Time with Great Grandma

Sunday we were able to spend the day with my grandma & Cam's Great Grandma Schuth as my Uncle Keith from IL was in & able to bring Gram over to my parent's condo. I'm so glad that Cameron is getting to know my grandma since she has always held a special place in my heart.



My grandma would often babysit us as we grew up in IL & we would look so forward to the days spent swimming at her house. Family is the most important thing to my grandma so it would make her day when my dad would drop us off at her house on his way to work. I can still remember going in her back yard as the early morning sun was coming up over the trees & my grandma was braving the frigid pool water in the still cool morning. She was willing to freeze her cookies off just to make sure the pool was perfect for her little angels!



We would always have to "yell" at my grandma & tell her to please sit down & relax since she was always buzzing around, making sure we were completely taken care of. I have so many memories of my childhood that include my grandma & I'm so thankful that Cameron is getting to know the person who means so much to me. Now my grandma is having a lot of trouble walking which is frustrating the hell out of her since she thrives on being independent. It breaks my heart when I see her unhappy. Watching someone you love grow old isn't always the easiest thing. But I thank God for blessing our lives with this amazing woman.



And before heading home on Sunday, Cam was able to take a bath with his big cousin Mikayla who loved dumping cups of water on his head!

Sickie

We chanced it & dropped Cam off at daycare this morning since he didn't seem to have a fever this morning & was in good spirits. Well, besides the fact that he was still a little clingy & screamed as I tried to get ready for work. Oh & the fact that he had such a soft BM that it leaked out of his diaper & onto my clean scrubs & freshly washed bedding. Yeah, apparently we should have used our better judgment & kept Cam home.



Anyway, Mike got the call from daycare at around ten this morning letting us know that yet again Cam had a fever. Last night before bed I checked his temp & it was fine at 98.7, but apparently at daycare it was 100.8. So Mike left work & took Cam home & I arranged to have another dietitian cover my shift tomorrow. I'm so glad to have the day off since he definitely needs the TLC! I just took his temp before his bath & it was 100.7.



After Cam's nice, warm vapo bath, he was shivering as I got him in his PJs so I got him comfy cozy in his beanbag chair with his blanket. He's in good spirits & being an absolute trooper but you can tell he feels crummy. Mommy's lovin' tomorrow will be just what the doctor ordered!



And the little sickling was even able to muster up a smile for the camera & I'm positive my bugger will be better in time for Halloween where he'll be a football player. And as I type this, he's dancing with Daddy to the soundtrack from Scrubs! That makes a mommy happy to see!

Midweek Happenings

Today I spent the day at home with my little Cam in hopes that he'd start to feel better. His night was rough at first & he woke up a couple of times before midnight because he was coughing so hard. As I rocked him back to sleep, his head was soaked with sweat & it was clear that his fever had broken. He had no fever today, just an annoying cough/cold with a leaky faucet of a nose.



I finally got around to setting up his new Leapfrog Tag Reading System that he got for his birthday. Little did I know that the website would be so irritatingly confusing. And just like myself, Cam has no patience so it was not a good combo! I was seriously ready to throw the thing in the trash as Cam was crying & whining as I tried to navigate through the instructions online. Did I mention I have no patience?? But now it works & it's pretty cool, although Cam is not the best with books since he continuously flips the page as I'm trying to read. With his new reader, he taps it all over the page so the thing can't even spit out the words before he's on to the next page! Ahh, that kid, I tell ya!





But we had a pretty low-key day overall. He doesn't have much of an appetite but did manage to have some snacks at his snack table (as he talked to me with his mouth full, as you'll see in this picture above). He was very clingy & didn't want me too far out of his sight & that was fine by me. I laid out a big comforter on the living room floor & we played on it & snuggled as we watched TV.



And in other news, my sticky fingers cannot stay out of our Halloween candy bowl! And we're not even going to be home to pass candy so I have no idea why Mike bought those sinful treats that I'm unable to resist! I usually have more willpower than this, but I guess my hormones have gotten the best of me. I curse you, hormones! I curse you, cramps! I've been wearing my slouchy PJs all day, so I can only imagine how tight my jeans will be when I try to cram myself into them this weekend. That'll be a blast & a half.

What else is going on around here? Oh, although it's not yet Halloween, our Christmas cards were delivered today from Shutterfly. Since I utterly adore Christmas time, I want to be ahead of game so I can really enjoy myself & avoid doing any last minute scramblings. Anyway, that's about it for now. Hope you're all having a great week so far!

A Glorious Sunset!

Saturday night I enjoyed the gorgeous sunset from my parent's balcony & watched the sailboats glide through the Gulf. There were seven sailboats scattered throughout the water & I felt like I was watching Pirates of the Caribbean!





I missed the actual sun setting since I was busy playing with Cam at the opposite end of my parent's condo but at least I was able to enjoy the afterglow.





If I lived on the beach like my parents do, I could never grow tired or lose appreciation for this view!



Sunday Cam was able to spend time with his cousins who he loves so much! Maddy is always giving Cam some loving!



In other news, we got a call from Cam's daycare this afternoon, letting us know that he had a fever yet again. He's been battling a virus the past couple of weeks & randomly spiking a 101ish degree fever. When they see this at daycare, he's not able to come back until he's fever-free for 24 hours. And since we have no family nearby who are able to watch Cam, that means no work for one of us. So, tomorrow I'll be staying home & nursing my sickling back to good health.

As I notified work of the circumstances, I was reminded of the amount of "call-ins" we're allowed on a rolling calendar year. Mind you, I never call in sick for myself & I'm an incredibly reliable employee, if I do say so myself. And I do. With that being said, it stresses the crap out of me knowing that I have zero control over the amount of sicknesses Cam comes down with per year. Since January, I have been out of work three times due to Cam having a fever (the last one being exactly two weeks ago when Mike was away on business in Dallas). Just what I need is a little added stress & pressure when my child is feeling crummy! Oh the joys of being a full-time working mom! But, whatever, I'm going to enjoy spending the day, taking care of my little love tomorrow because being a mom is my number one priority!

Full Moon

Sunday morning I awoke to a little voice calling, Mama! Mama! earlier than I had anticipated. Cam normally sleeps till 7:30 but since he was sleeping in his pack & play at my parent's condo, he woke about an hour earlier than that.



We tip-toed into the living room & I quietly turned on the TV in hopes that Cam would watch quietly & avoid waking everyone else who were peacefully sleeping. Lucky dogs! My parent's living room borders the sliding door that looks over the Gulf of Mexico. I could see that it was still quite dark, but the Gulf was glowing under the light of the full moon. As it got a little lighter, I couldn't resist taking Cam down to the beach to enjoy the sight.



As we crept out the front door which view overlooks the inter-coastal, we were hit with the beautiful glow of the rising sun. Pretty cool to see the cool blue glow of the moon out back & the bold orange of the rising sun out front!



Cam absolutely loves to push the buttons for the elevator.



Just look at him jump for joy!



He was excited to be taking an early morning adventure with his mommy.



Looks like the moon is scoring a field goal in between the goalposts of the palm trees!







The chilly sand felt great on our bare tootsies!



We had the beach to ourselves & loved watching the moon set over the Gulf.



And as much as we enjoy seeing the sun set over the Gulf, it was a real treat to see the moon for a change!





It was a wonderful way to start my Sunday!

Finding Contentment

We all wear many different hats in our lives. Some of my hats include, wife, mom, daughter, sister, friend, Registered Dietitian, granddaughter, niece, Godmother, cousin, Aunt, daughter-in-law & sister-in-law. I'm thankful for every hat that I wear & each is very important to me & I want to do the best job with each one I wear. However, when all is said & done at the end of each day, I struggle to have the self-assurance that I'm spreading myself evenly enough & doing a good enough job with each role I play.

I often doubt myself & feel like I'm falling short in meeting my expectations. Am I attentive enough to my husband? No. There are many times he comes home as I'm scrambling around the kitchen to get dinner on the table before Cam has his next meltdown that I don't give him the warm welcome he deserves. Do I feel I'm the best mom I can be? Sometimes yes & sometimes no. When I am with Cam I do try my hardest to give him 100% of my attention, but that's not always possible. I wish I could spend more time with him, do more things with him & not ever lose my cool when he's having a tantrum. Am I the friend I would expect someone else to be to me? Not always. I don't always return their phone calls as quickly as I'd like, send the personal cards & letters I'd love to mail, have more girl's nights out or even girl's nights in. I often hear my mom say, I wish you'd call me more often. I'd love to drive down to see my sister, brother & their families more often.

I guess the picture I have in my mind for what I wish my life looked like isn't always within reach or realistic. I admit that I am a perfectionist, but certain aspects of my life just don't reflect that as much as I wish they did. I'd love to step on the scale in the morning & actually be satisfied with the number I see or look in the mirror & not scoff at my image. Consistently go to the gym four days a week, eat a wonderfully well-balanced diet. And as for my house, our bedroom closet looks like a bomb went off in it. There are many drawers & cabinets in my kitchen that need to be organized & cleaned out. I suppose I wish my life looked like an article from my Real Simple magazine, with every little thing organized & in it's proper place.

I suppose all I can really do is ask God to help me find contentment & peace because it's no fun going through life never feeling fully satisfied with myself or the things around me. And for God to allow me to stop comparing myself & my life to the things I read in magazines or see on other blogs. There are always going to be people in life who appear to have it all together, whose children are perfectly clothed, fed & behaved, but I'm sure they're struggling with similar insecurities & issues. I want to be satisfied with all the wonderful things I do have, rather than focusing on the things I wish I had.

What's For Dinner?

Tonight I made a recipe from my Food Network Magazine called Chile Chicken with Fries. I wanted to try something different & this seemed interesting. Click here for the recipe. After charring, peeling & chopping the poblano peppers, my hands are now feeling like they've been burned; especially under the thumb nail of my right hand. It's absolutely throbbing! I thought I washed them well enough after handling them, but apparently not! So if you decide to give this dish a try, take caution but don't let it prevent you from trying this recipe.

You might think that this dish would be very spicy with the large amount of poblano peppers, but it mellowed out as it cooked. The chicken was super tender from cooking in the liquid & the dish was served over the fries. Quite tasty!



The first picture shown was taken by me & the picture above was from The Food Nework's site. The dish ended up looking pretty much exactly as shown which rarely happens!

Pumpkin Time!

Saturday a big group of us headed out to Sweetfield Farms for a day full of Fall fun, pumpkins, hay rides & fresh air.





Here's sweet little Carter making his way through the maze of ropes.



And I could not resist a spin on the tricycle!



Cam & I were kings of the hay!



Man oh man do I love Fall!



But apparently Cam doesn't! Lets just say that he was a bit of a PITA on Saturday. He wanted nothing to do with his stroller & the second he was in, he'd shout Up, peeze! Up peeze! in a frantic voice. Just a tad annoying!



But overall, he had a lot of fun, I'm just exaggerating a little about how much of a PITA he was. Yeah, I tend to do that every now & then.



Leah loved checking out the cute little piggies!



And running free in the open field!



And Cam had a ball climbing up the tree house & going down the slide.





EEEK, the tree trolls are coming out of the woodwork!





Cam seriously loved watching the roosters. Carter enjoyed it too... that's until one decided to snack on his finger & make the poor bugger bleed! He'll probably fear roosters for the rest of his life!!





And another reason to be ecstatic & bursting at the seams with excitement is that Lauren & Josh are having a baby!!!!!!! Check out Lauren's blog for more details!



Time for the hayride! I kept singing, I like a hayride, I like a hayride instead of I like a sleigh ride, I like a sleigh ride! Um, yeah, I thought it was pretty witty at the time.



Us girls just hangin' on the hay ride! We missed Kelly lots since she was away for a girl's weekend at the beach. Okay, can't feel too sorry for her!



It's Lauren!





And here are the men, toting their pumpkins!



But, we got to bring home the sweetest, juiciest pumpkin in the whole patch!



Happy Fall, y'all!