A constant reminder

This morning I paid $400 for our frozen embryos that are stored in Houston. It is a constant reminder that they are there and waiting. It is also a reminder of what I went through two years ago this week that resulted in the pregnancy and birth and life of our precious son. I will never forget the pain of infertility and the joy of growing and carrying a new life. As I wonder what the future holds for our family, I am reminded of our struggles and our joys in the past.

Daycare

This has been Chesley's first week at daycare, and it's going very well for the most part. Monday was SO HARD! He was playing and having fun while I was going over a few things with the teachers. Then I told him goodbye and he realized I was leaving. He wailed and screamed, and it broke my heart into ten million pieces. I called and checked on him a few times, and every time they told me he did not cry for very long, and that he was doing great. He eats his food, and he even takes a good nap. I really thought they were lying to me on the phone, and that they were not checking. But his teachers said he was doing great. It's just hard to believe that the same boy who cries all night does so well at daycare. It's peer pressure! It is always hard to hear your child cry and scream, but Chesley cries at home too if he doesn't get his way. So I know that him crying for me doesn't mean that his whole day is ruined. Last night he cried hard while I was brushing my teeth and drying my hair before bedtime. He was super mad that I was taking a bath and he really wanted to nurse. So I try to take the daycare crying into the big picture. He has cried every day when I leave him, and it feels terrible, but I feel better knowing he will calm down and have a good day soon. I do call and check and make sure.

He has been doing worse at night though. He is super tired and cranky, probably from playing so hard all day. And last week, when he was home sick, he did take a morning nap and afternoon nap. So he is adjusting to trying to stay up all evening. He gets mad when we have to come inside from playing outside. He stands at the back door trying to open the door and cries. Then he ususally goes to sleep ok while he nurses, but he wakes up as soon as I move to put him down and cries. And he woke up about 10 times last night screaming. Maybe some bad dreams. Hopefully things will improve. But at least he is doing well at daycare.

Funnies

Chemistry Funny -
I have a project at work dealing with transport and storage of methanol (similar to ethanol or drinking alcohol) that we use as a utility in the plant. The shortened name is MeOH, the OH stands for oxygen and hydrogen, which form an alcohol. So I have an email titled "FW: MeOH" that I needed to forward to a co-worker. We were on the phone discussing the project, and I forwarded the email. Here is our conversation. H for me, A for Annie, my co-worker.
H - Did you get the email?
A - I got an email titled "Meow"
H - No, the title is "MeOH" the short name for methanol.
A - No, really, it says "Meow." I'm sending it back to you.
H - Oh, you are right. It does say "Meow."
I guess spell check changed it.

Ok, so maybe you didn't think that was funny. I thought it was funny.

Back to work

I'm back at work today and trying to play catch up. Still not sure what we are going to do about tomorrow. Maybe Chesley will be feeling good enough to stay with Paulina. Nathan and I are feeling much better. Chesley has a nasty cough still and dr gave him some meds.

Been sick

I have been sick. I had some sort of stomach virus or food poisoning that started Saturday night and landed me in the ER at 1 am on Sunday. I spent the night throwing up every 10 minutes. I decided that I couldn't handle it after 3 hours and went to the ER. They finally gave me some meds at 2:30 am that stopped the vomiting. They ran some tests, but everything looked ok. Mom sat at the hospital with me all night long so Nathan could be with Chesley. I went home around 8 am Sunday. I stayed home from work today. My tummy is still very sore, and I can't walk around much without hurting. But I definitely feel better than yesterday. Chesley is sick too with a nasty cold and cough and some sort of stomach problems. We visited a daycare Friday for ONE HOUR. I really think that started all our problems. I liked the daycare, but I don't know if I can handle this sickness. So I hope to feel better tomorrow and head back to work, but it's late afternoon and I still don't feel great, so we'll see what happens.

Change is coming

We all know that my babysitter is pregnant and will require a break from keeping Chesley. I'm really having a hard time making these decisions. It really is very emotional for all of us involved, and each of us has a story. We love Paulina keeping Chesley. Chesley loves it, Mya loves it, I love it. I wish I could let Paulina keep Chesley till she is too tired, then I could take off a few weeks from work, then Paulina could keep him again. But that is not going to work for us. Yesterday I visited a very nice daycare that has an opening for Chesley. So I have to decide tomorrow if I want to put him there. I am really thinking about this 24/7. I have to find an alternate childcare set-up, but it would be nice to let Paulina keep him a few more weeks. But if I pass this up, I may lose the opportunity to put Chesley in this center. It is brand new, clean, large rooms, nice teachers, nice playground. I know that Chesley would enjoy playing and learning. But 11 one year olds together? Very little one-on-one attention for a little boy who is used to getting a lot of attention. I just can't imagine Chesley doing well with group naptime on a mat on the floor. It's just such a major change. I hate this. But I have to do something. I'm going to visit the daycare again tomorrow and spend a little more time in his would-be classroom and make my decision. My alternative is to let Paulina keep him longer and take a spot at whatever daycare has an opening at that time. That just does not seem like the best thing for Chesley. I've visited other centers, and they were nice too, but not as nice and new and clean as this one. Congrats to all of you who made it through my long post. I know it may seem trivial but this is such a major decision for me.

Busy girl

I have been a busy girl lately. Work is keeping me hopping, which is good. I had jury duty yesterday, and I did not get called to be on a jury. I bought Boo a backpack with his name on it, and he really likes it. I showed it to him and said, "Here is your backpack." Then he said "backpack" or "packpack", I can't really tell. But I think that is his biggest word so far! He is with Mimi and Pawpaw (my parents) today since Paulina had a dr appt. Hopefully he survives that!

Fun at the Zoo

We had such a great time at the Houston Zoo yesterday. We made some new friends, did lots of walking, and saw some beautiful animals. Here are a few of my favorite pics so far. I haven't had time to process of of them yet, so I will add more later. The monkeys were really our favorite part of the zoo. The big animals were all lazy and sleeping in the corner somewhere. The monkeys had lots of drama and interacted with each other. The giraffes were so tall and beautiful.

 

 

 

 

Work work work

Work is very busy for me right now. I wish I could find a way to work more hours without coming in early or staying late or coming in on Fridays. Haha. Impossible I know. I am trying to waste as little time as possible. But I just had to sit in on a long meeting where I wasn't really needed. So that was a big waste. I am planning on going to the Houston Zoo tomorrow with Boo to meet up with some ladies I "met" on a forum. It will be nice to meet some new friends and for Boo to have some kids to play with. And since we've never been to the Zoo before, it will be nice to be with other moms who have been. I'm not excited about the drive. But we'll see how it goes.

Dentist trip

The dentist said that Boo's teeth look great, and she is not worried about the chipped tooth. She was very nice, but a little wacky about diet and nutrition. I mentioned that some family members have given Boo soda, and she freaked. I got a long lecture about that. So we are going to try and be stricter about the soda and juice. She does not think that kids need to drink juice at all. It leads to cavities. And kids under 4 have to be sedated under general anethesia to get a filling. That would be terrible. So on Boo's behalf, I am going to go nuts on anybody that gives him soda. And juice will be given only occasionally, not daily. I'm not sure that I think sweets and ice cream are terrible on occasion, but we will try to limit the sweets. He does really like vegetables and crackers, so I don't think he will be missing out on anything. I just think that depriving a child of sweets and cookies could only lead to more problems in the future. But, like the dentist said, the relatives are not the ones who will have to pay for and deal with the dental work.

Chipped Tooth

Boo fell on Thursday and chipped his tooth. I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but I'm sure it hurt. I called a local pediatric dentist. She was super nice. She didn't think it was a dire emergency as long as he can eat and drink, which he can. So we are going to see her today to see what she thinks. They claim they can take x-rays, examine the teeth, and clean the teeth. I'm not sure how that works with a one year old. But we will find out. I'm not too worried about the chip. It's not very noticeable, but the fall was hard, and I'm worried about unseen damage to the tooth. Of course we didn't opt for dental insurance for Chesley this year. I guess I wasn't thinking! FYI new mommas: spring for dental coverage. When your one year old is learning how to walk, he/she will fall and a tooth may be damaged! Some babies learn to walk earlier and may need to see a dentist. Our visit today will be around $230 if they can actually do everything.

In other news, we have a couple of potential temp nannies for Boo. I really hope something works out that he can have a special person take care of him and not have to go to daycare. He is used to taking a nap when he wants, eating when he wants, and playing when he wants. I really don't think there is a problem with that. I don't think that one year olds were meant to be kept 10 in a room. I like to do what feels natural, and that does not feel natural to me. I know that daycare works out great for a lot of moms, and I mean no offense. I'm just nervous about it.

Easy as 1..2..3..4..

Thanks to "The Dorns" for pointing it out to me. Today Boo is 1 year, 2 months, 3 weeks, and 4 days old! 1..2..3..4..!! Cool.

We went to the Dogwood Festival today in Woodville. We had fun, but it was so hot. It's only April and it was 89ºF! Now we are home and Boo is playing in the house with only a diaper on. I think he got a little dehydrated and hot but he is better now. Tomorrow will be a busy day for us, but it will be fun.

My wagon