Allergies.....

Since M went back to work I have been having some minor health issues. It started off as a persistent cough in the mornings and whenever I was really active. At first M&D just thought it was a little cold, but after coughing for 3 weeks and coughing so hard I threw up twice, M finally took me to the doctor. The first time we went they treated me for a sinus infection. That didn't seem to work, so when C had her 4 month appointment in mid April, M asked the doctor what else to try. He suggested it might be allergies, so try Benadryl. That didn't work either...I was still coughing at night and in the morning and after a week of sleepless nights we went back in a third time...this time the doctor examined me and when he got to my nose he knew it was an allergic reaction so he prescribed a nasal spray. That seemed to help some. But then a week ago, I got a cold on top of my allergies and really felt bad. I went to bed Saturday night with 101 fever, but woke up Sunday morning with a normal temperature. However, all I wanted to do was lay around and moan, so D stayed home from church with me. After I woke up from nap I had another 101 fever. Once M gave me pain medicine I started feeling better, so I got up to start playing. That's when the wheezing started. M thought it was because I was actually moving around, so she waited until Monday morning to take me to the doctor. The doctor was very concerned that it might be pneumonia, so she sent me for a chest x-ray.
Luckily it wasn't pneumonia, but I did have inflammation in my airways. Basically I was having a asthmatic episode.

So the doctor prescribed a nebulizer for me to try and clear up my airways. I had to wear this mask for 20 minutes, 3 times a day for one week. The only side effect was the it made me super hyper--more than I already am. I was bouncing off the walls most evenings! This treatment seemed to be the solution, since I haven't coughed for 2 days now.

However, M has a feeling this isn't over yet. Last year she suspected I had allergies, but it only lasted a few days not 3 months. But the news has said that this was the worst allergy season in many years, so I guess it makes sense that it hit me so hard. The next step (according to 2 doctors--since my main doctor is leaving and another is taking over his practice) is to see an allergist/asthma specialist to try to narrow down exactly what I am allergic to. M suspects it is pine pollen (since that is what she is allergic to) and this all started when I started going to the Y school every day. Lots of pine trees, wind and dust up in the mountains!!
Anyhow I am feeling much better these last couple days. Hopefully the allergy season is over for me...maybe I am just a spring hay fever victim, not summer and fall also!

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, D and I sang in church, while M played the piano for us. This was my first time singing with people actually watching me. I love to sing and sing a lot in public, but not when all eyes are on me. As you can see, I started off really strong and then got a little shy once I realized everyone was listening to me. When I got to the back of the church, I told M, "more" and tried to run back up to the front. I guess I will probably sing in church again sometime soon.
Even though I was shy and somewhat quiet M thought I did a really good job.

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day.

Tattoo

I received a tattoo last week. G had to shave her head and to help me cope she put a butterfly tattoo on her head. I am the only grandchild that didn't see her the first time it was shaved--I did pretty well although I was a little intrigued because she looked different to me. I decided that I wanted one also. So G helped me put a butterfly on my arm. I was excited to show it off to everyone. Monday morning at school I showed it to all my teachers.It didn't last very long though. Tonight it is almost all gone. But it was fun while it lasted.

Eating ceral

I got to move to the "big girl" chair this week. The reason was because C had to start using my high chair. She was starting to get upset just in her bouncer. She likes to sit up and see what is going on. So M let her sit in it for supper in order to get used to it before trying to feed her.

Tonight was the first time M fed C rice cereal. Here she is getting all ready for rice cereal.

She loved it.

E-I-E-I-O

M thinks it is very cute that I have confused my McDonald's. Old McDonald might have had the farm, but the place I get my chicken nuggets from I call E-I-E-I-O. Here I am telling M about our lunch at McDonalds.

(if you look very closely at the beginning and end of the video, you can see my chalk person I was working on that night).

Brag time

I am letting M take over my blog today so that she can have some brag time!

Yesterday was my first ever Parent/Teacher Conference. I wasn't nervous at all, but it just hit me what a big event that is. B has only been in preschool 2 months, but already I can tell how grown up she is getting. She looks forward to going to the Y school every morning, so I know how much she is enjoying it. Every morning I leave her at the easel painting. She has started to draw faces and people. This was the first ever picture she drew at home (even before she started doing them at school), that I actually SAW what she was drawing--even if the people do look more like octopus than people. Her teacher at Y school is very impressed with her and says she is ahead of her age. She's gotten even better at the people since this drawing (done at the end of March). I've been trying to upload a video of her drawing with chalk, but I think I made it too long because I've been having trouble with it. Anyhow, now for sure there are only 2 legs (still extending directly from the head!!) and arms. Sometimes she draws the eyes as the letter i. Very distinctly a line and a dot!! Which brings us to this next picture of her tracing her name. She has recognized her letters for a while, but now she is starting to learn their shapes and sounds. She still has trouble saying the whole alphabet by herself but she will repeat it after us. The other area B really excels at is puzzles! The teachers brought out a brand-new 25 piece puzzle on Thursday and B mastered it that day. Some of the puzzles she does at school, the teachers say the older 3 year olds have trouble doing. She has always loved her puzzles. I guess I didn't realize just how ahead of her time she was!!
The other thing she really enjoys is music circle. That one didn't surprise me at all, since her P and uncles are such good singers. B has always liked her music. I remember when we went to a Southern Gospel concert while I was pregnant with her. She had kicked a few times before that, but that first half she was really dancing in the womb. Her D found that his only way to calm her down at as a baby was to play some music for her.
So I just wanted to brag up my daughter a little bit. I've always been a little partial to her!!!

Missing.....

Carrie found her toes today. Just in case anyone thought they were missing!!! Even though she hasn't rolled over yet, she is very active. She loves to kick and tries to sit up. If you grab her hands she lifts her head off the floor and squeezes her stomach muscles so that she can get upright.

New taste

C got a new taste yesterday. She has only had milk, but just this week has tried one formula bottle, a sip of Pepsi (courtesy of P on Sunday) and with D's help tried a Kool-aid popsicle.

I think she really liked it. She whimpered some when D finally took it away from her. It won't be long before she will be eating all the foods I do. I keep telling M, "C eat, teeth, tall--translation--C has to wait until she gets big and gets teeth before she can eat my food!!"

Bouncer Fun

C really likes her bouncer. She likes looking at the stars light up when the music is playing and looking at herself in the mirror. Here she is with her kitty rattle in hand...all ready to have some fun.Lately, I have been feeling a little jealous (at least that's what M thinks) and so I pretend that I am "Baby Brileigh". Here I am in the Winnie the Pooh bouncer playing.

I think i might be a little big for it!!!!

Four months old

C turned four months on Saturday. M says that she is drooling so much these days that most of the time her shirt is half wet. So M got smart and started putting a bib on her. I never drooled or spit up so this is all new to M.Both of us watching Mickey Mouse clubhouse intently on Sunday morning.
What a four-month cutie!!

Apple Girls

The other morning as M was getting us ready to go to Y preschool and Miss L's house, I stopped to take some time to love on C. Aren't we just the cutest girls in the world?? At least M thinks so!!

M called us her Apple girls that day. I actually had another shirt on, but when M put C's shirt on, I decided I needed my Apple pjs on (my favorite pair). M finally convinced me that I didn't need to wear the pants, but she did let me wear the shirt. The pants I'm wearing I actually got for my birthday last year, but this day was my first time wearing them. Since they are overalls, M wanted to make sure I had gotten potty training down before trying to add the concept of snaps to me. I did very well all day...M told me I just had to ask one of my teachers to help with one side and then I could pull off the second side. It was a success!!

Easter

The week before Easter I got to decorate all my Easter eggs. All my cousins were over at G&P's and we were busy dying, coloring and decorating.

Notice the tongue hanging out....I'm deep in concentration.

All finished!!

Easter Morning, D read my new book to me.

Even C listened in.

The Easter Bunny brought me Minne Mouse stickers and coloring books.

My basket full of eggs.

I was one lucky girl....I particpated in 3 egg hunts on Easter. The first one was at home. The second was at church (with snow falling) and the third was after church at G&P's house (with clear blue skies and almost 60 degrees!!).

Cousin A had to help me with the really high one.

The Easter bunny even stopped at G&P's house and brought me a new coat.

C even got to find one egg.

Here we are ready for church in our pretty Easter dresses.

What a cute family I have.

The whole clan.

The Wednesday before Easter, M was telling me the Easter bunny would come and that M would talk to him and tell him where to hide the eggs. When we got home that night, I went straight to the fridge to get out our eggs. M told me it wasn't time yet. But I went to the window and pointed outside at the rabbit in the yard and said, "Easter bunny!" M just laughed at me and told me she hadn't talked to him yet and that it would be a few days before he was ready to hide our eggs. He was just checking the house out in preparation. SO, Easter morning I went straight to the window to see if I could see the Easter bunny and what he had left for me! But since it was a little chilly out, M said she let him in the house to hide eggs.

Friends

Two weekends ago, M's college friends B&J along with their 2 kids came to spend the day with us. They were on their way to AZ for spring break and since we were about halfway they spent the night at our house. Here's M and B. Here I am playing with L and E. We had a good time. Even though it was a short visit it was very nice.

Outing with M&D

Last week, M&D took me on a special outing. Cousin A babysat C so that I could be alone with my parents. They took me to go see Mickey and Minnie and all the rest of the Disney gang. When the show started I was just finishing my hot dog and as you can see from my expression, I was very excited and impressed!

My favorite parts were whenever Mickey and Minnie were on the ice.

Aladdin and the Genie made an appearance.

All the Disney princesses with their princes came.

The solidiers from Toy Story.

Mickey and Minnie and the gang again!!

The whole cast with the princesses in the middle.

Grand Finale!!

I even got to be part of the show---when they had us all stand up in our seats and march along with Mickey.

It's a Small World from Disneyland even made an appearance. I had lots of fun, even if I did get a little restless at the end. I kept asking for Mickey Mouse and M had to tell me, "After this song, Mickey will come back." I don't know why they kept having to tell all the other stories.....I just wanted to see Mickey!!!

Talking

Bedtime is ususally when M talks about our day with C & I....reminding us what we have done and talking about what we are going to do tomorrow. She also asks us what our favorite part of the day was. Here's C telling M all about her day. She's not anywhere near rolling over, but she has figured out the she can wiggle!!!

3 months and St. Patrick's Day

For St. Patrick's Day M made green eggs & ham, along with green pancakes. She let me put the green food coloring in. I was very excited to help. Here's our supper cooking.What a wonderful meal!!
St. Patrick's Day was also C's 3rd month birthday. Here she is putting up with a photo session for M.

However her patience soon was at its limit and she started telling M she had enough and was starting to get hungry. Who says babies can't tell you exactly what they want??!! D calls this "the head turn" and sometimes jokes that there are 3 nursers in the house (me--because I like to pretend with my bears & dolls, and him--because C starts to suck on his shirt if he is holding her when she gets hungry!!)