Update from the crypt

So I have a few moments of downtime...not really, just don't want to do the work I am supposed to be doing...you know how that goes.

So my illness is gone (along with losing 5lbs) and Miss J's illness is gone. Now it is JW's turn. Really, he isn't that sick, except he has that phlegmy rattlebox stuff in his thoat. It isn't in his chest (which is a good thing, no wheezing), but just a horrible cough with this gung in his throat that he can't get out. Doc wanted him on the breathing treatments again, which is NO joy with a 7 month old who doesn't want to sit still, let alone keep this mask on his face for 2-treaments (20 minutes at least). Yea...not much fun to try to do twice a day. And the thing that stinks, it has been a week and I don't see ANY improvement. It isn't worse, but not better. So is it worth the hassle with the treatments, I don't know...guess I will wait for the doc to call back.

And around the same time he started having this gunk in his throat with a cough, I stopped sending breast milk to school for him (because my production tanked, also due to the illness I had), so we were doing formula full time. I decided on the generic Walmart version to save money...and he seemed to be taking it OK when there was BM for a couple of bottles too...but when we switched to all formula...the intake dropped, and in some cases, he refused bottles throughout the day. He went from drinking 3-6oz BM bottles at school a day, to MAYBE taking 6 oz TOTAL of formula a day. What the heck happened. So the teacher at school mentioned that maybe he didn't like the formula brand and that maybe we needed a fast flow nipple. So that night we went out and got a small container of similac and fast flow nipples. The next day, he drank a little better, but that is when this gunk in the throat really started.

So I thought maybe he was having a reaction to milk based formula (he after all had not so good reactions when I drank too much milk or ate too much cheese), so we bought a soy based similac...drank a little more, but through the next week, still was only drinking about 6oz a day at school and refusing bottles.

I was still able to nurse morning/night with him (my milk came right back after I was done being sick...I sure thought that illness of not eating/drinking for 3-days would have ended it). So he nurses pretty OK with me, but doesn't like the formula thing at all. Then I thought maybe it was a similac thing, so I tried enfamil milk based...refused it. Back to soy similac, seemed to take it a bit better.

WE have been trying to work in more formula by mixing it with his cereal (which by the way he eats cereal and homade puree like it is going out of style. I think he would eat 8oz of food in a sitting if I let him...he is actually eating like 3-4 times a day!!) So he doesn't seem to mind it mixed with cereal, and he is getting a little better with his bottles, but he is still only at ~8 oz of bottles a day...which is so weird.

I don't know if it is him being sick, if it is formula in general, if it is a milk based thing, if it is a brand thing, if it is him teething (he has two little teethers coming in). Ugh...I don't know. But I am tired of buying different brands and types of formula only to have him turn it down. I am hoping it is something simple that he will work out of and eventually not care what kind of formula he is getting and eventually be able to use up the extras I got (within a month or so of course...you know how that formula "goes bad" or so they say...it is just a ploy to get you to buy more and use more...drives me nuts you can't reheat a bottle of formula and have to use it within an hour of making...come on people. That is why I liked mommys milk better, you can let it sit out or reheat it with not too many worries...sorry, I digress).

I definatly don't want to have to go to that allergen free stuff that is the price of gold!! Don't want ot go there...I had a dream last night that we did and I was NOT happy. Starting off with the cheap stuff because I didn't think it mattered with him (Miss J had weird allergies so I didn't even bother trying the cheaper stuff)...and then after all of this having to go to the most expensive stuff. Really, it better not go that route!! JW is supposed to be an easy baby!!

So this weekend we have a plan. A plan for a 3-day weekend to build a wooden playset. And the key word is build...us...me and hubby...together...alone...with only a set of plans and some wood and screws. Yes, we found plans online, and have ordered the wood and bolts/nuts/materials and are having them delivered tomorrow. We just bought the slide at Home Depot, I ordered the swings and monkey bars online...yes, we are really doing this from scratch. No big box pre cut wood or anything. Scratch. What was I thinking???

Well, we were thinking of saving over $600+ and getting the playset that we really want. Durable, strong, big deck size, expandable if needed. Not one of those skimpy ones that a grown up can't even swing on because the weight limit is like 60lbs!! This one we could proabably have 6 adults swing on and play on and it won't budge.

This is a pic of what we are building!!

We really wanted to get a playset for Miss J this summer, and when we started looking all the ones we liked were over $1800. Uh, yeah, way outside our budget. We even looked on craigslist and places like that and couldn't find one that was under $1200 or if it was, it was 12+ years old and worn out. So we went the do it yourself way. I will let you know how much progress we actually make this weekend with two kids and only two of us trying to build it!! We do have grandmas and aunties coming out to help with the kids, but it won't be like we have 10 hours straight each day to work work work. I will still have to assist, I am sure, with the kids now and then. We shall see...maybe it will be better than I think! Pray it will be!!

And lastly, our computer is bombed. I am so pe-oed. We can't even get it booted up, we keep getting an error and I am in no mood to pay $200 right now to have someone fix it. I am trying to figure it out on my own, but aside from buying a backup hardrive ($100) and figuring out how to load our stuff from one computer to the backup, then reformatting the entire computer...I don't know what to do. I can't even start it in safe mode to fix it...it sucks. So I can't download any of the new pics we have. Oh well, something will happen.

Hope all is well, let me see if there are any new pics I have that I haven't shared with y'all...

JW and mom on mommy's day!!