Son of a Itch!!!!

 

They are beautiful aren’t they? I LOVE flowers and always look forward to their bloom every spring, what I don’t look forward to is the terrible allergies I suffer as a result. This spring I started sneezing and had an itchy throat so I started taking my seasonal allergy medicine of choice Zyrtec. More specifically Cetirizine in the great big Kirkland vat. Well over the last couple months I have been…not myself. I could NOT figure out what it could be and one of the most disturbing things I have been experiencing has been weight gain despite exercise, which has increased so if anything I should be maintaining, but certainly not gaining at such a rapid rate. I did a little research and found that for a small percentage of people rapid (that’s right RAPID!) weight gain is a side effect!!!  So for general information (whether you want it or not) these are some of the side effects of Zyrtec (Cetirizine). I’ve highlighted some of the ones I’ve experienced:

Common side effects of Zyrtec Oral:                                                   Dryness of the Nose                                                                                                                          Dry Mouth
Drowsiness
Throat Dryness

Infrequent side effects of Zyrtec Oral:                                                 Throat Irritation
Chronic Trouble Sleeping

Rare side effects of Zyrtec Oral:                                                        Abnormal Heart Rhythm
Bronchospasm
Hepatitis
Liver Problems
Blockage of Normal Bile Flow
Seizures
Fit
Visible Water Retention
Heart Throbbing or Pounding
Life Threatening Allergic Reaction
Nightmares
Blurred Vision
Problems with Eyesight
Unsteady Walking
Ringing in the Ears
Incomplete or Infrequent Bowel Movements
Sun-Sensitive Skin
Dizzy
Low Energy
Excessive Sweating
Involuntary Quivering
Rash
Loss of Appetite
Weight Gain
Increased Hunger
Nosebleed
Fast Heartbeat
Feel Like Throwing Up
Diarrhea
Difficult or Painful Urination
Stomach Cramps
Decreased sex drive                                                                                                                  Nervous
Confused
Over Excitement

Okay so I’m sure some of those things are a bit personal, but I just wanted to share incase anyone out there is experiencing some of these things. I have been ravenously hungry (even right after I finish eating) tired and gaining weight at ridiculous speed despite increased exercise. And can I just say that there is nothing more defeating than trying to eat well while being stupidly hungry and exercising and still gain weight! I was so off that I had convinced myself that I could be pregnant, which is ludicrous because I had my tubes tied after Littlest Moo but I simple could not figure out why I was experiencing all these symptoms!!!!  Great so I decide to stop taking the medicine. So for some other great information one of the side effects of quitting Zyrtec is itching. I happen to be fortunate enough to be experiencing this delightful side effect of withdrawl. I’ve actually experienced it before and not realized why I was itching so much, but after a little research now I know why. Oh and it is not just a little itchy, but an itch over my entire body that makes it seem like there would be nothing more glorious than to scratch my skin clean off my body. Seriously.  I know it might take a few more days but I am going to just tough it out and get myself off the hard stuff. I’ll still enjoy the flowers, but I might be sneezing while doing it and in time hopefully a little lighter!

The Wheels on the Bus…

For the first couple days Little Moo took the Mommy bus to school and I walked him to his classroom door where he put his little backpack in line, but now it is time for him to ride an ACTUAL bus. I told him on the first day of school (when he wanted to ride the bus!) that I would take him for a couple days and on Friday he could ride the bus.Tomorrow is Friday. I am FREAKING OUT!!!!  I still can’t get past the idea that he is going to have to get to his classroom from the playground without direction. The last couple days we’ve talked about what he’ll do when he gets off the bus and where he should go and how to find his classroom. But of course I’ve got a little boy with a gaze that wanders to the glorious playground and I doubt he really knows why he should put his bag in one line vs. another.

Breath.

Breath.

Of course this is it. This is the time that I actually have to let go, let him get lost and hope he learns from it and doesn’t end up traumatized. There are staff and teachers all around as well as bigger helpful kids. I’ve drilled into him his teacher’s name in case he ends up in the wrong place so he can tell them where he belongs. I am certain am I far more concerned about this than he is  (in fact he is excited)  so it is my job as Mom to collect myself, assure him he can do this and put him on that bus!

Wish me luck!

Oh and maybe a little luck for my Little Moo as well!

And He’s Off!!!

Today was the day! Our Little Moo (who is getting so big) had his very first day of Kindergarten!  It is crazy to me that we are already here, that he is ready for this milestone. The time goes so quickly. And let me tell you, he was so excited he was vibrating. He woke up before 7am and came out of his room dressed asking for his breakfast. Mind you that school doesn’t start until 8:45am, but he wanted to leave the second he woke up.

I convinced him to hold off on breakfast for a whole 15 minutes and then he got to eat his special first-day-of-kindergarten cereal. A sample box that came in the mail a week ago. I told him he could have on his first day. Every morning for the last week he pulled that box out and would give the countdown to when he could eat it.

I’m not sure where I get such deluded ideas that once school started things would be different with him. Well the only thing that is different is that I have to put up with his same tom foolery while getting him and his cousin and his brother ready to get him out the door. Where do I get these ideas anyhow, I took him to preschool for a whole year last year!

I am nervous not because I don’t think he will do well, because I know he’s smart and should be fine, it is that he is so young! Did I prepare him for this much independence? It is scary to think of him getting off the bus and going to the playground and then making it to his class when the whistle blows without me. The playground is SO LARGE and he is just a Little Moo. This is my panic point. Today he did not take the bus, but I told him could on Friday. I need He needs another couple days navigating.

As you can see he was so done with pictures, I COULD NOT get one with him looking at me. He didn’t even care if I stayed, he just wanted to go play with all those kids!

Sigh.

He is just so big.

It is that time of the year!

 

The aroma-o-crayola is in the air and the glue sticks are aplenty.That’s right, around here it is time for school! In less than a week our Little Moo starts Kindergarten! I vacillate between teary-eyed reflection on where the time has gone and being excited for him to be out of my hair experience this milestone.

 

 

I know that I will enjoy some of the morning quiet but….yeah that’s it!

He is ready for kindergarten and super excited and I couldn’t ask for more!  I absolutely LOVED school until the day I graduated. I was the kid that woke myself up at 5am (hours before my parents) because I couldn’t sleep and I would be dressed and ready to go 15 minutes later. Okay, so shocker I was a bit of a goody-goody but I liked school and I can only hope my children do to!

This time of year always reminds me of one of my all time favorite commercials!

Does it speak to my personality much that my favorite commercial is for school supplies? Yeah…that’s what I thought.

Currently I am fighting the urge to be sucked into the Back-to-School must buy everything new madness. First off, his school starts earlier than most schools so it will still be summer. I surely won’t be buying new shorts for just a couple weeks so he will be sporting non-stained clean summer clothes. If the teacher is lucky I will be able to convince him to wear underwear (that isn’t on backwards)  and put his sandals on the correct feet. Then of course some of the supplies he needs are things we have so why buy more? I’m hoping to teach our kids that we don’t have to have everything new the first day of school. I’ve even read that some families set a budget (which I love!) and if the kids save themselves money they get to keep the rest. I still have a few years before we are ready for that, but it is something to consider for sure!

New school supplies or not I hope that our Little Moo enjoys his school experience and continues to love learning. Hopefully there isn’t a crying ball of mess on the floor of the classroom the first day of kindergarten, but check back to see how I did!!!

One is Fun!!!

Our little baby boy is one!!! I can’t believe how quickly the year has passed and how much he has grown. You would think that since he isn’t our first this would come as no surprise, but it still always shocks and amazes us!

I love one. I love watching children this age (especially my own!) soak up everything like a sun dried, dehydrated sponge. Everything is new and exciting and they don’t talk back yet and haven’t started the “terrible twos” thing. Sure each age has its drawbacks and perks but I really enjoy that you can teach them so much and they still haven’t figured out that you don’t always know what on earth you are doing. Our Littlest Moo loves books and being read to and “talking” on the phone. He is so curious and already appears to have some problem solving skills. He isn’t walking yet, but we are in no rush and we know it will be coming soon. We remember what that entails, once they start walking everything changes and you can’t go back. Right now for him everything is a hat and he thinks it is fantastic to take one thing and put it into another. Oh to be entertained by such simple things in life!

I wish this stage would last longer but since the only way to accomplish that would be to stunt his growth both physically and academically and in my line of work I know what damage this can do so I think we’ll opt for soaking up as much of it as we can and enjoy our little man and all his stages.

**Oh and I’d like to add a special shout out to my friend Stacumz and my SIL for helping to capture the special moments of the boys’ party. I was able to take some photos but was helping the kids for a good part of it and they filled in where I was absent. They contributed some great shots to our collection of party pictures, thanks ladies!!!

Dr. Seuss Party-rific!!!

This past weekend we celebrated Little Moo’s 5th and Littlest Moo’s 1st Birthday with a Dr. Seuss Party. We had a fantastic time! I’m pretty sure this is the most planning and decorating I’ve ever done for a birthday party so I thought I’d share!

Let’s start with the invitation

I’m particularly proud of these as it took me HOURS to figure out how to use paint.net, but I learned a lot. In the past I have made the invitations by hand, and I will probably do that again in the future, but this was the best way to incorporate the characters. As would be predicted, after I finished these and sent them out various crafts stores started having Dr. Seuss displays with all kinds of fun stickers that of course would have come in handy to make them by hand. But hey, it forced me to learn how to use image editing software for which I am grateful!

And of course what is a party without food!

Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes! This was my first attempt at making my own frosting and using cake decorating tools. It is not the most delectable baked good I’ve ever made, but they turned out cute and fortunately when you’ve put a lot of work into something most people won’t spit it out in front of you and tell you how terrible they are. I will believe that they were good!

Multicolored goldfish are always a hit with kiddos!

Pink Ink Yink Drink anyone?

Yummy pasta salad from my brother’s girlfriend!

In addition we had Brown Barbaloot Truffula fruit (grapes, strawberries and watermelon), Broccoli Salad (which is so popular it never goes to waste and it made for all of family gatherings) , hot dogs, soda and chips.

Now for the decorations!

To decorate I just used some Dr. Seuss books that we have and set them up around the house as well as some wall decals that I purchased from a party store where I also found the Green Eggs and Ham balloons. I pulled the colors from the balloon to match. Dollar Tree is great for decorations as well as the dollar section at Target, they have great stuff!!! And in the living room we had the audio of Dr. Seuss stories playing in the background.

This is by far the most planning I have ever done for a party, coming in second to my wedding!  Some things the party didn’t have:

*expensive goody bags for the kids

*activities/games planned for the kids

*catered food or even fancy food

Guess what? I don’t think anyone noticed!!!! The kids had a great time playing in the bubbles (I set out a little bubble machine) and on the swing set and running around with each other and the adults. Sometimes all the fancy gets in the way of what is really important, celebrating!!!

And I think these kids had fun!

For those that say I could have done something better or it wasn’t big enough I kept coming across this quote while planning for this party and I think it is perfect

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” ~ Dr. Seuss

This is who we are! Nothing fancy about us but we sure know how to have fun!!!

Five Alive!!!

 

It is official, as of Sunday evening Little Moo is 5!  He is very excited about this. I was hoping (in an utterly delusional way) that some switch would turn and there would be a  return of the sweet boy I know he is. Apparently his switch was defective. Darn.

Well I suppose that isn’t entirely true. Little Moo has very suddenly decided he can (and will) do things on his own even if that means pulling up a chair to reach the cups to get he and his brother some water. One day he even asked for some snack and I told him after I went to the bathroom I would get them something to eat.  When I came out and he had gotten both he and Niecey-poo a snack and water, sippy lid and all. Sure there was a trail of water across the kitchen and goldfish crumbs everywhere because they had polished off the package. But he did it himself and he couldn’t be prouder. And neither can I. Do I like having to clean up his independence??? Not so much. But seeing how accomplished he feels fills my heart and makes it bearable. Kind of like when they are 9 months and poop everywhere, but they give you a huge grin and giggle and you can’t help but laugh. Sure there is crap everywhere, but you love them so you’ll get over it.

This year Little Moo received (from Zippercow and I)  REAL tools that are his size and his very own. He is beyond thrilled to be able to “help” Daddy. Now whether his Dad is just as excited remains to be seen. Fortunately Zippercow likes helping him learn despite the many white hairs if gives him, which is a big deal, he only has a few!

He is a jack of all trades this little boy is. He can be caught at night when he should be going to bed dressing up in costumes and dancing to the Phineas and Ferb soundtrack in the mirror then fall asleep with his pile of books around him. You add the yard work, wrestling and incessant who, what, where, when, why and how you have a pretty full day!

When starting this post I wasn’t sure if I wanted to just make it all mushy and starry eyed about how magical these last 5 years have been or complain about how frustrating they have been.  The truth is I wouldn’t change any of it for anything. Frustration helps to teach him and teach us and when the tears (mine) have dried we have some great stories to share.  He is a smart and talented  little boy and we are proud of our Little Moo. He continues to grow and frustrate amaze us and we look forward to what 5 brings us!