A Lot of Random Stuff

This post will probably be all over the place, sorry. I just have a lot of things I'd like to share and there is no theme to them at all and no particular order to them.

WACKY HOUSE:

This is a house that is in Cudahy, which us just south of Bay View. We stumbled upon it some time ago but this week we happened to have the camera with us! Can you imagine living next to this house?:







SHE'S ON THE MOVE:



Amelia seems to have her own crawl, an Army-type crawl. This is how she gets around the house these days, much to my dismay. We are looking into a baby gate already, to keep her out of the hallway that leads to the bathroom, kitchen and stairwell.

MAM NEWS:

Tomorrow is opening day of the Milwaukee Art Museum's (MAM) newest exhibition, Andy Warhol, the Late Years. Today was member preview day but we didn't make it.

In honor of this weekends Susan B Komen 5K race, MAM dyed their fountains pink! It is pretty neat. Here are some pictures (it has been really cloudy and gloomy, so the pictures aren't great, but you get the idea!):





MOM'S GROUP:

Tuesday this week was the first meeting of the mom's small group at Epikos. It was myself and 4 other moms. Our kids range in age from 5 weeks to 3 years. Amelia stayed at home with Jason because I ran out of time to get her ready to go. Next week I will try harder to bring her so she can socialize with the other babies. There are two 4-month-olds, Stella and Josiah, that I think she might be pretty interested in. The 2 and 3-year-old girls might also be pretty interested in her :)

I had a good time getting to know the other moms. We met for almost 2 hours but normally it will only be about an hour, maybe an hour and fifteen minutes. We will be talking about exactly what is talked about on Sundays in church (Ezra) and so will the other small groups. I think it will be nice to get to know some other moms. Maybe eventually we will have "playdates".

SNEAKING A PEEK:

Amelia is getting smarter and smarter... When she wants out of her crib this is what she does now:




When one of us walks in, she lets go of the bumper (usually) and starts talking to us, in a very excited way. It's pretty cute.

SPOTLIGHT ON LUCKY:

Lucky had his second birthday on September 16th :) He is quite annoying a lot of the time (especially when it is bedtime) but we love him dearly. There is not another cat as affectionate as he is with EVERYONE he meets. Here he is on his new blanket from my sister:


PILLOW PETS:


I just think these are the cutest thing. We got these at the MN State Fair. They are pillows that fold up into animals when you are not using them. The larger one (moose) is for our couch. My mom got it for me and brought it down last weekend. The smaller one is a wolf and it is for Amelia. Once the time comes for her to have a pillow in her bed, that will be it!

FIRST COLD:

Amelia is sick for the first time. Tuesday night she had a hard time falling asleep Jason said and she had the sniffles. Wednesday she was all congested when I left for school. Jason picked me up, I dropped him at work and when I got home I found a very sad baby in the backseat. She had her first true "blowout" (ie- the contents of her diaper were all over her and her carseat). I know most other people have "blowouts" often, but this is honestly the first time we have had one. We have had leaks here and there a few times, but nothing like this before.

Anyways, I got her cleaned up, went to draw a bath for her and she went to the bathroom again. So I then had a baby, her clothes, a carseat and a changing table to clean up. Joy.

I started to realize how sick she was feeling at this point and I was cursing myself for not picking up Johnson & Johnson's "Calming Vapor Bath" months ago. I saw it and thought, "hm, I may need that one day". I decided I'd get it when that "one day came". It came and I had to then run to the store and I got the very last bottle on the shelf (thankfully). I also picked up saline drops for her nose and a Vick's Vaporizer and some VapoSteam.

When I called the pediatrician, the nurse told me to put a vaporizer in her room. I assumed she meant to use the medicine in it too. Well, maybe not. The bottle said "ask a doctor for children uner 2". I took one look at Amelia and knew she needed something. I put in under half the recommended amount and kept the vaporizer in her doorway, this way the Vick's VapoSteam wouldn't be overpowering (as we all know it can be, Vick's is a strong scent!) but it would be there.
*From reading on the Internet, the only reason I could find posted for babies not using Vicks was because the smell often burns the eyes of infants. (well, also, the Vicks that you rub on your chest is too strong for babies, but that is not what I have been using with Amelia. You just add VapoSteam to the water in the vaporizer) I figured if that happened, I would adjust from there. I also figured if that was the only reason they don't recommend it for babies, I would try it out. It did not happen and I think it worked wonders on her, so I would not tell another mom not to try it. I would recommend using a very small amount though and keeping it away from the crib.

I absolutely made the right decision! Amelia is still a little stuffed up but she is feeling MUCH better. She was her normal self, rolling and scooting all over the place, talking and laughing. I have the vaporizer running again tonight, with a smaller amount of the VapoSteam stuff, and think I may have Jason hook it up again tomorrow night while I am at work.

And hey, if/when Jason or I get sick this winter, this Vick's Vaporizer with VapoSteam will be wonderful I think!

...Some people say that babies get runny noses when they are teething. Maybe that is the reason for all this trouble? The doctor told me it could be, but to treat it as an illness and call today if Amelia was worse. Only time will tell if there is a tooth on it's way :)

MILWAUKEE FILM FESTIVAL:

Today marks the start of the Milwaukee Film Festival! Last year there was no festival because the group that put it on (Milwaukee International Film) fell apart (basically because of politics...) and the new group (Milwaukee Film), formed of many of the same members, didn't have time to get a festival put together.

I stopped in there this evening to pick up my work schedule and man does the place look different! The next week and a half are going to be crazy around there... There are some films I would like to see but they fall on all the days that I am available to work :(

You can go here for a complete listing of the films being shown, if you are interested.

PICTURES:

Lastly, here are some pictures from today: