Saturday, January 30, 2010

Football, Four Wheeling, and Fun

Last weekend the Jets played in the playoffs, so you know what we were doing between the hours of 2 and 5!  Grady dressed for the occasion and even though this outfit was WAY to small, I thought Mikey would appreciate the team spirit on Grady's part.  It was so small it was gapping between the snaps and the bottom half looked like leggings.  I think it really brought out his great qualities (i.e. double chin).  He didn't seem to mind!



He is loving the patio and backyard... can't wait till it warms up and he can actually play out there.  He is even more in love with the 4 wheeler.  He can't get enough.  He loved cruising around the yard with Daddy.




Mikey and I went by ourselves this afternoon while "Uncle Mike" and his daughter Kaitlyn watched Grady for us.  We used one of their 4 wheelers and went out on the trails for about an hour.  Let me just say that I don't really think I'm the "extreme sports" kinda gal.  Not only did I get soaked and muddy, but I hit a stump, my 4 wheeler took a turn for the worst and slammed into a tree.  I ended up on the ground.  Mikey was in front of me and did not realize this happened, so off he goes deeper into the woods as I lay there stunned.  After yelling as loud as I could (which is not very loud when you have laryngitis), I realized my Prince Charming was not coming back, so I peeled myself off the ground and tugged that 4 wheeler back into position.  (I did not know how to put it in reverse, of course, so I just yanked and pulled and tugged on my own!).  Back home, safe and sound, I have a sore leg, back, and hip.  And I will not be doing that again anytime soon.

On another note, we've been busy with Grady, work, and trying to be healthier.  Mikey's been getting up at 5 am and going to the gym before work.  He hates not seeing Grady in the morning, but he enjoys working out and starting the day out that way.  I have been going back to spinning for about a month now.  I pick Grady up from Kaye's in the afternoon, get to spend about 15 minutes with him and as soon as Mikey gets home, I leave for class.  I hate that my time with Grady is so limited on those days, but it's the one of the many things I enjoy that I gave up when Grady was born (and you can DEFINITELY tell!).  I've lost 20 pounds so far... only five hundred thousand to go!

Here are a few more pics of Grady...
Think it's time for a hair cut????  I think he likes the pony tail.



Saturday, January 23, 2010

Wild Man!

Not much has been happening at the White house lately, just the usual life of keeping up with a one year old.  Now that Grady is walking, he never slows down and he finds trouble everywhere he goes.  From taking dirt out of the indoor potted plants to climbing on furniture, he is non stop action.  I'm really enjoying this age, though, because he is learning so much, communicating more, and mimicking everything we do.  He knows where his nose is (and mine, too), knows where his belly is, and if I say "Oh My!", he puts his hands on his cheeks.  When I sing "If you're happy and you know it", he knows to clap even before I say it.  He even did it the other day when I was just whistling the tune!  He loves to blow raspberries on my belly like we do to him.  If I lay on the floor, he comes right up, pulls my shirt up, and blows on my stomach.  He thinks the noise is hysterical.  He is also really into his stuffed animals right now.  He hugs them all the time and loves to lay down with them.   He also does that with Ellie, although she tries to get away more often than not!  He loves to go outside and walk around the patio.  He's not so fond of the way the grass feels on his feet, but if Daddy is in the shed, he'll tolerate it and walk completely across the yard.  Today, we finally got him to wear shoes outside while he was walking, but he had some difficulty.  He is not a fan of shoes (he definitely didn't get that from me!)  Since he's discovered this new walking thing, he really doesn't like naps anymore.  I finally got him to take 2 naps a day not so long ago and now it's a struggle again.  It usually takes about an hour for him to take an afternoon nap.  He just wants to play.  BUT I NEED A BREAK!!!!!!!

Here are some pics from the past week. It's finally warmed up just a little, so we have gone outside to swing.

























Thursday, January 14, 2010

Mystery Diagnosis

For the past week to ten days, I have been having some very strange medical symptoms.  When we were in Tampa, I noticed a swollen lymph node behind my ear.  Of course I immediately thought it was cancer related, even though lymph nodes can swell over practically anything.  The next week, I was itching all over my body.  I couldn't get relief.  I thought perhaps it was an allergic reaction to a new medicine I had been taking, so I stopped taking it (did not help the situation).  The next day, when I woke up, my hands were extremely swollen and red.  I could not get my wedding rings on for several days.  Then, not only were they swollen, but my fingers were numb and tingling, during the night mostly.  It was the most uncomfortable feeling.  I would wake up in the night and shake them for what seemed like hours to try and get feeling back.  I was also waking up with terrible pains in my wrists and forearms.  This pain continued during the day, as well as pain in my ankles and knees.  I was now convinced that my cancer was in fact bone cancer and that is why I had the pain.  I kept telling Mikey my bones hurt.  He said I don't stretch well enough after exercise.  (Such a man to make it my fault somehow).  I did get to thinking that maybe the pain was related to the push ups and jumping jacks I had been doing with my new exercise routine.  Maybe my wrists and ankles just couldn't support my body weight during all that jumping around (depressing thought)!  Then, I noticed one evening that my cheeks were beet red, but I just thought I was hot.  Finally, on Tuesday, I noticed a lump in my forearm and then I was certain- it had to be a tumor.  Maybe it was lymphoma... Hodgkin's Disease... maybe even Lipoma, another disease I had researched.  I decided I couldn't take it anymore and I made a doctor's appointment...again... I had already made one a few days prior, but then cancelled it shortly after when Mikey told me I was a hypochondriac and to quit worrying about it.

The next day at school, one of my students who had been absent the past two days said she was sick with something called Fifth Disease.  I said, what in the world is that and are you sure you should be back at school?  I googled it that morning at work because I was quite certain that she needed to go home since she had this "disease".  As I researched, I realized that I had many of these symptoms, but for some reason it didn't exactly click.  When I went to the doctor, I told her all these strange symptoms I'd been having over the course of the past several days.  She looked perplexed until I mentioned one of my students had this weird disease called "Fifth Disease".  She then looked as if the lightbulb had come on and said, do you have a rash?  I said, no.  She looked at my chest and said, YOU DON'T CALL THAT A RASH???  I looked down and my chest was covered in a red, lacey rash.  So finally, the mystery is solved.  The lymph node was swollen because of the virus, the lump in my forearm could possibly be another swollen lymph node (she wasn't exactly sure, but just said to watch it), all that joint pain was because of the virus, and the red cheeks were also a result of the virus. 

It is no big deal, it runs its course and there is nothing you can do for it.  It is unusual for an adult to contract this because a person can only get this disease one time and it usually happens as a child.  I guess I never got it as a child.  It's also highly contagious, which would explain why several students at school are out with it, and I sent one home today with it.  It's only contagious until the rash appears.  Once the rash appears, you can no longer spread the virus.  But the problem is that most people don't know what in the world is wrong with them, so they don't isolate themselves and they spread it!  Like me!  I'm going to watch Grady closely because of course I am always touching and loving on him and I have been contagious for the past several days... I just didn't know it.

So I am VERY happy and relieved to report that I am not dying (that I know of)... I am also happy to report that my joints no longer hurt.  That was the worst part of it all.  The doctor told me to STOP touching my lumps and STOP getting on the internet researching diseases.  I've cut back.  But I can't stop cold turkey.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Back to the Grind...

We've had a busy past several days and I am finally finding some time to post pictures!  We left for Tampa on the 31st (New Year's Eve) to visit Mikey's sister and brother in law.  Grady was excited to see his Aunt Jenine and Uncle Phil and had fun exploring new territory. 

Sitting in the dog's bed....


He is walking up a storm now... just non-stop on the go. 








We did not go out anywhere for New Year's Eve.  We just hung out at the house and Jenine cooked some yummy appetizers for us.  Jenine and Phil got Grady lots of wonderful Christmas presents.  He enjoyed opening them and playing with them all!  Thanks guys!






Daddy loved that I put a Christmas bow in his hair.  He was just ecstatic about that. 

We really did pack clothes for the child, but he was so energetic and never sat down, so he worked up a sweat!  I took his clothes off since he was so warm!

On Friday (New Year's Day) we went to Ikea in search of a toy box for Grady.  His toys have taken over the house and we have virtually no fireplace now, so we have been looking everywhere for a toy box.  We would like to find a nice wooden one that matches with the rest of the living room furniture since that is where Grady plays.  We didn't find one at Ikea, but we still enjoyed walking around. 

On Saturday we ate at Crispers, went to Babies R Us and then came home and relaxed.  Sunday morning we left pretty early so we could get home and settled in.  I had to go back to work the next day.

It has been a long week back at work and Grady has been having some separation anxiety when I drop him off at Kaye's house in the mornings.  It is hard to leave him when he cries, but I know he stops as soon as she says the word "breakfast". 

Tuesday night, I got to see Macey and Rob while they were here for Christmas.  Veronica also came and it was so good to see all of them.  I miss our weekly girls' night dinners!  Almost everyone has moved away!

This weekend we have stayed indoors since it's been so cold outside.  It has been about 30-40 degrees during the day and even colder at night.  A few mornings when I've left for work it has been in the teens.  Sure makes it hard to get out of bed!  Even the pond has frozen and has been that way for days!

Grady has a new girlfriend by the way.  Her name is Little Debbie and he is IN LOVE.  Particularly with Swiss Cake Roll...