Spots

I think I may have just discovered the reason why my darling Son has been a bit "precious" for the last few days.

I really, really, really hope that I am wrong, I guess the 1.30pm Dr's appt will confirm or deny my suspicions.

He has had a yucky green snotty nose for the last few days. Miserable and just out of sorts. Today when he woke up I changed his bum and his whole nappy area was covered in tiny spots. My first thought was nappy rash, so he has spent the majority of the morning nappy free.

On closer inspection I noticed some spots on his hands and feet. Also some spots around his nose and mouth, but I had written them off as sores from wiping his nose so often.

Maybe, maybe not.

Sound like anything?

Why?

Why did my darling husband not try harder yesterday to get the kids to have an afternoon sleep? Sure it was Sunday and he wanted to spend the day with them whilst I went out, but sleep is necessary.

They very rarely miss it and if they do it is hell for me the following day, resulting in lots of whingeing from all of us and me succumbing to copious amount of chocolate.

Why do my children not sit still? Even for one millisecond?

I am forever chasing them both, saving whoever's house we are at from mass destruction. They still manage to get into mischief even in a fully child-proof home. Seems houses can be child-proofed, just not Penney-kid proofed. Actually the main culprit at the moment is Mstr X. If there is a button to be pressed, drawer to be opened, Tv to be turned on or anything else that he isn't supposed to be into, he is your Man. I would just to sit down for 1 second and not have to think about what they are getting into. Apparently (from wise mother Julie) I get to relax when they are adults. Yay!! But why are other kids not into everything like they are? Is it something that I have inbred into them? Surely if I dared to have a third they would be the type that just sat on the floor reading books and being all cute and quiet? Surely!

Why does the person that could help me the most live so far away?

I just want my MUM. I see others with Mothers around that fuss over them and help out so much with the kids and I am insanely jealous. I want my Mum to pop in and say that she will take one (or both!!) of the kids out for a bit. I'd love to be able to pack an overnight bag for Grace and wave goodbye to her as she heads out to spend the night with Nanny. Sure I would miss her, but I know that she would have a fantastic time.

But as much as they are driving me up the wall today, it's all OK.

Grace knows that I am over-it today and no doubt she is feeling my tension, she just came up to me and said,
"I love you so much Mummy"

And tomorrow is another day.

Grommets for the Grommet

After a long wait Xav finally had his appointment with the Ear, nose and Throat specialist.

He's been great lately, last ear infection was in Tas and I just filled his ear with garlic oil and it cleared up. He did come down with a yucky cold on Wednesday night though and I was suspicious that another ear infection was on it's way, so it was perfect timing to be going to see the specialist.

Grandma came up to watch Grace (who slept the whole time we were away), and Duane came along with us. Thank goodness for that because we ended up having an hour wait so Duane got to chase Xavier around as he terrorised the medical centre. Busy, busy boy that he is!

I was quite surprised when we were finally introduced to the ENT guy, he barely looked 25. He was friendly with Xav though and seemed to know what he was on about so I handed over my precious boy for him to examine. He checked his ears and said that it looked like he may be on the verge of an infection and that there may be some fluid build up. We chatted about his ear infection history and he said straight up that he would recommend grommets.

I was a bit naive and thought that it was just a tube that went into the ear, no cutting or anything. However, he explained that they cut a slit inside the ear and this little piece of plastic (the grommet) is placed in there. It usually only lasts for 6-12 months then has to be done all over again. he explained all the costs (about $1500 if done privately) and that he could do it next week if we wanted too. I was a bit taken aback that my little boy would need anaesthetic and surgery, so I told him that I would like to see how he goes over the next few months and then make a decision. I am hoping that as the warmer weather comes, and the colds and sniffles stop being passed around, he might not get any more ear infections.

In the meantime I'll keep dosing him up on Cod Liv A, Metagenics Immune care and the garlic oil in the ears. I've also taken him off cows milk and giving him rice milk instead. It's something to do with the dairy causing mucous, which in turn can cause the ear infections. Yoghurt is ok as it is partially broken down already and we are still breastfeeding (although he is showing some indifference to this sob, sob!!)

If he is still getting ear infections then I'll reconsider getting the grommets. I'm just not that keen at the moment for surgery if it is something that can be controlled other ways. Of course I don't want him to be in any pain or discomfort, so if the grommets can stop this, I'm all for it.

Whilst I don't' want to mess around with my children's health, I do feel the need to question everything. Duane and I both felt that the ENT guy was a little hurried in just getting Xav into surgery ASAP. I know that he probably knows best, but I still just want to give it a bit if time.

My Mums a Net Nerd

When I went to Tas last month I took Mum down my old hard drive and set her up with the Internet. I did have ulterior motives though, it meant that I could still keep in the loop of things when I was away, but I did also think Mum would enjoy have a surf every now and then. I'd been trying to talk her into getting on the net for ages, but she has always been a little scared of all that fan-dangled technology. I mentioned to her once that I did all my banking on it and she nearly had a coronary. She must have been watching too much Today Tonight because she was so scared that my bank accounts were going to get wiped, because apparently that's what happens when you put any details on the WWW.

We normally talk everyday, but for the last few weeks all I get is the bloody engaged signal! Stupid dial up! When I do manage to get through to her in between her "Internet time", she says stuff like "Yes, I googled blah, blah blah" or "I've been looking around on the net". She did send me a text message yesterday to say that she had discovered the world of forums and even has a user name "Mega" What tha? It took me ages to get confidant enough to venture into them and here's my Mum a total newbie starting threads and posting like an old hat!

I am getting lots of e-mails from her though, complete with obligatory net talk like "Lol". Ok whole stole my Mum and cybered her?

For someone that was scared of catching virus's and trojans, she has certainly gotten over her fear!

Actually I did venture into chat rooms way back when they were just 128.35.1 200 (yes I do actually think that I remember the actual site number)

Nicole and I kidnapped a computer nerd and had him teach us how to hack into the computers at the library and into the chat rooms. It was just before we did our first trip to Canada and Nicole got chatting to a guy in Colorado. Long story short, we decided that we would make a quick trip from Canada down to visit him. Now remember we were barely 18 and totally naive to the dangers of the world. No way would you do it now!

So we flew into Colorado airport and was picked up Ross's Mum (no doubt so she could ascertain why these 2 18 year olds wanted to meet up with her son) We went back to their house and spent the next few nights there. I'm not sure who we expected to meet, but Ross was a very sweet 14 YEAR OLD!!!! How in the hell he managed to convince his parents that it would be a good idea to have 2 18 year old Australian's come stay I'll never know. Can you just imagine how much he would have talked that up at school (yes he was still at school!)

So anyway we spent a lovely Easter with him and his family, they took us sightseeing and skiing and took us to the place that 4 USA states meet.

Seriously though, how dangerous and stupid was that?

Never in a pink fit would I allow my child to do that now, I guess we just got lucky.

Lost in books

I've been a bit slack here lately, lots has been happening but I haven't made time to sit down and write.

I have rediscovered one of my favourite pastimes, reading. I love reading, but as soon as I get a good book under way I can't put it down. carry it with me everywhere, sneaking quick reads when ever I can. I have devoured 3 books over the last 3 days, spending the kids nap times curled up on the bed reading. Actually I am curled up on Grace's bed because she refuses to have her day sleep in her room, always wants it in Mummy's bed. I don't mind where she sleeps though, just as long as she does, plus her room has a beautiful stream of sun that I can lay in!

The weather has been beautiful so we have been spending lots of time outside, the kids running around playing and me following behind with my nose in a book. My lack of attention must be starting to annoy them as they now think its funny to rip the bookmark out and run off with it. They also must be curious as to why I spend so much time with a book and have both been sprung at various times sitting down flipping the pages.

I have really missed immersing myself in a good book. It's not like I have really ever stopped reading, just now I am back to reading novels and not just endless birth or parenting books.

My re-found love of books has also been to the kids advantage too. They are being trusted with actually bringing home books from the library, not just flipping the pages why we are there. Maybe I am being too trusting, and I hope it doesn't all blow up in my face when I am frantically taping up torn books. Maybe I should make the kids get their own memberships so they are not tarnishing my pristine book lending record.

Wisdom sucks

My stupid wisdom teeth have once again popped up and are bugging the absolute crap out of me.
1 is through completely and behaving nicely, the other 3 are on their own little journey of destruction, causing me immense pain on the way. I had a scan yesterday and it seems that these 3 waywards are actually growing sideways, not up as they are supposed to be doing. So the angle that they are growing on is making them slam into the other molars, trapping food under the gap and causing infections. That's where my pain is coming from, the blasted infections raging inside my mouth.

I went to the dentist yesterday and she has put me onto antibiotics and referred me through to an oral surgeon, who will rip them out and rid me of their pain forever. The a/b's should be kicking in soon, they'd better or I will be performing my own extractions. Surely ripping my own teeth out would hurt less than the constant, jaw splitting ache that I have now. Toothaches are horrendous, the pain just thuds away in your mouth constantly.

I would love to just pop a few heavy duty pain killers and go to bed to sleep them off, but no it's only panadol for this milk making mumma.

I actually had the same thing happen just after Xav was born. It was the wisdom teeth causing the trouble, but it was an infection in my back right molar causing the pain. I had the cavity removed and filled...with no needles or deadening. The dentist didn't want to use anything because I was breastfeeding, so that was interesting.

I need a sugar rush, but the only chocolate that I have in the house is frozen milky ways. I guess I could defrost and drink them?

Oh gosh, the pain is getting unbearable, even after taking panadol. I am going to break all the rules and take some nurofen, its either that or I rip the stupid thing out myself.

Going green

I've always tried to be environmentally friendly.

We recycle, I have a compost, lights and power points are turned off when they aren't used, I only use bi-carb and vinegar for cleaning, I always use cloth nappies and wipes, I re-wash plastic plates and cutlery and we are conscious of out water usage.

So when I heard about the diva cup I was all for giving it a go. Now don't click on this site if you are a little squeamish, it took me a while to get my head around the concept of it, but now I am a convert!

The whole thing was a little daunting to start with, but the promise of never buying "feminine hygiene" products again bought out my thrifty side. It's also supposed to be better for you body too, compared to the alternative of the chlorine-bleached synthetic fibres of tampons.

The first few goes I was a apprehensive and having visions of fronting up to Emergency and having to explain that I was missing something. Imagine having to explain that one! But it does work and I did manage this whole period using just the one tampon, and the diva cup for the rest of the time.

I won't go into all the graphic details, but it does definitely work well.

Yes, I really am just a hippy at heart!

Why oh why was I not born in the 60's? I'm sure I would have had a lot of fun had I been around in that era!!