No News is Good News, Right?

Yes, that is my excuse for not blogging in over a week. Nothing major going on, but honestly it's been a lack of consistent sleep and instead passing out basically as soon as Griff is in bed that has kept me from it. Oh, and it's been busy as heck at work.

We have had a few fun things going on, but first a health update - Griffin is MUCH better, Bryan and I are as well, though I feel like I've cracked/bruised a rib or have a hiatal hernia or something. I don't know, but it hurts. Better with advil and a couple hits of albuterol. Perhaps that quack doctor at the urgent care place was right and I *do* have mild underlying asthma. Meh. We'll see. Physical scheduled for the 23rd.

So, Griffin. He got his first tooth! And then tooth #2! I'm still trying to get a picture of them, but he constantly wants to chew on something or suck his fingers/thumb, so that is proving a bit difficult. Some other firsts though:

Peas - Yum!
Carrots - Meh. They are ok.
Pears - "Lady, you best get that crap away from me. I will now refuse to eat even my favorite food for the next week. Take that."

Speaking of food, we went out to dinner last night and he sat in a high chair at a restaurant for the first time! He did great and loved looking around at everything going on - especially looking up at the fans. He didn't have anything to eat or drink (he ate before we went), but he had a good time playing with the toys we brought, which in the picture are tucked into the seat with him.

He's learned to stand without Mommy holding on, so long as there is something to lean on. Also, he's learned to turn, lose his balance and fall, as evidenced in the picture below.

Other news? Well, my transmission died ($$$), Bryan's tuition was due ($$), he needs a book for class ($) and we met our deductible for the year with Griff's hospital stay ($$). Oh, and both of our car registrations need renewed ($,$). So we're flat broke at this point, but we got good news from my OB. I went for my annual the day we ended up taking Griffin to the hospital. If there is another munchkin in our future, I'm cleared to try for a VBAC! Very happy about that, though judging by the latest expenses we'll never be able to afford another.

Now, I'm off to go get ready for tomorrow and my baby sister's high school graduation. I feel old....I'll feel older when she goes to college in the fall. The same college I went to. Seriously, how did she grow up so fast???

So. Very. Thankful.

After three nights in the hospital, Griffin is home safe and sound, and is improving by the hour it seems.

Last Tuesday, I got a call from DH saying to get home ASAP because Griffin, who had been sick over the weekend, but getting better, was running a 103.4 temp (temp that morning was 98.6, then went up to 100.2 at the babysitter's). He had called the doctor's office and was waiting on a call back since it was after hours for phone calls. Griffin had been to the doctor on Saturday after running a 102 fever all night. The doctor checked him over and felt it was another cold, but being complicated by "Restrictive Airway Disease" AKA asthma. His fever had broken and he seemed to feel a lot better. He had also been eating better the day before.

I was luckily only minutes from home at that point. I walked in and saw Griffin just hanging on Bry's shoulder. It was obvious that he was feeling awful. We decided if we didn't hear back from the doctor in the next 15 mins, we would take him to the ER. Within 10 minutes, she called and told us that since he seemed to be getting worse even with treatment from the past weekend, we should go to the ER so he could get labs and a chest xray done if need be.

So off we flew with me driving and Bryan in the backseat sponging Griffin off. To make a long evening short, the ER doc diagnosed Griffin with a double ear infection, but didn't like the way he sounded so ordered a breathing treatment. This particular nebulizer treatment was a "triple" something-or-other. It had albuterol and something else in it and was triple the strength. They wanted to clear up his breathing before sending us home. Well, that didn't quite go as planned. Instead, he was taken for a chest x-ray. Diagnosis: pneumonia.

Bryan and I were both terrified. See, it was 1 month until Wally and Liz's second birthday. That day was eerily similar to the days leading up to their birth - weather was the same, and on the way to work, I saw falcons just hovering over the highway on the lampposts with their wings spread wide, looking like a bad omen. That was also eerily similar to the days leading up to Wally and Liz's birth. Then, add in the fact that Bryan almost died from pneumonia when he was 7 years old, and you had two parents fervently praying to God to please, please, please let us keep our baby boy. There were moments we were certain that we wouldn't. It's hard not to think that way given our history...and oxygen saturation levels dipping to 83.

In hindsight, Griffin wasn't *that* bad off. We actually caught the pneumonia very early. So for the next 3 nights we took turns trying to sleep in the ever-so-(not)-comfy hospital recliner chair while the other walked/bounced/fed Griffin. Every time he fell asleep, within a half an hour, someone was in there messing with him. Poor baby is so exhausted. He has slept most of the time we've been home, but he's getting back to normal and his breathing is already better.

We are both sick as well with whatever bug gave Griff his pneumonia, but we're on antibiotics. We're both exhuasted. But most of all, we're just so very, very thankful that we brought our baby home again. Best. Anniversary Present. Ever.

Car Karma's a Bitch

I assume that Car Karma exists. No...I know it does. Why, you might ask? Remember my post from last week? Read on....

It was a lovely morning - cool, sunny, blue skies with perfect puffy little clouds. G decided to get up three times Sunday night and then nap for two hours making us later than normal, but I welcomed the long nap. I took a little one myself. We left for "school," and having forgotten my breakfast at home, drove through McD's. A few bucks and another layer of cholesterol stuck to my arteries later, we were on our way. Then, it began...

The car sounded funny. It was revving too high. We stopped at a redlight.

The light turned green, I stepped on the gas. It was slow to speed up. It sounded funnier. It didn't seem to want to shift. Another redlight.

Green. Turned left. One mile or so until we get to school. Griffin was getting hungry. The car wouldn't shift out of first gear. Cue the hazard lights.

Got into the right lane, car having trouble speeding up in first gear, decided to get into a parking lot as quickly as possible. There was one coming up on the right - the doctor's office lot. Hazards off, turn signal on, turned right in to the driveway. Crap. I forgot. It's a hill....

Stepped on the gas....drifted backwards. Hit the brakes. We were stuck.

It sucks to be stuck in the uphill driveway to the doctor's office. Not because you are completely blocking patients from getting to the lot (there is a second entrance on the other side). Not because the other are going in the out lane and causing my heart to skip a beat for fear they will crash head-on and somehow flip their car onto mine where I'm now feeding G a bottle so he doesn't flip the f out from hunger. Not because of the $3,500 repair bill to replace my transmission (though that's a very close second). Why, then does it suck so much?

Because numerous people asked me if I could please move my car to a parking spot. Seriously? You think I want to be stuck on a hill with a transmission so dead it won't even reverse while having to feed my 6 month old and fearing imminent car-flippage-death? Or do you think I'm just *that* stupid and decided that since G was hungry at that particular moment when we almost crested the hill, that I stopped the car right there to feed him? Right.

Thanks Car Karma. You are a filthy, rotten bitch.

And Now, For Your Regularly Scheduled Bitch-Fest

Ahem....

Dear Extreme Couponers,

I understand the desire to save money. I understand the "thrill of the hunt." I understand that you have painstakingly planned an entire day around your coupons and various store sales. What I don't understand is why you have to dig through your huge stack of coupons to find the ones you need while you are at the register. With all of your planning, don't you think you could figure out what coupons you need before the annoyed teenager at the drug store rings up your five boxes of hair dye for a grand post-coupon total of $2.78?

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Dear Fellow Drivers,

If you signal that you are turning or merging left and then do the opposite...

If you ride my ass when I'm already speeding and throw your hands up in the air like I'm snail on a tortoise's back....

If you speed up as I'm trying to merge into traffic where there is an enormous opening between you and where I will soon be, then honk your horn and yell at me while continuing to speed up so that I can't get in....

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Dear Daycare Owners,

Don't think I didn't realize that you lied right to my face for two hours straight during our meeting on Tuesday evening. "We don't have audio monitors." Really? That's why not only have you repeated things I have said back to me verbatim, but have you never noticed the sign on your front door that says "Audio Monitoring on Premises?"

Also, The two things on the ceiling close to each other that look like smoke detectors? One is a smoke detector, the other is most certainly not a manual smoke detector. Seriously, what is a manual smoke detector anyway?

Oh, and I'm pretty sure you weren't "so happy" that I brought the grammatical and editing errors on your printed materials and in your company name to your attention. Since you are so into training, and own a training company as well, maybe you could find a training class on how to believably lie. You know, kinda like I did when I said I was giving you a second chance. Just sayin'....