Happy Labor Day

Here in the United States, we're right in the middle of "Labor Day Weekend". It's the symbolic end of Summer, and most people (at least here in the Midwest where I live) are going to be soaking up the lovely weather while its still here. Soon we'll be feeling the brisk winds of Autumn, and another brutal Winter will follow closely behind, but for now we can still get by with short sleeves and sandals. We can have picnics and go for drives with the windows rolled down, and of course...we can watch the MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association) telethon on TV.

For me, the Telethon brings all sorts of warm childhood memories to mind. When I was quite young, my Dad and I always vowed to stay up all night and watch the whole thing. I never did make it till morning - usually falling to sleep after only a few hours. Dad later told me that he too went to sleep, but he always waited till I'd drifted off, and then he made an effort to wake up first, pretending he'd made it through. Clever Dad! What parts we did stay up for though, were always fun. We'd watch entertainers (singers, actors etc) perform. We'd watch the amazing Jerry Lewis host the event (this will be the first year he doesn't since the fifties), and of course the hourly cut-aways to local network folks and the call centers accepting donations. Dad and I usually played board games too, and generally just had a fun gab fest and great Daddy/Daughter bonding time.

The tradition faded as I grew older. Still, those memories are dear to me, and this holiday will always bring them back. I always thought I'd continue the tradition with my own children, but starting with this week's telethon, they've shrunk it to a six hour event. Not quite the challenge the all night show offered. Oh well. Even if I don't have the opportunity to repeat my own childhood tradition, I can still share those fun times with my kids simply by telling them all about the fun I had with Grandpa all those years ago. ...

and now for some trivia:

US Labor Day History... (thank you Wikipedia!) The first big Labor Day in the United States was observed on September 5, 1882, by the Central Labor Union of New York. It became a federal holiday in 1894, when, following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland reconciled with the labor movement. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike.The September date originally chosen by the CLU of New York and observed by many of the nation's trade unions for the past several years was selected rather than the more widespread International Workers' Day because Cleveland was concerned that observance of the latter would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair, which it had been observed to commemorate. All U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the territories have made it a statutory holiday.

MDA Telethon History.... (again, thank you Wikipedia!) The MDA Labor Day Telethon (previously known as The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon and The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon) is an annual telethon in the United States to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). The first MDA telethon was during the Thanksgiving Day weekend of 1952 and titled Party for MDA.[citation needed] It has been held annually since 1966. As of 2009, the telethon had raised $2.45 billion since its inception. The telethon was hosted by actor and comedian, Jerry Lewis, from its 1966 inception until 2010. Starting in 2011, it will be seen the Sunday evening before Labor Day for six hours;[3] This edition, scheduled for syndication to approximately 160 television stations throughout the United States on Sunday, September 4, 2011, will also be the first edition without Jerry Lewis as host.

If Mama Ain't Happy...

...ain't NOBODY happy! Isn't that how the old saying goes? Well, I think it's not like that at all. I think the saying should be "If EVERYONE is happy, Mama is happy".

The past week or two have been trying. Little Guy is going through a phase (or at least we sincerely hope its just a phase) where he's been disobedient and naughty. He's been mean to his little friends at daycare, and throws fits around the house for no reason that we can see.

This has had me tied up in knots. Like any Mom, I want my kids to be happy, healthy and well-adjusted. I want them to obey their parents and caregivers, and be the lovely little joys I know they can be.

Yesterday Little Guy finally came out of his funk a little bit, and is now having a second day of being a great little fella once again. Hurrah!! Now that my boys are both happy, this Mama is happy too!!

Happy Baby Boy (first time I captured his little smile on film):

Happy Little Guy (being his usual silly self):

Mom-dork

I'm not one of the cool kids anymore. Oh, who am I kidding? I never was one of the "cool" kids... though I suppose there were a few years where I thought I was one, and even now some days when I need a reminder that I'm not....

which brings me to yesterday.

I had an appointment which wasn't terribly child friendly, so Hubby took care of the little ones while I was out and about. It was the first time since the baby's arrival where I was driving my car without at least one of the boys with me.

The weather was beautiful here, so I had the windows down and the sun roof open.

No kids in the backseat meant I could listen to music not written for toddlers, so I dug out an old favorite CD and popped it in, cranking up the volume.

So there I was driving down the road, windows down, hair blowing, music blaring noisily from the car speakers... when I remembered I'm not cool.... not even a little bit.

Frankly, I'm sure I looked ridiculous.

I drive a dusty ten-year old Chrysler with two car seats in the back. I just had a baby, and anyone looking at me would not be surprised to hear it. The music I listen to is not current or popular. Basically, I'm a dork. A thirty-seven year old Mom-dork in an old car, listening to old music that impresses nobody.

But, then I thought about it and I decided that I don't care. I may be a Mom-dork of epic proportions, but I'm a happy one. I have so much to be thankful for, and at the top of that list is the family I drove home to.

Ear Trouble...Again

Little Guy has had trouble with his ears since infancy. He was only four months old when his left eardrum burst. After that it seemed that the ear infections never really went away. We'd clear one up only to have another almost immediately. Antibiotics were being prescribed so often, that some of them stopped helping. Our pediatrician recommended that we meet with an ear/nose/throat specialist to have tubes put in his ears.

The first round of tubes were inserted in June of 2009. During that procedure, the ENT doctor noticed something wrong. There was a small cluster of cysts on Little Guy's right ear drum. The technical term was cholesteatoma, and left untreated - could have meant hearing loss, nerve damage and a lot of other ugly stuff. Little Guy had a follow up operation in August of 2009. His ear canal was too tiny, so they had to cut all the way behind his ear to get to the eardrum and remove the cysts. The stitches started at the very top of his ear, and curled around the back of his ear, stopping at the base of his ear lobe.

The picture on this post is of the two of us after his procedure was completed. He had to wear the bowl thing so that he wouldn't dig at his stitches.

He healed rapidly, with only one complication. Another cyst began to form within the line where the stitches were healing. This cyst was not cholesteatoma, we were assured. It was not a big deal.

It still bothered me, and I nagged the doctor about it several times. In December of last year, our pediatrician did an ultrasound and confirmed that it was harmless.

Miraculously, the thing began to shrink this spring, and now is hardly noticeable (where once it had grown to the size of a grape). I'm no medical professional, but this seemed like good news to me. However, we went in for a routine check up yesterday and the doctor said he's concerned that the cyst is now growing into Little Guy's head. His exact words were, "burrowing under his skull".

To say that this freaked me out would be the understatement of the year.

We have scheduled a CT scan and after that is complete, the doctor will know more about the scope of what needs to be removed. We have a really good doctor. I have a lot of faith in him. After all, he was the one who found the first little group of cysts when the other doctor had missed it completely. We have good insurance, so the cost will not break the bank. Most importantly we have faith that God will watch over our Little Guy and get us through. Generally, he is a very healthy kid, and this should not set him back much (if at all).

But I'm his Mom, and he's my Sweetheart, and so I'm scared and nervous just the same. It probably doesn't help that I'm still a little emotional after the birth of our second little sweetie. I know that this is not the end of the world, and that there are people out there dealing with so much more than I. I am so blessed, and I am thankful daily for all the wonder that my life holds.

So last night, there I was - holding the baby, and sitting next to Hubby. Little Guy could tell something was wrong, and he crawled up into his Daddy's lap and said, "Let's give Mommy a big hug, all together!" And that's what they did..... and in that moment surrounded by the love of my little family - I felt so much better. It's going to be allright.

Half Over

Today begins the sixth week of my blissful maternity leave - which means I'm just about half way to the end.  Though I enjoy my job, and will be happy to go back... I'll also really REALLY miss staying home and snuggling my Tiny Man.

I've been lax with my posts.  Sorry about that.  My day to day life has been full of small but wonderful tasks... feeding the baby, diapering the baby, snuggling him and less fun (but still important) things like cleaning and napping.

Here are a few photos of our newest addition.  He makes our little family complete.

In Awe

He has my toes, but otherwise he's a tiny clone of his Daddy.  He makes the sweetest little noises when he's eating (which is often).  His favorite place to nap is in Mommy's arms. I love to snuggle him and cuddle him and watch him sleep.  When he's not sleeping, he watches us with wide curious eyes.  When he sleeps, he smiles.  I know they aren't "real" smiles, but they give us a sneak peek of smiles to come, and they warm my heart.  He's healthy, content and beautiful. He makes our little family complete.



He's still brand new, but he has his Mommy (and everyone else) wrapped around his little finger already.

He is proof that we are blessed, and our thankfulness knows no bounds.

Baby Boy's Arrival

He's here!! We are very excited to announce that our newest little bundle of joy is here at last. 

Baby Boy was born on Monday morning at 10am.  He's a healthy little fellow, weighing in at 8lbs 11 oz and he's 20 1/2 inches long. 

I was admitted for induction on Monday morning (largely due to the speed at which Little Guy came into this world three years ago).  Nobody wants to deliver en route to the hospital if it can be avoided, right?  That was certainly my position, and luckily my doctor agreed.  Our new baby was born just four hours after that first dose of pitocin was administered.  My first experience with childbirth had been fast and relatively easy.  The contractions weren't all that bad, and it wasn't the end of the world when I found that I'd missed the window of opportunity for an epidural. 

This time was different.  The pain was crazy bad, and I caved - asking for an epidural, and getting one - sort of.  That's where it all gets interesting.  Mid-way through the administration of the epidural, I felt the urge to push.  I don't know about other women....but when I feel the urge to push there is no time left for anything else.  However....epidurals aren't to be trifled with, so everyone was yelling at me not to move AT ALL.  This was difficult since moving was the only thing I wanted to do!  I held on for a minute (or what seemed like a year) while they got finished with the epidural.  Then - in a whirlwind of frantic nurses yelling for a doctor (mine didn't have time to make it), he was here!  A few minutes after his birth, the epidural took hold, so in hindsight...that was a bit of a waste.  Oh well. 

Our littlest sweetie is darling and wonderful and everything we hoped for.  Little Guy is smitten with "his new baby", as are we all.  We are thankful for this newest blessing in our lives, and thankful for friends, family and the amazing doctors and nurses at the hospital.  God is good, and we are so very happy!!