Where do I start?

Once again, I have let my blog go. I'm terrible, I know.

Simon has finally went out w/ his trainer and completed training. It actually wasn't so bad being a "single parent" while he was away. Ellie and I got sick w/ a pretty yucky cold and Simon's nana and mom helped out with Ellie while I recovered. I got better, Ellie never did. Then I got sick again. Simon made it back home for Thanksgiving. A couple days later is when I got sick again, and like I said Ellie is still sick with a yucky cough, and Simon is now sick. Hopefully he will be going out with his teammate tomorrow. They are trying to get in touch w/ his teammate, which is proving to be difficult.

Ellie has 2 bottom teeth, and let me say, she was AWESOME while cutting them. She didn't fuss much or anything. She's tough like her momma. She's been sitting up for a while now. Her posture is AWESOME!!! Now she falls over every so often, but really not much anymore. She's pulling herself to stand up, and LOVES to stand. The other night at about 2am she woke up screaming, when I went to her room she was standing in her crib, I'm guessing she was scared because I laid her back down and rubbed her back (she insist on sleeping on her belly), and she drifted off back to sleep.

She's not all that into eating solid food. We were doing great w/ breakfast, lunch, and dinner with either jarred baby food or homemade baby food, but when she's sick, I'm not too good about offering her baby food and she's not to good about eating it. She's been sick now for a month, so she hasn't had much solids. I feel bad about that. Hopefully we'll be able to get back on a solid food schedule soon.

She couldn't have her scope because the first time I was really sick, fever and all. Then she was on antibiotic so they had to postpone it. As it stands, I need to call them to find out if they have a date for it.

I'm concern about Ellie's lack of talking. Ok, I know she's only 8 months, well a few days short of 8 months. But all I've read she should be making sounds like bababa or dadadada or mamamama, but she's just say aaaaaaa, and she says that all the time. She's very verbal she just isn't making the sounds I thought she would be making. I hope everything is ok. The main reason for my concern is DH was deaf out of one ear when he was a baby and had speech problems, I had very poor hearing for my early childhood and had terrible speech issues. I want to stay on top of any problems she may have.

So all in all, there's the update.

pseudomona???

Ellie had her throat swab last week we got the results Friday afternoon. She tested positive for Pseudomonas and staph. They said the next step would be the bronchial scope which was already scheduled. I am clueless with what this pseudomonas or whatever is. I have googled it and I'm not finding the answers I have questions about. If any of you CF mom's or patients have any knowledge...I'm sure you do, then I would appreciate some info. What is it? What kind of treatments will Ellie most likely have??

I'll post later Halloween stuff. I have to wake her up so I can get her ready for a swallow study.

This is what she tested positive for Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas

Expect the Unexpected

While the hubby was in truck driving school, to prepare him, and myself for this career, I verbally quoted "Expect the Unexpected." I did my homework about many truck companies and learned that those 3 words were the key to being an over the road truck driver. He was supposed to be at the terminal this evening to go out with his trainer. I get him there, it's only 30 minutes away. We hang out and he waits for his trainer. Eventually he asked about his trainer and wondered what the deal was. His trainer was do for home time. So, he is put off till Friday at 9am. Ugh, I hope this works. The first time we said our goodbyes, I cried, tears and all. Today when we said goodbye, I was fine, until I saw him playing and talking to Ellie, and she was laughing, then I got teary eyed, but no tears. Friday I'll be ready to kick him out real quick. LOL. We are both anxious for him to be out and making money and doing what he wants to do...truck driving.

Ellie is pooping sooooo much. It's crazy. She's went 6 times, maybe more for 3, maybe more days in a row. I hope her probiotics help soon. I've decided to cut out her solid food at lunch time. She'll still have breakfast and dinner. These poops are crazy!!!!!

Pulmonoligst

Ellie had her CF appointment today. It took forever this time. Ellie will be having a swallow study study on Monday and will soon have a bronchial scope. She's always had congestion mainly in the morning. It's just getting worse and she's coughing now. She's not coughing all the time, just some. But before they go and give her medication they want to make sure she isn't aspirating when she eats. She had her first flu shot today and the rsv shot. In a month we will get her 2nd flu shot and her 2nd rsv. Apparently she has to have 5 rsv shots. And I still have to get the H1N1 vax for her.

Simon FINALLY has a trainer. He has to be at the terminal at 3pm tomorrow. He will be training for 3wks and hopefully pass the test they give then he'll be out 7-10 days more with a teammate before coming back home. I'm kind of hoping it'll just happen to fall on Thanksgiving or a day before or day after, sometime around then.

That's it for now.

Real Quick

This is going to be a short one. I'm rushing around but was online while I blow dry my hair, so figured I would drop a line. Simon is STILL waiting for a trainer. Hopefully he gets one today or tomorrow. In the meantime he's home with us. Yeah, that's good I guess. At this point no matter how long he's home, he'll still have to be out for 5-6 training and stuff. So the sooner, the better IMO.

Ellie has a CF appointment today. I'm hoping all goes well. She's pooping a lot, eating a lot, and is having allergy problems. Hopefully nothing is CF related. But we'll find out in a few hours. Yesterday she pooped 6 times and last night she ate 8oz of baby food, and 30 minutes later wanted 6oz of formula, plus our bedtime nursing session. I guess she pooped all out and had to refill her digestive system.

I gotta go, need to finish getting ready.

I'm back

Sorry I've been away from blogging. I haven't read blogs and I haven't updated any blogs. I've been on facebook and occasionally on webmd but I've started cafemom and it's just sucked me right in. That and Ellie is just so much fun now. She's keeping me busy, that's for sure. Simon has graduated from trucking school. He's been on cloud 9 lately. He did very well on his CDL test. The past few days he's been at orientation for a company. He should start with a trainer on Monday or Tuesday. He'll be out for at least 3wks training then out for another 2-3wks before coming home. Agh, I'm going to miss him so much. But he's excited and I know Ellie and I will be just fine.
Ellie is doing so wonderful these days. My mom always comments on how Ellie is so advance and stuff. Then I start reading what other babies are doing and I know my mom just doesn't remember. I think Ellie is right on track with most things, a little ahead with some, and a little behind with others...totally normal. If I sit her down sitting she sits for a short amount of time. She isn't fond of sitting herself up from laying down, but if she's slightly elevated she'll do it. She's been getting around in an army crawl since 5 months, she's 6 1/2 now. I wanted to do baby led weaning, but she's hungry and she doesn't have the pincher grasp yet. I've only given her fruits and veggies though. I'm not rushing the meats I'll do tofu first. She's babbling like crazy. She gets on her hands and knees and rocks and pulls her knees up so it's just her hands and feet on the floor, looks like she's trying to stand. She is exploring beyond the obvious. We used to put her on the living room floor and she would just go around the living room, but now she is starting to creep closer to other rooms and has expanded her territory. Time for cabinet locks. She also likes the on/off button on the computer and cords. Yikes!! She love computers, pianos, and the joy stick on my mom's power wheelchair. I love this baby so much, she is my life.
Ellie's was sick with a cold recently. After a longer than a week, I took her to the doctor. She had a sinus infection. She's finished w/ the antibiotic. She still wakes up with a runny nose and has a runny nose off and on during the day. She has swollen red eyes, and is coughing but it's not very productive at all. I suspect w/ the fall here now, and things dying she may have allergies. She sees the CF dr. on Tuesday so I'll talk to them about it.
Hopefully I wont stay away this long anymore. I have more pics, but they aren't on my computer yet. We just went last weekend for our anual fall photo shoot. When I get them on the computer, I'll post some of the best.

Free Range Parenting

This is an article I saw on webmd. It's very interesting.

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/free-range-parenting

Good chance, you've heard something about it. It's about the mother who let her 9yr old son ride the NYC subway by himself. Apparently that's called free range parenting.

I read the article, and found it pretty interesting to say the least. I lean more towards the free range parenting. No, I'm not going to let my child go get on a large city subway by herself. I'm not quite that extreme. But, I'm not one to force my child to be overly dependent on me. Here's a quote that I love from the article above.

“The message you get if your parents do everything from driving you to school to waiting at the bus stop to doing your science fair project is ‘I love you so much, but I don’t think you can do this,’” Skenazy says. “That’s why they call it self-confidence, not parent-assisted confidence.”

I have first hand experience with that. You see, Simon's parents believed in the parent-assisted confidence and he has NO self confidence now. I mean, the worse of anybody I know, its pretty bad. But, when he was young and somebody asked him his name, his mom jumped in, not allowing him to answer. That was just the beginning. She did his homework a lot for him. His dad didn't allow him to play outside until he was 9yrs old. Even then it was only in the yard w/ close supervision. He slept with his parents till he was like 10yrs old. I know there are other examples, but I can't think of them. So now as an adult, they haven't changed much. Oh, their little baby boy shouldn't have to do anything, shouldn't have to stress things, shouldn't have to work hard. He ALWAYS thinks that other people are smarter, faster, and just plain better than him with everything. He never thinks he's good at something. But he does require constant affirmation, similar to what you may see with a 10yr old. So in my eyes this is where that OVER protecting parenting gets you.

Now my sister in law has two children, 5 and 7, sleeps in the bed w/ her and her hubby. Talk about a crowded bed. She doesn't let them out of her sight. She is a stay at home mom, homeschools, and has a social "mom's group." That way the children are always brought to her house. In one way it's great that she is involved and active in her children's lives. In other way I have learned that the reason for the involvment is so that her kids are always with her. She has lots of fears, which are starting to wear off on her children. I'm looking forward to seeing how these kids grow up. Will they be confident and independent adults, or will they have low self confidence and be dependent on mom and dad.

I don't really have any story's about the free range parenting. Most families I know really well are over protecting like my sister in law's family. I guess I'm more from the free range parenting. I feel like I had a life. I went to girl scout meetings without mommy. I went to overnight camps starting at age 8, for a week during the summer. I learned a lot from experiencing some independence. How I turned out...well I don't know how I compare to Simon. I mean, I'm not perfect. But, I don't think everybody else is better than I am. If nothing else I had a funner and more rewarding childhood than he did.

So, how will we raise our child/ren? Well, I do want her to go to camps, if she wants to. I do want her to spend nights with her grandma's if they are up for it and again, if she wants. I don't want her to be the homesick child. I want her to have independence, but at the same time I want to ensure her safety. I don't want a family bed, children sleep in their bed, in their room. I want them to be involved with something, that I'm not. For example, girl scouts or some other kind of club/organization. Maybe somewhere in the middle of sending a 9yr old to a subway on their own, and putting my child in virtual bubble would be nice.

Where do you stand w/ parenting? Even if you aren't a parent yet; where do you stand with this?