And The Winter Goes On, and the sickness goes on

So. While some of my fellow blogging friends in locations other than here are preparing to start planting gardens and flowers, I was dumped upon by a ridiculous amount of rain (which fell upon plenty of remaining snow) and then a ridiculous amount of snow. Wee!

The day it rained I spent a fun filled day of going to the walk in clinic with the baby, mopping water up in our basement, going to the walk in clinic with Miss A, waiting at the pharmacy for a prescription. Awesome. I took the baby to the doctor for a referral. She is still hacking and snotty and I am SICK of it. He told me that the fact that she has been sick so long is actually not unordinary but he would refer her to a pediatric allergist. When I mentioned that she's been getting up at hourly intervals in the night he basically told me that he thinks she's 'playing me'. Really. Maybe so. But I suspect that the fact she is so congested that she has difficulty nursing may also have something to do with it. (On a side note I also was referred to my surgeon regarding the metal hardware I'm still sporting in my ankle. It's bothering me so I'm pretty sure I'm going to need it removed.) Miss A was running a fever, which is why I took her in. Turns out she has an ear infection in BOTH ears. Since this is her second within three months she had to go on a different antibiotic. This one is VILE. It's basically like sand in syrup. Ugh! I mix it into yogurt and spoon it into her. So far she hasn't protested much.

The water in the basement thing is a drag but it's manageable and could be a lot worse. (it is in other areas of the city)

I am just so ready for spring. I don't ever remember being so eager for winter to be over. Maybe it has to do with the fact that we are getting one of these!

Photos...because I'm too tired to write a real post.

The inevitable has happened. My body has been a trooper through all this sleep deprivation but it finally reached it's breaking point. I am sick. Awesome. I took my first sick day, I don't know... maybe almost ever, yesterday. Can't call in sick from the mom gig though. And then Baby B slept decently. Go figure. Anyway, here are some photos since I've been too lazy to write.

Crazy kid. I'm almost positive she'll be walking by 9 months. Lord help us.



Since this winter is never ending we are trying to make the most of it.





This was taken at the annual fundraiser/dance party that I/we attend. Although I paid dearly for it the next day in exhaustion it was worth it for the sanity I gained.



I notice the photo is very similar to the one taken two years ago. Strange. I love wearing hats when I dance... don't know what that's about.

Way Beyond

I am so way beyond writing a cute little post about how tired I am because my baby won't sleep. Things are bad over here folks. Desperate in fact. With every passing night I feel the life being further sucked out of me. I've tried keeping it in perspective, imagining that one day when she's older and actually sleeps we'll laugh about it. But it's looking more like we'll be saying "Remember that kid we had? She was nice but she didn't sleep worth a darn so we had to let her go." And hey, let me say that I'm no wimp. I totally knew what I was getting myself into here having another baby. I was prepared for a considerable lack of sleep. Call me crazy, but I was banking on having at least four hours at a time by the time the baby was 7 (almost 8!) months old. One - two hours at a time just do. not. cut. it. Not after this many months.

I've had her to the doctor numerous times (see previous posts) but they currently appear to be stumped. She is on a nose spray right now which I am conflicted about giving her because the pharmacist wasn't in favor of giving it to a baby. She discussed it with my doctor and he insists that it's not a problem to give it to her for the short period of one week. I am ready to pull my hair out what with the obsessing over what could be the reason for her frequent wakings? - sickness? medication for sickness? teeth? too hot? too cold? hungry? tummy ache? allergies? What? What! WHAT???

And watching Peter and Miss A suffer is not helping either. They are both exhausted as well. It's hard to tell with A. She doesn't seem to be bothered by the crying in the night but she's been sleeping in later which I think is a sign that her sleep is in fact, being disturbed. And yesterday she was having trouble listening which in her case always seems to lead to injury. Thus she is sporting a bump on top of a bump on her forehead. I feel badly that they have to share a room. And I would be trying to let Baby B cry a bit longer to see if she would self soothe and fall back to sleep. I try to be patient with her but after three or four times of getting up, I pretty much have none left. Not to mention that I barely have the capability to walk properly anymore. I hate losing my temper with her and everyone else in my family. They obviously don't deserve to have my fatigue taken out on them. I never seem to be able to stop myself before I say something or take a tone I later regret.

It's a bad scene over here. Somehow putting it down here makes me feel a little less burdened with it...

Aaauuugh

That zombie speak for "I'm freakin' tired." And since I am currently a zombie from lack of sleep pardon me if this post is unintelligible. I'm here. Barely. And I trying to put something out there.

The baby. The sweet, sweet smiling baby. She won't sleep. At least not for any human length of time. Mostly two hours at a time. The other night she was up every hour. If she ever sleeps for three hours it is NEVER during the night. No. Because my theory is correct. She is in fact, a secret weapon sent here from the future to keep people, me for starters, from accomplishing world altering tasks. Yeah. Um. Did I mention I'm tired? Anyway!

Along with the not sleeping there is also the crazy, growing up too fast business. The girl is just over seven months old, has mastered crawling and now look at this.



That's right. Standing. For crap sake. I mean, seriously. And with the standing comes the falling. And the crying. Oh, the crying. And then the forgetting and the doing it over and over. And she's also trying to climb up on top of the things she's standing at. And trying to grab other things and walk over to them. I remember when Miss A was doing this at nine months I thought it was crazy and dangerous because, wow, she's still a baby, but her sister... I should have guessed by the beating I took from her while she was in utero.

Because she is such a busy pants I finally had to get her out of the bassinet, (I was procrastinating because #1 she has been a terrible sleeper and I felt guilty about her disrupting Miss A so often in the night and #2 she's been sick FOREVER and I was waiting for her to get better.) this caused me a great deal of stress leading up to actually doing it but has actually been a much easier transition than I would have thought. Miss A seems oblivious to the numerous times I/we are in and out of her room as well as to B's wailing if I can't drag my sorry, half dead butt there quickly enough. It gives me the opportunity to cover up her cute little tushie when it's sticking out of the blankets and has given me a new reason to love/appreciate her, because she keeps right on sleeping. A is THRILLED to finally have her sharing the room, in fact she cried the first morning after Baby B slept 'with' her because B had gone to bed after she did and got up before she did and in the morning when A peeked in the crib she was convinced that she hadn't slept there at all.

Bathing in the big bathtub is also a new event, exciting to both girls. I snapped this cute photo to commemorate the first one.



Here is a picture of the child that sleeps. I rarely get photos like this anymore...



And here is the secret weapon during one of her brief sleeping sessions.



I'd like to ask the me from the picture what I'm so smiley about. Come on. You're flippin' exhausted lady!!