Sick

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Sick sick sick sick sick.

You’ll be glad to know that I’m actually going to the doctor today. I pretty much hate going to the doctor and rely on my local CVS drug aisles to keep me healthy. But I can’t ignore it anymore. I cough nonstop. I’m not just saying that, it’s true. I can’t go a minute or two without coughing and sometimes I get going so hard that I dry heave. Ugh. My body is warn out and I’m so exhausted.

So I have nothing for you. Hopefully this trip to the doctor will help and I’ll be back to my normal self eventually.

Also, my blog is going through the transition to be self-hosted. Don’t ask me what that means, I have no idea. All I know is that you no longer have to use the “wordpress” part in any of the URLs. You can update your readers if you’d like, but WordPress will continue to forward you here. I don’t see any point in updating but the lady I’m working with tells me that it’s a good idea for you to update your feeds… just in case.

I’m off to suck on my 75th cough drop of the day. Hope your Thursday is better than mine!

A Break For My Health

I’m still sick, y’all. Monday night was awful. All of a sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks… or in this case, a ton of gallons of mucus. It was some serious sinus pain in the right side of my face. I broke down and took drugs and now I’m pumping and dumping until I get better. Let me tell you, there is almost nothing harder to do than pour a bottle of breastmilk down the drain. It’s very sad!

So I’m taking a teensy tiny break so I can go to sleep ridiculously early.

But to reward you for being a faithful reader even when I have nothing to say, here are some recent pictures of Jansen that my mom and MIL have sent me throughout the days.

(Sorry, some are blurry. That’s just what happens with cell phone pictures. Don’t whine or else there will be no more Jansen pictures!)

Ten on Tuesday (71)

Today’s batch of questions is from Angie at Lariats and Lavender. Thanks, Angie!

1. What is your cleaning style like?
I didn’t know there was such a thing. My style is: Ignore it until it goes away. (Hint: It never goes away.) I don’t understand you people who love to clean. Something is wrong with you!

2. What is your favorite thing to add to an outfit to take it from casual to classy?
Either a scarf or tall boots.

3. Do you like stormy weather?
Yes, except when it gives me a headache or when I have to drive in it.

4. What is your favorite cold treat on a hot day?
Ripe fruit, ice cream, or a beer.

5. What is your favorite warm treat on a cold day?
Coffee or hot chocolate. OH, NO! Grilled cheese and tomato soup! With the tomato soup served in a big mug.

6. Who is your favorite animated character?
I don’t know that I have one. I’m sure that I’ll think of something as I’m reading your answers.

7. What do you keep your jewelry in?
A jewelry box that Stephen made me as a wedding gift. It pretty awesome! My mom got me this super cute Vera Bradley jewelry roll-up thing for travel. The print is so cute! Here’s a link!

8. Do any of the rooms in your house have a theme?
Nope. Jansen’s room has the theme of bright and non-baby! Here’s a link to that if you are new to my blog. (And please ignore that I misspelled “cloths” as “clothes.”) Ha, the title of that post is “The Reveal: The Themeless Nursery.”

9. Do you watch any interior design TV shows – if so, what is your favorite?
Not anymore. They give me home envy and I don’t like that. It’s hard enough to love my old home, I don’t need television shows to make it magnified.

10. When was the last time you did something risk-taking?
I’m kind of a wimp. The biggest risk I took lately was driving on a Houston freeway. Or maybe changing Jansen’s diaper without a pee pee teepee.

Your turn to link it up!

The Crunchy Mama

(Yes, I understand this is a stereotype. Take it with a grain of salt, please. I mean no harm!)

I’m not crunchy. Really, I’m not. I have nothing against chrunchy tendencies, I’m just too lazy and cheap. I don’t recycle because my neighborhood doesn’t make it easy for us and I’m too lazy to take the stuff to a drop off. I don’t buy organic because it’s too expensive. I believe in medicine and junk food.

But this weekend, I took a step back and took a look at myself. I shocked myself.

We’ve been sick. All of us. Jansen had an upper respiratory infection and pink eye in both eyes. (It was as awful as it sounds.) Stephen had a sinus infection and cold and missed three days of work last week. I started getting sick last Wednesday. I stayed home on Thursday, hoping to fight it off. Friday I felt the same, Saturday I felt much worse, and yesterday was pretty bad too. I have a disgusting cough and it feels like someone fed me razor blades. But, you see, because I’m breastfeeding I can’t take real drugs. So I have some special throat lozenges and I have been gargling salt water. I finally broke down and took some Sudafed because I thought I was going to die at one point.

I don’t really understand people who are anti-drug. I would have given anything to chug some DayQuil and NyQuil! But I didn’t really have that option. Then I took a trip to the grocery store last night and, well, I appear to be quite the crunchster.

I hadn’t showered since Saturday night and didn’t have any makeup on. I was wearing TOMs, carrying reusable grocery bags, buying a cartload of veggies to make homemade baby food, and I was wearing my baby. Who am I?

The good news is that I think we’re all on the mend. Or at least the two boys are, and that’s really all that matters. I can think of better uses of my weekend rather than hacking up my lungs and sleeping, but we don’t really get to make those decisions, do we. Hopefully this week will be better. And hopefully the posts will be more interesting.

(ToT will be posted shortly.)

Hello Friday

1.
Well yesterday was not fun. Stephen, Jansen, and I all stayed home sick. Stephen has a sinus infection that is really killing him. I really have no idea what’s wrong with me but I’m sure it has something to do with sinuses. If mine turns into an infection, I will take that as a message from God to quit breastfeeding and take some stinking drugs!

2.
I think I’m going to made some peas for Jansen this weekend. I bought more baby food storage cubes so I have more space for freezing. I need to make him a veggie that isn’t orange so he doesn’t turn into an Oompa Loompa. Any other suggestions for an easy, non-orange veggie?

3.
Sad to say that I have purchased two bags of mini Robin Eggs. (I wish they were called Robins’ Eggs… that sounds so much better.) They are so delicious and I don’t want to tell you how many I’ve eaten. I think it’s okay because they only come around once a year and I won’t be wasting any calories on jelly beans or Peeps. That stuff is just nasty.

4.
We got Walk the Line on Netflix and I think we’ll watch it this weekend. I’ve never seen it. Is it good? Seems like it would be, I like Johnny Cash.

5.
I know everyone is tired of hearing about Charlie Sheen, but I just need to say that I think it’s all really sad. Something is seriously wrong with him and I really hope he gets help before it’s too late. I also think it’s sad that the whole world knows about his issues. He’s publicized himself so much that bagillions of people are just staring at him and watching him fall apart. Sad. Very sad.

6.
You know how when someone mentions lice or ants, you start itching terribly? I’m having that experience with pink eye. Ever since I heard that Jansen has it, I keep thinking my eye is crusting over and maybe it will fall out. There has been no juice or crust, but I can’t stop thinking about it.

This Is Not The Diary Of A Wimpy Kid

I was going to tell you all about our Mardi Gras adventures last weekend but we have something else to discuss. Quickly. And then it’s back to my boys.

Stephen is sick. We have no clue what it is, either allergies or just a general cold. He has a sore throat, a cough, a bit of a fever, and lots of mucus. His head is pounding and he just feels like crap. I feel bad for him because being sick is awful, but I don’t feel too bad for him. Why? Because he is a grown up. He can voice his issues and take the appropriate medicine.

Jansen is another story.

On day one of his life, I started calling him my little booger. I have no idea why, it just seemed to fit. He has taken that nickname and made it true. He is currently a booger. One giant, snotty booger.

He started getting fussy on Sunday. He didn’t sleep well Saturday night and was moody all day. Sometimes he’d be giggly, but then he’d randomly start fussing. We all just figured he was teething since he was chewing on EVERYTHING. On Monday he was still moody, but leaned more on the upset side. He didn’t want to be left alone, he didn’t want to play, he just wanted to cuddle and eat. Still, we assumed it was teething. In fact, we are 99% sure we feel another tooth breaking through on his top gum.

Monday night he was a mess. Crying and wiggling and pouty. He woke up SCREAMING at 3:30. Not fussy, but screaming. So I went to his room and that’s when I heard all the junk. Snotty congestion. The poor kid couldn’t breathe! So I picked him up and brought him back to bed with me. He slept on my chest for the rest of the night. I was told that teething can cause snotty colds, so I didn’t worry too much.

But Tuesday night I started to worry. He was a mess. Boogers everywhere! He cried for hours on end and there was nothing we could do to calm him down except feed him. (For some reason, menfolk forget all of their problems when food is around. Funny how that works.) I was finally able to get him to sleep and I put him in his crib. About thirty minutes later, he was hysterical.

(It’s at this point that I realize I am writing the most boring post in the entire known blogosphere.)

I went to his nursery to picked him up. We rocked and rocked until he calmed down and fell asleep. The crying had only made his congestion worse and he was gasping for air. I brought him back to bed with me and cuddled him against me and gave him about 72 kisses on the forehead. That made him feel a bit better and he fell asleep.

When I dropped him off at my mom’s house yesterday, I started thinking that maybe we were dealing with a bigger issue here. He started having tears (or clear juices?) come out of his eyes. I was pretty sure that teething had nothing to do with that. Plus, Jansen isn’t a rookie to this teething thing. He already has a tooth and he took it like a champ. A few fusses here and there but nothing drastic. My kid isn’t a wimp. He’s tough. He doesn’t lose sleep over a measly tooth. (I realize that I’m going to be putting my foot in my mouth here in a coupld weeks when Jansen is a crying mess because of new teeth… But let’s just ignore that for the sake of storytelling.)

I went to work and did the first thing I could think of: I asked my Twitter moms what to do. Most thought the same as me… humidifier, maybe some Tylenol, etc. But then people started mentioning the possibility of an earache if there is a lot of drainage in his eyes and nose. So I got worried and called the doctor.

Then I got a text from my mom. Jansen woke up with so much yellow eye junk that his eyes were stuck shut. She was putting warm rags on them but we now knew that this wasn’t just a measly cold.

Sure enough, the doctor told us he has an upper respiratory infection and pink eye. in. both. eyes. Poor baby! No wonder he was a screaming mess. No wonder he couldn’t sleep. No wonder he didn’t want to play. He looks awful. I took a picture with my cell phone but it doesn’t relly show the severity of the puffiness and green puss.

So we have antibiotics to knock these out. I’m hoping they work quickly because we all know that a sick baby means a worn out non-sleeping mama!

Plan My Vacation For Me, Would Ya?

Stephen and I are going to Chicago for about 5 days this summer. I’m not going to tell you when we’re going because I don’t want you to break into my house and steal all of my hand-me-down furniture and our DVD/VHS combo. So we’ll just leave it at: This summer.

Here are the issues. We’ve never been to Chicago. We have about 2.5 days to do what we want, then we’ll be in a suburb of Chicago for a wedding and all the wedding festivities. So we need to FRUGALLY fit in as much fun as possible between Wednesday morning and Friday noonish. We’ll fly in on a Tuesday evening so we have a full day on Wednesday.

Here are some details. Any help, thoughts, feelings, or advice would be so very appreciated:

We’re going to go to a Cubs game one evening (not because I like the Cubs, Heavens no, but because I like baseball and want to go to Wrigley) and Stephen is interested in some sort of mob tour. We like food, but not seafood.

We’re flying via Hobby so that means we’ll fly into Midway. I have no idea what that means as far as our location goes. (I know I could look that up… and I will. But you’re so much better than Google and your advice will be so much clearer.)

I’ve been told we should rent a car. Yes? I had always imagined Chicago to be a lot like New York where people just take cabs and public transportation everywhere. Am I wrong?

I was hoping to use Expedia or one of those types of sites to book our flight and hotel. We’ll only need a hotel in Chicago for like 3 nights, then we’re heading to a suburb for two more nights. So our flight home date will be different than our check out date. Can those sites handle that? I would imagine so. Do they have people you can call to walk you through the process?

Where should we stay? What do we have to do? Where to we have to eat?

I need to download a map so I can figure out the city. So if you have recommendations, can you let me know what part of the city you’re talking about?

Thanks so much. Feel free to pass this along to any Chicagoians… Chicagans… Chicagos.. Chicago people.

(Edited to add: No, we will not be taking Jansen with us. I don’t know how I’ll be away from him for 5 days, but I’m going to try.)

Ten on Tuesday (70)

This week’s questions were provided by KEZ from Sinner Following Jesus. Go say hello and thank her for her questions. They are a fun bunch! I’m not the only one who thinks so, Twitter was all a flutter last night with people talking about how great these questions are!

Also, just to let you all know, the questions are posted every Monday morning. See that Ten on Tuesday button on the right? Click that. The questions and previous weeks are listed there. Lots of those archive links are screwed up. One day when I have about 4 spare hours or an intern, I’ll fix those.

1. How did your parents decide on your name?
Well my parents were going to name me Megan but decided not to since it rhymed with my last name. They picked out two names that they liked (were they from a book, mom?) and asked my brother what he liked. He chose Chelsea.

2. Do your initials (First, Middle, Last) spell out anything fun/funny?
Nope. I used to be CRR, now I am CRH. Although my dad’s initials are KAR and his old license plate used to be THE KAR. Then he got a truck. His name is Kurt A. so his new license plate is A TRUK, which is Kurt A. backward. Leave him a comment and tell him how clever he is.

3. Did you take your middle name from childhood or did you take your maiden name as your middle name? (If unmarried, what do you plan to do?)
I kept my middle name for a few reason. First, I believe that marriage is when two become one. A woman leaves her family and becomes one with her husband. It’s very symbolic to me to drop that name and take my husband’s name. Secondly, my maiden name was 10 letters long. That’s just ridiculous.

4. Are you or will you name your children thematically (ie. same first letter, all of same origin…)
No. I don’t like themed children. The only thing that will be consistent with our children is that they’ll have middle names that have family significance.

5. Did you decide on baby names as a little girl? Did you stick to them or change your mind?
I liked several names throughout my life but never settled on one. I always knew I’d want to choose names with my husband. I’m glad, too, because I think Jansen is a pretty awesome name. The girl name we picked out is awesome too, but I’m realllllly scared that it’s about to become popular. I’ve heard a few baby girls with the name lately and it really makes me angry. I thought we were being so original.

6. Does your family have any names that have been passed down through generations?
Jansen, Stephen, and Stephen’s dad all share the same middle name, Bridges. That’s the only one.

7. Do you look at the meaning of the name or just the name itself?
I don’t look at the meaning. I don’t really care what a name means as long as I like the name. That may be because Chelsea means “a harbor” and I never really identified with that. Although Stephen and I recently discussed how we like the idea of naming a child after the character you want them to have, like they did in the Bible. But mainly we just want to choose unique names that sound good with our last name.

8. Do you name pets with human names (Sally, Henry) or with pet names (Fluffy, Mr. Bo Bo)?
Our dog’s name is Rookie. I assume there are no humans by this name.

9. Are there any names that you have an affinity or dislike for based on a childhood experience/someone you once knew?
None that I extremely love or hate, but almost every name has a connotation to it. That’s one reason we really wanted to choose unique names for our kids.

10. What are some of your favorite names? Why?
Well I can’t tell you some of them because we like to keep our baby names a secret. But I have always loved the names Kate and Jane. Something about the simple elegance of those timeless names. But I’ll never use them because our last name is only one syllable and that just sounds weird.

Link up here.

Quick Rundown

-My weekend was great, but very busy. That’s why I don’t have time for a real post.

-We will discuss my weekend later in the week. It involved Mardi Gras.

-The new pumping schedule has been working well. I seem to have maintained my production, and may even have increased it. I don’t know how that works, but I’m not complaining!

-Jansen now has mixed feelings about apples.

-My cuticles are out of control. So is my toenail polish.

-I still haven’t done my taxes. I think I need to get on that… especially because we’re sure to get a nice return this year since we had Jansen!

-ToT will be posted shortly.

The Friday List

1.
Thanks for your words yesterday. Whether by comment, tweet, or email. It means a lot and I’m thankful for your encouragement, and even more thankful that there are several of you going through the same thing.

2.
Proportionally speaking, the amount of toe lint Jansen gets from his socks is like if we pulled a scarf out from between our toes.

3.
Thanks to my husband’s wonderful gift of the Kindle, I’m reading another book! I must say, this is one of the very few benefits of pumping. I’m forced to sit still! I’m on my 4th book since I had Jansen. I know that probably isn’t much to many of you, but that’s huge for me. I’ve read The Girtfriend’s Guide to the First Year, Half Broke Horses, The Glass Castle, and now I’m reading Pioneer Woman’s Black Heels. I recommend all of them! I’m almost done with Black Heels, what should I read next?

4.
Jansen gets to attend his first baseball game tonight. He’s pretty pumped about it. I am too. I plan to give him a quick rundown of the game and discuss his future options regarding positions. Obviously he’s too young to make any decisions on the matter… he doesn’t even know if he’s right handed or left handed yet.

5.
I think it’s safe to say that Jansen is a super fan of apples. He loves them. Almost too much, I think! He had them for the first time last night and he cried between each bite. It was pretty ridiculous but also cute.