Precious Grands

Painting time...

Well, this has been a week, I will not lie.  I've struggled to be granny with this cutie pie.  She does test my limits but I know it is all temporary and a must.  I must help as they wait for the doctors to release Max.  He was on the path to head home on Thursday, but it didn't happen.  His parents were on the 48 hour total care in the hospital so they could prepare and know exactly how to care for him at home but he started throwing up and his heart rate rose rapidly.  They had to call in the nurses and doctors, run all kinds of tests and put him back on oxygen and an  48 hour antibiotic drip in case of infection.  They're still not sure what caused it all but he is better now.  This caused his release to be delayed for Monday.  Here's where the "I won't lie" thing comes in, I confess, I cried.  I cried because of a lot of things, disappointment of him still there and because of exhaustion from a darling 3 year old in my chaotic world.  OMG, she can make me absolutely belly laugh and my face feels like it wants to break from smiling.  Then there are times when I've just had enough.  It is constant 3 year old chattering and being ON ALL THE TIME!  I can manage it and with a couple of breaks from B&B2 tag teaming watching her, allowing me to just get out, all is better.  B2 came to watch her on Thursday morning and I was able to spend some quality time at my easel, maybe finishing one of the paintings.  Friday B came and stayed while I went to the office to do payroll, run a few errands and have a nice lunch with The Hubby.  In fact when I got back home she was asleep on the couch, naked, of course.  You see she was up at 5:30 am yesterday!  I knew she would crash.  This regression potty training thing is a bitch I can tell you.  I remember when my girls potty trained and it was generally in the summer when you just let them run around naked.  If she has no diaper on she will run to the potty and she can do it all on her own, even on the big potty!  I was thinking yesterday, because she is bored at home now and wants to go, go, go, that if I make it seem in her mind, that we have to stay home because of no panties, but if she wants to go, go, go, then she has to wear panties!  I think that is actually swirling around in her mind.

This is ALL worth it...

I know sweet Snicklefritz is over the duo sleepovers but it just can't be helped.  She misses OUR time together tremendously.  Hopefully next weekend it will just be her and I.

Mardi Gras and Potty Training.

The past weekend we headed to the cabin with this little nugget in tow.  Getting her in the car/car seat was not as much a problem as it usually is (thank goodness) but she was concerned how far the drive was. She keeps her legs crossed until she drifts off to sleep or just eases up.  We have figured out she is regressing in potty training and I'm not fighting that.  Will just work with her on it.  We had company on Saturday night for dinner and I had her dinner done before and then all set up in her room with my IPad and Little Bear that I had downloaded.  Also my friend, Lesa, brought a huge goody bag full of new stuff to play with and that was perfect to keep her attention.  Forgot that this week starts the Mardi Gras celebrations everywhere and as luck would have it I fixed the perfect meal and we had beads galore with Lesa bringing more for the party.  The only hitch was I told her she had to stay in the room so she would yell out my name.  Goodness I was up and down like popcorn but I'm telling myself it's exercise!  She was good until she decided to strip the clothes, her bottom half.  I then definitely told her she could not come out if she was naked.  LOL!  Honestly she was great and packing and loading up yesterday she was a jewel all dressed with panties, but she wanted a diaper on when we got home.  I had only brought two with The Hubby going back to town for the flea market and picking up another.  My plan today is if she wants to be naked that is okay with me.  I'm not going anywhere and no one is coming over, except Snicklefritz and she may be a big help in all this.  Honestly I never experience potty training regression. This is a whole new thing for me but we will get through it.  She's also been eating really well and in fact last night, after a good dinner, she woke up hungry and wanted food.  (She actually woke up twice.)  It was kind of a rough night with sleep but again this is temporary and we will get through.  I am very tired.  

Forgot, my meal was so yummy this weekend.  Our store carries in the frozen food section a jalapeno cream cheese stuffed pork tenderloin that is so very yummy.  My grocery person who shops for me accidently picked out one that had shrimp and andouille sausage in it.  So I had one of each (Mardi Gras theme).  They are extremely easy to cook and pack a punch of flavor for company.  I also had roasted new potatoes and a huge tossed salad.  It was a tasty meal.  

 

Max & Min

This baby, Mighty Max is really close to coming HOME!  Today he had a G-tube put into his tummy.  He passed his 2nd swallow test with only one little aspiration but it's just a bit too risky to head home without the G-tube.  The injection has helped tremendously but it could wear off before his vocal cord could repair itself and he would aspirate and that would be life threatening.  So he goes home with the G-tube, just in case but they will continue mouth feeding carefully with the G-tube there as a backup for food.  He's bright-eyed and a happy baby that everyone in the hospital just adores.  

Last weekend Min and her daddy headed that way to see momma and Max.  This kiddo is absolutely in the throws of the TERRIBLE THREES!!!  She made her momma crazy, and this week, me too!  Oh man she is pushing the boundaries of how far she can assert herself with her daddy and me.  Yesterday her daddy just could not get her dressed.  She stalled and stalled saying she had to poop, then pee.  She was running around naked and I was left to try and get her to school while her daddy headed to work.  She is supposed to be at her preschool by 9 and I did not get her there till 10!  Getting her dressed is a horrendous task, she does NOT cooperate at all and strips whatever you manage to get on.  Her thing is she says she has to poop or pee, over and over again when she clearly does not need to go.  Yesterday I was able to cojole her into clothes and out the door, eventually.  Today, oh man today, Mean Granny made an appearance.  I had to pretty much manhandle her to get her dressed. As long as she is naked she is just fine but the MINUTE you put her foot in her panties she starts screaming she has to pee or poop, owey that her bottom has a rash, blah, blah, blah.  She does NOT have a rash, it is perfectly perfect.  It is a huge stall tactic to keep control in her hands.  This morning I was having absolutely none of it.  I got her dressed with her screaming no.  Getting her coat on, every time I got her arm in she screamed bloody murder, ouch, ouch, ouch and she would shuck out of it.  I finally got both arms in and carried her to the front door, grabbed her lunch and bag, my purse and out the door we went, her crying.  Down the front steps and to the driveway she suddenly bolted and I YELLED her name.  She stopped dead in her tracks and let me catch up.  I would have not been able to catch her if she had run which scared the shit out of me.  I got her to the car, opened the door and lifted the squirmy snake in the car with her yelling, screaming and crying, "HELP, HELP ME!"  Well, crap, just as a neighbor lady was walking by.  Good GRIEF!   Her daddy said she did that in the grocery the night before and he left his cart taking her to the car and a lady giving him the eye, watching him put her into the car and acting like she was calling someone and following him out of the parking lot.  THAT IS DAMN SCARY!  Where in the world did she learn to scream help me, HELP! in the first place.  That sweet little face is very deceiving and she is perplexing us all by her behavior.  I got her to school but it was definitely later than it should have been.  When we got there I turned around in the car to look at her and talk to her about her behavior not being acceptable and that it brought out the Mean Granny, that all I want to be is Nice Granny and love her and play with her.  I do not know if she understands but we have got to get through to her.  I'm mentally exhausted with this and feeling like I'm loosing control of my life really.  When I got the emergency help call on Tuesday I was at the office with all my taxes laid out I was trying to get ready for the accountant.  I ended up having to just grab it all up and put it back in the drawer and I have not been back to deal with it yet.  I tried to paint this morning but didn't get too much done because I was talking to Linda and dealing with an art show coming up.  Hopefully next week I will get more done.  Who knows what each day, each hour brings but I know it will level out and she will get it soon, I hope.  I love this little button and don't want to be Mean Granny at all.  

Sketching and Max Update

I have had one busy week.  I was in my car every single day and Thursday I was in and out and in and out of my car.  I was the Granny-Taxi most of the week and boy was I bushed.  Trying to get some art in has been tricky lately.  Thursday, because I knew I was going to be on the go all day, I had spare time at 7:30 am, so to the studio I went to at least splash a bit of paint around.  I went Wednesday too but it was kind of busy there with a customer and friend in for Linda.  Chatting was the task of the morning.  I still have my drawing supplies, or a lot of them, at the house along with the watercolors.  Today I could of gone to the studio but I just did not want to venture out, or put a bra on so in I stayed.  I spent the morning sketching a bit.  

Hopefully the cows will get a tinge of watercolor on it.  My mind is kind in a whirl as the studio move is probably going to be sooner than later.  

The Hubby has been making room for me at the office, even though we are still technically a working business still.  Work is slowing down tons and basically we have a month and a half left.  B has begun the purge of our files, the accounting ones so we can move out some of the file cabinets we won't need anymore.  It's really a bit scary, something I've wanted for awhile, yet scary.  Kind of having a a hard time letting go of my actual desk.  I love that piece of furniture but really it won't be needed soon.  Just need a space for the computer and printer for minimal accounting stuff.  After 44 years of doing what I do yet wanting to be done with it, I am finding it hard to let it go.  Hmmm, imagine.  

Tomorrow will begin another week of the Granny-Taxi stuff starting with heading to their house to watch Min as she doesn't have school on Monday's.  I go there to give him a break of rushing her out of the house.  It's just easier for all.  This weekend they headed to OKC to see Af and Max and Nick finally got to hold his baby boy. Max is now a tad over a month old and is close to heading home!  All he has now is the NG feeding tube in his nose.  This past week they did a swallow test to see if he can be fed by mouth but he failed.  With all the tubes down his throat and having his chest cracked open one of his vocal cords was damaged.  Not permanent but it caused a paralysis.  His cry was kind of a squeaky cry, not full on because of the paralysis and this also affected the swallowing.  It would mend eventually but they can also do an injection of a botox-like medicine that can usually help quicker.  They did that injection on Friday and scoped his throat and saw absolutely no reason that he can't take food via his mouth.  It will just take some time either in the hospital and a longer stay or they will send him home with a G-tube directly in his stomach and his parents can work with getting him to taking food through his mouth and he would be home in a couple of weeks!  Not sure what they will be doing at this point but Af was really down because she wants badly to nurse him but she knows it is what it is.  He will come home and that is the most important thing, at least till about June when he will go back for surgery #2 and not another for 2-3 years.  They need to go home because Min NEEDS her momma.  She is in great need of having MOMMA!  

There Is Something Different

 We have NEWS!!! News from our Mighty Max.

Notice anything different??

Max is completely off the ventilator! The nasal cannula are gone!!!! He is breathing totally on his own. Huge milestone!

Please pray that we can stay off them for good. Thanks be to God!

Also, Max is officially one month old now.

Kiddos Update

Feel like it's been a New York minute since I've posted here.  Last week was a few days of having the girls for overnights.  I love it but boy does it wipe me out.  She gets easier and easier to keep until she has her meltdowns.  It's funny that they don't happen much when it's just me.  She has a competition thing going with Snicklefritz, sibling-like.  Whatever Snicklefritz has or wants she wants too.  The sharing thing is a vague concept to her, trying to get across.  

Poor Snicklefritz gets frustrated too and ends up in the bedroom hiding out.  I get it.  Trying to reason with a 3 year old sometimes is frustrating and complicated.  Yet, when they are in sync they are the best of friends and Snicklefritz is so very good with her.  When they are around it's toys and toys and toys everywhere but the giggles outweigh all the inconvenience.  This week has been light in the Granny Taxi time because of our ice/sleet everywhere.  I do not, EVER venture out in this stuff.  I did have to head to the office on Monday but The Hubby carefully helped me into his truck and out at the door of the office so I could do invoicing.  The times to do that will be less and less, two more months worth actually!  March 31 will be the ending of invoicing.  The money will be still rolling in and the last of the payroll will be then if not before.  It's really a reality.  The office this week has been quiet as the employees are staying put, no one is going on jobsites.  The weather never stops The Hubby from going in to the office.  He goes in the same time every morning but what he is up to is beginning the cleaning out of the downstairs offices in readiness for my studio!!!!  He's really making a dent in files and furniture move out.  I thought it would take longer but with time on his hands he can't stand it.  I need, I want to go in and start boxing up files.  We will need to keep them in storage for I think 5 years and after that SHRED DAY!  

We've been trying to figure out what we are keeping in the office and what we are not keeping at this time and where exactly I'm going to set up.  Luckily we are keeping a nice drafting table I can use for drawing and watercolors.  I have my taboret table and various shelves, etc.  I have sooooooooooo many canvas's painted and unpainted.  A lot of them need to be repainted over.  I really don't need to buy a canvas again in my lifetime I think.  Yes, I'm moving out of my current studio in the next few months.  I hate that I won't be with Linda anymore but it is time.  What is nice is that she teaches out of her home too and has a standing offer for me to come to her class, free, to paint with everyone once a week.  When all this studio/office move gets straightened up and baby is home I will take her up on the offer.  I miss painting with other people.  I miss her company.

On the Max front, he is doing exceptionally well.  They've pretty much weaned him off of most things and his blood pressure is finally righting itself to normal levels.  Af finally gets to hold him now, with help as he does have a few things still attached.  He is even getting a lot of food through the tube in his nose!!!  Today the will be pulling most of the lines out.  

Honestly it's a possibility that he will get to come home in the next month until about June and the next surgery.

Oh that smile says it all.

While the girls are here at the house I've been setting up the watercolors.  I even brought in the little kids table but Min wants to sit by me at my big table.  I made the mistake of not taking the tablecloth off but it's watercolor.  I will take it off eventually as there is a plastic cover on the table that can get all kinds of stuff on it.  

I am doing a lot of these tiny watercolor things and plan on giving them for Christmas next year.  This one got snatched up by Af pretty quick.

I also, FINALLY, set up my Christmas present to me, my EdgePro Plein Air Easel.  I'm really hoping that this summer at the cabin to set up a lot outside to paint plein air.  This one a friend took the photo and said I could paint any of her photos.  She and her husband have been all over the world and she posts tons of great photos of places I will never go to,  i.e MOUNTAINS!  I think this one will be great when done.  I have a show to enter stuff into this spring and I need some things but I also have some already painted that I can enter.

The deer painting I'll finish at the studio.  I brought it home but just can't get back into it right now.  Honestly it's close to being done.  Thought I would put it in the show but it's a fall thing and the show is called "Spring Show" and they advised to maybe follow that.  Hmmmph...okay.  I know this is fall-y too but it's colorful.

Today, another day not leaving the house and not changing into real clothes.  I think tomorrow I will be out and about.  I'm sure that school will be back in session and will have to transport Min to school and will have to watch her on Friday morning, unless Bri watches her.  I have some stuff to wrap up at the office. We have a wedding to go to on Friday night and I HAD planned on doing a bit of clothes shopping this week to try to find something fluffy, not jeans wear, but this weather messed that up.  I'm sure I can rummage around in my closet for stuff.  Oh well, onward to the rest of the week.  

Toodles all!