A little of this, a little of that.

This blogging thing is not going as well as I had intended. Even when I think about taking a minute to update ~ suddenly something else comes up, and the thought to update flies right out the window! That, and I rarely have much to say that has any real significance.

Work is work, it pays the bills. I'm getting a little bored and the unit I work on is feeling more like a nursing home than an acute care setting. It's a rare thing when I have a patient who is oriented to person, place and time .. and also in a decent mood. Not that I could blame a person for feeling a bit on the grumpy side about being hospitalized ~ but for Pete's sake, if you don't want to be in the hospital, do not come to the emergency department in the first place! Have to always remember: car salesman .. make the patient happy no matter what they ask of me, or how cruel they treat the staff .. the patient is always right.

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (Worcester campus) has accepted me to start classes this fall. And by this fall, I mean, tomorrow. I first inquired about the program on July 28th, I remember because it was the day Anthony came home from Texas, and I was late getting to Logan because I was scanning copies of my WPI transcripts to send to the admissions officer. Anyway .. applying meant I had to write an essay about why I wanted to go to MCPHS. I chose to write more about why I decided to go back to school, in general. I'll find out tomorrow if I can start their BSN program (seemingly a waste of time for someone with 2/3 of a master's degree in nursing..) or complete an MSN program. Either way, I'm going to ease into it, with only 3 credits this semester.

Now, for my most favorite topic of all, one which I could speak about all day, every day and never get bored or sick of hearing myself brag: Elijah!! :) My sweet baby .. the light of my life .. really, my everything. It sounds cheesy or cliche, but I'm for real, here! I love that little boy more than I can imagine loving anything or anyone else in this world (Anthony included .. but I love him in a slightly different way, anyway!) He's such a happy baby, smiling at everyone! Everywhere we go he just smiles and laughs .. people do not even have to be looking at hime, but you can bet he is looking at them, with a big ole smile! He has mastered the sitting position, and tries to hands/knees ~ he can rock back and forth, but melts to his belly when he tries to go any further than that! He never ceases to amaze me. Some nights, I just stand by his crib watching him sleep .. and I have to fight off the urge to pick him up and take him to bed with me, where I would be so much happier snuggling with him. I've got to get my snuggling in while he is young, because I'm sure it will be all-too-soon that he will want nothing to do with his cheesy old mom!!

And finally: Sarah has to go back to school, so our new babysitter will be Katie. I'm nervous to leave him all over again with someone new .. but she seems like she will be good with him. As long as she keeps him safe and keeps him smiling .. she'll pass muster.

Respite

Whew ... Five days off. It feels good to not have to go into work, although that also means no pay check. I'm enjoying the time with Elijah. We've napped together and play on the floor, he splashes in his pool while I soak my feet! We've been shopping and playing and went for a car ride. He is getting to be so much fun, so much more interactive and reactive.

If it's possible, I think I love him more each day!







Oh, and he is getting really good at sitting up .. Today he sat next to me on the floor while I read the new issue of Babytalk, and he ripped the pages out. :0)

Did I mention that he also has 7 teeth and chews everything?!

Maine ..

Oh yes .. and Octoberfest is out! :) Life is good.

Milestone: Sitting

I don't believe I posted when Elijah began rolling .. it's been a while now. Well, he can't get himself into a sitting position, but if I sit him up, he can hold himself up for a good little bit of time. He's tipsy, but he'll get better quickly, I'm sure of it!

Sarah and I are going to Maine for the weekend. Becky and Brandon are having their housewarming. Looking forward to the visit .. though Anthony won't be able to go this time around. That school business is always getting in the way.

And .. he's gone again!

This concludes our twelve day visit. Anthony is back in NY for the start of the NYCOM school year. I don't even know what we spent 12 days doing .. he got up in the mornings with Elijah -- giving me the luxury of sleeping in for nearly 2 weeks. I still took on the night wakings ..which have increased in their frequency to 3 or 4 a night! What is going on!?

Anthony washed and waxed the Volvo .. and buffed and then had scratches filled .. and probably washed and buffed agian. Who knows. He's in love with that car.

He's home!

Anthony's home again!! He has 12 days from end of active duty until school starts again. Bummer. It's nice to have him back again, if only briefly! He enjoyed his summer "vacation" with the U.S. Army .. navigating the tangle that is Camp Bullis, late night calls to formation and shooting "expert" on the 9 mm range (yup, it's true!). He's got plenty of stories .. most of which probably cannot be fully appreciated unless you had "been there, done that".

Elijah has a stomach bug .. I won't go into all the graphic details that only someone in a health profession would be all-too-willing to offer up .. suffice to say that he's not feeling well and I'm a bit concerned about him getting dehydrated. He's eating plenty today and I'm supplementing with pedialyte .. but a mom can't help but worry, especially because he hasn't been sick before.

Maine: Dad's birthday

Whew .. whirlwind trip to Maine for Dad's birthday went well. Sarah and I drove up with Elijah on Friday morning -- at mom and dad's house the guestlist was as follows: Grandma, Grandpa, Heidi, Edison, Lena, Sue .. mom and dad.. me and Elijah. All in a 4 bedroom house with 1 bathroom! Full to the top, for sure!

Dad's birthday at Becky & Brandon's house on Saturday was a good time .. we had a lot of family and one of dad's friends from work. Pictures are posted on Picasa.

On Sunday everyone went to the railway village in Boothbay Harbor, so Edison could ride a train. It was just a little narrow gauge rail with a 10 minute train ride. They were also having an antique car show .. it was a cute little place and gave us all something to do for the day! Traffic on Route 1 is insane! Pictures of this trip are also posted on Picasa. :0)

I've got a lot of time on the schedule, and not much time for updating. Only a week until Anthony comes home to us!

San Antonio, TX

Our first flying experience was a positive one! Elijah was a happy baby for nearly the entire trip. He was excited to see all of the new faces of people happy to see a smiling infant! :0) Take-off and landing didn't phase him, and it was hard to get him to fall asleep, because he just wanted to smile at the little girl in the seat behind us!

Dallas/Ft Worth is a BIG airport .. who knew?! I'm no airport expert, but it felt like a similar experience to finding my way through Heathrow in London. It is such a far distance from one terminal to the next.

We arrived in San Antonio, along with about a dozen medics returning from Iraq. Elijah and I were seated with another woman with a small child .. in the middle of all these poor medics, who probably did NOT want to hear a baby crying! They played it cool, though.

On Friday evening we visited the Riverwalk with Jeremy's parents and had dinner in a small pub. It was a good time .. but SO hot and humid! I was relieved to get back to the hotel where it was nice and cool! On Saturday Anthony wanted to visit SeaWorld .. I wanted to go to the Zoo .. I won. San Antonio has a very nice zoo, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, although again -- SO hot! My feet were burning through my sandals! I did not realize it was going to be 115 degrees -- had I known this, I would have also opted for SeaWorld!

We didn't see fireworks .. well, didn't go to fireworks, but we saw them from Fort Sam Houston. The fireworks were downtown, but we were high enough up on the hill that it worked out nicely.

All in all .. a very nice trip, great experience. Elijah traveled very well -- next flight: DC in November!

Preparing to fly!

Only a few days left until Elijah and I take to the skies! Anthony will have 3 days off for the 4th of July weekend .. Thank you, U.S. Army! I'm a little nervous for the flight from Boston to Dallas/Ft Worth. The second leg of our trip, from Dallas/Ft Worth to San Antonio is just a little puddle jump.

We have no real plans for the weekend, just to visit and relax. Jeremy's parents are also going to visit for Friday evening and Saturday. We haven't seen them since they moved to TX almost 3 years ago.

A whole new level of tired

To try to convey just how tired she was, Michelle always said "My eyes are bleeding." Everyone got a good laugh out of it, because ~well, her eyes were not really bleeding, and what do bloody eyes have to do with being tired? She was the only one in our little group of friends to have a young baby (7 months old when we started in 2006!) and be trying to make it through grad school. Well, I'm not still in school, but I do have a almost-5-month-old baby and I can now understand the meaning of "My eyes are bleeding". I love Elijah and I love to spend my time with him, but sometimes I just want to sleep! Working 3-11 means I don't get to bed until 12:30 or 1 a.m (and that is if I get out on time!). Elijah likes to wake up anywhere between 5 & 7 a.m. Both times are far too early for my bleeding eyes!

When I tried complaining to Anthony about how tired I am he reminded me that he's spending his days in 100+ degree heat with a heavy uniform, boots with wool socks and a 50+ lb ruck sack on his back .. waking up at 4 a.m. or earlier an working all day in the sun. Ok, you win, buddy .. I do not want to trade places .. but do I get any credit for taking care of our baby every day??

...

There probably isn't any point to my posting tonight ~ I have no real topic to discuss. I brought the foster kitten back to the shelter. It's always a little hard to say goodbye to them. He looked scared in that big stainless steel kennel ~ awaiting his neuter. He'll have a home by Saturday, I'm sure of it. Sterling Animal Shelter adopts out a phenomenal number of animals. I know people are reluctant to pay adoption fees in the $100+ range, but really ~ you are getting a deal. Even if you do find a free puppy / kitten, the cost of vetting that animal will be more than if you adopt an already "fixed" and vaccinated pet.

After returning "Sagamore" (or .. Old Saggy One Nut .. as he was so lovingly nicknamed, because the entire reason he needed a foster home was because he had one undescended testicle), Becky, Sarah and I (along with my sweet little Elijah) visited the Salvation Army Furniture Store .. Becky is searching for cheap furniture / accessories for the new house. She found a few items, but was too cheap to buy ~ so Sarah did. Becky made a weak protest and caved, It was hardly a convincing struggle.

Work was crazy. I feel like it was a really awful night and I was nowhere near the nurse I should have / could have been. It was just too busy. We came onto the shift with quite a few new admissions arriving ~ mine, in particular, arrived without any doctors orders or any other information .. just showed up in the room! Fortunately, they were all breathing at change of shift. That's the best I could do tonight. I feel terrible about it. The elderly man I took care of all of last week and the beginning of this week passed away yesterday morning. I arrived for my shift, hoping he would still be there .. his name wasn't on the board, so I checked the "book" .. sure enough .. 11:35 a.m. I wanted to be there and had hoped I would be his nurse when he died. It's hard to explain ~ especially to someone who doesn't get the whole dying thing. I don't mind it and I'd like to be there to make it comfortable and not scary to the family. I always feel like I get strange looks when I try to explain it ~ so usually I just avoid the topic alltogether.

Finally, at almost midnight, I spoke with Anthony. He needs to not be staying up so late though ~ I feel like it's my fault. He will be away for field training from Sun - Fri next week and I'm not sure what I'll do without talking to him for that long. It will definitely be a first that we have gone that long without speaking .. through e-mail or phone. 7 days until we fly to San Antonio to see him! :)

Happy Father's Day

Happy 1st Father's Day, Anthony! Thank you for everything you do for Elijah and me ~ I appreciate that you wake up in the night with him when you are home or that you get up with him in the morning to allow me a little bit of a break! We miss you, but know you're working hard down in TX! Love, Melissa & Elijah

Toofers!

There they are! Two pearly whites, and boy ~ are they sharp! I hope he will slow down with the teeth ~ they make for an awful miserable time for him and whomever is caring for him!

It sure would be nice for this rain to slow down. The sun did poke its rays out on Thursday afternoon (?) maybe Wednesday .. all I know is that I was working that day and missed it. Now we have rain as far as the forecast can cast. The good part of all this rain is that 1) The plants in the garden love it & there are lots of flowers on everything, and 2) As long as it continues to rain every day ~ I don't have to worry about remember to water / mist plants twice daily, as directed by my dear husband who is away in Texas until the end of July. The bad part is 1) the seeds in the bird feeder are starting to grow sunflowers .. and 2) too much of a good thing, turns into a bad thing and I'm concerned about roots rotting in their pots.

SAT .. here we come!

Elijah's first plane ride is in 15 days .. he doesn't know it yet. We're going to San Antonio for the 4th of July, to see Anthony. He has Fri, Sat, Sun "off" .. we'll arrive around noon and leave Sunday afternoon. I'm really excited ~ never been to Texas .. or west of NY (which isn't saying much..). I'm not excited about the 100 degree weather part, but it's worth it to see my husband (and "babydaddy" .. as someone at work put it ..).

While in TX, Jeremy's parents are coming to visit .. I guess they know more than we do ~ so they'll be our tour guides. It'll be nice to visit with them and not feel 100% lost in such a big city!

Now my challenge is to decide what we really need to bring, and what we can do without for a few days. I don't want to check a bag, so I need to fit everything for me and Elijah into 1 bag, plus the diaper bag .. he'll go in the stroller to be checked at the boarding gate, then ride in my lap. Now, I pray he'll sleep on the plane, and not torture the other passengers with his crying! :-p

Let the movement begin!

Things always happen when Aunt Sarah is around .. Elijah has been rolling himself onto his side for a couple weeks now, I knew it was only a matter of time before he went all the way over. This morning Sarah rolled him onto his belly .. and a couple minutes later he was rolling onto his back! I was not actually witness to this (isn't that always the way??) but she said he did it three times while I showered! She also says he never cries and has perfect behavior while I'm at work. I hear kids tend to do those sorts of things for everyone other than their parents.

BOLC .. & Developmental Milestones

For the first time in Elijah's life, I had to wake him up this morning. Of course -- the only morning we've needed to get up and get out early would be the morning that he is prepared to sleep in. He didn't even wake up in the night. Anthony and I woke up at 0530 so that we could get to the airport for o700. Elijah was still sleeping at 0600. I woke him up -- quick diaper change, a bottle and I snapped him into his car seat for the ride ~ he slept the whole way!

Anyway ~ the airport run was to drop Anthony off for his flight to San Antonio. He's got 42-or-so days of Basic Officer Leadership Class with the Army. It's all a part of his HPSP deal. Elijah and I will see him over the 4th of July weekend ~ Elijah's first plane ride.

During bath time tonight I stuck my finger in Elijah's mouth to see if I could feel a hard spot on his gum ~ he'd been particularly fussy a couple weeks ago and has not been napping well. He drools on everything and of course, everything that he can get into his mouth - goes into his mouth. Signs of teething, right? You betcha! He's got a little tooth sticking out of his gum ~ lower right! (: First tooth: 16 weeks. wow.

Something New

I figured it was about time for something new. Something fresh. I keep up with a number of blogs and I always wish I could write as well as those "bloggers". Maybe it's something that takes more time and practice. Either way. I'm turning over a new leaf and trying out this blog thing again. Maybe this time I'll keep up with it.

Plenty has changed since my last blogging attempt ..

• For one, I had a baby in February. Elijah Mathias, born Monday, February 9, 2009 at 00:13. 7lbs 6oz and 19.4 inches long. It wasn't at all what I had planned / anticipated for an L&D experience, but everyone was healthy and happy in the end ~ and that's all that really matters, right? (: Next to Anthony -- Elijah is the love of my life. I never could have imagined how much I would love the little guy.
• Anthony has completed his first year of medical school at NY College of Osteopathic Medicine. He was less than a 1/2 point away from making honors. That has got to be pretty frustrating. Close enough, he's a smart cookie! He enjoyed the Doctor-Patient Continuum program NYCOM has ~ as opposed to the traditional lecture-based learning modules. The DPC program allowed him to have patient contact and clinical experience before the rest of his colleagues.
• We both have new cars (well, used cars, that are new to us!) .. for once we are not driving beaters! In January I traded the '96 Taurus for an '08 Mazda6 .. and just the other day we traded the gas-guzzling Dodge Ram 1500 for the less-gas-guzzling '06 Volvo S60R (12 mpg vs. 28mpg-or-so!)

As for other things that have not changed .. still in Worcester .. still working for UMMHC!