What I am doing these days

Growing this...
Reading this...

Leigh vs vacuuming

So about a month ago, my nasty old vacuum broke. It was a vacuum that needed to be put out of it's misery. Roger had purchased it in college and taken it apart numerous times to extend it's sad long life. It had lost it's will to suck junk off of the carpet. It made my vacuum experience a very negative one. I could go on and on about it but I'm sure that you're already bored of reading about my vacuum woes.

So, it broke down as Roger and I were doing a spring cleaning in the middle of December...mid-project. I put a call into my parents and asked if we could borrow their vacuum for a few days. My father lovingly delivered it to us and said he's pick it up after we were done with our uh-spring cleaning.

A few days went by and it was domestic bliss. The Dirt Devil Reaction has Advanced Design for Exceptional Performance and Quality.

Well, when the time came to return that bad boy, my dad announced that we could have it. he and my mom took pity on us and went out and bought themselves a new one.

SCORE!!! My life is so much better because of that Dirt Devil.
Selling points are

Patented D2™ Technology means excellent performance at the nozzle

Easy-To-Empty Filterless Dirt Cup - no messy interaction with the filter

HEPA™ filter - traps nearly 100% of common allergens and dust

I'll admit that I just cut and pasted that info from the Dirt Devil website.

This vacuum is RIPE!!!

So...the carpet can kiss my ass.

Leigh:1
Vacuuming:0

The battle rages on.

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!