Terriers

Someone should have warned me about terriers. And as I told Sammy, it's a good thing I love her, or she wouldn't be here. Terriers and small critters do not get along. Sammy will bark at anything if it even looks like an animal. I've seen her bark at a leaf fluttering around on the ground. And while the barking can and will send me over the top, the 2am rabbit chases are what really get me. I'll start at the beginning.

We watched my nephews this weekend. The entire evening went great. Dinner, baths, playtime, reading, games, and bedtime; all went smoothly. Michael and I were in bed by 9:30pm, which was great because the night before I woke up at 4:30 am and couldn't go back to sleep the rest of the morning. So imagine my excitement last night as I watched the hours tick by on the clock. I might have gotten some sleep, drifting off between midnight and 1am but was back up, unable to fall asleep (and I'm talking we're counting sheep in the 800's). Around 2:30am Nate wakes up--on a side note I think getting his canines has been worse than his molars, the poor baby is in a lot of pain. So I go downstairs to get him some Motrin and Sammy wants to go out. No biggie, routine. But when she doesn't come back right away after doing her business, I know. I just know. This is not common but also not new. I go outside and she's barking at the animal under the shed. In case it's a skunk I don't run right over, but when I don't smell the skunk stink, I figure it's just a rabbit. So there I am chasing Sammy around the shed, coaxing her with cheese, very unsuccessfully. At this point I think she is going to wake up not only the whole house but the whole neighborhood, but I have to go take care of Nate. Fortunately, and I don't know how, neither one of the other boys woke up through all the crying, and I gave Nate his medicine and he went back to bed. Now, for Sammy. Threatening her with the pound was not working, and I probably, no I did, look like in idiot running around in circles around the shed trying to catch her. It took Michael's help to finally get her inside and then to wash her off because she was all muddy. Finally back to bed and of course I cannot go back to sleep. I finally begin to dose off around 4:30am when Sammy decides to start barking. Well, this does wake up Lucas, but luckily he returns to bed without much effort. I cannot say the same for myself. I don't know what time I actually did fall asleep, all I know is that sometime after six Lucas came crawling into the bed. I made him lie down until 7:30am but with all his moving around and counting down of the clock every few minutes (it is now seven hundred and one!) I was not able to go back to sleep. Not long after Landon was up and then Nate.

So I know the whole night is not Sammy's fault. I know the majority of the night I couldn't sleep for whatever reason, but chasing my dog around at 2am is not my idea of a good time or a good way to fall asleep. If only I could train her to warm me up some milk and sing me a lullaby. Until then, I guess I'll have to settle with the naughty little terrier that we've grown to love.

Stubborn Babies

I've felt the baby move, but the feelings have been so slight and quick, that sometimes I still question whether it is really the baby or just gas. It's still early in the pregnancy (almost 18 weeks) but it feels different than it did when I was pregnant with Nate. Around this time, it felt like he was lightly brushing up against the inside of my belly. The feelings now are difficult to describe, but more like a light tap against my belly. So I was very anxious for my doctor appointment and when the doctor was having difficulty finding the heartbeat, I was instantly concerned. Of course she made it seem like it was the baby not cooperating, stating that it must be a boy because he's being so stubborn and moving around so much that she can't get a good listen of his heart. But all I could think was that something was wrong, and was really worried when after trying for awhile she told me that we were going to run across the hall to do an ultrasound. My worries were instantly relieved, though, because the baby's heartbeat popped right up, nice and strong. The reason it was so difficult to hear it with the regular doppler was because the baby is facing head forward, with the feet towards my spine. The doctor said of course it was difficult to hear the heartbeat through a skull! I don't know why I worry but I always do and probably will continue to until the baby is big enough for me to feel movements more often.

Are boys more stubborn than girls? I don't know, but Nate is pretty stubborn. He continues to throw his fits when he does not get his way. For the most part, I am letting him throw his fits. It's hard not to give in, but I know it will be worth it in the end. And I know sometimes he is just frustrated because he can't tell us what he wants. I am trying to teach him to sign or say words for things that he wants. He has been whining (eh-eh-eh) whenever he wants something. I've been working on it and today for the first time he started signing "more" for more crackers. Hopefully the talking thing won't be far to follow and he will have less frustrations when communicating with us. He says baba for baby, baba, and ball (ball ball) but I usually can which one he means. He said cookie the other day, which sounded more like coo, but I think he's on his way. His favorite expression is still uh-oh, which he uses a million times a day. He has started playing with cars, pushing them around and making little motor sounds. I think it has to be the cutest thing I've ever seen. So stubborn? Yes. Adorable? Yes. I'll take it.

Valentine's Day

Michael and I never buy each other anything for Valentine's Day, as I already feel it's too commercialized. But I think it is a good time to remind each other how much we love each other and be extra loving on this day (never hurts, right?). Each year we make each other gifts instead; we have made photos, music CD's, cards, etc. This year I thought it would be nice to just write something nice or a compliment on a slip of paper, one for each day of the month. We started on the 1st and it has been so nice, and something we each look forward to reading each day, and something that will continue even though Valentine's Day is over.

So I wasn't expecting anything yesterday. Michael called me in the morning to tell me that everyone enjoyed the cupcakes I sent with him to work (which secretly I was hoping they didn't and he would come home with some--I really enjoyed them and ate 3 the night before and wanted some more!). He asked what we were up to today. When I told him we were going grocery shopping he told me no, to stay home. Very weird and suspicious. So I thought that it was either going to be one of two things: he was having flowers sent to the house and I needed to be home or he was going to take us out for dinner when he got home and we could just do the grocery shopping then. So I was really surprised when an hour later Michael comes walking through the front door! He had taken the rest of the day off and arranged for Nate to go to daycare so that we could have a fun day. After dropping Nate off, we went out to lunch, did some window shopping, and went to a matinee to see Just Go With It. It was such a nice time and so unexpected. It was so nice to be able to spend Valentine's Day together this year.

Drill Weekends

I always say how much I dislike drill weekends. The week is long (especially this week) and we look forward to having a couple of days of quality time with Daddy home. Drill weekends keep us from having this. You would think after a deployment that I wouldn't complain about a couple of extra days of work, days where Michael even gets to come home at night, but I do and I am. No, drill weekends are not the worst thing in the world, but this is my place to say what I'm thinking so that's what I'm doing. :) I do try to look at the positives, and this drill weekend was very easy to see some good things. First, Nate woke up happy and ate a little for breakfast and appeared to be feeling much better. Finally. I am so happy that my little guy is getting better. His cough is still horrible, and I mean horrible. If it continues I might just take him in again to get checked, even if he does seem to be doing better. Second, my sister and her family came up for the sole purpose of watching Nate so that Michael and I could go out to dinner. This was a very much needed break after the long week we've had at the house. We went out to dinner, went to Kohl's and Target, and stopped at DQ for some ice cream. Just those few hours were enough to rejuvenate me and lift my spirits. I woke up this morning energized and feeling good. It's amazing what a little break will do. It is also supposed to be nice out this week and so I am looking forward to finally getting out of the house with Nate. Things are good.

So Much Sickness

I guess we just can't escape sickness in this house. A couple of weeks ago Michael came home with a cold that really knocked him out. He bounces back pretty easy, though, and was better after a couple of days. Last week I caught it. I hate to say I caught his cold because it's not really just a cold. It's the runny nose and cough but it knocks you out. I was absolutely exhausted and so Michael stayed home from work on Wednesday so I could rest. And I did. I slept almost the entire day. It was exactly what I needed. Afterwards, I still felt like I had a cold but just the runny nose and cough, and I can handle that.

Well, of course it wouldn't be fair if Nate didn't catch it too. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights he was up every couple of hours. He was having difficulty breathing lying down so I would rock him back to sleep. He wasn't sleeping but 10-20 minutes in our laps during the day. He hasn't been eating at all. It is now Wednesday and since Saturday he has had 4 nilla wafers, a few fries, a few ounces of pediasure and some raviolis. He's sustaining on milk and water. He has been fevering, which just broke today. He's been extremely fussy. He just wants to lie on our laps. It's so sad. Monday Michael stayed home from work again to help me (since my "cold" seemed to be getting worse again) and neither of us had gotten any sleep over the weekend. We took him in to the doctor and they ran a flu test and it came back negative. The doctor heard some wheezing in his chest so he wanted to check for pneumonia. So we headed over to get x-rays done. That was negative too. So 3 1/2 hours later, we went home with a diagnosis of viral infection with nothing they could do but let it run its course.

I also went to the doctor Monday in the afternoon because the night before I blew my nose and it felt like I blew out my eardrum. I was in so much pain I couldn't sleep. Well, I didn't blow out my eardrum (so I don't ever want to feel what that would feel like) but I do have a severe ear infection. Michael went back to work today (Nate is finally sleeping better at night) and I am scrubbing the house down. I am so tired of all this sickness and I wish it was warmer so I could open the windows and air this house out.