The Highs and Lows of January

January means the return to school and trying to ease back into reality.  MJ started back to preschool shortly after the New Year, and Mat taught J-Term this year which meant going back right after the New Year as well.  Our schedule in January is completely different than any other school month.  Mat teaches everyday but is off by 1.  It meant I was taking MJ to school each day, but Mat was able to pick him up each day...pros and cons.  Never had to interrupt Charlotte's nap, which was quite a blessing, but it seemed like every little thing that could go wrong in January did!  I felt like I was making emergency phone calls to Mat each week (locked keys in the car with the kids, dead battery, accidents at home).  Not the best start to the New Year, but it could certainly have been worse!  

 

 

My little man and I in the car drop-off line at school.  We always unbuckle his car seat and he gets to hop out while waiting for his teacher.  I love his enthusiasm to see his teacher each day and go to school!

 Goofball!  This kind of summarizes January...everything was just a little bit off.  MJ, who never sleeps in our bed, was found smack dab in the middle of our bed one night when Mat and I went upstairs to go to sleep.  Don't you love the People mag right next to him?  Too funny!

 This is our nightly ritual that I treasure.  I love it now that Charlotte is big enough to participate.  After we get pj's on and teeth brushed, we all gather in our bed.  The kids pick out 2 books each and we read our books, say a prayer, and then tell a story before tucking them in. 

 

Little Miss is gaining more and more independence including climbing the stairs on her own.  There are seriously not enough baby gates and safety latches in the world for this child.  Totally different than our experience with MJ!  With all this new independence brings lots of accidents, and January was full of them...

 

 Exhibit #1.  I was talking on the phone with my mom while MJ was eating and Charlotte was toddling around in the living room.  I saw her fall forward and thought she hit her head a little bit on the entertainment center but it wasn't on the corner and certainly didn't seem hard.  She was in that stage of falling alot as a new walker, so I think I said something like "you're okay, come here" as she began to cry, and as I went to pick her up there was lots of blood coming from around her eye.  It totally took me by surprise!  With any head/face injury it always bleeds a lot, so it looked scarier than it was probably, but I just couldn't tell where she was bleeding from so I felt a bit panicked.  Luckily within a few minutes, it slowed down and I could see that her eye itself didn't seem injured, but she had a pretty nice gash on her eye lid.  She must have hit the edge of the entertainment center just right and poor girl had a yucky cut to show for it.  This was call #1 to Mat at work.  I decided not to go straight to the hospital, and called her pediatrician instead.  They had us take her straight to an opthamologist.  They made it seem very urgent, so I dashed out of the house wet hair and all with MJ and Charlotte to get to their office only to wait and wait and wait.  Of course by this time, I was praying it was nothing serious and could begin to tell that she'd be fine, just a little banged up.  The dilated her eyes and checked her out well and there was no damage to the eye itself at least.  They said they'd have to sedate her in order to put a stitch or two in the eyelid, and the trauma of sedating her didn't seem necessary.  We left with a prescription ointment, a bloody eyelid, and a few days of healing.  Could have been much worse for our first big accident, but it was enough to scare me. 

 Not more than a week or two later, this happens!  Do you see the size of that blister?!  Yes, that's my baby's thumb that was burned!  Talk about pure mama guilt for this one....  MJ has a nightlight in room which he relies on.  One night, late at night, the bulb burnt out and he was freaking out.  Of course, we had no other nightlight bulbs in the house, so I grabbed a small bulb from my Scentsy warmer in the bathroom.  I knew it was a strong light bulb, but MJ knows not to touch bulbs and certainly wouldn't be messing with it in the middle of the night, so I didn't give it too much thought.  I swapped that bulb in and made a mental note to replace it the next day after I had a chance to get some new nightlight bulbs.  Well, fast forward a day and wouldn't ya know it, Charlotte grabs the nightlight in MJ's room with her right hand!  I had her in there with me while I was putting laundry away.  I thought I was being so safe, gating her in the room with me even, but totally forgetting about the hot bulb.  She cried out, and it took me a second to figure out what was wrong, but she was grasping the bulb and rather than immediately dropping it, she was holding on to it until I took it from her.   No doubt about it, it was hot!  Within minutes, this blister popped up.  It was obvious that it was hurting her, too, and I felt awful!  I consulted with a couple medical friends who mentioned using an ointment and wrapping it, and luckily it popped on its own within a day.  It took several weeks and lots of ointment to heal up though.  Big lesson learned for this mama!  Oh, and this was another one of my panicked calls to Mat.  ;) 

Besides her injuries, Charlotte was just generally sick most of January...not to mention February as well.  Poor girl was sick the majority of the winter it felt like.  Her little tear filled eyes, but a smile on her face here, broke my heart.  She was constantly battling hives, a barky cough, and lots of congestion.  I'm praying that spring brings this baby some good health!

 

Because I'd felt so focused on Charlotte's illnesses over the month, I felt like MJ had been a bit neglected by my attention, so we made a special Saturday date just the two of us and went to the River Museum and Aquarium. 

 

 No date is complete without a red slushee!

 And a snake souvenir to take home of course!

 

We had a really great afternoon together.  I treasure those times when I can focus on just one kid and really spend some quality time together.  I know as Charlotte continues to grow, we'll have special outings more often, too.  MJ really did seem to soak up the love and attention that day, and I am so thankful that he adores being with me.  I know those days will be over before I know it, and I'll so desperately miss the days when I'm the love of this life!

 

 

There were some happy moments for Charlotte in January, too, and she learned how to clap just to prove it.  :)  She's very proud of herself, and we really enjoyed the moments that she was smiling and feeling well.  It's so tough to see your child sick and unhappy. 

 

I knew at the end of January, I had a much anticipated trip coming my way.  I had my first get away since becoming a mom of 2.  More to come on that later....  In the meantime though, as much as I was craving a break and some ME time, I was also having anxiety about leaving the kiddos, so I wanted to do something special with just them and I.  One January day while Mat was working, I decided to pack them up and head to the Bettendorf Children's Museum.  We had never been, and it's only a little over an hour away, so it seemed like the perfect outing.  I must say it was a darn COLD day!  It was brutal just getting them in and out of the car and bundled up.  Ugh, how I do not like that part of winter at all.  All in all though, we had a great time!  The kids both seemed to love the museum!  We played for a couple hours, and they even played together on many of the activities.  It was a great day to remember!

 

 Charlotte loved walking back and forth over this bridge! 

 MJ is always in heaven when a a train table is around!

 My little cuties playing together in the toddler area

 Who doesn't love a fire engine?

 There was an awesome water play area, and even Charlotte wanted in on the fun. 

 

Tower building with giant foam legos.

 

There are MANY days where my online teaching job feels never ending, but being able to do outings like this is the number one reason I will continue to stick with it.  Taking the kids on an all day outing, might mean staying up really late that night for me to get caught up with work, so but it's such a huge blessing to be able to do these things with them while I can and while they love it!  Totally worth it!!