Because I know you're all wondering....

(Actually, because I haven't had any adult interaction today and just feel like talking...)

Been a really long 24+ hours in our house. 

5:00: The Hubby starts feeling nauseous
6:30: The Hubby leaves for work party, leaving me alone with Baby Girl to do bedtime, etc.
11:30: The Hubby comes home and tells me about said nausea
12:30:  The Hubby wakes up to get sick for the first time.  I get up and go down to basement to sleep.  Upon failing to sleep (cable box is broken down there, so it was far too quiet for me and my thoughts), I come to the first floor, listen to him get sick, feel very nauseous myself, post on the blog, kick ass at a typing game on FB, watch Storage Wars until I pass out fall asleep on the couch (around 3:00).
5:30:  The Hubby gets sick for what will be the last time (knock on wood).
8:00: I wake up, scrub down the first floor and disinfect everything in sight.
9:15: Baby Girl wakes up (latest she's ever slept--I assume it's her body fighting off the sickness)
9:20: The Hubby tries to come downstairs and I send him back to our bedroom
10:30: Baby Girl and I go to my work to get my wallet, then to Target, then to CVS, then to Kroger.  If Target had just had what I needed and I hadn't forgotten my wallet at work, Target would've been the only stop.  I notice that I still feel nauseous (wondered if it was in my head last night, but now confirming that it isn't)
noon: Come home with Baby Girl, have lunch, play.  Give The Hubby a sandwich and my home remedy (onion juice and peppermint tea found here).
1:45 Nurse Baby Girl, put her down for nap at 2:10.  Check on The Hubby and he's sleeping.
3:45: Baby Girl wakes up and we play and have a snack.  Feeling very nauseous the whole time.  Had a nice time playing with her, though.
5:30: Fix and eat dinner of black beans and barley.  Sits fine for me and Baby Girl eats well over one adult serving. 
6:30: Build blocks, read books, played with Mr. Potato Head
7:30: Nursed and bedtime
8:15 (it was a long, drawn-out bedtime): Checked in on The Hubby.  He's just woken up from his "nap" that started around 1:30.  Brought him dinner and chatted for about five minutes.  Realized how much I've missed him today.
8:30: Cleaned up some things, talked to my mom on the phone, and here I am.  Still nauseous.

Praying that Baby Girl stays healthy.  Not sure when we can start to breathe.  Not sure when I can let The Hubby out of our bedroom, either.  Praying that this nausea is all I'm going to experience.  After consulting with some people who have had this bug, it sounds like most people don't feel nauseous for long before they get sick, so I'm hoping the bug is presenting in me as just nausea.  And I'm hoping I was successful in keeping Baby Girl from getting it.  No mouth kisses.  Hands washed so much they're raw.  Lysol used repeatedly.  Being out of the house for a couple of hours.  Giving her a probiotic (after taking one myself).  I've put a lot of work into keeping her healthy--I hope it was all worth it.

Scratch that plan

The Hubby and I both took off work 12/22 so we could prepare for our Christmas traveling--doing laundry, packing, finishing up gift-buying, wrapping, etc.  Then on 12/23 we were planning to head to the in-laws.

Not so much anymore. 

The Hubby got home from a work holiday party around 11:30 telling me that his stomach didn't feel good.  We're very aware of the stomach bug going around--his brother, sister-in-law, and our three nieces all had it the end of the last week and had to postpone sister-in-law's family Christmas until January because of it.  So when he told me that he was nauseous, I knew where this was going.  Somehow I was able to fall asleep, but was awakened about an hour later by him rushing to the bathroom....and then kept awake by the noises that followed.

After he came back out, he offered to go to the basement, where we have a guest bed set up.  I told him that I should go down there so he could be closer to the bathroom.  I took the baby monitor with me.  I tried to fall asleep down there (it really is a comfy bed), but kept fluctuating between anxious, mad*, and sad/disappointed and didn't have anything but my thoughts (our cable box down there died).  I couldn't sleep.

So here I am in the living room watching TV, feeling nauseous from either the anxiety or the actual stomach bug, waiting to hear Baby Girl awake, sick, trying to decide what I should do with her if she seems healthy in the morning.  Should we go out and about to minimize our interaction with The Hubby?  Should we go stay for a day at my parents' house? 

I worry about going to my parents' house because if we're carrying the virus already, I'd hate to take it down there.  I also would hate to delay the inevitable and end up with us sick on Christmas Day.  If we're all going to get sick, might as well have December 22nd be the worst day of our year.  But if Baby Girl and I can avoid it, I'd love that, obviously.  I have no idea what to do and know that sitting up at 2 a.m. isn't the answer, but just cannot sleep.  I'm going to go peek in on Baby Girl (she did cry out earlier, so I want to be sure she didn't get sick and fall back asleep or something) and then try again to go to sleep.  If I'm going to be fighting this with my entire being, I need to have some rest.  Heck, even if it's just that I'm going to be taking care of Baby Girl by myself, I need rest.

*Yes, mad.  I've always felt like The Hubby didn't take the care he should to avoid getting sick and/or bringing sickness home.  I realize that some sickness is a part of life, but I take as many precautions as I reasonably can--washing hands ALL.THE.TIME, using paper towels to open doors, using hand sanitizer or washing hands before eating, etc.  And he just...doesn't.  And maybe it's because he's not as paranoid.  But it seems that he's the one bringing this virus into our house, so part of me blames him (okay, a BIG part).

If you're easily offended, keep on moving...but if not, come on in!

I have two stories to tell that were hilarious when they happened in my bedroom.  Whether they're hilarious as told in my blog will be a totally different story.

Baby Girl's favorite game is peek-a-boo--it has been for months and months.  It seems that with each day, she play peek-a-book in a different way.  It started out just giggling when we'd hide, but now it's to the point that she will hide or even just put her hands over her own (or you) eyes and say "peek!"

Well, we were enjoying a relaxing morning in bed on Saturday morning.  I had just finished nursing her and we were snuggling and tickling and having a great weekend morning.  And then...she realized that she could play peek-a-boo.  Using my bra.  So she kept saying "peek!" and pulling my bra down (I should note that I still wear a nursing bra...so it's easy peek-a-boo access). 

Seriously, though...the game went on for like 5 minutes.  She'd pull down my bra, say "peek!", giggle, and hide it again.  Rinse and repeat.  The Hubby and I were trying to contain our laughter a bit so she didn't realize what an incredibly hilarious game this really was...we don't need to encourage her playing peek-a-boo like that in public!  I explained to her (although I know she didn't understand) that this is a game that we only play in mommy and daddy's room...we can't play peek-a-boo with mommy's boob in public.



This kid gets more and more clever every day.

Then Sunday morning she picked up something off the floor and said "cheese!".  Her "cheese" sounds really similar to her "please", so I had to look to see whether she wanted me to do something (thus the "please") or if she found some cheese.

I look in her hand and what do I see?  Something in a (mostly) white wrapper that *did* look an awful lot like a piece of string cheese...

A tampon. 

No, Baby Girl, that's not cheese...

Thrifty Thursday (on Friday): Gift Cards

'Tis the season, y'all!

Yep, this is the time of year when many restaurants start offering free gift cards when you buy a certain amount of gift cards.  For instance, Bob Evans will give you a $10 gift card when you buy $50 in gift cards from them.  20% extra exceed what you'll ever earn in fuel perks by buying your gift cards at the grocery store.

The idea behind this is technically that you could buy your friend a $50 gift card and keep the $10 for yourself, but if you typically eat there, why not keep all $60 for yourself? 

Look around at your favorite restaurants--you'll see many are participating in something like this.  We're creatures of habit, so we go to the same restaurants all the time.  We'll be buying at least $50 in Bob Evans gift cards, probably at least one gift card to Chipotle (or more!) (they are giving you a free burrito for every $25 gift card you purchase), and maybe an Outback Steakhouse gift card as a special treat to ourselves.

No reason not to treat yourself (and save money you would've spent anyway!) this holiday season. 

Enjoy!

Some days I just feel like quitting

I want this blog to be private-ish.  I don't care if most people read it, but I don't go advertising that it belongs to me.  I don't connect it with my FB account because I want to remain a little bit anonymous.  But do people I know IRL read?  Yep.  But they all know that these are my thoughts and feelings and they can't judge me for anything I write here.

And I'm still incredibly careful about what I write.  I have MANY posts that I want to write but don't feel I can because I don't want to offend someone.  I have people I've wanted to complain about, but held back, for fear that they might read my blog.  It's my blog, though.  Shouldn't I be able to write whatever the heck I want on my blog? 

The answer, you'll all tell me, should be yes.  But it's not. 

This is why so many people are going to private blogs.  I don't *want* to go private--reading a private blog can be a hassle since you can't (that I know of) put them into your blog reader and, therefore, have to remember to check in every once in awhile.  I like meeting random people through my blog--I've made a good friend because she found my blog (who I still have yet to meet in person...but someday!). 

But is the risk greater than the reward?  This is what I'm trying to decide.  I'm tired of censoring myself, of worrying that someone I know IRL will find this blog and be mad at anything I might have written.  I already take such care not to post anything that I wouldn't want read by someone I know, but then there are times I go back and read posts and think "eh, maaaaybe I shouldn't have written that because someone, somewhere could get offended".  Do I need that added stress?

Embarrassing Moment of the Day

I know it's been awhile since you've heard from me.  There is a lot I need to catch up on.  But I had to tell you all about this.

At the Christmas Holiday party for work.  Have been sitting for awhile and get up to put my coat on.  My boss (who is a woman who I am pretty close with....thank goodness) looks down and sort of makes a noise, asking what was on the floor.  I look down.  And I gasp.  It's a nursing pad.  From my bra.  On the floor.

I said, "Oh, that's mine."  I look in my shirt to be sure there isn't another one soon to follow.  She's looking at me funny.  I said to her what I wouldn't say to pretty much anyone else at work, "it's from my bra".  She laughs and tells me she thought it was a coffee filter. 

Crisis averted, I suppose.  But wow.  I was still glowing bright red, I believe!

Meal Plan 12/4-12/10

Sunday: Southwest Sloppy Joes (we didn't do the slaw) and Southwest Butternut Squash--this was DELICIOUS!  We all (all three of us!) wish we could've had it again the next night.  This will definitely be on our regular rotation.  I found this through my friend, Cassie's, food blog.

Monday: Baked Chicken Fingers and Baked Basil Fries

Tuesday: Vegetable Pizza--just going to throw some sauteed veggies, pizza sauce, and cheese on a pizza crust and cross my fingers!

Wednesday: Christmas dinner leftovers--I made a ham, green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and rolls (and a friend brought over corn casserole...and, honestly, I didn't do as much cooking as I typically do because I was with Baby Girl...story to come later), so we're planning to eat all this for dinner

Thursday: Breakfast Strata--made with leftover ham

Friday: BBQ Chicken Pasta

Saturday: Sesame Chicken and broccoli

We'll also have sweet potato fries with one of these meals since I have some leftover from last week.  Just need to figure out which night...might be tonight.

I also wanted to share one other recipe that I think I'm going to make at least once a week.  Seriously.  It's a hot dip using sweet onions, cream cheese, & parmesean cheese.  But I can't find the recipe.  So I'm going to keep you all in suspense until I find it.  But once I do....you'll really appreciate it because this dip?  I can't get enough.

Okay, I'm going to say it...

Baby Girl has been sleeping through the night for a week now.  Let's hope tonight is night number eight. 

She slept through the night on Thanksgiving night while we were at my parents' house.  She was totally worn out from the day and not getting a good nap, so we figured it was a fluke.  But then she did it the next night.

What was different about sleeping at my parents' house than at our own house?  Well, she was in a pack-n-play in the same room with us.  And we also had a space heater on, making it like 80 degrees in the room (my parents don't have heat or a/c upstairs b/c it's such an old house).

So we figured we'd try making her warmer at home.  We've started putting on a long-sleeved onesie underneath her pajamas.  And yesterday I went out and got her some fleece jammies (that are SOOOOO cute!!! These are them.)

And she's been sleeping through the night ever since. 

Seriously, kid?  You've just been COLD??????

Of course that hasn't been the case this entire time, but it's been our fix now.  Just wish we could've figured it out a few months ago!

Christmas Cards

My absolute go-to website for photo prints is Shutterfly.  I've ordered many photo books from them, including a wedding album that I put together for our parents (and am planning on putting together for us since we can't seem to get our shit together to order one through our photographer!).

Speaking of getting out shit together...I wanted to do photo birth announcements.  But didn't.  lol  I threw a photo into our holiday card last year for some people, but generally didn't get it done.  But when I was looking at announcements BEFORE Baby Girl arrived, I looked at these on Shutterfly.

I've previously also ordered Mother's Day and Father's Day cards from Shutterfly for our parents with pictures of Baby Girl (Shutterfly is always offering great promotions).

The best promotion they've done, though, is one that I think a lot of you may have read about at this point.  They are offering 50 free holiday photo cards for bloggers who write about their products!  I'm so stinking excited.  I had actually already put together the photo cards I wanted to use on Shutterfly when I realized that I should participate!

This is one of our favorite designs:

Another favorite is this one:

Although while trying to find the ones that I loved, I might have fallen in love with some others...  lol  After the holidays, I'll be sure to share the final product!!!