The Hubby | ...back to the basics...

a funny thing happened on our way to the weekend

April 30, 2010 by julie · 4 Comments

(The title of this post is indeed in reference to Michael J. Fox’s new book, which I desperately want to read!)

So, this day is not going as I had planned. Not at all.

Yesterday, Brandon threw out his back. He has had back trouble in the past (a bulging disc) and almost had back surgery right after we got married. He was climbing in a corn crib and went to grab the next railing and felt a lot of pain in his lower back. When he came home last night, he could barely walk. My mom gave him a muscle relaxer and he went to bed. At 5am, he was awake, feeling a lot of pain, almost passing out/getting sick. He woke me up (scared me to death!) and after a few minutes, was back to sleep. I, however, wasn’t.

He slept until almost 10:30am. The muscle relaxer really knocked him out, but when he woke up, he was still in a lot of pain. I call my mom and we decide he should probably go to the ER and get it checked out, since he has had problems before.

So I gather Brayden, all of his stuff, Brandon, all of his stuff, and we head to drop off Brayden at my mom’s. We get Brandon checked in at the ER and only had to wait a few minutes. The dr. comes in and takes a look, and says muscle spasms, and they want to give him a couple shots to help with the pain.

My husband doesn’t do needles.

As soon as the dr. said the word “shot”, Brandon got all hot, sweaty, and the color drained from his face. I tried to keep his mind off of it, but the longer he sat there, the more upset he got. I finally had to go tell the nurse to sneak it in so he wouldn’t see it, or he would pass out for sure.

He gets the shots, and we have to wait 20-30 minutes so they can make sure he doesn’t have a reaction. He started to feel better but started getting woozy and talking non-stop. That was when I knew the medication was starting to work! After about 30 minutes, I sign the discharge papers, he gets dressed, and we slowly make our way to the car. We get to the lobby and Brandon starts turning a horrible green/gray color and says he thinks he is going to pass out. I grab the nearest trash can, sit it in front of him, then run back into the nurses station and tell them what is happening. Three of them rush to his side, get him into a wheelchair, and back to the room we go. They hook him up to a bunch of monitors, give him a cool washcloth for his face, and eventually, some ice chips. After about 20 more minutes, the color is back in his face and he is much, much better. I think it was the entire experience (although not traumatic for me- hello C-section!) that put him over the edge.

We spent the afternoon at my mom’s just because I wanted to be sure someone would be around if he got woozy again. Brandon is on bed rest for the remainder of the weekend and on some pain meds and muscle relaxers. He is saying a LOT of ridiculous things, so the meds must be working! I am just hoping his pain is relieved after the weekend. It is basically killing him to not be farming right now. The hardest part is keeping him sitting in the chair! Plus, with him being so woozy on meds, I just don’t want him passing out or anything. So…I basically have 2 babies to take care of this weekend! Luckily, we had no plans…and I am kind of hoping for rain.

Filed Under: the hubby ·

This could be the end

April 5, 2010 by julie · 2 Comments

I have been thinking about weaning Brayden for awhile now, but I could never actually do it. As I have mentioned before, I had a goal of nursing for 3 months, and then 6 months, and then just day by day. Well, 8 months and almost 2 weeks later, Brayden is really showing me that he is not interested in nursing. Not at all. And as much as I thought I was ready, this is harder than I thought it would be.

For the longest time it was nurse first thing in the morning, then every 2-3 hours, etc. Then it was every 4 hours, which was really nice! Slowly, we moved to 3 times per day, and now it is around 2-3, with 2 of those being first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

At first, I never wanted to nurse him to sleep, but as he is getting older and more active, it was the only way that he would settle completely down to go to sleep. The last 4 nights, he has been waking up at 1am, half awake, screaming. I rock him until he settles down, put him back to bed, and as soon as he hits the mattress, he is wide awake. So, I resort to nursing him until he conks out again. This has been exhausting, though I realize it could be MUCH worse. Not sleeping at night and not being able to catch up during the day is starting to take its toll on me. It is just so bizarre to me that he would be hungry in the middle of the night, when not a week ago, he was still sleeping through the night.

Saturday, he was constipated, only pooping twice in a WHOLE DAY. That is just not normal for him, and I could tell it was causing him pain. I gave him prune juice, cut back on the amount of cereal, and yesterday was better. My mom and I were discussing it because I was starting to feel clueless, and we figured that he just isn’t getting enough at the end of the day to keep him satisfied for the whole night. I decided to nurse him after his bath, and then an hour or so later when he starts to show that he is ready for bed, give him some formula.

Let’s just say that it didn’t work out quite as easily as I thought. After Brayden’s bath last night, he wouldn’t nurse. He just layed in my lap, squirming and crying, so I put him on the floor to play. That lasted about 20 minutes before he was upset again, so I mixed up some formula in his sippy cup. He took about 3 gulps of it and that was it. He wouldn’t drink it and started screaming. At this point, I am also in tears. I started to feel like a failure. He wouldn’t nurse or drink the formula, what was I supposed to do?

Brandon took him for a few minutes to calm him down and I tried nursing him again. This time, he wanted to eat, and after 20 minutes, he was sound asleep. I put him to bed at 8:30 and only heard him cry out once in the night for about 20 seconds and he was sound asleep again. Actually, his is still in bed, which is great considering how the last few days and nights have gone.

This transition is a lot harder than I thought. I feel clueless and unsure of myself as a mother. I am so sad that this could be the end of me nursing but at the same time, I know it is for the best. 8 months is a wonderful start! I just didn’t think the end would come so soon. Poor Brandon, he is trying so hard to understand why I am so sad about it. He’s been a great husband, encouraging me, and telling me that it will all be ok. Brayden is going to be just fine, and so will I. I think it will just take some time.

Filed Under: breastfeeding, the first year, the hubby ·

a funny story

March 25, 2010 by julie · 4 Comments

Brayden is working on a top tooth and it is no fun at all. No fun for him, me, or Brandon. Wednesday was a long day. Brayden was super clingy, in pain, and just not his usual self. By 5pm, I was ready for Brandon to be home so he could dote on Brayden a little so I could get dinner going and the laundry switched around. I get Brayden’s dinner ready and I no more than get him in the high chair and the doorbell rings. I look outside to see a pretty shady looking van with no plates- definitely a vehicle I didn’t recognize.

Brandon goes to the door and it is a nicely dressed woman, probably mid to late twenties, wanting to know if we would be interested in demoing a vacuum cleaner. Brandon, the nice guy that he is, says “Sure!”, not knowing what was coming next. A college age kid gets out of the van, brings in a vacuum, has to assemble the ENTIRE thing in MY house out of the box, and THEN demo it.

The vacuum guy was at my house for an hour and a half. Yes, 90 minutes of demoing a vacuum cleaner! After 45 minutes, I was getting pretty antsy. I still had a clingy baby, dinner to prepare since my parents were coming, and Brayden’s need for a bath promptly at 7. At 6:45pm, the grill still wasn’t started, and I was really starting to lose my patience with this vacuum guy. I know that Brandon only had good intentions, and he kept telling me he was sorry. I just wanted this guy gone! Only problem with that was, that the lady that brought him LEFT HIM AT MY HOUSE to take another person to another house. Seriously? Who does this?

Finally, I can hear the vacuum guy winding down his sales pitch. He then tells Brandon how much the vacuum is. $1,975. Not $19.75 as in twenty but almost $2,000! Brandon says no way (thankfully, or it would have gotten really ugly about then!) After about 20 more minutes, the guy says $1,100. Brandon still says no. I have to admit, it was a really nice vacuum and the amount of stuff that he got out of our carpet was really gross, but that is more than what Brandon makes in 2 weeks, and right now, we need that income. Maybe it would have been a different story if we knew how farming would be this year, but seriously, I just can’t fathom spending that much on a vacuum.

Finally, after an hour and 45 minutes, the vacuum people are gone, I am so flustered, and Brandon feels downright awful. I just had to laugh because after the fact, it was kind of funny, and like I said, his intentions were good. The combination of a crabby baby and trying to get dinner on the table was already stressing me out. I wasn’t anticipating any more guests. Plus, I have a thing about strangers being in my house- thankfully, Brandon was home.

All in all, we are getting a good laugh out of it. And I think Brandon is learning to say “no”.

Filed Under: just for fun, the hubby ·

surprise!

January 12, 2010 by julie · 8 Comments

So…you all know how I have been pining over a DSLR since the beginning of time…

And how recently I was working on cutting back on things that weren’t necessary (like my iPhone) to be able to save for one….

And that I have the most amazing husband EVER?

Surprise! Before Christmas, my friend Laura had told me that she was thinking about selling her Canon Rebel xsi, as she had gotten a different camera for her business. So Brandon and I mulled it over for a week or two, and decided to wait.

And then, about 3 days ago, he started acting strange. All of the sudden, he kept asking me if she still had it, and all these things about it, like what kind of memory card it would take, etc. After 2 days of relentless comments about a camera that I had somewhat forgot about it, I finally asked him what was up. And his response was “Well, I wanted to surprise you with a new camera, but I know nothing about them, and if Laura still has hers, I would rather have you get it if you still want it, because trying to figure out what you want isn’t working for me!” Awwww.

So Friday, Laura and I have a playdate planned for the boys…and I get to pick up my new camera- A Canon Rebel xsi.

I am so excited, I can hardly wait for it to be Friday. Brandon said that since he was making some extra money with the snowplow than he had thought (we don’t add it into our budget-it’s like our bonus money) that he wanted to get that for me now, and we can start saving for a new vaccum. Brayden is almost mobile and a new vacuum is going to be a must in the coming months. What a guy, right?

Filed Under: just for fun, the hubby ·

friday ramblings

December 11, 2009 by julie · 2 Comments

The guys have 80 acres left. If all goes well, they could very well get done today, but more than likely, it will be tomorrow…
…which still means, no Christmas decorations BUT hoping to get to that sometime this weekend. Brandon says that is first priority once they are done working in the field.
It is 2 weeks until CHRISTMAS! I have a lot on my to do list, that is for sure.
My sister and I spiked Brayden’s hair up in front after his bath last night, it was hilarious! Brandon wasn’t amused, but I will do it again and get a picture.
Our anniversary is Tuesday! 2 years! No big plans, except that our new mattress will be delivered that day. FINALLY! We bought a firm mattress when Brandon bought the house, right before we got married. Originally, we thought he was going to have to have back surgery- that’s why we got the firm mattress. It is literally like sleeping on a buckboard wagon. No joke. Even with a feather bed AND a foam topper. SO, this is what we got. A Sealy PosturePedic TrueForm foam mattress. It is like laying on a cloud!

My Christmas shopping is almost done. I just have a few people left and then alllll of the wrapping to do. Oh, and I suck at wrapping gifts.
My sister is coming over tonight and I am oh-so-excited!
We are making ALL of the Christmas candy tomorrow at my grandparents. I will probably eat as much as I make. I am not kidding.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Don’t forget to enter my blog giveaway if you haven’t yet!

Filed Under: random, the hubby ·

a wild ending to a wonderful day

November 19, 2009 by julie · 4 Comments

Today, after Brandon had a meeting, he decided to help me get the house ready to host Thanksgiving next week. Meaning, organizing some things in the kitchen, getting the pantry stocked, and helping me with groceries. Normally, I do all of these things on my own, so having the extra help was great! He was a great sport at the store (one chore he loathes, and therefore RARELY does, which is fine by me!) and organized my pantry to the nines. What a guy, right?

So, we get home, unload and organize, I fix dinner, and we are just settling in to watch The Office when suddenly, I see a blur go in front of the fireplace.

And I hear Brandon say a bad word.

It’s a mouse.

In my freakin’ living room.

I put Brayden in our room on the floor where I can see him and go get my shoes and Brandon’s. I also grab the broom for good measure. If Valium would have been in this house, I would have grabbed that too I think! I was so nervous and grossed out, I thought I could just puke. I HATE MICE. They are so gross and seeing one just running around in my HOUSE was unbearable!

After cornering it under the entertainment center, I grab the vacuum and plug it in for Brandon. He sucked it right up into the bag. I know, it’s gross, but it’s better than stepping on it! He took the entire vacuum out into the driveway, found the now dead mouse, gave it a whack with the shovel for good measure, and I finally have just started to relax an hour later.

Phew. On tomorrow’s agenda: mouse traps.

Our quality time these last couple of days sure is getting entertaining!

Filed Under: life, random, the hubby ·

my husband the slavedriver

November 18, 2009 by julie · 2 Comments

Ok, slavedriver might be a bit of a harsh term to describe my darling husband, but seriously, I am pooped today. Allow me to tell you why….

With the 2 inches of rain we have received in the last 24-36 hours, my darling hubby decided to stay home yesterday and help me work in the office. Yes, help ME work in the office, not work on his OWN stuff. SO here is a rundown of our day.

7am: Brayden wakes. I change him, feed him, put him in the Jumperoo. Make breakfast.
8:30am: Brayden is ready for a nap. I rock him and put him down to nap.
9am: I clean up the kitchen, switch the laundry, pick up the living room, make a couple phone calls, etc.
9:45am: I finally sit down at my desk to start going through piles.
9:55am: Brayden is awake! I get him up, change him, feed him.
10:45am: I put Brayden in the office with us to play while we work. He is a tad fussy and ends up sitting on my lap while I try to organize files. This does not work and we end up playing in the living room until he is ready for another nap.
11:30am: I am ready to eat lunch while Brayden is sleeping. We eat, I clean up, switch laundry, etc.
12:30pm: FINALLY working in the office.
1:15pm: Brayden wakes up crying from nap. Brandon rocks him back to sleep so I can keep working and cleaning my desk.
2pm: Brayden is awake, time for him to eat again. Oh, have I mentioned that I have been puked on 3 times already and have had NO time to take a shower? and the threat is that if I don’t get my desk spotless, we won’t be putting up the Christmas stuff and I could have to put it up myself. Not happening.

NOW, I do get a lot more done when Brandon is around, but it is SO WEIRD having him home all day! I mean, I could have just worked in the office, but I wasn’t home yesterday so there were a few other things that needed done. He literally just paced for 20 minutes because he was waiting for me to feed Brayden so that we could keep working together. I am so thankful that he helped me get through a lot of the mess in the office, but wow, I am so glad that he works outside of the house most of the time. I think we would kill each other. I felt like I had him as a shadow!

4:30pm: My brother comes home from school for the night and stops by to see us. Brandon jumps at the chance to run into town with him to look for something at the hardware store. He says I am crazy for staying home all day long, and doesn’t know how I keep my sanity.

Oh, how I love my darling husband, but I am pooped from doing TWICE as much as I normally do in a day!