Put a sock in it!

Isn't it great when we can say that and not be mean? I saw her doing this and had to have a picture. It just made me smile.

Family Weekend

This weekend was what you might call a family weekend. My niece is in the hospital at Riley Children's Hospital. (If you are reading this and are a believer, could you send up a prayer for their family?) My family gathered there this weekend.

I made the three hour trip to Indianapolis with Livie. She slept two and a half hours of the trip. I was so thankful. She is a delightful child, unless she is awake in the car and not wanting to be there. We then spent Saturday through Monday hanging out at the hospital, walking around, and just being. Sometimes in the midst of a crisis that is the easiest thing, to just be.

Livie cooed at the nurses and flirted with the doctor's (I am training her early.:)) She provided some much-needed comic relief, especially to my other niece who calls Livie her "litte sister cousin." I love that she does that, and I hope they will always be that close.

We celebrated my dad's birthday on Sunday in the Activities Room on the hospital wing where my niece is. We brought in Applebee's and got a cake from Kroger for him. It was nice to have something noteworthy in a good way to celebrate.

While I would not say it was a great weekend because of why we were there, I would say that I love my family more and more each day. I weep with my sister and her family as they work through the hardest days of their lives. I pray for guidance and comfort for them and the rest of my family after the recent loss of my grandma and the ongoing hurt of slowly losing my niece. I thank the Lord for every precious moment we have left with her. And, I thank the Lord for Livie, who reminds me that God is great and that He answers prayer everyday.

Sleeping Issues

My dear sweet Livie,

I wish at night you would go to sleep.
I wish you wouldn't make a peep.
I wish I didn't see the stars all night.
I wish the crying was not so bright.
I wish I had gotten more than two hours of shut eye.
I wish I wasn't going to work so sleep deprived.

But in the middle of the night. . .

I wouldn't trade your cuddly hugs.
I wouldn't trade your dear sweet love.
I wouldn't trade hearing you yell my name.
I wouldn't trade playing our sweet little games.

I'm so glad to have you; you should never fear.
Your my precious little jewel and I'm blessed you are near.
Thank you for your smiles and the joy on your face.
Each time I see you, my bad moods you erase.

Now, having said all of that. . .
Could you sleep through the night for Mommy?

Please?

But even if you don't. . .
I will still love you forever!!!!!!!

Frustrations with Non-allergic Allergic Reactions

Today I am just frustrated. We took Livie in for allergy testing on Monday. We had a really nice doctor who took a couple of hours to thoroughly check her out. His answer was that she has no allergies.

NO ALLERGIES?

She breaks out every time we try to feed her. She gets cold-like symptoms. Now she even has itchy red eyes from only two days of being back on foods! I am so frustrated.

The doctor said that her immune system is just over-reacting to the food that it takes in and is acting like she is allergic to the food even though she really is not. He said she should grow out of it by the time she is a year or a year and a half old. That means that she could be having pseudo-allergic reactions for another 6 to 12 months, and I am just supposed to be okay with that.

Last night she was up several times in the middle of the night. By 2:30, the third time I had gotten up with her, she was inconsolable. She did not want a bottle. She did not want her binky. She just wanted to be held and comforted. She simply did not feel well. I gave her some Tylenol and held her for a while. Finally, we just took her to bed with us. I feel so sorry for her. This is not something I can fix.

I have two options. I can just stop feeding her anything but her bottle, which I do not want to do. She will not be able to eat any food with a spoon that way, and she really wants to. The other option is give it to her a couple days on food and a couple days off. The couple days on will produce the allergic reaction which will induce us to stop any feedings except a bottle. The couple days off will include oral antihistamines, Benadryl, and Tylenol to make her feel better. Eating should not be this hard for someone who is not actually allergic to anything.

Allergic Reactions and a Broken Fence

Yesterday was not my day. It all started out when I realized that Livie was breaking out again with a rash after eating green beans. It now seems that she has a reaction to rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, and green beans. I am starting to worry that she will not be able to eat anything. I called the doctor again about her eating issues and they are referring her to an allergist for allergy testing. Then we will actually be able to know what she can and cannot have. For now she is stuck with just her bottle again. Dear Livie, Mommy is so sorry that I cannot feed you with the spoon like you want. Please forgive me when you open your mouth so big to eat and I cannot put anything in it. I promise you will not go hungry and that I will try to figure things out as quickly as I can.

Then I was so frustrated by her eating issues that as I was sitting down to eat my meal (a turkey burger patty and zero point vegetable soup (Weight Watchers), I part of my soup onto my plate and into my ketchup. If that was the end of it, I would have been okay.

That was not the end of it. My DH and I decided to do some work outside since my MIL was there to watch Livie. We weeded the food and flower gardens and then I got on the mower. I got about a forth of the way through with the back yard and got to the garden section. My DH had put up a beautiful chicken wire fence around the garden to keep the animals out of it. As I was coming around the corner of the garden, two feel away from it, the front tire of the mower pulled back and got caught on the casing for the blade. This threw me left and ran over the side of the chicken wire fence. The wire got all caught in the blade and the fence was taken down. And my DH had spent about six hours getting the fence put up. When I realized the mower was also broken, I broke down and cried.

The silver lining to all of this: My little Livie is still my little Livie and I can go home and hug and kiss her all I was even without the solid foods. My burger was not ruined by adding the soup to it. And most of all, my husband was not mad either about the fence or the mower. He told me it would be okay and that we would just have to fix them. Then he hugged me. I love my family!

My Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday. I am now officially 32. I could not have had a better birthday. I got up and took my little Livie to my mom's house for the morning. Then I went to school to teach for a half day. I love that summer school is only half days! I took both of my classes donuts. I figured that if I had to be there I was going to celebrate with them. I took Crispy Creams in and they thought that was great.

Then I went to pick up my daughter at my mom's house. I think there is something about being able to spend special days with family. It just makes things so much more special. I picked up my niece Monica at my mom's and we went to the movie rental place. I rented a movie that I have wanted to see for a long time. I got some good time with my niece and then we went back to my mom's. There we watched the movie together.

My husband got home around five and wanted to take me out to dinner, anywhere I wanted to go. First he took me shoe shopping and got me a pair of sandals, a pair that I had been wanting for a while. He then took me to a Chinese buffet because he knows I love Chinese food. We then went to Kroger and got ice cream on the way home. He also got me the movie Unbreakable, a movie from a collection that I am trying to get all of. We watched that as we were putting Livie to sleep. It was just a perfect day!

Makes Me Smile

Today was just a fun day. I got to come home from work at 12:30 today and got to spend the whole afternoon with my little Livie. We talked on the phone with Memaw (my mom). We played on the playmatt. She jumped in her jumperoo. She even got out her Christmas toy that she is finally old enough for, a picnic basket with little food in it. Then she took a nap in my arms. My day could not have been better. What a perfect ordinary day!