Boston

Hello from Boston!

Timmy is recovering from his hives and doing well.  Although he has improved and is under the care of my Mom, it was incredibly difficult leaving yesterday.  With each call (which were numerous) my Mom and Scott told me that his hives are fading and that his activity level is increasing, updates which did wonders for both my anxiety and Momom heart. 

Today will be spent meeting with manufacturers, prosthetists and friends. I'm looking forward to a day of networking with adults, without cartoon interruptions or diaper changes. I don't get away often, so I plan to make the most of it. 

Food Allergies Again

I have come to appreciate the stresses and the frustrations of those impacted by food allergies. Although mild by comparison, Timmy's allergy to apples and cinnamon becomes difficult to navigate during the autumn months. When everything is either apple flavored or cinnamon scented, simply shopping feels like I am walking through a minefield of potential poison.

Even though we have been relatively successful keeping him from his known allergens, the past two

days have proven that the struggle is not over. Still to be determined, his reaction to the unknown allergen has been strong and swift. Yesterday I watched helplessly as my sweet little Hamlet became covered with large, hot hives. From the tip of his toes to the top of his head, no area was left unaffected by the reaction.

I whisked him to the doctor and he was treated for his reaction. Unfortunately we cannot test for new allergies until the antihistamines are out of his system for several days. In the meantime, I need to keep him as food safe as possible.

This is a horrible time for me to be leaving town, but I am committed to traveling to Boston today and cancelling is not a viable option. I am grateful that my Mom is coming down to take care of Timmy. I feel considerably more comfortable knowing that he won't be in an unfamiliar environment with uncontrollable variables. Between my Mom during the day and Scott at night, I know that Timmy will be safe and happy.

I know that Timmy is in competent and loving hands, but that doesn't make it easier to leave. The reaction he experienced today was alarming and terrifying. I really hate food allergies!

Back to Boot Camp

After nearly three weeks of feeling icky and fighting a nasty cough, yesterday I finally felt recovered and strong enough to venture back into my Boot Camp routine. I knew that it would be a shock to my system, but I am determined not to quit. I have come to appreciate the increased strength and endurance that I was beginning to develop through boot camp, and I don't want to let my fitness slide again.

I knew that getting back into the flow of working out would be difficult, but I completely underestimated the toddler tantrums that would ensue because of my efforts. Timmy was most unhappy with being ushered into the child care room. Even though we were only separated by a gate and I was always within his line of sight, he through a tantrum of epic proportion. He clutched the gate and screamed for the duration of my 30 minute workout.  My fellow boot campers, mostly Moms, didn't seem bothered by his outburst because the instructor simply turned up the volume on the music. 

By the time I was done working out Timmy and I were both red faced and sweaty. As soon as I opened the gate he smiled and happily waved to everybody as he was leaving. Just as I suspected, his tantrum was simply for show.  Hopefully he will shorten his performance as he becomes accustomed to my going to the gym.  Time will tell I guess.

Snowball Redecorating

Our three day weekend was unexpectedly busy and productive.  While I hadn't planned on working around the house, the stars aligned and we worked furiously redoing both Robby's bedroom, our bedroom and the main family room. We didn't start out with ambitions of redecorating all three rooms, but a snowball effect occurred as we shuffled furniture from one room into another. Before I knew it, we were up to our knees in clutter and chaos on Sunday leaving us with no options but to buckle down and finish.

Our mini house makeover began with my spotting Robby's coveted bunk bed frame on a Facebook yard sale site. Knowing that it was exactly what he wanted, and realizing that we needed to act quickly, I contacted the seller and made arrangements to pick up the beds. Before anybody had time to think,a Scott and Robby were headed over to borrow Mr. Bill's truck to pick up the yard sale acquisition. 

While the pair were picking up the new beds, I set out to dismantle the race car bed. It is now safely stowed in our garage where it will be rescued and reassembled in a year or two for Timmy. With the race car bed moved out of the room, I made the executive decision that the couch which has been in Robby's room needed to be relocated to the living room. It is in much better shape than the run down piece of furniture that we have been using, and clearing it out of his bedroom would open up the space even more.

Unfortunately, in order to make it fit into the living room I needed to dismantle and move our five piece sectional sofa. I should have waited for Scott to come home, but I was feeling both strong and stubborn (which is a dangerous combination) and decided that I could do it by myself. Balancing the pull-out sofa portion on my shoulder as I tried to guide it down the stairs I realized that I had underestimated the weight of the couch while overestimating my strength.  I began to regret my moving enthusiasm.  Somehow I managed to guide it down the stairs unscathed. 

By the time the boys returned with the bunk bed, I had single-handedly moved and set up four of the five sofa sections downstairs. After helping me with the final piece, we moved onto the next project. It took all of us over an hour to sort through and clean up the obscene amount of toys, dust, old food, dirt, socks, pens, coins and assorted junk that had accumulated under the monstrosity of a couch. Timmy was delighted spending the remainder of the afternoon playing with the large box of toy cars that were rescued during the clean up. 

With the area cleaned, Scott and I moved the couch from Robby's room into the living room.  We immediately realized that the room needed more seating options than a small couch, so we decided to move the couch that was in our bedroom playroom into the living room.  Of course now the living room furniture doesn't match, but we now have ample seating on comfortable couches while clearing up more room for the kids to play.  I am delighted with the look of our newly restructured family room!

After sorting through the various treasures that were lodged under the bedroom couches, we were finally ready to assemble the bunk beds.  After five hours, four trips to Lowes and a house call from Mr. Bill, the beds were finally assembled and ready for Robby.  Of course, because we hadn't planned on putting up bunk beds on Sunday, we didn't have a full sized mattress for the lower bunk. I quickly opened up one of the sofa beds in the living room and relocated the mattress to the bunk bed. It isn't the most comfortable, but it works for now. 

Yesterday we spent the afternoon tidying up from our Sunday projects. It took several more hours to get everything situated and comfortable, but now we have three completely functional, uncluttered and newly reorganized rooms.  At some point I will need to tackle the mess that has accumulated downstairs because of our efforts, but right now I just don't have the energy.  In the meantime, I am just going to bask in the uncluttered happiness of our rooms.

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day or, as the holiday is known in our house, Happy Hurry Up and Tie All the Loose Ends That Were Discovered During the First Week of School Day! Because it is too cool to visit the pool, today we are going to finish cleaning around the house and pick up a few necessities for the upcoming school year. So, in other words, we have no big plans to celebrate this year. 

We rarely do anything festive on Labor Day. I have disliked the holiday since I was a child because it heralds both the end of summer and the beginning of the school year. I find it hard to celebrate the end of our carefree days by the pool, but I will admit that it is nice to have a quieter house and fewer dishes in the sink while Robby and Scott are at school. 

Have a wonderful day, and please stay safe on the roads.