Whirlwind

Courtesy of Jennifer Peters Photography - thanks Jennifer, for allowing me to show off your beautiful work!

http://www.jenniferpetersphotography.com/

I just found out that a friend of mine is expecting her first child in December. She stopped into the office today and if was so much fun to visit. I am absoultely thrilled for her. Being pregnant with Murray, giving birth to him, and raising him thus far have been the most amazing, fun, and completely wonderful days we could ever have imagined. Talking to her brought back so many fun memories of finding out we were expecting, my pregnancy, and the best day ever: November 14, 2007. Anyway, I'm just so happy for them. Children truly are a miracle.

We spent the weekend completely overhauling our house. We are putting it on the market as of this evening, and our realtor had several suggestions of things we could do to make it a bit more "sellable" before we list it. We actually had a good time getting it ready, though it was a lot of physical labor. Murray was with family most of the weekend, allowing us to really dig in. I thought we threw most everything out at spring clean up this year, but 12 garbage bags later, I am proven wrong. We had to put some in Dennis and Mary's garbage because ours was full (we have the largest can the city of Moorhead allows), and some will have to wait in the garage until next week (I do not, and never have had, the patience for a rummage sale - God Bless those of you who do). Anyway, it was fun to have a project together and the outcome is wonderful. I feel like we can breathe again. Now the hard part is done and we can sit back and wait. More on that as things progress.

I'm finding it so hard to believe that it's almost the middle of June. Time just goes so quickly. Cliche, I know, but it's so true. This morning I was feeling stressed to the max running around like a mad woman, as usual. I finally forced myself to stop for a moment - just to look around. You know what? It worked. I took five minutes to take some deep breaths and think about nothing significant. When my time was up, I felt as though I had a handle on things again. It's amazing what a few minutes can do to a person's perspective. Here's to peaceful moments. . .

Momma's Melt Down

I always drop Murray off at daycare a few minutes early so that I have time to spend with him in his room instead of running out the door. This morning I set him down in a Boppy pillow to play with a mobile. He was sitting up all by himself while I filled out his sheet, until suddenly, he tipped over on his side and bonked his head on the floor (the floor is carpeted, but it's berber, so it's pretty hard). I almost fainted - the sound of his head hitting the floor sounded like an atom bomb to me. I was convinced he had brain damage and I was wondering why no one was rushing to call 911. Murray was screaming and I was sobbing. It was not a pretty sight. His wonderful teachers assured me that this happens to many babies in their room, and though it may have hurt, did not cause permanent damage. It was not nearly as bad as I thought it was, but this is the first time he has ever had an "owie", and it was my fault because I should have put pillows on both sides of him. They calmed us both down, and by the time I left, he was smiling and laughing (though I still had tears rolling down my cheeks). I think the worst feeling in the whole world is when your child is in pain (especially when it could have been avoided). I realize that we can't put them in a bubble, but it sure is tough to see them sad.

I went to visit my friend Michelle last night in her new apartment. She moved into an eclectic building downtown with her beau, and their place is great! I felt like I was in the big city. . .they have great views and super access to downtown shopping and entertainment. I love it!

I have an appointment on Tuesday with a Naturopathic doctor here in Moorhead (thanks for the tip, Katie). I was going to take the natural approach to my pain anyway, so some extra guidance from a pro will be very helpful. I'm really looking forward to hearing what he has to say.

I'm off to pick up Murray and snuggle him to pieces.

P.S. Stay tuned for one of Murray's 6 month pro shots, courtesy of Jennifer Peters Photography.

I finally had my appointment with the Rheumatolgy specialist this morning. I don't know why I bothered; it was a huge waste of time. A good friend of mine who is experiencing the same health concerns as myself warned me about him. This particular doctor said the same thing to her. Dr. quack said, and I quote: "the good news is we can't find anything wrong with you. Some people call it chronic pain, some call it fibromyalgia". HOW IS THIS GOOD NEWS???? I'm just supposed to deal with this pain for the rest of my life? Some days I can barely lift my son. He ordered some x-rays and more blood work (all of which have been done) but I refused them. Nothing is broken, he didn't find swelling, and I have had every blood test known to man done in the last six weeks. I am so done with medical doctors. I am taking matters into my own hands. I am going to lose some weight and work with the essential oils and see if that helps.

I'm too cranky to blog anymore right now. I'm annoyed and scared, but what can I do?

Blessed Sleep

It was so nice to have Craig home last night. It makes a big difference for all of us when we are all together. We took advantage of Murray's 8pm bed time and went to bed shortly after we put little one down. It was wonderful . . .except for Craig's snoring. I crawled in before he did to finish watching a movie that was on TV. He came in about 1/2 hour later and promptly passed out cold. Whenever Craig is very tired he snores like, well, I don't even know how to describe how loud it is. I moved out to the couch where I was quite happy (I like to have the TV on during the night). After Murray's 2am bottle, Craig promised me that if I came back to bed, he wouldn't snore. He did snore, but he toned it down so it was only about as loud as a train whistle versus. a Boeing 757. I used to think his snoring was cute and comforting. Funny how time changes things. Sleep moves up to the top of the priority list, when it's available.

I am not much of a movie buff, but 2 of my all time favorite movies are Grumpy Old Men and Grumpier Old Men. Grumpier Old Men was on last night as I was heading to bed, and I just had to stay awake to finish it. It's hilarious. Walter Mathau and Jack Lemmon were probably two of the best actors to grace Hollywood. not to mention Ann-Margret and Sophia Loren. They just don't make movies like that anymore.

Almost 2pm - I'm off to get Murray. Counting the days until Friday.

Goodbye, Vac

After much discussion and mind-changing, our Hawaiian vacation is finally booked. It took forever - mostly because we were trying to figure out the fastest and easiest flight. At the very last minute, we found free, yes, FREE tickets. We were prepared to pay full price, so this was an incredible bonus. The only problem is that we have to fly out of the cities instead of Fargo, which I am not at all happy about. Whenver we travel, we always pay extra (if necessary) to fly out of Fargo because it's worth the convenience. It will be a packing nightmare to fly out of the cities, but I realize I shouldn't complain, because you can't beat free airline tickets to paradise. I'm so thankful to Mary and Craig for making the arrangements. Pete, here we come!

I am in a much better mood today than yesterday. Our house was getting out of control again yesterday due to all the yard work over the weekend, but I reined in the chaos this morning. It makes me so crabby when I can't get my housework done. Speaking of housework, I sure miss Vac. I had to throw him away on Friday. I took him to the repair shop with high hopes of an easy fix, but he was too far gone. Apparently, wet vacs don't usually last as long as mine did, so I should consider myself lucky for the last four years. It's the end of an era. Sniffle.

A level 3 sex offender is moving into our neighborhood next week, and I completely missed the notification meeting last night. It was all over the media outlets yesterday, but I must have been in a complete fog to have missed the information, especially since I listen to news/talk radio all day. Only a handful of people showed up, so I wasn't the only one, but I wish I would have been paying attention yesterday. We need to be responsible members of our community, and I am the first to admit that I missed the boat yesterday. To those of you who are saying that you weren't notified of the meeting - get your head of the sand. I checked my sources, and it was in the newspaper, on at least 2 of our local TV stations, and all over KFGO all day yesterday. We all need to do a better job of paying attention to our surroundings.

FIND JOEY KAISER!!!

Murray was doing so well sleeping through the night and suddenly we're back to square one. He is waking up every three hours for a bottle, or just to play. Last night Craig fed him at 10:00, then again at 2:30, and at 4:00 he decided that he just wanted to be awake. Out of desperation, I finally brought him in with us (which we never do) and he went right to sleep until 7:30 this morning. I cannot and will not bring him into bed with us again, but at least now we know that he's tired enough to keep sleeping. The trick is to get him to go back to sleep. We have tried everything we can think of. He puts himself to sleep at nap time and bed time. We don't rock him to sleep because we thought it wise to let him teach himself how to fall asleep on his own. This has worked beautifully, except in the middle of the night. I hope this is just another growth spurt.

We tilled the yard on Saturday and Craig was able to put up the fence to keep the animals out. Now we just need to seed it and lay straw over the top, which will hopefully be finished tomorrow evening.

Saturday morning began bright and early with a hilarious episode. Murray's mobile is attached to the side of his crib and plays songs and projects stars on the ceiling with the touch of a button. He LOVES it. As usual, Murray was squawking at 5:00 am, but we decided to see if he would put himself back to sleep. Craig and I stayed in bed and were dozing despite the chatter coming from Murray's room. Suddenly I hear a rousing rendition of "Twinkle, Twinkle". We both sat up and looked at around, each thinking that the other had gotten up and turned on the mobile. We were startled to see each other still in bed. We discovered that Murray had figured out how to push the buttons. We were giggling about this when the song changed. Murray apparently decided that he was tired of Twinkle, Twinkle and hit the button again. He switched songs about four times - I guess he really likes this new trick. What a funny guy!

I completely ignored the housework over the weekend. We concentrated on the yard, and I resigned myself to the fact that grass took precedence over clean floors this time. I cannot wait to get home and scrub them. They are full of dirt from digging up the yard, and no doubt will be a muddy mess again by evening, what with all the rain. Oh well, such is life.

I have a rumbly tummy - time for lunch.