Swine Hall: Vacancy

So there is a major flu outbreak going on up here. I hear it is not as bad in other regions of the country. It seems that just about every family I know has been touched in some way here. I have gone into major Germ Nazi Overload Mode, being that I have a 3-month old that basically has no immunity to anything. I realize that Brian, myself, or Big C could contract the seasonal flu or the Famed H1N1, and probably survive. Some days of misery, yes. But we’d survive. The Littlest One, though, truly does concern me. And for that reason, Big C and I ventured out to the fairgrounds yesterday for the first available H1N1 vaccine clinic. I was eligible as a healthcare provider, and a caregiver to an under-6-month-old. Big C was eligible for being age 6 months -4 years, and as a household contact of an infant. Much ado was made about how the demand far exceeded the supply.

A friend and I decided to go about 10:00am for the noon opening of the clinic. We had originally planned on receiving a report from a Scout who’d planned on arriving around 8:00am; however, said Scout’s son became sick in the night, so she was unable to report for duty and we had to shift to Plan B. We decided to deploy earlier than our original plan, and arrived about 8:30am. After waiting in line for several hours, the entry and vaccine process itself was quite speedy. I applaud the Clark County Combined Health District for its thorough preparation and attention to detail. I can’t think of anything they could have done better. The only thing I would have changed would have been to have it in the Swine Hall instead of the Arts & Crafts Building. I mean, really – opportunities like that don’t come around every day.

Anyway, Big C and I are now vaccinated against H1N1 (and Seasonal Flu, but we took care of that a while ago); miracle of all miracles, I convinced Brian to go in later that day. (He was also eligible based on being in a household with an infant).
Of course, Brian (a.k.a. Golden Boy) arrived about 12:15pm, walked right in, right through the clinic, got his vaccine, and was out by about 12:30pm! I was just glad we were able to get it at all and tried not to focus on the fact that I wasted about 4 hours of my day off.

I continue to keep Clorox in business, and our remote controls, light switches, and doorknobs are just sparkling! Here’s to more good health…

Got a few more pictures of the girls together the other night, right after bath time. Sometimes we call the Littlest One “Fluffy”…Can you see why?

And we haven’t done this in a while! Name that kid! Thing 1 or Thing 2?!?

The girls say “hi, grammy”

Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head…

I read a post on the (in)Courage website the other day about slowing down. Let’s all slow down, stop rushing, stop trying to fit so much in. Mmmmkay. Sounds delightful. No, really, it does. The person who wrote it doesn’t have the most typical lifestyle, hence it’s a bit hard for me to take in her words. Not that I don’t appreciate the idea, but it just sounds absolutely impossible.

My return to work yesterday went as well as could be expected. Big C and Lil C went to the sitter’s both yesterday and today because Big C didn’t have school today. I actually felt good about having her there, because I knew she would watch closely after Lil C.
Lil C has gotten good reports both days – lots of sleeping, taking bottles great, lots of talking and sweet faces. Thursday she went about 4 hours between each bottle, and today she condensed that a bit, going first four hours and then three hours between the next 2. I am indescribably thankful that she seems to have made the transition well, is drinking her bottles (it’s my milk, not formula, so nothing new to get used to. We’ve been giving her 1 bottle a week since she was 3 weeks old just to get her accustomed to it.)

I have been warmly welcomed at work, for which I am thankful as well. My new office is absolutely delightful. Perfect. Private. Out of the way, but still accessible. It says “I’m available” but it’s enough off-the-beaten-path that I don’t have everyone who blows through the door hanging over my desk. Did I mention, perfect for pumping? I can leave the pump half set-up and plugged in, which shaves a few precious minutes off each session. Two days down, 9 months to go.

So here’s my day. I am totally exhausted at the moment (good thing I’m blogging, then, instead of sleeping, huh?).
5:20am – Wake up and feed Lil C. Re-set alarm clock so I don’t sleep past 6:00am, in case I doze off.
5:45am – try to sneak in another 10 minutes of sleep, get Lil C re-settled to sleep a bit longer before I get her dressed and ready to go. Big C comes in our room to ask something. I don’t know what she wants, she talks to Brian. He tells her to go back to bed because it’s not time to get up yet.
6:00am – up, shower, dress, eat breakfast, double check diaper bag, pack bottles, gather pump parts, pack pump bag including ice pack, start to take stuff out to car, discover it’s raining, think about finding umbrella, subsequently forget about finding umbrella, get big C’s teeth brushed, get Lil C up, dressed, packed into car seat, and car completely loaded.

7:15am – Depart. On time. For the second day in a row. Wonders never cease. The next 1 hour+ involves half my commute, dropping kids off at sitter, getting soaked, and second half of commute. Lil C hates the car seat these days so she screams most of the way. Yippee. Did I mention it is pouring rain?
8:30am – Arrive at work.
8:50am – PUMP. Discover I can pump and hold my BlackBerry at the same time. Little miracles, you know?
9:00am – Get to call someone with good news. The best news, actually. One of those moments that keeps me working.
The morning is filled with continuing to organize my office, find my files and other stuff, a few calls, a few patients, navigating through new EMR system…i did grab lunch with an NP friend, which was a great time to catch up.
1:20pm – PUMP. Time gets away from me so quickly!
The afternoon is filled with more patients, more EMR, and some updates from the office manager. Our IT guy shows up to fix my computer – apparently while I was gone, my (ancient) computer died a valiant death. Good news: it was old, I was due for an upgrade, so I got a brand new computer. Bad news: death of hard drive=loss of all content. There are some things I had backed up on a jump drive and given to one of the other clinical staff before I went on maternity leave. When the office manager said, “Did you have any of that backed up?” “Oh yes!,” I enthusiastically replied. “I put it all on a jump drive right before…” She interrupted me. “They lost that.” Mmmkay. So, yeah I backed it up. But I didn’t back-up my back-up. Probably nothing that is totally irreplaceable, it will just be a matter of having to recreate some forms and things.
Anyway, where was I?…oh yeah, 4:45pm – time to pump again. Do my best to leave before 5:00pm so my elder daughter doesn’t cry when I pick her up about why I was the latest mommy.
4:55pm - Depart. Later than I wanted. Finish up a patient call on my cell on the way home because I know she will take at least 15 minutes and I just can’t stay a minute longer. More commuting, picking up, commuting.
6:00pm – We’re home. (refer back to 7:15am when we left. Great grief, that was 11 hours ago. I’m kinda tired). Figure out dinner. Pancakes. Fancy I know.
6:40pm – Not quite done with pancakes, but Lil C has decided she’s hungry. She gets a bottle of today’s milk because I’m not going to have much to offer her at this point. We got a little out of sync time-wise, but it will be fine by tomorrow.
7:30pm – Off to Kroger. I have to get my life together and get some planned, pre-cookable meals together. I call my dear friend Joy on the way there to get her input about crock pot recipes. She recommends pot roast and roast chicken. Rolling in at 6:00pm every evening makes it nearly impossible to cook something that requires more than about 10 minutes of prep.
8:37pm – Arrive home from Kroger. Unload groceries. Brian is entertaining Lil C but she is fading fast. She is fussy and feisty. She’s definitely ready for bath!
8:45pm - Bath, snack and bedtime for Lil C. Send Big C to bed after she claims her dad told her she could stay up until 10:00pm watching Olivia on nick jr. Uh, no.
9:30pm - Wash 4 bottles, wash pump parts, bag milk for freezer, clean kitchen, Change sheets, clean bathroom, wipe down upstairs with Clorox wipes. Clorox wipes, I love you. Thank you for protecting me thus far.

So now I’m sitting down. I am beat. That’s my day. What was that again about slowing down?Not sure what the weekend holds, but I hope for some rest! And on that note, good night!

The end of an Era!

Today will be the last day that the girls will fill their days with fun and mischief!

Baby Julie works on “Bear Hug 3″ for AWANA next week:

Baby Avery picks out some books from the bookshelf for some fall reading:

Back to work tomorrow for Mom. It’s a day of mixed emotions, but I do feel ready and I am so comfortable with where Lil C will be going. I am anxious still about the flu raging around seemingly every family we know, and if/when it will strike us. I look forward to seeing what lies ahead!

Water, water everywhere – The Sequel.

If you ever feel like buying a house that is somewhere around 88 years old, and there is a basement, and the owner tells you that the water comes in “in a small trickle in one corner,” resist the urge to yell, “Liar, liar, pants on fire!”. And then run, do not walk, away from the closing table.

If you ignore this advice, and you stay in the 88-year old house with the wet basement, and you tear out all the paneling and poorly-done-DIY-drywall, here is what your basement walls will look like:

Barf.

If you have ever visited me and spent any time in my basement, I wholeheartedly apologize. I hope you haven’t contracted mesothelioma or any other evils from breathing the obviously-contaminated air. Special shout-out to the Bible Study girls – I hope that three years of meeting in the Poker Room hasn’t ruined your lungs for life.

If you ever have a bunch of money that you’re not sure what to do with, and you definitely don’t want to spend it on anything fun, frivolous, or enjoyable, you can buy this:

Fancy, I know. And if you ever wonder why your basement was flooding to start with, jackhammer out some concrete and dig a trench around in the inside wall.

Almost immediately, there was standing water in the trench. I felt like that explained a lot. Our house has been sitting on/in lots of water for a long time. Which is why we couldn’t tolerate even the most modest of rainfalls. Apparently there was a drainage system of sorts installed when the house was built. It was made of clay pipes, which were currently filled with mud. About 8 inches above the floor, they drilled “weep holes” to allow water to drain down into the collection system. Brian said when they were being drilled, water came gushing out of those too. Ew. Our foundation thanks us, too, I imagine.

Today was a loud day. We spent much of it out and about, because, really, how much jackhammering can you listen to before you start to feel just a little bit crazy inside? Not how I had hoped to spend my final 2 days of leave, but I didn’t have much choice. This phase will be done tomorrow and then we will begin the rebuild. I am excited about the possibilities, though still unsure as to how it all will turn out.

At the end of the day, the Little One explored her crinkly mat. I realized that she hasn’t rolled over yet, and it is entirely my fault. I hold her too much. But she is my baby, and she is my last, and I want to remember how special it is when she was little. She already feels so big to us! I love the surprised, curious look on her face here. Who is this in the mirror?, she wonders…

You just never know

what the girls will get in to! We were terrifically busy on Monday while C was at school, dealing with basement stuff. She was soooo disappointed when she got home, that I hadn’t done anything. So, while she was at AWANA, here’s what I came up with -

It was difficult to illustrate, but Baby Avery was delving into the baking drawer. It was enough, Big C was thrilled!

The good, the bad, and the Ugly. Really ugly.

The good:

We seem to be in a kinda groove with the Littlest One. We have somewhat of a nightly routine that seems to be successful in getting her to sleep. After 2 nights of sleeping through the night, she decided that wasn’t for her. She still only wakes once, but it is still tough for mom, especially with return-to-work date looming ever closer! Last night, she slept from about 9:30pm-4:00am. For some reason, it wasn’t quite as painful waking up, feeding, and changing as it had been the previous night. Plus, how can you resist that face? (And she is soooo smiley in the wee hours when I am changing her. She just couldn’t be happier!)

The bad:
OK, there is no bad. But there is this

Which is actually more of the good. My favorite tree, again. I think I photographed it on almost the exact same day last year. It looked almost exactly the same. Mother Nature is funny that way.

And, now, for the ugly. The really ugly. Demolition starts tomorrow on our horrifically moldy basement. I am thankful today for homeowners’ insurance, which is paying for some pretty serious demolition, mold remediation and reconstruction. Thanks so much to the previous homeowners, who explained that water “comes in in a little trickle in that one corner.” Mmmhmm, just get that disclosure statement and signed and get this closing over with. It goes without saying that there is probably more than “a trickle” coming in with this amount of mold/water damage.

Oh, and these weren’t even the areas where “the trickle” supposedly came in! These were the DRY AREAS! With everything cleared, I am embarrassed and disgusted that we were ever down there. I put a high priority on a clean house, and what was revealed as we emptied the basement was scary. And gross. Goodbye, Ugly.

At any rate, I have an industrial dumpster in my driveway, the contents of my basement crammed in my garage and back porch, the overflow in the dining room, and my house is generally trashed. The Chaos-Usually-Found-by-the-Back-Door, which includes coats, hats, backpack, AWANA bag, mittens, several pairs of shoes, the occasional pair of sunglasses, a scarf, a couple of vests, and maybe an umbrella, will now be relocated to the Front Door. Which has no staging area to speak of, so the House Trashing will be bumped up a notch. We won’t have access to laundry for at least 3 days, if not 5, because they are venting everything through the dryer exhaust. Considering that I have a baby who makes easily 1/2 load of laundry per day herself and a Big Sister who enjoys at least 2-3 costume changes per day, this should be interesting! Let the fun begin!

Wacky Wednesday!

Baby Avery gets ready for a dip!

Baby Julie works on an alphabet puzzle…

Some plain ol’ funnies

Big C is full of funny stuff lately. She said something this afternoon that made me laugh and laugh. Loudly. True laughter. Like the kind that makes your stomach hurt. Maybe you had to be there, but…
We were looking at the American Girl catalog. C has a Bitty Baby and the past couple birthdays/Christmases, we have let her choose an outfit or accessory for Bitty Baby. We were looking at the latest catalog, because we have a birthday coming up in about a month. I was explaining that they have more stuff online than is in the catalog. C asked, “can we go to that store?” I told here that there is a store, and we will go to it, but not right now.
{I must explain that a good friend and I have had a plan to take our girls to American Girl in Chicago “someday”. We’ve been planning this since, oh, about the time I was pregnant with C (and my friend’s daughter was under the age of 2). We’re hoping for maybe next summer if circumstances allow}…anyway, C was getting all excited, “oh, there is a store?! When can we go?!” I said, “It’s gonna be awhile. Like a long way off. So don’t get too excited now.”
“A long way off?,” she asked. “How long off?”
“Like next summer, way way off,” I replied.
“Oh great grief!” she said, complete with an eye roll and a flourish of the hand. “That IS a long way off!”
For some reason, that struck me funny and I could not stop laughing. Oh great grief, indeed!

Secondly, on the way home from gymnastics, she was looking at her Big & Busy Body Book (the gift that keeps on giving!). She was reading to me all about the organs. We covered lungs, we covered heart, we kept right on going. When she is reading, if she gets to a word she doesn’t know, she says, “what spells…” and she’ll spell out the word.
“Hey mom, what spells P-A-N-C-R-E-A-S?”, she asked.
“Pancreas,” I replied.
“Oh. What does panty-cresses do?”, she inquired.
I laughed and laughed. I explained that your panty-cress makes chemicals that have to do with digesting food. That seemed to satisfy her. We moved right on to “What spells
S-P-L-E-E-N?” My future internist.

Monday’s Mischief