What a blissful day. I thought it would be a tough one since I was up last night for 2 1/2 hours unable to get back to sleep. I woke my brain up and it was all over. But no, it was a pretty near perfect day. Tyler took many naps and when he was awake he smiled, giggled and cooed. He took a great nap in the evening that allowed me to get dinner made and dishes washed. I bathed him and just sat with him in the rocker for a good while. Then his daddy came home and took over from there getting him to sleep.

It was so nice to spend the whole day with Tyler. There are days where I think I could do the stay at home Mom thing. I am sure the grass is always greener, but it was a really nice day.

As a bonus, my parents will be up tomorrow through Friday. Y’all have a great day!

So glad I like my dentist….
Well, I had a small cavity filled today. I would love to know just how many mothers develop cavities in the first 6 months of their babies lives! Or maybe I am the only mother who doesn’t have time to floss and has an insatiable need to eat sweets post-partum….ok, so pre-natally too…. My dentist rocks though. Just found out that he and his wife were married in the same church as Chris and I and that I grew up near his wife. He has an office closer to us in South Austin, but I prefer to catch him in his Bee Caves office. It is so serene and the drive is beautiful! Who would think that going to the dentist would be relaxing?

Rant of the Day
What is causing this health care crisis? Free care provided to those who can’t afford it, malpractive suits, mismanaged hospitals? I know there are several reasons and it is a complex problem. I think one easy fix would be to offer free or really cheap preventative care. If people get their annual physicals it might help to curb all of the illness. This country seems to wait until problems are BIG and COSTLY to take action and even then the solution becomes highly politicized. Usually it is all about marketing in the end - which side can best market their idea to the public. What ever happened to being proactive? I think that we need to work harder to educate people and reinforce that education. In schools we teach health and then serve terrible food at lunch and offer horrible snack choices at lunch. Additionally, we offer people food stamps where for some categories, the are limited to the lowest quality items for their family. I know that they are lucky enough to get food stamps, but I would say allow them to buy a healthier orange juice and don’t pay for Oreos.

Huh, so I was checking the Texas WIC site to back up my previous statement - they may not pay for Oreos. I found that there is a Farmer’s Market program where people can get stamps to shop at Farmer’s Markets - I think that is awesome. So goverment wins one there….

So I guess I have to just poo-poo the schools and the companies that push that crap into the schools….

Beautiful Weather
Looks like Spring has come to Austin. We haven’t gotten to enjoy it fully with all of our illnesses and whatnot. I hope that all passes and that the Spring sticks around for a while…

NEW TYLER PICS!
Chris has uploaded more pictures of Tyler. It has been a while since we updated, so see what our little one is up to now!

Our baby got sick!
Well, at first we thought is was allergies, then a cold. It turned out to be bronchilitis which I am told is inbetween bronchitis and pneumonia. On top of that, he had developed an ear infection. It was pretty scary Friday as he was wheezing pretty bad. That night after a bath he was breathing pretty rapidly and for a moment we were thinking ER. Luckily, our pediatricians have a 24-hour help line. We leanred that we probaby overheated him a bit with his bath and that cooling him down should slow his breathing. There is very little they can do - it is a virus, so it is up to his little body to fight it. Mom said he is just like me - had to do everything is a big way! :-p

Anyway - got to go..will try and write more later

OK - I am fine. Got back from the dentist and in the 2 hours I had left at worked managed to be incredibly productive which improved my mood greatly. I then dealt with some questions we had for the daycare which were answered satisfactorily. I was able to get the store and Target with Tyler and he didn’t get cranky. Finally, I got dinner made and had a lovely visit with some family from out of town. Oh, and in between had some lovely playtime with my son. The timing of everything worked out perfect. It is now 10pm and I think I am going to read in bed for a few minutes and then turn out the light.

We have a humidifier going for Tyler - hopefully it will help him (and me) have a better night.

{Sigh) So nice when a day starts off crappy and then ends on a nice note. I feel relaxed which just is nice…..

From time to time you will see glimpses of her, buy she isn’t around as much as she used to be. She’s been replaced by someone who is tired and worn out, stressed and frustrated, and just trying to keep up with life. Or maybe that is just this week? I try to keep my chin up knowing that I have it so much easier that a lot of other people out there. Every second I should be thanking my lucky stars and having a better attitude.

It has just not been a good week for me. Tyler is ill and we have both lost sleep the last 5 days as a result. I am trying to get my work done, but make it in at 8:30am (not 8am) and then have all these interruptions. Today I had a dentist appt that ate up about 2 hours only to have to return next Monday for a filling. I would like to go in the afternoon after work, but what to do with Tyler? Sure, I could just leave him longer in daycare - we pay for it after all. But I feel like I have a deal with him - his Mommy will be there at 2:15 pm to be with him. He gets all the one-on-one attention he wants after that and in exchange I get to work. There is a lot of guilt when you work while a baby sits in daycare.

Sorry - my blog must be a real downer sometimes. Dunno - I guess that at least it portrays the realities of having a child. It is a constant balancing act. Some days I balance very well; other days I am an abysmal failure. I am trying to be the best wife, Mom, employee, and friend I can be all at once. Sometimes to be good at one, you have to be not so great at the others…

We are on day 4 I think of Tyler’s cold and day 4 of which I have lost some sleep and I can now feel it catching up with me. I am already crashing at work feeling my energy level droop….ug. I so wish I had the energy I had in college - if only I could have pumped it and bottled it up for use in later life…..

My Mom would blame me for not taking my vitamins…guess I should do that too…

A

I am so excited! I just got off the phone with the Austin Milk Bank and have made it through the first step to becoming a donor. Next I have to fill out some forms and they will send me collection containers. The milk goes to help premature and ill infants where human milk may be their only chance for survival. In many of these infants’ cases, they were born before their mommies bodies could product milk or their mommies are ill and cannot use their milk for their babies. I am blessed with a great milk supply and don’t want to throw away all the milk I have pumped. Very exciting!