No Longer Itchy

Minnow has recovered from her itchiness. We went to the doctor on Monday and it turns out she is allergic to amoxicillin. So much for the non-allergic rash! Her ear looked better so we were instructed to stop the antibiotic and give her Zyrtec. She is much better.

She is back to her regular old self--smiley and into everything. Her new thing is wearing sunglasses around the house. She wants me to put them on, walks around for a while, takes them off and wants them back on again. This is how I spend my days--I love it!

Itchy Minnow

I have an itchy little Minnow who has developed a rash. I took her to the doctor last Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, because she was not feeling well. She was diagnosed with her first ear infection and put on Amoxicillin. Minnow seemed to be feeling better the next day. Yesterday she developed a rash and is uncomfortable. She lays on the floor and writhes around, poor little itchy thing. I called the very helpful 24-hour nurseline and the friendly nurse said that 5-10% of kids on the antibiotic can develop a rash 5-7 days after starting the medicine. It is a non-allergic rash. Minnow woke up this morning ichier than ever and her face was puffy. We have an appointment at our clinic for this afternoon. I just have to put up with the itchy, writhing Minnow for a few more hours.

Thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for in our household: I am thankful for Muskie Man, who is my best friend; Minnow, who is the joy of our life! I am thankful that Muskie Man has a good job that he enjoys (most of the time). I am thankful that his job allows me to stay home with Minnow and pursue my Arbonne business. We have a wonderful home that is large enough for our families to gather in and celebrate holidays. Thank you, God for all of our blessings, which inlcude our families and friends!

My Thanksgiving day began with Minnow yelling from her crib at 5:45 a.m. Aren't babies supposed to sit in their cribs and jabber for a while when they wake up? Not Minnow! Actually, it was probably ok, it made us get up and finish getting things ready for our visitors who will be arriving just in time for the Packers game--all 20 of them--both of our families will be celebrating with us today.

I got Minnow something to drink and turned on the coffee maker. It brewed and brewed and very little coffee came out. It made strange noises, and very little coffee came out--time to get a new coffee maker. My family LOVES coffee, so we NEED a coffee maker. Luckily, KMart is open on Thanksgiving! KMart also happens to be the only "chain" store we have in our little town. I went to KMart(which was very busy) and bought a new coffee maker this morning. If that is the only thing that goes wrong today then it will be a good day. The turkeys are in the oven, now I have to go peel potatoes.

Happy Thanksgiving, Go Packers!

Check your information

Muskie Man is the principal at our local high school. He has been getting strange emails for the past few days from random people around the country. Apparently there is a school in another state (not near us) with the same name as his school. This school has had a little bit of a cheerleading scandal--something involving suspension for inappropriate dancing. Here are a few examples of the weird emails that people actually take time to send--and then send them to the wrong person!

This one is titled: "Mean School"
Suspending those Cheerleaders is crazy....you are punishing them for being inventive and using a little imagination...it was all in fun and hurt no one....as far as showing anything you can go to any Mall in the summertime or the local beach and see much more than that...sounds like a mean place to go to school....you hurt a lot of people for no real reason only intoxicated with your own power and like to play gottcha...too bad...... Ron

Here is another email:
Get a life, gentlemen. There was no harm here. Unbelievable.

Here is Muskie Man's response to these emails:
I am the principal of ________ in (our state). We have received several communications on this issue and understand this to be a story from ______ High School in (other state)--not (our state). If you still feel the need to express your opinion and related feelings, perhaps you want to check your contact information and contact the appropriate people--in the correct state.

On a different note, have an enjoyable Thanksgiving.

For the record, Ron from the "Mean School" email responded back to Muskie Man with this:
You made my day...sorry for getting the wrong guy..(school) ...you have a great sense of humor...you dont need a "mean" letter...Ron

The world of email is tricky--this guy got Muskie Man's sarcasm!

Mommies aren't allowed to be sick!

So we've been a bit under the weather here in Muskie-land. Minnow came down with a stomach flu type thing on Sunday. We had to wake her up for church, gave her a little formula, she wouldn't drink much, and got her ready. We sat her down in the pew and she had a weird look on her face and then had a big spit-up/puke--all down her dress and dribbling down her chin! She was rather lethargic during the service which was a nice change of pace as Muskie Man usually ends up wrestling with her during church. When we got home after church, she was crawling around and I heard a strange noise come from her and then smelled it! GROSS! She had several scary diapers that day and slept alot.

Monday she woke up feverish and not herself. She didn't want to eat anything, but did drink quite a bit of pedialyte. Minnow just sat on my lap all day and cuddled and napped. Muskie Man came home from school and was sick himself. I guess him walking by me with Im*odium A/D was a good sign he wasn't feeling well. He went straight to bed, but spent most of the evening throwing up. He even laid on the bathroom floor for a while and was not drinking anything--I was a little concerned.

I woke up in the middle of the night not feeling well. My body ached and I had the chills. Tuesday I felt like I had been run over by a truck or something. Muskie Man was feeling a little better but still slept quite a bit. Minnow was doing better also, but still had some scary diapers and wasn't eating much. I think I slept about 18 hours on Tuesday. Muskie Man and I traded off napping and taking care of Minnow. It was not a good day. By Tuesday evening, Muskie Man was on the mend, he even made a frozen pizza.

Wednesday dawned with all of us feeling much better. I was 100% better and able to function. Minnow is still not quite herself, but is laughing and playing, just not eating alot. Muskie Man is back at school "educating and motivating," as he always says.

I have come to the conclusion that mommies just aren't allowed to be sick--who takes care of the rest of the family, who cooks, who cleans, who takes care of moomy?! Well, I'm off to clean my germ-infested house.

Halloween

Halloween for Minnow consisted of a Baby Boo Bash hosted by one of "The Girls" for us moms and the kids. T, who hosted the soiree, went above and beyond with decorations, food and a trick or treat for each kid. We had a fun time.

We also went trick-or-treating which meant visiting our neighbors and two friends' homes. Minnow had had enough by then. Minnow even got some candy, of course she can't eat it, so Muskie Man had some treats.

Minnow was a little bee. We like to say she was a hornet as this was our high school mascot, way back when. She liked her costume, especially the "hat," except she kept taking it off and wanting us to put it back on again. It also gave her some interesting "hat hair!"

Our Adoption Journey - Part III

It was so nice to see N again. She was doing well considering she had major surgery a few hours earlier. Then a nurse came in with the baby. She handed Minnow to me and my heart just melted. She was beautiful, a perfect little angel! N was tired and sore, so after we talked to her mom and dad on the phone, we let her get some much needed rest. We were able to take Minnow to a room for NICU parents that was not being used. It was basically a hospital room without a bed. It had chairs, TV, and bathroom--not bad accommodations. We had several hours to start to bond with Minnow, it was an amazing few hours. She was awake most of the time, just studying us.

We spent almost every waking moment that we could in the hospital bonding with Minnow. We also were respectful of N and wanted her to have time with Minnow. She kept Minnow in her room at night and I know that was a memorable time for her. We enjoyed getting to know N better and are so thankful to her for giving us the best gift in the world—a daughter.

It was an emotional time in the hospital with N. She was losing something and we were gaining something. I was more emotional than Muskie Man, as N and I would go for walks in the halls and talk.

Minnow stayed in the hospital for almost 4 days. We finally got discharged and were able to take Minnow “home.” I know it was hard for N to see us leave with Minnow, we were sad and happy at the same time, which is hard to describe.

We stayed in Colorado for another week, waiting for the Interstate Compact to come through. We enjoyed our time in Colorado, it really helped us bond as a family. Had we been home, Muskie Man would have been torn between staying home and going to school to get things ready for the upcoming school year. Family and friends would have been visiting. We were able to bond as a family.

Muskie Man was and still is amazing with Minnow. He took care of her a lot those first few days as he knew he was going to be very busy once we got home. We went on a few excursions while in Colorado. We went to Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, the mall, and to Estes Park and got some nice photos by a mountain stream.

We finally got word that the Interstate Compact had gone through and we were free to go home. Once again, I got on the phone to book plane tickets. We had left home as a family of two and we returned as a family of three.