Valentines Day, a little early

Last Friday we went to the Kids in Motion playspace with Nathanael and Hannah (and of course, their lovely moms). Kristen and I drove over together, and this is what happened in the backseat when they thought we weren't looking:

Frankie had a great time playing with all the play mats, balls, and big parachute that was set up as a tent. She did spend a long time just staring and feeling the brightly-colored green wall that had some texture to it, which had me a little worried, but she eventually joined the rest of the hub-bub going on around her with gusto, to the point she had a melt down when we left. The tantrums have begun. Whoever says they start at 2 are wrong, wrong, wrong. She's becoming more and more aware of her world, and is trying to communicate with me, and just can't a lot of the time (or, I decide that we aren't going to do what she wants, like when we left the playspace). It must be so frustrating for her.

My big climber

Note the fascinating green wall behind us.

It's a boy!

Frankie is having a baby brother! We just got back from the ultrasound, and saw his "outdoor plumbing" as the radiologist called it. He's very healthy; everything looked normal, which is the most important news.

In other news, I have taken Dr. Aubrey's advice and have stopped taking the Afrin (Aubrey, thanks for writing in and saving my nasal lining from certain doom!). I think I'd already gotten addicted - last night was horrible, but around 1:00 am my nose just sort of opened up and while I've continued to be congested since then, it hasn't been as bad. I think the Afrin would wear off and I'd be more congested than I would have been without it (meaning, of course, that Aubrey is right!). I also told my OB about it this morning, and she said my PCP had been wrong - that I shouldn't have been taking the Afrin at all, and that Aubrey was right (again!); no one should take it for more than 3-4 days. I'm shocked this is not on the label. She told me I could take Sudafed, which I bought on the way home from the appointment.

I am, all said, feeling much better, I think especially now that the Afrin side-effects are wearing off. Frankie has made a full recovery. While she still has a runny nose and coughs every once in a while, it's pretty standard winter-time kid stuff.

And we're having a boy!

How I was able to finish getting ready this morning

Thank you

Frankie’s latest most consistent word (phrase?) is “thank you”. I say word because I’m pretty sure she thinks it’s just one word, and that the word is actually a verb defined “take whatever I’m holding, I’m done with it”.

The first time we noticed it was a few weeks ago. I was holding her, and Heather offered her a pear bite. She said “Thank you”, and we were stunned. That one did seem an appropriate time to use it.

Since then, one of her favorite games has been to give you an object she’s holding, and then usually hold her hand out to ask for it back (although not always!). She repeats “thank you” during this exchange in an adorable sing-song way, usually when she’s handing the object to you.

She’s most recently started to say “thank you” in her high chair, which I’m coming to realize means “all done”. As in “thank you, but I’ve had enough”. I do much prefer this to the most recent methods of telling me all done which involved dropping food over the edge of the highchair with a nonchalant flick of her wrist that implied no regard or awareness of my disappointed “no-no baby”s. Or the frenetic waving or her hands across the tray that sent food a-flying. Don’t worry, I think these are still the preferred methods, but maybe we can work on this verbal communication thing. The signing never worked for us, she just never got it. Blank stares all around.

Thank you, Momma, take this shoe

Shoe bandit

This is another common event these days - she points to an object and wants to know the name of it.

American Idol, South Carolina Auditions

Since I finished my class, and especially while I've been sick, I've been doing a lot of sitting on the couch channel surfing in the evening. I turned on American Idol last week, which happened to be the South Carolina auditions episode. I finally found a clip to share with y'all of my favorite contestant, DeAnna Prevatte, from Ablemarle, NC, a waitress at Sonic. It's not so much that her singing is that bad, but I just found her to be hilarious. I could watch a whole documentary on her. My favorite part is when Simon asks her about her angry song, and if it was "All those people eating all that lunch". This other clip would be worth checking out too if you're interested, the 16-year-old girl from TN who gave Simon a speech on abstinence. She actually says "Whatevs" during her audition.

DeAnna Prevatte


The abstinence talk

Afrin Addiction and other updates

The McFadden girls are still under the weather, but hoping that this will be the week that we rally. I’ve been sick for going on two weeks now, and am concerned about developing an Afrin addiction. Supposedly this stuff can be really addicting (my co-worker’s brother was addicted to it for 2 years). I’m allowed to use it 2x/day, and it’s the only thing that will keep my nose clear for more than about 45 minutes.

I’m finding that when I first used it, it kept my nose clear for about 10 hours. I’m now down to about 4 hours of relief, at which point I have to suffer through with saline spray until bedtime, when I’m allowed another dose. Is this how the addiction develops, I wonder? Because non-pregnant people are allowed to take it pretty much when they want (there’s no posted limit). I’m totally feelin’ the need to get my Afrin fix sooner and sooner after my last hit.

When I consider the alternatives, I’m not left with many options. Afrin addiction or harming my unborn baby with decongestants (which I was doing, sparingly, and got reprimanded for by my PCP – I know, people, I know! I’ve just been really, really miserable). Afrin addiction it is. My mom will be here in two weeks, maybe she can help me detox, check me in to a clinic, whatever.

Frankie is still sick too, poor baby. Her fever comes and goes, and hasn’t risen above 102 since last Thursday as far as I can tell. She’s been sleeping a lot, which Heather pointed out today is a good thing, and drinking fairly well. She hasn’t been interested in much food, and despite my efforts to buy her off with fancy “Danimals” yogurt drinks, she’s iffy on those too.

She’s been fussy, but doesn’t seem to be in a lot of pain, so I’ve been hoping that we’re avoiding the ear infection at this point. She’s so lethargic; it’s really sad to see a baby this slow-moving. She just likes to sit there for a while in my lap, reading books, or just staring. This morning she sat in her high chair with food on her tray just staring off into space for a while. She’s wanted to be held a lot, which means I have been doing a lot of just holding my baby and reading to her lately.

Chris tore down the bedroom wall with Jeff Murry’s help this weekend, while Frankie and I took refuge from the dust and pounding at Sarah and Hannah’s. There was such a big mess. Chris worked really hard Saturday night to clean much of it up, and then we both worked most of Sunday to get the house really clean. He has promised me that that was the messiest part of the renovations, and that we’ll have smaller messes from here on out, but nothing like horse-hair plaster all over the house.

He’s currently on his way to Fargo, ND, where I think the temperatures are hovering around -14 right now. Oh the wonderful places you’ll go, Chris McFadden, Manufacturing Engineer, Supply Chain Manager, Esq.

Jeff Murry, who did not saw his own leg off during this project.

Exposing the chimney (far right) did not prove to be the "hidden gem" we were hoping for. We'll be covering it back up, like the previous owners.

Room for two new closets!

103.5

This was the peak of Frankie's temperature spike yesterday, at around 5:30pm. I promptly put her in a luke warm bath and watched with pain in my momma heart as she shivered and fussed until I felt she felt a little cooler. She slept on and off all yesterday afternoon, and I finally put her to bed around 6:00 last night.

She slept until 6:30 this morning, a record for Frankie - 12.5 hours. Her temperature was much lower this morning - 100 degrees, so I'm hoping we're past the worst of it. She still seems out of it - she laid her head down this morning on my chest for about 10 minutes, after having done all that sleeping, and keeps moaning and babbling to herself. She's coughing and has a runny nose, but other than that doesn't seem to have any symptoms. I was able to get her to eat a little breakfast and she drank most of her milk and some juice this morning.

I have been battling a nasty cold myself for about 10 days now, and am ready to start feeling better. I did a lot of resting with Frankie yesterday, and feel a little better today, but it's so hard not being able to take anything while you're pregnant. I have found the saline nasal spray to actually be really helpful - if you've never tried it, you should give it a go. It clears my sinuses without giving me that over-dried feeling of Afrin or a decongestant. I am allowed to take Afrin, and have resorted to that for the last few days, which does last longer than the saline spray.

With all that in mind, I turned 29 yesterday in a bit of a fog. Thank you to all for your birthday wishes and many happy returns of the day. Chris and I are going out to dinner tonight to celebrate, and tomorrow we are going shopping for a new sewing machine, my big birthday/Christmas present. I've got my eye on a computerized machine - maybe the Janome Memory Craft 3500. I'll let you know what I get!