Movie day

Today, we are on a quest to be as lazy as possible.

I have officially made it "Movie day" and I am sharing with Griffin the movies that I loved as a child.

First up, the flippin' sweet Disney animated classic...The Sword and the Stone.

The popcorn is popped and he even scouted out and located the wizard that came with his play castle.

So far, he is impressed that his mom was ever a kid.
Then he told me I was cool because I didn't pick a "girl movie" for him to watch.

Wow, those are big words from a 4 year old.

Bed rest is over!

This week has been a blur. I was put on bed rest and spent most of my days at my parents house, laid up in my mom's bed with an electric blanket pulled up, remote control in hand, and full pampering from my sweet father.

He really stepped up while my mom has been out of town and helped me out. It must have traumatized him to be sitting next to me in the hospital, all hooked up to monitors and dealing with fear as I worked through some contractions because he has treated me like a princess. With his arm around me, he has helped up and down steps, in and out of bed, brought me drinks, and came running upstairs to check on me if I so much as coughed.

In proper Leigh fashion I managed to come down with a cold the moment I got home from the hospital. So...I've been achy from my fall and stuffy from my cold. I've been teary and cranky and oh so lazy. I was told not to do housework. HOORAY! My dad did my laundry and vacuumed my nasty carpets. My mother-in-law has been here too. Letting me sleep the day away lazily whilst she loads my dishwasher. Roger took over Griffin's bedtime so I could put my feet up in the evenings. I feel so loved and taken care of.

It's all over as of today though. My midwife announced at my follow up visit that the fall is behind us. Cohen is strong and healthy, my bruises are fading, the achiness is gone, and with it goes all the pampering I've gotten used to.

I'm kind of glad though, although is has been so nice to have time to fully rest and recover from last Friday's incident...it will feel so nice to get back into the swing of things. Here's hoping for a nice quiet weekend and a normal week that is full of good health and simple pleasures, like being able to cuddle with Griffin again.

Me fall down...me go boom!

I'll start this scary post by telling you that me

and Cohen are okay.

I was outside on Friday afternoon chasing Griffin
on his Big Wheel
when he lost control and was
heading for a nasty embankment. I
foolishly trotted behind him
and snatched his jacket to try to stop him.
He pulled me over and I took a
nasty tumble onto the concrete.

Luckily, I turned my body so
my 29 week pregnant belly
did not take a direct hit.
My poor hand, knee, and elbow absorbed
most of the fall.
I still ended up in the Emergency room
hooked up to fetal monitors all night.
It was scary.
I had contractions that were 3
minutes apart.
We weren't sure for a little
while how things were going
to go for me and Cohen.

They gave me a shot that
stopped the contractions and after a night of
monitoring,
I am finally back home.
Sore...bruised...and so relieved
that me and the baby are okay.
I am on bed rest for a
few days.

I'm hanging in there and feel
so blessed that Cohen is still in the oven.

Life is so exciting these days.
I'm ready for a nice normal week.

Germaphobia

Look at these cute little plush toys. The green one is the flu virus and the blue one is the common cold. I'm trying any kind of therapy to help me deal with the germs that have taken over my family, including considering the purchase of stuffed toys that make my fears look sweet.


I have always been aware of the germs around us and taken the proper precautions
to eliminate sickness in our house. We wash our hands after we got to the bathroom just like we should. I'll bust out the Purell hand sanitizer at Chuck-e-cheese after Griffin plays Wack-a-mole. Ya know, the normal stuff us moms do.

I'm not going to lie though, the latest rash of illnesses in our home is turning me into a bonafide Germaphobe. It's shameful. Yesterday when I took Griffin to the Doctor to confirm that yes, he has pink eye, I was a complete mess in the waiting room. Of course they would have a wonderful slide for all the sick children to slide down and as Griffin looked overjoyed and said "whee" as he slid down it, I couldn't help but notice the dried up yellow snot on the cheek of the child who had just slid down before him. I freaked out.

"Griffin, come sit next to mommy and don't touch anything!" I shouted as he grabbed a puzzle and started to put it together. He looked so confused. The 6 other sick children were happily snotting all over the toys, why couldn't he? Eventually he settled down and sat next to me and rubbed his pink eye on the curtain hanging behind his chair. Great...now MY child is the spreader of pink eye in the waiting room!

To add insult to injury, after I had given the nurse a list of Griffin's symptoms, I concluded about how insulted I was that we just got over a tummy bug and now we are dealing with pink eye. Her response was

"Oh yeah...that tummy bug is doozy, it's going around. There is a new strain too, we've had plenty of that come through this office today!" Then with a smile she stuck Griffin's file on the door and left the room.

Leaving me in a bacteria and virus laden room and my child doing everything short of licking the walls. TOTAL FREAK OUT! I'm not kidding...we washed our hands 10 times before we left the office. 10 TIMES! This just isn't like me.

I'm trying to keep Griffin at arms length so that I don't get his cold or pink eye but I think that's it's a lost cause. He slept on my head last night, like a little cat with crusty eyes, he loved and rubbed all over me. It's just a matter of time. I'm next...I just know it.

The dreaded PINK EYE!!

So...it seems like my little guy might have PINK EYE.

I looked up Pink Eye online and here are the symptoms
Bacterial pink eye symptoms include

*eye pain...uh yup, his eye hurts
*swelling, were a little swollen
*redness, oh...we're RED alright!
*a moderate to large amount of discharge, usually yellow or greenish in color...his eyes are a bit crusty.

So, he is not in school again today. We just got over that tummy bug and now this. I feel like I'm in an episode of the Twilight Zone. Where a pregnant mom who just wants to put her feet up and read a magazine in silence has a 4 year old son that she loves very much but he keeps getting little illnesses and never ever leaves her side and is constantly saying things like "Mama, you be Darth Vadar and I'll be Luke Skywalker and I'll throw the force on you!" or "Let's have a kung fu war and I'll karate chop you in the leg and then you fall down and then will you make me a trophy since I am the ninja master?"

We are going to the Doctor later and hopefully this is just a clogged tear duct brought on by a sinus infection. Yes, that is my diagnosis.

Think happy thoughts...go to a happy place!

Last week was a crappy week!

Literally...we all came down with a tummy bug
and the septic tank broke. It made for quite a thrilling week.
All functions are back to normal and the septic tank is functioning too.

Life is good.

My standards are low.

A tummy bug

Griffin has had a tummy bug for 4 days.
I am coasting threw each day...trying to keep a calm tummy
for my little boy
and giving lots of Hugs.

One advantage to being sick at our house is that
you get to watch TV all day long.
Anything to keep a sick kid from
running all over the house
and then moaning and groaning on the couch.
So, we've been spending some quality time with
Spongebob and his gang.

I've come to realize after a marathon
of this seemingly pointless show
that it is actually very Zen.

Spongebob loves his job.
He lives to make Krabby Patties.

Did I just pontificate about
Spongebob being zen?
I need to get out of this house!!!!!

A cause for celebration!

Life is funny. That I could feel so low one day and then on top of the world a few days later. Let me start this post by saying that I married the most private man in the world. If I am an open book for the world to read, I guess that he is a diary with a lock and he has buried the key someplace very safe. So, out of respect for his locked up pages I will be vague here. Sorry.

There is some celebrating going on in my home. Much like my brother, my sweet husband has been going through a crisis of his own. Well...his father is stepping into help us out. Praise god and pass the ammunition, we can breath again! Both of our parents have stepped in to give us relief but his Dad REALLY stepped up to the plate. We are so blessed to have such supportive families!

We have been jumping up and down with joy. We are looking at each other in a new way. I'm 7 months pregnant so he hasn't thrown me over his knee and planted a big ol' kiss on me in the streets or anything but we both know that we have fought through something that could have been devastating for some marriages. We made it through a dark and scary storm. Enough metaphors already, I know. So, life is good at our little home thanks to Roger's dad. It just goes to show that you never stop being a daddy either.

It's gettin' heavy

There is nothing like a crisis to bring a family together. My older brother is having a hard time these days. I won't go into details because I know that he doesn't want me bloggidy blogging away about his personal life but I will say that he is having a crisis. There have been tears. We're all crying together. There has been heartache and late night calls. We are there for him as a family.

Our love runs deep.

He is being tested, I know he is, and he will come out of this in one piece. Thanks to my mom.

She is flying out Sunday to be with him in Colorado as he sorts through his life and gets back on track. She's going to be gone for one month, which happens to be the seventh month of my pregnancy. My security blanket is leaving to wrap her arms around my brother.

He needs her more than I do.

The timing is amazing really because I have started mourning the loss of the life that Griffin and I have together. Of course we are thrilled to have Cohen (the spelling of his name has changed 10 times, we've settled on this..for real!) but there is a part of me that will miss the special time that Griffin and I have had together. It's been the best 4 years of my life so far, having my sweet son all to myself.

We are soul mates.

So as my mom leaves to take care of her "little boy" (because I guess that we never stop being a son or daughter, despite our age) I will also be spending some much needed special time with my little boy.

The other morning, I was feeling pregnant and emotional and sad for my brother. I crawled into bed with Griffin as he slept and wrapped my arms around him and smelled the top of his head and breathed in all the sweetness that is my first born son. I ached for him and cried until his hair was damp with my tears because I know that my attention will have to be divided up after Cohen arrives.

There is enough love to go around.

So I as I sadly wave goodbye to my mom (and with her goes date nights, help around the house, a shoulder to lean on) I will take a lesson from her that she does not even know she is teaching me.

That you are always there for your children. Even if they are 37 and crying to you over the phone or 34 and with child.

You never stop being mommy.

I want a bunny.

I am having a new found love affair with little bunnies thanks to this website

http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/

Now, I am wise enough not to act on this new obsession, I am too lazy to care for a new pet. I can barely keep up with my two nasty cats that won't leave my porch. No...I love Atticus and Scout. I digress. Without further ado, I present to you my ode to cute little bunnies. A photo essay. Enjoy!

Hibernation

Griffin and Roger both had some time off for the holidays. Almost 2 weeks!

We were SO lazy!


We stayed in our jammies all day a few times. I did very little housework. Only when the dishes and the laundry started to pile up, then I would force myself to clean a bit. I would do only the bare minimum.


We played video games and ordered pizza. I took an afternoon nap almost everyday. Oh how I loved the holidays of 2008.

Now...back to reality. Roger is back at work and Griffin is back at school (with a few tears as I scooted him into the classroom) I wanted to say



"I feel like crying too. Our wonderful hibernation has come to an end."

Christmas through Griffin's eyes.

We gave Griffin a digital camera for Christmas.
Here are a few images that he took over the holidays.
They are exactly what I had hoped Christmas would look like to a 4 year old.

A magical Christmas Tree

A stack of gifts

Prayer before dinner at Nana and Poppy's house

Pulling into Grandma's driveway

Space shuttle

Star Wars Mr. Potato heads