my life as a mommy: My Life

Showing posts with label My Life. Show all posts

September 15, 2010

Mama can't get her groove back ....

I've taken a break from blogging due to my hectic life. The last month has been really crazy for me. I don't know where the summer went but the kids sure kept me busy. Jack is more active that ever not to mention what a daredevil he's become. There is no place he can't get into. Alex and Eric kept me on an emotional roller coaster. Alex started grade 1 and Eric started junior kindergarten. The boys' milestones sure made me realize just how quickly their growing and how independent they've become and yes there were tears (mostly from me). We're slowly adjusting to new schedules but routines is definitely what we all need in our lives again.

July 19, 2010

Emergency Room Scare

My heart was beating so fast. I yelled to my husband to call 911. In a matter of seconds, Jack went from enjoying an apple to choking on it. I immediately grabbed him and leaned him over, patted his back so he can vomit it out. At this point he was crying, gagging and every couple of minutes gasping for air. The paramedics arrived, my heart slowed down a bit knowing help had arrived, Jack however started to scream in fear with all these strangers trying to touch him. Even though he was no longer choking it did seem to me, a piece of apple was still lodged in his throat. His face was red, his eyes blood shot red, he was still gagging and pointing with his tiny index finger inside his mouth to tell me something was still there. The paramedics reassured me he was fine because he was crying but still wanted to take him to the hospital just in case. I went inside the ambulance with him as many of our worried neighbours looked on in shock and offered to babysit our older two boys. In the ambulance, Jack sat on my lap looking quietly around in amazement until he started to vomit. The vomit was clear and mucusy and no sign of any apples. Inside the hospital the nurse checked his pulse as the nice paramedic gave Jack a teddy bear. She asest the situation as minor and moved us to one of the Emergency rooms. Seconds later my husband arrived and Jack couldn't be happier. Although he was calm and active he still wasn't himself, face and eyes were still red, tiny dots covered his chest and back, and he continued to gag every couple of minutes and still pointed inside his mouth. The doctor came and reassured George and myself that he probably swallowed the apple and it was mucus from all the crying that was making him gag, he suggested to go home and give him a bottle of milk. Neither my husband nor I were convinced he was out of the woods. I thought something was still there and if he continued to gag the apple might move and get further lodged in his throat. The doctor looked in his mouth and stated that when a child is choking 99.9 % of the time, their reflexes (eg. gagging and coughing) will remove the object . As we pulled in the driveway to pick up our older boys, who'd been crying and praying for their baby brother, Jack started to gag and vomit once again but this time voila ... the piece of apple! Almost immediately his red face and eyes, tiny dot covered chest and back returned to normal. I now felt confident my baby was fine. Thank you God and your angels for looking after my little angel!

June 24, 2010

My Accident At The Movies

On Tuesday we took our two older boys to see Toy Story 3 in 3D. My husband went early to buy the tickets and $66 later (not including popcorn and snacks) we were of to the movies. It was raining so my husband dropped of the kids and me at the front while he went to park the car. While I was opening the front doors I slipped and grabbed on the door handle for dear life at which point the door went over my baby toe. I fell to the floor as I moaned and blood poured out of my foot. People walked right by me including a guy standing a few feet away on a cell phone who witnesses the fall and just stared at me for minutes. Seriously if I saw someone injured on the floor I would go and see if they were OK. When my husband walked in and found me on the floor and Alex yelling (he doesn't do blood well) he went to get help. The lady from the ticket booth came over and before she even asked if I was OK, told me it was my fault for wearing flip flops to the movies, gave me crap for wearing them and stated they should only be worn at the beach. Thanks for the fashion advice lady! I didn't know there was a dress code at the movies. She was nice enough though and grabbed the first aid kit, cleaned and bandaged up my wound.

I wasn't in much pain so we decided to see the movie anyway, I just kept my foot elevated. The movie was great! I will admit, I did get teary eyed (alright who am I kidding....I was sobbing at the end). After the movie I realized the gauze was soaked in blood and it was still bleeding. I went to a clinic and ended up getting 5 stitches! Needless to say after the stitches I haven't been able to walk painlessly but it was great to spend the whole day on the couch yesterday.

May 5, 2010

Spring Cleaning with Kijiji

I've been slowly attempting spring cleaning my home. I'm hoping to be done by the end of summer. I've been tackling a closet a weekend. My BIGGEST challenge is our laundry/storage room. So many toys and baby items I could hardly walk in. I took pictures of our stuff and put it on Kijiji. Within 12 hours I had everything sold. What a great concept....people come pick up your unwanted items and pay you. I made more money for the items than if I sold it to a consignment store and I didn't even have to leave my home. Kijiji is also a great place to buy certain items. You can even buy brand new items at great prices. One thing that truly annoys me is when people list something as being brand NEW only to learn they've used it a few times. Once you use something it is NOT new. Or when people charge retail prices for their new stuff. If you're going to charge me the same as a store you better give me a receipt and have a return/ exchange policy.

Some people are just insane......I've seen a listing selling children's clothing and among them....used children's underwear! I wonder if they sell their used toothbrushes too. Speaking of odd people, beware when selling or buying on Kijiji. There's a lot of scams out there. Read Kijiji's safety tips before using the site. All in all I think it works better for me than having a yard sale and with any luck closer in getting my home clean and organized.

March 29, 2010

Lactose intolerance?

Jack was born with a milk intolerance. I was told by many including my doctor that it was something he would grow out of by the time he's one. I've kept him on Similac Sensitive (lactose-free formula) for the first year. I slowly switched him to regular Similac in the last couple of months since his first birthday. He is tolerating it just fine. I've given him small amounts of yogurts and cheeses and he seems fine with them too.

For the past week I've been adding small amounts of homo milk to his cereal without a problem so Saturday I gave him a 100ml of homo milk and it went right through him. What a mess! Everything in his crib went straight into the wash. My little monkey was happy because he got another bath that day.

Does this mean he is still lactose intolerant? Should I start him with 1% or 2% milk instead? Will he ever be able to have regular cow's milk? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Joanna

(I can't seem to upload any photos today. Any other bloggers having the same problem?)

March 5, 2010

Tough questions

I've recently been buying chicken in bulk directly from the wholesaler. This way it's fresher, I save tons of money, and I save kitchen prep time by buying only fresh boneless and skinless breasts and fillets.

Anyhow as I sat in the van with Eric and a sleeping Jack waiting for my husband George who went inside to buy the chicken when Eric started to ask questions. "How do they kill the chickens mommy?". Wow was I ever speechless. I ended up telling him they give the chickens special medicine (stupid thing to say....considering he already hates taking any type of medicine.... now he's probably worried it will kill him). He accepted the answer and went back to playing his Nintendo DS. I however continued to think about his question and wondered what other questions was I going to get next. It somehow didn't feel like lying, just like Santa or the Tooth Fairy but felt wrong nonetheless.

All I'm saying is that it's so hard trying to keep innocence and magic in my children's lives as I try and explain the dangers of the world and how they should never talk to strangers because bad people who can potentially hurt them exist.

February 26, 2010

Happy 1st Birthday Jack!

Last week we celebrated a major milestone in Jack's life.....he turned one!

My baby is a big boy! Jack born a helpless 9lb 1oz baby who could only communicate by crying and relied solely on us (his parents) for survival, a year later has a personality, walks, runs, climbs, points, calls for us, says first words, plays, dances, not to mention how independent he's become. It's definitely been a wonderful year seeing my baby grow and have so many firsts.

It hasn't entirely been an easy year. Jack's first six months were very hard. He was a day old when he developed such a horrible rash on his bottom along with diarrhea. He always screamed and appeared to always be in pain. I woke him almost ever two hours to wash his little tush and air dry it to keep the open wound rash from getting infected. After endless visits to the doctor, he was diagnosed with a milk intolerance at 5 weeks. Although his diarrhea and rash cleared up, he continued to mostly cry and never sleep. He screamed every time he was put down and was only happy being upright. I knew there was something else. It was very frustrating explaining it to the doctor who was convinced it was colic. After endless hours of research and more visits to the doctor....it was confirmed that Jack also had Infant Reflux that thankfully by the time he turned 6 months had improved.

That's when the fun started. Jack started to crawl and stand up at 6 months and already started taking his first steps at 7 months, succeeding at 8 months, running at 9 months and climbing on the couch at 10 months.

Jack's independence turned him into the happiest little monkey. I love watching him explore the world. We love him so much. Alex and Eric are absolutely crazy about him and Jack loves us back....his gentle kisses on our heads, the huge smiles and

big hugs for us let us know that every day.

"Jack, you are such a joy! To another fun filled year! Happy 1st Birthday! love, Mommy"