Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Bad Behavior = Ear Infection

or at least at the Reeder house it does.

Let me back up a little so this will make more sense. David has had untold number of ear infections, ear issues, ear surgeries, etc. etc. And for 98% of those the only symptom has been behavior, as in he is a jerk :( sorry - just no other word for it. But since he has matured and his communication skills increased and we removed the tumor... we've been thinking we are in great shape with him now and if he does have another one he'll tell me something is wrong in his ear.

Wrong! Lately he's just been a "prize" not sleeping well. Then last night it finally turned into a fever, well I suspected one yesterday, but forgot to take his temp. So this morning I gave in and called the pediatrician. Diebel was out so we saw McCommolugh (fine she is awesome too). She said and I quote, "Oooo, that is a very very bad infection in that ear!". She also the tube in that ear is clogged, not working anymore and needs to come out. I will call the Ped ENT we've been seeing at Children's in Bham to check that out.

UGH - can I feel anymore like a bad mommy. I so ignored his usual bad behavior symptoms and let it get so bad it finally did cause fever. And yesterday I had an over-the-top discipline reaction to his behavior... and now I know that the worst of it is this ear infection.

Whew - I've gotten it off my chest and now I am going to have quiet time (praying for nap) with David and when we get up I don't plan to feel like a bad mommy again :)

Friday, January 15, 2010

Basketball

It's winter and basketball is here in full force. Like soccer, David mostly runs with the crowd LOL, but he loves it and hey - you gotta start somewhere. He is playing Upward at Frazer and it is a wonderful program. If you are not familiar with it, check it out here. I've included a few pics of his first game.


I am "little" man - hear me roar!

Dan was one of those husbands that didn't do very well with a baby. He did his share of feedings and getting up in the night and letting me get out of the house and all that, but it wasn't his thing. He said I'm just not comfortable until they're a little bigger. Ok - I lived with it and took it for what it was.
Wow was he right - as David started walking and talking Dan has really come into his own as a father and now that David is actually his own person, a boy now as opposed to a baby, they are wonderful together. I wish you could see them - they have their own language almost all about science and space and guns and tools. They play silly games and have inside jokes. They go to the barber together every few weeks for their hair cuts and they sometimes go on "field trips" to the hardware store and to get donuts. They also "work" outside together. Dan has a shop in the backyard and David has a concrete track (around the pool) and quite a collection of vehicles... Dan welds or does woodworking or whatever it is guys do in shops and David drives around racing and stops in on Dan to "help" every few laps.
Staying in this vein I decided to get them a joint/manly thing for Christmas so I got them tickets to the recent Monster Truck Show. It was a huge hit!!!!! They cannot quit talking about it. Here are a few pics from their day.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Are You Gonna Eat That Recipe?

No matter what I cook, that is usually the question I get from David. It cracks me up because he is so serious. Our evening routine is pretty standard, he plays, usually on the floor at my feet - UGH, and I cook supper for daddy. He'll pop up every so often and ask can I put that in the recipe, can I stir the recipe, etc. I try to let him help with most of it, unless of course I'm at the hot frying pan or something like that.

Even with all this interest though, David still won't eat much more than milk, chicken, cheese and peanut butter. One day...

So what kind of things have you been cooking for your family during this cold weather? I haven't tried alot new, but I did find a different/new version of some old stand-by favorites. Just to jazz things up a little. Over the past week or so we have had:
Homemade beef stew
tacos w/ homemade Mexican rice
salmon w/ homemade mushroom rice pilaf
homemade loaded potato soup
homemade red, beans and rice
ck fingers (bought), lima beans, corn and potato salad
homemade quiche
navy bean and ham soup
baked pork chops

There are probably more, but time to take David to school and then start my day.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Why does "title" stump me some days...

I was planning to stay on top of this a little better here in the New Year, but doesn't seem to be working. My posts are always so long I thought if I did a little one each day I wouldn't have these epic posts to catch up on everything. Oh well - like many of the best ideas... they don't always come to fruition.

Dan had his PET Scan and oncology appointment last week and was given yet another clean bill of health. Praise God the remission is still holding!! He doesn't have to go back for 6-months. He has been busy at work, as usual. This economy is making it extra hard for our tenants to pay their bills so he is spending hours and hours each week knocking on doors. One big project he has been working on lately is an air conditioning cage, yeah you heard me right LOL. AC theft - for the unit itself and especially for the copper is quite high. So he has come up with a welded mesh/steel design thing to keep the outside AC unit locked up. Another new project for him is another property - a single-family home. We hope to have the new house rented out by the first of Feb. Last thing on Dan is a probable stress fracture in his foot - getting him to the doctor is not as easy as it sounds!

Emily got her 2nd semester report card last week and she was back to A's and B's. Thankfully she pulled up the 2 C's from her 1st semester. She has been taking a break this month from team sports, practices, etc. Most of her time has been spent texting with friends, playing Airplane and Wii with David, watching TV and playing pool with Dan and playing board games with me. She is also pretty attached to her I-Touch... It is sometimes so science-fiction sounding when you look at all the electronics available to kids these days.

David also got his 2nd semester report card and received all S's in classwork and conduct, except writing. He is really struggling with his letters. He recognizes them, knows what words they are used for, sounds them out and "pretend" draws them with his finger. But sitting down with the pencil to write them - not working so far. I am going to have to get more diligent about practicing. He is becoming so much more opinionated and independent (if it's possible to be more...). He now thinks that he is responsible for mopping and dishes. As Emily and I were cleaning up last weekend he decided to "mop" with the Swiffer - actually did a pretty good job. Then he rinsed and refilled (over and over) a cup and bowl in the sink and said he was doing dishes. The next day he wanted to do the mopping again and I said no - it was fine. He went on and on, so then I said you will waste the liquid cleaning stuff (the stuff that squirts out of the swiffer wet jet). He says what happens if you waste. We will run out/use it all up and then won't have any when we need it and mommy doesn't have dollars to buy more (this usually works for everything). He sat there a second and then said mommy you can have all the money in my piggy bank to buy more. Then proudly stands up straight and says I do the mopping and the dishes for you everyday, but I don't do laundry!

What a joy it is to be around my family. I am so blessed to have all this time with them to hear all the big and little things and be a part of them. Big things and holidays are great, but the little everyday smiles and laughter fill my heart.

I am struggling lately with friends and extended family. I have not been doing a good job of staying in touch, making phone calls, sending e-mail, etc. I think about them - fondly and miss them, but I just can't seem to stop and take the time. I go through this depression deal every year from around Thanksgiving until the end of February (because of my mom). Each new season I think I'll be better - i won't do this again... and hear I go. I even recognize it, but I still do it. This February will be 11 years since my mother passed away and I still miss her desperately. There really aren't words to describe the pain - it's just a hole that's always there. She was my mom, my disciplinarian, my friend, my shopping buddy, my travel buddy, my phone buddy, my cooking partner, my game partner - I could go on and on. Most of all though, she truly loved me unconditionally - a mother's love. I always knew she loved me, but never realized the depth until David came into my life. When I am in this funk it's hard to be around people who have healthy moms - silly sounding I know. And it's hard to be around people that didn't know her or people that don't really get what I'm feeling because either they've never lost anyone or they don't understand the relationship she and I had or both. I have tried and am still trying to let go and let God in this and so far I haven't succeeded. I'm still praying though ;).

Overall though - life is good and I am happy! I have some more updates with pics to share and hope to get those up in a day or two.

Friday, January 8, 2010

The Snow Day With No Snow

Ok - all of you that don't live in the "cold-weather" deprived south go ahead and get your laughing out of the way. Due to a forecast of rain/sleet/snow our city essentially went into raid the grocery store panic mode and closed most of the schools today. I love it in a weird fond sort of way. It's just the way it is here and has always been. When we were kids we always loved the surprise day out of school and now our kids are the same. It would have been nice to have a little snow to play in on this surprise day off, but... I will admit though the grocery store thing is a little comical, I have yet, in my 37 years figured out why there is ALWAYS a rush on bread and milk if the weatherman says snow. If you have a theory leave a comment ;)

Is there anybody who didn't watch the ballgame last night? Roll Tide - they did our state and the SEC proud, congratulations to them. Felt bad for Colt McCoy - good kid and hated to see that happen to him. We went over to the Holliday's and watched with them and Kim made us shrimp jambalaya - awesome. War Eagle (just had to get that in there LOL).

Ok - I am sure I am not alone in my love of coffee... of course mine is more like an obsession. I drink coffee morning, noon, night, etc. I drink it with alot of my meals. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. And right now it's like 20 degrees outside, I am sick (more about that below) and my throat feels like razor blades and the hot coffee is so soothing, etc. etc. Well horrible tragedy today - I woke up and went immediately to turn the coffee on. Light came on, great. I made David's cereal and my oatmeal and then turned back to fix my first cup - no sound, no warmth...??? The light came on, but no brewing/percolation or whatever the word is. I unplug, re-plug, turn back on - nothing. I am beginning to see the edges of red - panic is coming. I have a spoon in my hand from my oatmeal - I start "playing the drums" on the coffee pot - top, bottom, back, front, side... harder... NOTHING. It's dead... the poor water and ground beans just sitting in there never to meet - tragedy! Now I must drag my sick pitiful self out of these PJ's and to Wal-mart to buy another coffee pot.

There is much more I have to write about today, but coffee comes first. See you later -