Little Rays of Sunshine

I really feel like the luck in my household has turned for the better. (I really hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying that "out loud.") After my nice refueling weekend, I had another sleepless night before returning to work for the week (thanks, Dylan!) so was a little worried that rain showers were ahead. However, after a fairly decent work day, good things started happening again.

I came home from work on Tuesday to a lovely bouquet of flowers, courtesy of my good friend Amy, to bring some cheer to my day. She is such a thoughtful gal. It worked....I was happy!

After that, I went to shovel the driveway of the snow that had fallen so I wouldn't have too much to do before work the next morning (snow was to continue overnight). After clearing the top of the driveway, my neighbor drove by with his snow plow and offered to clear the rest for me. Wow! Let me tell you, that just doesn't happen that often. In fact, it's never happened to me before. Those snowplow guys get good money for clearing driveways and rarely offer to do it without cost. What a rare treat! Next morning, not too much more had fallen so it was a fairly quick clearing job.

Wednesday, another package was delivered to the house - a bamboo plant! Thanks to a snafu with the ordering, Amy accidentally had two arrangements sent to us. Yay!

On top of that, I've had 8 hours sleep the last two nights (that's 8 hours EACH night!) and have had a very productive, drama free, week at work. Not to bad. I'll take this kind of "quiet" week anytime!

Refueling

After the tough last month, I finally got a chance over this long weekend to refuel. Since Mike's able to help out enough for me to leave him alone with the baby, I decided it was time for me to get some pampering. After running out of gas a few weeks ago, then having to run on fumes and then running on an empty tank for weeks, I've never felt more deserving of a little R&R. I had a full weekend of fun times and quiet times.

On Saturday, I started out the day with some spa time. Then Mike and I left Dylan with his Nana and Bumpa and we had a date. A rare, fun treat.

Sunday, the family made a quick trip down to Providence to spend a couple of hours visiting with Mike's sister's family. The afternoon was spent catching up with some friends then I had a chill Valentine's night at home with my boys.

Valentine Dylan Made For Us At Daycare

(Not the best picture of him....looks like he's a bit milk drunk)

Back of Valentine

This morning, Dylan and I went to a Presidents Day play date and played with lots of kids of all ages. Following that hectic but fun event, I went to get a massage. It was wonderful and extremely therapeutic!

After Dylan not sleeping all week because of his ear infections, I was pretty sleep deprived in addition to the other exhaustion. Friday, he returned to his good, full nights sleep. After a couple of days of good sleep and good R&R, I'm feeling like a new person. Ahhhh.....so nice to feel like the black cloud has moved on. I'm hoping for blue skies this week.

So, to leave you with more happiness, here's an adorable picture of Dylan in the tubby. He LOVES splashing the water and has found that his stacking cups make great water throwers. The kitchen's a little cleaner these days thanks to his large splashing zone.

And here's a quick video of some of his most recent tricks. He loves watching the kitties when they're around, he's great at his "dadada" babbles (even does them lots "silently" as he does here) and his rocking back and forth on all 4's is going to be crawling any day now.

My Little Black Cloud

The weather outside is beautiful and sunny. This afternoon, I hear it will be a great day for a winter walk. However, my little black cloud continues to follow overhead. One of my coworker's likes to say "ever day is a new day." True, but it seems that every day is a new battle lately.

Don't get me wrong, everything generally is fine. I know that life could be much, much worse. But what's a blog for if you can't use it as your personal venting ground? Huh?

Since I last posted about the drama that is currently my life, there have been a few more rough patches. Some worse than others. What all the little things have in common is to have a cumulative effect of making me exhausted in every possible way - intellectually, emotionally and physically. But, my family is counting on me right now so I just keep keepin on!

Here's the update. Mike is doing pretty well post surgery. He has a little more energy every day and is slowly starting to add things back to his life. Anything that involves his back not being straight is still out of the question. That means little things like emptying the dishwasher, changing laundry loads and picking a baby out of the crib take a creative mind to accomplish. Last week, off narcotics, he was having a really hard time sleeping which resulted in him getting a migraine on Sunday. A bit of a set back but he's through it now.

Dylan's been doing well in daycare. Since Mike's now able to help me get his things packed for the day, it eases my life a little. I am still struggling with the time frame of how long it takes to get him dropped off and settled in the morning and then to get him picked up and home at night. So, I'm still I'm constantly running - literally! This week, he's doing a "core" day (9-3). Mike will take him home in the afternoons and have him for a few hours until I get home. Yesterday, his Nana came over to help with the transition but this will be Mike's first solo time at home with Dylan today. Wish them luck!

A big blow to our family happened last week when the baby my brother and sister in law were promised, saw being born, fell in love with while they took care of him in the hospital then took him home for a few days, was reclaimed by his birth mother. I can only imagine how painful that must be for them. My heart breaks for this tough patch in their lives. They are resilient and strong in each other and will get through it together.

This morning, we took Dylan to the doctor because of a persistent cough. Come to find out the poor little guy has mild infections in both of his ears and a likely sinus infection. My poor baby! You would have no idea he was sick because he has been his usual happy self. In retrospect, perhaps his hours up in the middle of the night over the weekend (sleep deprivation always helps a gal out when she's stressed to the max, ya know?) were due to some uncomfortableness in his ears. We'll start him on his 10 day antibiotic run tonight and I'm sure he'll be right as rain in no time.

As usual, no lack of excitement in our house! Oh! I almost forgot that in the madness that is my life I somehow made time to build a coat rack for the mudroom over the weekend. I've been trying to get that stinkin' room organized since our renovation a year and a half ago and now consider it done! Wahoo!

When my little black cloud decides to leave my sky in the (hopefully) near furture, I have a feeling I might have to crash. How long can a gal be pushed to her limits? I have a feeling I might just find out....

Superbowl Sunday

Neither the Cowboys nor the Patriots are in the superbowl, so we had to figure out what team to route for. Mike's not a Colts fan (since they've become a rival of New England's). So, I'm going along with him and going against the Colts.

Dylan, as far as we knew, was undecided. He made up his mind on Friday. His day care arts project for that day was to decorate construction paper with football stickers. HE picked out the color of paper to decorate on (out of the full spectrum of colors...not just those of the teams playing). What color did he decide to go with?

The whole family is going with New Orleans. Geaux Saints!

7 Months

Today our boy hit the big 7 month mark. It's been an extremely hectic month for our family - I went back to work, followed very closely by Mike's injury and surgery, visits from family for help and fun and unexpected day care for Dylan. He is such an amazing little guy and able to roll with the punches....often with much more grace and adaptability than ourselves.

Dylan has been a joy to be around for all of the many people that have helped us out during the last several weeks. Grandparents and friends that already loved him, fell even harder. New sitters, teachers and neighbors got to know him and love him. It's hard not to...he's a pretty awesome little fella. His Mimaw is just head over heels with him after her week caring for him and she just misses him tons. Dylan's day care teachers are trying to convince me to keep him there full time...he's a joy to have in their class and normally the most mellow and happy of the bunch.

Day care, while not our first choice of child rearing, has been good for him in many ways. He's been doing daily art projects, perfecting skills by watching other babies (like eating and sitting up) and has learned tons of new skills. Now, I realize that these skills would have come naturally with time, but I can't help but attribute some of his new life lessons to the older babies he observes daily. The biggest of these new lessons is pre-crawling movements. Not only has he gotten very good at pushing backwards by using his hands and arms (what I've read is a pre-crawling movement) but he's been getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth this week. In fact, today, on his 7 month birthday, Mike observed him moving his right knee just a little bit forward in this position. So, looks like crawling is in his near future!

Dylan has really discovered his voice and has been babbling on a regular basis. Up to this point, it's been primarily vowel sounds. This morning, though, Dylan discovered the consonant "d." The first time we heard the "dadada" babble was this morning. Apparently, he's pretty impressed with this new sound and has been making it all day long. Thanks to our handy dandy iphones and quick access to video, we've caught a few of these moments. We're amused, what do you think?

Of course, as all babies do, he's eating and growing like a weed. It's amazing to me how quickly he grew in and out of his 6 month clothes. He still can wear some of the 6 month clothes (even 3 months in some things) but is fitting better in some of the 9 month outfits.

With me back at work and Mike out of Daddy commission, we've been missing him tons. He's just so much fun to be around and it stinks to have to be away from him so much. One of the other positives of him being in day care is that he's just a couple of buildings away from me at work. I visit him daily in the afternoons. It's certainly great to see him, but hard to leave him again to go back to work through the end of the day. Seriously, would you want to leave this face?

Not What We'd Hoped

Mike had his follow up appointment yesterday. Though it went well and the doctor was happy with progress, he didn't give the clearance for childcare that we thought he was going to give. That was a big bummer for both of us. This means that Dylan will be in day care for another 1-2 weeks. Our current plan, which seems to change multiple times a day, is to have him in there full time through the end of the week and maybe move to having him to partial days next week.

Mike's bummed because he really misses his son. I'm bummed because day care adds a lot to my day - packing for it, drop off and pick up, then clean up after we get home. Yes, I know people do it all the time. I'm sure if it were to be a permanent situation for us, I'd get into the groove, get used to it and it wouldn't be a big deal. Thinking that yesterday was going to be our last day there and then having a bombshell dropped that it will likely be an additional 2 weeks of it was just a blow to a very tired mother. I'm also bummed because of the obvious wish that Dylan was getting one on one attention from his father all day instead of the split care of the daycare teacher.

I mean absolutely no offense to parents everywhere that have their children in daycare. There are some really great benefits to having him there that I do appreciate. It's hard, though, when I had my mind set on having my baby cared for by his adoring father and then had to change up care so suddenly and unexpectedly.

Other than Mike getting tired pretty easily and still a little sore, he's doing really well. He's even back to helping out around the house some, though nothing that will strain his back, which is obviously a huge help and relief to me. Other than me being a little tired, I'm doing fine too. I just miss having my partner being 100%. I'm looking forward to things getting back to normal.....a couple of weeks from now I hope!

Magic and Mayhem

Last week went by really fast. It was a little hectic, but thankfully not as crazy as the week before. Thanks, in huge part, to the wonderful help of my Mom. Not only did she take wonderful care of Dylan while I was working, but she made sure Mike was taking it easy post surgery and even helped with household chores. I don't know how I'll ever be able to express how thankful I am to have had her here. I had been running on fumes for a while and without her help, I would have never made it through the week. Thanks Mom! I love you!

With Mike recuperating and Mom's visit, folks wanted to come over and visit. Last weekend, Mike's sister and his niece came over to check on him. Though, his niece Emily's main motivation in seeing us is Dylan. She just loves this little guy and is really great with him. While I ran out of the house to get a haircut, everyone else stayed at the house to hang out. Dylan had a great time reading and playing with his cousin.

Dylan and Emily

Mike's mother also came over one afternoon. She said it was to check up on Mike and see my Mom but, like Emily, I think Dylan's a big motivating factor in her visits as well! Liza, our neighbor from Dallas that now lives here came over to visit with my Mom. She, too, also loves Dylan and he's a draw for her. What can I say, my little boy is pretty mesmerizing to the ladies!

Like I said, my Mom did a great job taking care of Dylan. Even though I know she missed my Dad, I think she truly enjoyed this one on one time with her grandson. For the most part, the week was without incident. The couple of times that Dylan did get upset, she was fabulous in helping his needs get met and getting calmed down. Mimaw and Dylan had a fantastic time together and I know they're going to miss each other a lot.

Mimaw Feeding Dylan

Dylan Enjoying His New Swivel Chair

Mimaw Gives Dylan His First Mohawk

Smooches!

Now, the main reason it was so easy for my Mom to get here on short notice was because she'd already had a trip planned up here. She and my Aunt Pam were scheduled to arrive on Thursday. Mom just changed her arrival date for almost a week early and my Aunt Pam stayed with her original travel plans. My Aunt Pam is possibly the biggest Harry Potter fan and wanted to come see the special exhibit running at the Museum of Science. My Mom, of course, would not let her travel here to see us without tagging along. So, the trip was planned.

Since the peak of the mayhem had passed, we continued as scheduled. On Friday, all of us, Mike included, went to the MOS for the fun. We all really had a great time! Pam, though extremely well versed in all things Harry Potter, learned some new facts through the exhibit. Dylan, Mike and I enjoyed seeing all the costumes and props. Mom enjoyed the exhibit and getting to spend time with all of us. On Friday's in January, the IMAX theater there also had free shows so we took advantage and went to see The Greatest Places. Dylan was absolutely mesmerized by the dome screen for about 5 minutes before he got very tired. I only missed a short bit of the film while I stepped out to spare those around of his tired whines. Though not a full length feature, I suppose it was technically his first movie experience so I think he did a great job.

Mom and Aunt Pam in Gryffindor Colors

Pam, Mom, Dylan and I Enjoying the Sunset at the MOS

After seeing the Harry Potter Exhibit and the movie, Mike was tuckered out and Dylan was done with the museum so we all headed home.

While at the museum, we got some HUGE news! My brother Jamie and his wife Sarah welcomed the new addition to their quickly growing family. Jacob Landry was born in Tulsa, OK. Their daughter, Payton, is not yet 3 months old so those two will definitely have their hands really full! Congratulation to them! Hopefully all the legalities of the adoption go smoothly and they can return home soon.

The rest of the weekend was spent pretty leisurely. Mom and Pam helped me run some errands and work on some projects at the house. Mike rested up and had energy to help us make some nice dinners to have together.

Dylan and His Great Aunt Pam

It was a really great visit and, as always, went by way too fast. I dropped the ladies off at the airport this morning. I really hated to see them go. I'm going to miss having these strong women in my life around to keep me company.

Our Last Morning Together (And My New Mantle Decor)

Tomorrow, Dylan will go back to daycare. He'll hopefully only be there a couple of days this week. Mike has his follow up appointment on Tuesday, will likely get the okay to pick up the baby (he has been doing so a little bit in the last couple of days but very carefully and minimally) and will be cleared for Dad duties.