Thank You, Christy!

Indulge me for just one minute while I say thanks to a certain someone...

First off, Christy, I'm so sorry I wasn't able to say goodbye to you before you left to go back.

Next, thank you so much for the help you provided Nick and I this summer with our kids. You have no idea how grateful I am for your helping hand with both Tanner and Spencer. You have such a way with them that lets me see just a little bit as to what kind of mom you are going to be when the time comes! Not even I can keep Tanner as quiet as you were able to get him during sacrament meeting. That's pretty amazing. I'm grateful that you were so willing to take Spencer as well so that I could play the organ. He's such a cute little baby, isn't he?! I'd like a copy of that picture that Adam took of you and Spencer.

Last, good luck with the coming year. I know you'll do great! Things will go well for you as long as you put the Lord first and rely on Him in all your major decisions. That's what has helped in my life when things get tough! Study hard and have fun! You have the opportunity that I didn't with school. Make the most of it! I love you tons and I'm grateful for the friendship that we share! Enjoy yourself for me! I'll be keeping an eye on you through your blog and through Facebook, so don't do anything I wouldn't be proud of! Until we see you again....

Who Do You Think You Are?

So, I left church yesterday fuming!! Every second and third Sunday we have choir rehearsal after our meetings. Well, I stay to play the piano for it. I had just sent my husband and kids home so that the boys could take naps. I walk into where we rehearse and everyone seems to be leaving. Come to find out choir was cancelled that day due to lack of participation. That I wasn't sure about because there were plenty of people who stayed after specifically for choir. I was a little miffed about that, but that's not exactly what sent me into my upset mood.

As I was getting my things ready to leave with my mom and grandma, our choir director asks to speak with me for just a few minutes, so I'm thinking that he wanted to discuss choir music with me. How wrong I was! To preface this, I also play the organ for our congregation. I'm by no means an organist. I'm a pianist who does the best job possible at playing the organ as deemed possible.

So this guy proceeds to ask me if I was getting the list of hymns soon enough so that I could practice. I told him that I was. He then asks me if I had enough time during the week to practice those hymns. I told him that I didn't practice at all during the week. I didn't tell him this, but I knew the hymns almost by heart that I felt the need not to practice. By then I knew what he was getting at. He was insinuating that my playing was inferior to his standards. I proceeded to tell him that the mistakes that I make on the organ were mainly due to the fact that I stumble over my own fingers. And by that point, I was so upset by what he was saying that I didn't know what to say. I get really nervous still playing in front of that many people, but he didn't need to know that. He then goes on to tell me that he wanted me to practice more during the week, and that if I wasn't able to get a chance to practice that I should play the hymns during the time that I play prelude music before the meeting started. I was so aghast by what he was saying. Are you kidding me?

My feelings were so hurt. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Who was he to tell me that my hymn playing was sub-standard?! He doesn't play the organ, and you know what, I'm doing the best that I can for what little knowledge I have. I just couldn't believe it. I left absolutely fuming. It was like having a music professional tell you that what you're good at wasn't very good. So now, every Sunday, I'm going to be completely self-conscious about my playing. Thanks a lot buddy! So irritating! I guess since he is our ward music chairman, that he feels it's his responsibility to make everything "perfect". You know what, I'm good at playing hymns. Who do you think you are to tell me that I'm not doing a very good job? Here's what I have to say to that, "Bite me!"

Mmmm...Peaches!

It's peach season here in our neck of the woods. I decided a few months ago that once peaches were in season I was going to buy a whole mess of them and bottle them. I'd never bottled anything before, so I was going to learn a new domestic trade. In June, just two days before I had Spencer, my mom taught me how to make and jar strawberry jam. So I figured why not peaches? So on my way home from physical therapy last week, I stopped by the local farmers market, paid $10.00 for a 1/2 bushel of seconds peaches and brought them home. They were a little hard, so I set them out on a folding table on the covered porch to let them soften just a bit.

The following day, I took Tanner out on the porch to play. Thinking he wouldn't mess with the peaches, I just let him play while I read in my book. I'm reading the Twilight Saga, by the way. Great books! But I digress. Anyway, Tanner realized that there were peaches on the table and decided that he wanted one. He went over, grabbed one from the table, which is just a little bit over his head, and commenced to chow down on the peach. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen. He sat down and just ravaged the peach to death. So after eating half of a huge peach on his own, he decided that he was done and tossed it aside. Funny kid, that one!!

I was able to bottle 16 quarts of fresh peaches to save for my kids to eat throughout the winter. I was so proud of myself to have accomplished that feat. No pun intended, but it was great to see the fruits of my labors!! I haven't decided yet if I'll go back and pick up some more peaches to bottle, so we'll see. I have decided though that during the peak apple season here I'm going to get a whole lot of them and have my mom teach me how to make applesauce. I can't stand the applesauce from the store, but if it's homemade, I can't get enough of it! I'm really looking forward to that.

Can You Go Through the Terrible 2's at Age 1?

Tanner is now 14 months old, as of yesterday, but he is starting to throw tantrums - major tantrums! He likes to get really upset when you bring out the camera, when you're on the computer, or any other mechanical device that he cannot have. I was taking some pictures of him the other day when he was out on the porch and this is what happened when I wouldn't let him play with the camera. He's a funny kid! However, as quickly as he gets upset, he turns it off and is as cute as can be! He is a major goofball.

Tanner likes to push buttons on whatever he can find. He now knows how to open our DVD player. He thinks that's the greatest thing. He also pushes the power button on the cable box, on the TV, and whatever else he can push. It cracks me up because he takes his little finger and holds it out when he's 3 feet away from the button so you know what he wants to do. He's going to get that little finger into trouble one of these days!


He loves being outside. Anytime a door opens, he drops whatever it is he's doing and races to the door. When the door closes without him on the other side of it, he gets really upset and screams. Wow does he scream! We're planning a family camping trip the end of September. He's going to be in heaven. He'll never have to go inside!! I can see it now.

Spencer is growing ridiculously. I took him to his 2 month check up at the pediatrician last week and found out he's doing marvelously! He's a giant. He now weighs 14 lbs 4 oz. He's 25 inches long. That puts him in the 97 percentile for both height and weight. He's huge!! But, he's so adorable! He fell asleep on my dad's knee while my dad was rocking him to calm him down. He's such a smiley kid. He's really starting to make lots of noises. He's a pro at making spit bubbles. He's a big thumbsucker. He's really getting good at getting his thumb in his mouth. I think it's the cutest thing ever! Spencer has got some wild hair. We put mousse or gel in it after his bath just to keep it laying down. However, that doesn't help anything. His hair still manages to stick up everywhere. We have Nick to thank for that! Thanks, babe! It always amazes me to watch my kids grow up and learn new things. I just marvel at all the things that they can do, even at their young ages. I love it!

New Look

As you can see, I've been playing around with the layout of our blog. A friend of mine just started her own blog and had an incredibly cute background, so I of course wanted to join the fun. So I went searching for cute backgrounds. I found a number of different ones, but this one was simple enough and I really like the look of it. And if you're looking at the picture of my family, you may be saying to yourself, "doesn't she have two kids?" Yes I do have two kids, but we don't have a picture with all four of us yet. I plan to remedy that soon. I told Nick that for our anniversary in November, I want to have professional family photos done outside. Of course, having them done outside will cost a little bit more than having them done inside, but I absolutely love the fall here on the east coast, so that's what I really would like done. Whether or not we can afford to have them done is a different story. But in the mean time, I'm hoping to just get one or two quick snaps taken with our measly camera. Enjoy the new look. As I get bored with my background, which will probably take quite a long time, I might venture to change the colors around, just to keep it interesting!

Erythema Multiforme (minor) - What?

This is what Tanner looked like on Sunday after having the doctor tell us that this was an allergic reaction to the Augmentin antibiotic he was on for an ear infection. These spots were all over his body. Looks pretty bad doesn't it?

Monday morning, I walked into Tanner's room to get him up for the day. I figured that since he had been off the antibiotic now for 24 hours that the red welts would have cleared up just a little bit. How wrong I was to think that!!! When I walked into his room, Tanner's face was all swollen, the red welts looked 100 times worse than the day before. They had spread over about 70% of his body. I freaked out. I immediately called the pediatrician, and of course, no one answered because it was before they opened. I then called my mother-in-law and asked her to come with me to the children's hospital in Wilmington (she goes there regularly for appointments for her younger boys).

This what Tanner looked like on Monday. The ER doctors at the children's hospital told us that the rash is called Erythema Multiforme. It's a rash that's caused by either an underlying virus or from an allergic reaction to antibiotics. They weren't 100% sure because he had a virus, as well as taking antibiotics, so they said from now on that he was not to be prescribed Amoxicillan or Augmentin because he was "allergic" to both of those. The rash takes on a "bulls eye" form, being that the welts are red around the outside with a pale center - just like the department store Target's logo. The welts migrate around his body so the appearance of the welts changes many times throughout the day. It's going to take 2-4 weeks clear up they said, but in the mean time, it will look a whole lot worse before it will start to look better. However, it's not a harmful thing, other people can't get it so he's not on any medication for it. It's just uncomfortable being that it itches or it burns. We give him children's Benadryl for discomfort.

My little boy looks terrible!! He looks like he has some awful disease. The doctor's say that it's worse for the parents than it is for the child. That's comforting a little bit. Thankfully Tanner is acting himself. He's into everything today and he won't take his nap this afternoon because he's jabbering and playing in his crib. I'm ready to change pediatricians. I haven't been too thrilled with my current pediatrician and how they've handled all of this. I haven't decided yet, but I will be looking into another pediatrician's office just to check them out. At least now I can sleep a little easier knowing that my son isn't in any kind of immediate danger from being sick for over 10 days and not seeming to be getting better. I love him so much and it kills me to see his body all distorted. I'm ready for him to be back to normal again!!

Will It Ever End?

I stayed home from church today because I was feeling sickly. My mom took Tanner with her to church to meet up with Nick who had to be there early today. Nick called close to 11:00am and said that he was coming home with Tanner. Tanner was looking pretty splotchy so Nick wanted to bring him home. He stopped by a pharmacy to get some children’s Benadryl and to speak with the pharmacist about what might be causing the red spots on Tanner’s body. The pharmacist suggested that Nick take Tanner to the emergency room to have him checked out. So that’s what Nick did. He stopped home before he left and I got a look at Tanner.

He had red welts all over his body. He had two spots under his eyes that were swelling. I checked his body out and there were red spots all over his back and belly, ears, knees, hands, and feet. He looked pretty bad. Nick eventually got home and told me that the doctor said that it was a reaction to the dosage of medication that Tanner was taking. He had been put on Augmentin for his ear infection, and apparently the dosage was too high, and that was what was causing the reaction. We were told to stop the antibiotic and to give him Benadryl 3 times a day until the splotches went away.

Tanner woke up after a 2 hour nap and he looked pretty bad. His whole face was covered in red spots and welts. His body had the same spots all over it. His fingers were swollen in places, as well as his toes, and under his eyes. He had spots on his knees, ears, and back of his neck. It was a hard thing to look at. But, through it all, Tanner was still his happy-go-lucky self. He’s such a trooper. This week has been rough for him with high fevers, ear infections, cutting an eyetooth, and now this reaction to the medication. Poor kid!!