Enough already.

Skylar went back to the doctor on monday after having a temperature all weekend. The good news is her ears turned out to be fine. We didn't see her usual pediatrician though, and the one we saw was a condescending jerk. In addition to talking to me like I was a teen mother, he felt the need to remind me about "choking hazards" when I let her play with a rubber glove that I had turned into a balloon.

Really? A choking hazard? What's that? Is that when I grab your neck and choke you for acting like I'm retarded for trying to entertain my cranky child who is SITTING IN MY LAP while playing with her fake balloon that isn't even blown up enough to actually pop?

Whatever, he was probably just doing his job. And I probably just need 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep. And a mojito.

So he diagnosed her with a virus, because that's what doctor's do when they don't know. I've decided "virus" is what they say when they have no clue what's wrong with your child, even though she is always sick, randomly vomits, and has a temperature 5 out of 7 days a week. By my calculations Skylar has had approximately 15 "viruses" in her life, and that doesn't really seem possible for a breastfed baby who isn't in daycare.

I'm also bothered that she's lost close to a pound since turning one. In fact, she's only gained 2 pounds total since last Thanksgiving when she was in the ER for an ear infection. She weighs a whole lot less than she appears to. As my mom said, she's "fluffy". Plus, I think that 95th percentile head perched atop that little body gives the illusion of size. Anyway, I just think it's odd that she has a pattern of gaining some weight, and then losing it all again.

In other news, yesterday Nicole, Skylar and I decided to go for a walk since it was such a nice day. After chatting with Doris down the street (all of my neighbors have names like Doris, Eileen, etc because we live in a retirement community) we decided to head to Albertsons so Nicole could pick up a few game pieces, I mean, groceries. (Side note: the cashier informed me that lucky people have won $500,000 mortgages at my neighborhood Albertsons!! What????)

This is what Nicole wore yesterday without hesitation or shame. In fact, she found nothing strange about it at all, except maybe the fact that I found it strange.

(Yes Bekah, those are argyle knee socks with capris. It's beyond my control. Had I known she would abuse the socks that way I never would have put them in her easter basket.)

This morning Skylar--who woke up 2 hours earlier than usual--was a little basket case. So when I forgot to lock the kennel door and she crawled in there, I'll admit, I just didn't care. I let her play in the dog hair and slobbery water bowl until she crawled back out. I know it's gross, but it was 10 minutes of peace. Honestly, I was tempted to close the door and leave her in there while I took a shower.

I laugh in the face of Vogue.

I must retract my misguided fashion advice regarding capris. It wasn't really my advice, but I did pass it along for which I take full responsibility. That article I read was crap.

It is impossible to live without the capri.

We finally had really nice weather here this past week, so I went through all of my summer clothes and realized that my wardrobe consists of 75% capris, 20% shorts and 5% sundresses. So the first obstacle I face with my "Summer of the Sundress" philosophy is that it would require replacing the majority of my wardrobe. Otherwise it will be the summer of "A Sundress", singular.

Then there's the practicality aspect. I was getting ready for a play date at the park last Tuesday and a sundress didn't seem like the best choice for a windy park. So armed with my fashion knowledge--and still clinging to my bad advice--I turned to my shorts with great trepidation.

Taking the leap from jeans to shorts is no joke people. It requires a recent shave and at least a hint of a tan to cover all those spider veins (thankyouverymuch Skylar). One look in the mirror at my pasty, bruise-covered legs (don't know how I got all of those, I must be running into things during the night) and I ran into the safe, waiting legs of my favorite capris.

The good news is that they barely fit last year and I have plenty of room in most of them this year! Woo-hoo!

The bad news is that I will never make the cover of Vogue, a life long dream of mine. I really thought I had a chance up until now.

The other bad news is that I'm seriously considering adding a fanny-pack to my capri, sneaker, bobby-sock combo. I may as well go all the way, and it'll keep me from losing important things like my keys.

So in addition to my sincere apology for leading you astray, I just wanted to share the valuable life lesson I learned this week:

A life without capris is no life at all.

Lost

I have a pretty glamorous life....it's mind-blowing really.

It's not enough that I can barely dress myself, let alone accessorize. I rarely wear any jewelry anymore (not even my engagement ring since it scratches Skylar), I wash my hair every other day (I used to find the very idea disgusting) and I can only dream of what a pedicure would do for my hideous feet.

But now I'm digging through the trash because I LOST my mind about a year ago and have yet to find it....along with my keys and too many other things to list. The keys disappeared 4 days ago. I am mourning the loss of my clicker, it made getting in the car so much more convenient.

It was Nicole's idea to dig through the trash, convinced that we would find them. And notice who decided to take pictures instead. Oh yeah, and they weren't in there anyway. Just thinking about what WAS in that bag makes me gag.

Nicole and Skylar entertained themselves by taunting Jack through the window of the front porch.

At least I haven't lost her yet. Although I have lost most of her socks, half of her binkies and oddly, some of her pajamas. Not to mention those black yoga pants she wore once and I've never found again.
Oh, and this is how I get to cook dinner at night--with a pug pulling off my pants and humping my leg while my husband laughs and takes pictures. Try not to be jealous. It's a lot of work being this cool.

The Breakfast Cookie

This post is dedicated to Amanda Washburn, without whom I never would have met the breakfast cookie. She posted this recipe on her blog awhile back.

It has changed my life. Seriously. Breakfast cookies are quickly becoming a hobby. If it weren't for the breakfast cookie, I would probably be doing something destructive with my culinary energy---like dipping stale peeps in chocolate. It was a Peepful Easter. I got Peeps from all my peeps.

Back to the cookie.

Just the fact that it's a cookie you can eat for breakfast was enough to hook me. Then I made them (I'll admit I had low expectations since they're "healthy") and they were really good--and reasonably healthy. Except that I have never actually eaten one for breakfast. They are pretty much dessert in our house. Not to mention, they are usually gone by breakfast, so that isn't an option anyway.

Self-control isn't our strong suit.

After making a batch with chocolate chips, and then one with raisins, I knew I couldn't stop there. I felt like they had endless potential. The sky is the limit. So I made some with dark chocolate chunks and dried cherries, which is our new favorite. Then I substituted melted peanut butter for the majority of the butter and made peanut butter chocolate chip, also good and maybe even healthier.

I think you could also make "trail mix bars" with pretzel sticks, m&m's, peanuts, and raisins, bake it in a 9x13 pan, and cut it into bars--although I have yet to actually try it. And how about peanut butter banana cookies? I haven't figured the logistics of that one out yet.

Oh, but I'm not done. I was also thinking "Fruit of the Forest" cookies with lots of different dried fruits. (I just like saying "Fruit of the Forest"). Nicole said I should also add chocolate chips, since technically cocoa beans are grown on trees, and therefore qualify as a "fruit" from the forest. We debated that one for awhile, and in the end I have to agree, chocolate is definitely a fruit. Probably my favorite fruit.

Okay, so now that I've shared my obsession with breakfast cookies, here is Amanda's original recipe:

1 cup butter, melted
¾ cup honey
2 eggs
1 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
1 t. vanilla
½ cup buttermilk
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups whole rolled oats
1 cup raisins or chocolate chips

Mix butter, honey, eggs, salt, cinnamon, soda, vanilla and buttermilk. Stir in flour and oats. Fold in raisins or chocolate chips. Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Allow cookies to cool 3-4 minutes on cookie sheet before removing cookies to cool on a wire rack.

I highly recommend you try them. And if you think of a new kind, let me know!

Perspective

We had a very sick baby this week.

She's been a sick a lot in her first year of life, so when she had a temperature on Tuesday of 102, I didn't think much of it. She's had a temperature on and off for over a month now. Her pediatrician told me to start documenting it, and when I did--they stopped. So I chalked it up to teething. (I learned this from Marie--blame everything on teething!!!)

On Wednesday morning she woke up fine, but as the day progressed she felt warmer and looked worse so I gave her Motrin. As I was putting her down for nap I decided to check her temp and realized it was 103.6 WITH the Motrin in her system. It had been that high during the night a couple of times but then by morning it would be gone.

So to the ER we went.

Even though the waiting room was full, they checked us in right away. When the nurse took her temperature his face got very serious. I asked him how high it was and he would only say "very high". I asked if it was higher than 103.6 and he said yes.

The fact that he didn't want to freak me out by telling me, just freaked me out even more. I was even more freaked out when he made a phone call telling people to get ready for us ASAP and we were made first priority in the ER. I was so freaked out, I didn't even get to enjoy the fact that we were skipping out on a 3 hour wait for care.

Fortunately, Micah met up with us about that time.

They gave her another big dose of Motrin "to take the edge off"--by now she was just lethargic in my arms--and they started running tests. I saw another nurse take her temperature, and it was 104.6---and that wasn't even rectal.

They put in an IV line and did a complete blood work-up to rule out all kinds of things. Then they gave her a catheter to get a urine sample to rule out a urinary tract infection. She didn't have one (I told them that!) but she did have too much protein in her blood confirming that she was dehydrated (Duh! She's on fire people!)

I had to leave when they gave her the catheter, I couldn't watch, so Micah stayed. When I heard her screaming down two halls, I had to go back though--just in time for the IV line to go in. Poor baby. It was so traumatic for her, and there was nothing we could do. I still had the camera in her diaper bag from Easter, so I decided to document the trauma for her.

It took over 30 minutes to calm her down after that. She was NOT okay with what they had done to her.

A couple of pedialyte popsicles later, she had forgotten about the stuff in her hand and was reading books with us. After 3 or so hours all of the tests had come back fine and her temp was down to 99.8. So they made us an appointment for the next morning with her regular pediatrician and sent us home.

By the time she went to bed it was back up to 103.4 again...... It was a long night for me, alternating Motrin and Tylenol and checking her temperature every half hour.

We went to the doctor the next morning convinced that she had meningitis and was going to need a spinal tap or something equally horrible. Then her doctor said that her right ear was completely blocked and she couldn't see in it. So after they irrigated it, she was able to confirm that her "eardrum is full of white puss".

On one had we were incredibly relieved it was just an ear infection. On the other hand, why didn't the ER docs rule that out first??? They didn't even tell us they couldn't see in her ear. In their defense, I guess they were just so focused on getting her temperature down.

Two shots of antibiotics later---she is feeling much better. The next stop is ENT to discuss putting in tubes.

All this to say, it really put things in perspective when we thought something really COULD be seriously wrong. We are sooooo thankful that nothing is. I feel for all of those parents who watch their kids go through awful medical procedures and don't know if they will ever get better. I honestly can't imagine anything worse.

Easter

Here are a few pics from the past week and or so. My mom, dad, and Josh were here for Easter--a very snowy, cold Easter. Skylar got more attention than any one child could ever want. She had no less than 3 adults attending to her every need at all times.

There were lots of kisses to go around. Josh got this enormous gummi bear in his Easter basket. It kind of grossed me out--that's a lot of cow cartilage, or whatever it is they make gelatin out of.

This is Skylar's southern style Easter dress from Aunt Ginger. We're just practicing for when we move to South Carolina and can only wear smocked things. Although, to really blend in we'll have to start buying bows the size of her head.

We did a little sight-seeing. You know, the basics: Garden of the Gods, the Air Force Academy, the German bakery and Valley Pets where Josh held an enormous 80 pound snake that had "only bitten people a few times". Unfortunately, that picture is stuck on my phone.

Skylar adored her Uncle Josh and gave him the most kisses of all. We had a great visit and very worship-filled Easter. So now it's back to "real life" where I am the only one around to hold Skylar all day and everyone else just leaves me in the aftermath of her spoiledness:) She'll get used to her boring mommy again.

It's so NOT hard to say good-bye.

***WARNING**** (I promised to warn you the next time I wrote about Leonidas.)

I am putting my medela to rest now. I thought about burying it in the backyard and reading a eulogy over it's stony grave. (It is after all my breast friend, the honor is due). In the end, I decided to bury it in the deepest darkest depths of my closet where I won't have to see it until I move again. Even then, I may not find it.

Dearest Leonidas,

You have been my faithful companion for 53 weeks. Thank you for staying awake with me in the wee hours of the night when everyone else was peacefully sleeping. We watched hundreds of episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond together, read books together, sang songs together(you're a great harmonizer!), traveled across the country together, and drove all over Colorado Springs together. You're a great shopper.

You touched many lives. Mostly the people who heard your whirring in the background while I was on the phone with them---which is pretty much everyone. Together we traumatized many a family member, a few (close--VERY close) friends, and one poor truck driver.

You were always there when I needed you--the airplane bathroom, USO bathroom...many a public bathroom. Your steady "whir, whir, whir" assured me that my child would have another meal. Without you she would have starved. Okay, that's a lie. I could have given her formula. But I'm stubborn and I wanted her to have breast milk. Fortunately, you are stubborn too and you persevered long past your warranty and in spite of the abuse I inflicted upon you.

Anyway, while I thank you for your service, I am not going to miss you a bit. In fact, I hope to never see you again. May you rest in peace in your plastic Wal-mart bag.

Sincerely,
Keri

Skylar turns one!

Skylar is ONE year old today! I can't believe how fast this year has gone! It's been so much fun! We celebrated with a little dinner party on Saturday, nothing elaborate, since her memories of this birthday will exist only in pictures. Fortunately, we have a lot of them:)

Skylar woke up from her nap today to find that she had balloons from Granbabe and Granstud! Balloons happen to be Skylar's favorite, so she was pretty excited.

Aunt Nicole bought Skylar some cute outfits and fun books. They are best friends:)

Aunt Kristy and Uncle Andy also got Skylar some fun books! Kristy even wore a matching headband in honor of Skylar's birthday.

She had her well-baby today and got her shots and blood drawn. She was supposed to get 5 shots, but we only did 2 today. I couldn't stand the thought of all those pricks at one time. We found out she weighs 20 1/2 pounds and is 29.5 inches long! She has just about tripled her birth weight! She was completely worn out by the time we got home.

This was are only family picture from her party and we weren't even looking the right way! Skylar was of course, she is always aware of the camera.

Micah had more fun playing with Skylar's toys than she did, especially all of the really noisy instruments.

Skylar loved having everyone sing to her and clapped for herself. She also loved her cupcake of course, and ate pretty much the whole thing. Afterwards, she had a crazy look in her eyes from all that sugar.

Addison Hilton got Skylar a big pink bunny. We go to storytime together at the library on wednesdays and they have big stuffed animals at the library that Skylar likes to sit on, so Addie got one for her. They ended up wearing matching tutu's---and we didn't plan it!

Nicole and I decorated the dining room in pink and green. Nicole is the crepe paper queen.

Our yummy cupcakes:

The party favors:

I love this picture because she still looks like my baby instead of such a big girl! She had just woken up from her nap and was still a little sleepy.
My how far she's come in a year! This is one of my favorite pictures of Skylar and her daddy when she was 10 days old!
"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him" 1 Samuel 1: 27

We love you baby girl!

Crafts

I thought about saying "I'm Pregnant" as my title since it's April Fools Day. (It's NOT TRUE). Then I realized it really wasn't something I could joke about---too scary a thought to be funny right now. Ever since Skylar was about 4 months old, people have been asking when we're planning on having another one. Now that she's almost a year, it's a question I'm getting even more.

I've had people who are familiar with our history say "Since you had a hard time having her, are you going to start trying sooner to have another?" The answer people is NO. We are not going to try to get pregnant sooner than we are ready just in case I have a miscarriage.

To be honest, I can really see the appeal of an only child. I don't necessarily want Skylar to be an only child, but I see why people have only have one. She gets easier everyday and I when I see newborns it does not make me miss having a small baby in the least. In fact, I honestly feel relief that we are past that stage with her. The first two months were soooooo hard. So to answer the questions, we will entertain the thought of a second child sometime after Skylar turns two. In the meantime, I am having fun with her and have no desire to start over again with another one.

(However, I am hoping to announce that I will be having a neice or nephew in the near future.)

ANYWAY, lately Nickerdoodle and I have been feeling "crafty". She decided to start an herb garden in her window sill. I think that's the coolest thing EVER because I've always wanted an herb garden, but I kill everything, and my two attempts at growing herbs were miserable failures. I have one plant that has survived the last 4 years (I think Krandy got it for me) and apparently it doesn't need water.

We were really excited when she got her first sprouts after only 5 days! I couldn't tell you what they are (she could) but here they are in all of their blurry glory:
Personally, I've always wished I had some kind of marketable crafty skill---like photography, or pottery, or glass blowing, or even jewelry making. The most I've ever done is make pillows and curtains (I hate store-bought curtains, I don't have any in my house!). My favorite are the kind that require no sewing skills whatsoever, like the ones in my kitchen. It doesn't get any easier than draping napkins over a curtain rod. Plus I can change them easily when I get bored.

A couple of months ago I thought that it would be fun to start making baby gifts for people who already had kids and didn't really need anything. That's when it's fun to get customized things like burp cloths and bibs. So I decided to attempt customized name blocks and binky clips, mostly because they sound easy.

I decided to practice by making Skylar a set of alphabet blocks for her birthday. In the end I was pretty happy with the way they turned out. It was a nice mindless activity in the evenings while I drank a glass of wine.

I have yet to attempt the pacifier clips. I just hate the kind in the stores with the plastic clip that doesn't work. I've ordered a couple of cute ones online, but it seems silly to pay $8-10 for 6 inches of ribbon, a clip and a snap, especially since we are always losing them around the house.

Oh, and binky clips might become even more important around here since Skylar might be using a pacifier until she's 5. She has started grinding her front teeth and the sound is making me crazy. Not to mention it's really bad for her teeth. The only way to make her stop is to stick her binky in her mouth. So much for weaning her off of it....but I don't know what else to do!