Quick, before it snows!

Well, little Miss Courtney has been a little out of sorts recently. She just hasn’t been herself. So, before things got worse and we head into the weekend with these MASSIVE storms they are predicting, we went to the pediatrician’s office. As near as they can guess, she’s teething. I know 3 and ½ months is early, however they can also begin to show signs a month in advance. So, who knows? Her reflux could even be causing odd things to be going on.

At the same time, Buddy did something to one of his legs. He wouldn’t put any weight on his rear left leg. So, Hubby took him to the vet while I was at the pediatrician’s with Courtney. We decided that again, that wasn’t something we wanted to wait on either. They are still currently at the vet, I haven’t heard any updates yet, just that they were x-raying him.

The snow started in the 10am hour. Right now the flakes are HUGE and coming down pretty good. We probably have 2 inches all ready. I guess the weather service has changed their mind and decided that we are not going to have blizzard force winds, just a large dumping of snow. They are saying 1-2 feet for us. Which means that we will probably get a few inches and that’s all. I have a feeling they were way off the mark on this storm, but we shall see.

Just after it started to snow this morning, I went out and took pictures of the new snow falling on our old snow piles. That way tomorrow, we can compare.

Well, Hubby is pulling in and I need to get the little one up to eat!

My blogging site was down yesterday so I wasn’t able to post this. So, I will update and try again. Buddy’s limping is caused by arthritis. So, he is on glucosamine and some pain pills for a little while.

We got 12 inches of snow; I measured a little while ago when I went out to shovel. It is still snowing, and they are saying this storm might wrap back around and slam into us again, bringing much more snow. We shall see!

Big news, Courtney rolled over for the first time today! She has been trying a lot while on her changing table. But the pad she is on is curved up on the sides, so it always stops her. She didn’t roll over yesterday during her tummy time, but she did today!! 3 times! She was on her tummy and rolled to her back. Her friend Hailey just did this today as well! We were able to get one or two of Courtney’s rolls on the video camera. She is also really good at using her legs to scoot when she is on her back. She is growing up!

Here comes the snow, again

You should see the PILES of snow we still have in front of our house. There are still parts of our sidewalk that has 2 or more feet of snow on it. And guess what? Another large storm, just like the last one is heading our way! This incoming storm is setting itself up just as the last one did, so we are looking at the same thing as last week! I need to try to get to the store tomorrow to stock up on small stuff. But the news was saying that the stores haven’t recovered from the last storm. They are low on food and such because their shipments were not able to get in. So, it will be interesting. There isn’t anything that we really need, just some small items, nothing we can’t live without.

So, we had something frustrating happen to us. On Saturday Hubby got a call at home from Visa saying that someone had tried 3 times to western union $3000 + out of our account. That wasn’t us! So, they shut down our visa cards, which are our debit cards. I was at work, and the good thing is that our bank is the next building over. So, on my lunch break I walked over and got some cash since it would be a while until our new debit cards arrived. We thought that was the end of story.

However, I logged into our bank account this morning and there was a western union for over $1000 that went through! That wiped our account out (since it’s the end of the month). So, now we are dealing with the bank and trying to get our money back. So far, I called in, and they told me to fill out a form on line. I did that and I haven’t heard anything since. Kind of scary that it can happen that easy! We are now going to stop using our debit cards for any online purchase and use a credit card only. I know, we should have been doing that all along, but there are no finance charges with our debit card. Trust us, we learned that lesson! So, beware out there, don’t use your debit card to make on line purchases. I am guessing that is how someone got our account number. And I am going to guess that some criminal out there now has a free $1000+ dollars, courtesy of us. That makes me angry. I doubt they will ever catch the person, too. I will just rely on karma to take care of that individual.

Well, it’s time to take the baby up and put her to bed on her pillow! And yes, her pillow is working like magic so far! She is sooo much happier on the pillow than in her car seat. Her gas is MUCH better overnight. I know that sounds like nothing, but it was so bad in her car seat that she would keep me up most of the night with her grunting, groaning, crying out, farting and thrashing. Let’s hope the pillow keeps working like magic!!!

Christmas Past

Christmas past… I was reading a friend’s blog tonight and he was reminiscing about what Christmas used to be to him as a kid. It made me think of what Christmas used to be for me.

Christmas time memories for me are spending every Sunday evening at the church for the 4 Sunday’s before Christmas (aka Advent). One Sunday we would make gingerbread houses, another we would make ornaments and hang them on the tree upstairs while singing Christmas carols. I forget what did for the other two Sunday’s, it was always the same year after year. The gingerbread houses and the ornaments were my favorite.

It meant that every year somehow our live Christmas tree was always too tall and it took several tries to get enough cut off the base to get it into the tree stand, and upright.

Christmas Eve was always my favorite. It started with being at the church for the 5pm service. At one point we would light candles and sing carols. After that it was off to the Cole’s house for a Christmas party with lots of good food and candy. From there, we would drive around to look at Christmas lights. All the while listening to the radio, as NORAD always had updates as to where Santa was. Then we would come home, and open 1 gift.

I was always the early riser on Christmas morning, and I sure didn’t let anyone else sleep in! The morning started with the sorting of the gifts. Then the opening started. At some point mom would insist we stop for breakfast. Stockings were always last. Then the rest of the day, play with all the new exciting toys and games you just got. Ahh, the magic of Christmas.

Then you grow up, and somehow, it’s not as magical anymore. The part that made me really sad this year is realizing that the new little one won’t have any concept of Santa and the magic of Christmas until she is probably 2 or 3. And now a day’s the magic only lasts until they are 6 or 7. That is such a short amount of time! I sure wish that is something I could extend for her for many many years.

Well, our Christmas was good here. Thank you to everyone for all the wonderful gifts! Courtney was showered with love! She is a very lucky girl. I hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas and know that you are all in our hearts!

Day 2 of the storm

Well, day 2 of being inside. The wind was HOWLING until about 5am. When I got up at 6:45am, it was still snowing BIG flakes. Now, at 11:05am, it’s still snowing. We did take pictures this morning that Hubby is working on posting to our website now. We opened out garage doors, and there was a drift about 4 foot plus right outside our door! It was up to Hubby’s waist. So, you should soon see pictures on the web.

The city is still shut down, as are most roads. We just saw the sun peak out, but there is no way we can move out of the neighborhood. We still have several cars stuck right outside. You will see several cars in our pictures, they don’t belong there.

I walked away from this post and it’s now 5:10pm. It has finally stopped snowing! Hubby started shoveling our driveway and our neighbor had brought in a bobcat. He was kind enough to clear our driveway and several other driveway’s with his bobcat. It made the whole process go a lot faster! Now we just have to clear our sidewalks. We took pictures of the bobcat clearing our driveway, we will post them soon.

Well, we are off to try to figure out what to make for dinner.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Well, our little snowstorm is actually a major blizzard. Practically the whole state is shut down! The interstate from Denver to New Mexico is closed, most major roads in town even are closed. And of course, they are all closed around us. So, even if we were going somewhere, it would be very difficult! But, there is no way we are going anywhere. Hubby made it to work this morning, but came home about 11am. Which was a good thing because that is about the time the town started to shut down. The local government was asking all businesses to close. And most of them did. Colorado Springs, and El Paso county and the state of Colorado have all declared a State of Emergency.

I just let the dogs out, the neighbor across the street has about a 4 foot drift at the end of his driveway. We have 4 cars stuck right by our house, they were not able to make it up the hill the rest of the way to the rest of the neighborhood.

The wind is so bad that all our deck furniture has blown to one corner of the deck. We don’t have light furniture! And the deck is clear of snow because of the wind. But we have some drifts that are at least 4 foot high. And this is supposed to continue through tomorrow morning.

Needless to say, we didn’t take Courtney to the doctor, or for her pictures. She is now supposed to go to the doctor’s office on Friday.

Bristol LOVES the snow. He loves to go out and bound through the snowdrifts. He comes in looking like a snow dog, covered nose to tail! Maggie doesn’t like the cold or snow but she will chase Bristol in the yard. And Buddy really doesn’t like it. He goes out, does his business as fast as possible and then runs back in.

The wind is just fierce! I heard it start about 3am. When I got up at 4am to make a bottle it was just starting to snow. I know when I looked out the kitchen window about 7:45am, I still saw grass and street. Then about an hour later, everything was covered! I really am not sure how much snow we got due to all the wind. Hubby says he thinks we got a foot to foot and a half! I don’t think anyone is going anywhere fast tomorrow either. We are pretty much stuck for a little bit. The news said this storm is better than the last time because the wind is blowing snow off trees and power lines so there have been no power outages this time. But it’s worse visibility due to the wind also. I certainly am loving it! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!!! It’s supposed to continue through tomorrow morning! I hope so!!!

Been really busy

Well, things have been busy here. I took Courtney for a weight check last Wednesday. She weighed in at 10lbs 10oz. We go again tomorrow to check her weight again. Hopefully she is increasing okay. She isn’t eating enough calories according to the doctor’s guideline, but we just can not get any more food in her. It’s hard too, due to her reflux; we really don’t want to force food in her.

She had a rough day today. She started screaming in pain mid-afternoon. I wish she could tell me why. I gave her her medication early. I was going to go and get her 3 month old pictures taken this morning, but she was a grumpy Gus from the get go. So we decided to put it off another day. Hopefully we can go tomorrow. We are supposed to get 4-10 inches of snow, but that is what they said about this morning too. So, we will see what it’s doing tomorrow.

Other than that, we have just been getting ready for Christmas. We went and did some Christmas shopping last night. But I am still not done! Close, but not yet. Next is wrapping. I haven’t started that yet at all for the Christmas here. At least all my packages are gone, and my Christmas cards too!

Other than that, not too much else is going on. Hubby is in the last week of his current class and then he has 1 CLASS LEFT! Of course that means in a few months the student loan payments kick in, but at least he will have his 2 master’s!

WnW has been getting busier. This weekend should be crazy. I will be glad when it’s over.

Well, I gotta go pull the kid’s laundry out of the dryer and then I am off to bed!!

CC Update

Well, tonight we ordered an AR Pillow for Courtney. It’s a large foam wedge with a ‘seatbelt’ type thing on it. It will hold Courtney at a 30 degree angle so she can sleep. And the bands hold her on it so she doesn’t just roll to the bottom of the pillow. We are really hoping this works for her so that we can get her out of her car seat all the time. Our friends who are on their second reflux baby, got one for the baby and she sleeps 10 straight hours sometimes on it! I have a feeling we won’t have that great of success, but getting her out of her car seat all the time is a start!

I finally spoke with her pediatrician today who told me to bring her in for a weight check tomorrow and then again in another week. If the pediatrician is comfortable with her weight gain in that week, then we really have no need to worry about all the stuff we are worrying about! I have a feeling it will go okay. She told me it’s okay that I held off on all of the changes that the specialist wanted me to make. The biggest concern is making sure that she is gaining weight okay. I will be anxious to see where her weight puts her on the percentile chart tomorrow. I am anxious to see if she is still following the same line she was on a month ago.

For some odd reason a few weeks ago, I started journaling her food intake. I shouldn’t have done that. Now I constantly keep track and watch how much she eats. And I worry when it’s anything less than 17 oz. In fact today she is only at 15 oz for the day right now. So, we will wake her up soon and give her hopefully another 3 oz, bringing her to 18 oz for the day. All though the specialist says that is not enough calories for her. I have a feeling she may end up on ‘solids’ soon. We may end up needing to try the rice cereal in the bottle again. It’s been at least a month; maybe she would like it better now. Who knows?

Anyway, Hubby made it home safe and sound on Friday night. I worked at WnW both Saturday and Sunday. It was busy both days, which is great. It makes the time fly by. By the end of the day I am so ready to come home and see my baby! I will work every weekend from now though the end of the year.

Well, it’s time to go wake her up and see if we can’t get her to eat a little bit more!

Update

Well, things are the same here pretty much. Courtney had an appointment yesterday with her specialist about her reflux and allergy. We decided to keep her on her same formula for now. Maybe after next visit we will try another formula that isn’t so expensive and easier to get.

He also put her on a new drug, reglan. It’s supposed to help the flap in the tummy tighten, so she doesn’t reflux, as well as empty the tummy out faster so there isn’t stuff to reflux. Today is day 1 of the meds and so far, I don’t like it at all. She is spitting up less, however, it makes her very drowsy. So, I have a call into her pediatrician to ask her what she thinks. I think no matter what, I am going to decrease the amount she is getting.

I was a little upset by Wednesday’s visit to the GI doc. I went in thinking, wow, I really feel like I have Courtney’s reflux pretty well managed. But the doctor seems very concerned about her health and well being and I left feeling miserable. So, I am anxiously awaiting my pediatrician to come back into the office tomorrow. I all ready have a message waiting for her. The GI doc not only put her on reglan but also wants her prevacid increased as well as her calories, by giving her some oil. I just don’t know about all that!

Other than that, things are the same here. Hubby was gone again this week, returning tomorrow night. My mom stayed with me last night and tonight.

Bristol had an unexpected overnight stay at the vet’s on Tuesday. He had been throwing up every night for several nights. They took him, x-rayed him, and saw that his bowels were full of gas, and irritated. So, they kept him on pepcid and IV fluids overnight. I picked him up the next morning, after they re-x-rayed him. They didn’t see any blockage and the next morning he was still all gassy and irritated. So, he has been on medication and a bland diet here at home.

Well, the little girl is going to sleep and so I want to also!

Cold Here

I think I have the cutest baby in the world. Of course, I am biased! But she sure is cute. And I only think that right now because for the first time in 3 days she is asleep in her swing! She got on this kick the last few days that she wouldn’t sleep unless she was being held. Now I know some of you are thinking, well just put her down and let her cry it out. Well, let me tell you, after all the articles I have read, it’s okay that I don’t. Between her reflux and her age, it’s perfectly okay for me to hold her to fall asleep. I have let her do the crying thing for 15 minutes and when she can’t sooth herself, then I pick her up. My house is a complete disaster and I think I only have 1 pair of clean underwear left, but the baby is happy!

Hubby has been gone for 5 days, and due to the weather my mom was only here 1 night. That was last night. I spent the time with my mom here, she held the baby, doing the baby’s laundry. She was out of clean nightgowns, 2 days ago! So her laundry was really a priority. I was hoping to get the grown up’s laundry done tomorrow, but I got called in to work! I am okay with that! And Sunday night we have our Wag N Wash Holiday party. I am looking forward to that! I really like the owners and they are always so kind at holiday time to put on this great party! Hubby is on his way home as I write this. I just checked and his airplane is still over Texas, almost to the panhandle of Oklahoma. He is flying into Denver and they have to drive down to the Springs. So, I don’t expect to see him for a few hours yet!

The cold weather sure has hit! It was only in the 30’s today and that is warmer than it’s been the last few days! I have my out of town people’s shopping done, now I just have to find a way to wrap and get it shipped! Then I have to concentrate on the in town people!

Well, I am off to watch the NASCAR banquet and awards show!