Just a day in the life

Did I mention yesterday that I was lucky enough to get projectile vomited on, in my birthday suit, seconds before hopping into what was to be a relaxing shower, by THE CAT, from a ledge? That has to be a lucky-charm type thing - no other explanation for how I could have possibly been lucky enough to experience it. After hitting her bullseye (me), the cat also managed to puke in every crevice around the toilet, which was ultra fun cleaning up for me.

Today, I got home from work to find that our bathroom toilet had flooded. Though tank-water doesn't have the gross factor that cat puke does, it was another ultra fun clean up for me. Around the same dang toilet. Did I mention that the hubs is out of town and I know nothing about toilet repair?

Oh, and in my post-flood frustration, I decided to get out my spa gift certificate to make an appointment tomorrow because after all that cleaning and I deserved it...out of our cheap hidden-in-the-closet-for-extra-drawerspace dresser. Yea, so in the process, I couldn't get the drawer open right away, so I tugged on it, perhaps a little to hard, because I took the front of the drawer right off.

Happy Monday. Sigh.

Pink!

My kiddo is all boy, as you probably know pretty well by now.
My hubby is as macho as you can get, as you probably have figured by now as well.

Well....

We're adding some ruffles and lace and pink to the mix this summer.... a baby girl is on her way!

While I think we're collectively terrified about how it is humanly possible to take on the responsibility of another kid without a) scaring T for life and b) going broke -- we're also super excited at the idea of completing our family with a little sister for T. I get all mushy when I think of T learning to look out for and protect his future little sister (that is, if he gets out of this hitting/kicking habit sometime soon and starts to be nice to girls again) and of Chris having a little princess wrap him around her finger.

And it WILL happen.

The hubs, who is currently trying to convince me that little girls can, in fact, wear the same blue that their big brothers do and that pink lacey newborn bloomers set the stage for encouraging her to become a stripper later in life, is going to be playing princess dress-up and daddy beauty-salon in the not-to-distant future, mark my words.

So...now it's out there. I've been a bit hesitant to talk about this pregnancy, anxiety being a key reason. But it's time. Some lady in my office building touched my belly yesterday. Blech. Not cool, strangers!

Now....time to start the PINK shopping!

Get ready hubby...it's (going to be) a girl! 

Four

That is, this is the fourth time that Chris has been gone for the majority of the week that T ended up sick.

Sigh. Not a good track record for me.

He’s had this lingering cough since, well, the week of the third yuckiness – right before I left for my work convention and before he wound up with a week-long fever with the hubs. February was not a good month for the little bugger.  But since the cough wasn’t slowing him down at all, I basically just chalked it up to allergies and went on with my business.

Last night he went to bed and the second he laid down, he started coughing more than normal. By 9 o’clock I was up in his room giving him some cough medicine to hopefully help him sleep. By 11:30, it had turned into a wheezing, terrible sounding thing that lasted just about all night long. He did sleep peacefully from 12-2:30, a plus, but that, of course, was the dog’s cue to get up from bed, start growling at the door and prowl around the house. Thanks guard dog, I needed that. By 3 AM, I decided that the boarding kennel seemed like a very wise move for the pups the next time the hubs went out of town. By 5AM, I decided we’d be taking another trip back to the doctor’s office this morning (and that caffeine would be a Wednesday necessity).

Diagnosis? Basically, his on-going cough didn’t give his lungs a chance to recover – so they were inflamed. She said the cough sounded like croup – but the breathing tests were fine, which is good, so most likely, the month of coughing resulted in him sounding the way he does because his poor lungs need some down time. We start the steroids tonight and hopefully this knocks out whatever yuckiness is left in him!

I’m preparing for the side effects now: I was warned of him possibly having a ferocious appetite and a lot more energy "to redirect" (read: get in trouble with) than usual. The thought of both of those side effects in my always-ready-to-eat child who only-runs-never-walks (and likes to test his boundaries on a daily basis) partly makes me giggle, and partly, makes me want my pillow and a nap.

Dallas

We've been in Dallas almost 2 years now and the question I am still asked most frequently is, "so how do you like Dallas?"  And honestly this is a tricky question for me answer.  It's not that it's a bad place - it's just kind of a different place - but I never want to say that for fear of offending some die-hard Dallas native.  So I usually turn these conversations into a Q&A where I try to get answers to my long-running Dallas quandries.  Here are my top 3:

1.) Why are there so many highways here?  Where do they all go?  Why are 10 more always being built at any given time?  And why do they each have an alphabetical name, a number, and then a nickname?  Take, for example, the George Bush Turnpike.  Also known as 161 in some places.  Also known as "the toll road."  I am afraid of this road.  I have no idea where it goes, except that whenever I accidentally end up on any of these roads the right lane suddenly becomes exit only and I soon find myself in the parking lot of a Mexican strip club.  This is why it takes me 45 to get to the mall when it could take me 5.  I only take local roads, which means driving along truck routes and through cow pastures.  Luckily Audrey loves cows so it's a win-win.

2.) What is the deal with Chik-fil-A?  Chik-fil-A is like a bizarre second religion down here.  Everyone eats at Chik-fil-A.  As much as they possibly can.  If you are looking for someone and can't find them you should go to Chik-fil-A because they are probably there.  I cannot figure out what is so unique about Chik-fil-A, except that they aren't open on Sundays, they raise their chickens in an anti-gay environment, and they will give you half sweet tea half unsweetened tea mixed together if you ask really nicely at the counter.  I have eaten at Chik-fil-A once and I ordered a fruit cup.  I've since concluded this is why I have no friends.

3.) What exactly is Vacation Bible School and why do I need to send my child to this?  Ever since we moved to Dallas I've been hearing about "vacation Bible school" and how this is a must-do in the summer when it's 125 degrees for the 63rd day in a row, and you need a break from your child.  I get that it's some sort Christian-based day camp but what exactly do they do all day?  Two and three-year olds can only sit around reading the Bible for so long - I have seen this first hand at Audrey's preschool.  So what else do they do?  Is it really free?  If it's free is there some kind of catch?  Like I'm handing my child over to a secret religious cult?  No one can seem to give me the details on this and the web is not much more informative.  Of course, none of this will stop me from sending Audrey if it's really free.

I don't say any of this to bash Dallas, or Texas.  And it could be that these things are less characteristic of Dallas than they are of the south in general.  These are just some of the things us crazy Yankees notice when we leave our bubble on the East Coast.

Back in town

So, I haven't blogged much lately either, and it's due in large part to the fact that I feel like I've barely been in Austin, let alone, with my child, for what feels forever.

It's hard to write about what your kiddo is up to lately when it's all second-hand knowledge.

First, I was at a work convention for an eternity up in Dallas. Friday AM all the way through Wednesday PM. That's a looong time to be gone. (And a long time to be on my feet -- that convention center is huge). And a long time to work nonstop (and not even have time to see Erika dear when I'm like 10 minutes away!) And the longest time I've been apart from T. And it felt like even longer since he was sick (still) when I left.

How did he and his daddy fare? Let's see. A double ear infection and 7 days of a fever. Similar stubborn personalities that clashed and probably brought out the most terrible two's in both of them. Perhaps a few tantrums on both sides of the fence.  But  I think that despite spending the time possibly getting on each other's nerves, the hubs AND the kiddo both enjoyed the father-son time together - even if they are both too stubborn to admit it.

I was home literally one full day when the hubs and I had to jet set off to California for a neighbor's wedding. It was nice to get away - and we traveled with some other friends from the area which was fun.  But I will admit that after a week of lots of on-my-feet working and far less than adequate sleep, getting on an airplane and flying away from my couch (and T) was super hard.

Eating ice cream at Grandma's -- yet something else I missed while I was gone!

This week has been a slow improvement in T's behavior (though we have to work on the new hitting and kicking tendency he picked up) - as I'm hoping that mommy abandoning him for over a week right after daddy was out of town is becoming a distant memory.  On the bright side, surviving that week has convinced me that the hubs and I could actually not only survive but possibly thrive on a mommy-and-daddy-only vacation next summer if we actually had the time to relax a little in the same place at the same time together.  T will forgive us by then, right?

List time! New Favorite Books!

It's been a little while since I've put together a list for the blog. So, why not do another book list? I don't know about you, but I'm always on the hunt for fun books that might get T's interest, so why not share his latest favorites? You'll probably sense a theme...

1. Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site - It certainly makes it easier to go to bed at night when all his truck buddies are going to bed at the same time!

2. Cars - While he's not yet into the Cars movies, T LOVES him some Cars books - especially when they make noises, like this one does. Race noises, music and horns to bring the book to life.  Favorite pages? Anything with Mater on it. In case you might be wondering, Mater is a little boy's dream -- an old dusty tow truck with buck teeth.

3. Tons of Trucks - I can recite this book by heart, we've read it so much. You probably don't want me to do it right now -- though I will if given the chance! Really, it's pretty darn cute though - and there are interactive elements on every page, which T is really into and I get a kick out of too.

4. Noisy Diggers - Now this book is an interesting one. It was a 2nd birthday gift from a friend of ours, and I've been giving her a hard time since then for gifting a book whose sound effects include rocks breaking and dumping. Regardless of the headaches the loud and less-than-peaceful noises give to mommy (thanks, friend!), T absolutely loves it. So, if it's a winner with him, its a winner (albeit slightly begrudgingly) with me too.

5. Wheels on the Go - I'm really not quite sure what is so special about this book, but T certainly loves it. Maybe because it was an impromptu gift from daddy? What's good about it is that it features some modes of transportation that differ from the typical truck, train, and car -- we get to read about a bicycle, go-cart, and trolley.

6. Good Dog, Carl - This one is one of those classic books from when we were kids. It actually has virtually no words in it, and the point is to make the story up as you look at the pictures. I'm constantly saying "And this isn't a good idea..." when we're looking at the pictures, (I mean really, who wants to encourage their kiddo to get babysat by the dog and go swimming in the fish tank while mommy is out?) but T gets a kick out of it.

7. Click Clack Moo Cows That Type - I think T gets the biggest kick out of this book simply because he gets a tickle every time we get to a "Click, Clack, Moo" stanza (how can you not?). I love the adorableness of the storyline of the book (and that, even though it was apparently published in 2011, it still has a typewriter and an electric blanket in it. Probably the only place T will ever hear of either of these two things). i wasn't sure at first if it would make T's favorite booklist simply because it didn't have a truck as the main character -- but hands down, he asks for it almost every night. It's simply too cute.

 

What new books have you found that I should go out and get for T?