Life Day by Day

Well, our sleep has not improved and has, in fact, gotten worse as of last night. We'll see how tonight goes. Thank God Tim has weekends off because he and I can take turns staying up with Cian at night. For example, Cian woke up 4 or 5 times last night and 2 of those times he was awake for over an hour. Not much sleep happening in this house still.

I brought Cian in to urgent care on Friday because he was running a fever and his cough was getting worse - very wet and deep. Come to find out he has that ear infection we had him checked for on the 5th. The doctor said it didn't sound like Cian has pneumonia, thank goodness, but said it could be heading that way. It shouldn't now though, he says, because Cian is on antibiotics for the ear infection and it is the same kind the doctor gives for pneumonia. Relieved as I am that it isn't pneumonia, his cough is still really terrible and makes him throw up all over the place and causes him obvious discomfort. The first time he threw up from it was actually while we were sitting in the waiting room for 2 hours at urgent care. It was just Cian and I, and he threw up - projectile style - ALL over me, his blankets, and the chair we were sitting. I was very wet, sticky, and smelly the rest of the day. :/ On top of all of this, all the mucus in his system is irritating his stomach, giving him diarrhea and he now has his very first diaper rash.

When it rains, it pours.

I now have had a fever off and on since Saturday morning to go along with my very uncomfortable sinuses, runny nose, bad cough, sore throat and slight headache that I've had for about a week.

Thank God Tim has yet to get sick. Unfortunately, he's going to be leaving for the ORI on Saturday for a week and he'll be ultra busy, working late etc., 'til then. :(

Gosh, I just hope we are better soon. It has been weeks for crying out loud. Due to the severe lack of sleep and everything snowballing and going downhill instead of getting better, life has taken on the distinct feeling of a bad dream. Please be praying for us. I feel like we're barely keeping our heads above water. Seriously, our days have been one little calamity after another...it should be funny because it is so bad it has reached ridiculous proportions, but it just really isn't.

Well, I'm off. Thank you to all who have sent us encouragement and love. I meant to respond to you each personally, but I find I have no extra emotional energy to do so. Just know that it is very appreciated and helps! I love you all.

It has been a rough couple weeks. I have been running on limited sleep since Cian has been fighting off a cold, however, the past three nights have been ridiculous. I am not allowed to sleep for longer then 1 1/2 at a time, I cannot go to sleep before 10pm and cannot sleep in past 7am to make up for it.

Ugh.

My cold is hanging on and on and on without any sign of going away due to this severe lack of sleep.

Now Cian is catching another cold as his cough is coming back and he is starting to sound stuffy again.

How are you supposed to have a social life and sleep? I can be a hermit with Cian and never be around anyone who is sick (which is everyone right now) and get decent sleep, or I can see my friends and family but then pay for it for weeks.

Ugh.

I spent an hour and a half holding a fussy Cian as he fought sleep this morning before I decided to put him in his bed and let him put himself to sleep. I then spent almost 30 minutes listening to him scream. To retain my sanity I called Mom for moral support, then gave him some Tylenol just in case he had a headache or something, sat down and cried for another 10-15 minutes before he finally fell asleep.

He slept for almost 20 minutes.

I am so tired and so frustrated. I have so much I want to do and zero energy with which to do it.

All he wants to do is be held, but then when I hold him, all he wants to do is wriggle and squirm and jump and twist and pull hair and reach for things he isn't supposed to have...

Ugh.

Like I said, a very rough couple of weeks.

On the upside, Cian is still right on the verge of crawling, is beginning to pull himself up on things and can stand on his own if he has a good grip on something, likes sweet potatoes if given to him in one of those chew bag things, and is teething again. We also think he has said his first word. Over the past week or so he has been narrowing down his sounds to certain situations - such as "Dada" for when he is happy, "Baba" when he is excited, and "Mama" when he wants something. Over the last couple days, he has narrowed it down even more so that starting the day before yesterday, he will look at me and say "Mama", and not just when he wants something. We're not 100% sure (when DO you know for sure?) that it is his first word, but it sure seems like it and fits the criteria everyone puts forth as a tester...so anyway, that's pretty cool.

This is a complainy blog and I gotta go. I hope everyone is having a better day then we are! :P

Just a quick update.

The doctor says I don't have bronchitis...Yet. The pediatrician says Cian doesn't have bronchitis or an ear infection...Yet. They both say that it could develop as everything is in place for it, but it just hasn't yet. So pretty much going to the doctors was a waste of time. :)

Also, I got a response from Zephyr's breeder and she is 100% sure that he is 100% American Bulldog. :D She will write us an official letter stating this, and we can use that to show anyone who questions it. Phew...what a relief. We get to keep our puppy. :)

On a side note, yesterday Zephyr went the whole day without going potty in the house or even on his paper...he always went outside! :D Happy days when I don't have to clean up even more poo.

Well, on I go to my day. <3

Well, today at 1pm I have a doctor's appointment to see if I have bronchitis like everyone else. I need to sleep at night, not cough. :/ After my appointment, we're taking Cian into the doctors as well because his cough is getting worse, his nose is still all snotty, and last night he started clawing and pulling at his ear. I hope we all just get better soon!

We're having some drama with Zephyr. We noticed when we got him that a) he has green eyes - unusual for American Bulldogs (AB) but not unheard of...but more often seen with American Staffordshire Terriers (AmStaff), b) his nose is a mottled brown, again not usual but not unheard of for ABs, but more common with AmStaffs and c) his head is more narrow and longer then the typical AB...more like an AmStaff. I double checked with the breeder to make sure that he IS indeed an AB and she swore he was. But the doubts remained. Our vet said she thought he was an AmStaff, and we've been doing picture comparisons and he definitely looks like an AmStaff...not an AB. So anyway, this wouldn't be a big deal except that base housing does not allow AmStaffs, so we'd have to get rid of him if he turns out to be one. :( We're in the process of trying to get the breeder to give us an official letter stating that he is, indeed, an AB - if she does truely know that he is - so we'll have something to give people (like housing) when they doubt his breed. We'll see how it goes. :/

It was snowing this morning, but has stopped now and is already melting. Good. Last night they were saying we should expect 4-7 inches of new snow so I'm glad that didn't happen! I am ready for spring and summer!

I am in the process of gathering information for my own dog walking "business". I'll start off offering just the dog walks, and may eventually go on to at home pet sitting...we'll see though. Dog walking would be something I could do just here on base, it would take up, at most, 2 hours of my day (depending on how many dogs, etc.), it would be good exercise, pretty good money (the going rate is $13/half-hour), and I could just strap Cian to my back and we'd have a good time. Of course, I may have to invest in one of those packs that has a cover for rainy days, but we'll see! lol. Like I said, it's still in the "gathering information" stage.

Well I got to go on with my day. I hope everyone is getting over their colds/flus/bronchitis. <3

Here are some pics and videos of Zephyr. He rarely holds still, so I figured video would be easier to capture then stills. :)




Also, here are a couple pictures and a video we took recently of Cian.

Soldier boy!

He loves his jumper, and loves to make it swing. He actually can get it going much better than this video shows. :) Oh, and that sound you hear halfway through is a raspberry to make him laugh...not what it sounds like! lol

I have just a few minutes to write before Cian gets tired of his current activity so I'll take them to write a quick update.

We have a new addition to our family! A little 8 week old male American Bulldog named Zephyr. We picked him up last night from a lady who had an accidental litter...they didn't think their male was old enough to breed yet. Oops. >.< Anyway, it was lucky for us because we got a purebred (though unregistered) American Bulldog pup for $25! He is a real sweety too. They have 4 kids, the youngest being about a month older then Cian, so he is well used to babies. He is paper/outdoor potty trained, and already seems to like his kennel. He slept ALL night without any potty breaks which Tim and I were amazed at!

We had been looking for another American Bulldog for awhile now, and really wanted to get an adult, but this was just too good a deal that landed right in our lap. Plus, we figure that with raising a puppy, it is very unlikely that he and Rain won't get along when he grows up. :) Now we just get to deal with raising another little one! 8/

Rain thinks little Zephyr is great. They are already playing, and that little guy can hold his own. He isn't intimidated by her, sometimes, rather rough playing. Her more destructive moves consist of using her paws or head to squash him to the ground or she hooks her nose under his tummy and throws him across the room...doesn't phase him a bit. He runs right back to her and goes back to chewing on her lips.

Our camera battery is charging, but as soon as it is recharged I'll take some pictures of him. :)

On a different note, I am sick. :( I caught what it seems everyone in Washington is fighting off and am pretty miserable. Cian already had a cold, so I'm hoping it was the same one and he just got it lighter then me. Hopefully he won't get sick again!

Oops, Cian is tired of his activity so I gotta go. <3

It is snowing again. :( It is all mushy and wet too...not the pretty snow that I like. Ah well. I hope it is snowing up at Mom and Dad's too so that we'll have plenty of snow for the sledding weekend next week. :D

I haven't blogged lately because really, nothing terribly exciting has been happening. Cian finally is over his cold and though he is still teething, he doesn't seem too upset by it. His two bottom teeth are completely out now, and it looks like he will be getting his two top teeth soon too. It makes me nervous as I'm nursing him. lol

Here's a pic of his new smile I took about a week ago. His teeth have come in a bunch more since then. :)



Here are a couple other pics I had on my camera that I thought you guys might like to see. :)

Cian taking a bath in the sink -




He has been learning like crazy lately. He is starting to copy facial expressions - like my smile. He does it just like me lol. He also gets hooked on certain sounds; both making them and hearing them. For awhile it was "Bah Bah Bah" all day long, then it changed to "Da Da Da" and now he's into making a growly shout. I'm trying to teach him the "Ma Ma" sound next. :P He is also getting SO CLOSE to crawling. He can get himself onto his hands and knees and is starting to try to move an arm or leg forward, causing himself to tip. :) He sure can move around pretty good on his own though through a mixture of scooching and rolling. I am constantly getting him unstuck from corners lol. He is also trying to pull himself up on things now, though he hasn't had any success yet.

It is so much fun to watch as he just learns and learns! I never paid this close attention to what babies do before, and didn't realize how fascinating they all were! :)

Rain is all healed up from getting spayed. I think we finally have learned how to contain her energy when people are over at our house - we give her a toy to play with or a bone to chew. She runs around showing it off to everyone instead of jumping and licking, then she'll settle in to play or chew it. It works great! It is nice to know that there is something we can do and that maybe now we can have people over to our house more without having to stick her in her crate for hours.

I have recently been playing the piano again, and I hadn't realized how much I missed it. I don't get the chance to be musical much anymore, other then just singing to myself or Cian as I go about the house. I do really miss it - especially working out my voice. I would like to get back into a worship team eventually when we find a church.

Well, I better get going. Have a great day all! <3