A Day with the Ducks

Cherie had this great idea to picnic at the pond near her house this weekend. The weather was perfect for it - not a cloud in the sky, not a raindrop nearby, and the perfect temperature and breeze. I'm sure my allergies will pay for the outing we had, but I so enjoyed being out of the house, feeding the ducks, watching Banner run around, and enjoying a nice lunch with friends. Here are some pics from our fun day with the ducks!

Duckie Sandwich!

Avery walking with Banner

Avery and Landry

Alan & Marin

Loving the bridge

Banner wanted to see through the cracks

Everyone (but Mommy) on the bridge

Silly Jed

Sweet cousins

Landry & Marin walking with their daddy and Papa

Banner giggled at the duck with his tush in the air

Wearing Daddy's sunglasses

Mr. Cool

Valentine's Day Bash

I've always thought Valentine's Day was a bit over-rated. I've never been a huge fan of it, and when I was single, it never really bothered me to not have a "Valentine" to celebrate with. It's simply a silly holiday that puts way too much pressure on everyone - men, women, parents, kids, teachers. And, honestly, every day should be a day spent telling the ones we love just that - that we love them! But... the silly holiday certainly gives us a good reason to have a fun play date. So, this year, we had:

Banner's Valentine's Day Bash 

at his "bachelor pad." We invited some of his age-group friends to share in a play date at our house with a few treats to honor the day of love. And, while I still think the holiday is unnecessary, the play date was nice and gave us a good opportunity to see some friends at our house. Here are a few pictures from the day's events. 

"CHEESE!"

"How many more times do I have to say CHEESE!?"

Ella going in for a kiss!

Sami, Zeina, and Adam were our first guests!

Play time break for some berries

Banner & Ella

Miss Myka

Cousin Brycen showed up in the same outfit!

"Why are you wearing what I'm wearing?!"

CUTIE!

My giggly boy

Brayden & Myka enjoying a lunch date

Shootin' some hoops

Just checkin' out what Myka's eating for lunch

Play time outside!

"Wee!"

Brayden

Shayna

Myka

Brycen

After the play date, I headed to the hospital where my mom was just being moved to the recovery room after a surgery she had today. Sam had been up there while I was entertaining, and once he got home, I spent the afternoon waiting to see her. Thank goodness her surgery went well, and she was in good spirits this evening. Hopefully, she'll be home tomorrow afternoon, settling in at home and feeling well. THAT is my Valentine's Day wish!

Once home, Sam, Banner, and I enjoyed a delivered meal from our favorite Chinese restaurant. No clean-up, no hassle, and no worrying about what to make! Great V-Day gift for me! Then, Sam gave me my Valentine's Day cards - SO not expecting this. I told Sam I had not even thought about cards and that I felt badly for not getting him or Banner anything. He, sweetly, told me that the play date today was my gift to Banner, and that was enough for him, too! Oh, how awesome my husband is!

Later, Sam and I had our "traditional" chocolate fondue dessert after Banner went to sleep. We were out of regular chocolate chips, so we improvised with left-over Hershey's Kisses from the play date. We decided this was the best chocolate fondue recipe we've used. Here's the recipe:

5 oz of Hershey Kisses (yes, we unwrapped each one as we weighed them out!)
1/4 cup of half-and-half
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
*Melt Hershey Kisses in bowl over boiling water. Stir in half-and-half. Once blended and melted, remove from heat and add vanilla extract. Stir well and go to town with your favorite dip-ables (marshmallows, strawberries, bananas, pound cake, etc)! YUM!

My cards from Banner & Sam

From Banner

Unwrapping and weighing the Kisses

One of the worst pics of us, but at least we got one!

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day! Over-rated or not, it's a good reminder to keep telling all those special people in your life that you love them! And, oh, how I love my family and friends!

20-Month Newsletter

Dear Banner,
In the 20's this month!! You are more and more fun each day, and in my opinion, cuter and cuter - as if that were possible! :) This month was kind of boring compared to the past few - as we settled in to 2013 and laid low through January since both of us have been sick on and off. You had a bout with a cold: runny nose, icky chest cough, and a glassy-eyed look that kept me worried about you, although you never had a fever, and you never seemed phased by the cold. We tried Dimetapp and a humidifier for about 5-6 nights, but nothing really helped. Perhaps it wasn't a cold - maybe allergies... after all, that's what has kept me feeling awful this month. I sincerely hope you don't have my allergies, though. It's truly awful - runny nose, itchy ears and throat, watery, itchy eyes, sneezing, tingling nose. Anyway, the worst thing about you being more aware of your runny nose is that you want to wipe it on anything... and I mean ANYTHING: walls, floor, table, couch, me... anything! I have to keep tissues readily available, and even though you will use a Kleenex from time to time, your first reaction is to bend over and swipe your face across any surface. ICKY! Luckily, I've quickly learned your little "where can I wipe my nose" face and try to catch your nose with a welcoming Kleenex before it meets an unsuspecting person or surface.

Also, this month, your vocabulary continues to boom. We've added: wind, pizza, jacket, help, trash, sun, wheel, towel, drive - just to name a few off the top of my head. By far, my absolute favorite this month is "AWESOME!" The first time I heard you say this was when we were watching Yo Gabba Gabba, and DJ Lance Rock said what he always says after the "Super Music Friends Show" ends, "Listening and dancing to music is ... AWESOME!" Well, as he said it, you said it with him! Now, every episode we watch, you say it with DJ Lance, and sometimes you say it just when you are playing. It is, without a doubt, AWESOME!

You are also starting to put two words together: "more bus," "bye-bye train," "no, Mommy," for example. I'm officially counting it now, since before I wasn't sure if "all done," or "thank you" counted as putting two words together. Now, you are stringing different ideas together, which makes me think this is really what "they" mean by two words together. Oh, and you're mastering possessives, too. For a week or so, you seemed confused by when to use them - often calling me "Mommy's" or calling Daddy "Daddy's," but now you've got it. You will point to a cup and say, "Babber's" (for Banner's) or my keys and say, "Mommy's."

You continue to be VERY into cars, trucks, trains, planes, and buses. We just got a train track and some trains, and you are obsessed. You could play with the cars at Grandma's house all day! You are constantly wanting to "see, see" a bus, a train, a plane that you hear whiz by. You are obsessed with YouTube videos of buses and trains. When we visited the Kazmann boys, you were in heaven with Caden & Everett's plethora of vehicles - and you especially loved the construction cars/equipment.

If you had asked me in college if I would EVER use the phrase "all boy" to refer to any child, I would have laughed in your face and told you how awful that phrase is - to stereotype like that is simply disgusting and unfair to kids. But, my boy - you simply are "all boy." I want to slap myself and barf all over the keyboard as I type that out, but it's true. You love a great game of chase, love to be loud, love to run and climb, love blocks and, like I said above, all types of transportation. You even laugh like a little boy now, although mostly when you're kind of faking it... it's more of a growl laugh, deep from the back of your throat. You even love turning big boxes into cars that you "drive" and "beep, beep."

But, you are my all-sweet boy! You still like to cuddle at night before bed. You are needing to be rocked a little longer these evenings. You love your pacis, and you'll gladly go nap knowing you get some quality time with them! You like books, playing with your cousins, dancing to music, helping empty the dishwasher or putting your dishes in the sink, and giving impromptu kisses. You're getting more daring with doing movements to songs like "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes," and "Wheels on the Bus." You also can chime in on certain songs like "Twinkle, Twinkle, "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep," "Wheels on the Bus," and "ABCs." I LOVE that!

So, yes, a boring month, but one filled with lots more development, growth, words, play, fun, and LOVE! I love you so much, Angel. I wish you an amazing 20-month birthday!

Love,
Mommy

Rheumatoid Awareness Day

Almost 4 years ago, when I started this blog, I never would have imagined that my posts about my musings and political opinions about engagement and marriage would turn to a discussion about Rheumatoid disease - let alone a day devoted to its awareness. I kind of miss those "hot topic" posts that got me into trouble and sparked amazing conversation. But, here we are - a wedding, a kid, and a diagnosis later - and I'm blogging about the first ever Rheumatoid Awareness Day.  The Rheumatoid Patient Foundation explains that February 2nd of each year will now be a day devoted to "giving people with the chronic illness known as rheumatoid arthritis, or rheumatoid disease, a day of recognition."

While I'm glad there is a day devoted to this, I don't really need the day. I need a cure. I need proper medication. I need people to understand this disease better. Yet, since this is a slow process, I will go ahead and take advantage of the day and of having this blog to post information about RA. My most favorite thing I need people to understand is this (taken from Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior's blog):

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) has an ill-fated name. Things sometimes do: spaghetti squash is not pasta; a hot dog is not a dog; we park on a driveway and drive on a parkway.

“Rheumatoid” is a reference to rheumatic fever which is not at all related to Rheumatoid Arthritis. The word “rheumatic” comes from an ancient Greek word for “flow,” which reflects a primitive understanding of medicine. By the eighteenth century, a similarity was noted between the painful symptoms of rheumatic fever and those of what we call Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Of course, we all know what “arthritis” means: literally, inflamed joints. Technically, Rheumatoid Arthritis is completely unrelated to the condition most people call “arthritis”: osteoarthritis.

Doctors call osteoarthritis by that name now so that it can be distinguished from Rheumatoid Arthritis and many other diseases using that word. Some do refer to Rheumatoid disease or autoimmune arthritis, but that can also refer to Lupus, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Juvenile Arthritis, or Psoriatic arthritis. Maybe we just need a better name for Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Likewise, a CNBC article states that "one goal of this initiative is to overcome the misconception that rheumatoid disease is a form of arthritis. While the disease usually affects joints, the disease process is not the same as osteoarthritis. RPF founder Kelly Young points out, 'joint inflammation is a prominent symptom of this disease for most patients, but it's a disservice to refer to it as merely a type of arthritis.' She explains, 'Just today a patient posted about the severe effects of her rheumatoid lung disease, saying her joints feel better than they have in years.'"

It's obvious that even many doctors don't know the difference between osteoarthritis and RA, and therefore they cannot possibly understand it - or me! At my most recent OB/GYN annual exam, my doctor told me that the diagnosis must be wrong because I'm "too young to have arthritis." Clearly, he doesn't know what I know, doesn't read the literature or know others who are even younger than I am and have RA, and doesn't know to leave the diagnosing of such diseases to the rheumatologists. (As Sam put it - so eloquently - after I told him what the doc said, "He wouldn't want rheumatologists diagnosing placenta previa or ovarian cysts, would he?")

Living with RA on a daily basis often feels like Groundhog Day. Every day I wake up, wondering what my prognosis will be for the day. Will my jaw open? Will my knees hold me up? Will my elbows straighten? Will my wrists give out? Will my fatigue and swelling hold out long enough for me to enjoy my day with my boy? Will I be able to pick Banner up from his crib with ease, or will I have to muster enough courage and strength and willpower to just suck it up and endure the pain in my wrists and/or elbows? Will I be able to get on and off the floor - at Mommy & Me, at Storytime, at our play group - without completely embarrassing myself? Will I be able to get off the toilet seat with ease, or will my knees be so weak or swollen that I'll have to use the counter, doorway, or door for help off the seat? Every.single.day I have to wait to know how my day will go, wondering how much longer this nonsense will persist. Needless to say, I'm hoping for an early spring! 

One of Sam's favorite things to do on Groundhog Day is watch Groundhog Day, the movie. In the film, the main character must relive the same day over and over again. This is just like RA, in that the same things happen over and over again. My body is constantly fighting the same war. My mind is constantly battling the same issues. And, medicine after medicine doesn't work. And, I wish more people understood the disease, as I'm having the same conversations over and over again... although I'm THRILLED when people want to learn, to understand, to become aware, so that part I don't mind so much.

Anyway, in the hopes that you might want to learn more, I'll leave you with some further reading about RA, if you are so inclined to "celebrate" this day of awareness.

-What is RA, Anyway?
-Difference between RA and Osteoarthritis
-Basic RA Facts
-RA Awareness Day
-Previous posts on my blog about RA: here, here, here, and here.