hit with the plague

So this week has been just awful. 
Bradyn has been incredibly sick since we had a fun Sunday at The Happiest Place on Earth. 

 Unfortunately she was congested and coughing the whole time. 
By the time Monday rolls around it has become apparent that my baby girl needs to see a doctor.  He measures her temperature at 101 and says she has bronchitis.  She is put on heavy antibiotics and sent home.
Her medication is so rough on her little body that she immediately gets a nasty diaper rash and nearly stops eating all together.  It was incredibly difficult and horrifying to watch. 
I had to take her back to the doctors on Friday and they then said it was a virus and that she just had to wait it out.  I was honestly worried that she would have to be hospitalized.
Thank goodness by the time Sunday evening rolls around she is finally perking up and I can let out a small sigh of relief.  She isn't 100%, not by a long shot, but there is some improvement.
It has been a week full of stress beyond belief, more than even her being sick, but it has taught me to really pray, trust in God, and know that every moment with her is precious.

Advocate

This week my baby girl had her 9 10 month check up.  (so we were late... whoops)

Normally I am simply excited to see how she has grown (or not grown that much, my baby is a peanut).  But this time I had things that I really wanted to accomplish with the pediatrician.  Bradyn has been dealing with eczema for months and months and it is incredibly heartbreaking watching her scratch so much and so often that I can never have her wear just a onesie.  I once had to be called into our church's nursery because she was scratching so much that she had caused major rashes on her little legs and was nearly bleeding because of it.  Horrifying.

But as my sweet baby was getting the once over and I was trying to communicate with her doctor, I realized that I was not being heard.  It was extraordinarily frustrating to try and deliver a message that says "Doctor please help me!", and the doctor is ignoring you.  He just kept on with the usual remedies that I already know.

keep her nails short
lukewarm 5 minute baths
watch what she eats

None of these things were helpful.  We were already doing these things. 

I left feeling extremely frustrated, but more importantly I learned a lesson.

Bradyn is counting on ME and her DADDY to be her voice.  We have to protect her because nobody else will.

And then almost like an angel intervention, my mom called and said that she had been doing some research on eczema and discovered some gems that I think I will be trying out.

Eczema news update: A study published in the May 2009 issue of Pediatrics tested treatments on kids with eczema ages 6 months to 17 years. They found that soaking for five to ten minutes twice a week in a diluted bleach bath (1/2 cup bleach per full standard-size tub) was five times more effective at treating eczema than plain water (used by the placebo group).  The improvement was so dramatic that researchers stopped the study early to allow children in the placebo group to get relief with the method. Try it! (But ask your child's doctor first.)

Bleach?!  In my baby's bath?!  Hey, whatever works!

Spas, Strawberries, and Sunday Celebrations

Well this weekend was jam packed with lots of fun for this family.

On Friday we decided that we would introduce our little loves-her-bath-time-baby to our spa! (Yah, we have a pool but the spa took less time to warm up).

Here we are right before jumping in. Gotta be matching in our pink swimsuits.

Looks like she's enjoying herself. She almost didn't even have a reaction. Her no reaction was as if to say "Well of course I'm in here chillin in the water. Its where I should have been relaxing the whole time".


First time dippin in the spa. Oh and yah, we are that couple who eat and drink in the spa. Homemade guacamole...... mmmmmmmmm.....


Here is daddy tossing his baby girl. So cute (if I do say so myself).

On Saturday we did our annual trip to the Strawberry Festival.

Here's how I spent it last year.

Totally pregnant and put to work.  And yes I was barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, which just happened to be my dear sweet husbands most obnoxious favorite thing to say to me at the time.

Beginning the process of making homemade strawberry jam.  YUM.

Making a complete mess of our kitchen, but it was oh so worth it.

The final product.  Whew!
But this year we decided to keep it simple and just enjoy my favorite part of the day.

Strawberry Pizza!!!
And this year was also great because we could take our baby, who honestly had a good time.

That smile doesn't lie.

But then she had enough....  but she was a trooper and let us check out all the fun arts and crafts.
THEN, we had a rude awakening when we ventured back and discovered this offending subject marinating in the hot box we call a car.

The sweet smell of strawberries was decidedly lowered because of this nasty creature we forgot to throw away.

And if that wasn't enough in our fun filled weekend, it was also my sweetie's birthday on Sunday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUNNY!

I LOVE YOU!!!

Osmosis

I think that I just might have a problem. You see I like to buy things. But that seems pretty normal right? Sure. I like to buy cleaning products. That definitely seems normal. Most people like their house clean.

But once I purchase these cleaning products I was so overjoyed to buy, I don't touch them for at least a week (or more).  

Take for example my Target run the other day, along with the As Seen On TV products, I actually was searching for one of these....

 


But I got stopped by the shiny pink item....



I didn't need it.  I shouldn't have even seen it.  But it was PINK.  And it promised to rid my house of the many fur balls dancing in the wind throughout my kitchen. 

So of course I bought it and all of its sweet citrus smelling paraphernalia.  Devine.

Now several days have passed and I did not get what I want, haven't opened my pink device and the dust balls still swirl among my feet.

And I came to realize something.

I just want my house to clean itself by osmosis.  I bring home the duster, the mop, the sweeper and the Clorox wipes, and darn it I expect things to be clean!  Not by personally dusting, mopping, sweeping or wiping mind you.  I just expect to bring these things home and they will magically do as they promised on the package and *poof* my house will become a warm, cozy and clean home. 

Then another thought occurred to me.  All these products promise to make your house as shiny as a brand new car for that spoiled rotten teenager.  But it never says that you have to actually work in order for this to happen.

I'm suing for false advertisement.

As Seen On TV

Today I went to a lovely place that you might have heard of. Its beautiful with its delicious popcorn perfume and passionate colored gigantic balls as decor.

Target.

aaaaaahhhhhh.......

I was able to introduce my baby girl to one of the happiest places on earth and this was her first time in the big girl chair (the cart). She loved it! It was so cute to see her enjoy all the sensations around her. Its really fun to watch her grow up and explore the world around her.

But back to Target.

I must confess that I only went in for a few things, as I'm sure we can all relate too. Somehow, I wound up with A TON more than I really needed. Among my whimsical purchases?

As Seen On TV Products.

I'm ashamed to say I now own these products.

The Perfect Brownie Pan

And.....

The Belly Burner


So apparently when I devour my perfectly cooked brownies I can wear the belly burner so I can maintain my girlish figure. And by girlish I mean specifically this girl....



Perhaps there are some zero calorie brownie recipes out there?

How I spent my first Mother's Day

My first real Mother's Day. Last year I was pregnant, but its not the same.

Special. Endearing. Memorable.

Well I got the memorable part right.

Let's start with the night before. Let's set the scene. Jeff and I were just about to fall asleep, its nearly midnight, and we hear a loud CRASH quickly followed by a HISS and a PFFPFF by angry cats that live in the this crazy house. We immediately jump out of bed to unfortunately discover that the cats had a fight that made them fall into wet paint that we still had out (that was only covered by aluminum foil) since we are still in the process of painting our living room.

I'm sure your thinking at this point, "well of course the cats fell into the wet paint and then they politely went to a towel to dry off". You know, because cats clearly are polite house guests.

OR perhaps they chose option B, which was to quickly run up and down our 2 stair cases causing blue wet spots all over our carpet.

Awesome. Just really really awesome. Especially at midnight.

Here is the perpatrator.


I flipped my lid and went on a (water) gun toting rampage. Believe me, I knew who started this catastrophe and I was about to let him have it. So after about 20 minutes and a bleeding ankle later, I was done. Or so I had hoped.

We still had to deal with the other cat whose under belly and paws were still covered in wet paint. I tried picking up the finicky princess to try and wash her. Um, have you ever tried to wash a cat? Not fun. In fact we couldn't get past the angry growls she was clearly communicating. So rather than deal with it, we decided to just put her into the bathroom with a kitty bed and box for the night.

**** I tried to find the victim to take photographic evidence of the crime. She was none to be found. We believe this to be a domestic violence case and she might be afraid to come forward. If you know of any cats involved in a domestic violence dilemma, please contact your local authorities ****

Here is just some of the scene of the crime. This is on one of our stairs. A clear kitty paw. This was an open and shut case.


So away to dream land I hoped to go, only to have that very perpetrator try and jump on me wanting love at 3 o'clock in the morning. I then sweetly threw him onto my sleeping husband and said "Get off me (insert explicative here)"!

Sunday morning comes way too early by a little darling child of mine who likes to practice her "dada yayaya" sounds. At least I woke up smiling.

Off to church we went and then on to my last show.

Jeff was able to catch my song for all of you who weren't able to be there. Hope you enjoy it!



And since it was Mother's Day, I was able to spend a little time with my cutie patootie. Here she is trying out her new (long time borrowed from friends-Thanks Krista!) excersaucer. She was in heaven! (warning: the video is a bit long. Daddy likes to make the kiddie moments epic long apparently)



And speaking of Daddy.... I couldn't conclude my Mother's Day festivities without mentioning my dear sweet husband's inaptitude for gift giving holidays.

I waited.... and waited..... and waited for a "Happy Mother's Day honey" type of thing from my baby's daddy. Nothing.

Church, show, sushi dinner, and still nothing.

Finally I couldn't hold back and I had to say something. He looked a little sheepish and tried unsuccessfully to redeem himself by explaining that we had a long day. So he brought out the card that he recently bought. I opened it with his saliva still wet on the envelope. Gross.

And that was it.

*Sigh*

Yes, it was incredibly sweet for him to at least give me a card and yummy sushi takeout. However, flowers would have been nice too honey! I love you anyway. At least it wasn't mints on Valentines Day.

Nerves or Sick?

Well this past week has been a non stop ride of rehearsals, snot, crying, and coughing. 

My daughter somehow caught yet another cold and was only too happy to give it to me by sticking her gross wet snotty fingers directly into my mouth.  Great timing since I have a Broadway Review show that I am in this weekend.  Of course, as most performers know, your immune system has usually taken a dump right before the trip fantastic usually due to nerves.  Well at least mine does.

Just Great.

In this show I have one of the most challenging songs where I am belting it out practically the whole time.  Normally, this is fine, my speciality really.  But now?  Ugh.  All I can think about is crawling back into my nice and cozy bed.

At least I'm not in this alone.  My sweet sick daughter is miserable too, unfortunately, but dang nabbit, she sure is a trooper. 

I love her.....  <3

I'll try and get my sweet hubby to videotape my performance this weekend to share with you all.