Ahhhh....motherhood.

Well, it's 15 degrees here...brrrrr! But I love it! I would much rather it be cold than hot. When it's hot, you can't snuggle up next to crackling fire w/ your kiddos and stay in your jammies all day watching Noggin because school was canceled due to an inch of ice on everything. They just don't cancel school for too much hot. Unless you're in the city school district. Oh snap!

Now, when I say I love not being able to leave the house is great, it is...unless you've been stuck inside for 5 out of the last 6 days. My fears of J.J. having whooping cough were assuaged by a quick trip to the emergency care doctor last Sunday. Nope...he just had a cough due to his allergies, said Mr. Overpriced On-call Doctor. And his overly goopy-but-not-quite-pink eyes were caused by the same. So that's why we took him to school on Wednesday. Then it hit us. All of us.

The sickness. The coughing, aches, chills, headache, sore throat, sniffling, sneezing yuckiness that has been hitting EVERYONE around here. First, I called in sick to Bible study Wednesday night. I woke up with a bit of a scratchy throat that morning and unfortunately it got progressively worse as the day progressed (despite my best attempts to fix it with Jason's Deli soup and salad bar--thanks for the invite, Julie N.!). By the time 5:00 rolled around, I was shivering under a blanket on the couch with aching joints and a pounding headache. And still had 2 kids to take care of. Ahhhh....motherhood. I tried to enlist the help of both my mom who was stuck at work and my mother-in-law who was on her way to Norman to visit her fiance, so J.J. was forced to watch show after show until Daddy could make it home with McDonalds and an extra pair of hands.

Oh...I forgot to mention that Johnny had been feeling rotten for the last 3 days...so I officially blamed my getting sick on him. Except, his rationale was that I felt worse, so I got him sick. I don't know...men have weird ideas sometimes.

Anyway, J.J.'s eyes got progressively worse as the evening went on and his cough wasn't getting any better either. So the next morning (Johnny stayed home to take care of the boy so I could try to get better) I called and got him an appointment with our favorite Dr. H. When I woke up to them coming home at 11:30, I was informed that not only did J.J. have PINK EYE but also a sinus infection. GREAAAAAT! Sorry, everyone at school! I exposed your kid to pink eye!

So the next three days consisted of me laying in our bed, taking my beloved Z-pack (I had some kind of infection...the P.A. I saw didn't really tell me what it was) and letting Hadley crawl all over the bed. Meanwhile Johnny (whose sinuses were so clogged the dr. couldn't even see if it was infected...she just knew and therefore prescribed our friend Mr. Z) and J.J. (suffering 4 times a day through Daddy forcing eye drops and then 2 times a day ingesting yukky antibiotic) relegated themselves to the living room, leaving the door to our room open so they could talk to us, but keeping the baby gate up in the doorway so J.J. couldn't come infect the baby with his eye funk. Oh let me not forget that on Saturday morning, J.J. barfed all over the kitchen. We're chalking it up to too much swallowed mucus. At least I didn't have to clean it up...what a saint of a hubby I have! All in all it was a great weekend. Ahhh...motherhood.

Except for one tiny little detail I neglected to mention: Sunday was J.J.'s 3rd and Johnny's 29th birthday. And Saturday was supposed to have been J.J.'s Cars party at our church. Needless to say, the festivites were postponed until NEXT Saturday (as Johnny's mom is getting married this Saturday). But I guess it turned out okay...it gives me more time to get stuff ready for the party. I just felt awful because the poor little guy (and the big guy, for that matter) didn't really get a big fuss thrown about their special day. Which I really hate. Don't get me wrong, we did give him a couple presents on his actual birthday, and we got to venture out to eat at Texas Roadhouse for lunch on Sunday, but it just wasn't the same without the party.

And now we're still stuck in the house because Jack Frost is nipping at everyone's noses...and glazing the streets. Like I said, it's great to stay in jammies all day long, but I have to admit the stir-craziness is rising up in me.

But you know what? I have everything I need here in my house...food, warmth, running water, electricity (Lord willing!), my adorable kids, and plenty of stuff to do. And it's not like I'm really itching to get out on the road with the rest of the morons who don't know how to drive on ice...even though that's all we usually get here--you'd think we'd be pros by now! But I'm not relishing the thought of packing both my children into Phyllis (our van's name, christened on a trip to Buffalo for Christmas), tempting some nitwit who thinks they can stop on a dime on an inch of ice to plow into us. So for now, I'll stay all bundled up by the fire, with a nice cup of coffee and read J.J. a story while Hadley blows raspberries, just so she can hear the sound.

Ahhhh....motherhood.

Why do I read stuff on the internet?

Seriously...I don't know why I look to the internet to answer my questions, especially if the answers I seek are regarding my kids' health. All it does is freak me out...EVERY TIME! I innocently google a symptom or a suspected ailment and it brings up something more serious and my mind instantly rushes to the worst case scenario. Just like tonight.

A little background info first:

J.J. has allergies. Cat (pretty severe), dog (mild), peanut (somewhere in between), dust mites (who doesn't, seriously?). He takes Zyrtec (generic) every night. So...given the last allergen, when he has a cold, we can't use the humidifier, because dust mites somehow find humidity a fun-fest in which to breed. Which means that I can't use the time-tested cough reducer of a nice blast of cool steam in the room (Side note...how on earth does cool steam exist, anyway? By pure physics, steam only exists when water boils--BOILS! So how does one achieve cool mist? It's a mystery! Okay...on with my blogging).

This brings us to my current situation. J.J. has had a pretty yukky cough for a while now. It's pretty wet (not a dry, hacky cough) and sometimes he takes in this deep breath and it sounds like a honking goose. But that only happens once every one or two days. Usually it's just a cough. And those only happen 4 or 5 times a day. It's not all the time.

I've asked the nurse at our doctor's office if there's anything I can give him, but due to all the new restrictions on pediatric cold medicine, there's not. So...we've just kinda let it run its course, hoping it would go away. Well, it hasn't. It's still there. I probably should have taken him to our pediatrician, but I didn't, simply because I didn't want to take him and them tell me it's just a cough. And I maybe should have taken him back to the allergist, but a little part of me is afraid to hear the word asthma come out of her mouth. I don't want J.J. to have a strike against him before he gets to the cruel world of school where they make fun of you if your hair does or doesn't stand up in the right place.

Enter my crazed websearch tonight. I was harmlessly reading some blogs on my Google Reader and I came across a way to look up local blogs. So I found some blogs from people that live around here and one woman was writing about her son and how he just got diagnosed with pneumonia! It kind of scared me a little bit, because some of his symptoms sounded a bit like what J.J. has been dealing with. So I googled the words "cough 3 year old" and it brought up a whole list of people's questions on message boards, with a couple actual websites regarding coughs. So I start reading. As J.J. would say, "Dis not a great idea, Mommy."

They started out pretty harmless...people asking what to do to help their child's coughing, followed by all sorts of advice from random medical website surfers (moms, well-meaning aunts, wanna-be doctors...you know the likes). Then one caught my eye. It gave a list of a lot of pretty typical coughs...what they sound like, the symptoms that come with them. A couple were pretty close to what J.J.'s sounds like, but none of them really hit it square on the head.

Then came the dreaded "Call your doctor if..." list. It started out pretty encouraging...it says that most childhood coughs are nothing to be worried about. But then it lists the scary symptoms. Things like "Has trouble breathing or works hard to breathe" or "has a blue or dusky color to the lips, face or tongue". Okay...so far, so good. We're still breathing...color still towards the red side of the ROY G. BIV scale. Then came the one that caught my attention: "Makes a 'whooping' sound when breathing in after coughing". Uh-oh.

My pulse immediately started to get faster...a wave of fear swept over me. Is that the sound J.J.'s making when he breathes in? Is it a whoop? Or more of a honk? What exactly does a 'whoop' sound like, anyway? I mean, I know there's a whooping crane, and I assume that's what a whoop is supposed to sound like, but having never actually met a whooping crane and asked it to talk, I don't know what the sound is.

So then I indulge my stupid irrational fear even more. I google "whooping cough sound" and guess what? It's searched for often enough that I didn't even have to finish typing it. Google kindly popped the drop-down menu for me and there it was, all ready for me to click on and scare myself. Which of course I did. I clicked on the first link and waited for the sound. And the sound it made sounded exactly like J.J.'s little breath that he takes in. Now my mind is flipping out even more.

So I go to another link and listen. Yep, same sound, different kid. My heart races. Does J.J. have whooping cough???? Have I been exposing countless kids and adults, including my own precious infant daughter (who by the way just got her 6-month round of dTap today, so isn't fully immunized towards pertussis--whooping cough--yet), to a very serious illness? J.J. has been in contact with dozens of people since his coughing started. Hundreds if you count the people we share air with when we go to Walmart and the likes!

I go to more sites. I go to www.pertussis.com. It fills my head with all this information about how hundreds of innocent little kids and babies die every year from pertussis. I read statistics and scary stories. I hear PSAs about it, complete with moms who have lost their babies due to pertussis. My mind has completely run away from me at this point. I even stop to pray for J.J. and Hadley, begging God not to let J.J. have whooping cough and for Hadley not to get it if he does. I'm almost in tears at this point.

Then something in the back of my mind tells me, "Heather, go back and look at the list of symptoms that go along with whooping cough." So I do. I go back to one of the many websites I've just poured over and find the symptoms. Here's what one website says:

"The first symptoms of whooping cough are similar to those of a common cold:

• runny nose
• sneezing
• mild cough
• low-grade fever

After about 1 to 2 weeks, the dry, irritating cough evolves into coughing spells. During a coughing spell, which can last for more than a minute, the child may turn red or purple. At the end of a spell, the child may make a characteristic whooping sound when breathing in or may vomit."

Okay...my heart calms down a bit. J.J. never had the runny nose or low-grade fever. He doesn't turn red or purple and he doesn't cough so hard that he gags himself. He does a couple coughs, makes a weird sound like a goose, coughs one or two more times and then he's fine. Yes, the sound he makes does sound very similar to the soundbytes I heard, but his coughing doesn't at all. Those poor kids sound like they might pass out in the middle of the coughing, they're coughing so hard. And there's always a gaggy sound at the end. J.J. doesn't do that at all.

So I calm down enough to go put Hadley to bed (she'd fallen asleep on my lap after her nightly bowl of rice cereal) and I go check on J.J. He's been asleep for almost 4 hours at this point, so I know I won't wake him up. I creep over to his bed, lean in and kiss him on the forehead. And of course, crazy, irrational nut that I am has to actually stick my ear on his back and see if I can hear anything out of the ordinary in his breathing. And I'm ashamed to admit that I actually contemplated getting his toy stethiscope out of his Fisher-Price doctor kit to try and get a better listen. Wow. There's something seriously wrong with me.

I've calmed down a bit now. But my mind has moved on to other things to be bothered about. Like the fact that I know J.J. is allergic to dust mites and yet I still don't vacuum his room every week or (and this will sound insane) vacuum his mattress (hey...it's actually something you should do between sheet changings. It said so on a website...has to be true, right? Seriously, though, his allergy doctor did mention it).

So now I'm running through all the things that I don't do to keep the house clean enough for my son to live in it without his allergies being exacerbated and possibly making him continue to cough. I don't vacuum enough, I don't change his sheets often enough, I don't wash his pillow in super hot water, I don't (get this) freeze his stuffed animals for 6 hours to kill the dust mites living in them, I don't dust the house, let alone his room, often enough. I'm basically having a pretty low mom-esteem moment right now.

And I realize that it's almost 1 am (WHY AM I STILL UP?!?!?!?) and that I'm probably a bit irrational, and definitely can't do anything about it at this late hour...but I also know myself and I won't do anything about it tomorrow. Because somehow, somewhere in my head Saturdays are not for working in the house. Even if it needs it. Even if I didn't do my job during the week well enough to keep from having the need to work on the house on Saturday. Doesn't matter. Saturdays are NOT work days.

Hopefully I'll reread this tomorrow (okay...later this morning) and it will inspire me to actually get something done tomorrow. Maybe. Maybe I should just go to bed. Yeah...that sounds like a wise plan.

"Micah's Plan"

There is a special project going on for the 1st graders at Micah’s school. On the 100th day of school they have the “hundred day” parade and the first graders get to march around the school showing off their “100 piece” project. Each first grader’s assignment is to find, make, gather, put together, etc 100 of the same items. It can be candy, pictures, pencils, drawings, anything. You are supposed to work on it as a family and make a poster board or put it in a wagon or a bucket or something to show your 100 items.
Micah and I talked about it and he thought it was silly to buy 100 pencils or pieces of candy and he wanted to do something that would make a difference. (we always talk about making a difference). He said that he wishes that SOMEHOW he could help 100 people. I told him that was a lot of people and I think he should narrow it down to 1 person. So, he reminded me of the “man in the van”. There is a homeless man who lives in downtown Waco in an old van. We used to bring him dinner a lot and Micah always talks about him and prays for him. I often use him as an example to remind Micah of how blessed we are. Once I remember Micah asked if we could go by and get some dinner. He ordered a kids meal and after he got it, he took the toy out and said that he actually wasn’t hungry but that he wanted to give his food to the “man in the van”. We actually don’t know his name. Matt just always called him “sir”. So, we brought “sir” Micah’s kids meal. He was so appreciative and Micah was all smiles the rest of the day.
So here is Micah’s idea. And yes…this is HIS idea. He says he wants to ask 100 people to mail him $1.00. He wants 100 envelopes and will display them on his poster board. I asked him what he wanted to do with the $100 and he told me that he wanted to buy two things for the man in the van. A coat, and a Bible. Micah’s idea. Not mine.
Micah also asked me to put the request on caring bridge because he didn’t think he would have the time to call 100 people to ask for a letter.
If you have time, and $1.00 and money for a stamp, would you please helm my son with his 100 days of school project. His project is to get 100 people to send him $1.00 so he can buy a coat and a Bible for a man with no home.
Please hurry. The 100 day of school parade is on January 30th. This morning he said this exact thing "Mom, what if the people who read my request, gave it to their friends....who gave it to their friends...who gave it to their friends, and we actually COULD help 100 people."
I told Micah that we would just have to see what happens. If you will forward this request and label it "Micah's plan" to anyone and everyone you know....it would be awesome. Later today I will put a picture on our other blog site of Micah beside the mailbox with this same letter.
Thank you so much! Hurry! It ends in 2 weeks! I just KNOW that Micah will be able to make a difference!!
Expecting miracles,
Marianne


****My friend Julie posted this on her blog. The little guy is a relative of one of her Sunday School classmates. I know that sounds like "friend of a friend of a friend who knows some kid", but it's totally real. Julie gave me the address, so if anybody wants to help out, let me know! Facebook friends, blogger friends...whoever! Wouldn't it be great if we really could help out 100 people by helping this little man?

A tribute...

Recently I've had the honor of sharing some of my time with a very special person. This person comes over, plays with my children, plays Spades, eats Double Stuff Oreos with me, and teaches an old(er) dog new tricks. I love having fun with her...quoting "French Kiss" and various other Meg Ryan movies. We often even play "Guess the Movie Quote" over Google Chat while she is at work (Shhhhh! Don't tell her boss!). Our latest adventure? Teaching Heather how to crochet! I think I come by it rather naturally (my mom did used to have her own craft business and the fine art of the one-needle was one of her specialties). I was told that I caught on rather quickly...which of course made me beam (but probably because I have to be good at everything I do or I won't do it...just ask Julie North about my attempt at Pilates!).

So, to you, my new and dear friend Lauren, I say thanks! Thanks for being my movie-quoting, Oreo-eating, crafting, sarcasm-spouting, Olive Garden-appreciating, (occasional) baby-sitting, Judy Garland-loving (ha!) kindred spirit! My life has been enriched!

I stole this from (hey...why is this in bold? I undid the bold!) the Living Proof Ministries blog...Beth Moore and her two daughters, Amanda and Melissa, gave their answers. I love reading their blog...it makes me feel like they are friends of mine. Anyway, here are my answers:

1. Fresh Tree/Fake Tree? Fresh! Unfortunately, we gave up the fresh smell for the fake convenience 2 years ago. :( Maybe I'll get a wreath, just so I can have the smell in my house...

2. Favorite Ornament- Wow...there are a ton...but it might just have to be the one that Johnny and I got when we first got married. It's a Hallmark one (I always have loved those), and it's two foxes sitting on a log (log, I don't have a log--oh wait...that's for a later answer!), holding hands and it has the year (2001) and it says "Our First Christmas Together". I love it!

3. Favorite Christmas Song- O Holy Night...by just about anybody. The top versions are (of course) Mariah Carey, Point of Grace, and Celine Dion. I have to be honest...The Mariah Carey "Merry Christmas" album, Point of Grace's original album (you know, before Terri left and the group went downhill...sorry...it's true) and Amy Grant's "Home for Christmas" play on continuous rotation starting at 4 am on Black Friday (because I refuse to listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving).

4. Favorite Tradition- There are so many! Every year on Christmas Eve (after the Christmas Eve service), we always have spaghetti and meatballs (we started this when I was 10 or so). Then we watch White Christmas. When that's over, we all go to separate rooms to wrap presents, watching "A Christmas Story", catching it wherever it is in the 24 Hours on TNT. When I was little, my dad and I used to have wrapping paper tube sword fights when we were done wrapping. Now they make them too flimsy. A couple years ago, we also started the tradition of watching Christmas Vacation on Thanksgiving after dinner. I believe this one started during the Hughes/Yocum/Lyle/Oliver/(What was that kid's name who was a youth intern who lived with the Olivers?) Thanksgiving of 2005.

5. Favorite Gift Ever Received- Pre-marriage? My guitar, hands down. Post-marriage? Probably my sewing machine...even though it took me 3 years to learn how to use it after I got it!

6. Favorite Christmas Meal- Well, since we were always traveling to Kansas City on Christmas night, we usually stopped at one of the Hardee's in the middle of the turnpike...I vividly remember getting Muppet character stuffed animals during several of these meals! When we actually made it to KC before dinner, we would eat shrimp and my grandma's potato rolls...and I would drink chocolate milk. I think the venue had more to do with that being a favorite. Now we don't really do up Christmas dinner...but this year, we may have turkey again, since we get a free one from Johnny's work every year. We'll have to see how tired my mom and I are that day.

7. Favorite Christmas Cookie- My Aunt Linda's sugar cookies! MMMMMMMMM!!!!

8. Favorite Place to be- At home, with my mom, Johnny and the young'uns. We decided awhile back that Christmas Eve and Christmas morning would always be at our house and we'd do the grandparent thing Christmas night or whenever there was enough room in the inn, so to speak.

9. Favorite Memory- I really can't even narrow it down. I LOVED getting up Christmas morning, trying not to see what was under the tree yet or in my stocking yet as I made my way down to wake up my parents so we could start everything. This was tough, considering we had a split level and I slept on the top floor and my parents were on the bottom! That's a lot of visual temptation! Then we'd go upstairs, Mom would make some coffee, and I'd go to town! The tree was always first. Whatever was unwrapped was from Santa and what was wrapped was from my parents. We usually spent a good two or three hours up there. After that we'd go downstairs to the family room and dig into our stockings. Dad always got soap-on-a-rope, Mom always got Jontue perfume, and I always got one of those fake M&M candy canes...you know...the clear tube full of fake M&M's with the red plastic hook at the top? Every year. Of course, there was also always a little Lego set in there, and lots of other cool little things, along w/ holiday Reese's, Hershey's miniatures and York patties.

More recently, one Christmas we spent in Buffalo, with Johnny's dad and his step-mom and all her kids. Memaw (Nancy, his step-mom's, mother) read the Christmas story and then Matthew, Johnny's step-brother, played the guitar and we sang Christmas carols. That was a neat time, pre-kids.

OH! I'm totally forgetting the 2nd Christmas Johnny and I were married! It SNOWED!!! It was the best ever! And I got Johnny a kitten! It was so fun...the lady who I got Alley from brought her over around 7 am Christmas morning and Johnny was still asleep. I snuck back in w/ the kitten and plopped her down on his chest. He loved it! Of course, she lives at my mom's house now, and J.J.'s allergic, so we'll never recreate that memory...but it was still a good one!

10. Favorite Christmas Movie- Being the movie buff that I am, there are too many to narrow down as my favorite. I've already mentioned a few: Christmas Vacation, White Christmas, A Christmas Story. But there's also Elf ("I like smiling...smiling's my favorite"), Home Alone, Miracle on 34th Street (the original, w/ Maureen O'Hara--the mom from the original Parent Trap--and Natalie Wood), The Best Little Christmas Pageant Ever (remember that one? With Hot Lips Houlihan from M*A*S*H* in it? And those grungy, mean kids who turn out to learn the real meaning of Christmas), any of your claymations (Rudolph, Santa Clause is Comin' to Town), Frosty the Snowman...what else? Holiday Inn, Emmit Otter's Jugband Christmas, Muppet Christmas Carol. You'll notice one that's NOT in the mix: It's A Wonderful Life. I HATE that movie! 2 hours of depression for 5 minutes of happiness does not make for fine holiday fun for me! I have to agree with Phoebe on this one: " It just kept getting worse and worse. It should have been called, 'It's a sucky life and just when you think it can't suck any more it does.' "

So there you have it...my extremely long list of Christmas memories. I have TONS more, but it's almost 2 a.m. and my little boy will be waking me up in about 5 hours...plus I'm sure Hadley will be waking me up sooner to eat! YES!

Obnoxiousness...

Is that even a word? Who knows...but it certainly applies to the lady I am watching on "Crosswords" on CW (weekdays at 2:30!). Her name is, get this, Zabeth! Give me a break! Your name is Elizabeth and you didn't want to be provincial so you went the way of Topher Grace. Ridiculous! There's a whole SNL skit making fun of people like you (revolving around a guy calling himself "Thew", short for Matthew).

Okay...I'm done now. Gotta go do 800 lbs of laundry. Calgon, take me away.......!

A challenge...

I have been faced with a challenge...to name a movie from just one quote. As that is the name of my blog, you would think I could live up to the challenge. But alas...I feel I have failed my anonymous questioner. Fortunately, with the help of Google and IMDB (Internet Movie Database), I have the answer for the inquisitive commenter: (drum roll)

While You Were Sleeping

Sandra Bullock is talking with her boss about her impending wedding to Peter (the guy in the coma) and he's giving her grief about it. She makes a statement about how she wishes it were tomorrow because then she'd be on her honeymoon and her passport would finally have a stamp in it. Jerry (the boss) says, "What happened to the other guy?" She says, "He didn't want me."

Hooray! I solved the problem! I wish I could have done it without help from the internet, but at least I have helped a ponderer figure out the quote that has been driving them nuts for a long time! There you go, internet friends! If you have any further quote questions, please feel free to shoot them my way!

Okay...so I lied

In my last post I said I would post later that evening...sadly, that did not happen. But HERE is a fresh new post, just for your reading pleasure! (Why do I get the feeling that I've lost all my readers due to my inability to post frequently? Alas)

SO...what's new with the Hughes household? Well, what's new right this second is J.J. just came out from playing in my closet (I asked him to put up some of Mommy's shoes...start 'em early!) and there was a familiar scent preceding him. Not the usual malodorous offense one usually associates with a 2-year-old boy still in diapers. No, this was a pleasing odor. It smelled like....Johnny. Apparently, J.J. has discovered how to spray Johnny's body splash (Bath & Body Works...mmmmmm!) and he decided he needed to put some on this morning. Hmmm...wonder how Daddy will feel about that.

Let's see...what else is new? OH YEAH! We have good news on the Hadley front! Two weeks ago we took her in to see the gastroenterologist for a follow-up after having her blood tested for allergy indicators again. It had been a few days since I'd seen "gross" blood in her diaper (visible spots), but there was always the probability that there was still microscopic blood there. The doctor did a swab and tested it and there was NONE!!!! Nada! We were SOOOO excited! Of course, then the doc put a damper on the happy times by saying she had gone from the 75th percentile to the 10th percentile for her weight. Hmmmm. Then he proceeded to tell me that I needed to start pumping to see how much milk Hadley's getting when she nurses. Why is it that men always think that's the easiest solution? Will they ever learn that you NEVER pump as much as the baby actually nurses?

So, I opted to ignore him and just started feeding her more often. We had an appointment with Dr. H (the pediatrician we all know and love...okay...Gina and I love her!) on Friday and she said that since her height was at the 25th percentile and her weight was too (she'd gained a couple ounces), that she was proportionate and that genetics probably kicked in (meaning, my stubby genes are taking over and she's gonna be wee). So no worries there! WHEW! We do get to start trying cereal any time now, so I'll let you know how that goes.

Hmmm...what else? J.J. is using lots of complete sentences and cracks us up on a regular basis. His most recent laugh-inducer? He and Daddy were admiring "Baby Sissy" and J.J. was showing her one of his works of art from Mother's Day Out. I think it went something like this:

Daddy: Are you showing her your house, buddy?
J.J.: Yeah. See? This is the roof...this is the door...
Daddy: What does she say about it?
J.J.: Daddy, she can't talk.

I LOVE IT! Seriously, every day he cracks us up! If it weren't for all the disobedience, I'd say this was my favorite stage!

Anything else? I finally finished the scrapbook of Johnny and me dating. Yes, I know we've been married for almost 7 1/2 years. Yes, I know I started the book in 2004. Yes, I realize that was 4 years ago. Can you not just be happy for me that I finally finished something? Seriously! Anyway, the last 2 months have been scrapbook heaven for me! I've gone to Buffalo a couple times for a crop session they had at the church that went till 2 am on Friday and 6 pm on Saturday and then some ladies at our church decided to do a crop this past weekend all day Friday and Saturday! So, instead of my usual "do 2 layouts in a weekend" routine, I got 6 layouts done! YES! Now Johnny and I are about to get married and J.J. has had his first doctor appointment (in book-chronology). There really is nothing more satisfying than finishing an entire scrapbook! Okay...there probably are lots more satisfying things...knowing that your children have accepted Christ, having enough life insurance to know your family's covered if something happens to you, $1.81 gas, a really good cheeseburger (hello, Freddy's Frozen Custard!)...but you get my point.

Oh...and just a little update. If you may or may not have read on my "7 things you may or may not know about me", I said I wanted a minivan. Well, guess what?

It came at a cost, though. I had to give up my precious 4Runner. It was a bittersweet day that day. New van...no more SUV. But I LOVE my van! You really can't beat dual power sliding doors when you have 2 kids! It's the best!

Well, I should probably try and get some laundry done. I was going to attempt to go to Mom's Group today, but I think the overflowing laundry baskets are trying to tell me something. Can someone please explain to them that if they would go ahead and fold the clothes themselves that would make my life a LOT easier? Sheesh! Such lazy baskets! Just sit around holding clothes all day! Ridiculous! Okay...I'm off to empty out drawers so that I can actually put the clothes that are hanging out in the lazy baskets away. I'll leave you all with an adorable picture (and maybe, just maybe I'll do a post of nothing but pictures in a bit). Toodles, all!

A little selfish ambition for a Thursday

So, I've become a new subscriber to a blog called "Simple Mom" and she's having a giveaway for a free Christmas Card file (she makes it w/ your photo, you print away to your heart's desire) and also another one for a free Epson photo printer that pretty much rocks my face off! SO...to earn 3x the entries, she requested that you mention the giveaways on your own blog. So I am. I've mentioned it. Now I just sit back and wait for "Sweet Potato Pie"!

I promise...I'll update soon! Maybe this evening. Much to say, little time to write. Love you all!

What is my deal?

I can't seem to keep my blog up-to-date...you'd think I had two kids to run around after! :) (Okay, Hadley doesn't really keep me running, except when she's crying in the other room) But here's a quick update, followed by some cute pictures and 7 interesting facts you may or may not know about me (Tracy tagged me, so I feel obliged):

Update:
* Still nothing new regarding Hadley's intestinal issues. We're still just waiting it out to see if everything heals up on its own.

* J.J. went back to the allergy doctor yesterday for a follow-up. Nothing new...just got some good stuff to put on his eczema.

* I applied to be an online transcriptionist to earn some extra money. It took me 25 times to pass the typing test (65 wpm w/ 90% accuracy and I got 66 wpm w/ 94% acc.) and after they read my resume they said my background and experience didn't qualify me. Whatever.

* I'm tired of everybody mocking the republican candidates because they have stars in their eyes from Obama and are disillusioned by Bush. And I'm REALLY tired of the stock market crashing day after day! The only redeeming quality would be if I won the lottery and then invested it all while everything is WAY low and then quadrupled my $ when it went back up. But I don't see that happening anytime soon...so I'll continue to be disappointed by the tumble.

* I am LOVING the gas prices! Our local 7-11 is down to $2.73 now! (Really sad that I can say that I love that price.)

*I'm watching The Amazing Race from Sunday while I type this. All I can say is Terrence is a HUGE baby! He keeps screaming at his partner/girlfriend Sarah and won't let her talk to any other teams because he thinks that she's betraying him by doing that. Grow up, tiny running man!

Okay...that's about all for now. On to some cute pictures:

The first day of school


Riding the Gator at Nana & Pappy's


Sooo smiley!

OSU is ranked WHAT?!?!? Sweet!!!

Playing together (sorry it's still sideways)


Okay...7 facts you may or may not know:

1) I tried out for Millionaire (I think everyone who reads my blog knows this, but since this pops up on Facebook, too, there are people out there who had no idea). I flew to New York on a Wednesday, tried out on Thursday for Pop Culture week, and flew home Friday. I spent 6 hours in Manhattan, total. Did I mention I did all this with an 8-month-old baby boy in tow?

2) I LOVE old-timey things...old cameras, vintage home decor, etc. I want a 100-year-old house with a basement and a front porch that I can decorate with primitive fabrics (calicos and ginghams and plaids)...that or a log cabin.

3) I am addicted to some pretty girly shows right now...Tabatha's Salon Takeover, Top Design, Project Runway. For someone who played with GI Joes and He-Man when she was little, that's a big step.

4) I really want to learn how to braid hair. I don't want my daughter to have rag-a-muffin hair all the time because her mom doesn't know how to do pretty hair.

5) My dream is to learn photography and take pictures of people and lovely places for money. Who wants to teach me that? Any takers?? :)

6) I have a love-hate relationship with organizing. I LOVE to look at organizing magazines and books and the Container Store is near and dear to my heart, but I HATE actually trying to organize things.

7) I really want a minivan. (Did I actually just type that out????)

Okay....um....I tag....Rachel, Gina, Julie K. (I believe I'm the 3rd person now), Julie N. & the hubster (and anyone on Facebook who wants to do this, too). Have at it!

Update on Hadley and various other stuff

Sorry it took me so long to get this out there in web-land! Sorry, faithful friends! We got the test results back last week and they were negative for allergies. This could mean lots of things. It could mean it was a virus. It could also mean it's something called lymphoid hyperplasia, where the lymph nodes swell in the intestine, much like they do in your neck when you have a cold or the flu. If this is the case, that would explain the bleeding, because every time she poops, it tears those. This should heal, but the dr. said it could take 2 or 3 months. Another possibility is that it still could be allergies, particularly to cow's milk protein, but because I'd been off of it for 8 weeks (WOW...that's a long time for no cheese or ice cream!), the test was showing no raised levels. Therefore (insert the Hallelujah chorus here), I've been allowed to eat dairy again!!!! And just in time for my birthday, too! The reasoning behind me going back on dairy is to see if, in a couple weeks, the blood tests come back positive for the indicators of allergies after I've been exposing her to the protein again. If that's the case, it will a) make me feel better because we know that's what is causing all the yucky diapers and b) stink because I'll have to go off dairy again, probably until she's a year, because that's when I intend on weaning her (I nursed J.J. for a year).

SO...there's an update for you! Now...here's a little J.J. snack...a tidbit of some of the convos I've been having with my firstborn recently:

Me: "J.J., why are you out of bed?"
J.J.: "I scared."
Me: "What are you scared of? (Knowing full well that this is just a tactic to keep us from getting mad at the fact he's out of bed 2 hours after we put him down!)
J.J.: "Monsters"
Me: "J.J., there are no monsters in your room. Where did you see this supposed monster?"
J.J.: "The closet"
Me: "Do you want me to show you there are no monsters in your closet?"
J.J.: "Yes" (At this, he bounds over to his bed and plops himself in the middle, sitting indian--oops! native-american--style. I start to open the door...)
J.J.: "Careful!"

Don't you just love it!?!?!? Every day the little man says something that makes me roll off my chair, practically! I absolutely love being his mom and getting to hear him say things like this:

"Aaaaah! Good stuff!" after taking a much-needed swig of milk in the middle of Target.

Or this:

"Stand back, Mommy!", while he's "painting" the bathroom mirror with water, using his Elmo toothbrush. He didn't want me to get "paint" on me, I guess!

I'll upload some pics of the kiddos soon...for now, go check out Johnny's blog about our recent household developments. I promise, you won't be disappointed!

My poor baby's tummy

As I said in the previous post, Hadley has been having tummy issues. The projectile vomiting and straining to poo. A couple of weeks ago, we had another episode of projectile puke...4 times in one day. This time we went to the doctor for it. Our dr. said it was probably a virus, since there were really no other symptoms (and her daddy had some tummy issues that night, too). But, she sent us to have an ultrasound done on her tummy to see if it was maybe pyloric stenosis...a condition where the muscle at the bottom of the stomach is overdeveloped and doesn't allow stuff to go down into the intestines, causing it to come back up (because it has nowhere else to go). Well, fortunately, that came back negative, so we went under the assumption it was a quick virus. We did decide I should try to feed her less at a time (5 minutes per side, maybe even just one side)

This brings us to last Monday (Labor Day). We were up in NW Oklahoma visiting Johnny's dad & stepmom. I was changing her diaper (which had gotten increasingly mucusier (I know...it's not a word) and noticed some streaks of bright red blood. I remained calm (amazingly enough) and showed it to Johnny and Nana and decided to call the on-call peeps when we got back to civilization. They told me to keep one in a ziploc in the fridge (gross, I know) and call the doctor to get an appointment the next day. We took her in and the doctor said it was probably a tear somewhere and that it should heal within a week.

I should mention in here how much my baby weighs now, because it's hilarious! She's 11 lbs!!! Hello, hoss! She's in the 90th percentile for her height and 75th for height (22 inches) at 2 months! The nurse kept saying I didn't have a baby...she went straight 6-month-old! Okay...not really...but WOW she weighs alot (especially in her carrier...I need to start working out!)

ANYWAY, fast forward a week to this Tuesday. We're at the zoo with my wonderful friend Margo and her 4 hilarious boys and I change her diaper and see that there is some blood in there (there hadn't been for a couple of days, so we thought we were in the clear). Drat! So I make a mental note to call the doctor the next day and leave a message with the receptionist (our doctor doesn't work on Mondays or Wednesdays) for her to see. I got a call yesterday from one of the nurses and she told me the doctor wants us to go see a gastrointestinal doctor, just to see what's going on.

So I called the g.i. doctor and they just happened to have a cancellation for today at 1:00! Thank you, Lord, for Your divine intervention! So, we're going today to find out if we can figure out what's going on with my baby! Please, if you get a second, pray for her. Pray that the doctors figure out what's going on so they can fix her. Pray for me that I don't go crazy if it's not-so-good news (I'll be there by myself, since Johhny and my mom both have to work). Pray that whatever it is isn't some horrible, unfixable thing!

Okay...gotta go take a shower so I'm not late (again!) taking J.J. to Mother's Day Out. Hope you all are enjoying the rain (if you live around here) and remember to pray for those in the path of Ike...I don't think it's going to be as uneventful as Gustav turned out to be.

Toodles!

New pics and a little news

I've been informed that my lack of posting has become a problem to those of you out there who want to see pictures of Hadley...so who am I to deny you! Sorry for the hiatus...what can I say...sometimes I like to lurk and forget that I need to post myself!

So far, so good...except for a little speed bump in week 2. One night Johnny was holding little girl and she let loose...not the way babies do usually (in their diapers). No, this was full-out barfing! Projectile! I of course FREAKED OUT and ran to call the on-call pediatric service to see when I needed to rush my baby to the nearest ER (yeah...I probably was a little over-dramatic, I think). They told me to just keep an eye on her and to elevate her head after feeding her. If she did it again, she probably needed to go in to see our doctor the next day, but we should call her anyway even if she didn't just to see what she said.

Apparently, I was making a much larger deal out of it than I should have, because she did it again the next night (and after calling the on-call peeps again that night and the nurse at our dr.'s office the next morning) and AGAIN a few days later. We did take her in to check some dark spots on her tummy, but the wonderful dr. (and Gina can attest to her greatness, as she's been HER dr. her whole life!) said it was probably just a birthmark of sorts (hemangioma for those of you interested). BUT...I'm off dairy. And I have been for 2 1/2 weeks now! Hadley had been straining to poo or even pass gas so hard that she would basically scream and cry, so we're trying to see if maybe she has problems with the protein in milk (God, please don't let that be it!). So poor Heather has been without cheese, milk, ice cream, pizza, Doritos, butter, pancakes...the list goes on and on...for that long and she's getting a little tired of peanut butter & jelly or honey sandwiches! But if it means her baby girl is more comfortable, it's all worth it!

OKAY!!!! Without further ado--wait...J.J. went to the allergy doctor on Monday and instead of finding out for sure that he was allergic to peanuts (jury's still out on that one), we found out he's allergic to (and those of you who have known me awhile will know how wrong this is) CATS!!! Really allergic! My mom (who has 3 at home) now has to make sure she showers and puts on freshly cleaned clothes before she comes over...and we can't go over there! Not good!!! We'll find out more about the peanuts when we get the results back from Johns Hopkins! I'll keep you all posted. Meanwhile I get to check labels for peanuts and tree nuts (because he is allergic--mildly--to almonds and walnuts).

Okay...NOW here are some adorable pics of my adorable girl (and some of you may have seen these elsewhere...but their worth seeing again, I think!)

These first few are from our photo shoot w/ my amazing friend Jamie who took our maternity pics for me (for FREE!!!! AGAIN!!!! I am truly blessed to have her as my friend!)








These next few are just some fun cute ones we've taken...enjoy!




Some pics of her room (that she's yet to even BE in!)




First bath...clearly not happy!


A fun face that says, "Mom...REALLY????"

SHE'S HERE! SHE'S HERE! SHE'S HERE!

I would like to proudly introduce Hadley Rose Hughes, born July 8, 2008, weighing in at 8 pounds, 4 ounces and measuring 20 1/2 inches!




J.J. meets Hadley for the first time



J.J. giving "Baby Sissy" mooches


Our first family pic




Some pics of Hadley meeting her family members:

Grammi Hughes & Meme


Nana & Pappy



Grandma Lyle


Aunt Carisa & Uncle Matthew


Cousins Halle & Hadley meet for the first time...Halle's not too sure about not being the baby anymore


The wonderful Dr. Hager (the most amazing doctor on the face of the earth!)


We have TONS more pics, but I think I'll save them for another post. I just figured I better get some of these up on the web before people started yelling at me! :)

Things are good here...just adjusting to no sleep again. It's not so easy with another kid to take care of! Fortunately, we've had family here for the weekend and are looking forward to the grandmothers being here the next two weeks when Johnny goes back to work (Aaaaagh! NOT looking forward to that!) Right now it's just difficult trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in. The back doesn't work because I get a huge knot and wake up not being able to move or breathe, and the side is a little uncomfy due to my incision. But I trust that someday, I'll be able to sleep longer than 2 hours a night! :) For now, I'm finding all kinds of interesting shows on TV that I never knew existed!

OH! Here's a link to some more pictures that Johnny uploaded:

Hadley pics

For now, I'm going to take a nap...either that or upload some pics to Facebook...hmmm...which one is the smarter thing to do?

The day is almost upon us!

In 12 hours, I will be at the hospital, getting prepped for Hadley's arrival! I really can't believe she's almost here! This time tomorrow, I'll have a little baby girl in my arms! Unbelievable!

Today has been a VERY busy day here in the Hughes household. After a lovely time swimming at my friend Jamie's uncle's house (a weekly event this summer) with our boys and our moms, we came home and the fury that is cleaning my house began! Johnny's mom came over, along with his grandma MeMe, and it has been a cleaning frenzy ever since! The kitchen has been cleaned (including the fridge bins!), the bathrooms have been cleaned, our bedroom has been vacuumed and steam-cleaned, laundry has been done, a sign-in page for Hadley's visitors has been made, furniture has been dusted, ebay disputes have been settled (don't get me started on that one), and Amazon.com books have been shipped to their purchaser. OH! And my mom made one of those plastic bag stuff-sacks (that you can store Wal-Mart sacks in) for Hadley's room that is OH SO CUTE (Jo...I bought the fabric at our favorite quilting store!)

Now we're waiting for Johnny to get home so we can go eat our celebratory meal at Texas Roadhouse (a "tradition" we started when we had J.J.)...and there he is, so I better go! Fear not...pictures will get posted as soon as possible! Love to you all and pray for us if you're awake tomorrow morning at 7 am...that's when I'm scheduled to start!

What J.J. decided to do instead of nap today

So today, after church, Johnny and I were trying to catch up on the most recent episode of Last Comic Standing. We'd gotten about halfway through it when we heard J.J.'s door open, signaling that he was up from his nap. This is a usual occurrence, so we didn't think twice about it. We did, however, think it hadn't been long enough, so Johnny suggested going in to check his diaper and see if maybe he would lay back down. This is what I was greeted with:




He looks a bit...um....shinier than usual, wouldn't you say? At first I thought it was sweat...that he had gotten really hot. Then my mind switched to water...maybe he'd gone into the bathroom and we just hadn't heard the water running. Then I saw the glop on his face next to his eye and it hit me: it was Vaseline! Yes, that's right....Vaseline! (I guess technically it's just petroleum jelly since I never buy name-brand medicinal items)

We were laughing too hard to get mad at him...I tried to upload a video so you can see the extent of the "oiling" his room and he both got, but alas it didn't want to upload. You'll just have to use your imagination, I guess.

Just thought you all might enjoy a little snippet of what it's like raising a 2 1/2-year old boy! I called my mom and she said, "Hmmmm...that sounds a lot like the baby powder incident." I have no idea what she's talking about...something to do with me giving a nice dusting (read: dumping an entire bottle) of baby powder all over our coffee table, the floor and me.

A plea for help from everyone I know...for a friend in desperate need

I post this entry with a heavy heart. One of my good friends from church's husband has been involved in a lot of trouble with his job. He recently found out some things about his boss, who happens to be the director of the Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission, that are not good. He has reason to believe the things he has found out not only involve her, but also some people higher up in the Oklahoma government...and possibly the federal government.

His name is Austin Gilley. He is (or was, as he's been put on administrative leave with pay) the deputy director of the Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission. I'm not really sure what they do, but Austin seemed to think that his job before was to make sure corruption like this DOESN'T happen...now he's thinking that his job for the last 2 1/2 years has been to cover things up.

Last August, he was offered a job with the Grand River Dam Authority, up in northeastern Oklahoma. It was the perfect opportunity. He was getting paid more, could afford a bigger house for his wife and daughter, and would be closer to her parents. He worked there for 4 days, found out things he didn't want to know about and decided he needed to come back here. Fortunately (or at least he thought at the time), he got his old position back. Now it turns out there may be a connection to the things he found out about the GRDA and his boss...and a possible real estate scheme that's going on up by Grand Lake, one of the elite real estate spots in Oklahoma where lots of well-to-do people want land.

As a result of him knowing these things and sending out this email, he was put on administrative leave with pay and asked to turn in a backup tape and network passwords in the Attorney General's office last week. Unfortunately, he felt it would be detrimental to his case to turn over the passwords, as he would then possibly be giving his boss a way to get rid of any incriminating evidence regarding her or anyone else involved. He took with him to the AG's office a briefcase full of documentation, the keys to his office and the backup tape. The AG's office refused to take the briefcase and insisted on the passwords. Austin refused to leave unless the assistant AG who demanded his information in the first place took his briefcase and itemized all that was in it because he felt it was important to his credibility. If they did not, then he had reason to believe their boss was in collusion with his. As a result of the stand-still that came about, the AG had Austin arrested for "disrupting government business" because he would not leave, which sounds a bit like they were trying to find a reason to arrest him to shut him up. After his jail experience, he believes his suspicions about his boss and the AG's involvement together were validated.

I'll let the video he made tell you the rest...it's about 14 minutes long....but PLEASE take the time to watch it so that you get his side of the story. So far, all that's been said was this article in the Daily Oklahoman that mentions nothing of why he refused to give over the passwords or anything having to do with his side: State official arrested in dispute

Here's the link to the video on Metacafe, a site that's based out of Israel, similar to Youtube...but, of course, not based in the US...which he felt might be better. Austin's video

His main concern is getting this information out to the public. He feels that the more the public knows, the less the government will be able to strong-arm him into doing what they want, which is keeping quiet. All he wants is a fair hearing, because he knows that if that happens, the truth will come out.

PLEASE pray for him and for his wife and two daughters (one will be 2 in July, the other was born in April). He feels like those closest to him don't believe him (including family and close friends) because they think he's paranoid. It sounds like something straight out of a movie, I know. But it's not one he wants to be in because, as he said, he's not Harrison Ford or Brad Pitt or some other action hero!

If you feel so led, spread the word! All that can do is further his cause of bringing the truth to light!

Ummmm.....YUM!!!!

My dear hubby is always forwarding me fun things that he finds when he's reading his dozens upon dozens of blogs that he's addicted to. Some are bizarre things from other countries, some are fascinating things from the world of science, some are just random fun toys he thinks are cool. Every once in awhile, there's a food item that really tickles my fancy. Today, he forwarded just such an item.

Now, this may not seem like the most exciting thing in the world, but to a pregnant girl who can't seem to get enough chocolate (resorting to eating chocolate chips straight out of the bag), this sounds like the perfect dessert...AND it's a nice refreshing treat to beat the summer swelter! Without any further ado....PLEASE follow this link to check out homemade ice cream cupcakes!

J.J. and the McDonald's play area

So today for lunch, J.J. and I met Johnny at McDonald's so that we could let J.J. run off some excess energy before naptime.

(Sorry...interruption....what on EARTH is the deal with that Nintendo DS commercial with Carrie Underwood in it where's she playing with a sim-dog? That's all there is! Her scratching a dog on a video game and saying, "Cool!" WHY?!?!?!?)

Okay...I'm back...sorry about that! ANYway, while we were sitting in the play area, we noticed that the rules sign said ages 3-12. ???HUH??? Why do 12-year olds need to be playing in the same place that a 3-year old is? SERIOUSLY! And why don't they have a height requirement instead? Granted, by those rules, J.J. wasn't supposed to be in there, since he's not 3 yet. But I think it's a bit ridiculous for a play area to not allow toddlers on it! And to also allow GIANT pre-teens on it at the same time!

Sorry...this is my last rant (hopefully). And why is it that NOBODY ever obeys the "Socks Required At All Times" rule? I know it's summer and kids don't usually don't wear socks, but if I can remember to put socks on my kid when we go to McDonalds, can't everyone else? I mean, I can barely remember my own name, and yet I can remember that socks are supposed to be worn!

Okay...now that that's over, I'll get onto the cute part. This is really only the 2nd or 3rd time he's been in our local McDonald's play area, and the last two times he's been really reluctant to go any further than halfway up the first tube. Today, he got a little braver. He went all the way up...and then I lost him for a second...and I got a little worried, because there were giant brute boys running around playing Freeze Tag. But then I saw him reappear in the first pod and I convinced him to go down the first slide (by climbing in the end of the slide and letting him know where it ended). He LOVED it!

He did that a couple or 3 more times and then a couple girls that were probably 4 and 6, who had previously been playing with the brute boys, kind of took J.J. under their wings and the next thing I know I'm hearing his voice WAAAAAY up above me in the high tunnels! I was really afraid my pregnant belly was going to have to get lugged up through that thing, possibly causing a traffic jam when it got stuck! Finally, after about 5 minutes, he appeared at the bottom of the tallest twisty slide with the biggest smile on his face! He had a blast!!! So, he went back up with them and found his way into another high tunnel with a window and waved at me...sooo cute!

Needless to say, my fears of him getting stuck and freaking out were gone...but I think the next time we go, it will be BEFORE the lunch rush!

Maternity pictures

Since I mentioned last week that I had them taken, I thought I'd put a few treasures from our maternity photo shoot....so here they are! :)






















Those are probably my favorites of all of them. I LOVE the one of my tummy w/ the rose! It's absolutely amazing what you can do with Photo Shop!!! Now I just have to upload these to Snapfish so I can order prints. But which ones? How many of each? Oh, the decisions!!! But what glorious fun it will be!


Oh...and I finally found a border for Hadley's room (here's a picture),
so now I can go tomorrow and pick out paint colors and have my dear friend Julie's hubby Tyle get me a fabulous discount before he leaves his job! Man! Do I have the hook-ups or what?!?!? :) Free photo shoot, cheap paint...what more can a girl want? :)