Angel Soft Commercial

Oh my heart!

So happy brands and marketing are stepping up their inclusive games!


Morning Routine

Whooping Cough

Back in June we received a note sent home from Summer Camp that a case of Whopping Cough was confirmed in the building. Dang! I didn’t think too much of it because I choose to vaccinate. 

Well about two weeks later (late June) Nora has a bit of a cough that starts to build over days. And after seven days, it has not gone away. But she has no other symptoms; no runny nose, fever, congestion... So it can’t be Pertussis, right? 

However, protocol is that if you child has a cough, get a note from the Ped that either confirms or denies the diagnosis. 

Nora was tested; which is also brutal - huge swab up the nose. 

One day later - blindsided - she has Pertussis!! Whaaaaaaat. So even though you are vaccinated, they can still catch the virus - but they symptoms are lessened. 

SO: Hannah was given preventative antibiotics, Tim’s GP gave antibiotics, and my GP decided not to :: eyeroll :: She claimed the CDC did not recommend that. And Nora had to be kept home for 5 days/5 days of antibiotics and could return to summer camp 24 hours after she finished antibiotics. Lord.

So as you can expect - after I was not given the preventative antibiotics and taking care of a whooping child. Guess who else gets a nagging cough? Me. After a week of annoying my coworkers, I tried to track down a Pertussis test - which was way harder than you’d think. 

*Only one Urgent Care in the area tests (and I refused to wait 1hr) and Cincinnati Children’s. 

After a wild goose chase, my GP finally gives me antibiotics and after that, I’m back on track. 

So everybody – take note: Whooping Cough is out there. You can’t prevent it 100%, but you can lessen the effects with the vaccination. It can take a worse toll on infants and elderly! 

Diapers. Done.

I’ve been cautious not to jinx anything... but after months of dry diapers in the mornings, we seem to be officially done with diapers in our household! No more carrying diaper bags! Whoop whoop!

I’ve been so proud of Hannah - and myself - for prioritizing the training and getting Hannah ahead of the game!

Mid-Life

I think I’m hitting my mid-life wander/wonder... Holy crap - I’m almost 40. 

I do not feel almost 40. I still feel 35. Questioning my parenting, questioning if I’ll be at my job in another 10 years – or will I age out? I like being goofy! 

I’ve been seeing cardinal birds almost every day. I swore they carry a message of sorts. Mom told me they carry a spiritual message. 

I started listening to Brené Brown and love her... 

I’ve had a HUGE itch for our family to travel and being green with envy at my friends who can hop, skip, and jump with their kids. I want to hike but Hannah is just not there yet (running off, no endurance, too big for a backpack). 

I want more experiences and less STUFF. 

I feel like all of these things are adding up to some sort of mid-life... something. Not a crisis. Change? 

Nora + New Friends

The girls have been having a great time at “Summer Camp” – school summer daycare. 

I learned our babysitter’s younger sister, Kate (who has Ds) attends and Nora said there’s another girl headed into 5th grade with Ds also - Megan. Nora said Megan does Nora’s hair at camp - pretend salon play. 

Tim and I picked up the girls from camp today and as Nora was leaving, Megan rushed over to Nora and they hugged goodbye. My breath caught and I can’t describe my emotion. 

It wasn’t pride... or maybe it was?? Nora isn’t being nice to Megan because it’s the “nice thing to do.” She made a connection with a girl who has Ds on her own terms. Which is exactly what I hope for all children - typical or not. Making connections on a human level - not frightened away by differences. 

I’m actually happy Nora has a sister who may be seen as different. Hopefully then my oldest will have that extra layer of compassion and acceptance. 

💕

Movie with a Star (who has Ds)

Nearly started crying at work with happiness. Finally, a mainstream movie with a star who has Ds:

The Peanut Butter Falcon

Quick Columbus Trip

We had a quick trip to the Columbus area to celebrate the 1st birthday of Lily - the daughter of my long-time friend, Megan. It was a long path to parenthood for Megan and her husband, Chris, but thankfully in 2018 they adopted Lily and are settled and loving their daughter. 

We stayed one night in New Albany, hit up Easton Shopping and had dinner at Mellow Mushroom. 

I love that just a hotel room and pool can equate to an awesome “getaway” for kids!

More Transitions

More transitions as we wrap up Hannah’s 2nd year of preschool and Grade 1 for Nora!

We are saying “See you soon” to our new caregiver – as I always do, got emotional dropping the girls off and thanking Shannon for opening her arms and home for Hannah. I’m fortunate we have her for emergency days. 

We have a week off with the girls - just a “staycation” this year. 

Then June 10th starts Extended Day Summer Camp - provided through Milford Schools. I’m so happy we have this option and the girls will be together at the preschool where it’s based. Additionally, Hannah will already be familiar with the environment, so it won’t be too tough a transition for her.

Preschoolers don’t go on the Field Trips, but Nora will see a movie every week, hit some Cincinnati parks, the Art Museum, the zoo... and activities will come to the school as well; bounce houses, animal experts... I’m excited for the girls and think it will be a great summer for them – even though their parents work full time ; ) 

And finally, after two (?) years, Hannah’s swim teacher is moving on. Mariana was so great with Hannah – patient but still pushing Hannah with her progress. Hannah had one class with the new teacher, Abby, and Mariana is giving notes to Abby which will be very helpful. 

Onto our next phases!

Zero Waste

I used to be so “green” before having two kids. Since Hannah was born, my time and energy have dwindled... I’m trying hard to get back to reducing the amount of trash we create. Seeing the recent photos of dead sealife with bellies full of plastic as well as the mounds of it floating in the ocean and beaches tears me up. 

I was excited to read about Trader Joe’s push to eliminate single-use plastic in their stores:

Trader Joe’s to Eliminate Single-Use Plastic

Did you know only about 9% of plastics can even be recycled? And those that are can only be recycled up to 4-5 times? Blergh. I did hear this fascinating story that scientists at Berkeley Labs have created a new plastic, PDK (polydiketoenamine) that can be recycled infinitely - which is good news for our landfills. 🙌

I also just bought these reusable snack bags – yay! 

And starting in on these wool dryer balls – yay! Friends tell me you can add essential oils for scent. 

Let’s keep reducing our waste people!!

A Sleep Update

So after the sleep study success, Hannah was still waking up and coming into our room, on average, two times a night. No bueno.

I frantically did some research on what else we could do... namely supplements. I don’t want to venture into melatonin because it messes with hormones. I found one or two other options, but no physician has dosage recommendations since supplements are’t recognized by traditional MDs. Fine. Some other suggestions were to get Hannah’s ferritin levels checked (iron) - her hemoglobin was in normal range at her last labwork, so that’s not it either. 

Looks like it was time to buckle down again and do hard work: behavioral training. 

I started about a week ago. When Hannah was close to falling asleep, I kissed her on the head and walked out. She freaked out, cried and opened the door. I said nothing and put her back in her bed, kissed her head and walked out silently. This repeated about four more times. It sucked, I felt bad, but I had to rip the bandage off. 

Eventually she whimpered and wiggled herself to sleep. Tim did this the following night, with less door openings and crying. 

It’s been one week. She may come in once around midnight, but we put her back in and she goes back to sleep and so do we. A handful of times she’ll wake in the 5am hour, but then goes back to sleep again. 

Last night she slept from 7:30pm - 6:15am! That’s a long time for Hannah. Even if she gets up once, Tim and I aren’t spending any time in her room, and that’s a big win in and of itself. 

Tim and I already feel so much better and Hannah must too! 

We’re doing it!!

A rare moment - Hannah asleep ON me for nap time.