Someone Was Jealous Of Amelia's Spa Day...

Amelia's older cousins in MA wanted in on her spa day lol

Mani-Pedis

Since Charlie had a birthday party this afternoon and Ben had an away basketball game, Mandy and I took the girls to lunch and for manicures and pedicures. It's safe to say they had a great time!

Just In Case You Were Wondering...

What it looked like in Quincy this week:

I showed this picture to my OT assistant and she said: "Oh my god how do y'all deal with that?! If I was up there, give me a week and you'd have to send me home in a straight jacket! No wonder you Northerners are all bat-shit crazy!"

Well said ;-)

Officially Cleared!

After another marathon allergy appointment, Amelia has officially been declared not allergic to penicillin. Yay!! After four hours in the office today the allergist pronounced her "Quite possibly the cutest kid on the planet" as well as allergy free. Here she is trying to get her mouth around a large cupcake, after not being able to eat or drink anything since midnight last night, for the test. 

Deflategate Cookies!

Because what better way to support my team than to show up to work tomorrow wearing my Patriots jersey and bearing home made deflated football cookies? ;-)

More From The Mind Of A Five Year Old

Amelia: "Pluto! Pluto! Pluto!"

Me: "Why do you keep saying "Pluto"?

Amelia: "Because Pluto is the name of Micky Mouse's dog."

Me: "Oh. Do you know what else Pluto is?"

Amelia: "Well it used to be a planet."

Me: "You're right!"

Amelia: "But I'm not sure where it went?? Like all of a sudden is it not in space anymore? I think it must be pretty big, I'm really not sure where it would go!"

Sunday Night Already!? Where Did My Weekend Go??

And just like that, the weekend is over. 

Yesterday morning I had a long overdue hair appointment and then tackled the grocery shopping. Mike and the kids met me in the check out line to schlep everything home, where we had a lazy afternoon and then went out to dinner. 

This morning Mandy and I took the girl cousins to see a matinee of Paddington Bear, which they all thoroughly enjoyed. After we got home I did a 5 mile run and then spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen, baking apple dumplings that involved Pillsbury crescent roles, large amounts of butter and sugar, and 12 oz of Mountain Dew.  (And let me tell you, they were delicious!) I also made a pot of red lentil soup which was very yummy and got good reviews, except of course from Amelia, who gagged on all six bites that I managed to get her to take. (Sigh.)

Here is a picture of the apple dumplings:

A Well Deserved Ice Cream

Poor Amelia was quite the trooper today, suffering through what turned out to be four and a half hours of doctor's appointments.

First up was her five year old well visit, which took an hour and a half. Her vision checked out at 20/30, a passing grade but something the doc will want to keep tabs on yearly to make sure she doesn't need glasses. (Mommy is slightly disappointed because she thought Amelia would look so adorable with glasses!)

Next up was her hearing test, which she failed miserably despite the nurse repeating it three times. This was no surprise to me as I had already brought her in a few weeks ago with my chief complaint being that she has been deaf as a stone since her last ear infection in December. The failed hearing test earned her a referral to an ENT and the observation that her ears are still full of fluid, the probable cause of the abysmal hearing. 

On the height and weight front Amelia checked in at 35.6lbs and 43 3/4 inches tall. The height needs to go with the caveat that I think it was artificially inflated by her pony tail, despite them measuring her twice ;-) This would put her at almost the 90th percentile for height but only the 30th percentile for weight and puts her solidly in the "underweight" category except that again I think they measured her an inch too tall. At any rate, the doctor said that he thought she just had a high metabolism and was genetically destined to be tall and skinny and that as long as she wasn't having chronic diarrhea or anything, he wasn't too concerned about her weight, even though he did acknowledge that she hasn't gained an ounce (ok really she technically has gained 2 ounces) since her 4 year check up. 

On the immunization front Amelia had to have FOUR shots to be kindergarten ready, which she bore much more bravely than I did at that age -- I told her the story of how I hid under the exam table and kicked the doctor in the face when it was time for shots at MY five year check up. Since Amelia knew she couldn't top that, she bore the shots without incident ;-)

After her well visit we met Mandy and the kids at Panera Bread for lunch, and then Amelia and I went to her next appointment at the allergist. Kudos to Mandy for taking Charlie home (the kids were off school today for a teacher work day) so that he didn't have to suffer through the three hour allergy appointment!

After the said three hours Amelia was pronounced allergy free -- or at least with a 95% certainty -- she was tested for penicillin as well as some typical airborne allergies like pollen and dog, to see if that could explain the chronic fluid in her ears. 

She still has to go back next Friday for an oral challenge, where they dose her with amoxycilin just to be sure, but it looks like she'll be in the clear. 

The allergist was very impressed with Amelia, who gave her a medical history, the reason  for her visit, etc, to the point where the doctor turned to me and said "wow you could've just dropped her off, apparently I don't need you here

 at all!"

Amelia was quite the trooper through the 3 hours & 2 rounds of skin testing (where they basically make you itch like crazy and don't let you scratch.) When we were finally done the doctor complimented me on what a "lovely personality" Amelia has, at which point Amelia had a total meltdown the minute the doctor shut the door behind her ;-)

Here's to hoping we don't have to do another stint of doctor's appointments like that in a while!

Back At It

After months of procrastinating I signed up for my first half marathon in Charlotte -- on April 11th -- in a desperate attempt to get my butt off the couch. As such, I ran three miles after dinner. Here's to keeping it up!!

Why We Moved To Charlotte:

66 degrees in January. 

And They're Off To The Super Bowl!

Mike and I had a babysitter last night and watched the football game at a bar, where we met up with the recruiter who got Mike the job at Bank of America, who is also from Massachusetts, and a friend of hers. 

With the Patriots winning 45-7, needless to say it was a fun night out!

Weekend Update

After a long week the weekend is finally upon us! 

Yesterday I kicked the weekend off by going out for dinner and drinks with a friend of mine from work; we went to Cantina 1511 which is a yummy Mexican restaurant and has THE BEST mango margaritas. 

Today I went out for an overdue pedicure and eyebrow wax and then came home to tend to Amelia who woke up feeling crappy this morning and had spiked a fever by noon :-( 

Tomorrow is a day of cleaning house and then God willing we have a babysitter coming at 5:45 so that Mike and I can get out to watch the Patriots game. Hoping Amelia is still not sick!!

Both kids are home Monday for Martin Luther King Day with Mike, who is possibly working a few hours from home or possibly taking the day off. 

The rain has finally left us and the 10 day forecast is for sun and highs in the 50s and 60s, yay!!

Go Pats!!

Let Them Eat Cake

I was roped into baking a cake for work tomorrow -- not just any cake but an Italian cream cake that someone discovered the recipe for on Facebook. While Amelia gave the home-made cream cheese & toasted pecan frosting a thumbs up, she gave my icing job a decided thumbs down. She informed me that my icing job looked very "scruffy" and eventually left the kitchen in disgust at what a horrible job I was doing. 

Here is my back seat icer and said "scruffy" cake:

A Week Of Tests

In a sprint towards the end of the marking period Charlie has a week of tests -- A science test on the solar system on Wednesday, a spelling test and a social studies test (on God knows what) on Thursday and a math test on Friday. As of right now he has 4 As so we're hoping to squeak through this week with them all intact! (Who knew third grade could be this stressful?)

Finally Got The Basketball Hoop Up!

Go Pats!!

January 10th 2010 & January 10th 2015

Can't believe my baby girl is five years old!!

Amelia's 5th Birthday Party

MyLittle Pony themed complete with a miniature pony :-)

Yes, She Matches Our Living Room Decor

Pre-Birthday Dinner at Chilis

(Also not so coincidentally the restaurant I went into labor at five years ago this evening. )

Conversations With An Almost Five Year Old

Amelia: "I'm going to try to sleep without my bunnies tonight because I'm almost five and I don't think five year olds sleep with bunnies."

Me: "Are you sure? You can sleep with your bunnies as long as you want."

Amelia: "Yeah maybe I'll still sleep with them. After all, Daddy is a grown up and he still plays video games. And I'm pretty sure some Mommies still sleep with bunnies."

Me: "I'm pretty sure they do."

Deaf As A Haddock

I took Amelia back to the doctor today because she has gone, well, deaf as a haddock since her ear infection the other week. After a week of "What?" "Huh?" "I can't hear you!", sleeping through her alarm and turning the tv up way too loud I finally had enough. 

The pediatrician cleaned some wax out of her left ear, said both ears still have a considerable amount of fluid in them, and prescribed omnicef for another ten days since the zythromicin clearly hadn't done the trick. 

Next on my agenda? To actually get her to the damn allergist to see if we really have to be avoiding all penicillin based antibiotics, ugh. 

One Step Forward And Two (Or Three?) Steps Back

Aka a Rebecca update. 

Rebecca is still a spazz. She still will go the entire day without eating because people are in the house. The other day she freaked out and pooped on the floor because Charlie walked into the house and said, "What smells so good?? Did you bake cookies?!" 

But on the other hand she seems to be gaining weight and her coat is looking healthier. She is definitely eating more regularly. She seems to like being out in the backyard. Today she jumped up on my lap because there were girls scouts at the door. After I got up, I came back and sat down a little while later and called her over, and she came and jumped up on my lap again. 

So maybe little by little she is getting better?? But I still think doggy anti anxiety meds are in her not too distant future. 

The Dead Of Winter

I walked into my bedroom this afternoon and asked Amelia, "Why do you have the ceiling fan on?? It's the dead of winter!!" Then I remembered that it was in the high 60s today and super humid. Amelia had, in fact, changed into shorts halfway through the afternoon. 

Very Precarious Ground

Busy Saturday With Random Pictures

We spent most of today out and about running errands. First we finally took my bike to the bike shop to have the flat tire fixed that had occurred almost two months ago. 

Then we went to Party City and got a plethora of My Little Pony party supplies for Amelia's birthday next weekend, after which we had a yummy lunch at Wolfgang Puck Pizza Bar.

A stop at PetCo and a trip to the grocery store rounded out the afternoon. Now I am sprawled in the living room reading my new Kindle (my Christmas present from Mike) with the Panthers game on for background noise and no inclination to move any time soon...

Here is Mike's potato, egg and bacon pizza off the brunch menu:

And Amelia playing with Play-doh outside on the porch because I hate play doh and won't let her play with it indoors ;-)

Tomorrow the full extent of my plans include making beef stroganoff and an apple crisp, and undecorating the Christmas tree. (Yesterday I took down the garlands and lights from the porch, which took a full 45 minutes -- remind me next year to not use so many zip ties!)