilly when you walk out. that might help losen the stuff in his chest. hope he feels better and it's nothing more than a cold!

Bekah- Will keep my fingers crossed for Joey!! Let us know what they say or text me afterward-if you still have my number

Elise - Thanks for the advice but we actually have a cool mist humidifier and have been running it in his room ever since he first got the cold. It doesn't seem to have helped though! I've elevated his bed, used the saline solution in his nose(can't bulb syringe it, so i just swab the inside of his nose), and I don't know what else to do. I give him tylenol when his temp is up(it was 99, but I didn't want to take any chances). I think we really need antibiotics. Poor guy.. I really appreciate the concern, though.

Shannon - I will let you know how it turns out. I might text you or probably just post here. I told my mom to take my unlimited text messages off and give me 300 2 way text messages per month. should lower her extravagant bill!

I will let you guys know how he's doing tomorrow. Until then, goodnight!

Bekah- most colds are viral and antibiotics won't help...just becareful with using antibiotics often in lo's...they become immune to them and therefore have a harder time fighting infections when older because they need stronger and stronger varieties. and Elise's bathroom trick is really good...it creates a much steamier enviorment than just a humidifier in a room. I hope he is feeling better soon, let us know how you make out with the dr.

Hi Everyone,

Happy Thursday!

Bekah - I hope Joey gets to feeling better. Let us know how is appointment goes. Nate was acting kind of like that and even though he had a virus that caused the congestion it was the double ear infections that made him feel so poorly.

MichelleL- That sounds like a great plan. Starting back to work in Sept. That gives you almost a full year at home. The amount of time he will be at daycare isnt really that much and it will develop him socially. That and he will build a great immune system! Yeah for antibodies!

Diana - I hope Aubry gets over her UTI pretty quick. It sounds like you caught it early so hopfully she isnt feeling too bad from it.

AFM - I am here at work for the first time this week not totally exhausted. I am kind of excited and trying not to be overly but Nate has gotten on a great sleep schedule. I hope it lasts. I have had 5 good nights in a row. I pick him up at daycare, come home, have a bottle, play for a while, rest a bit then we have bathtime at 8 and he is having his last bottle after that and asleep by about 8:30. He then sleeps until I wake him up around 6:45 AM. I can even get completly ready for work before I wake him up. Please Please Please let this last.

I have a question for those of you who have had your 4 month appointments. Ours is next week and after these shots should someone stay home with him or should he be ok to go to daycare? With Landree throwing up and all I didnt know if this round of shots had a harsher reaction. What do y'all think?

I guess that is about it for now. I should go and get to work.

Take Care!

Amy- I like to take the day off when they have their shots...although I really should be taking the day after off. For me I just like being with them when they aren't feeling the best. Even though my mom is their caregiver, I just like being with them...and since she never got sick again, I am thinking it was a fluke thing and possibly not related to the immunizations...so it is really up to you. My Dr's office gives me handouts on the vaccines with info about what they are and possible side effects, if your Dr.'s do the same you could always make copies of the sheets to give them so if he is acting any different they can refer to those sheets....and sometimes a kiddo won't have a reaction the first time but will subsequent times and their reaction can get worse each time...that is why I am thinking about refusing the rotavirus vacc next time, it is deffinitly something I am talking to my ped about.

Good morning,

Eileen, I've never heard of that but I will definitely google it. I keep her as clean as I possibly can without being a finatic.

Bekah, sure hope Joey is feeling better soon. Like Kim said, if it's viral the drugs won't help him anyway, it has to run it's course...believe me that's a phrase I'm already tired of hearing.

Kim, how many times do they have to take that rotavirus? that is the liquid, right? Aubrey threw up all over the nurse immediately after she gave it to her.

Amy, I'm with you on leaving them after the shots. Aubrey gets hers next week too and I'm taking her to her appt but then MIL will have her after that so I can go to work...I'm so bummed about it.

AFM: So far Aubrey hasn't gotten much relief. The Dr said it could take 48hrs before we see improvement. She didn't get her RSV shot last night b/c she had more than a mild temp. She has to get it within 28-32 days of the last one so they are giving them again tonight if she doesn't have a temp and if not I can take her on Saturday. At least it's going to be in the 50's for the next week so I don't have to drag her out in the cold.
Since I work from home today I let DH sleep last night and I stayed on the couch with her....I may have to cheat and go take a nap!! She's resting comfortably right now.

Bekah - I hope Joey is doing better today! Don't forget to update us on his visit!

Diana - How is Aubrey doing? UTI's suck.....

Elise - I agree, the bathroom trick works so well! Even when I'm feeling cruddy I'll take a steamy hot shower! Dawson is just catching on to that but he won't blow his nose afterwards and I'm like "you are missing the benefit if you don't get it out" and he's like "mom, it's fine" as he runs off snorting! LOL

Amy - I hope my plan works out! Thanks so much for the encouragement! I think the school Brenden is going to go to is the preschool I took Dawson to. They have an infant room and actually accept baby's once they are 6 months old but I'm going to wait until summer is over since they don't have school during the summer months. I figure next summer (2010) Dawson will be nearly 11 and if I have the same kind of set up as I did before there will be a play room at my shop and he can help keep an eye on Brenden. He started running my cash register when he was 4 1/2...yes, he could ring up customers, so I figure playing with his brother will be far easier! I am not going to be doing birthday cakes and such just corporate catering and when Brenden hits kindergarten I'll doing wedding cakes. I didn't realize how much I'd miss my shop....

Kim- I, too, think it's a good idea to stay home with the kiddos once they've had their shots. Even Brenden with his no sleepin' self likes a good nap afterwards. I think it's so awesome that your mom watches your girls for you! I so wish we had parents somewhere close! Ours are 500 miles away.

AFM - last night was INSANE! I had a wake baby at 10:45, 1am, 3:30am, and up at 5:30am. If he was old enough to give Benedryl I would have! DH came up with this "plan" that he would get up if it's before 1am and I would after. Well, last night was the FIRST time he had to get up more than once. The 1am wake up was actually 12:50 so I held him to his "plan". He wasn't very happy but ya' know, I"m about to fall over with exhaustion. I can't sleep during the day...not that Brenden would let me since his naps are roughly 45minutes. I keep telling myself he is not Dawson, he didn't come home from the hospital on a schedule, he thinks he's gonna miss something if he's asleep....it will work out because eventually he'll be tired enough to crash. I've been trying to help him with a schedule but he's too darn stubborn to cooperate. Sometimes I look at him and I see Stewie (from Family Guy) trying to tear me apart! He is so strong! If he was more coordinated I'd be toast! DH keeps telling him in this kid voice "you better straighten up, mommy is one tough lady and she ain't gonna put up with your stubborness...you'll spend most of your time in your room if you don't work this out" and Brenden will just smile and laugh. We'll see.... Hope ya'll have a great day ladies!

Bekah-How'd Joey do at the doctor?

Diana-Poor Aubrey!I've never had a uti but I sympathize!

MichelleL-So what types of yummy stuff did you bake?What was your favorite?Got any good sugar cookie frosting recipes that you're willing to share?

AFM: WARNING GROSS STORY!!! I had Lucas in his walker playing while I was looking up a recipe for dinner to throw in the crock pot andI heard him farting/pooping. Ok now biggie.I'll give him a minute to finish so I'm still looking at recipes and i hear dripping...WTF?!So I check the kitchen sink...nope...bathroom sink, nothing...I look at Lucas who is grinning and cooing and screeching happily and theres a poopy puddle beneath him still dripping.YUCK!!!!!!Amazingly it only got on one sock! So he got a bath this morning instead of tonight....Thats how my morning has gone

well girls, Joey has a virus. BIG SURPRISE lol. the doc was like, "Run humidifier in his room full blast." and I looked at him like, "Duh, what kind of idiot do you take me for?" Anyway he gave us prednisolone(steroids) and told me to call him next week. He said if his fever gets really high or he has REALLY labored breathing(or not seeming to get any oxygen), to take him to the ER. I doubt it will get that bad. But this sort of ruins our valentines day plans. If he's still sick, I can't take him to my sister's to watch him, since she has two boys... I hope we get rid of this soon! G2G, he's not a happy baby right now,

Bekah- If anyone has a cold keep them away from Joey while on the steroids because it weakens the immune system. Just an FYI...I'm very familiar with prednisolone...Hope he gets better for you soon...

Diana- I am not sure...I know she has had two doses so far...the first time they didn't get much in as she wasn't very cooperative, this time I know she got the whole dose.

and I completely agree with Michelle, steroids will weaken the immune system...and may make him very hungy, or have a loss of appetite so don't be surprised.

Bekah, hopefully he'll be better in more than a week for Vday.

I think the pred can make you thirsty too. DH takes pred everyday, he's a kidney recipient so always immune-supressed. We work hard on keep the germs away b/c it takes him double normal time to get rid anything.

Kim, when she threw up the nurse did tell me that as long as she gets a little bit of it, it will work. The nurse even said 'so I don't know why they make us give these babies all of this'.

We haven't put Aubrey in her bed for days now b/c one of us has been on the couch with her. She was fussing a little bit ago so I swaddled her legs, put on her classical lullaby CD and put her in her bed, she's been asleep for 30 mins. It's so nice to see her rest comfortably.
AND...I'm off for a nice, hot shower!

Yeah, I'm fully aware of what steroids do to the immune system. It really sucks that joey is this sick. I've had to keep him with me all day. He won't stand for being put down for more than a minute and a half. I'm trying to do some stuff, but I just can't get the energy. I'm running on maybe 3 hours or so of sleep? I felt really bad asking this, but I asked my mom to come home for an hour after work(she usually goes over to her boyfriend's house), b/c I needed a nap. DH doesn't get home til 7, so by then it's like, "Well I might as well wait til joey goes to sleep around 10:30 or 11!" But I would really enjoy a nap. I am currently trying to get joey to take one so maybe I can get a tiny nap in and tell my mom she doesn't HAVE to come over. Fat chance. Joey never sleeps more than 20 minutes in that friggin crib, and with this cough, it's just a nightmare... UGH! i'm soo sleeepy! :'(

Shannon- Wow thats a gross poop story... I think I just had my first poop leakage today with Jeremiah... He was in the swing swinging along just fine...then all of a sudden I took him out to see what the deal was and lo and behold he pooped through the diaper and through his clothes...luckily thats as far as it went to. So not a bad explosion or leakage like yours but a leakage none the less.... I ve noticed lately his poop has went from having a strong iron smell to like a nasty poo smell...yuck....like the kind that gags you. lol

Bekah- Wow hopefully he starts feeling better soon for your sake as well as his. It really sucks bad when the babies get sick because although we may not end up catching it we end up with the side effects of them having it which almost always includes less sleep than normal.

Hey everyone,

sorry I got so behind I had 3 pages to read and I will do personals later as for me both my boys are under the wether. Shannon I think our kids got together nad planned how to start our days...lol i got home to my empty house (ubby takes all the kids to schoola dn daycare so i can sleep after work) and i smell it...throw up. I look in each room adn find my 3 yr olds bed full of throw up. hubby didn't clean it up, wipe it up, or even t0uch it or tell me abotu it. I was livid! so that was what i did this morning afdter work cleaned that up adn then went to bed. now i am abck at work yeah chilling hopefuly been crazy at work the last week with crazy inmates. very stressful i guess. anyways hope al is well and all teh sick kiddos get better