After going 4 years, 1 month, 2 weeks and 4 days without a sick child visit (other than Carl's heat rash eye roller from last May... remember this?) both kids had sick visits today. I have a bottle of amoxicillin in my fridge for the very first time ever! (Gretchen weighs 37 lbs and Carl weighs 42.5 lbs - same as he weighed last May.)
Carl's 104.6* fever apparently was not a simple reaction to he H1N1 booster shot, but is actually due to an ear infection. He showed no signs at all. No crying, no trouble laying down, no pulling on his ear, no telling me he hurt. Nothing but the crazy fever. Both kids have red eyes and Carl's were draining a lot yesterday - both have pink eye. You moms know that is so contagious you will probably catch it now that you have read the word. Sorry!
Did I mention that our cable TV went 75% out a few days ago? We have a handful of channels, but not all of them, and many kids' ones missing. This is a big issue when you have a sick child with a high fever. I want him to be able to lay still and TV sure would help that.
So, 2010:
heat
cable
camera
ear
eyes
I don't even know what kind of resolution to make based on this trend. Guess I'll just cross my fingers and hope for the best!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
the curse of January 6th
First off - jinx aside - Happy Birthday Natalie! and early Happy Birthday, Cassie! (tomorrow)
But, alas... January 6th is a dark day for me photographically. Literally. Dark. A large dark stripe across my exposures. I know it all too well. Been here and done this before. If my past knowledge holds true in this case, I have a sick or dying shutter. It isn't opening all the way. It only started last night - the silver lining is I got through the holiday season snapping happily!
This first happened to me in June 2008. I brought it to my local camera store, they packed her up and sent her to Nikon for an estimate. It came back at like $130. Nikon is somewhat vague when you send in something for repair. Don't get me wrong, from everything I have heard and experienced, they have excellent customer service and if you send in your camera, it WILL return in perfect working order. But, they don't tell you what was actually wrong or give an itemized invoice of what they did to fix it. And this is me sending it in through my camera store. You would think they would explain it to them. Nope.
So, that was the case in 2008. It got sent in. I approved the estimate. They fixed it and I got it back in great working condition! Until early January of 2009. Up in NY, it seized up completely. I had to send it in again. That was 1/6/09. They sent it back on 1/23 (see how important this is to me? I have all the dates tucked away!) for no charge and in good working order again.
Now I have to wait and see if they send an estimate back or tell me, "she is too old. Not worth fixing." I bought the camera in 2006 and it was retired back then. This may be the catalyst for a new camera purchase.
The first thing Lew said was, "Oh great. You haven't taken the Valentine's heart photos yet!" Now that is one supportive husband - thinking only of the upcoming annual photo shoot, not the major potential purchase looming on the horizon.
But, alas... January 6th is a dark day for me photographically. Literally. Dark. A large dark stripe across my exposures. I know it all too well. Been here and done this before. If my past knowledge holds true in this case, I have a sick or dying shutter. It isn't opening all the way. It only started last night - the silver lining is I got through the holiday season snapping happily!
This first happened to me in June 2008. I brought it to my local camera store, they packed her up and sent her to Nikon for an estimate. It came back at like $130. Nikon is somewhat vague when you send in something for repair. Don't get me wrong, from everything I have heard and experienced, they have excellent customer service and if you send in your camera, it WILL return in perfect working order. But, they don't tell you what was actually wrong or give an itemized invoice of what they did to fix it. And this is me sending it in through my camera store. You would think they would explain it to them. Nope.
So, that was the case in 2008. It got sent in. I approved the estimate. They fixed it and I got it back in great working condition! Until early January of 2009. Up in NY, it seized up completely. I had to send it in again. That was 1/6/09. They sent it back on 1/23 (see how important this is to me? I have all the dates tucked away!) for no charge and in good working order again.
Now I have to wait and see if they send an estimate back or tell me, "she is too old. Not worth fixing." I bought the camera in 2006 and it was retired back then. This may be the catalyst for a new camera purchase.
The first thing Lew said was, "Oh great. You haven't taken the Valentine's heart photos yet!" Now that is one supportive husband - thinking only of the upcoming annual photo shoot, not the major potential purchase looming on the horizon.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
there were 4 in the bed and the little one said....
...."Baby, it's cold IN-side!"
OK, I couldn't figure out which song title would make a cuter post title.
Anyway, we drove back from NY on Friday January 1st 2010. We drove straight through and it only took us a total of 13 hours! Well, 12 hours 55 minutes to be exact!! That's pretty darn good considering we made the drive in 2 days on the way up.... the first day took 8 hours and the second day took 10.5 hours!!! Those days involved that insane DC beltway and area traffic. On the ride home, we went out of the way to avoid it and it seemed to work.
After 13 hours of riding in the car, you are tired and sore. The kids napped only once it got really dark. They are so good in the car, but they don't like to sleep in their car seats. Sure, when they were babies, they did, but those infant seats recline much more than big kid seats. And, I never say never... a few days I did drive around for 2 hours to get them to nap. (Never had to do it at 3 am, though.) But, they are light sleepers so even car rides don't keep them zonked. And don't even entertain the idea of moving them out of the car if they are sleeping. Ha!!
So, Friday night, we got out of the car, feeling a bit refreshed to know we were home (and I was excited because there were Santa gifts we left under the tree! I was looking forward to the late night present frenzy!) and headed into the house. Once through the door... BRRRRRR. It was 35* outside and 55* inside. Well, we didn't really know the 55* yet, since the thermostat was blank. Lew managed to get it to read digitally, but not to operate the heat pump! So, that's how we learned it was 55*. It dropped only one more degree all night - good insulation since it went into the teens outside!
It was wayyy too cold to make the kids sleep in their bedroom, so since we had just come off a week of not sleeping in our own beds, we decided to all pile into our bed for the night! Once we shuffled around so Carl could be next to Mommy and figured out how to get 4 people and 2 cats (do you have cats? Do they snub you when you leave them on vacation? If the definition of snub is "follow your grown-ups around and don't let them out of your sight for the next 4 days" then our cats snub us, too. Molly was so determined to be next to me in bed that she literally laid over Carl's legs, pinning him down. Angus decided not to actually sit on the child - he was content to use Carl's pillow and curl up with Carl's teddy bear. If Nanny were here, she would have worried the cats were "going to take Carl's breath away") into one bed we finally could get to sleep. I saw 1:30am and Gretchen was still moving around.
The good news is the guys came the following day (overtime emergency call, of course) and fixed it for us! A fuse, relay and some wiring went wonky... the heat pump dudes fixed it right up!
Let's hope this home repair trend ends quickly and isn't a sign of things to come in 2010. I was geared up to paint bedrooms, not anything more elaborate.
A reenactment:
The cats wouldn't stay on the bed long enough for the timer to go off. I tried.
OK, I couldn't figure out which song title would make a cuter post title.
Anyway, we drove back from NY on Friday January 1st 2010. We drove straight through and it only took us a total of 13 hours! Well, 12 hours 55 minutes to be exact!! That's pretty darn good considering we made the drive in 2 days on the way up.... the first day took 8 hours and the second day took 10.5 hours!!! Those days involved that insane DC beltway and area traffic. On the ride home, we went out of the way to avoid it and it seemed to work.
After 13 hours of riding in the car, you are tired and sore. The kids napped only once it got really dark. They are so good in the car, but they don't like to sleep in their car seats. Sure, when they were babies, they did, but those infant seats recline much more than big kid seats. And, I never say never... a few days I did drive around for 2 hours to get them to nap. (Never had to do it at 3 am, though.) But, they are light sleepers so even car rides don't keep them zonked. And don't even entertain the idea of moving them out of the car if they are sleeping. Ha!!
So, Friday night, we got out of the car, feeling a bit refreshed to know we were home (and I was excited because there were Santa gifts we left under the tree! I was looking forward to the late night present frenzy!) and headed into the house. Once through the door... BRRRRRR. It was 35* outside and 55* inside. Well, we didn't really know the 55* yet, since the thermostat was blank. Lew managed to get it to read digitally, but not to operate the heat pump! So, that's how we learned it was 55*. It dropped only one more degree all night - good insulation since it went into the teens outside!
It was wayyy too cold to make the kids sleep in their bedroom, so since we had just come off a week of not sleeping in our own beds, we decided to all pile into our bed for the night! Once we shuffled around so Carl could be next to Mommy and figured out how to get 4 people and 2 cats (do you have cats? Do they snub you when you leave them on vacation? If the definition of snub is "follow your grown-ups around and don't let them out of your sight for the next 4 days" then our cats snub us, too. Molly was so determined to be next to me in bed that she literally laid over Carl's legs, pinning him down. Angus decided not to actually sit on the child - he was content to use Carl's pillow and curl up with Carl's teddy bear. If Nanny were here, she would have worried the cats were "going to take Carl's breath away") into one bed we finally could get to sleep. I saw 1:30am and Gretchen was still moving around.
The good news is the guys came the following day (overtime emergency call, of course) and fixed it for us! A fuse, relay and some wiring went wonky... the heat pump dudes fixed it right up!
Let's hope this home repair trend ends quickly and isn't a sign of things to come in 2010. I was geared up to paint bedrooms, not anything more elaborate.
A reenactment:
The cats wouldn't stay on the bed long enough for the timer to go off. I tried.
final vacation photo post... a visit at Grandma's!
On Sunday, December 27th, we got to visit with Grandma and both of Lew's sisters and families. Well, most of the families - the boys were off doing teenager-y things, but hey, can't blame them. They were on winter vacation after all. Aunt Kay & Uncle Bruce came to visit without the boys.
We also got to see Aunt Barb, Uncle Joe and the cousins, Josh, Steph & Erica. The twins had a ball entertaining them for the day! One of the gifts they brought her was this princess "treasure" box. She absolutely loves it! Even that morning, once she opened it, she didn't set it down. She kept showing everyone and telling them hesitantly... "you can touch it if you would like." 
See how nicely they cooperate for my camera?
But, believe me - if she is behind the lens... you had better smile and pose nicely! or else!!!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
stop....drop....angel
One cool thing about being 4 is that one inch of snow can be as much fun as 2 feet! We loved playing last week in the 2 feet that Aunt Lila's house had, but once we got to NY, it didn't snow again. Until this morning!! We managed to get all dressed up and out to play in it before it stopped! 
Gretchen loves making snow angels. Pretty much, every time I turned around, she was making another one. Even Carl tried it a few times, but I think he wasn't feeling the joy... he probably thought Gretchen was nuts for laying in the cold snow every 40 seconds. When she wasn't making another angel, she was having a blast making herself slip and fall down on a big patch of ice. Yeah, she's one of those "g.r.i.t.s."... (girl raised in the south). She was truly enjoying slipping and falling on the ice, it was such a novelty.
stop:
drop:
Do you recognize Grampie's dog hat???
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
a visit to Stevie's
Today we got a chance to see lots of cousins for a pizza party dinner at Steph's house. Sorry Aunt Phyllis, they were really good at Steph's. Dunno why it was any different. Oh, don't get me wrong - Carl loved all her stairs, too. But, they weren't as wild. Maybe because there were other kids to entertain them. Or tease them.... I guess a couple of the boys were teasing Gretchen with a big stuffed dinosaur. Just remember, 99.44% of the time, it is "more drama than trauma" with her.
The highlight of the evening was when Cassie did a back-walk-over-thingie. (I'm sooo not a gymnast, sorry - I should know the right name for it) Gretchen let out a gasp of delight and Carl then tried to do one, too... by doing a somersault. Or as he calls it, a "duck and roll." Apparently, Carl isn't much better with gymnastic names than his mother is.
And any night that ends with brownie sundaes is a total success in my book! When it came time to leave, as people got their coats on and left, Carl would say to them "Thanks for coming". He is pretty goofy sometimes, but always sweet! Thanks for inviting us!!!
P.S.
On Friday 1/1, when we got all loaded up into the car to head for home - we pulled out of Grammie's driveway and after he got done yelling, "Bye, Uncle Kenny. Merry Christmas, Uncle Kenny. Happy Kwanzaa Chickens!" Carl announced, "Let's go to Stephanie's house!"
The highlight of the evening was when Cassie did a back-walk-over-thingie. (I'm sooo not a gymnast, sorry - I should know the right name for it) Gretchen let out a gasp of delight and Carl then tried to do one, too... by doing a somersault. Or as he calls it, a "duck and roll." Apparently, Carl isn't much better with gymnastic names than his mother is.
And any night that ends with brownie sundaes is a total success in my book! When it came time to leave, as people got their coats on and left, Carl would say to them "Thanks for coming". He is pretty goofy sometimes, but always sweet! Thanks for inviting us!!!
P.S.
On Friday 1/1, when we got all loaded up into the car to head for home - we pulled out of Grammie's driveway and after he got done yelling, "Bye, Uncle Kenny. Merry Christmas, Uncle Kenny. Happy Kwanzaa Chickens!" Carl announced, "Let's go to Stephanie's house!"
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
a visit to Aunt Phyllis'
Today, we visited for a few hours with my Aunt Phyllis. OK, the kids were pretty wild when we were there. She had a piano keyboard upstairs... that was enticing. Well, of course... she had stairs. Those alone are fun for 2 kids who live in a ranch style home. And she had a basement... another item absent in our own home. That meant she had 2 full staircases, just like Grammie. Up and down and down and up and up and down and up and down and down and up... over and over. Then - she had a neat sun porch with a sliding door. Carl insisted on going in and out. That would have been fine except that it was 40* out there and every time he came back and forth, he let more cold air in. It was something like -94* in NY that day. Also something we don't have here at home, but not as exciting as you might think. Ha!!They ate all her mini marshmallows in less than 4 seconds!
I hope we didn't terrorize the cats too much! Thanks so much for inviting us over. I honestly mean this... they aren't usually that wild! Honest! (well, unless you take them out in public to try on eye glass frame. Who doggies... y'all should have been with us when we went to get sunglasses. I'll let you ask my mother how insane they were there. Even I can't believe we didn't break anything! I'll get shots of them in their Ray Bans soon!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)