'Here comes the sun...doo doo doo doo"

What do you get when you have LOTS of snow, a "warming trend", EXTREMELY cold weather and then finally a temperature above freezing? Some seriously long and scary looking icicles! I've also come to realize how the presence of the sun can give you an almost euphoric feeling. I don't care that it's only 34 degrees outside...when the sun's out, it may as well be 75 degrees in my book. (Minus the capri's and flip flops!) I totally took the sun for granted living in California. After all, they don't call it "sunny California" for nothing. Apparently the sun and Indiana have a love hate relationship because they don't see each other much. However, absence makes the heart grow fonder!

A Year In Cards 2009

Last week my sister-in-law Angie and I decided to do a card class by Kristina Werner over at Two Peas In A Bucket called 'A Year in Cards'. Every month Kristina offers a couple of sketches and a challenge/homework assignment. We have decided to pick a particular sketch each week and then share what we've come up with with each other. We will also post them on Two Peas website as well. This months card class focuses on Valentines Day cards, but we decided to do them with which ever theme we wanted. Here's my first two cards for the year of cards 2009!

Nap Time = HOPE

I think I’m going stir crazy! We've had snow and more snow and the past 2 days we’ve all been stuck in the house. No school too…which means tons of attitude and “why not” questions coming from the 5 year old in the family. I’ve made the best of it but it has not all been pretty! I read my friend’s blogs who are all amazing moms and I strive to be just the same. But then there are days like today when you’re playing the Memory game and putting your hundredth puzzle together and it all goes bad. Suddenly you’ve decided that there is a right and a wrong way to play Memory and Chutes & Ladders…ummm, with a 3 and a 5 yr old, think again. They don’t care that you only go down the slide and up the ladder. They don’t care whether you actually finish the puzzle you’re working on before going on to the next. So why do I? We made snow angels in the front yard today. And then I attempted to shovel the driveway. Why? It’s covered again…just like the living room floor is. Sometimes my attempt at being ‘amazing’ is met with adversity and a bad mommy attitude. Today is one of those days. However, it’s nap time. Which equals HOPE!

**UPDATE** Nap time did wonders and the wind stopped long enough to play in the back for a while. See attached photos and video clip! :)

Positive!...Lab Results & Today's Accomplishments

So the results are in and Group A Strep it is. Good news is that the penicillin is working wonderfully.

In other medical news…I think I have found a worthy candidate for Logan’s cardiologist. Today I shamelessly tagged along with a friend of mine to her daughter’s cardiologist appointment with the hopes of meeting this guy and seeing his facility sort of incognito. At the end of her appointment my friend kind of ‘outted’ me a bit and I had to spill the beans. He was so gracious and took more than enough time to answer some questions and assured me that he would love to meet Logan and that it would be an honor to be his care provider. He also sealed the deal on the “pediatrician fence” that I’ve been sitting on so it was sort of a two-for-one deal today! We now have our first official cardio appointment set for January 29th.

Here are a few pictures of the boys from Christmas. We had a wonderful time with the Maier side of the family this year. The visit from Grandma and Grandpa might have made things a little bit harder for Logan. But these new drums from Santa make a nice distraction!

Strep Infection

Strep infection…on your bottom? Who knew! But apparently that is what Logan seems to have. Go figure! He’s been complaining of itching down there for almost 2 weeks now and there just doesn’t seem to be anything to help him. He’s got these tiny, red pimple looking bumps on his little bottom and they look angry! So off we went to the dr. And “oh darn!”…the previous dr that we just saw is out until Monday. And incidentally, the new one we saw today was what a dr should be! Unfortunately he’s leaving the practice. (One wonders if he’s running from the other chick!) But he cultured the area and said he was 95% sure that it was strep. (The actual results will be in on Monday.) Has anyone heard of such a thing? Logan, Logan, Logan…he likes to keep this mother just shy of my own heart palpitations due to anxiety!

P.S. For those of you who are about to email me about taking my child back into that place…I assure you that I am in the process of finding him a doctor in the closest large city from here. (A 45 minute drive I was hoping to avoid but most definitely willing to make!) Nate’s insurance is changing and we’re waiting on our new cards. I have narrowed down the search to a very prominent and highly recommended practice near a credited children’s hospital. We’re just trying to decide on “who” in the practice will get the pleasure of caring for our littlest Maier!

Small-Town Doctors...no thanks!

December is moving right along. I can’t believe next week is Christmas already! The boys and I have all been battling a cold since last week. Cough, sore throat, fevers…just another day in the midst of cold and flu season, right? It did give us an excuse to meet the dr that I tentatively chose while still in CA. Needless to say…we will NOT being sticking with her! During our visit, I was asking her about the closest children’s hospital, she was quick to answer that it was too far for her to drive to do rounds so she won’t admit there. Ummm, okay. As if that wasn’t enough, she then asked me if Logan had any respiratory issues. (Apparently she didn’t even glance at the sheet that the office gave me to fill out, let along the 100 pages I gave them previously to review!) I answered ‘yes’ of course and told her that he usually takes Albuterol when his cough becomes wheezy, etc. She decided to go ahead and “give that a try” and while taking out her Rx pad then asked me what dose she should prescribe for him. What!? She gave me a couple to choose from and I told her I wasn’t comfortable guessing. She then stood up and asked me to go through his chart and find his previous dose and that she would be back. Luckily her nurse (which seemed more qualified to care for my child than the dr was) had the idea to call Walgreens and ask what his previous Rx was and then ordered more based on that. Okay, thank you for your time. (NOT!) She wanted me to make appts with her every 3 months so that she can get to know us. Yeah right!! I quickly paid my copay and ran, not walked to the car with the kids. Dr. Warden…can you make house calls to Indiana…PLEASE??

"Oh Christmas Tree"

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we took the boys along with our friends and their kids to cut down our own Christmas tree. The weather was absolutely perfect (considering the time of year and location in which we now live) and we all had a great time. We took a hayride out to the fields and took our time selecting the "perfect" tree. I can truely say that I've never seen a tree like ours before! Nate says it has 'character'. Ha ha! We hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful season! Merry Christmas to all of you! In His name...Love, The Maiers