Quick Before I Get Sidetrack'd

As I mentioned in my last post, our Christmas wasn’t all joy and festivities, but it was still a Merry Christmas.

There was no traveling this year (which was wonderful since we all ended up sick), so everyone came to see us.  My parents came in on Christmas day and spent a few days.  The kids enjoyed having Bebe and Grandrad around, and it sure helped me out since Matt was out of commission.  The Friday after Christmas my brother and his family drove down for the day.  And then, the Sunday after Christmas, Matt’s parents came and stayed for a couple of days.

Little was all about the presents this year.  It was the first year she’s really been old enough to understand what was going on, and, boy, did she understand the presents.  We opened a few gifts from friends here and there in the days prior to Christmas, but having several gifts to open on Christmas morning made her day (even though at one point she told me to take her presents back to the store.  whaa??).  Every time someone new came into the house she asked about presents.  She was thrilled when my parents came and brought gifts from them and from my extended family, and again when Matt’s parents showed up bearing gifts.

Baby Buddy was fairly oblivious to the whole thing.  The longer the Christmas tree was up the more interested he became, and he enjoyed the paper and boxes, but Little actually played with his new toys much more than he did.

We (or I, at least) enjoyed spending the holiday with my family.  Since we don’t see my brother and his family very often it was fun to hang out with them for the day, and I’m very thankful that they made the effort to come see us.

By the time Matt’s parents arrived on Sunday he was feeling better and was more able to enjoy the company.  We had a wonderful visit with them and were sad to see them go when they left on Tuesday.  The kids loved seeing Nana and Pops and we’re looking forward to the next time we can get together (whenever that might be).

We had lots of gifts, lots of food, lots of company, and lots of fun during the holidays, but we were, as always, glad to get back into a bit of a “normal” groove afterwards.  I love Christmas, so it’s always a little sad to see it pass, but now we can start the countdown to Christmas 2009, right?

So Christmas around here this year was a little different.  We knew it was going to be different in that we weren’t going to be traveling at all (before, during, or after), and in that we have two kids now, not one, but this was one for the books.

It all started the week before Christmas when we were stricken with something akin to the pneumonic plague.  Matt and I both fought it all week alternating nights spent on the couch coughing.  Finally, on Friday I gave in and went to the doctor.  He diagnosed me with bronchitis and put me on a ten day course of antibiotics and an albuterol inhaler.  With the antibiotics I was feeling better within a couple of days and knew that I would be okay for Christmas.

We thought Matt was getting better as well until he started running a fever late on Tuesday, Christmas Eve eve.  Of course, it wasn’t until late enough in the day that he couldn’t be seen that day, and the offices were closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas day.  I made him an appointment for the day after Christmas and hoped that he would start feeling better and not need it.  Boy was I wrong!  The poor guy spent all day Wednesday and Thursday in bed feeling just terrible.  He had aches and chills and fever and sinus pressure that made his head feel like it would explode.  His doctor’s appointment on Friday resulted in a diagnosis of sinus infection and a treatment of antibiotics and cough medicine.

And on Christmas day, Little started having “goopy” eyes and telling me off and on that her face hurt.  It wasn’t bad enough to take her to minor med, so I called her doc on Friday morning and made an appointment.  She ended up having a sinus and ear infection and was put on antibiotics as well.

So here’s what our Christmas looked like:

Christmas Eve – Jana cooks, Matt lays in bed sick, the kids run wild, we miss Christmas Eve service, Jana eats Christmas Eve dinner (chips, salsa, and cheese dip) alone in the bedroom floor (since Matt was asleep on the couch) and folds laundry

Christmas Day – Matt gets out of bed long enough to watch the kids open their gifts and take a few pictures, Bebe and Grandrad (my parents) arrive and come to my rescue, Jana cooks, the kids run wild, we have a lovely Christmas lunch without Matt

The Day After Christmas – Jana’s brother and his family arrive to do family Christmas, Matt gets out of bed long enough to go to the doctor, Matt gets a shot (a “sinus cocktail” which I hear is a local thing) and begins to feel better later in the day, we open gifts, the kids run wild, Little goes to the doctor in the afternoon, everyone collapses after the kids go to bed

It was a good Christmas even with it’s challenges.  I can’t say that I’d like to have a Christmas exactly like this again, but at least we didn’t have the stomach bug that my best friend and her family had on Christmas day!

Boo was given his bloggy name before we knew whether he would be a “he” or a “she”.  Since his birth he has acquired many nicknames, none of which are “Boo”.  Therefore, just to keep everyone on your toes, I’m going to make an official change to his online persona; he will henceforth, at least until I decide to change it again, be known as “Baby Buddy”.  Little gave him this nickname and I think it’s hilarious.

Because I am woefully low on original ideas right now, I’m doing this Christmas meme again this year.  It was also posted on December 6, 2007.  Some answers are the same, but not all of them.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? most of the time wrapping paper, but sometimes I’ll use gift bags for oddly shaped gifts or if I’m being lazy

2. Real tree or artificial? growing up we had a real tree downstairs and an artificial tree upstairs; Matt and I have stuck with artificial so far.

3. When do you put up the tree? I like to put it up the weekend after Thanksgiving, this year, it was more like two weeks after Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down? New Year’s eve or day

5. Do you like eggnog? yes, but not nearly as much as Matt does

6. Favorite gift received as a child? my Cabbage Patch Kids and my pink and gray 10-speed bike

7. Do you have a nativity scene? no, but I think I’ll try to find the Fisher Price one on sale after Christmas for next year

8. Hardest person to buy for? the dads – mine and Matt’s

9. Easiest person to buy for? Little and Boo; right now I can still get what I want for them

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? everything I can think of would put me in the doghouse with one person or another who reads this blog

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? mail except that I didn’t do any this year – maybe New Years cards? or Easter?

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? this is really terrible, but I don’t really have one; I guess the closest I get is About a Boy which isn’t about Christmas, per se, but part of it does take place at Chirstmas time

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I always say I’m going to shop throughout the year, but it never happens; I usually start in November

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I do occasionally recycle gifts, but I don’t recall re-giving a Chirstmas gift

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Chex Mix ( I only make it during the holidays) and various Christmas goodies

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? clear, on all 3 or 4 trees (only one of which is up this year)

17. Favorite Christmas song? I don’t have a favorite, I just love Christmas music

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? this year we are staying home and everyone is coming to us!

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? I think so

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? nothing right now; our star is on the mantle…don’t ask

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? we’ll be opening gifts all week

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? the focus on consumerism

23. What I love most about Christmas? everything, it’s the most wonderful time of the year

If you decide to play along let me know so I can check out your answers.

Sometimes you can be thinking about a thing and then events conspire to force you into action. That happened to me recently.

For several months I’ve contemplated switching Boo to cloth diapers. I didn’t really have a firm reason for making the switch but just felt like it was something I would like to do eventually.  That along with the fact that Matt was pretty adamantly opposed to the idea deterred me from taking the plunge and ordering some.

Then, Boo’s eczema got bad.  And then it got terrible.  And then it got even worse and wasn’t responding to the usual course of treatment, so I took him to the doctor.  Verdict – really bad eczema (thanks for the official diagnosis, doc) and contact dermititis…from his diapers.  Treatment – topical steroid.  Suggestion – switch to cloth diapers.  Matt’s response – “So, I guess you get your way.”

Because I had been researching cloth diapering off and on for a while and had talked to a friend of mine who cloth diapers, I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to use.  I did consider doing a trial program, like the one offered by Jillian’s Drawers, where we could try several different types/brands of diapers and see what worked best for us and Boo.  But, since we needed these diapers, like, yesterday, I opted to stick with the pocket diapers that I’d decided on previously.

I ordered a dozen Fuzzi Bunz pocket diapers and off we went.  I opted for Fuzzi Bunz over other popular pocket diapers because they snap instead of velcro.  With Boo being 8 months old I figure it won’t be long before we get into the “oh wow, I can take my diaper off by myself” phase, and I’ve read that the snaps on Fuzzi Bunz deter little fingers better than velcro diapers.  I’ve also read that velcro is sometimes difficult to keep “clean” (free from dryer lint, etc) and that it wears more quickly.  The snaps do take longer to fasten than I imagine velcro would, but when you’re wrestling an alligator what’s a few more seconds?

One of the intimidating factors about switching to cloth was how to handle poopy dipes.  I can’t exactly say that it is a pleasant experience, but it isn’t really any different than dealing with a potty training toddler.  I dump, rinse, and throw it in the wash pile.  I do laundry every day right now, but with a few more diapers and inserts I could do every other day.  We double “stuff” diapers for nighttime and usually at naptime and rarely have we had an issue with leaks.  He does occasionally leak during the day, but generally it’s because I haven’t gotten his diaper changed in a timely manner.

But the big thing is that his skin issues started to clear up immediately!  In addition to the eczema, he’s always (as in since he was about a week old) had some bumps and spots on his lower abdomen where the top of his diaper hits.  Within 24 hours of switching to cloth they were all cleared up.  With the combination of topical steroids and cloth diapers his eczema was on the mend quickly as well.

I’ve been quite pleased with the Fuzzi Bunz diapers and the cloth diapering experience as a whole.  Now that we’ve jumped in and made the switch, I don’t plan on going back (at least not long term).  And for that, Boo’s legs thank us.