Wordful Wednesday - Ghosts from Halloween Past

If I said that we are the type of people that go all out for Halloween and really prepare ahead of time, I'd totally be lying to you.

So, let me tell you how it goes every year.

Each October, on either the 30th or the 31st, Dennis and I look at each other and say, "Uh. Well. Um, so what should we dress up as this year?"

Our first year of marriage we lived in married student housing at our university, and we were so excited to hand out candy to all the cute little kids. Unfortunately, when you go to the store to get a costume on the afternoon of October 31st, there's pretty much squat left to choose from.

I ended up with a black witch hat that had purple hair attached to it.

Dennis got a crazy Frankenstein mask, and I think we stuffed socks under the shoulders of his jacket to make him look even more...monster-ish?

Last year we pulled our costumes together literally a couple hours before we had to be somewhere for Halloween. I ended up going to my parents' house to snag my brother's baseball gear and I dressed up as a baseball player.

Dennis somehow ended up with a rather nasty looking beard, put a stuffed squirrel in it (not an actual stuffed squirrel - see picture below for what I'm talking about), wore a checkered shirt, and actually ended up being quite a believable lumberjack.

But, last year I did plan ahead for Kaylee. She was just 6 months old, so we didn't get too crazy, but boy, oh, boy was she ever the cutest little ladybug you ever did see.

And this year, her costume is even cuter. Just you wait and see.


Head on over to 7 Clown Circus to check out more fun Wordful Wednesday posts AND enter to win a SWEET Flip video camera while you're there.

Wordful Wednesday: Motherhood, Tupperware and Toddlers - it's a beautiful mix.

What does motherhood mean?

It means a whole heck of a lot of things. Scraped knees, bonked heads, explaining dead goldfish, tickle fights, tooth fairies, learning to put someone else's needs before your own, and many, many other things.

Right now, one thing motherhood means to me is that my days of having a Tupperware cabinet where I can find exactly what I am looking for thanks to my six beautiful and elegant bins from Dollar Tree are gone. For several years to come.

And I'm quite okay with that.


*This post is a part of Wordful Wednesday, hosted by Angie at Angie's 7 Clown Circus.

Wordful Wednesday - She's my brave little toaster

My daughter's resiliency has me sitting here completely befuddled.

She's been through the ringer this past month. I've lost count of the number of pediatrician visits she's had. The ER visits have been a bit easier to keep track of as there have been two, but that's two more than any mom wants to have with her child. Ever.

This kid has had bronchitis, breathing treatments, three different antibiotics, a freaking ruptured eardrum, green crusty and gooey junk coming out of her ear, and let's not talk about all the testing - blood, urine, swabs, cultures, ick.

It's too much. It's more than an adult should have to endure, and I can say for damn sure it's more than any kid should have to endure.

Things just kept going downhill, and Friday, after seeing the pediatrician for high fevers and red swelling behind her ear, she said Kaylee needed to straight to the ER. Ok...scary?

Then she told me the reason why she had to go NOW.

She said she was afraid Kaylee may have something called mastoiditis - which, apparently- is an infection that gets into the bone and air pockets behind the ear. The concern, she explained, was that this area is so close to the brain and it needs to be treated immediately and agressively because the worry is that it can spread to the brain.

I can't even describe what went through my mind at that moment, except to say that I'm darn glad I was sitting at the time.

She fussed when she got poked or when the nurses tried to take her vitals or look in her ear, but other than those times, you never would have guessed anything was wrong.

I mean - shoot. The kid ruptured her eardrum and we DIDN'T HAVE A CLUE. She didn't whine and cry. She was still my sweet little Kaylee, and there I was a complete wreck watching this all happen.

She had more testing, IV antibiotics, IV fluids, and a CT scan of her head. I will never be able to erase the image of her getting all wrapped up in the protective equipment and having them wrap her little head like a mummy around the thing she was laying on to keep her head from moving while they did the scan.

All I could do was stand back while a room full of people, including the doctor - just in case something went wrong - hurried here and there and talked in low voices while my baby was crying and I couldn't DO anything. I couldn't comfort her or make it stop.

We eventually got transferred to a children's hospital a couple hours away to see a specialist and to have Kaylee admitted for more IV antibiotics.

It was a rather long weekend, but we finally got to come home yesterday. I'm so happy to say that she's doing phenomenal. Her body responded really well to the IV medicine and there was no need for surgical intervention, and everything on her CT indicated that the infection never made its way to the bone. We were incredibly lucky.

To be honest, I'm feeling a bit out of sorts. I've had some good talks with Dennis and with my mom, but I'm still having a hard time just processing everything that happened, and I've got a lot of thoughts floating around in my head, so the tone of my posts may be a little bit different for a little while since I finally actually have some time to ponder things. It sure sheds perspective on so many aspects of my life, and it's really made me take a step back and be thankful for things.

Here are some pictures of my brave little toaster during our crazy little weekend away from home.



Remember her newfound fascination with fashion and her insistence on wearing certain things? After digging through her bag, she found these and just had to wear them.





Going home - finally...





I am SO proud of her. OH, so proud. She is amazing and resilient and such a fighter. I am so proud to be her mom.

This post is a part of Wordful Wednesdays, a weekly feature at Angie's 7 Clown Circus.

Wordful Wednesday - Raising the red curtain on the nursery closet

What a difference a week has made!

Last week I showed you the embarrassing pictures of the closet in Kaylee's nursery. Things were just shoved in there, and there was no form of organization whatsoever. This was pretty much the worst part of her unorganized room, so it's where I started first.

Her whole nursery is now cleaned up, decluttered, and all organized. I am just waiting to do the BIG reveal until I get these adorable pieces of art in the mail so I can show you the finished product in all it's bin-ridden and adorable glory (for those of you who recommended bins, bins, bins, you were right on the money - bins rock my face off!).

So, let's flash back to last week and check out the messy, messy, ugly before picture. Ughhh. (And, notice how I have just one before picture and seven, count 'em - SEVEN - after pictures...I'm just a little excited over here...)


















I love how I had the boxes stacked all zig zaggy so they stayed put. How frigging high can I stack EMPTY DIAPER BOXES WITH NOTHING IN THEM? Hello! What was I thinking? It's called a trash can. Through the living room, out the door and to the trash can. Simple. 30 seconds max, people. What was my problem? Ughhh.

Behind these closet doors there is no longer an avalanche waiting to barf itself out all over the floor like the picture above. Oh, no, no, NO! Behind this door is a beautiful little thing I like to call organization. Say it with me - "Or-gan-i-ZATION!"


















I can't seem to locate my giant velvet red curtain with yellow tasseled pull strings that I usually bust out for occasions such as this. But, I think it's a pretty dramatic difference, and if you ask me, it deserves a red curtain reveal, so this is as close as I can get to the real thing...














And...wa-la!


















I got a multi-cube shelf thing at Target on sale for $35 and got some bins to go inside of it. Before, I had 4 bins (hey, at least I was on the right track with the bins) under Kaylee's window - 2 bins had books in them, and 2 had toys. Now that space is open, and all her toys are in her closet. I actually have three of those long pink bins that her shoes are in. The other two are being used to hold diapers on her changing table, which you'll see next week, hopefully.






















































And the top shelf? No longer cluttered with random books and junk. We've got one of those bins full of books that, if given the opportunity, Kaylee would rip to shreds in 3.2 seconds flat because they are made of actual paper, and not cardboard or fabric. So, they'll stay there until she can learn better. The other bins are filled with clothes that she's not yet big enough for, and next summer's wardrobe. Eventually I'll put little labels in those plastic things so I don't have to get on a chair and drag each one down to see what's in it, but I'm taking baby steps here, people. BABY steps.














Part of the reason I'm so excited is because it's my goal to get Kaylee's room, as well as the rest of our house organized. Get rid of the stuff we don't need and actually organize what we have. Things don't get so crazy and messy and out of control when everything has it's place, and when things that don't have a place get chucked. I want our home to be peaceful and relaxing.

I don't want it to be spotless - I want it to be lived in, but I don't want Kaylee growing up in choas, either. I want to teach her that she can be organized and that a good old purge of unused stuff is necessary from time to time. When she gets old enough to understand the concept, I plan to have her pick a toy or two to donate to a shelter every time she gets something new - to teach her not to hoard, and to teach her that there are other kids out there who don't have many toys and could sure use some of hers.

I feel like I'm on the right track - like I accomplished something. Like maybe, just maybe, I can do this. I can have an organized house.

I know it's just a closet, but man, I sure do feel good about it. And so does Kaylee - cleaning out all the junk gave her a whole new place to play (and hide - thankfully, she can't seem to help but SLAM the doors shut - repeatedly - so it's pretty easy to find her)...

Head on over to Angie's 7 Clown Circus for more Wordful Wednesay fun!

Tuesday's Tribute - To 3-hour naps and hail storms

I remember when I thought this day would never come...

The day my baby girl would actually NAP. Before she was one, she was on a napping strike, and it drove me batty. Her pediatrician said it was fine. I said, "No, it's NOT fine! It's driving me CRAYZAY!!!" Seriously, I don't know how I made it through the first year with no naps from my child.

Thankfully, she's now at this miraculous point in her life where she is ready for a nap around 11 or 11:30, and if I don't have her in her bed, she actually asks for "night night." Usually, I get about 2 hours from her, which is great.

Gives me time to blog, watch TV, do chores, not do chores. It's fabulous.

Well, today, we had a monster hail and rain storm, so I shut off the computers so they didn't get zapped if lightning struck close by or something.

I had just put the baby down for a nap and turned off the computer, and then my 3 hours (now...close to FOUR) of bliss began. I was so thankful for the storm because the computer is a HUGE distraction for me, and to be quite honest, it's also quite an escape. I can pretend there are no chores to be done, no bills to be paid, no stress. But, without the distraction, I got so much done!

Two epidoes of Army Wives were watched.
Two loads of laundry were completed.
Lunch was eaten.
A snack was eaten.
Lots of water was consumed.
Many trips to the bathroom followed.
I matched (or threw away) the socks from the bag of socks who lost their match.
I filled a bag of old clothes to donate, and a bag to trade in for credit at a resale store.
I had a conversation with my brother.
I talked to my husband.

It. was. AMAZING. 3-hour nap - you are my new favorite thing. I love you. Dearly. Please come back to me. Tomorrow? And the next day?

Now, go ahead and march your little bootie on over to Angie's 7 Clown Circus for more Tuesday Tributes.

I've got my baby back, baby back, baby back.

After a week that included 3 trips to the pediatrician's office, breathing treatments every 4 hours, one course of antibiotics, one late-night trip to the ER, a chest x-ray, lab tests, fevers nearly reaching 105, a second course of antibiotics, a nasty ear infection and virtually no sleep for anybody, you can bet your bottom dollar that sitting on the porch swing yesterday with my baby looking back at me like this was one of the best things EVER.

I've got my baby back.

This post is a part of Wordful Wednesdays over at Angie's 7 Clown Circus.

Tuesday's Tribute - to therapy in a to-go box

Yes, yes. I know I could shell out 80 bucks an hour and get what they call "real" therapy, but why should I do that when I can pay $3.50 and get it in a to-go box?















Ahhhh, yes...my fat and calorie laden therapy, covered in lemon butter cream frosting, sprinkled with big sugar granules and little silver candies that look like Christmas ornaments.

And it won't make me sit on a big cushy couch and ask me, "But, how does that make you feeeeel?"

Yep, just what the doctor ordered.

This post is a part of Tuesday's Tribute over at Angie's 7 Clown Circus.

Tribute to Elmo - the orginal gateway drug for babies

I swore we would have nothing to do with Elmo.

Then, my aunt sent me some DVDs her boys outgrew. When I saw the Elmo video, I paused for a moment as I envisioned driving down the interstate doing 75 and chucking it out the window with a blissful smile on my face.

But, logic took over. I decided I better hang on to it. Kaylee might want to watch it someday. Maybe she'd wake up and decide she was just too cool for the Veggie Tales. One never knows about these things, so I put it with the rest of our DVDs, and hoped it stayed right there. In the DVD box. With the lid on. Never to come out. Ever.

Now, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it was my husband who eventually dug it out, popped it in the DVD player, and introduced Kaylee to the gateway drug known as Elmo. I fear that this may lead to other even more powerful and annoying baby addictions such as the Wiggles. God help me...

Anyway, Elmo now runs through her veins. I can hardly tell her no when she looks at me with her pleading puppy dog eyes, a hopeful look on her face and utters the cutest little, "Ewmow???" you ever heard in your whole life.

Her face lights up, her smile becomes a mile wide, and she claps like a fool as soon as the movie starts.

And now, as we've been at home for 2 days giving her breathing treatments for the beast called bronchitis, Ewmow (in combination with a pacifier) is about the only thing that can get her to calm down.

Stupid Ewmow has also caused me to cave in ways I never thought I would. As we waited for her prescription at the pharmacy yesterday, we strolled down the baby aisle and found the thing I am ashamed to admit that I've been looking for - a stuffed Elmo that does. not. make. NOISE.

Oh, sweet miracle from Jesus.

She got the stuffed Elmo.

And this morning, when I drove to Wal-Mart at 6:30 in the morning to get a temporal lobe thermometer so I didn't have to hold the old fashioned one under her armpit for 87 minutes, I also got her a new Elmo DVD and a Sesame Street songs DVD.

Dang frickin' helium-filled Elmo got inside my head, too. I've already watched his DVD five - count 'em - FIVE times today, and I'm already getting jittery and sweaty, just jonesin' for another episode. I hope I can resist the temptation until Kaylee wakes back up from her nap.

So, you little crazy-eyed monster, this week, my tribute is to you. Not because I think you're even the slightest bit funny, cute, or entertaining (even though you look totally bad ass in your rapper costume when you sing hip hop songs)...


...but because you make my baby so happy. And for that, I'm grateful.

Head on over to Angie's 7 Clown Circus to read about what other bloggers are paying tribute to this week.