Disappointed

Well three days back in cloth and she has a diaper rash. I don't think it's yeast again, but I'm running to the grocery store later to buy disposables so I can use diaper cream. I'm also going to try a new diaper soap and give cloth one more chance. I'm so sad because I like cloth better and never had an issue with cloth diapering Karaline. On a more dissatisfying note Audrey is still covered in a body rash. The doctor said its probably a food allergy, but that he wont send her for allergy testing at only ten months (not sure how I feel about that). Coincidentally Karalines' allergy symptoms began at ten months and after battling with the doctor I finally found out at twenty months that Karaline is allergic to peanuts and sensitive to dairy. So I'm starting a food journal for Audrey and hope to solve this through elimination. We'll see.

On another note I cut my friends hair today, it looks great, she loves it and while I was cuttting I enjoyed it and enjoyed my friends company. However, I have now decided that I will no longer kitchen beautician. The romantic experience of doing something you love is lost when you're stopping more times than you can count to take care of kids (even if taking care of your kids is another thing you love). So, my new goal will be to find a hair stylist wherever we move to refer my friends too . I'll cut hair again when my kids are in school and I work at a salon.

So now to take Henery to the vet and buy diapers.
Til next time, be blessed.

One step forward two steps back

First off I just want to say potty time is going great. Despite the one step forward two steps back dance phase that life seems to be stuck in right now, potty time is successful. Audrey is still not telling me when she needs to potty, but I've gotten really good and noticing her natural potty signs. If I am paying attention we can make it through every waking hour with a dry diaper. Oh yeah, since the diaper rash is gone I have been keeping her in diapers which has eliminated carpet clean ups....phew. 
The reason I feel like we're in a dance cycle avoiding moving  forward in life in general, is because as soon as I almost catch up on things something comes our way to say, just kidding. Now I'm not complaining, I am a blelssed positive person and I love my life. Having said that, (I think) we're finally past a stomach bug that lingered on and off for nearly two weeks and now Audrey's body is covered in a rash that I am guessing is due to the added use of borax in our laundry. So just as all the virus laundry was finished, I began a strip everything in the house and rewash without borax process.  This too shall pass and around the bend will be another mommy adventure which challenges, but ultimately fills my heart with gratitude for the blessing of mothering my two beautiful gifts. Til next time.
PS when the laundry drama ends I'm going back to cloth.

C'mon mom

So I must admit I am sure I'm a little bit crazy. I am continuing with potty time even though it is a little much to keep up with. I'm thinking pre-toddler potty training would probably work better if I had nothing in my life distracting me from giving Audrey 100% of my focus.  However,  that is far from the case. The other day I tried to keep up with diaper free baby (as in pants only) living while hosting preschool for four kids (including Karaline, with the help of one other mom). Six pairs of pants and two carpet pee clean ups later, I realized baby potty time only works when you pay attention to your baby (duh). Then the next day while out and about she didn't even pee in her diaper, go figure.  So now Audrey is diaper rash free, and eating yogurt and bananas regularly (even the banana rash hasn't come back after eating a whole one yesterday).  Having said that I don't feel in the clear enough to start cloth again, just yet. So, w/o diaper rash in the mix it has been quite tempting to stop potty time, just because it requires so much attention simply because she's not ready to tell me when she needs to potty. The thing is every time I think of quitting I hear a story from a friend about how terrible of a time they're having training their toddler. So, that makes me think this may require a lot right now, but clean ups are way smaller then at two. One of my friends kids climbed onto the kitchen table to poop. Another friend has been attempting to potty train her almost three year old for a year. I have several other friends whose kids give huge issues about training or simply refuse to train, so I'm thinking Audrey is using the potty when I put her on it, so I will keep it up and once I can get cloth back in the mix I think that will be the best option to use while continuing potty time. Well, I have an evening to myself and two sleeping gifts so I'm going to go make the most of it, be blessed.

Mommy moments

So last Wednesday while the Penn state sleep study was recording Audrey's night sleep she woke up with croup. Just that nasty sound like a seal barking cough and that thick striders like breathing. The following day Kevin left town, since then Audrey's improved greatly and honestly never stayed bad, she would just have a rough hour here and there. However, six days of single mommyhood have been quite the adventure. Just little things like sitting in the steaming bathroom with Audrey while Karaline is in there bouncing off the walls. I finally say "ok that's enough please sit down" and she sits in a slide like maner on the toilet seat which causes her to slide right off landing in my lap on Audrey. Then I set off the smoke allarm with the steam and had two crying girls, the smoke alarm going off and a howelling dog. Or like tonight when I was filling up the humidifier and Audrey pulled herself up to standing on the toilet, so I put the humidifier on the back of the toilet to remove her from the bathroom just to hear it slide off the toilet and dump gallons of water on my floor. I really feel like at the end of the day there should be a warning sign on my forehead: may contain trace amounts of urine, snot and vomit wash before use ;) yes I am a mom. Some how in the midst of all this I still can't imagine not having another one. So I'm excited that my single mommy time hasn't lasted long and glad we have at least a year before Kevin is deploying. As for potty time, I slacked a little when Audrey was sick, but mostly because she would whimper on the potty and I didn't want to force anything. Since she's feeling better we're back to it and pretty much its the same as before if I put her on the potty every half hour she will use it but she only signs potty sometimes when she has to poop. Oh and the rash is back in almost full swing but I had a two day break during the croup :)

To all my temporary or permanently single momma friends .....you're my heroes.

This too shall pass

I remember when Karaline was just a few months old (she's three and a half now), she was dealing with colic like symptoms (starting at six weeks she would cry from seven pm til about midnight every night). The Doctor told me she had reflux and I should put her on zantax, the lactation consultant told me to cut out diary (since I was nursing), another woman said cut out peanuts, you know everyone knows the right course of action. So to make a long story short, I avoid meds as much as I can so I cut out dairy, it helped, I cut out peanuts it cured =D. Well, then I have people telling me you're loosing to much weight drink a milk shake, babies are just fussy you over reacted so on and so on.... yet again when you're a new mom everyone knows the answer, but you of course. So, I call my mom and share my heart ending with "well, this to shall pass, right mom?" she politely said "yes and around the bend will be another". I'm thinking "thanks mom, I could use a little cheering up here." Now my mom was not trying to tear me down, just share the truth and man was she right (although those were the hardest months of my life to date). I have since learned that being a mother is a life filled with one phase after the next, colic phase, chronic cough for ten months phase, sleepless nights due to some transition phase, night time terrors phase, panic attacks at night which result in lamps knocked down or daddy getting slapped in the face (not by me ;) or simply the phase of new born with out colic like issues, followed by the rash phase and the baby potty training phase... so I say, this to shall pass and around the bend will be another. All of these phases are so worth the gift of being a mother to two beautiful little girls. At the end of a day, I am at peace, whatever the phase I am honored that I'm so blessed and so pleased that God provides the strength to enjoy these wonderful blessings even when the phases of chaos do linger.

So I said all that to simply lead up to this.....we still have rash central, the doctor gave me nystatin a week ago and it hasn't helped much. She did say eventually a yeast rash does pass even the resistant kind like we seem to have. So, I have been letting Audrey be diaper free (as in just wearing pants) as much as I can and she usually does well. She is slowly training, she usually stops peeing on herself and finishes on the potty so that's a bonus (because then I don't have a carpet to clean). She signs potty when she has to poop so I've only had to clean one poopy mess and that was due to diarrhea (which was contained in the pants...yay). I do put her in a diaper when we go places, for naps and for bed. Kevin is letting her go diaper free when I'm gone and putting her on the potty now too so even he is on board. We're not there yet though, earlier today I had Audrey on my hip, Karaline in my bed melting down and Audrey let out her entire bladder full onto my hip, now this is living right ;).

Well, I'm certainly encouraged to keep it up and I'll be sure to keep you posted.

An adventure for sure

After a.week of purple living with continued use of gentian violet we are thrush free. I must say I totally understand why women give up breastfeeding over thrush, it sucks. However,  nursing is now pain free and I am very happy about that.

I may have to take Audrey to the doctors over her yeast rash the over the counter stuff is keeping it at bay and has cleared it up some, but not entirely.

So in the midst of insanely huge amounts of cleaning, disinfecting, stripping diapers, dreading nursing,  Audrey not feeling well and life continuing despite it all, I am happy to say we continued potty time. Also on Monday morning we had a break through, Audrey signed potty for the first time. I put her on the potty she peed and poooped and even seemed finished so I signed finished and she signed potty again and then continued. Since then she signs potty every time she uses the potty and has signed potty in advance three more times. I have only had to change one poopy diaper in the last week and typically only have four wet diapers in twenty four hours.  One for night, one for each nap and one during my hectic time of day (4-6 pm) when I don't usually manage to get her on the potty.

Now to be fair she is not necessarily potty trained just yet, she did pee on me right before I put her on the potty earlier. The funny thing is as I sit her writing this I realize that I haven't changed yet and men wonder why its hard for moms to switch into sexy mode. So, I am closing out the night in dried pee, but it was a day well lived. So here's to the comfy bed with my coughing mess of a stuffy three year old waiting for me. I truly love this stage of life, so I'm willing to survive the insane moments to soak in the great ones.

My Rash Epiphany

So on Monday as I was changing Audrey's diaper for the gazillion time that day and I thought this rash is not normal. None of the foods that caused a rash have been in the picture for a month, I'm changing your diaper every hour, it's no longer anywhere but in two spots one on each thigh.....what's up? I can tell you exactly what type of rash each of the issue foods have caused, but I can't tell you when this groin/thigh rash started, but I can tell you that the effected area is growing and raised, which is not a normal rash. My first thought eczema, my second thought fungus. I don't know, my prayer "God please show me how to get rid of this". Then Audrey bit me while nursing and I mean, ouch scream, she bit me and now I have thrush. My rash epiphany moment came on Wednesday night 48 hours after my child wounded me because nursing now causes shooting pains throughout my body, Audrey must have had thrush accompanied by a yeast rash followed by a mommy bite which gave me thrush. I research online (thank you iInternet) and yup, unless all my mommy gut and research are wrong that is the problem. So, I am using Gentian Violet for me and a fungus cream mixed with Vaseline for Audrey and using disposable diapers for the time being. We are and have been both taking probiotics and eating yogurt. So only six hours after beginning treatment we are both looking and feeling better....although there is a lot of purple in the mix (gentian violet) I do believe we're on our way to recovery. So, I guess God answered my prayer....well, I hope this self diagnosis is correct, but if not we'll be at the Doctors office in four days.

As far as potty time goes, the other rashes from the issue foods are still a possibility if those foods entered the picture (and I would love to feed them to her) so I'm going to stick with the diaper change every hour and the potty use. I've come this far, no turning back =D

Send your prayers our way. Thanks!