Sippy

I have some villagers! One day after my rant, things are already looking up. The first person to join my village (inadvertently, without even realizing he did so) is Zac, the director of Violet's daycare. When I called to report that her fever would sadly keep her out of school today, he said to send her on in, since the fever was due to her ear infection. So both Mommy and Daddy got to go to work today! Thanks Zac!

The next member of my tribe, this time joining very intentionally, is my pal Marla. She sent me the sweetest note today, offering to work from home so she could watch Violet for us. I really can't express how her generosity makes me feel. She even assured me that things wouldn't be too busy so she'd have plenty of time and attention to devote to Violet. Amazing. People are so good. Thanks Marla! Even if we don't have to take you up on the offer, the fact that you put it out there (and let's face it, taking care of a sick baby is no walk in the park) speaks for itself.

I should also include Violet's teachers in my village, since they are doing such a fabulous job of helping raise my child when I'm at work. I called a couple times today to check in with Ms. Tracie (Violet's favorite) and got a good report each time. When Violet refused to drink from her bottle, Ms. Tracie simply put it in a sippy and next thing you know, my girl's all grown up! I tried the same trick at home and no dice, so I'll need to figure out the secret tomorrow. When I give Violet a sippy, here's what we get:

That look of intense concentration? Yeah, she's just chewing on the top of the sippy. No drinking involved.

Monday's Child

31 Weeks

In all the drama today, I almost forgot to take Violet's Monday picture. Luckily, Matt was on hand to snap this shot of our little girl, finally feeling better (downright hyper is more like it). Hopefully that means the antibiotics are working and she'll be right as rain tomorrow. Matt's going to take the early shift, I'll take over at lunch, and between the two of us, hopefully we'll get through the day. Also, I know in the past I've worried that my Friend is a little... chunky. Well, she dropped 10 ounces between Friday and today's doctor visit, so perhaps a few extra rolls in case of emergencies isn't such a bad thing.

In other too-much-info news, my boobs have officially been retired. With Violet's illness, she was so fussy that breastfeeding was impossible and it made for a natural ending. Maybe it's good it happened this way - I was too worried about Violet to really dwell too much on the grand finale. I miss it, I do. It's a bonding experience, sure. But it's also way more convenient to nurse her in the morning compared to scrambling for a clean bottle and measured formula. However, I'm very excited to get half my wardrobe back, not to mention my bra collection. (Although I'm realizing that after not wearing half my clothes for almost a year now... I don't love them so much anymore. Might be time for an upgrade one of these days when I win the lottery.)

Where's My Village?

They say it takes a village to raise a child. And I believe it. And I'm wondering where I can buy one, because I could really use some backup right now.

It was a long weekend of fevers and fussiness and screaming in the middle of the night like I've never heard. Well, we have a diagnosis. After Friday's doctor check revealed clear ears, today's recheck showed one "beautiful" ear and one "horrible" ear (doctor's own words). Alas, my poor baby is experiencing her first ear infection and I'm very bummed, because I'm imagining that this is only the first in what will be an ongoing battle. Matt had tubes in his ears when he was young, and since everyone knows Violet takes after her Daddy, well...

So we've had another long day of fevers and fussiness. We're administering antibiotics, fever reducers, and breathing treatments via an inhaler. Violet is refusing to drink from her bottle, meaning I'm trying left and right to get any amount of food in her. She has her good moments, namely when the medicine has kicked in, and more not-so-good moments. And once again, we're looking at another day where we can't take her to daycare.

Enter my village. It sucks being a teacher because taking time off isn't as easy as not showing up, get your work done later. There are eight teachers, 200 kids, a lunch room, a bus line, and three groups of my students who all depend on me to show up. I hate not being able to do my job. I'm one of those people who pride myself on being dependable and always showing up ready to go. So calling in to work is very against my nature. Now, of course Violet comes first. I would never hesitate to stay home if she needed me. But I only get so many days off a year, and this isn't going to be the last time she gets sick. So what do we do? I can't really miss more work. I can't take her to daycare. Matt already took today off to deal with our little indoor bee infestation (more on that later). The couple of friends I would turn to up here all happen to be teachers, so they're in the same boat I am. My mom is a teacher and doesn't get much more time off than I do. Matt's mom is out of town for the week with some friends. We don't have any other relatives around. It boils down to the fact that I'm short one village, and I don't know how to go about getting one. If anyone has a few tribe members they wouldn't mind sparing, send them my way.

So it looks like Matt and I will each take a half day tomorrow. Hopefully Violet won't have a fever tomorrow so she'll be clear to go back to school on Wednesday, because if we have to keep her home one more day, I might as well quit my job. (Okay, I'm being a bit overdramatic here, but it's been that kind of day.)

And as to that kind of day... for the past month or so, we've been finding a bee here or there in our kitchen. Sometimes they're dead, sometimes Matt takes a fly-swatter to them, but no big deal. For the past month or so, I've also been saying how we need to call sometime to take care of the bees, but you know how that goes. Well, when about 30 of them swarmed us this morning, I was extra thankful Matt had decided to stay home. He did the fly-swatter dance, killing as many as he could find (and killing a light bulb in the process), while I speed-dialed pest control. We secured an afternoon appointment and the terminator just left, promising us to be bug free (and promising to report back on the double should anything else crawl, creep, fly or buzz its way in).

Anyway, keep sending those prayers. God's in our tribe, so there's that!

Sick and Tired

I should have saved Violet's sad picture from the last post to go with this one. My poor baby is sick. She's been running a fever since yesterday and just isn't her usual, happy self. Ironically, we were at the doctor on Friday afternoon to get her chronic cold checked out, and her fever appeared just a few hours later. (On a side note, she got weighed at the office and holy moly 19 pounds 9 ounces!) Poor girl. We've gotten so used to big smiles and happy sounds that it's hard watching Violet obviously under the weather. We were up every hour with her last night, and it looks like I'll be taking a sick day so I can take care of her tomorrow. If you don't mind, say a little prayer for my girl that she bounces back soon!

7 Months!

Violet is seven months old today! It's strange... six months was a big milestone, but seven months seems even more significant. She's closer to being a one-year-old than a newborn. She's passed that halfway mark. Tomorrow she gets to try formula from a sippy cup at school. She's eating meats. Big stuff! We're pretty convinced she actually waved bye-bye to Matt the other day when he put her in the car before school. At least, he waved and she moved her arms and hands back at him in a similar motion. Hey, we'll take it!

So my husband just returned from a business trip. Last night it was just me and the Little Plop, all by ourselves. I was nervous, I'm not going to lie. Violet's been sleeping so poorly, it's tough enough to make it through the night when you can tag-team with your spouse. I was dreading a night of up and down alone. But fortunately, the little girl slept all night (or I was asleep so hard I didn't hear her stirring!) And I needed some rest! But let me tell you, being a single parent is no joke. For those of you out there who do it, God bless you. You're earning an extra star in your crown in Heaven. Here's hoping Matt never decides to get rid of me because I just don't know how I'd manage.

And on that note, let's take a stroll through the many shades of Violet (please observe that the below pictures were snapped within about 90 seconds of each other):

 

Is she a stinker, or what? My Friend here has developed quite an attachment disorder. If you're not in her face playing with her or holding her, she is boo-hooing. I can't even walk into the kitchen where she can still see me without a complete meltdown. That made for a fun two days without Daddy, let me tell you. But she's such a sweetie still. Rotten, but a sweetie.

Back in the Day

All right class: In colonial times the diaper was sometimes used as a bonnet. 

- Anonymous (otherwise known as my mother-in-law Lee Anne)

Lee Anne read my mind on this one. Violet totally reminds me of a little bonnet-wearing girl from back in the day. Also, I think I have an unhealthy obsession with putting ridiculous things on her head and then saving the photographic evidence. Here's the other one I snapped that night:

Space Cadet? Anti-mind reading device? Proof that Mommy is nuts?

Baby You Can Drive My Car

Baby you can drive my car
Yes I'm gonna be a star
Baby you can drive my car
And maybe I'll love you

Beep beep'm beep beep yeah!

Title Me Tuesday

I know what I'm thinking about this picture... let's see how many of you are thinking the same thing! Post your captions in the comments below!

Best of Times, Worst of Times

This weekend put us through the wringer. I'm ready for another one already! Alas, the week has just begun, so we must soldier on. It started well enough. Violet got to check out a few of the big-girl items she's been itching to get into. For example, the neighbors' swingset.

Aw... my big girl! So after pizza and swinging on Friday, Mimi came up Saturday and hung out for a few hours. We took Violet for a walk in her big-girl stroller at this fab park we recently discovered. She was actually awake for it this time - big improvement from our last outing there. Then Saturday night, Matt was slated to babysit while I had my first girls' night out. We had a great time at a fun little restaurant called Kozmo. I'm pretty sure it's the first time I've been outs sans baby and husband, and it was nice. Must remember to do that more often. Anyway, I arrive home to find out that Violet has been giving Matt the business all night long. I don't know if her stomach hurt, her teeth were bothering her, the runny nose and cough were keeping her up or what, but suffice to say, the stinker was not happy and she was going to tell us about it.

Tooth Number Two is making its presence known.

So I capped off a fun evening out with a night of zero sleep. To make matters worse, Matt was off to the Falcons game on Sunday, stranding me at home with a cranky baby who wouldn't let me leave her sight without completely falling apart. She was either feeling miserable or she is spoiled rotten. Jury is still out. It was a long day to say the least. I wish I could nap, but I've never been good at it. One bright spot: Publix was running a BOGO sale on baby food, paired with a handy coupon of a dollar off seven jars (Keight - you were right! What a deal!) so at least I scored there. Then we headed to the neighbor's house for a two-year-old's birthday party. (As an aside - God knew what he was doing when he gave me a girl. I went shopping for little boy clothes and a) there aren't any cute ones, and b) Target has four racks of girl clothes for every boy one.) 

As if that weren't exhausting enough, Sunday night didn't hold much more sleep than the one before, although this time we threw the towel in much earlier and just took Violet to bed with us, taking turns holding her so she could breathe without coughing. It's been rough, I'm not going to lie. There were some bright spots this weekend, but I'm ready for another one. (Although this coming weekend I'll be spending all day Saturday at UGA for my Master's degree, so I won't be catching up on any zzz's there.) Sorry about all the complaining... we'll take any prayers you can spare over here that Violet will get over this cold/tummy trouble/teething pain she's been experiencing.

 

Monday's Child

30 Weeks!

 Now if this picture doesn't make you smile out loud, you obviously have a Grinch-sized heart!

Sorry Slacker

So I feel like I've been slacking on the blog lately. I apologize. Things seemed to have really kicked into high gear around here and I barely have enough time to think, let alone share my thoughts. Hopefully things will calm down soon, or I'll learned how to juggle a little better. In the meantime, rest assured that I miss you all! I'll try to be better. But hopefully absence will make the heart grow fonder, as I also have quite a bit of writing for my master's degree to catch up on, plus the never ending lesson planning, email checking, etc etc of my life. Hang in there, we'll get through it together.

I hope you all have a nice weekend planned. Around here, I expect to do some laundry...

...perhaps get back in the swing of things...

...maybe even take a stroll or two.

Hope you also have some small pleasures planned. Until then!

PS Thanks for all the comments, posted and verbal, about Violet's little roll off the couch. Turns out, lots of your kids have fallen, rolled, been dropped (!) and lived to tell the tale. Turns out, babies are pretty sturdy little creatures (God obviously knew us parents would have idiot moments and planned accordingly).

Things That Go Bump

Violet fell off the couch today. I know, I know. She seems fine, though, thank the good Lord. Here's how it went down (literally). She fell asleep while nursing this afternoon, so as I often have, I scooted her off my lap and onto the couch, snuggled into the Boppy pretty securely. (I know, smarter people would have seen this coming, go ahead and hand out the Mom of the Year award now. But normally she's passed out so hard I've never had to worry.) Well, with Matt and Grandma home and everyone talking and having a good time, Violet woke up just a few minutes into her nap and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Before we knew it, there was a squeal, a bang, and a wail. In a horrible instant I knew what had happened and we all raced to find Violet sitting on the floor between the couch and the coffee table, crying her poor heart out.

There isn't a bump. There was barely a mark, in fact, and she calmed down as soon as I swooped her up. So I'm going to declare her okay. But she scared us all pretty good, herself included, and naptime on the couch is officially over.

Happier couch times. This is NOT the scene of the crime.

It's been that kind of day, in fact. I left school halfway through the day with a killer migraine that just refused to quit until I crawled in bed and turned off the lights. Somehow sitting in my semi-darkened classroom with my head on a hard desk just wasn't doing it, imagine that. I feel lame for taking a sick day for something stupid like a migraine, but there wasn't much else I could do. It's been over a year since I had one, so I guess I was due, but I hope this doesn't mean they'll be appearing on a regular basis.

Anyway, we're both fine now. Violet got to feed herself some sweet potatoes at dinner tonight, and now she is playing on the floor with Daddy and Grandma while I bake a mountain of cookies for tomorrow's staff meeting. We are hosting the neighbors for spaghetti and meatballs at our new dining room table tomorrow, very exciting! And life continues to roll on (just not off the couch anymore).

Violet's New Ride

So we survived another busy weekend. They just aren't long enough. I somehow end up more exhausted at the end than when they start out! But we make the most of every second. Matt and I got things started in the most delicious way - a trip to the Biscuit Barn! After driving by it every day on his way to work, Matt finally tried it and made me so insanely jealous by his mouth-watering descriptions that I extracted a promise that he'd take me there on our way to Peachtree City for the weekend.

I thought I liked big, fluffy, Chick-fil-a style biscuits. Now I realize how misled I've been. Those biscuits are nothing but a gummy mouthful of dough. What you want is a larger, flatter biscuit so the top gets a little crispy and melts in your mouth. Perfection. I got the bacon, egg and cheese and the bacon was nice and crunchy, not limp and chewy like some other places. I could go on and on. And we'll be going back.

Also, the Biscuit Barn on a Georgia football Saturday is the perfect place to take your adorable child dressed in her precious UGA outfit, because admiring looks and whispers will just follow you around. Mommy and baby both love that attention!

So then it was off to Peachtree City, where we watched a day full of football (some for better, some for worse) at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Violet loved playing with them and really liked the NYC hat they brought back for her from their recent vacation to the Big Apple.

Is the backwards cap look still cool?

 

Exhausted after a disappointing Georgia game, resting up for the Ohio State match-up...

 Violet's new ride!

 

Violet and I headed to my parents' house on Sunday for lunch and some more family time. Mimi has been hitting the garage sale jackpot and managed to buy 100 kids books for only ten bucks, so Violet has a fully stocked library now. My mom also scored a practically brand new stroller for only 20 dollars, and Violet tried it out to much success. (The sellers told her they loved using it at Disney World and that was all the incentive Mimi needed!)

Loving on Aunt Chitra after lunch.

So it was a good, long, exhausting weekend. We came home with a truck full of furniture we are inheriting from Matt's grandma, another load is being delivered tomorrow, and after this morning's pediatrician pit stop, we are all back into the swing of things. It's going to be a crazy week at school for me, but really, I've learned not to expect anything less! Hang in there, folks!

Monday's Child

29 Weeks

I haven't been ignoring you guys, I promise. We've just been very preoccupied around here. Violet is 29 weeks old today! She celebrated by visiting the pediatrician because the girl has been having some, ahem, going problems. Daddy the Hero took her in, got her checked out, bought her medicine, administered it (not a task for the faint of heart) and then dropped her off at daycare today. Whew! He's quite the Daddy! 

Violet is feeling much better, thank goodness. I've never been so obsessed with anything in my life. I spent the whole weekend feeling sick to my stomach, knowing poor Violet was not feeling good (although bless her heart, she was as cheerful and happy as could be for the most part). It was wrenching having to listen to her struggle in pain. Poop. Such a little, natural, taken for granted thing. Until it gets stuck. We tried everything. Apple juice. Pears, peaches, prunes. Bicycling the legs. Tummy massages. Anyway, this is way more detail than anyone needs. Suffice to say, I think we got things moving again.

Other than that, things are good. Violet's little tooth is getting more pronounced each day. It also gets sharper every day, to the point that it's no longer cute to let her gnaw on my knuckles. Yeeowch! Next week she'll be seven months old and that means she gets to try meats for the first time; I already stocked up on some new flavors during the Publix BOGO sale. Speaking of food, we used the last bag of frozen breast milk today. The stash is officially depleted. I now have a freezer again! I'm going to be honest though, I was a little sad. Extremely proud of myself for being able to give Violet so much breastmilk for so long, but it is the end of an era. I'm still nursing twice a day, but that stash is being depleted as well, and I think it's a sign that all good things must come to an end eventually. As of tomorrow, she will be getting more formula than breastmilk.

Back in the days of nursing every two to three hours, I wrote many a blog post in my head about how I just didn't love breastfeeding. I never got around to actually typing any of them up, and all the better, since I got over that exhausted, baby tied to my boob, trapped feeling. There were days when I was just trying to convince myself to keep up the nursing for three months, and here we are, going on seven. And now that I've come to the other side, I realize I'm really going to miss it. Not that I want to be one of those people who is nursing a five-year-old (and good Lord I hope I don't offend any of my readers with that comment, because... ew.) But there is something incredibly bonding about nursing. Anyway, sorry. This post has been all poop and boob and probably not what most of you tuned in for, so here's another picture as your reward for sticking through it to the end.

I Feel Pretty

Well, you've done it again. After my little pity party last week, you all decided to make me eat my words. So I thank you humbly. And naturally, you're captions were spot on. Natalie took the words right out of my mouth with her "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." And Lee Anne's comment about the eyelashes was picture perfect. But I must say, you can never go wrong with a Broadway show tune! (Hint hint, I was in chorus all four years of high school, and participated in many a musical. There's a special place in my heart for bright lights and jazz hands!) And so, I give you...

 I feel pretty, oh so pretty
I feel pretty and witty and gay
And I pity any girl who isn't me today
I feel charming, oh so charming
It's alarming how charming I feel
And so pretty
That I hardly can believe I'm real
See the pretty girl in that mirror there?
Who can that attractive girl be?
Such a pretty face, such a pretty dress
Such a pretty smile, such a pretty me! 

- Emily B.

It's Great To Be A Georgia Bulldog!

Violet isn't quite sure what being a Bulldog fan entails...

 ...but she's ready for the big game!

 Hanging on the patio at Travis and Wendi's, listening to the game on the radio... what a great way to spend a day.

 I think we have a new football fan on our hands!

Title Me Tuesday

Okay, one more Title Me... if no one plays along, I'll take it as a sign that we can retire this feature. I decided to go with a cute picture instead of a straight up silly one. Next week (if we get to next week) will be another purposefully posed, mom and dad are so mean to poor Violet shot. But for now, give us your best!

Monday's Child

28 Weeks

Violet has a tooth!!!!! Big day for us over here! Matt noticed her chewing big time on some toys and after running my finger along her gums, I found it, a tiny white little ridge working its way through her gums. She was a bit cranky yesterday, which I chalked up to over-tiredness, but perhaps the real culprit has revealed itself. But it wasn't too bad, so here's hoping the rest of the teeth are as smooth. Ah, teeth. That's a whole new ballgame altogether. Good thing I was already thinking I'm about done with nursing.

Other than that, we had a lovely Labor Day weekend and no one is ready to go back to work/school tomorrow. We don't get another day off until November. But we enjoyed ourselves with football watching, steak grilling, firework gazing and tooth cutting. Hope your holiday was just as productive.

PS Guess who actually cleaned the shower?! (Okay, I sprayed it down with about half a gallon of bleach, but it certainly looks better than it did!)

What Violet looks like every time she spots Spooky the cat. Insert high pitched squeal here.

Yawn

I'm hoping to catch up on some sleep this weekend. Our Labor Day holiday can't come fast enough.

My workload at the elementary school shot up significantly this week as I started doing my own planning and teaching twice a day. I have an enrichment group in the morning and some students who need a bit of extra help in the afternoon (if you catch my politically correct drift). Now, teaching two segments a day isn't that bad. But keep in mind I don't get a planning period and I'm not paid to stay late or show up early. I have about fifteen minutes in the morning before the first group shows up, and another 30 minutes in the afternoon before I'm off the clock and out the door to get my baby love. I don't really have the time or money to spend on planning or preparing at home. So I just have to squeeze it in where I can. This teaching stuff is not for sissies. At least I'm slooooowly starting to learn the names of the 200 or so first graders I see every day.

Some other tidbits from school this week: I was given my first silly band. I think it's a giraffe? For the life of me I do not understand this new grade school obsession, and I assume it will one day go the way of the beenie baby, but for now, at least I'm part of the cool crowd with my awesome light blue giraffe-ish shaped silly band. Also, the other day Matt innocently asked me if I remembered Go-gurt, the yogurt that comes in the squeezable tube. Does it still exist, he wondered. Dude, if you only knew how many Gogurts I have to rip open for the kindergarten students I have lunch duty with.

As far as the home front is concerned, yesterday we got the dreaded call that we had to pick Violet up from daycare early - she was sick. Apparently there was a epidemic of diarrhea going around the infant room and if a baby so much as farted the wrong way, they were packed up and shipped home for at least 24 hours. (In their defense, my girl had to get a bath in the sink because her diaper was that out of control, so they were justified in calling.) Unfortunately, this mom of the year left my phone in the car on the one day daycare calls. (Of course, I don't get cell service in the school, nor am I anywhere near my classroom most of the time to check my messages even if the call came through, so I'm not sure it mattered much.) They finally reached Matt, who took the day off today to hang out with Violet. Who, for the record, feels fine. But what to do, a rule is a rule.

 The Little Plop, splish-splashing in the tub. She's active enough to get me pretty soaked these days during bath time!

So after this week's drama central, we are all ready to chill out and relax for a few days. We'll eat pizza, grill out with the neighbors, catch the season's first Georgia game (woot woot!), hopefully snatch a few extra zzzz's. Mimi is planning a playdate with Violet, I really want to clean the shower (yeah right) or at least get to Walmart... Eh, who knows. All I can say for sure is, I will be resting from my month of hard labor and enjoying the only day off we'll see until November.

Ahoy Matey!

So I post what I personally think is the most hilarious picture to date of Miss Thing, and I only got two responses. Sniffle sniffle. What's wrong with ya'll? Getting tired of writing your own captions? Sigh. Oh well. Pity party concluded.

In brighter news, they were two of the funniest comments to date, so perhaps it's about quality, not quantity. As usual, it was hard to pick a winner, but apparently I have a thing for captions with accents.

Th' infamous landlubber be takin' a likin' t' me drool. 

- Marilyn (Mmunford2000) 

So this is the eye patch Violet had to wear during the vision test portion of six month well-check and it was just too awesome not to preserve in digital memory. I'm still kicking myself for not having my camera on me for the actual event, because eye patch plus electrodes attached to her head was truly a sight to be seen. But at least I can recreate part of it for you. And she doesn't even seem to mind wearing it! Here's a close up of the patch...

Argh, mateys!