Life's a Beach

The least I could do...

Bathtime for bubbies...


"Don't mess with me, mom...Elmo (on the toothbrush) and I take hygiene very seriously."


Even H is ready for football season...he's making out with Jared's Florida State garden gnome to prove it.


Finding flowers in the backyard for mommy.


Eating flowers in the backyard for mommy.


Left alone on the back patio for 1 second (literally) while I grabbed the camera, H made his way out into the backyard, blew up his baby pool, tried to let the rain fill it up, and attempted to go for a swim. Ahhhh, one year olds...


This is the monster that attacked my living room carpet shortly thereafter.


Lately, Henry only wants to be one place...The Enchanted Kingdom of Outside.


At least one of us doesn't seem to notice the 100+ temps. The other one of us is usually sprawled across the shady part of the lawn trying not to think about the four weeks left in her first trimester (hence, the at-least-four-weeks-left of pukalicious pukeyness).


The babe loves cold ice water on his car-shaped beanbag chair after a long play outside.


He also loves 'laxin on the car pillow when he's burning up with 103 and not ready for his nap yet.


And this, well, this is even better than the car pillow...sick or not.


Now that Henry is all better, he's getting back to his normal self more and more each day. I think this photo perfectly captures our life right now...messy living room, toys everywhere, and this cute little blur that occasionally comes whizzing by...


So, there you have it...a picture post. It's the least I could do after being gone for so long from blog world. And, in the oft-spoke words of a good friend, don't ever let it be said that I don't do the very least that I can do. hehehe...

So, we're headed to the beach all next week for a much-needed family vacation. Catch y'all on the flipside...

Photo Credit

6 weeks later and I'm still loving the photo that a girlfriend took of Henry feeding the ducks this summer. So, there it is...in my header...courtesy of Jenna C. and her fabulous photog skills.

A whole week of blah.

As most of you already know, Henry has been really sick this past week. If you're not into details, just stop reading and check back in later this weekend for a new post. :)

Yes, our boy has been fighting the FIRST SICKNESS of his little life, and although we are just seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, it has been a long crappy week at our house. And, a little off subject, but I just want to put this out there...I have never given a shameless plug for breastfeeding on my blog, but I am going to do it right now. I do believe, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that my babe went one year fever-free because he was a nurser. It just does wonders for their immune systems, and I definitely think all moms should at least try it for this and many other reasons. Ahem, moving on.

So, he started running a low-grade fever last Friday, which I assumed was just a reaction to his shots from Thursday. However, as we went into the weekend, the fever got worse and worse and worse. By Sunday, he was steadily at 103. Motrin was bringing it down for a few hours at a time, but the high fever kept breaking through before it was time to re-dose.

I was up with him all night on Saturday/Sunday/Monday, and I could only hold him as he stared at me through glassy pitiful eyes. He didn't have the energy to move...but was too uncomfortable to sleep. At some point in the haze of sleepless nights, I tried to give him a dose of Tylenol to alternate with Motrin (if you alternate, you can give one every 4 hours), but that had an extremely adverse affect on his tummy (said: he gave me my very first vomit shower).

On Monday morning, Jared had to leave to go out of town for 2 days with work. :( I called our pediatrician first thing to discuss the wicked weekend, and the call nurse advised that I just keep an eye on the babe for other symptoms throughout the day...so I did. He had very well-managed fever and no other symptoms, so I held off bringing him in. That evening, as I'm home alone, he spiked another 103+. I Motrined him and got him to sleep for the night around 8:30, only to hear him screaming in his bed 5 minutes later. I raced up there to pick him up, because the crying was SOOO urgent. As soon as I was holding him, he put his head on my shoulder and seemed to be right back asleep. I wanted to hold him a little longer to be sure though, so I carried him back downstairs and sat down on the couch with him. As soon as I did, he popped his head up, and to my horror revealed a face COVERED in blood. I didn't see it before, because his room was dark and he just buried his head on my shoulder. As it turns out, little man had gotten a bloody nose in his bed, and of course, I'm completely freaked out at this point. (I can't wait until my friend Karen reads this...she will SOOO understand my panic!) Home alone. Bloody baby. Bloody sheets in his bed. Yeah, peace out Laurel Hill...I headed to my parents for the night once again reminded of how awesome it is to live so close to family.

The next morning, our 2-year anniversary for those interested to know, I took H in to the pede. My mom was able to come with us, and that was such an amazing blessing as doing it alone would have just been a nightmare and she has such a way with him anyway. Understand, Henry at the doc involves much holding-down and distracting...and I really need all the loving hands on deck that I can muster. His physical exam was perfect, so the doc sent us to the hospital lab for bloodwork. Again, thank God that my mom could come. We didn't have to hold him down for a true draw like we thought we would -- it was just a finger prick that had to be squeezed to fill a vial -- but it would have sucked royally to be there alone. The results came in that afternoon and showed only a slightly low white blood cell count - which doc assured us indicates that a (non-serious)virus is passing through. Phew. Jared got home around 8:30, and the sickie thankfully fell asleep before 9 for us. We 'celebrated' our anniversary by decorating the top of a cake that I had made with all of the mess of the day - Motrin bottles, pediatrician receipts, Jared's plane ticket, a few Saltines to symbolize my ever-present morning sickness, etc. etc., and we were sound asleep - white flag waving - by 9:30. Really, don't be jealous...even though I know you wish your anniversary could be as fun as ours.

H has slept beautifully both of the past two nights, but he is definitely not himself yet. He is very weak and clumsy, and he doesn't have any semblance of his pre-sick energy or vigor. Today, he broke out in a rash all over his mid-section, which the pediatrician has told me is a normal course of a fever virus...and indicates that this whole thing should be behind us within 48 hours. My grandmother thinks the rash points to Roseola (common baby virus), and I read about that this afternoon, and I'm tending to agree with her that it sounds/looks just like it.

So, tomorrow marks one week since all of this began. Let's hope that tomorrow also marks the day that Henry kicks Roseolas ass.