MRSA at my house

Elizabeth and I went to the after-hours pediatric clinic at the hospital last Sunday to have my concerns confirmed - she definitely had a staph infection and it was most likely community acquired MRSA. The pediatrician put her on Septra, gave us instructions to keep her isolated from other children (including her sisters) until she'd been on antibiotics for 24 hours and to wash our hands. Often. Considering mom is OCD, that part is never a problem.

We dealt with the isolation part as best we could, took her back to school (as cleared to do) on Tuesday and gave antibiotics, IB for pain, warm baths and compresses to help pull the infection out. On Wednesday I got a call to come pick her up from preschool as she was hurting. On Thursday, when we got to preschool we were told she couldn't come back until everything was healed - despite what we were told by our pediatrician and the one at the hospital. Okay, that's not a problem and I get it. A phone call on Wednesday night with "This is our decision" would've been much better received than hearing "Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Our doctors say she cannot be here. Everyone is panicking over this and we're trying not to" on Thursday morning as we stood in the office. And to make matters worse, she was supposed to be Frog Princess in her class that day (big deal, a very big deal). So, she started crying which made *me* cry - along with pregnancy hormones, the frustration of having gotten everyone up, fed and dressed then spending 30 minutes in traffic to get there. And to top it off, I was livid that I had not gotten a phone call on Wednesday when the decision was made that this was going to be the policy. I don't mind the decision at all. I get it. What I don't get is the failure to notify the parent involved when the decision was made.

Elizabeth's teacher called me on Wednesday afternoon to check on Elizabeth and on me (she knew I was upset). She also wanted to let me know her policy on "Frog Prince/Princess" - they would wait on Elizabeth and no one else would go until Elizabeth did. "If it's a week or it's a month, we'll wait on her to come back to school." We are now to the point that she can return to school. So, E will get to be the Frog Princess for her class tomorrow. In honor of the day, she's chosen a green jumper and white shirt to wear to school because "Frogs are green, Mommy."

Breastfeeding on Sesame Street

This was posted on one of the message boards I read. I love this! Sesame Street, 1977.

Felt like scrapping some pages

Started working on 2007 photos....
This is from Elizabeth's birthday party. Everything is from the Girls in Black Collection by Amanda Rockwell and Gina Miller. The mesh brush used on the title is by Emily Merritt (The Digi Chick)

M-I-C...see ya real soon!

For the past 10 months I have been part of an exclusive online focus group of "Disney Moms" and it has been a great experience. We were given the opportunity to sneak peak websites associated with DVD releases, see special clips from upcoming DVDs, and provide "The Powers That Be" at Disney with our feedback. Sometimes we saw changes based on our feedback - wow, they really were listening! A couple of times Brad really liked them because they saved him fifteen bucks by sending us a DVD that I was planning on buying anyway (Cinderella III which has a great "moral of the story" if you haven't seen it and Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams)

This particular focus-group is coming to an end next week and I'm sad about it. So many of the moms there shared many things - from parenting philosophies to where is the best place to stay at Disney with a "large family" (something I will need to know in a few years!!!) Nothing was too deep and nothing was too trivial or silly. I'm going to miss the exchanges with these women. We didn't always see eye-to-eye, but we were always respectful to one another. Always. I liked that. It was a great community and I hope to run into these women again sometime! And our one guy - Mike - one of the Facilitators -- great guy!!

K-E-Y...why? Because we like you!!! M-O-U-S-E

So, here's how I feel about it

Am I excited to be having a baby boy? You bet. I absolutely cannot wait to see what this "mother-son" dynamic is all about. All of my friends who have little boys have reiterated that little boys LOVE their mommies.

But at the same time, I'm a little sad that we're not having a fourth daughter. I know girls. Four girls sure would've made dividing things easier, too. Two and two in the bedrooms, no stacking necessary. Now I have twenty-five huge Rubbermaid boxes full of girl clothes won't get any additional wear and tear.

Things are going to be lopsided. Harrison will always have his own room, never having to share with a sibling. Are my girls going to resent that? If they're anything like their mother they will at some point. My sister and I had to share while my brother got his own room. Most of the time I didn't mind sharing a room with my sister - but there were some days that she and I wished we each had our own rooms. Going back to the twenty-five boxes full of clothes - Harrison won't have to share a closet. That won't work. Three girls put all their clothes in one closet? It'll never happen. Little dude better learn to expect to see some pink dresses in his closet for a few years. As long as he doesn't try to wear them himself, I really don't care. ;)

We're having a SON!

Credits can be seen here.

journaling reads: Oh wow!! The tech checked your gender first thing, which was a new experience for us. We are accustomed to having to wait until all the important measurements are done first. When she said, "It's a BOY!" I started to cry and then I started laughing. I laughed and laughed. A son! I cannot wait to get my hands on you in February, sweet boy!

Our family - updated

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thomas Harrison, we'll call him Harrison. Finally, after 21 years we are going to get to use our "boy" name. Everything looked great on the ultrasound so we elected, with Dr. Wendel, to not do amnio. The girls seem to be pretty excited. Well, except for Annie. She won't realize anything is different until we have a new, crying little bundle in the house.

Poem in the layout says:
Our family is the perfect five
Three sisters, Daddy, Mother
Oops, better make it a perfect six
We're going to have a brother!

Credits for the layout are here