Back up and Running, kind of

Yay!! We survived Christmas and we got the internet back up and running!! So, Friday night, you know, Christmas Eve!?!? I was trying to track Santa on noradsanta.com for Big Bean. I thought it would be fun for him and we could do a little geography lesson of sorts but the modem for the internet connection died!!! Umm HELLO?!? How do people live without the internet these days! I know, kind of spoiled bratish but it was tough. We survived.

Well, we had our family Christmas Eve party and Big Bean was a little clingy and a little warm. Of course he had his usual cough but I wasn't too worried. Boy. Was. I. Wrong. After everyone left Christmas Eve, Big Bean, started feeling really warm and became really fussy, asked for a paci (which he hasn't had in 4 months) wouldn't let me put him down and had a pretty bad melt down which resulted in him throwing up on our bed and on the carpet. I started the tylenol and motrin every 3 hours, got him cleaned up and we snuggled and cuddled pretty much the whole night. Needless to say, Santa didn't make it to our house until 7:30 am.

Other than that and a couple bouts of fussiness, exhaustion and excitement on Christmas day, we had a really good time. Stay tuned for Christmas post and pics!!

'Til the season...

Life has been the same old same old around here. Red and his dad have had tons of fun bonding and catching up this year. We are so blessed to have discovered his father!! Also a couple weeks ago Big Bean had his ear tubes, from 11/08, removed and had a brand new set put in. Now, he doesn't necessarily need the new set but I figured, hey, they have to put him under to remove his old tubes and it's going to cost the same so we might as well get a new set put in just to save us all the time and hassle of possibly having to re-do them if we ran in to problems down the road. Big Bean is now set as far as tubes go. This will be his last set and they are due to come out either the end of 2012 or the beginning of 2013!! Wow! Where is time going?!?! I swear it feels like I graduated high school a year ago. On the other hand I have been at my current job for going on 5 years!

Speaking of school, I just finished another semester! I received two A's and a B! Yay for me!! I was ecstatic to receive the B as it was in microbiology. It was a pretty tough class. Now, I'm looking forward, so to speak, to my spring classes. I have a chemistry, a math and an elective. I'm still pretty open in my degree track but hopefully one day all of this maddness will result in a degree!

That's all for now! Big Bean apparently is still awake!!! Time to go work on that. Until next time!! Love you all.

Not much going on...(okay maybe a little)

The title really explaines it all. We've been busy with all of the usual, you know, work, school, cooking, cleaning, LIFE!!! Big Bean never had his two year old pictures taken. I feel like a bad mom for that because ever since Big Bean was a newborn we had professional pictures done on a monthly basis. After he turned 1 we dropped to every 3-4 months and then he turned 2 and we just never got them done. How sad. Anyway, now that he's pushing two and a half and it's fall his school is getting ready to have their pictures done so I assume it will be just like last year when we technically missed his first pictures and we will purchase the ones from his school.

In other news, Big Bean is fully potty trained. No more diapers!! No more pull-ups!! (though he didn't even go through a whole pack before decidin they weren't for him) he hasn't even had a night accident in 3 weeks AND!!!.............wait for it!!...............NO MORE PACI!! Yes ladies and gentlemen! That is CORRECT! Big Bean has been without his BFF paci since the first Thursday this month!! Yay for him! I guess he's taking changing his name to Big Bean very seriously! Where is the time going? I mean, no more diapers, no more paci, no accidents, he speaks insentences, tells jokes, sings songs! How amazingly wonderful to see my baby grow up but also, how amazingly sad!

This week I also completed and submitted my applications for the next step in my education. I applied for a nursing program and 2 different bachelors degree programs. They are all very competetive and while I don't necessarily expect to be accepted into one of the programs on my first attempt I feel as if I am definitely a stong contender and will undoubtedly be disappointed if not accepted into one of those programs. We will see! The application deadlines are October 1 and I assume I should know of my acceptance or rejection no later than November 1. I will do my best to update and post as soon as I know something but as we all know based on my track record I am not that reliable when it comes to updating! So until next time everyone!! Stay safe and love strong!!

Lounger...

Well, Big Bean is beginning to feel more like himself, I suppoose. He still likes to lay around and be a lazy bones when at home but maybe it's just a comfort thing. Other than that it seems he's on the up swing from his teething. That's so weird how he can cut all of the other teeth in his mouth with not so much as a runny nose and then his 2yr molars come along and knock him on his hiney! I've felt bad for him but I would be lying if I told you that I wan't enjoying his snuggliness and clinginess! Oh, how I'll miss these times! Now for a couple pics!!!

Lounging in Mommy & Daddy's bed!!

Just Relaxing!

Lazy bones!

An oldie but oh what a cutie!

No time for catching up!!

Things have been going pretty well! Little Sprout became one year older and has graduated to the name Big Bean!! That is how he will be referred to on the blog. Time had gone by so fast and now it's summer Big Bean and I have spent weekends with our friends at the beach and plenty of warm days at Gramma and Pa's! Of course we walk down to Grammy and Grampy's to check out all the cool things they have for Big Bean! Aamy has spent some time with us too! We love her and miss her!!

Big Bean was moved up to the older toddlers class at school after I made it a big issue! I was so tired of him being treated like the baby when he was the SMARTEST!!! kids in his class and even gives the older toddlers a run for their money. Big Bean has been eating well continues to grow! As of last week he now weight 25.2lbs and is 35 inches! Hid head size is starting to even out and is 51.5cm! His hair is growing like crazy and is super curly! I love it and everyone else seems to as well. That's all for now. I will blog later about other things that are going on!! Love you all!

LABELED!!!

Little Sprout had his appointment Monday afternoon. He saw his fantastic provider, Maria!! She's great. Any way, she listened to his chest, heard him cough, knows his history and discussed plans of treatment. We talked about albuterol, possibly a course of steroids. All of those no problem. I knew that's what he needed. I expected it. Then like a strong wind to knock you on your butt!!! She said it. Maria, in her sweet, quiet voice. She almost whispered....I'm going to have to call this asthma. WHAT?!?!

ASTHMA!! No not my son! He can't be labeled! My son is healthy!! He's super smart, eats healthy, exercises pretty much 24/7!! What??!?!?!? I mean come on! I breast fed for 15 months!! That's supposed to make him healthier. Right?! I knew that he had problems occasionally, which required his nebulizer. He's has RSV 3 times in his short life but I just assumed that maybe he was more susceptible to it. How can he have asthma!!

I guess I feel like I failed a little. Like, there was something that I missed or something extra I could've done to prevent this. Once again I regress to blaming things on being pressured into inducing my labor. My body wasn't ready. Little Sprout wasn't ready. I gave in, ended up with a c-section and the story kind of writes itself. Here is an excerpt from an article that I came across on reuters:

"Overall, children delivered by c-section were 79 percent more likely to develop asthma than children born vaginally, the investigators found. The association between c-section and asthma was even stronger for children born to one or two allergic parents than for children born to parents without allergies."


Fantastic.

What's going on?!?

Wow! A month, really?!? I am beyond words. I am sorry to my friends and family who check here for updates. Let's catch up!!

First, we went to South Florida so Red could meet his dad. Everything was amazing! They are too cute together and are just alike in so many ways. Sprout got a chance to meet his "Pea-Pa" and had a blast. We even went to a Biker Bar for breakfast!?! How cool is that! Sprout was even calling out to him to get his attention and was really connected to him. I know Red is super super excited to have his "dad" in his life. I am ecstatic because that means that Sprout has more family members that he can grow with!!

Red and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary this past Wednesday. It was a long day, very tiresome, stressful, unsexy and totally unromantic. We ended up having pizza for dinner and fell asleep on the couch. Friday evening, Sprout spent time with his Gramma and Pa so, we got a chance to go out and celebrate. We went to our favorite place Aqua Grill! The food was amazing, as always and the atmosphere was just what we needed. We had a great time and reconnected a little bit. Saturday evening was spent at my grandmas house and we have a nice family dinner in honor of our anniversary! It was beautiful and a good time.

The rest of this past weekend was pretty much business as usual. I cooked, baked, cleaned and played with Sprout. Red worked and Sunday we had dinner with Gramma and Pa. Late night, again. After Sprouts escapade with Gramma and Pa Friday night, the little cough that he had turned into a big nasty croupy cough!! He is going to see the Dr today and hopefully we will have a prescription for some steroids and maybe something more permanent. I will updat tonight and add some pictures!

Catch-up!!!!

Okay, I've been gone for a few but now I'm back. Little Sprout had a cold for a couple days and I lost my voice for about 3. Red has been the only one not ill! Good for him. Well, except for his right ear it's doing this crazy cauliflower thing that looks like it's super swollen and puffy. A little gross but a little cool, too.

Sprout has been doing great with his potty-training at school! At home, well, we'll work on it more once we get back from our little trip! Oh, what?!? You didn't know!?!?!?! Red, Sprout and myself are going to take a trip a little south, like 5 hours south, so that Red can meet his dad for the first time! Yay!!

We will be leaving Friday afternoon and coming back Sunday evening! Red is so excited. I know he has waited, at least all of our life together, to discover, find and meet his dad. I know he is ecstatic. I pray everything goes well and that they can build a great relationship.

Sorry for the lack of pics. I promise to put up pics soon. Probably after our big weekend!

Tuesday, Tuesday...

Oh boy, what a week! I know it's still early in the week but man this week has definately been one of those weeks. The office drama is in full effect and it comes in waves. One minute everyone is fine and we're all BFF's. Next, it's close to world war three in here. The front office is jumping at the back office's throat. They just don't understand what we go through back here just like I'm sure we don't get to see everything they go through up there. I just wish we could all work together and that things went smoothly.

Ugh! Enough of the depressing stuff. Sprout is doing great with his pottying this week! He went on the potty most of the day yesterday so he got a special treat for dinner last night. He was so excited and enjoyed every minute of it! He's done really well as far as temper tantrums go, too.

In other news, Red and his dad are still doing well. Red's dad broke the news to his family and well, it wasn't exactly what he hoped, I suppose but I think the shock may be wearing off a little and reality is setting in. His family must be in that 'did this just happen' phase. I pray they will warm up to the idea and embrace Red. This is what Red has wanted for so long. I have a sense of peace that this will work itself out and one day we will all be friends.

Oops!!

I almost forgot. He ripped open the envelope and carefully pulled out the half soaked paper that he had been longing for and stared blankly at the page.

We were both scared, confused and completely unsure. Was this what we had been hoping for? What we were waiting for? There were two columns with a lot of letters and even more numbers! What did all this mean. It was like trying to read Chinese!?! As the letter was glanced over and over by searching eyes hoping and longing for an answer. Something, anything.

Red's eyes reached the bottom of the page and some place almost hiding amongst all of the technical jargon and mutation mumbo-jumbo it read:

"Based on testing results obtained from analyses of the DNA... the probability of paternity is 99.9%."

Wooohooo! That's exactly what Red was praying for. Exactly what he needed to begin to fill the void in his life. Stay tuned for the introduction of his DAD!!

And the verdict is.....

Hey hey hey! Not so fast! First I want to tell you about the story of how the results came to be. Okay, so, Red called me to go check the house to see if the results had arrived yet. I, being the amazing wife that I am, left work and ran home only to find nothing. I called Red to let him know and to have him call to get a tracking number for his package as well as teh status. He did. Upon receipt of his return call stating that his package had been delivered to the front door a couple hours earlier, I was a little upset. I know I'm a blonde but I am not that crazy! If indeed the package was at the front door I would've seen it! HELLO!!! So, once again I left work to go look for this silly letter with no avail. I called Red told him it wasn't their and to let them know because obviously there had been a mistake. He did and long story short UPS told hime they would look into it and call in on Monday. That doesn't work for me!!

I called UPS let them know I was upset, that Monday was not acceptable and this needed to be taken care of before the end of the day! Okay, even longer story short, there were several hours of phone tag and finally about 7:30 I spoke with someone who informed me that the driver of our route didn't feel as if she had made a mistake and misdelivered Red's letter so she was going home and someone would call us monday. OMG!!! I almost ripped that guy a new one. I knew I was blowing up at the wrong person and I let him know that and I apologized to him for being so upset but the answers I was geting were ridiculous! I kind of copped out after a suggestion he made "okay, so you're basically telling me that I need to go door to door and knock on these strangers doors at quarter to eight and say, 'Hi, I'm Three Piece, did you get my mail today?'" UGH!!! I was so mad!

I ended the conversation. Red had overheard my suggestion and headed out on a mission. He went to about 1/3 of the neighborhood. I called and told him just to come home and we would try Saturday to find the letter, he said he was chatting with a neighbor and would head back. Probably 15 minutes Red arrived back at the house weilding nothing other than a UPS envalope!! A FREAKING UPS ENVALOPE!!! He told me that while talking to the neighbor he noticed a house across the road with a wet, half-bent, UPS envelope propped up in the corner of the front porch. He examined it and realized it was what he had been hoping, praying to find! He excused himself from the conversation and he tells me he ran all the way home!!

Envision Charlie from Willy Wonka nad the Chocolate Factory running hom after he found the last Golden Ticket! So over joyed, so excited, so child-like, care-free and giddy! I can just picture his face. He was ecstatic!

Quesadillas!!!

This is my first one!!


1.5 lb boneless skinless chicken breast (2.99)
1 can mild cheese sauce (2.44)
12 small sound flour tortillas ($1.25)
shredded mexican cheese,1/2 bag ($0.95)
sour cream ($.89)
1 can refried beans ($0.99)
1 small bag Mexican rice ($1.25)
jell-o flan mix ($.99)
1 cup of milk (for the pudding) (~$0.30)

Total cost $9.06!!!

Cut up the chicken breast into short strips and cook in a pan.
Spread a little of the spicy cheese sauce on half of each tortilla,
place a few pieces of the cooked chicken on top of the cheese sauce,
cover the chicken with the shredded mexican cheese, fold tortilla in
half and place on a griddle, in a pan on the stove, or in the oven.

Cook until the tortilla is lightly brown and the shredded cheese is melted. Put the remainder of the cheese sauce in a little bowl, put some sour cream in a little bowl and use those for "dipping" sauces for the quesadilla.

The quesadillas are usually enough for my family but if your family likes a biger meal then add the rice as a side as well as the refried beans. Just microwave them for a minute and a half or so. Also, if you prefer a dessert as well, I would make a flan or any pudding to go with it!! You can buy the jell-o brand flan at your local grocer and it is yummy!!! Not quite Authentic Mexican but pretty close!!!

It's like waiting for paint to dry...

So sorry to keep everyone hanging. No, we haven't gotten anything back yet. Red still does not know, for sure, that his journey to find his father is over or just beginning. I feel for him, I really do. It's taken longer than expected and the whole process is like waiting for paint to dry. You know. You're so excited when you find the shade that you've been searching for forever! You get samples and put it up on the wall and then you wait, and wait, and wait. It seems like forever, waiting to see if it is the color that you've been waiting for. To see if it is the color that you envisioned, the one that will make the room complete! The waiting game is never fun but with good friends, good family and a couple of drinks it will be worth it and the paint will dry. Red's paint is almost dry and soon we'll know if it is his perfect match, the one to make his room complete.


I hope you enjoyed the metaphorical story. These things just come to me, you know, because I'm so awesome! :) In other news. Sprout has been doing great with his potty training. He is still at about 95% pottying at home but school was rough for him at first and, well, with his GI issues last week we pretty much put it on hold. He's gone pee on the potty for his day teacher pretty well during this time but yesterday he did really well. He peed several times on the potty and even had a BM on the potty for her. YAY SPROUT!! Today, however was even BETTER!! He sis amazingly well. He's still wearing a diaper at school and considering that, he's pretty much outstanding! Today he went potty on the potty more often than not. I think his day sheet said he had one wet diaper! I am so proud of him!! YAY!!!! GO SPROUT!!!! One last thing before I wrap this up. As you know Sprout has a birthday coming up in about 6 weeks. Well, he will be getting a new nickname too! Hey, 2 is pretty grown up, for him anyway, so I think he deserves a grown up nickname for the blog too. You can guess or even make suggestions. See you all soon!

Guys Fun Day!

Yesterday, Red suprised Sprout, as well as myself, with a Father/Son Day! From what I hear they had a blast! Sprout spent some time playing hide and seek, using the potty and coloring and boy did he color! The wall in the dining room that is! He had so much fun, in fact, he didn't even take a nap, which was only apparent about 20 minutes before his regular bed time. :) I came home for lunch and cooked up something good, we enjoyed some family time together and, shoot, I even made dinner, for real, last night.

Now, if you know anything about our busy lives you know we don't always have time to sit down to a traditional family meal. Last night was different! Remember when I said I came home for lunch? Well, I put a chicken in the clow cooker with my usual, unique, never-the-same-twice, blend of seasonings. I homemade some equally creative rice with paprika and corriander and to top it off, one of our favorites, corn on the cob! Then, of course, there was icream for dessert for Red. All in all a good day!!

What a shocker!

Okay so I really just noticed that it's February! Wow, and I thought last year went by fast. I can't believe Sprout will be 2 in just 8 weeks.



Oh and don't forget!! It's black history month. BHAHAHA! :)

***ETA***
I found something that pertains more to me than the above.
February is Women's Heart Disease Awareness Month
and
Children's Dental Health month!!!
Both are important! So ladies talk to your Dr.s about your heart health this month and make sure your kids are up to date with their dental visits! Early detection and prevention can make the difference!

Up an coming!!

****There may be some big news on its way to the blog. My wonderful husband has been on this search for his biological dad for almost 6 years. He's walked down many promising roads and come to more than enough dead ends. His journey may very well end this week. Will you all say a prayer that this is the case? I know it would mean the world to him if he found his dad. This is by far the closest he's been.****

Sprout has been doing well and even used the potty at school by himself yesterday. I was so excited to hear that! I know, weird to get excited that your kid just went to the bathroom. Yeah, well, after a week of let downs while potty training at school this was a high not and considering he was wearing a diaper I am even more proud! So, I guess the pottying is back on. As you know Sprout was a little sickly over the weekend and regressed a bit, mostly because he slept for 20 hour on Saturday.

On a slightly different topic, now. Sprout has seemed a clingy lately. Sunday night he woke up three different times screaming and then crying mommy, mommy. I mentioned it to day teacher and she said he's been doing the same thing at nap time for like a week! What!?!? Hello!!!! Tell me what goes on with my baby!! Now i just feel bad and think I should stay home with him even more. :( Soon enough, I suppose.

Well, time to wrap it up. I still have a while before work so I'll go tidy some things since, apparently, the house is trashed 6 out of 7 days a week! lol. :)

Love you all!

Moving the old blog over!!

Yay!!! After 15 long months and a couple of bouts with some attitude. Sprout has 6 teeth! I am way too excited over this. He has 4 on the top and two on the bottom. Now, I know you're thinking...What? Why does it matter? All babies get teeth? Well, yes, they do but Sprout is 15 months old! Finally he's catching back up to normal.

In other news, Sprout had his 15 month old Dr.s appointment. He did a good job. His pediatrician said he's pretty much a genius but I'm not sure if that's just because I work for her or maybe she's on to something. Sprout has a list of 28 words that continues to grow daily and he also sported a list of 10 signs that he uses to help express himself. Currently, however, he is mastering his non-verbal communication skills such as rolling on the flor while screaming, holding his breath and turning purple to convey his deep feelings of unhappiness.

I think that's all for now. I still don't have a working digital camera but hope to post pics of his latest photoshoot once they are available!! Thank you all and talk to you soon.

On the UP!!!

Sprout had a good day today. He still slept a ton and ate a little but hey, at least he's eating right? Oh and he also drank pretty well, mostly gatorade. I suppose it's what his body needs. I was going to buy some culturelle considering his bowel problem for the last 4 days but , man, that stuff was $30 for a 14-day supply. I always recommend culturelle to my patients when their child was having problems and now I wonder if they really bought it....Oh well. His issue isn't that bad. Hopefully it will clear up soon and we can get back to potty training.

On that front. Things were going really well and Sprout was potty trained, in my opinion, for almost 2 weeks but I guess his school just isn't equiped to handle someone his age who is pottying. It sucks because I feel like they've forced him back into diapers. I really want to switch his school until he's 2 but just can't find anywhere that compares to the school he's in now. Plus I just can't bring myself to take him away from his friends.

Oh it's getting late. The weekend flew by and I still have laundry to do, dishes to wash and even groceries to put away. I suppose I should get myself off this computer and back to work. Tomorrow starts a brand new work week which could get interresting! Here's hoping! You all have a great week and come back soon to keep up with the Billings'!!!

Lazy Saturday.

Last night was super fun. Both Red and I got a chance to hang out with friends and even Sprout got to hang out with his main BFF Cman! They got together, played trucks, shooting games and had nugget happy meals for dinner! They has a blast and it was a late night for the little guys. Today wasn't as bad as I thought it may have been Sprout went to bed pretty late but Red and I went to bed even later. I just knew that Sprout would wake up at his usual time, around 7. Suprisingly enough I was the early bird and started the morning around 5:30, wooh long day! Sprout didn't bat an eye this morning until almost 9:30.

It was strange. When he got up he asked for candy. Huh?!? Candy? I of course said no and explained that we didn't eat candy for breakfast and he freaked out. I eventually caved and gave him a lollipop. He licked it a couple times, gave it up and asked for some milk. I happily obliged and thought this would be a great start to our family day. Well, once he finished his milk he was really clingy and wanted to rock, not more than 30 minutes later he was out like a light. He slept until about 12:30 played a little, ate some crackers and went back to sleep about 3. He woke up from that nap about 6 and is playing okay. Poor little guy. I hope he's not catching something.

I guess it's not a total loss. Red and I got to spend time together and we both cleaned the house. On the bright side, I don't feel bad about being stuck in the house, the weather was awful today.

***Oh. I spoke with Cman's mom and he's got an upset tummy today. We both agreed that it must have been bad chicken nuggets. :)

Welcome.

Good afternoon family and friends. Welcome to the Billings family blog. I am excited to start this blog so that we can keep you up to dat with everything that is going on in our family, especially our precious little boy! He is a handful be he's definately amazing and fun! Well, that's it for the first post. Feel free to share your questions and comments! Love, The Billings Family!