Saturday, September 29, 2012

An odd solution to diaper rash

I'm just going to "throw it out there," and say that this is going to be a messy post, and I'm going to talk a lot about poop.  If you

It's been a little over a year for our little Miss Amelia to get accustomed to our world.  It's a bright, loud, dirty place replete with foods of all colors, flavors and consistencies.

Perhaps not all of those foods make her developing GI tract the happiest of places.

Sometimes, what goes in one end, comes out the other in a...lovely rainbow of colors and..smells.

Sometimes, for no apparent reason, what goes in one end reeks havoc for days, and days, and days.  Longer if you're lucky.

We're in a place at the moment where we don't know exactly what is going on with out little lady.  Something is not sitting well, and she has had diaper after diaper of mushy unformed stools.  We've tried switching to lactose free milk - no help.  Not sure what dietary things to change.

Add on top of that, she now goes to daycare.  The daycare provides diapers and wipes and food.  Sounds good, right?  But she uses cheap diapers and, from what I just learned, whatever wipes are on sale.

Not good for sensitive bottoms.  Two weeks ago she got a diaper rash we had trouble getting under control.  We tried slathering with triple paste, chlorine free diapers, and powder - didn't work, she would come home from daycare bright red!

A couple of days of this and I asked the daycare lady what was going on - she said a couple of the other kids also got a rash - perhaps from the wipes, so she went out and got hypo-allergenic wipes. Didn't help - the rash was out of our control. So... off the the pediatrician.

They agreed, something was wrong - but not what we thought.  Poor kid has "chemical burns" from her loose stools. (Odd I know, but it was a diagnosis)

We were given an RX for burn cream (silvadene) and a home made remedy butt cream:

Here's what we did:

Crushed up some Tums:

Smooshed them to a silky powder:

Added antacid (like Maylox, but that doesnt exist anymore)

then added Caldecene Baby powder to create the paste:

Thick and pasty...

So far her rash is clearing up.

I'll let you know if things get better or worse.


Sunday, September 2, 2012

The Lake House

AJ graduated from LAW SCHOOL and we can't be prouder!

Her folks threw her a party at their lake house in New Hampshire.  Of course we had to go!

One unbreakable rule at the lake house is that all kids under 5 must wear life jackets.  We had built in floaties for both kids.  This by the way, is the view from their "side" of the lake.  It's beautiful.

Amelia loved it, too!






(Daddy the lifeguard)

We wish we could have stayed longer.

During the party, we heard it before all the kids went scrambling for money.  He knew what it was even though he had, up to that point only seen one on Youtube...Daniel saw his first ice cream truck!
But didn't like the Dora Icecream he got...
So they were both given Hoodsie cups!!!!

 YUM!!!


 When the weekend was over, we were wrinkled from the lake, happy to have spent time with AJ and her family, and eager to come back and visit again.



Oh how fast the summer ended.

Back to work, or stay at home?

I have always worked.

Since I was 16, I have been employed at some capacity or another.

Then I got pregnant.

Coincidentally, the market crashed just as this "happened" to me, and I was 'let go.'  Blamed on the lack of work... of course.

Over the next three years I stayed at home; making babies, having babies, and raising babies.  I've had a couple of summer gigs while my husband was home from grad school, but nothing more than part-time for a couple of months.

Now the kids are older.  My son is almost 3, and my daughter is one.

We all survived!! 

...mostly.

I thought that all I wanted to be in life was to be a good mom.  I wanted to raise sweet babies to grow into sweet children, and on to be kind, respectful adults.

But I'm tired, and restless...

...and broke.

Truly, I want nothing more than make sure my kids have everything they need and more.  But perhaps the best way to accomplish that is to go back to work and find an ever patient soul who can help me do that by watching them during the day so I can go back to work.

I have a job interview in 2 weeks.  I am very qualified for this position, but find that while doing some over-hire work for them, I'm rusty.

Did I ever mention that I paint?  I paint murals, and scenery, and backgrounds for businesses, private homes, and theatre.  At least, I used to.

I thought it might be like riding a bike, you know, never forget?  Well, it's a little like that, but my heart and soul know what to do, and my hands and arms have lost their callouses, and muscle memory. 

Each day is better and I'm gaining back my confidence...but will it be enough?

Wait... this is post about going back to work, not getting a job. Sorry, I'm distracted.

So... this going back to work thing...

I'm trying to justify how I can let someone else raise my babies.  Will they do as good or better job?  Will they learn manners and respect?  Will they even learn that from me?  In the few weeks Ive been doing this part time job, they have already picked up bad habits.

Financially, this is important to us as a family, and I will do anything for my family.

But even though their tears have stopped when I drop them at daycare, mine continue.

They'll still love me right?

I can do this.

Now, all I need to do is get this job.

Perhaps I can use a little finger crossing.