Update

Man, here I came back to the blogging world and yet I took a whole week off. Life has been busy, busy, busy!

We have been trying to keep cool in the oppressive summer heat of the Midwest. It's been in the 100s for a week now and swimming in the afternoons just isn't cutting it. Finding places inside with air conditioning hasn't been too appealing as I just assume they will be crowded. 

We've been trying to get ready for vacation coming up later this month and I've been researching some great crafts to make for Burkley to play with in the car ride. We'll be in the car for about five hours and I'm hoping he'll sleep at least half of that, but I'm excited about some things I've found for the times when he's awake. I'll post more on those later as I finish them. :)

Fat lip!

A couple of weeks ago, Burkley was very sick. The whole thing started the morning after he had a big fall and got a huge bloody lip. He woke up with a fever and diarrhea and we thought maybe something got out of whack with his fall, so we took him to the chiro. When the fever didn't break the third day, we took him to our family doctor. We still don't really know what he had, but the doctor thought it was maybe an upper respiratory infection. When his fever was ranging from 101-104 for the eighth day in row, we sought a second opinion and that doctor just thought he had a sore throat. It was the strangest (and seemingly LONGEST) illness. He was on an antibiotic for a few days, but unfortunately we ended up not finishing the course because he turned into a complete monster as a side effect to the red dye. It didn't occur to me that there was red dye in his medication since all of his doctors know that he reacts badly to it (generally he gets rashy, but this time it was a personality side effect!), so I assumed that whatever was making this medicine pink certainly could not be red dye. Silly me. After five days of tantrums that were out of this world, high-pitched screams for the littlest upset, and my husband and I walking on eggshells waiting for whatever was going to tip him off next, we did a little research and found that many, many parents (especially those with kids who have a sensitivity to red dye) noticed the same thing happen to their kids. So, we stopped the medicine and by the next day, our happy, sweet, silly boy was back. We're praying the illness will not return, which is a small concern since he didn't finish his antibiotic. I called the pharmacy to see if we could get it replaced with a dye-free option (we could), but to be honest, I just never had the time to go bring in the old one (they wouldn't exchange it without us bringing in his other meds), and either sit there while they filled the 'scrip' and/or come back at another time. Life was hectic, we are a one-car family, and he "seemed" to be better. I really do feel a bit irresponsible about that, but, by the time it occurred to me to look into that option he was already off the antibiotic for three days and I was nervous that by then we'd be starting all over anyway. And, I had talked with the doctor so much recently that I knew I was starting to get on the nerves of everyone of the office, so I was hesitant to call and discuss this with them. Sigh. 

One cool thing that happened was while we were visiting the doctor, he had to give a urine sample, and thanks to EC, he went ahead and peed in the little cup! Here is at home on the toilet. He always has to be reading a book while on the toilet.

As alluded to in my previous post, I’ve been on a new kick (lifestyle change) where I am really finding joy in the chores of a homemaker. However, in this heat, I’ve really been struggling to find motivation. If I run the vacuum while the air conditioners are running, my old home’s wiring can’t keep up and I blow a fuse. I don’t want to clean the bathroom because it’s upstairs and during naptime (which is the best time to clean a bathroom!), the AC is on where Burkley sleeps and the door is closed, so the bathroom is sweltering.

I’ve also been doing more sewing lately, especially in preparation for my bestie’s soon-to-be-born babe. I made her an awesome “hospital gown” (though she’s having a home birth) that will be comfy for her to lounge around in after birth. It’s perfect for keeping cool, staying comfy, and for nursing. Pics to come…once the baby is here!

Bestie and I are also gearing up to teach a series of childbirth classes at our local pregnancy resources center next month, so we’re frantically trying to get the curriculum for that put together before the arrival of said baby.

We’ve been having lots of birds come to feast on the seed we put out and I always try to snap a quick pic through the screen before they fly away. I love when the cardinals come! When the birds come, they scatter the seed like CRAZY, which is fine with me, because the sunflower seeds that are in the mix have planted themselves, taken root, and have made the edge of our porch look very pretty! Our garden is also flourishing, though it’s been so hot and dry. Tomatoes are starting, green beans are doing great, and the peppers are pretty big. We have a very small yard, so we just have a teeny raised garden and then a window box with herbs. It’s so fun to cultivate the tiny bit of land we have and we look forward to someday moving somewhere that has much more land.

Peppers, green beans, tomatoes

Burkley with my aunt's dog, Champ

This summer my aunt is also giving me canning lessons. So far we’ve done strawberry jam and peach jam with the fruit from her garden. More of the canning (and salsa making!) will take place at the end of the summer once our crops (okay, mostly her crops since she has a HUGE garden) are harvested.

Sparklers on the 4th of July

Creating his towers

Other than that, there’s not too much else to update you on. Burkley’s language keeps developing like crazy and he has several full sentences he likes to use. Most of them start with, “Mama, I want…” Life is so wonderful with a child who can communicate. It’s so fun to hear him talk and learn. He’s learning his colors and he loves to pretend to read everything. We sit and read all the time. It’s his favorite thing to do other than play outside, build with his blocks, and play with his train set. He has a very long attention span and enjoys activities that require patience and focus (much more than I do, haha!). We’ve been doing tons of swimming lately too and his favorite thing to do is to jump off the diving board. 

Stay tuned for more updates and I hope you're all staying cool!