Jason has been training for the Twin Cities Marathon again although to be fair, his training has been sporadic at best. It seems that our lives are a bit busier since Eliot's joined us. Also, Jason has quite a lot of homework and likes to spend time with me and E, which means he hasn't been running as often as he should. I'm hoping he doesn't struggle too much on October 4th - we'll let you know how it goes. Also, I'm planning a special carb-loading supper for the night before the marathon again and I'll be sure to post the recipe. To help with his training, we decided to get a nice jogging stroller and a new *comfort* bike for me. We love both the stroller and the bike. The stroller rolls like it's on air and my bike has a big, fat, squishy seat with shocks, just perfect for a girl with a... how should I say this - a little spread on her bread? I'm the one who should be training for the marathon!
On August 13th, Jason and I celebrated our 4th Anniversary...can you believe it? 4 years already! It feels like we were only married yesterday and here it is 4 years later and Eliot is almost a year old. It makes me feel a bit sad - like our lives are speeding by too quickly. I wish it would go slower so we have more time together. I feel incredibly lucky to have Jason in my life and as my husband, no less. He is amazing and I couldn't hope for anything more. We are definitely more in love today than we were on our wedding day. We make each other laugh constantly and he is my rock in this crazy world. Thanks baby for everything you are! I love you!
We spent Labor Day weekend in Sioux Falls, visiting Sandy, Miah & Behring and Danny, Aymee, Charlie & Berkley. It was a fun albeit eventful weekend. On Saturday night, we babysat Charlie & Berkley because Aymee had a wedding to go to and Danny was working. The kids were great (as always) and it was a quiet night.
On Sunday morning, Eliot woke up early and we were all just hanging out on our bed and playing. Tucker (one of our little dogs) was also sleeping on the bed. Eliot, who LOVES the dogs, was sitting on Jason's tummy and he leaned forward toward Tucker, when Tucker lunged at him and bit him on the face. It was so awful. Eliot was thrown back by the force of the bite and immediately started screaming. Tucker got a few very hard swats to the nose and was put in his kennel immediately. I breastfed Eliot to get him to calm down and we were able to take a look at his face. He had a small cut/scratch under his eye and a little puncture next to his eye. Since it was not even 8am, urgent care wasn't open yet so we called a nurse line to find out if he needed to be seen immediately or if it could wait until 10am. They recommended we take him to the ER.
He didn't need stitches, thankfully and the cut ended up being superficial. Very scary! We're still figuring out whether or not we're going to keep Tucker...anyone want a cute, cuddly dog who hates babies?
On Labor Day, we all headed to a local orchard to pick some apples. We got a fun tractor ride out to the orchard, where we spent a couple of hours picking apples and goofing around. The apples were just becoming ripe, so many of them were still tart - yummy! It was a fun day!
On Monday night when we got home from Sioux Falls, Eliot was burning up and when we took his temperature, it was 101.5. We both stayed home with him on Tuesday and his fever didn't go away even though we were giving him Tylenol and Ibuprofen alternately. By Tuesday night, his fever was up to 102.5, so we called the Children's Hospital nurse line to see if we should do anything differently. When we mentioned to the nurse that it seemed like his soft spot was bulging, she directed us to bring him to the ER immediately. So we went to the ER for the 2nd time in 2 days. When we got there they took his temperature rectally and it was 104.5!!! That's bad if you're not familiar with kid's temperatures. They had us undress him so he could cool off as they were scared he might have a febrile seizure. The physician wanted to perform a series of tests which meant they needed to do an x-ray, get a blood sample, place an IV and get a urine sample via a catheter. It was one of the most difficult things I've ever had to go through. Eliot was in pain and he was screaming like I've never seen him scream. All he wanted was for us to pick him up and hold him and I couldn't. The nurse who placed the IV and the catheter was a complete jerk who had no compassion and I could have strangled him! He just kept saying, "He (Eliot) just doesn't like it. He's fine - he just doesn't like it." It was really difficult for both me and Jason to watch. I just kept thinking, "How do parents with really sick kids do this day after day?" I can't imagine and my heart goes out to anyone with a sick kid. After it was all over at about 4 am, we found out he was ok - they thought it was just a viral infection. His fever had broken from screaming so much and we got the go ahead to take him home. We all slept for a long time the next day, very thankful that we were healthy and at home in our own bed.
On the 6th, I turned 30! So, so old...just kidding! I don't feel any different but it is kind of weird that I'm now in my "30's" rather than my "20's". On my birthday, I finally used the gift certificate that Jason & Eliot gave me for Mother's Day and got a fantastic pedicure which included a massage (so good!) and a haircut which I badly needed. Then Jason took me for coffee at Sonny's/Crema Cafe (Go there! They have fantastic gelato and coffee!) and I was surprised by my parents and Sandy, Miah & Behr. Fun! The plan was that my parents were going to watch the boys and Jason & I and Sandy & Miah were going to go out for dinner and drinks. But wasn't I surprised when we got back to our house and there were a ton of people at my SURPRISE PARTY!!! It was so fun! Our friends, Kevin & Laura, had made a ton of delicious food for everyone and Les, Alex & Russ provided live music. There was also karaoke, games and lots of drinks. It was late by the time we pulled the camera out so lots of people are missing in these photos...bummer! But I had a great time and I hope all my guests did, too!
Then on the Wednesday after my birthday, I was checking on Eliot at about 10:45pm when I heard sirens stop outside our house. I looked out the window and to my complete amazement, our van was on fire. Yes - the van we just bought 4 months ago! The fire had blown out the windshield and the passenger side window and was about five feet high. The firefighters were able to put the fire out quickly and we were left with a burned out van. The front of the van is completely destroyed. Very long story short: Our van is still under the manufacturer's warranty but Chrysler has refused to repair/replace the van as they've indicated, "We were not able to confirm this was a defect." We are disputing their findings in arbitration which will take 40 days, meaning we're stuck with one car for the time being. We've also consulted a lawyer. This is very stressful, time-consuming and disruptive to our daily lives. More to come...
You may have read my post about thrush in July...well, I still have it and it's become unbearable. It got to the point last week where I was not able to pump at all and breastfeeding was more painful than ever. I consulted a ton of different people - lactation consultants, naturopaths, midwives, etc. but I had already implemented all of their suggestions. I won't go into all the changes I had made, but the most significant was that I had reduced my diet to vegetables and meat - no carbs, no fruit, no processed foods. Nothing was working. I was to the point where I was going to have to stop breastfeeding if it didn't improve. I had already been to the doctor 4 times, but I went back again on Friday in total desperation. This time, I found out that not only do I still have thrush but I also have a staph infection! I was prescribed new medication which after 2 days, seems to be working. I haven't tried pumping yet and I won't have to for a couple more days. One of my friends who is also breastfeeding, sent me some extra frozen milk that Eliot will be able to have while he's at daycare. You can't imagine what an amazing gift this is! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this new prescription, along with the myriad of changes I've made, will get rid of both the thrush and the staph permanently.
Finally, (if you're still awake) here's an update on Eliot. He is crawling very successfully, is able to pull himself up in a standing position with the coffee table/couch or anything else within reach, he is talking (babbling) like crazy which is so fun for me and Jason and today, he got his first tooth and was a holy terror all day. But the tooth is so cute that it was worth it! I always think that the current stage is the best and that it can't get any better, but he proves me wrong every day.
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