Cough, Cough, Cough, Cough, Cough

This is about the only sound that comes from my lips these days. For two straight weeks.

Cough, cough, cough.

Boy, is it hard to take care of a ten-month old when you are sick! Grace, of course, doesn't understand why Mommy cannot make it to the kitchen to get her bottle because she is doubled over coughing to death.

I am so paranoid about Grace getting sick that as soon as I knew it was more than just a little cold, I ran to the doctor with my white flag waving. I had a fever at night for almost a week at that point.

Please help me get rid of this so I do not spread it to my precious ten-month old.

The PA did not even listen to my breathing. (And of course I didn't even notice until I had been sent out the door). Even though I tested negative for strep throat, she treated me for it anyway. In and out.

Today, a round of useless medicine later, I ended up back at the doctor. This time, I requested to see someone different. Apparently I have a pretty nasty case of bronchitis. As an added bonus, I may have to get a chest x-ray to rule out damage (that could have been caught if I had been diagnosed last week). PLUS, my weary and weakened immune system left me with a nasty rash. ON MY FACE. Good times.

On the bright side of life, Grace is TEN MONTHS OLD today. My own beautiful little ray of sunshine!

Happy, Happy Day

Welcome to my lemon-y world! I am so excited about being chosen for my very own SITS Day!

For those of you that haven't heard of SITS - it is a wonderful group of ladies who blog that support each other by visiting and commenting. I've met many fabulous people through this group and I am honored to be a member!

For my fellow SITStas, have a look around and make yourselves comfortable!

This is the best part of my life:

My daughter, Grace

I am happily married to J, my husband of 9 years. We both work full time out of our home (although different employers) in the world of computers and internet. He's a techie and I'm a designer/project manager.

Grace is almost 10 months old. She is a blessing to me every day. My husband & I tried for 7 1/2 years to have a baby, and Grace is our answer to many years of prayer and waiting. Infertility is an extremely difficult problem to face.

Our journey is chronicled here.

You can find out more about me here, and a guide to the various characters in my life here. I write about my life, the lemons that get thrown at me and my pursuit to make them into lemonade.

Three Random Posts:
1 - I'm infamous with friends and family for my luck and the silly things that happen to me because of it. This is an example of my luck:
New Cars & OCD

2 - I live out in the middle of the woods, in the middle of no-where. As you might imagine, this brings its own challenges. Here's one about the sort of creatures that we have to deal with because of our location:
Unwelcome Visitor

3 - Two months before my due date, I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and my daughter had to be born. Here is the story of her birth:
31 Weeks, 5 Days (There are several posts to the story - that one is just the main event!)

So, happy reading! I cannot wait to hear back from you! I will try to return any comments as soon as I can!

To You and Your Family...

May you find many, many blessings in your life to be thankful for!

The Best Breakfast Delivery Person Ever

I'm such a lucky mommmy. Look who brought me breakfast today!

Pumpkins

On Saturday, our dear friends (Hi Kim!) came up for my jewelry party. Kim has two beautiful children and Grace was thrilled to watch them play! Logan pushed her in her jeep - which means he has a friend for life.

For Halloween, I crocheted Grace a couple of amigurumi pumpkins which she tosses everywhere. Kim mentioned to me at some point during the day Saturday that a pumpkin was missing. I knew it would turn up, so I did not even give it a second thought.

This morning, I found it...

Right in the pantry, with the fruits and vegetables, where a pumpkin belongs!

Driving Late at Night Through the Woods in the Pouring Rain with Two Dogs

Due to potential flooding in my area and our driveway's affinity for flooding, we decided to not take any risks of being stranded and spend the remainder of the night at the MiL's.

My job was to pack up all our stuff, grab the dogs and meet J and Grace over there.

Molly will ONLY ride on my lap in the car. If I'm driving, she doesn't care. I can put her in the backseat and POOF...next thing I know she is in my lap.

Max is a much more easy-going rider. He likes to chill in the seat, watching outside the window. Or at least I thought so. Apparently the darkness changes his disposition.

Back to last night.

I put the dogs in the car and as I was lowering myself into the driver's seat, Molly was already in my lap.

We began to creep along down the driveway. Suddenly, a rabbit crossed in front of us. In that EXACT moment, Max jumped into my lap.

Let me take a second to fully describe this picture. Max & Molly are small dogs, but BOTH dogs in my lap is a bit crowded. When you consider that there is a steering wheel involved, well, we are not talking about a lot of free space. Okay.

So when Max jumped on my lap, he ran into the steering wheel. And the horn.

To an outsider looking at the situation, my dog beeped the horn at the rabbit who dared to jump out in front of our car as we were driving late at night through the woods in the rain. Genius. I may enroll him in driver's ed today.

9 Months

My Little Butterfly turned 9 months old today!

Molly Goes to The Vet

Today I took Molly to my brother-in-law, The Vet to have a mysterious Thing removed from her tail.

Don't worry, I don't intend to gross you out with descriptions or photographs.

I held her while he numbed her tail and began to work. However, her constant squirming was more than I could handle. So, he called over one of his college interns.

"Hey Amber, I need an extra pair of hands over here. Be careful, now, she has bitten off the fingers of two people already."

She looked alarmed, but bravely helped me hold my dog.

Here is a photo of the ferociousness, taken after we got home:

We believe the mysterious Thing was a cyst. She now sits at my feet, milking her injury (stitch included) for all its worth.

Who's Super Cute?

8 Months

Dear Grace,

Today you turned 8 MONTHS OLD. Somehow, when I was not looking, my precious little peanut turned into a beautiful 16 pound, 6 ounce, 26 inch long baby girl!

Today you are running a fever. It is the first time you have been sick. Your little cheeks are bright pink and your entire head is hot to the touch. We took you to the doctor's office for them to tell us that you have a viral infection. Every three hours we have to give you medicine.

I am amazed at how much you have grown in the last eight months. You can now sit up on your own. You have developed your own language of "ah", "ews", "ga", etc. I am really working hard on "Ma-ma" with you. One of these days, you will say it. And I will pass out.

Most nights you sleep through the night. But, you wiggle constantly. I come in your room in the morning to find your head in the top left corner of the bed. That is not where I left you!

Most mornings you have found your way out of the cover and your foot is in your mouth. Lately, your feet amuse you to no end. One day you discovered you could reach your toes with your hands. To you, this was the most wonderful thing EVER. Your hands would pull and pull on your toes and your heels. Then, shortly there after, you found your foot could reach your mouth. And OH THE MIRACLE. I put your socks and shoes on, and one by one, you remove them so that you can get your toes in your mouth.

We expect teeth from you at any moment. Some days your gums bother you and you give me this look, like "What is going on here and why aren't you stopping it?" Then you go right back to being the world's cutest baby.

I love to see strangers stare at you. The sight of you can put a smile on even the most serious of faces. Most people stop me, wherever we are, to tell me how beautiful you are. Occasionally one will say "he". It does not matter how much pink/purple you wear, some people see your little peach fuzz and assume BOY. I'm sorry. This is my fault. I did not have hear until I was, like, 3. I have a feeling that you will have a similar experience.

You love to watch the dogs. You grab everything in sight that you can reach, and Molly's hair is included. Unlike when I pull her hair during her combing, she LETS you. Guess what one of your first chores will be?

Every day with you is an incredible experience. You are learning so quickly, and I am constantly in awe of the wonder of which you see the world.

I love you very, very much.

Love forever,

Mama