A Word From the Germ Vat*

What's wrong with this picture?

a. Bella is wearing a mismatched pink pajama shirt and bottom

b. Daddy sleeps next to his own slippers

c. It includes a shower curtain as well as blankets and pillows

***

No, Daddy isn't in the doghouse - we're living in a germ vat and come to find out, the bathroom is a great place for someone to sleep when their congestion makes them cough all night. You wake up every hour and turn the shower on to steam up the bathroom. One of Mommy's brilliant midnight ideas that actually worked.

Bella has had a pretty good cold going on for almost a week now. Last weekend, after a full night of coughing, we took her to Urgent Care. They said she had a respiratory infection and tested for strep - no strep. They gave her an antibiotic and we felt like we were days from being cured. Three more nights of serious coughing but she was getting fairly decent rest and happy all day. She was having some fevers and her appetite had decreased. We assumed it was from the infection and possibly some teething action. We called two experienced moms and they gave us some great advice (thanks, guys) and we followed it. We also did plenty of google searches and tried home remedies to help give poor B some relief. She had a great night of sleep Monday night and we thought we were home free.

Wrong.

Last night, we did all the extra song and dance in hopes of another restful sleep with little coughing. She coughed and coughed. Coughed to the point of gagging. We checked on her constantly and somehow, she was still staying asleep. We shleped in a car seat so she could sleep sitting up. That worked for a few minutes and Mr. Cough was back. Before long, full on crying ensued. I ran into her room and the smell was nasty. The poor girl had thrown up all over herself, the car seat, Stella and God knows what else....it was dark and I just got her out and held her and cried out for Daddy to come help. So....new shirt question solved.

After we got the situation cleaned up, we realized that the bathroom was a good place to be if it were to happen again. Not to mention the steam was helping give her some breathing relief. When you're stuffed up and you sleep with a thumb in your mouth, it makes it hard to breathe.

Sweet Daddy of the Year (SDY) Award was won about 1am when Daddy insisted on going to get some 7up and popsicles so that we could keep some fluids going. Daddy got back and checked on us and we were just about asleep. In my less then lucid state, I thought he said he was going back to get the popsicles - surely he wasn't serious. I fell in and out of consciousness again but decided since I was awake that I would run the shower again and go see what he was up to. I couldn't find him so I flipped on the outside light to see only one car in the driveway. He went back.....now that's dedication. Walmart isn't exactly across the road. He called ahead and they met him at the door with the popsicles and back he came.

I was suppose to go to work today so Daddy came in and tagged me out. Bella was sleeping soundly and no longer coughing. I woke up nausea and with a sore throat......great. I'm feeling a little puny but I'll live. SDY took Bella to the pediatrician to learn that Bella has RSV. He gave her a breathing treatment to help with her wheezing. There is no treatment for RSV other than time. It is highly contagious especially for young children and people with a weaker immune system. It can lead to pneumonia if not watched carefully. Poor Guo.

We did get a prescription for some medication to help with the wheezing. We need to alternate Tylenol and ibuprofen to help keep her temperature stable. We wiped out half of the cold and flu aisle of the pharmacy and we are hunkering down for a few days. Would you believe this thing is passed by being coughed on, sneezed on and kissing people who have it? It was only a matter of time for us to pick it up. Oh well, what fun would it be to be excluded from the germfest?

I've stripped and washed everything and we're doing some extra hand washing. Good times.

Tomorrow is a new year and its going to be hard to top 2008. Welcome 2009 and Happy New Year to all and to all, especially Bella, a good night

I had to take a picture of the trip to bed.....good thing Bella has Super Daddy with long arms to carry her, her gears and all of her friends up to bed in one shot.

*UPDATE: (~10:40pm) and let me say jinx jinx jinx first. Bella has been in bed for over two hours and is soundly sleeping with just an occasional cough - thank you, God. We are set up in the bathroom, just in case. I figured that like all good contigency plans, if you make one, you won't need it.

My First Bike

Look what Santa brought me for Christmas? How did he get it down the chimney?

That's right.....nothing says Christmas best like ladybug boots!

Daddy's Girls

Merry Christmas

We had another great Christmas with our Baby B.

She is all the gift we could ever ask for.

We had a quiet day at home and BaPa and RaRa joined us for Chinese food for dinner.

Thank you to everyone for the gifts - we love everything.

Nana made Bella and her doll a matching set of pjs.

Bella thought the pants look best on her head!

Nana also made 2 aprons for our little baker. This set comes with its own oven mitts - no need to use Mommy's as a puppet anymore.


Auntie & Uncle sent B a Dora cellphone and backpack!! She put the phone down today to get a snack and it started ringing. Bella said "Dora calling me". Bella tells Dora - "talk to you later".

Maxie - do you like the treats that Santa brought for you?

Daddy loves his new shirt - thanks Nana!

Principal-To-Be

As of Thursday, Daddy was accepted to graduate school. He will begin working on his Masters degree to become a principal. We couldn't be more proud of our Papa-Do! I think Daddy may have to pick himself up a couple more suits...he will be sporting this look a little more often in the upcoming years. I'm married to a co-ed (again) - does this mean we get to party until wee hours of the morning and eat pizza for breakfast? I don't think Little Miss Snoopy Shirt would go for that.

Our poor children...who wants their Dad to be the principal? That's not cool at all.

ha ha ha ha ha

Some of our the Bella-isms from the past week -

1. When I ask her where she put something and she tells me its hiding. When I ask her where it is hiding she smiles and all of a sudden forgets that she knows how to speak English.

2. Not only do I have to diaper her cute self...there are days I am asked to put diapers on Petunia the Panda. She tries to talk me into putting diapers on other friends but I have convinced her that they are big girls, big bears, big dogs, etc. and therefore, don't need diapers. So far, that logic is working.

3. She has starting pointing out some of my moles and calling them boo boos. She then gives them a kiss and says "all better".

4. Along those lines, she thinks that Mommy and Daddy are miracle workers. She had a tiny scratch on her foot about a week ago. She showed it to us multiple times and each time we would kiss it and tell her it would be gone soon. Sure enough, it was gone in a couple of days and even a week later she will pull off her sock and show us her foot and point to where the scab was and say "Daddy kiss, Mommy kiss - boo boo all gone".

5. Nothing gets pass this one...we are in a small and quiet store this weekend and I was carrying Bella and I burped..a small burp, kept it to myself, said excuse me, the whole bit...that doesn't matter. Bella shouts out "Mommy burped". AND MOMMY SAID EXCUSE ME.....don't forget to shout that out blabbermouth.

6. This one was funny after the fact. Bella buckles herself into her booster seat. Most days she gets the bib on herself, too. Would I rather do this and save ourselves a couple minutes? Of course...but she doesn't learn anything by me doing it for her and not to mention that she is little miss independent and doesn't let me do these things anymore. She will go so far as to undo what I have done just so she can do it her way. Anyway....Bella was trying to buckle herself in one day and Daddy was trying to help her. A finger got pinched and crying ensues. Daddy picks her up and apologizes profusely. With her red face and tears rolling she looks dead at Daddy and screams out "DADDY PINCH". It was so pitiful. We laughed about it later - she was mad as a wet hen and not afraid to blame Daddy for it. It took about three seconds and they were friends again.

7. Just today, I caught Bella standing in the pantry. She had pulled down the dog treats and was dispensing them to Maxie and JoJo. Great, just great - the last thing I need is for these three to be chummy. They outnumber me during the week and the last thing I need is a hostile takeover on my hands.

8. This one isn't an "ism" but a new experience all the same. One of Bella's friends at school brings cupcakes from the bakery for her birthday. Bella obviously had one with hot pink frosting on it. I picked her up and I thought she had a rash around her mouth and on her hands...nope, just stain from the dye. It washed off eventually so no harm there. What I wasn't prepared for was her diaper change about 24 hours later. Yep - still hot pink on the other end and a little frightening had I not remembered what she had the day before.

First Annual Gingerbread Cookies

Bella and I had our first annual gingerbread cookie making day today. The fact that we couldn't find a gingerbread man cookie cutter should have been a clue as to how this day may go for us. (I am sure there are stores with them...I just wasn't willing to drag an almost 2 year old in and out of car seats and strollers all morning on a quest for one)

We came home, put on our aprons, rolled up our sleeves and got started. The mixing of ingredients was a snap. After further reading the recipe, I learned that the dough would need to chill for at least three hours. Okay, fine, turn the stove off and put the dough in the fridge...we'll come back to it after nap. Bella and I talk about our big plans for cookie making after nap. Bella gets up from nap and tells me it is time to "bake cookies". Life is good. I have everything set up on her little table and she gets on the chair and away we go. The rolling of the dough and cutting out the cookies lost its appeal early and Bella thought it would be better to roll the rolling pin across the kitchen floor (you know, the concrete floor we are living on during our remodel). I rescue the rolling pin and wash it really well. Next thing I know, my sole oven mitt is being used as a puppet and then as a glove while someone is rocking on her rocking horse. I guess you'd never believe that I burnt my arm trying to use a hand towel to pull out a batch of cookies, would you?

My co-baker was back to taste test the final product and went on to eat three cookies. She didn't really care about the decorating of the sample cookies so I'll take care of the decorating later. She was impressed that I could write a B in frosting on one of her cookies so there was some appreciation for the art.

I got a couple of pictures....but like I told Nana who got a good laugh from my troubles...I can only roll out cookies on a 2' table, sing and dance to Christmas music with my two year old, take two calls from our insurance agent, one from Daddy and check emails at one time. I did take a few pictures and well, they aren't exactly good shots but the best I could do without getting Daddy's camera full of flour.

Here she is enjoying the "B" cookie and milk.

Of course she wanted to be a part of cleaning up...gotta love a girl (and her dog) who likes to clean!

Okay - not men, not a three dimensional house.......but about a dozen little houses that with any luck will look halfway decent once decorated. Seriously, if any of these cookies show up at your house...I did wash the rolling pin (and anything else) that hit the floor at any time during our baking experience.

Love this pic...

Beautiful Day

Happy Family Day!

One year ago today we met our little Guo. Words cannot begin to explain how amazing it is to be this little girl's Mommy & Daddy.