School Girl

Just three weeks ago, Anna started school . . . for three hours on Friday, that is. It's really a funny story of how it all happened. My friend had her little one on a waiting list at UCC Weekday School. She received a call about a new 1-year-old class for Fridays, but they were short one student for the class to "make." So I thought, what the heck, I'll call the school. Sure enough, we were in. Just like that. What makes me laugh even more? Two days before she started, I decided I probably should actually visit the school. I know all these moms who visited multiple schools and spent hours researching educational philosophies--and rightfully so, I might add. But how absolutely funny is it that I sort of accidentally enroll her in a year of school; yes, that is so me. (And Aunt Lori, it looks like my college visions of parenting weren't too off: a.k.a., me being horribly late, stopping at the curb, waving goodbye to a child in wrinkled clothing. "Have a good day, honey." Ha!)

But back to the point.

Anna really, really likes Friday school, as we call it. She it also totally OBSESSED with her lunch box, which she carries and holds on the way to school. Her teacher is wonderful, allowing them to paint a lot. This is a big treat for Anna because painting and toddlers make me very anxious. It's a stretch for us to use watercolors at home. So imagine Anna's delight when Ms. Jaclyn brings out the squirt paint and cars to roll through it. (Be still my heart.)

Here are pics from her first day: Yes, those white pants are now ruined.

September in Pictures, Well Mostly

I recognize this is a picture assault and overload, but, hey, I am a working mother and I'm fitting in this whole blogging bit. Don't judge. :-)

I know, I know, the aunts, friends, and grandparents from far and away are going to be upset I've yet to blog (and most important post pics) of that very special first day of "school" last week. Stay tuned. That scoop is on its way.

But here's what else has been happening in September besides school:

Anna is growing too big!

She can climb now . . .  

Do you catch a hint of pride at conquering this mountain called "Ottoman" AND putting a puzzle together all at the same time? Talented? Oh yes. 

Yep, she mops. 

And . . . let's just say, she's becoming very interested in clothing/dress up. The following pictures will show the progression from one evening where she kept bringing me different articles of clothing to put on her. 

(Excuse the extremely pasty woman in the background. Oh, and the laundry.) 

We call this her "drugged on Vicks hippie chic" pic. I continue to train her well in the healing powers of Vicks Vapo Rub. 

Notice the Vicks again? These pics were taken weeks apart. So, as you can see, September's been a sick one. Boo.

We had the allergy attack and all. This pic is from her appointment with the allergy doc, which revealed a nasty sesame food allergy.

But boy, did she have fun staying with Mimi and Daddy Pa for TWO nights! She got to swim too while she was there.  

Just riding with mom in the car, looking adorable as usual. 

The hair is a'growin'. 

She vacuums too (thanks Aunt Jennifer!) Bryan plans to video so we have proof that she does LIKE to vacuum just in case she ever gives us grief about it in the future. Ha!

Looking at the cars go by with Mama.

Anna is a fan of carrying a purse (like Mama). She keeps her arm up like that the entire time. 

While she can't yet reach the pedals, she's a fan of her new bike, thanks to cousin Amelia's gift.

The weather is nicer and to the park we go. 

Open Sesame: Anna's Allergy Identified

Here's the good news: Anna is not allergic to shellfish, peanuts, garlic, soy.

She's mildly allergic to green peas, corn, and Brazil nuts.

And what food ranks a 4+ out of 5 on the allergic scale--and was the cause of our ER visit? Drum roll, please . . . . . . sesame seeds. The hummus had tahini in it. Guess what's in tahini? Mhmm, sesame.

Also, I wasn't terribly thrilled when the doctor described allergic reactions as "unpredictable." This was in response to my question: Since Anna reacted with hives and swelling, will this likely be her usual reaction? Thus, we are now a four epipen family.

While I am thankful sesame is not as common as peanuts and soy, changes will be occurring around the Youree household. No more hummus. No more Sesame Chicken Lean Cuisines. No breads with sesame seeds. No Asian or Mediterranean restaurants for Anna. No restaurants where they serve sesame seeds on breads or in foods. Yes, even if someone were to eat something with sesame and then kiss Anna, there's a chance she'd react. This allergy thang ain't no joke.

In fact, the area on her back where they tested for sesame . . . it was still slightly swollen this evening. That's after antihistamine cream yesterday and a full dose of Zyrtec.

I still have quite a bit of research to do regarding what she can and cannot eat, but I do feel relieved now that we've pegged the allergy culprit . . . and that we have a plan if, God forbid, she has another allergy attack.

Nailed It: The Second ER Visit

While oohing and aahing over the wood floors discovered underneath the torn-up carpet and while chatting with our contractor on the phone about interior doors, yesterday, I stepped on a nail connected to a piece of wood.

The nail went through my shoe and . . . well, into my foot.

I'm not exactly sure what I said to the contractor completely. I just remember saying, "I have to call my husband."

And that I did.

While he was figuring out how to get to me quickly, I hobbled to the front porch, where one of the construction guys, the painter, and the dry wall fella all hovered around me, asking various questions. I just kept saying, ahem, yelling, "Don't touch my foot." Each one tried to convince me to let him pull it out. Not. on. this. planet. pal.

Twenty minutes later, the hubs arrives complete with first aid kit. After some talking, he pulls out the nail. And thankfully, it had not pierced me very deeply. It felt so much better after it was removed.

But guess where we were headed? Yep, the ol' emergency room--for the second time four days. Thank heavens, there was no wait and I had my Tetanus last year. So no needles for me. I'd had enough puncture for one day.

If you know me at all, you know I HATE needles with a strong, unwavering, eternal passion. So here I am in a hospital for the second time in one week . . . a hospital full of needles . . . because I had a nail in my foot.

The irony? While I waited on the doctor in the ER, Bryan went to pick up Anna's epipen. Now I carry a needle in my purse! A needle is always with me.

I'm about to faint just writing this. :-)

Anna's Allergy Attack

Saturday did not go as planned.

Anna had just finished her lunch. Bryan was in the living room eating his lunch while watching college football. Of course, Anna HAD to take a bite of his food too. He gave her a pretzel with a tiny bit of hummus on it . . . an amount maybe the size of the end of my finger. She didn't like it; spit it out. Within 30 seconds, she was batting at her mouth, rubbing with both fists. I tried to give her some milk because we thought she was trying to get the taste out of her mouth. She wouldn't take the milk. Since it was her nap time--well, actually 45 minutes past her nap time, I started with the whole nap routine. When she wouldn't stop rubbing her mouth, we gave her 1 mil of Benadryl just in case. She went to sleep quickly. I mentioned to Bryan after I laid her down (she went to sleep while rocking, which is unusual too), that she was breathing hard before she went to sleep. Something just seemed off; I thought maybe she was really tired from all the errands we ran Saturday morning.

Bryan headed to Home Depot, and I sat down to eat my lunch. And thank God I wasted time on Pinterest and didn't get in the shower as I planned. About 30-40 minutes after I laid her down, I heard her make two yelps. Immediately, I knew something was wrong. I entered her room to find her eyes nearly swollen shut with hives all over her face. It seemed her whole face was red. She was rubbing her eyes as hard as she could.

I scooped her up. Found my purse and dumped its contents until I spotted my phone. Called Bryan for the appropriate Benadryl dosage. Administered the medicine. Called Bryan back. I think I said "We're going to the hospital" just as he was saying "Go to the hospital."

While I got her in the car and drove to the ER at Cook's, Bryan called the triage nurse to let him know we were on our way. Thankfully, we live two minutes from the hospital; and thankfully, as I walked in the door with Anna, the registration lady pointed me to triage without saying a word. A nurse was waiting on me at the door, immediately listening to Anna's lungs and air paths. Hallelujah, only "lightly" wheezing. 

We were whisked (literally it felt like "whisked") away to a triage room. In just the 10 minutes it had been since she had the Benadryl, the hives were noticeably better but still there. Bryan arrived at this point. Here's a pic from the triage tent:

We were taken to a room to wait for the doctor. She still looked like this:

Really, the pics don't do it justice. You can't make out the hives and you can't tell how blood-shot her eyes were, not to mention the hives on her arms and legs. Because the Benadryl thankfully stopped the progression of the attack, we didn't see a doctor for a while.

Here's how we passed the time:

This is how she looked when the doctor came . . . way better, but still swollen enough for a epipen and dose of steroids. We had to wait two more hours to see how she reacted to the meds.

She ate a lot. :-) And was sooooo good the entire time. In fact, the only time she fussed was around 5:00 when I know she was starving. It did freak me out at first that she wasn't crying, i.e. when I got her out of the crib and while it was so intense. She wasn't talking, nothing. But thankfully, after about two hours, she started acting like herself--happy and silly.

Around 8ish, we were hoping to get a clean bill of health to go home. But Bryan and I began to notice a rash around her chin and eyes and hives reappearing in her elbow bends. Thirty minutes later, her eyes were swelling again. The doc checked, gave more meds, and told us to wait another hour.

Here's what Anna wants to tell you: "Mom let me watch three shows (Baby Einstein movies) in a row on her computer!"

By 10:30, the doctor felt comfortable for us to leave. And that we did with three prescriptions in hand. Thank God for an end to a really scary, stressful day. And praise God for keeping our Anna safe.

We emailed Anna's pedi after she went to bed, and I was so impressed that he addressed the situation Sunday morning. He's referred us to a couple of allergists. We are definitely having her tested. We'll keep you updated, dear readers. Thank you for your prayers and well wishes!

Much on My Mind

Paint colors: I need new wall colors for 11 rooms, two halls, and a stairwell. Oh, and trim for nearly the whole house . . . and built-in bookcases. Okay, now go.

If only it was that easy, right? Where's my Bewitched nose when I need it?

I have ideas for colors for seven of those rooms and the bookcases too, but the onerous task of actually finding the color in a can that matches the dreams in my mind . . . pray for me. Ha! And then there's this tricky part of wanting all the paint colors to "go" so that my house doesn't look like some Sherwin Williams freak show. Is anyone else as overwhelmed by this?

In this whole remodel process, I've learned something about myself (not a shocker, really). Contrary to popular belief, I DO like design and decor. The problem? I'm too much of a perfectionist. (Cue memories of a parent/teacher meeting with Mrs. Ousley, my first grade teacher. "Emily, we are here to talk to you today so you understand that if you don't get a 100 on every worksheet, that's okay.") Thus, if I can't exactly find exactly what I have in mind, I get overly frustrated, leading me to avoid the whole process.

(Didn't know you were at a counseling session did ya?)

Anyways, a friend is going to help--a friend, mind you, who has a interior design business. Whew! But for what it's worth, we're thinking a gray, green, cream pallet overall. Well, and then I want to paint the playroom a dark teal. See? I'm muddled in colors.

Toddler playtime: And then, I'm struggling with ideas for fun play time with Anna. This all came crowding into my mind when earlier this week, Anna played for more than an hour with leftover ice in a cooler. The girl was in heaven. And it got me to thinking that I need to be more creative about exploratory play with her. She has toys, and that's usually the bulk of our play. I'm trying to introduce some crafts, coloring, but so far she's not interested in much unless it involves stickers. Do you have any ideas to share? No, really, I want to know.

Da, da, dum, discipline: This topic is whirling through my mind as well lately. You read the part about a toddler living at our house so you can imagine discipline is par for the course. It's just that we seem to be in this weird, in-between stage where the firm "no-no" is not quite cutting it, but she's not quite cognitively ready for time-out. Sometimes I can tell she knows she's misbehaved, and other times it's clear she has no idea what I'm trying to tell her because I try to explain why "we don't do this or that." The sentence alone was confusing when I reread it. No wonder she looks at me like I'm speaking French. Ha.

Fabulous five: In less than 60 days, I will celebrate five years of marriage to Mr. Youree. It's cliche, I know, but I can't believe five years have come and gone. While the anniversary is such a sweet day, the reality of this being our fifth makes me a teeny bit sad. If five years have gone by this quickly, how fast will the future be? I want our love to be a slow, long story. Calm down, Father Time, calm down! But what a great reminder to me to hold him tighter, show appreciation, and soak in every day I have with my hubs. Sigh--love him.

18 Months of Bliss

Anna is celebrating her 18-month milestone by fighting off a head cold. Only last week, she was battling an ear infection. Her little stuffy nose and runny eyes are breaking my heart. But I have used this season of illness to indoctrinate her on the wonders of Vicks vapor rub (or is it vapo?). My plan is working; she carries around the jar most of the day. She also is shocking us by sometimes bringing the nasal aspirator (or snot sucker I as call it) for us to use on her. 

Aside for her sickness struggles, Anna Zane is doing well--still growing in maturity and expression faster than I can keep up. She's starting to mimic words. Today I heard variations of ball, cock-a-doodle-doo, "tank ew," uh-oh, whoa, and exaggerated "L" sounds for "love you." 

We've also introduced the big girl potty. (I find myself talking about bathroom matter on what feels like a continual basis.) She's "acclimating" to sitting on the potty but hasn't actually made the connection yet. I have a sneaky suspicion this will take a while. 

Anna is now a fan of Cuties clementines, Annie's trail mix (picks out the pretzels first), sweet potato tater tots, and string cheese is always a favorite. At present, she is cutting her 12th, 13th, and 14th tooth. Bless.

The pics below were taken by a former babysitter. Miss Sammy left us for grad school in Oklahoma--sniff, sniff--but we are delighted for this new chapter in life and feel blessed for having such a dear in Anna's life. She did such a great job capturing some of Anna's classic faces.