Putting it all out there...

Hi again friends!
I am happy to report that I am pretty much 95% better! Whohoo! I still have the tiniest bit of congestion, but other than that I am great! I am still in awe that an antibiotic can take you from feeling like you're on your death bed to feeling re-born in just a mere 48 hours!

But enough about that, I am on to a more serious topic. I probably should be waiting to write this, but because it is so fresh on my mind, it is hard to resist. Some things happened this weekend that have me questioning my friendability. Yeah, that's right, I just made up my own word. If you know anything about me, you know that I love my friends dearly. I would do anything for them and they know that. I found out a couple of things this weekend from some friends that made me realize our relationship might not be as close as I thought. Now I realize that when you have a blog, people probably tend to think you will just write about any and everything. Not true, in fact. I tend to share more about myself than anything else and if I do happen to mention a friend, I make sure they are absolutely ok with it first, or I just use fake names to protect the innocent, etc. And I would never share a secret that someone didn't want told. Apparently though, I was not to be trusted this time, and it hurt. Especially when I found out, I was the last to know by several months. Yeah, that knife just dug a little deeper in there. I am certainly not trying to make anyone feel guilty or upset by writing this, I just needed to vent. And though this seems as if I might be sharing something, you in fact, really have no idea what I am talking about. Which proves the point that I don't share secrets. I am also not looking for a pity party, this is just life and I needed to get that off my chest.

I hope you all have a great week.

Mama G

Not the brightest crayon in the box....

What?! 2 posts in one day?! That's right folks! This is what illness will do to you. You sit at home resting and after you realize how boring day-time tv is and the fact that I still can't breath all that well so napping is out... I thought, hey, I will entice my readers to another post! I just love you all that much!

Let me preface this by saying, I was never the brightest crayon in the box. Seriously. I liked school, but only for the fact that I got to go see my friends everyday and socialize! Although I was not blessed with "book" smarts, I do have common sense. Going against the latter here, I am putting myself out there and humoring you, my dear readers with some moments that were not my best.

-One time my mom, Phil and I were walking by a pond and this duck was just going berserk on another duck! I thought he was attacking the poor thing! I drew attention to this by saying, "Look at that duck attacking the other one! That is so mean!" All of a sudden I hear my mom and Phil busting out laughing. I asked what was so funny about that... that's when they had to give me the "birds and bees" talk about the ducks.

-Since Phil is such a history buff, he took me to go see "The Patriot". Again.. since I have never been one for a good memory or interest in history, during the middle of the movie, I leaned over and asked Phil, "Which war is this?" After he told me the American Revolution, I thought for a minute then asked, "So did we win?" I just wanted to make sure.

-After seeing many of those Payless commercials for their infamous BOGO sales, I could never figure out what they were talking about. Phil finally explained it was "Buy One Get One". To my credit, Phil never knew what it was either until he googled it, THEN told me about it. So yeah.

-One time my girlfriends and I went on a trip. When we got into the room we figured we needed to ask the Concierge about something. I went over, picked up the phone and pressed O. Nothing. I hung up, then picked it back up again and listened.. nothing! I started getting a little testy and I was like, "What in the world is wrong with this phone?!?!" My friend then realized it was not plugged in. Oops. My friends didn't stop laughing for a good 10 minutes.

-I honestly used to think those "Oh Sh*t" handles in the car were called "Ocean" handles. Come on... that's an honest mistake right?!

-After a trip to one of those Paint Your Own Pottery places, I went back to pick up my piece. I didn't want to have a lot of things in my hands, so I left my purse in the car and just had my keys and my cell. As I was walking into the place, I called my friend to see if she wanted me to pick her piece up as well. She said no and we just started chatting. Well I grab my pottery and my keys and had this feeling I was forgetting something since I walked in already carrying 2 things. Then as I am still talking with my friend, the conversation went something like this: "Oh man, hold on a sec. I put my phone down somewhere and now I can't find it." I literally starting looking for it and then my friend just starts laughing. I am like, what? She says, "Honey, what are you talking to me on??" I felt like an idiot and several people in the pottery place gave me that, Oh bless your little heart look. I haven't returned since.

-And most recently, I went to a party where I was the official photographer of sorts. My brother handed me his camera as well so I was juggling mine and his at the same time. During a group shot, I was struggling with both the cameras when all of a sudden my camera screen went black. I couldn't figure what had happened! The camera still worked just fine and even took pictures! I could still preview them, but when I went to "Camera" mode, nothing. Even in my Video mode, the screen would come back! I was so upset!! I had pretty much resigned to the fact that I would need a new camera when several days later I took it out and was inspecting it again and pressed the Display button. Guess what? The screen came back on. No camera malfunction, just a user one.

I think I'll stop now to save myself from anymore further embarrassment. But hey, we are all human and all have our moments, I just seem to have a few more than others....

Infection Update-Day 5

Well friends, I am still sick. 3 days after going to my local MinuteClinic at CVS and having a male nurse practioner tell me it was nothing more than a "little sinus infection", I still felt horrible. I could not keep my fever under control, (think 101-103) and that was WITH Tylenol and Motrin!! I followed this guy's exact orders of, "take Zyrtex-D, Mucinex, use nasal spray and sleep under a humidifier" and still nothing! I knew the fever was indicating a more serious problem so Thurs. morning I hauled myself out of bed and went to my ENT.
He was shocked by what this other guy had told me and couldn't believe he didn't prescribe anything to me. He said I had a MAJOR infection and that he was going to immediately give me a steroid shot, (in my patootie-OUCH) and clear out my sinuses and get me on a high dose on antibiotics. He seemed very concerned. So I asked him what antibiotic and he said Augmentin, and I replied that I had been on that before many years ago. He then said, "probably not like this. I am giving you 1000mg pills. You are to take 2 pills every 12 hours. And you are to eat a piece of chocolate before you take the pills. Every time." Ok, so let me get this straight, I am gonna be on 4000mg of meds, but I get to eat chocolate everyday?? Ok, I am now officially IN LOVE with my ENT! Haha! (Sorry Phil!) He said the chocolate was to prevent upset tummy issues, which let me tell you, he is brilliant! I was really nervous about taking such a high dose, but sure enough, no tummy problems! I am slowly on my way to recovery. I still have a little bit of fever, but I can now blow my nose for the first time in 5 days! Whohoo! My jaw is no longer my worst enemy. It hurt so bad that I literally wanted to tear off my lower jaw from the pain. My throat is still raw, but I have learned of the wonders of Chloraseptic spray! I usually never get that sick, so never had the need to buy this stuff, but oh. my. goodness! It actually numbs your throat so you don't feel a thing! MIRACLE! I still have a little trouble sleeping at night because when I lay down, my nose tends to close up again making it harder to breathe. When I sit up, my nose usually starts running, so I have had to try and angle myself or go camp out in our recliner.
My poor mother is still berating me for 1.)going to the MinuteClinic in the first place and 2.) not going to the ENT immediately after the other guy didn't give me a prescription. I have to explain myself here though. Ever since I was little, I never got sick. Hardly ever. I had chicken pox when I was five and that was ONLY because my brother got them and my mom didn't want me to get them later on, so she made my brother and I rub our arms together so I could go ahead and get them and be done with it. Nice huh. So even that wasn't my fault. Other than that, I would be a very occasional infection, think once every couple of years! I just never got sick. Even well into my adulthood, I never got sick. I would get a little sniffle now and then and the occasional mild cold but that was it. Back in 2000 I did get the flu from some idiot on a plane and came back home and was basically in a coma for a week. Seriously, I don't even remember what happened all that week. But that's been about it.
Now for some reason, since Sept. 2008 when Hurricane Ike reared its ugly head, I have been sick constantly. Every month, my nose would be congested, but I would not run fever. So I just figured it was allergies that the hurricane had kicked up. I am not used to being sick here people. It is a strange and annoying little occurrence that I would much rather do without. So because of this, I am not one to run to the Dr. the minute I get a little runny nose. I do not like to look like a baby, like I can't handle it. It's not in my nature. Yes, I am stubborn or couldn't you tell. I just figure I can tough my way through it with my nice OTC drugs and see what happens. I'll give you another for instance:

When I was 7 1/2 months pregnant, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like an elephant was sitting on my chest. Because I am a "full figured" gal, I immediately thought I was having a heart attack. I tried walking around my house for a few min. but knew this was serious. I woke up my husband and told him we needed to go the ER. I was terrified for my unborn daughter. As it turned out, the ER docs said it had nothing to do with my heart. Because our daughter was sitting so high up, (like right under my chest) it was causing severe acid reflux. They gave me some muscle relaxer to relax my esophagus and I immediately felt better. So after that, I never thought another thing about it. Well, exactly one week after having my emergency C-section, this pain returned, but it was different this time. I was standing in my kitchen feeling perfectly normal when all of a sudden I started to feel a little dizzy. Then I broke out in a cold sweat. Then I started to feel nauseous and then the pain came. Oh the pain. I knew this was NOT acid reflux. Then I would start to throw up. After several hours of this, it would just go away and that would be it. I was dumbfounded. What in the world was happening to me? This proceeded to happen 3 more times on a weekely basis. I finally went to my trusty internet and typed in all my symptoms and couldn't believe what I found. It was gall stones! A classic case! It said that this was very typical especially after child birth because a woman who is producing hormomes for 2 is now left with all that in their body after the baby is born. Sometimes your body doesn't know what to do with all of it and your gall bladder calcifies it. Lovely, I know. One Friday night, I started having the attack and by Saturday night, it had not gone away. I read about some home remedies and decided to do this. (I told you I was stubborn.) I tried everything it said, even resorting to eating bread with olive oil straight. By Monday afternoon, I was in so much pain, I couldn't even hold my baby. I finally gave up. My friend was over visiting and helping me out and I told her I needed to go to the ER. We went by my parents, dropped off my daughter and my husband met us at the hospital. After several hours of VERY uncomfortable waiting, they finally took me back, did an ultrasound of my gall bladder and even the technician was astounded. She said I had so many gall stones she couldn't believe I had waited this long to come in. I was immediately scheduled for surgery first thing the next morning. So almost 4 weeks to the day I had an emergency C-section, I had emergency surgery to get my gall bladder out. That is the most time I have ever spent in a hospital in my life! And trust me, that was enough for me! After that surgery, I have never felt better! Who knew a little 'ol gall bladder could cause so much pain and suffering??

So as you can see, I am not one that goes to the Dr. very often if I can avoid it. It's not that I don't like them, I do! I just want to make sure it is something that doesn't require some simple solution first. Take for example this infection. Now I know there was absolutely nothing I could do but take antibiotics to get rid of this stuff. I am fine with that, antibiotics work wonders. But when my husband went to go pick up my astounding, fabulous, wonder drug, he almost had a heart attack himself when they told him just how much it was gonna cost. Come on, take a guess I DARE YOU. I figured anywhere between $30-50 bucks right. Nope. $75? Nope. $100?? Not even close. $140 people! Yes, you read that right, $140 bucks for 10 days worth of 1 medication. Maybe this is why I don't go to the Dr. more often.. they just want to prescribe you meds that end up costing you an arm and a leg. I told Phil he should offer the pharmacist my kidney in exchange for the meds...neither of them were amused.

Mama G isn't here right now...please leave a message!

Hi..I'm sure you were expecting Mama G, well I hate to tell you but her head has been taken over by me, Mr. Sinus Infection. Oh, you know me, I have been buddies with Mama G for quite some time now! We usually get together several times a month! I was quietly observing her over Spring Break last week and decided that her first day back to school would be a great time to visit! I didn't want to ruin her good time last week! I will be staying for a few days and she should return later this week. So for now, you can just leave a message and I will try to get it to her. Thanks for stopping by!

Sincerely,
Mr. Sinus Infection
(Aka- a big pain in the patootie for Mama G)

Over the hump..

Wow, that sounded a little dirty! I am really talking about the battle of the big girl bed! But I am happy to report, it is a battle no more! Whohoo! Pretty much since Tuesday night, we have had no problems! Of course, several of those days were no nap days.. so we did cheat a little... but hey, what ever works right?! She has been so great about this, I am just so excited! We certainly got off to a rocky start, but we're finally on solid ground! Now if we can get this potty thing under control, we'd be all set! She has been doing great on that aspect as well though.

**FYI- POTTY TALK TO FOLLOW**
She pees in the potty just fine... we just can't seem to get the #2 to cooperate. This has been frustrating for me because she used to go like clockwork. So for most of the week, I have had her completely pant less and she just goes when she needs to. I kept thinking, the minute she feels the poop, she would run and sit down. But her schedule has gotten messed up and now she poops at completely random times. Twice this week, she didn't go at all! I just thought without the pants, it would be easier, and it certainly has been with the pee part. Oh well, we will just keep trying! I just can't put her in her big girl underwear yet, because it would be an absolute mess. Oh well.. practice makes perfect right?

Well, on to a more fun topic! (I can hear a big collective sigh of relief...!)
So on Wednesday, I decided to take Makayla to the Rodeo! Tickets were cheap and it was a gorgeous day, and poor Makayla was getting cabin fever from staying in for several days trying to potty train. We had a blast! Makayla LOVED seeing all the animals! I will include some pictures for your visual enjoyment!

At the petting zoo! She was talking to the goat!

At the petting zoo! She finally got up the nerve to pet him!

She loved watching those piglets with their momma!

She thought the deer was "so beautiful"!

She was very intrigued by the hogs too!

Her FIRST Pony Ride!! Yeah! She was waving at Mommy!

She just loved seeing everything!

And this was the end result! Makayla passed out about 5 min. into the car ride home!

Let the fun times roll!

So last night we set up Makayla's big girl bed and got her some Princess sheets and made it so irresistible, that I even wanted to sleep there! Apparently to Makayla, it was the bed of Satan. We put her down and for 2 hours it was non-stop getting up to put her back into bed or telling her to stop playing, etc. She did eventually go to sleep, but it was WAY past her bedtime. Then this morning, I wake up to her standing next to my bed, which was cute and she climbed up and we had some cuddle time. She then informed me that she had pooped, so we went to her room to get her changed. I noticed that one of her bears was in the bathroom and when I walked in there, she had apparently gotten into some of my eye cream and squirted it all over the place. (Big sigh) I asked her why she did that and got the typical, "I don't know."
Well, after playing around the house and eating lunch, it was time for a nap. I was really looking forward to this! (Did you catch my sarcasm, cuz I was laying it on pretty thick...) For yet another 2 hours, it was a battle of getting her back in bed, stop playing with everything in her room, etc. I'm not gonna lie, there were some spankings involved. Finally she went to sleep. Seriously?! Does this happen with all kids? This is so frustrating! I thought she would be excited about getting into a big girl bed! Is it the freedom that is so tempting? The ability to get up and actually be able to get out of bed?? I need some suggestions friends! Please send over some of your best tips on how to get a toddler to stay in their bed! And don't worry, I have already put one of those door cover things on the door so she can't get out! And we also don't have any toys in there, just some books. I need some advice before I lose my mind! Thank goodness it's Spring Break!

Mama said there'd be days like this...

So yesterday was interesting. Have you ever had one of those days where you just wanna cry for no reason? I am pretty much asking the ladies here, because according to my husband, they don't have those kind of days. Anyway, I was having one of those days and it really annoyed me because I am typically not a crier, never have been. Now don't get me wrong, I am not devoid of feeling... a good romantic can get me going, or something sad, etc. But other than that, I don't usually just cry at the drop of a hat. Now when I got pregnant, all those hormones kicked in and my poor husband had to deal with a crying, blubbery mess for 9 months. I would cry at ANYTHING! I once saw one of those Johnson and Johnson commercials with a cute little baby taking a bath in the sink and on the bottom of the screen they put the words, "A baby changes everything." That was it, I was crying and boohooing for the next 30 min. And for the first 2 years of Makayla's life, I would cry a little more often, but this last year I finally feel like I was going back to my "old" self. But yesterday was just weird, I was teary all day and finally had a breakdown after school in my car and just cried the whole way home! I called Phil and he was like, what in the world is wrong with you?? (And just for the record, no I am not pregnant... so that wasn't it.) But you know, after that good cry, I was better. It felt good to just cry and get it all out. *Wait! I just had an epiphany! Maybe because I don't cry all the time, my body built up all these tears and decided it was time for a release! Ha! Who knows, but alas, I am fine now!