Thursday, October 15, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
Is 12 days a sabbatical or a desertion?
Hey everyone! I know I've been awful lately. Mostly that is because all that is really on my mind lately is political corruption and government reform and I don't want to become one of THOSE bloggers who can only talk about one thing and that one thing usually gets people all hostile and pissy. Sooooo that has lead to some dead air (or keyboard....or screen?) on my part and I apologize. Another little bump in the road is that my camera...or my cord...or my computer is being a jackass lately and wont upload my pics. So I feel like I'm a little disconnected on that front.
Nevertheless, we've been doing pretty well in the McDonald household. Jack is EVERYWHERE which is awesome. He keeps himself entertained and is soooo much happier. I can't believe that he's (technically) 9 months old (yesterday). I can't even see that little 4 lb 7 oz baybee I delivered on that wonderfully, stressfully New Years Day. OooooKkkk that's enough of a trip down memory lane for now.
We've all been sick (some more than others) and we've all done our share of complaining (some more than others). But we got over it without any meds (woot woot!) and Maria only missed one day of school. It was on that day, that I fell in love with her preschool schedule being Mon, Tues, Wed, on and Thurs, Fri off. It was really nice that she had 4 days straight (well, 5) to just rest at home.
She's been doing really well with the preschool and she's picked up some WOOOOONDERFUL new phrases and a WOOOOOONDERFUL new attitude. Yah....it's been great having to say the phrase "I am your mother, you don't talk to me that way!" 156465435 times a day. :D My mom said to me today "maybe she just needs a little refresher course". I laughed out loud because it sounded like we were a mafia family talking about putting a hit out on a member that was getting out of line or "going off grid" as they say on TV.
Nevertheless, we've been doing pretty well in the McDonald household. Jack is EVERYWHERE which is awesome. He keeps himself entertained and is soooo much happier. I can't believe that he's (technically) 9 months old (yesterday). I can't even see that little 4 lb 7 oz baybee I delivered on that wonderfully, stressfully New Years Day. OooooKkkk that's enough of a trip down memory lane for now.
We've all been sick (some more than others) and we've all done our share of complaining (some more than others). But we got over it without any meds (woot woot!) and Maria only missed one day of school. It was on that day, that I fell in love with her preschool schedule being Mon, Tues, Wed, on and Thurs, Fri off. It was really nice that she had 4 days straight (well, 5) to just rest at home.
She's been doing really well with the preschool and she's picked up some WOOOOONDERFUL new phrases and a WOOOOOONDERFUL new attitude. Yah....it's been great having to say the phrase "I am your mother, you don't talk to me that way!" 156465435 times a day. :D My mom said to me today "maybe she just needs a little refresher course". I laughed out loud because it sounded like we were a mafia family talking about putting a hit out on a member that was getting out of line or "going off grid" as they say on TV.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Night Terrors
This is mostly for my reference so that I can remember perfectly what happened. I'm always afraid that I will forget something important and this important.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_terror
In the last 6 months Maria has had probably 3-4 Night Terrors (I only recently was able to put a name to the situation). Thursday night, though, was something I've never seen before and hope to NEVER see again. I would say Josh and I (and Maria) slept a total of 1 hr the entire night.
She went to bed at 8:00 like usual and probably fell asleep within an hour. But by the time Josh and I went to bed at 10:00 she was a hysterical, inconsolable, mess. She was screaming, drenched in sweat, her heart was beating out of her chest. Her eyes were bulging out and darting around the room and she was acting like I wasn't even there. She was shaking uncontrollably and pointing on top of her dresser. The only thing I could understand that she was saying, was "swiper!" (from Dora). I swear it was like she was "possessed" as dumb as that sounds, it's what it looked like. I held her for a while until she got calmed down (about 15 minutes). I went back to bed and within a half an hour she was screaming again.
This time it was bugs. She was going crazy in bed slapping her legs and all over her bed. Kicking her sheets and throwing everything. Josh was with me and he picked her up to hold her and she started hitting him and screaming "bugs get out of here" (as if he were a bug). It was the same thing with her looking around us, but not AT us. She wasn't really awake but she was just going nuts. She had woken up Sophia so we decided to put her in our room so we could console her easier. Josh put her down and got her some new clothes (she was DRENCHED). I thought she was walking behind me, but when I turned around I saw her walking pressed up against the wall (like there was something on the floor). She then started jumping over what I can only imagine were "bugs". She really did see them all over the house. Then about halfway to our room, she fell to the floor and started hitting her legs and screaming that the bugs needed to get off of her. This went on for a while in our bed. I was holding her when she sort of calmed down a little and she said "why all these snakes in bed with me?" I said "what snakes hunny?" and she said "right there" as she pointed right at a space between her and I and the blankets. I just started crying. I felt like she was going crazy. I didn't know if she was awake or asleep or something in between, but it either way, it didn't seem "normal" (for the record I HATE the word normal so I hesitate to use it here about my baby).
It went on all night she would sleep for about an hour (or sometimes less) then she would be up for anywhere from 15 minutes-2 hrs screaming about things that weren't there. At one point she wouldn't stop screaming at me to close the door so "that horsey can't get in here to poop on me!" (I am not sure if that one was a "nightmare" or a "night terror" b/c she acknowledged I was there and she was speaking fairly clearly).
Josh is a man and men are inherently impatient and unsympathetic so he lost his temper at around 4:30 and went to sleep on the couch because (I quote) "what's the matter with her, she can't tell the difference between a dream and reality" to which I said "obviously NOT or she wouldn't be screaming at me to save her from a horse that's waiting for her in the living room, because I closed the door and apparently horses are like vampires and they have to be invited in! (yes, I saw fit to add a little of my usual sarcasm into the situation at this point...hey, that's just me without any sleep recalling my days of watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer).
From the moment she "woke up" (I use that term VERY loosely here) she was telling me how tired she was. She basically layed around all day watching TV drifting in and out of sleep. At around 11:00, she asked to take a nap. She was back there for about an hour and a half before it started again. This time I went back there to see the "usual" NT activity and she was also swatting at bees, while Sophia yelled at her "there's no bees in the house Mia! Bees live outside!". I held her for awhile and she eventually calmed down (about 15-20 minutes).
Last night was only twice (yes, in this upside down world I am living in, 2 psychotic terror-filled episodes deserves the word "only"). I'm not sure what they were about though because they were brief and she didn't say any "actual" words.
I'm not sure what (if anything) we can do to stop them. I've read some things that say they will "grow out of it" and some that say that's crazy and lots of adults still have them. One important thing I've learned today is to not say "it's only a dream. it isn't real" (which we were saying), because to them, it IS real and it just makes them more angry. I might try a lavender and chamomile candle (for 2 hrs burn it in her room with the door closed, then blow it out when she goes to bed) and I think on days she has school, since she doesn't get a nap, she will go to bed at 7:30 instead of 8:00 because I've read that if they get too tired, it makes it worse. Also, if they continue too much longer (at this frequency) I may look into getting her in to see a neurologist because a friend of mine read that they might be linked to underdeveloped brain cells. (which might be related to her sever prematurity) Thankfully she doesn't yet, seem to remember any of them. I am just praying that continues so that she doesn't have these memories that are so terrifying.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_terror
In the last 6 months Maria has had probably 3-4 Night Terrors (I only recently was able to put a name to the situation). Thursday night, though, was something I've never seen before and hope to NEVER see again. I would say Josh and I (and Maria) slept a total of 1 hr the entire night.
She went to bed at 8:00 like usual and probably fell asleep within an hour. But by the time Josh and I went to bed at 10:00 she was a hysterical, inconsolable, mess. She was screaming, drenched in sweat, her heart was beating out of her chest. Her eyes were bulging out and darting around the room and she was acting like I wasn't even there. She was shaking uncontrollably and pointing on top of her dresser. The only thing I could understand that she was saying, was "swiper!" (from Dora). I swear it was like she was "possessed" as dumb as that sounds, it's what it looked like. I held her for a while until she got calmed down (about 15 minutes). I went back to bed and within a half an hour she was screaming again.
This time it was bugs. She was going crazy in bed slapping her legs and all over her bed. Kicking her sheets and throwing everything. Josh was with me and he picked her up to hold her and she started hitting him and screaming "bugs get out of here" (as if he were a bug). It was the same thing with her looking around us, but not AT us. She wasn't really awake but she was just going nuts. She had woken up Sophia so we decided to put her in our room so we could console her easier. Josh put her down and got her some new clothes (she was DRENCHED). I thought she was walking behind me, but when I turned around I saw her walking pressed up against the wall (like there was something on the floor). She then started jumping over what I can only imagine were "bugs". She really did see them all over the house. Then about halfway to our room, she fell to the floor and started hitting her legs and screaming that the bugs needed to get off of her. This went on for a while in our bed. I was holding her when she sort of calmed down a little and she said "why all these snakes in bed with me?" I said "what snakes hunny?" and she said "right there" as she pointed right at a space between her and I and the blankets. I just started crying. I felt like she was going crazy. I didn't know if she was awake or asleep or something in between, but it either way, it didn't seem "normal" (for the record I HATE the word normal so I hesitate to use it here about my baby).
It went on all night she would sleep for about an hour (or sometimes less) then she would be up for anywhere from 15 minutes-2 hrs screaming about things that weren't there. At one point she wouldn't stop screaming at me to close the door so "that horsey can't get in here to poop on me!" (I am not sure if that one was a "nightmare" or a "night terror" b/c she acknowledged I was there and she was speaking fairly clearly).
Josh is a man and men are inherently impatient and unsympathetic so he lost his temper at around 4:30 and went to sleep on the couch because (I quote) "what's the matter with her, she can't tell the difference between a dream and reality" to which I said "obviously NOT or she wouldn't be screaming at me to save her from a horse that's waiting for her in the living room, because I closed the door and apparently horses are like vampires and they have to be invited in! (yes, I saw fit to add a little of my usual sarcasm into the situation at this point...hey, that's just me without any sleep recalling my days of watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer).
From the moment she "woke up" (I use that term VERY loosely here) she was telling me how tired she was. She basically layed around all day watching TV drifting in and out of sleep. At around 11:00, she asked to take a nap. She was back there for about an hour and a half before it started again. This time I went back there to see the "usual" NT activity and she was also swatting at bees, while Sophia yelled at her "there's no bees in the house Mia! Bees live outside!". I held her for awhile and she eventually calmed down (about 15-20 minutes).
Last night was only twice (yes, in this upside down world I am living in, 2 psychotic terror-filled episodes deserves the word "only"). I'm not sure what they were about though because they were brief and she didn't say any "actual" words.
I'm not sure what (if anything) we can do to stop them. I've read some things that say they will "grow out of it" and some that say that's crazy and lots of adults still have them. One important thing I've learned today is to not say "it's only a dream. it isn't real" (which we were saying), because to them, it IS real and it just makes them more angry. I might try a lavender and chamomile candle (for 2 hrs burn it in her room with the door closed, then blow it out when she goes to bed) and I think on days she has school, since she doesn't get a nap, she will go to bed at 7:30 instead of 8:00 because I've read that if they get too tired, it makes it worse. Also, if they continue too much longer (at this frequency) I may look into getting her in to see a neurologist because a friend of mine read that they might be linked to underdeveloped brain cells. (which might be related to her sever prematurity) Thankfully she doesn't yet, seem to remember any of them. I am just praying that continues so that she doesn't have these memories that are so terrifying.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Nun too exciting...
Well nothing really exciting is going on around here, but I will keep you updated anyhow. So here goes.
The world is going to hell in a hand basket. (No, I don't actually know what that phrase means so please don't ask)
Jack is crawling. (Yes, it's official now)
Maria is so stinkin polite it's killin me! (And she's heading off to school...again. And I will be bawling my freaking eyes out...again)
I'm having another garage sale this weekend. (Well, I almost HAVE to since according to "Candy and friends" I am just a lazy SAHM who doesn't contribute to the family and is a financial burden on poor, poor Josh)
I've started a delayed New Years resolution (Since last year I was a little busy...ya know, giving birth and all). I've been trying one new recipe every week. And it's actually going really, really well.
I may have cured my momma. (Ok, well technically a new Dr. that was referred to me by a stranger who is now our hero, may have cured my mother. But I feel that I am, at the very least, indirectly responsible for the aforementioned curing)
We are paying off HALF of our debt tomorrow. (well just the credit card kind. But that is the very worst kind, after all)
I am 3/4 finished with all of my canning. (18 quarts of green beans, 6 quarts of corn, 12 quarts of spaghetti sauce, 6 quarts of tomato sauce. All that's left is apple pie filling and applesauce)
Unfortunately that about wraps it up.
The world is going to hell in a hand basket. (No, I don't actually know what that phrase means so please don't ask)
Jack is crawling. (Yes, it's official now)
Maria is so stinkin polite it's killin me! (And she's heading off to school...again. And I will be bawling my freaking eyes out...again)
I'm having another garage sale this weekend. (Well, I almost HAVE to since according to "Candy and friends" I am just a lazy SAHM who doesn't contribute to the family and is a financial burden on poor, poor Josh)
I've started a delayed New Years resolution (Since last year I was a little busy...ya know, giving birth and all). I've been trying one new recipe every week. And it's actually going really, really well.
I may have cured my momma. (Ok, well technically a new Dr. that was referred to me by a stranger who is now our hero, may have cured my mother. But I feel that I am, at the very least, indirectly responsible for the aforementioned curing)
We are paying off HALF of our debt tomorrow. (well just the credit card kind. But that is the very worst kind, after all)
I am 3/4 finished with all of my canning. (18 quarts of green beans, 6 quarts of corn, 12 quarts of spaghetti sauce, 6 quarts of tomato sauce. All that's left is apple pie filling and applesauce)
Unfortunately that about wraps it up.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
i'm still here
This is basically just me saying that no, in fact, I have not died. I know I've been awful lately. I had so much fun to share and just got sooooo busy with everything and haven't had the time (yes I know that sounds extremely lame). All I can say, is that if you have received a blog comment from me in the last week, you should consider yourself very special. I have been canning and freezing and just all around getting ready for fall/winter. Also prepping for another garage sale (hoping to make even more than last time...which I am aware is asking a lot). I have another day of canning spaghetti sauce going on tomorrow. Hopefully it will be a bit easier since Josh will be here to help me.
I did also want to say a little bit about how awesome Josh and I have been doing these last few weeks. Are there things that I would change? sure. But when you get down to it, we are a good match. We complement each other. I am feeling really close to him lately and for some reason feeling like we have (finally) reached a point where we are in sync. I think we have spent the last 7 1/2 (yes 7 1/2!) years kind of fighting over the little shit because we didn't really know how to deal with all of the big shit. So instead of really talking about it, we ended up fighting over who didn't rinse out their dish or who fell asleep during the movie. Stupid shit! I know it sounds weird, but we are finally just learning to accept each others faults and knowing that we can't change them. When we went to our "pre-marital counseling" with the pastor before we got married (hence the name) he asked us a question that I have been thinking about lately. He said "What is it that bothers you about each other?" We gave our answers and he said "Are these things you can live with forever? Because they are never going to change. People don't change and people aren't perfect. You need to be able to clean up after each other and listen to each others mundane stories and visit each others families and all of that, and still want to wake up and do it again every day of the rest of your lives because that person is worth it to you. No two people are perfect for each other. The best we can do is to try to bring out the best in each other and to complement each other in the good AND bad times." We do that. 5 years ago we went through hell. A hell I wouldn't wish on my enemy and I remember fighting with him one day about the sandwich he brought me to the NICU when the real fight was about the fact that Maria needed surgery the next morning and I didn't know how to say "I'm afraid she's not going to make it". I didn't know how to communicate with him those feelings that were so important, so we fought about Arby's. I wish that we were as good together then as we are now. We would have made life a lot easier on each other. As much as I appreciated the silence at that time, there was so much that needed to be said and never was. We had been married for less than a month. We were young and we were SCARED. I wish I knew then what I know now. What I know now is that there is no amount of hell Josh will not go through with me. He will not leave me when things get tough. It is UNCONDITIONAL LOVE and it is amazing. He is who I will wake up next to when I am 90 and I love knowing that.
I did also want to say a little bit about how awesome Josh and I have been doing these last few weeks. Are there things that I would change? sure. But when you get down to it, we are a good match. We complement each other. I am feeling really close to him lately and for some reason feeling like we have (finally) reached a point where we are in sync. I think we have spent the last 7 1/2 (yes 7 1/2!) years kind of fighting over the little shit because we didn't really know how to deal with all of the big shit. So instead of really talking about it, we ended up fighting over who didn't rinse out their dish or who fell asleep during the movie. Stupid shit! I know it sounds weird, but we are finally just learning to accept each others faults and knowing that we can't change them. When we went to our "pre-marital counseling" with the pastor before we got married (hence the name) he asked us a question that I have been thinking about lately. He said "What is it that bothers you about each other?" We gave our answers and he said "Are these things you can live with forever? Because they are never going to change. People don't change and people aren't perfect. You need to be able to clean up after each other and listen to each others mundane stories and visit each others families and all of that, and still want to wake up and do it again every day of the rest of your lives because that person is worth it to you. No two people are perfect for each other. The best we can do is to try to bring out the best in each other and to complement each other in the good AND bad times." We do that. 5 years ago we went through hell. A hell I wouldn't wish on my enemy and I remember fighting with him one day about the sandwich he brought me to the NICU when the real fight was about the fact that Maria needed surgery the next morning and I didn't know how to say "I'm afraid she's not going to make it". I didn't know how to communicate with him those feelings that were so important, so we fought about Arby's. I wish that we were as good together then as we are now. We would have made life a lot easier on each other. As much as I appreciated the silence at that time, there was so much that needed to be said and never was. We had been married for less than a month. We were young and we were SCARED. I wish I knew then what I know now. What I know now is that there is no amount of hell Josh will not go through with me. He will not leave me when things get tough. It is UNCONDITIONAL LOVE and it is amazing. He is who I will wake up next to when I am 90 and I love knowing that.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Camping cont.
OK, so I have been an extremely bad blogger for the last few weeks. Just the normal craziness+my inability to figure out a new way to upload my pics since my freebie photoshop thing is up+I'm too cheap/poor to purchase a new photo software. So I am back and if I do say so myself, better than ever. :D Anyway, I have tons of pics and stories to tell, so hold on to your seats, it's gonna be a fun few posts. I'm going to try to stick to one topic per day, but I'm not promising anything.
First things first. Camping. We went to West Branch Campground in Ravenna. It was nice because it was only about 45 mins away and it was a really nice campground. The sites are mostly really nice. A bunch of them, though were totally wooded so there was NO grass. My parents had the misfortune of having one of these sites, which was not much fun esp after the 12 hrs straight of rain we got the second night. But, to avoid this situation in the future, Josh and I drove around the campground before we left and marked on the map, which ones would be nice for next time.
Our tent was really nice and well worth the $150. We didn't waterproof it, but it didn't need it. After the aforementioned rain, we had only 1 teeny, tiny leak that caused no problems at all. It was also very roomy because it was a "cabin" style instead of the normal "dome".
This was where Josh and I slept and then Jack was in the Pack n Play. Our luggage and other gear is at the bottom of the pic.
Then the girls were in the other bed and our food and kitchen stuff was in the 3-drawer container and the black tote.
The girls brought bubbles, chalk, bikes, their balls and Barbies to keep them occupied
And they spent lots of time at the playground.
And of course the highlight was going to the beach :D This is my sister Erin with Jackson in his little "cabana" (which was awesome and also well worth the money, btw).
Sophia was not really sure about the water at first. But after an hour or two she was walking waist-deep in it.
Maria just loved the water. My sister Melanie took her out and was holding her in the deeper water and she was having a GREAT time. She is still talking about it today.
We did end up leaving a little bit early. We were paid up until Tuesday at 1:00p but we left on Monday at 8:00p. I think everyone was ready. We had all had our fun and were ready to go. It actually worked out perfectly though.Wednesday, August 5, 2009
camping is not for the weak
I will definitely say that camping is not for everyone. I once heard a woman we know say that her idea of camping is the Holiday Inn. And I would say that for those who feel that way....STAY AT THE HOLIDAY INN. LOL. It is a lot of hard work and it isn't fun every minute. But if you know what you are doing and you are able to work hard and still find joy in it, it's definitely worth the trouble.
We had a day where the kids did nothing but cry and we had 12 hrs of constant rain (thankfully it was over-night), but we still had fun. Maria FINALLY peddled her bike by herself. Both of the girls went in chest-high into the water and LOVED it. (which for some reason they never do at their Grandma's pool). They built sandcastles and played at the playground. Aunt Val taught the girls some Volleyball. Aunt Erin and Aunt Mel walked Jackson all over in his stroller. We had hobo pies and smores, and we melted styrofoam plates with steaks. I actually managed to get Josh to spend an hour with me playing cards and I read half of a book (Lord only knows when I will have the time to read the other half though lol). The tent didn't leak amidst all the rain...and MUD underneath. Josh did a little fishing (and a little "non-fishing" with the girls lol) By the end of the trip Josh actually said "I don't want to leave, I'm having too much fun." In the weeks leading up to the trip he was quite a fan of the phrase "this is gonna suck". So I was really surprised he loved it so much and was bugging me all the way home about when we were going to go again. I call that a success! I swear I have lots of pics, I just can't seem to get them uploaded onto my computer b/c my free 2 yrs of photoshop is up. So you will have to be patient with me.
We had a day where the kids did nothing but cry and we had 12 hrs of constant rain (thankfully it was over-night), but we still had fun. Maria FINALLY peddled her bike by herself. Both of the girls went in chest-high into the water and LOVED it. (which for some reason they never do at their Grandma's pool). They built sandcastles and played at the playground. Aunt Val taught the girls some Volleyball. Aunt Erin and Aunt Mel walked Jackson all over in his stroller. We had hobo pies and smores, and we melted styrofoam plates with steaks. I actually managed to get Josh to spend an hour with me playing cards and I read half of a book (Lord only knows when I will have the time to read the other half though lol). The tent didn't leak amidst all the rain...and MUD underneath. Josh did a little fishing (and a little "non-fishing" with the girls lol) By the end of the trip Josh actually said "I don't want to leave, I'm having too much fun." In the weeks leading up to the trip he was quite a fan of the phrase "this is gonna suck". So I was really surprised he loved it so much and was bugging me all the way home about when we were going to go again. I call that a success! I swear I have lots of pics, I just can't seem to get them uploaded onto my computer b/c my free 2 yrs of photoshop is up. So you will have to be patient with me.
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