Need Your Thoughts, Opinions, And Prayers Please

Today I broke down and bought Chester a diaper. It's solid black, so it doesn't really stick out, like I thought it would.

Point being: Chester is on medication for his epilepsy. 2 different kinds, but his seizures are still coming kind of frequently, as in 2 weeks to 1 month.

One of the medications affects his liver and the other affects his kidneys. Not a good thing, considering he is on high dosages of both. The next step is to visit the neurologist, which of course means $$$.

But the medication also constantly makes him pee. And this is not good because we are in a rented house, and there is no backyard. So I can't just let him outside to roam and be free, and where he does go to the bathroom is downstairs, when we spend a great deal of time upstairs.

I wouldn't mind this so much, but the last couple of days, he has wet the floor 4 times. Fortunately, I get it up before any damage, except to my temper and his pride. But the worst part of it all is that this happens only 1 hour after his last trip outside to do his business.

He used to be able to hold for the majority of the day. When I worked, he went outside maybe 5 times in a day, and then when I started staying at home, maybe 6 or 7. Now he pushes to go that much in just the morning...and there is still the whole afternoon, evening, and night to go through!

I try to time it to send him out no earlier than 2 1/2 hours after the last break, but 15 minutes later into starting the timer again, he is scratching at me to go. Or if I go downstairs for anything, such as change the laundry out, he thinks it's a sign to go again. And if I don't let him out? 15 minutes later there may be a puddle on the floor.

This diaper doesn't seem to be the best so far. It's a band that has elastic that wraps around his lower waist, but with the elastic, it also just bunches up. So is it really doing any good? Don't know...but when I took it off to let him go potty this evening (2 hours after his last break), he started peeing...and barely made it outside to finish off.

Ugh. I now know how mom feels when she had to deal with this in the past...all of those animals, too! (not all had issues, but if they did, lucky her got to deal with it...)

But this is Chester; Chestmutt; the big-eared dog that made us laugh so hard just a couple of years ago! I love this dog, but right now, I don't know where to go. I can't have Brylee sitting on the floor in a place that may or may not be clean from me accidentally missing it.

I also cannot help but look into his big brown eyes and cry because I got mad at him; this really isn't his fault. He didn't ask to have uncontrolled seizures. He didn't ask to not have a backyard so he could drive his owner mad wanting to be outside and enjoy the pretty weather...or to pee.

I really just needed to vent. I think our next move is to bite the big one and go see a neurologist, who maybe can help us get this problem solved, once and for all. And maybe it will be better for all of us...especially him...

Maine Maple Days

Sunday was the celebration of the trees creating sap, which becomes our yummy syrup!

How else does one celebrate here? By going to one of the many sugar houses, of course!

A pamphlet comes out with all of the festivities around the area, so we narrowed it down to who had the more interesting activities, including food, tours, animals, games...and of course location was slightly important, too, since we didn't want to drive 2 hours to be in one location for 20 minutes...

And in the end, we chose:














And now, for our fun in the form of pictures!


The morning started off with Cary and I seeing 3 deer on the way to church. One was even prancing until he saw us watching him!











This is an example of what a lot of our trees look like right now:










Scenic lookout on the way to the maple location










When we arrived, we parked a ways down and walked to the place. Only about a 10 minute walk, but when we got there, there were tons of people to see!




















We chose this location because they had ice cream with maple drizzled on top, maple whoopie pies, and animals to see. We also thought they had hamburgers and hot dogs, but when we got there, realized this wasn't the case. Just 3 lines to tour the sugar house where the syrup is made (all of the pictures didn't show much, just big metal containers), a line to sell their maple items, and a third line to go into the barn.










They had a guessing game to see if you could guess the total weight of all of the pigs...










Brylee liked to look at them, but couldn't give us a serious estimate













And they also had a contest to see who could name this calf. All Brylee could say was 'moo', and I bet that was already entered...


































When we left (about 30 minutes later), we were hungry, and found a little video store that also had ice cream and made some meals. I had a delicious, simple grilled cheese sandwich, and Cary had a BLT.

All in all, it was a good time, but perhaps next year we'll find a smaller place that doesn't have as many lines to stand in...

Happy Maple Days!

Project 52: 12/52 Hands

Like I have said a few times, I want to get out and about to learn more about my community as I do this Project 52. However, it might be slightly uncomfortable to ask a random stranger, or even a new acquaintance, to let me take pictures of their hands. So, here we resort to the safety of the baby.

This picture is of her introduction to Oreos...at least I think it is. And of course, they were a success!

Speaking of Oreos, you gotta try this recipe!

Storytime Drama...And Fun

I love storytime at the library on Fridays, and I think it's safe to say that Brylee does, too. She loves to interact with other little ones, and I love to meet and talk with moms.

Yesterday, though, was one of the more 'unique' days we've had so far.

Started with seeing a mom who said she is due to have her 2nd little girl any time now. She said 2 weeks ago that she thought it would be on Saturday (March 12), however, she and her little 13 month old, Molly, has been at the storytimes since.

Yesterday she told us that she is 5 cm dilated, but stopped labor, so she was sent home. This woman said that she delivered her first baby in 24 minutes...if I were her, I'd be so nervous about not making it back to the hospital in time, I'd sit in my car in the parking lot! Then again, Small Town is no more than 5 minutes from anything...so I told her that if anything happened, all the moms and librarians would be glad to watch her little Molly until relief could come...(which never happened, btw)

The first time we attended storytime, we were asked not to bring the beanbag chairs to the front because it causes drama. Which we got to experience first-hand yesterday. One little girl wanted to sit in a beanbag chair, and save the next for her friend, "Dora The Explorer".

Well, after 15 minutes of this chair not being occupied by anyone non-stuffed, Brylee couldn't handle it any longer, and I couldn't hold her anymore (she was determined to get away from me and was super wiggly), and headed for the beanbag chair occupied by Dora. This threw the other little girl into a major temper tantrum! Her daddy swept her up, told the little girl to share, and a couple of minutes later, Brylee was happily sitting in one chair, and the little girl was in the next chair. But somehow a 3rd chair got thrown into the mix, and little girl #2 refused to share it with anyone, including her little brother.

Sounds like the bean bag chairs just need to be put out of sight during storytime...

Next, we had a special guest, Clifford The Big Red Dog, come to say hello. The librarians warned ahead of time that this dog was really Elizabeth, the story-telling librarian, and not to be scared. Well, of course not everyone understood this, and once Clifford walked out, there was a big cry with tears streaming down a little boy's face. Mom went to comfort this little boy, telling him that it was only Elizabeth, but the little boy's sister apparently wasn't aware of anything going on because she was drinking from the water fountain, turned around, saw a giant red dog, and screamed at the top of her lungs, also pushing herself flat against the wall in the process. Poor mom ran to comfort her as well, stating, "We don't get out much"...Poor mom (and of course the little ones as well!). Miss Elizabeth removed the big red head after that...

And our little one? I expected her to get quiet and shy, not sure of what to do. But she tried to get into the face of Clifford, waving and saying 'hi'...and smiling big! I wanted a picture of this, but it's kind of hard to do when you are holding her to keep her out of the way of all of the other little ones who wanted to see Clifford. She took every opportunity she could to wave and say 'hi' to Clifford. I was so proud of her!

And finally, to end the storytime, cups of ice cream drizzled with maple syrup were served to everyone in celebration of Maine Maple Days (which is this weekend), and I barely got the kid into a chair before she grabbed a cup and spoon and was eating it all up! She made a mess, of course, but she enjoyed every bite she got into her mouth, and I loved watching her (with several napkins trying to keep her and the surrounding area somewhat clean...).

She might be oblivious to the drama earlier in the storytime, but it left me exhausted!

Exclusive!

One of our pappa-porters caught these two enjoying crackers together by a window in town just yesterday.

Did they become fast friends after the toddler whipped the alien in the fight last week? Or was this all a set-up???

Stay tuned for any updates we find on these two!

16 Months!

It's been a while since I have had a monthly update on this little one, and since moving here, so much has changed. It's like she's just suddenly become a 'little person'...

Let's start with eating. We put her back on Prevacid, but other than about 4 days of not being able to eat too well, she is eating anything she can get her hands on, including pizza, pasta, toast, apples and oranges...Of course many of these things are very closely monitored due to the awareness that any of it could come right back up at anytime. But surprisingly, she is loving Beech's Steamers, which is toddler food in a tub. Things like lasagna, mac & cheese, chicken soup-like things. She'll eat an entire tub in one setting--a huge improvement over just a few months ago! But her favorite food right now are crackers!

Not sure how much she weighs now, but at her last doctor's visit, she weighed in over 18 pounds. Someday she'll hit the big 2-0! Though we might be shopping for college books by that time.

Speaking of books, she L-O-V-E-S to read. She'll find a book and come screeching to you "Booooook!" to jump into your lap for you to read. Once you are finished with that one, she'll find another...and another...we typically read the majority of her boooooks in one afternoon, sometimes many of them twice.

My uncles got her this awesome program, 'Your Baby Can Read', and again, she loves it. It goes through words, like 'clap', 'drum', 'tiger', 'dog', 'nose', 'chimpanzee', 'yes'...the list goes on for quite a bit. It also plays songs throughout the program. Currently her favorite song is Itsy Bitsy Spider, and these videos play it several times, which makes her very happy. But also because of this cool program, she can point out her head, bellybutton, hair, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, fingers, toes, feet, hands, etc.

And words. Oh my the vocabulary this kid has!

Apple
Ball
Baby
Chester (pronounced 'Ches-ser')
Bottle
Belly Button
Cracker (pronounced 'cacker')
Juice
Water
Kitty Cat
Neigh (the sound a horse makes)
Moo
La (thanks to Moo, Baa, La La La!)
Bear
Meow
Mouth
Book
Momma
Dadda
All done
Spoon
Bump
Balloon (pronounced 'boon')
Moon
Boo
Papa
Bird
Car
Hi
Wow
Bye
Hot
Burrrr
Cold
Circle

Did I miss any? I'm sure I did...but point being, she is learning so much every day! Yesterday I tried to teach her to say T-Ma, which is proving to be the hardest of the grandparents to say, due to her lack of saying a lot of 't' sounds. So in the grocery store, I kept saying "t-t-t-t", and she would mimic back. Then I would say "T-Ma"...and she would look at me and say "t-t-t-t-apple". It's a work in progress! And mom says it's because Brylee knows she is the apple of her T-Ma's eye!

She is currently wearing both 12 and 18 month clothing, as she is tall enough for the 18 month, but they are still swallowing her. But the 12 month are starting to look a little short, but fit otherwise great...I still think that baby clothing makers should label their clothing based on weight instead of age...but that's a whole other battle!

She seems to be adjusting to Maine pretty well. She loves to go out and eat the snow, and so we'll bundle her up (somehow mommy always forgets to bundle herself up) and go outside so Chester can chase the ball and Brylee can play in and eat the fresh snow. Yes, I keep an eye on the snow to make sure it is not nasty!

Skype has been a blessing this last month, and Brylee loves to hug and kiss her T-Ma and Poppy whenever we do a video chat--and then she'll run around and play while I chat with them. Mom will read a story to her and that does keep Brylee's full attention. Even though I am not a fan of talking on the phone much, I love that this gives us the ability to let Brylee see them.

I'm sure I am missing a ton of stuff to add to this post, but I'm also pretty sure that as I think of them, I can write about it. That's the great thing about having a blog... ;o)

Hope all is well in everyone else's world, and we miss you, but Brylee loves to look at pictures of you in her 'booooooooks!'!

Project 52: The First 11 Weeks

And now...as promised, here are my pictures for Project 52 to catch up to everyone else!

I know it's supposed to be 1 photo per week, but I had a couple that I just couldn't resist putting up a second.

And now, without further ado, I present to you...my week in photograph!

1/52: Black and White


2/52: Food


3/52: Self Portrait


4/52: Reflection

5/52: Ennui

6/52: Red


7/52: Time

(a beautiful cloudy sky in the morning)

8/52: Pink


9/52: Patterns


10/52: Morning

(I'm trying not to take too many pictures of the kid, but this is how we spend our mornings)

11/52: Round

Found:

In the guest bathroom this morning, on top of spare rolls of toilet paper in a drawer.

Makes me miss you guys so much more, especially since it is the weekend, and this is when I usually get to spend time with you.

Will it ever get easier?

I have a question, though: how did it get on top of the spare tp when we weren't even stocked with it yet when you were visiting?

Toddler Vs. Alien (Warning: May Be Graphic For Some Readers)

In the first corner, weighing in at a ton.3: ALIEN!!! (appreciative golf clap)

And in the next corner, weighing in at a giggly 19-ish pounds: TODDLER!!! (hockey fight-type cheering)

DING! DING! Round 1 begins!

And toddler is out quick to grab the alien...as if the alien has never done this before. Oh! We start out with a neck-crick!


And without a moment's wait, Toddler moves directly into a neck hold! Oh this Alien didn't know what he was getting himself into coming to our planet!


Oh no! The kiss of death! I bet he now regrets asking the babies to take them to their leader!


Now she is carrying him around in the 'Oh isn't he so cute' cheek pinch!


Oh! I don't think I can watch this!


She is now swinging him around like he is filled with nothing but air!


Now there is a hare in the ring!


There's hare all over the place!


I don't know who's hare it is!....oh, oh! It's mine!


(Learn more about Spike Jones here)

And now we're back for Round 2 after that short distraction...

DING!! DING!!

Oh! That's gotta hurt (his pride that is)


Looks like the alien is going to be losing his first (and only attempt) title to a...(gasp!) girl! Soon-to-be champ pauses to give her award winning face!

And at the last second, Toddler decides to spare the alien's life and go on to greet her fans...


And what a great day it has been for Infant Sports. Our new champ shows the ultimate act of kindness by allowing the alien to keep his inflation, and hopefully she will continue to show the same sportsmanship for future endeavors.

Until next time, this is Mommy speaking for the McFadden Family Sports. Goodnight!

The Eyes Of Texas Are Upon You

This is the 'dry patch' in our backyard that has the only melted snow. Looks like the shape of Texas I draw...short panhandle and all!